61. I am Kurious Oranj

I took a bus into Oranjestad; amazing buildings, lots and lots of souvenir shops and casinos, and a beautiful marina. I went to Starbucks.

Oranjestad

Mainstreet

At last I bought a new outboard: a Yamaha 5HP 2 stroke, I’m guessing about 10 years old, but fairly well maintained (serviced about 6 months ago). Including a new propeller still in the box, impellers and spark plugs, it cost me $500 (actually $440, 30 Euros and 25 Curacao Florin). So happy to have an engine again, but it’s way more than I wanted to spend. It’s not as good as the Johnson I lost, and that only cost 2 crates of beer. This cost ten times that. But it’s the best I could do, and actually I’m quite lucky to have been able to do that good. It wasn’t even for sale; I noticed a Dutch sailor on a catamaran anchored next to me had an extra outboard on his rail, so I asked him if he would consider selling.

Look like cake

I bumped into S/V Cheers in Renaissance marina. I was anchored next to Keith and Ida in Bonaire. They have a lovely boat, smaller than Sonic Boom, but new – everything is immaculate. They’re on their way to Columbia, lots of people seem to be going there, I was too, but my plan now is to stay in Aruba for a while and then go to Jamaica. My sister arrives in ten days, so I’ll motor back over to Oranjestad, pick her up and then we’ll sail over to the beaches on the west coast.