18 December 2010; At Sea.

From Barbados to Aruba is 620 nautical miles of sailing. Too much for an overnight transit, and also a little bit too much for a full speed run with a day at sea. Thus we do it with a nice average speed of 16.5 knots. That speed will bring us tomorrow morning at 05.45 at the pilot station and to be docked about 45 minutes later. My official arrival time is 08.00 hrs. but there is another cruise ship coming in, scheduled at 0700 and I have to work around that. Coming in later would mean that I might not be docked on time; and I would arrive after sunrise. That brings for Aruba the inherent risk for increasing winds. Winds that blow you off the dock as the big cruise ship docks are on an exactly 90o angle with the Trade winds. Normally they blow with a wind force 5 to 6 and I cannot thruster against that to keep the ship in place while the lines are going ashore. There are very good tugboats in Oranjestad Aruba but on an early Sunday morning they are quite expensive and thus it make sense to arrive earlier, during the dark hours. So the aim is 05.45 am and to be docked before the sun rises in the East at 06.57 in the morning.

Early this morning we entered the Caribbean Sea by sailing South of St. Vincent. Barbados is located roughly a 100 miles east of the rest of the Caribbean islands that form that crescent curve of islands bordering the Eastern side of the Caribbean Sea. For the remainder of the day we sailed along on a nearly westerly course towards Aruba with Venezuela on the portside at a fair distance. Apart from sailing the shortest course & distance possible, it is also a necessity to stay a fair distance as there is a whole throng of little islands located North of Venezuela. Like a string of pearls, the final larger ones, being the Dutch West Indies. Although the Caribbean Sea is very deep here, up to 15,000 feet at certain locations, these little islands stick as pinnacles out of the ocean at the rim of the Continental shelf and the pinnacles can punch holes in ships and thus it is prudent to stay away……….. We stayed at least 60 miles away and under us the Venezuelan Basin with depths of over 10,000 feet.

Tonight by midnight we will arrive above Bonaire, the first of the three Dutch islands that are also known as the A,B,C islands, being Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao. The only thing that spoils the fun is that they are not lined up in alphabetical order with A,B,C, but it is A,C,B as Curacao is located between Aruba to the West and Bonaire to the right. The islands are part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, but exercise a large amount of independence in the way they are governed. Recently there was a vote for independence on both the B & C islands but I read today in the newspaper that the one on Bonaire was not valid as only 35% had voted and 51% needed to turn up. Aruba has had for a long time a ”status aparte” which basically means that they completely do their own thing although our Queen is nominally the head of state. Aruba relies for a large degree on tourism; and its crystal clear beaches, the gambling and the shopping attracts a lot of American clientele. Also the cruise business is a major source of income and the Prinsendam will help tomorrow with boosting the local bank accounts as well as we will be there from 08.00 hrs. until 16.00 hrs. The weather looks good at the moment no wind or rain predicted but the local weather can be totally different from what is predicted so I am not relying on it. I will look out of the window when we get there, to see what it is really like.

For the guests, it looks good. Partly Cloudy, leaning to overcast with a small chance of a rain shower and temperatures around 28oC/82oF.