Cruise to Aruba

It was a special weekend. For the first time in over half a year we went out sailing! Last time we had a cruise on s/y Phalarope with Joseph and Andrew. This time - for the first time in the history - we had a wonderful trip on a motor yacht. Captain Dan invited us onboard "Cristine" - over 12 metrs long trawler – for a two-day trip to the neighboring Aruba and back. The crew also consisted of a newcomer yacht hitch-hiker :) - our friend Clara from Spain - for the first time had signed into the crew list... 
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According to the regulations, all boats are allowed to stay on the island for a maximum of six months. After this period they must leave Curacao and visit another country, at least for one day. Honestly, at first he did not intend to leave YouYou on the anchor but the captain needed the crew and for us it was not a "normal ride”, so we went. Adding spice to the whole trip - it took place in the middle of the tropical cyclone season. Although the ABC islands lie outside the hurricane belt, w big depression had formed and slowly and laboriously was moving to the west covering also the range of our neighborhood. 

Briefly: while leaving Curacao we had a 50% chance that this depression would turn over into a hurricane in the next 48 hours.

 However, all the weather forecasts (from independent sources on the Internet) pointed the weakening of winds and a calm sea in our area for the whole week. So before we left, we set up a mega-thick rope to a solid bow of YouYou and attached it to a buoy astern, all that in addition to 40 meters of heavy chain and CQR anchor, completely buried in the sandy bottom at 6 meters. Such a set we've found as optimal. Curacao was on the edge of the danger zone, and even if such low-pressure had developed, we could have expected winds up to 35 knots. In addition, the Spanish Water bay is considered as one of the best hurricane hole in the Caribbean ...

We set off at dawn ... 

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