Explore Sailing Voyages in Aruba 🇦🇼

Having spent a fantastic week in an apartment with family, it felt strange being back onboard. With just the two of us it felt incredibly quiet. But we were ready to continue on our adventure! After a day of boat prep, including a 10km walk to the chandlery, we were ready to leave Aruba. We were very excited to be headed somewhere new and for Dave’s first taste of South America. With just the two of us onboard we quickly settled in to our routine and watch system. The wind was light and allowed us to hoist the spinnaker during the day. It was a good opportunity for us to see the full extent of the repairs done in Rodney bay. As we pass one of Colombia’s largest rivers, we were keeping a look out for debris. This is notorious in this stretch of water. As we’re sailing along, we spot a tender! Very excited, we decided to take a closer look. With the winds being light, we attempted to use our boat hook to catch the tender. However we still had some speed behind us and the tender was very heavy so it pulled the boat hook and in the process knocked my sun glasses in the water!!! With the boat almost stationary, I ask Dave to jump in as I watch my sun glasses float alongside the tender. As there was little wind and our boat speed was less than 1knt I jumped into the water to successfully retrieve my sunglasses, the boat hook and the tender!! Once back on board we review the tender and discuss possible plans to tow it back to shore! In the process of towing it unfortunately one of the towing eyes pulls off. With regret we decided it was best to let the tender go. We still had 1day left at sea and could see it wouldn’t survive the strain of the tow. As we drew closer to Cartagena, the wind completely stopped and allowed the ocean to flow as one. This formed a beautiful liquid mirror, allowing you to looking in and see your own reflection. If this tranquil moment couldn’t get any better a pod of dolphins joined us! The majestic creatures glided just below the surface, cutting through the glassy water for short bursts of air. A truly magical moment! To finish off this eventful passage, we caught our first fish without tuna Tom!!! As we were getting closer to shore the waters became shallower and having set the line out in the morning, we became ever hopeful that we might catch something. Just as the wind had increased and we were setting our sails, the spool started to run! Dave quickly rushed back to reel it in and to see what we’d caught! It was a barracuda. Having landed and killed the fish with its razor sharp teeth, we checked our fishing guide on whether it was edible or not. Unfortunately there is a risk with some predatory fish, that they can contain a poison. With not wanting to risk making ourselves ill, we put the fish back into the ocean for someone else to have for dinner! We arrived to the bustling city of Cartagena just as the sun was setting. With loud music blasting from various boats and bars we knew this city was going to be great fun. We had an early night and looked forward to exploring the following day!

The beauty of sailing is that you always governed by nature. Especially when choosing your time of departure. For example if it’s too windy you might have to wait a day, if the tide is in the wrong direction you might have to leave 6hours later! Our reason for leaving at 2am was to ensured we arrived in Aruba in the light! On our travels we’ve found it easier to leave somewhere you know in the dark and as a result arrive somewhere new in the light. It helps with navigations and getting an understanding of the land. Using our memory from arrival and our night vision, we hauled up the anchor and head out of Spaanse Waters, Curaçao. The sea state as predicted was large and inconsistent. As we had rip our main sail, we only had our jib to carry us to Aruba. Although a little more rolly, it was all we need for the passage. With the wind set to be 25-30knts we steamed down wind with just the jib. We took it in turns to have cat naps on deck whilst the other steered and negotiated the waves. It was not long before the sun was up and we had lost sight of land. Dave made an incredible breakfast, considering the roll of the boat. This was much needed to settle our stomachs. Eventually, we got our first sight of Aruba, all be it a bit industrial. To check into this island you need to go to the customs pontoon. This is within a reef and has a shallow shoal right next to it making the approach challenging. With the wind speed still high, we managed to navigate around the shoal and safely onto the pontoon. We were told by immigration the only way off the pontoon was back the way we came in. This is a challenge for Penny as she weighs 18tons and doesn’t like to be reversed!! So after checking in, we made a plan of how best to get off the pontoon. We were being blown off on to the shoal so one wrong move could mean we end up aground. We however used the wind to our advantage and allowed the stern of the boat to be blown round and whilst we took up on a bow spring (a line from the bow to a cleat in the middle of the dock) This worked like a dream and within no time Penny had done a 180degree turn and was headed back out to find a space to anchor.