14 November 2011; Oranjestad, Aruba.

 Approaching Aruba from the West gives the problem that it is hard to see. You have to look into the sun, rains clouds in the area make the light very diffuse and the island is fairly flat. It is not as if an “Aruba Mountain” is rising out of the ocean and visible for miles around. Aruba has one hill, the Hooiberg (that would translate in Hay Mountain although it is more a Hay hill) but for the rest the island is flat. When approaching the port the most significant items rising up from the land are the container stacks in the cargo port, the big casino hotel in the centre of the town and any cruise ships that might have docked there already. The port itself lays in the inner curve of the island sheltered behind a reef that leaves a natural entrance and exit. Standard routine is to enter from the West side and leave via the East side. Other way around is also possible but west –East is a more natural approach. Thus we came around the south west side of the island and so could line up directly in the leading lights which will ensure that you are approaching the middle of the channel and also indicate if you are being set away by the current and or the wind. 

At least that is the theory. It did not work today. The cruise ship Horizon (Pullmantur) was already in the port and docked at F berth, so its nose was obscuring the top of the leading lights. When they built the dock, nobody had envisioned that one day large cruise ships would call at the port and now the docks are not large enough for them. With the regular cruise terminal occupied by the Statendam and the Carnival Miracle, the Horizon was assigned the side berth and that is not long enough to avoid the stern sticking out in the fairway. To make that overhang as short as possible, the bow goes all the way forward and then it is nearly impossible to see the higher after light. Not that it matters that much nowadays. GPS linked to radar is so accurate that you can sail blind into the port. However a sailor always likes redundancy, check, recheck and double check as we call that and thus a leading light is a great tool as well. Plus you do not have to look at the radar all the time but can look out of the window and I prefer that at anytime. So without leading lights but still straight in the middle of the fairway we sailed into the port. There was one cargo ship at the container terminal and the Horizon in the side berth. The cargo/container ship was called the Spring Bok, giving me the initial idea that it could be a South African ship. But not so, the ship belonged to the Dutch company SeaTrade and had as registration the city of Groningen; how more Dutch can you be. We docked all the way forward at the cruise terminal as the Carnival Miracle was to dock behind us when it arrived at noon time. I think they had a 12 noon pilot time as they came alongside around 12.45. That worked out very nice for the schedule as that meant that on departure I could sail out without having to pass another ship. Same for the Miracle; with me out of the way it would give them another 35 meters of space in the fairway to sail through.

The rain did show up and twice during our call we were showered with warm rain for a few minutes but with 2 hour intervals it was not that much of a concern. It was only extra work for our Magrodome attendant. Our movable ceiling over the lido pool is open whenever possible but when the rain clouds are gathering it is closed to avoid people in the sun chairs from getting wet but when the rain has past, it is re-opened again. Sailing away is a very quick affair. Let go the lines, the wind blows you off the dock, half ahead on the engines, starboard 5 on the rudders and with a nice turn you sail out of the eastern harbor exit. The pilot earned his money in exactly 10 minutes. Once out, we turned to the west and sped up to about 18 knots. Enough to get us to the Panama Canal; the day after tomorrow for a 0500, 0530 or 0600 arrival. I have to wait for the Panama Canal schedule to come in, before I know what time they exactly want me there.

As promised, some shots from Memorial day on the Statendam. All by our photographer specialist Hotelmanager  Bert van Mackelenbergh.

Cruise Director welcoming the guests                                         Cadet ringing the ships bell