A week in a blog…

Wayne had to catch an early flight so we were up a zero dark thirty (440a) to load up the car and find the airport.  Luckily our handy dandy map made navigating so much easier than a few days ago.  Wayne left weighing  a lot less than when he came as he was kind enough to lug several necessities from the states for us (thanx again, Wayne).  After we dropped him off a little before 6a, Matt and I headed back to the boat to get a few hours of sleep.  Unfortunately, sleep evaded me so I cleaned until Matt go up just before 8a.  We decided we wanted to run some errands before we had to return the car at 10a.  So, we headed back to the dinghy dock, hopped in our Kia and went to find the Cost You Less and Best Buy Supermarket.  We loaded up on all the heavy stuff (5 gal. water jugs, diet coke, diet ice drinks, and bulk items.  We tried to swing by the Kooyman but time was running out and we had to get the car back.  As luck would have it, we rolled in just after 10a, but we did not have time to fill her up.  We were only about 1/8 of a tank less than what we received it at so we hoped she did not notice or care.  As it turned out, she noticed, but didn’t care.  We walked over to Van der Tweel supermarket which is the small one on the island but only 2 kilometers away from the dinghy dock.  Then headed back to the boat for a day of blogging and relaxation.

NEXT DAY…

We had heard that there was a free shuttle that picks up at Fisherman’s Harbor (the dinghy dock) and takes you to a grocery store and then brings you back 90 minutes later.  So, we decided to check it out.  We diligently arrived on time and found 8 other boaters waiting for the shuttle bus.  Interesting.  A big white bus came, loaded us all up and took us to a new grocery store called Vrugdenhil!  I could not help it, I gasped when I walked inside.  It was so big, clean and orderly.  They had tons of people working, restocking and helping.  Wowza!  And the prices were pretty reasonable (better than Van der Tweel).  So, we walked around a bit, then decided to visit a few other nearby stores since we were in the area.  We swung in to Budget Marine, then hit Island Water World, and then checked out the Het Washok laundry services before heading back to the market to catch our shuttle home.  Back on the boat by 11am.

We ate a quick lunch and decided to do a hike that would explore a little flamingo area.  Our favorite bartender at Pirate’s Nest told us about this amazing app called “maps.me” which offers world OFFLINE maps for travelers.  Yep, you read that right!  Offline!  So, armed with a really cool map guide we headed off to find the salt flat with flamingos.  Matt thought it looked like a short hike and there are tons of trails to explore.  We grabbed some water, phone charger and headed on our way.  We easily found the trail, but what we did not know was which trail to take.  At the start, there were orange and blue markers so we decided to follow those.  After about 20 minutes, we came to the Flamingo area but there were no flamingos.  Just a large salt flat and a few squawking birds trying to warn us away.  We kept going and came across a red trail – hmmm, wonder what happened to the orange and blue trail.  Oh well, this keeps going around the lake.  As we headed up the other side of the lake we did spot 6 flamingos on the far other side.  Sweet!  Too far away for an iPhone picture, but we enjoyed them for you.

It was really hot, we were low on water, and realized we could not walk around the entire area and get back before dark. So, we decided to find the nearest bus station to head back.  Our maps.me app said it was about 1.8 miles away – ok, here we go.  It led us up, down and around the back bushes, past a poor rotting dog (that just broke our heart as it still had its collar on-jessh!), past the correctional facility and up into town.  Great.  We landed exactly where the free bus shuttle drops us off.

Overall, the walk was about 6 miles and we were spent!  First, we needed some water and a drink so wandered over to It’s Lit.  Since it was only 4 in the afternoon, we were the only people in the bar except the bartender, Quin.  When we arrived, we were dripping with sweat and I mean dripping.  Not the sweet ladylike sparkle, but puddles and coming from everywhere.  My hands were sweating!  Gross!  But, we saddled right up to the bar, placed our order, and chatted up with Quin who was exceptionally nice!  He told us about the free buss website (autobusbedrijf.org)  that tells you when and where the buses are so we don’t have to wait outside in the heat.

Super cool bar, positive signs and décor, and really nice bartender – we will come back here again for sure!  We caught our bus and headed back to the boat.

WEDNESDAY

Many of you know, I am a certified project manager (PMP).  I’m super proud of this license and designation as it was tough to obtain.  In order for me to maintain my license, I have to take 60 hours of PDU’s (continuing education) over 3 years.  In the states, that is pretty easy to do as I can just attend a few all-day seminars a year and a couple of PMP monthly meetings to easily get the 60-hours.  However, out at sea, in another country, on someone else’s internet is another thing.  I found an all-day virtual seminar that I signed up to take today.  It was on how the Internet of Things (IoT) converges with project management.  A very interesting topic that merges two of my favorite subjects.  They had a pretty decent cast of presenters and it was scheduled from 830a-5p EST (which is the same time as my time ATL).  This was a huge draw on bandwidth with the running chat session (with all of the hundreds of participants from around the world), the video presentation with animated slides and of course audio.  For the most part, it was ok. I had downloaded all of the presentations so when the video got stuck I could still follow along.  It was just dealing with the broken audio that was a bit frustrating.  But all in all, I managed to sit through 6 solid hours of lecture and happily claimed the last PDU’s to get me to 60 before my August 2017 deadline.

As I was working away, Matt decided to spend the day cooking.  He wanted to try a new recipe that he obtained from our friends on Contrary Mary, chicken roti!  First, he seasoned the chicken and let it marinate.  Then he made the flatbread from scratch!  Then the rest…

Let’s just say that it was a spectacular way to celebrate the completion of my PDU’s and the renewal of my PMP certification! Yum Yum

THURSDAY

We grabbed the free shuttle back to the store as we needed a few items and wanted to explore Curacao Marine, Budget, and IWW (Island Water World).  We picked up a few items at Curacao Marine (new drink holder for the port helm station and some on/off to clean the bottom of the dinghy) then headed over to Budget and IWW.  We “needed” 1/4” line for the tramp when we replace it and would like a new piece of stainless chain for our dinghy – so this was a pricing exploration.  We did not find what we needed so we headed back to the shuttle and caught a ride back to the dinghy dock.  Since we had no plans, we decided to explore the other areas of Spanish Waters.  Several days ago, we checked out Asiento Marina, Curacao Yacht Club, and Kima Kalki Marina.  We still wanted to explore Seru Boca Marina, Santa Barbara Marina, and a few other alcoves.  So, we took Sweet N Low on an adventure.  We met a new friend, Steve who is in a slip at Santa Barbara Marina but he did not look like he was on board when we swung by so we decided to check out Boca 19 as it was close to lunch time.  We climbed up to the 2^nd floor, saddled up to the edge of the bar that overlooked the beautiful, private swim area and ordered a pineapple, ham, and cheese pannini – oh so delicious!  We then continued our tour and came across our friends on “Chapter Two” who were preparing to stow their boat for season.  Down the dock from them was this fixed sail trimaran.

As we entered one of the private bays, we noticed a small private island called Isla Kimiw (see brochure) which you and your loved one can rent out for the week!

We headed back to the boat to clean up a bit as we had invited our friend Steve to come over for Roti.  It was great fun to hear about all of his adventures over good food and drinks.