Locked in Postition

The position report (“where are we” page on the website) hasn’t changed because we haven’t moved for several weeks (other than the re-anchoring earlier on). Here are the top ten reasons for the lengthy stay here.

One: It’s free. Unlike Bonaire, which has nicer water – but costs $10 a day, anchoring in Spanish Waters is free. The country also doesn’t charge to clear in. The expense here has come with all the grocery stores and the weekly Happy Hours. But we needed to do some re-provisioning after six months aboard.

Two: Curacao is out of the hurricane zone. In the country’s history there have only been a few storms.

Three: There is a nice breeze consistently and few bugs. Bugs haven’t been much of an issue yet (we know there will be places where they will be). The breeze is pleasant – sometimes a bit strong – and it can create a fair amount of dust on the boat – but it does keep the wind generator running and the batteries charged. The wind also helps keep the boat cooler.

Four: Lots of boats means lots of people. Most are interesting and quite pleasant. We’ve met some cool people whose company we’ve really enjoyed. There’s been a knucklehead or two (good for stories). And as friends Lili and Otto would say, that also means “Bay Movies” – lots to watch in the anchorage.

Five: Good groceries, a nice town (though it’s a bus ride away), and pleasant places to take a walkabout. So things to do. Plus it was a good place to get our mail and our parts delivered.

Six: The public transportation is good and inexpensive. The city busses are good (large and air-conditioned) and pretty regular. The free grocery busses are even better and are convenient (though it seems every time we go – we spend more than we should).

Seven: Good Chilean wine – relatively inexpensive.

Eight: Everyone here sails. Everyday there are lots of little boats and sailboards plying the waters. There was even a Sunfish regatta last weekend!

Nine: A good happy hour at SOV Asiento(not sure what that means), a local sailing club where lots and lots of cruisers come in and share stories. Oh yeah, and drink cheap($1.57us for a small Polar) beer.

Ten: Propane issues. This is the bad news that caused us to stay here longer than we thought we would. We sent the tank in, it couldn’t be filled because of a broken valve. Had to buy a new one (ouch) and it took more than a week to get THAT one filled.

Bottom line, this is a good place to stay and we were in no hurry to have to move. We DID get our new propane tank back at last night’s Happy Hour. And it was filled. So now we can decide when we want to go. There looks like a good weather window coming thanks to the storms up north. In the meantime, we are getting a few boat projects crossed off the list. A bit of bucket laundry is also getting done. We had a potluck aboard on Monday night with the folks from Serene (Joanie, Mel and their guest Tony) and Rapscallion 2 (Trudy and Dennis). It was a feast and nice to reconnect with those folks. We enjoyed a dominoes re-match with Lili and Otto aboard Vagabond on Sunday afternoon (Otto took this victory). There was a Sunfish regatta this weekend in Spanish Waters and it was great fun to watch – especially the young kids that were in the