A few days after arriving in Spanish Waters, we visited the fuel station at the Curacao Yacht Club. As we were leaving, a new dinghy pulled up and we introduced ourselves to its captain. His name is Steve and he is the captain on a boat called Kialoa III which will be staying here for a few months. After we realized that he had not cleared in, we quickly shared our experiences with Curacao formalities with the hope of sparing him some frustration and time. He was really nice, so we had hoped to meet up with him later.
We had seen Kialoa III in several races earlier this year and she is a magnificent sailing machine! Kialoa III was designed by Sparkman and Stephens as a 79ft ketch and built by Palmer Johnson in 1974, before being converted to a sloop in 1976. She held the Sydney to Hobart race record for 21 years and had many victories worldwide – see her various race results.
We ended up meeting with Steve at a happy hour at Pirate’s Nest (which is where most of the boaters can be found between 5p-6p daily). We invited him over for dinner since he had not been on a boat like ours before. The day before, Matt had tried out a new recipe that he received from our friends on Contrary Mary – chicken roti! Matt made the roti bread (similar to a tortilla) and the super scrumptious chicken curry fixins for the inside all from scratch! It was so spectacular, we ate it two nights in a row. It was super fun hearing all of his stories. He is a Kiwi by birth and has traveled all over the world. His unique talents are highly sought after by many a yacht owners as he is not just a captain, but also a marine genius. He, like Matt, can fix almost anything.
We decided that we wanted to explore Curacao Marine Ship Yard so the three of us hopped on the 6A bus to Willemstad. Steve had ridden on the small buses, but this was his first adventure on the big bus (which are pretty darn nice with AC, decent chairs, and turnstiles at the entrance and exit). For a f1.70 (or $.85) you can ride all the way into town. Once in town, we pulled up our maps.me app and walked the couple of miles to Curacao Marine. It was not a direct path and took us through some shabby parts of town (we’d seen this already, but it was new to Steve). We ended up crossing “the ring” which is the main highway and scampered up a hill to see the yard.
Panorama view of the city from a top our hill.
Curacao Marine Shipyard and Marina.
Right when we walked in, we noticed a HUGE travel lift that could easily accommodate our boat and even Kialoa III. This lift had a maximum capacity of 60 tons (to give you an idea of how big that is, we are only 11 tons and Kialoa II is 40 tons). We toured the yard, took a few photos, visited the main office and ran into a Frenchman who is staying in the marina. He was very chatty and informed us that the yard had recently went through management changes and life was excellent now! He said the service was great, they were really friendly and did good work. He was a a great salesman for the yard and for Curacao.
Curacao Marine Bar.
Huge lift for hauling boats. This is 1 of 2.
Steve is not a walker but he hung in there with us. He is an avid mountain biker, runner, and swimmer but walking is not “his thing.” We were all starving, so after we arrived back in town we needed to get something to eat. A few weeks ago, Matt and I had walked by a large nondescript building with lots of seating inside and a row of cooks against the back wall. We made a mental note to come back another time but we soon forgot. Steve mentioned it during our walk so when we arrived back into town we head to it, Zus di Plaza. A half dozen vendors line up along one side of the wall creating their specialty menus as customers sit on family style benches to enjoy their feasts. The 2nd to last booth had arepa di pampuna or pumpkin pancakes so that is where we headed. As we sat down, we started chatting with 2 locals who were already eating. Their meal looked so good we decided to order two of our own. It was a local, white filet fish, with TuTu (a black eyed pea concoction), salad, and mashed potatoes. Let me tell you—it was fabulous! We will certainly have to return here soon.
Exterior of Zus Di Plaza – looks nondescript.
Interior Zus Di Plaza, before the lunch rush.
Fish Filet
Tutu which is black eyed peas mushed with other yummy stuff
As the week progressed we were nearing the finale of the America’s Cup. Steve is of course rooting for New Zealand (as he is a Kiwi) and we were just interested in seeing these spectacular flying machines. Since Steve is staying at the Santa Barbara Beach Resort Marina he suggested we meet him at the poolside bar, Splash to watch the event. When we arrived, he was seated next to a lovely couple who are also staying at the marina (they are American and rooting for Oracle, team U.S.A.). I was torn, as I wanted America to win but they only had 2 American’s on their team and they weren’t even starting so they really aren’t an American team. Besides Oracle had won a lot and it was time for a new country to take the win.
We ended up watching the last 3 days (or last 6 races) with Steve up at Splash which was proved to be a really fun outing. We would swing by the dock, take a dip in the ocean, walk up to the bar, have a snack and some water and enjoy a fun event.
On Sunday, it was a bit of a $h*t show at the dock. You see, it is free to tie your boat here and anyone can enjoy the beautiful turquoise water and white sandy beach. The top photo is the dock on any normal weekday and the bottom photo is the weekend.
Week day and weekend shot of Santa Barbara dock.
On Monday, we arrived a little early so we decided to explore the property a little bit. They have a giant chess game (life size), horse shoes, a yoga platform (also used for weddings), and a beautiful golf course.
Santa Barbara Golf Course.
Santa Barbara eating area – can you imagine a romantic dinner here?
Stay tuned for more adventures with our new friend Steve.