We had a good sail to Curacao and anchored in a very enclosed bay called Spanish Harbour for a few days. It was really good to be somewhere that was safe, comfortable and where everyone was extraordinarily helpful and friendly. Apart from the temperature the pavement cafes could easily be in Europe and there is plenty of Dutch baking to try. The shops are full of Dutch goodies and we bought  quite a lot of stores of things that we think might not be available in Cartagena or Panama. It is hard to buy enough because the quantities are so outrageous that you don't believe you could possibly eat it all. We presume that provisions will be expensive and hard to get once we are out in the Pacific and a diet of unrelieved fish could be a bit trying. Finding places on board to stow everything is a bit of a challenge as well.

Willemstadt, the capital, is build round a huge lagoon which has one entry to the sea and an oil refinery as well as the city on its shore.
The architecture is wonderful, Dutch style with Caribbean colours. 
Here you can see the outermost bridge on floating pontoons which pivots on a huge hinge to allow ships through. The Dutch are experts at this sort of thing.

 The inner bridge is this hugely high affair.

Erik and Jean-Claude from Viking at Sarifundi's bar with a mob of yachties at happy hour.

Foss rented a dinghy and had a go at some 'real' sailing round Spanish Harbour.