Curacao Carnival

Ahrrr - welcome to Curacao!

We left Bonaire and had a bumpy across confused seas to Curacao, the middle island in the ABC’s.  It was only a few hours sail, then once we were in the lee of Curacao the sea calmed and it was more comfortable.  The entrance to Spanish Water is very narrow, so we were glad to be approaching in the middle of the day.  You motor through a narrow passageway passed the luxurious Santa Barbara Resort and when you turn the corner Spanish Water opens out before you, a huge, safe harbour.

Stable side position - rough sail to Curaca

Approaching the entrance to Spanish Water

Narrow entrance to Spanish Water - Santa Barbara resort to starboard

Looking for an anchorage in Spanish Water

There areas four designated areas that you can anchor in, so we settled on one in the middle of the harbour, near the sailing club.  When we arrived, there were a group of kids training on Optis, providing great entertainment.  Later in the afternoon an older group came out on Lasers.  We were so close to the action we were wondered we had anchored in their sailing area.  It was really windy the whole time we were anchored at Spanish Water and there was always sailing on – dinghies or windsurfing.  It was fantastic.

Raftkin forms wing mark on Spanish Water

Sunset on Spanish Water, Curacao

We had Dutch pancakes as a breakfast treat when we woke on Friday morning, before we head to Pirates Cove where we could leave the dinghy while we caught a bus into town.  It’s a half hour bus ride from Spanish Water into Willemstad.  The main purpose of our trip was to clear customs and immigration, quite a process in Curacao, but it also gave us a chance to look around town.  The Customs building was a short walk from the bus terminal in Willemstad.  As we arrived we could hear loud music coming from around the corner of the building.  When we turned the corner, there was a big group of school children all dressed up for a parade.  The music was loud, the less self-conscious kids were dancing in the street along with there teachers.  It was such a serendipitous moment – we were in the right place at the right time.  We later found out that it was Carnival weekend in Curacao, so this was the start of the festivities.

Special treat - Dutch pancakes for breakfast

Beautiful girls in Willemstad

Kids parade for Carnival

Kids parade for Carnival

Once you clear customs, you need to go to immigration.  Naturally, this is a 2km walk from the Customs building, on the other side of the harbour.  We crossed the floating pontoon bridge, which opens like a big gate when ships come through the harbour entrance, then walked along the foreshore to the Immigration building, which is in the port area.  We had t o get clearance from security to enter the port area, then made our way to the building to fill in more forms that were much the same as the ones filled out at Customs.  Once we cleared Immigration, we had to go to the Port Authority to get an anchor permit.  Fortunately, this was in the building next to Immigration.  The whole process took 3 hours.

Heading across the pontoon bridge in Willemstad for clearing in

Immigration building - one of the three buildings visited

When we got back to the town centre the bridge was opening, which was amazing to watch.  Immediately two ferries spring into action to take pedestrians across the waterway.  They were so efficient!  We stopped for a quick bite to eat at a café on the other side so that we could watch the ship come in and the bridge close back up.  We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around Curacao, looking at shops and generally being tourists.

Pontoon bridge opens to let a ship into the port of Willemstad

Pontoon bridge mid-open

Pontoon bridge completely open

On the ferry (bridge in background)

Ferry replaces bridge with its open

The ship comes in

Saturday morning we had school, because we had to miss a day on Friday.  Around lunchtime we noticed that the sky had gone very dark.  Thinking that there was a storm coming I went outside to bring the washing in and could smell burning.  To the east of where we were anchored, at the small marina, a motor yacht had caught fire.  It overwhelmed the boat very quickly, such a sad thing to witness (even if it was a stink boat). 

Distaster on Spanish Water

To escape the smell of the burning boat and get out of the wind for a couple of hours, we took the dinghy up to the Santa Barbara resort.  You can tie up to the outside of the pontoon there and use the beach.  The water was so clear and so warm to swim in.

A visit to Santa Barbara

Sunday was the big Carnival day, so we caught the bus back into Willemstad to see what we could see.  It was also time for Nanna and Pa to disembark (☹).  They had a hotel booking for the next few nights before they were due to fly out.  We were waiting for the weather window to sail to the San Blas islands, so our departure date was a bit fluid.  We caught the bus into town with Agnes and Rob from RINGS, who we met way back in Isla Graciosa.  It was great to catch up with these two.  We had all crossed an ocean and learnt a lot since the last time we saw each other.

Sightseeing in Willemstad on Carnival day

Waiting for Carnival we ran into these guys

The Carnival was a huge, long procession of people walking or dancing along the street between large trucks with DJs and big speakers and mobile bars.  The procession had started at the airport and we were more or less at the finish line, 8km away so they all looked a bit tired, but still vibrant to watch.  At around 6pm we caught the crowded bus back to Spanish Water feeling grateful that we were able to fit on board.

Here comes the Carnival

Pegasus in the street parade

Monday we had a boat day.  The kids and I did a full day of school (ei yi yi) so that we could take Tuesday off to go sight seeing in Willemstad and spend one last day with Nanna and Pa.  The weather window had opened and we were leaving Wednesday morning.  We had a great morning with Nanna and Pa, having a swim at the city beach, taking a continuously warm shower at Nanna and Pa’s hotel.  We even washed our hair without turning the shower off.  Luxury.  Nanna and Pa had found a kid-friendly restaurant on the waterfront, so we enjoyed a lovely lunch there.  After luch we toured the town once more as we went through the Customs and Immigration process.  We tried to make the afternoon last, but eventually the inevitable time came to say goodbye.  Such a hard goodbye for us all.  What a great few weeks we have shared on RAFTKIN. 

Last lunch with Nanna and Pa in Curacao

Beautiful street art by Nena Sanchez in Willemstad

Wednesday morning we got stuck into school again, got the last of our chores done to prepare the boat for the sail to San Blas and then around midday we pulled up the anchor and left Curacao, bound for San Blas.