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True Colours Voyage 2008 – 2010

The logs and pictures of S/Y Kelly 's Eye


Spanish Water – 12°03.00'N, 68°52.00'W [Approximate]

Last updated by Suzanne Chappell on 07 January 2015.
Recommended cruising guides
Free downloadable cruising guides by Frank Virgintino
A Cruising Guide to the ABC Islands
http://freecruisingguides.com/abc-islands
The ABC Islands by D Waterson and D van der Reijden. ISBN 0-9552328-0-5
A good cruising guide is Gotto Go Cruising [http://www.waypoints.com/cgi-bin/ppcart/ppcart.pl?details&cruisingguide&128911&Caribbean], The ABC Islands distributed by Compass Consultants Ltd PO Box 62 St Peter Port Guernsey UK
Some of the ports of entry
Spanish Water is the only place you can anchor before clearing in and getting a permit (see above). Willemstad is the only clearance port.
Harbours to leave your yacht for 1 month or more
Spanish Waters
Marina Seru Boca - very safe and secure and you can get your boat checked and looked after regularly, they even send you pictures when they have checked your Bilges...
Weather information
SSB radio. Chris Parker 8137 USB at 07.00, 8104 USB at 08.30. George 7250 LSB at 07.15 and 7086 LSB at 16.30. All local times.
OCC net: Frequency 4027 kHz upper sideband and time is 0730 local E Caribbean time from November through April.
Caribbean Compass site showing HF weather broadcasts in the Caribbean. See http://www.caribbeancompass.com/ssb_radio_0609.pdf
Also, there is a cruisers’ net on VHF72 at 07.45 that usually has a weather forecast.
Tidal information
Tides are small but the current around the island can be strong, normally flowing in a west or north west direction.
Cruising permits and restrictions
You need to buy a anchoring permit for any anchorage and this is obtained from Punda at the Harbour Office. Which is the building in front of Immigration. Be aware this office has funny opening times closes for lunch at 11.45.
Radio and communications
Coastguard VHF 16 and CITRO (a well equipped voluntary organisation) 913; or VHF 16. Police: Tel 911
Cruisers use VHF 72 for calling.
General advice, places to go, warnings
Emergency and health services: First world treatment. A decompression chamber can be contacted by calling 463 7457. Hospital tel 910, ambulance tel 912.
Spanish Water is now a safe enviroment with access by dingy to main areas and wonderful beaches, restaurants, surf shacks and a 5* beach complex. There are free shopping buses that go to three supermarkets and Budget marine, Island Water World & Caribbean Nautic, Djitham. Theres an Excellent marina, Seru Boca and Santa Barabra for short term or long term. Robert the Manager will help with getting to Immigration and Customs. To get the most out of the island it is worth hiring a car. Hiring a car is easy, budget is at the hotel and there are many places to hire. Curacao is a good place to provision 4 supermarkets all offering good quality european foods. You can refil your propane gas by taking to the local Gas/fuel station and get a BBQ fill. This island can haul your boat, store, and you can get Quality workmen. The best bit is you dont have to haul as you are under the Hurricane zone so you can stay in the water if you want.
Safety and security
Curacao is mainly crime free, the streets are safe. Just becareful like and island. Dingy theft has reduced but it is always best to lift your dinghy at night. At Seru Boca and Santa Barbara there is 24/7 security and these are both very safe and if you moor at Santa Barabra you have full use of their facilities and beach area.
Contributed by: Martin Thomson-Neall. Port officer of Curacao, NA I arrived in Curacao in 1989 with the intention of only staying for about three weeks. Well three weeks turned into months, and then years. I have given this a lot of thought what attracted me to stay longer. I came to the final conclusion it was not the lovely beaches, nor the coral reefs. It was the people. There is a population of about 150,000 people on the island, there first language is Papiamentu, and most of them speak English, Spanish as well. The island is 38 miles long and about 10 miles wide. Spanish Water is the main visiting place for international yachts. The GPS position for the entrance of Spanish Water is. 12deg 03min 42.9 N 68deg 52min 09.6 W. 72vhf is the calling channel for yachts at anchor. Sarifundy’s Marina was the main meeting point but just before Christmas, they had a fire, they are planning to rebuild. When we do not know. The main town is Willemstad it is old and beautiful. Please note if you have, firearms on board they must be declared to the customs. Do not take them to customs yourself, when you phone you can arrange to meet them. I do look forward to meeting you when you arrive. My name is Martin and phone number is 6612248