Aruba, The Cliff Notes

This is Aruba. Beautiful beaches, big hotels, great restaurants. A perfect island escape for those seeking water, sun, sand and rum. We borrowed this photo from the internet. It is the view from Playa Linda on the west shore of Aruba. There are miles and miles of high end hotels on the beach each with it's own beach bar, beach chairs and crystal clear water. Those of us living on sailboats, however, are more interested in the day to day things like who is coming and going and should we have a party for them? Here our friend Roxanne put together a little party to welcome her husband Bill back to the boat. Seems Bill had been in Ohio, deep in snow and he was very happy to be back on his boat Bamboo. Bamboo is a bigger and newer version of our boat. It is gorgeous. We get serious boat envy whenever we visit them.

We do not go out every night. Sometimes every other night..sometimes. We had heard of a very good Brazilian restaurant called The Amazonian. We take a bus up north to the hotel district and check out the eating possibilities. If you are homesick there are plenty of options. We are not homesick. Some of the restaurants are very enticing: the decor, the aromas, the lure of a cool drink

But we are very selective tonight. No Hooters, no Benihana.

Outside our restaurant, The Amazonian, we find a little bit of Christmas

Inside we find handsome men....wouldn't you eat here??

Roxanne is a vegetarian. She sees this salad bar and is in heaven.

The rest of us are carniverous. We do not pay much attention to the salad bar. Would you?

Any kind of meat you can dream of is on the skewer...well almost any kind. It can make you crazy trying to decide what to eat.

A little bit of everything for starters

Pineapple? Really? It is actually very very good he says

You can eat as much as you want just turn the green end up and they are back with more. Need a break? Red up. Easy.

One happy group of eaters.

We decide to try another island icon. Charlie's Bar has been on Aruba since World War Two. The orginial Charlie was from Holland and assisted islanders and the allies during the war when the Germans fired on ships and other targets on the island. The restaurant is now run by his grandson, Charles III.

Inside is full of memorabilia and other interesting items....using the term "interesting" liberally here. Remember it is a bar.

Even the BR has been decorated.

Still smiling

Back on our boat we get to enjoy the cruise ships. Also smiling. Notice how nice and calm the anchorage is.

It is an absolute idyllic place. An occasional boat wake, sometimes a little chop, never a swell except

on very very rare occasions the wind and seas reverse themselves due to a frontal system to the north. We wake up and the boat is rocking. Behind us we see a wave break. Wishing for a minute we had a boogie board. But only for a minute because

The waves are getting bigger. Soon we are sideways to the swell and it looks like we may get pushed into the reef. Up comes the anchor and away we go to hide out behind a little island.

Later we venture out to go ashore. On our way back to the boat we get up close and personal to the seas. In our little dingy we can surf the waves but on this trip we have precious cargo onboard so we cautiously negotiate the waves.

Back in our safe anchorage it is a beautiful evening.

The seas are settling down finally and we have decide to head west soon along the Columbian Coast. This is uncharted territory for us. We will be cruising with our friends Bill and Roxanne on Bamboo. Our trip looks like this for day one and two: Aruba to Isla Monjes ( a rock with an interesting anchorage. Pictures in next blog). Next day Isla Monjes to Cabo de la Vela.

And day three will be Cabo de la Vela to Santa Marta. The three day trip will cover approximately 260 miles.

We are on our way tomorrow. Bon Voyage

Anne and Steve

Onboard S/V Fine Line