Curacao - Netherland Antilles (FEB 27)

March 01, 2020

We arrived if the entrance to Willemstad's harbor at 0830. Two much larger cruise ships were at the "megapier" facility outside the harbor entrance. Last time, although oboard a small Oceania cruise ship, we had tied up there because the berth that we would have today was occupied. Docked at it was another small cruise ship on a long-term charter to the Church of Scientology which leased the berth full time.

We passed under the car bridge and into the industrial section of the Harbor the Isla Refinery there appeared to have been shut down. Later online research revealed that it was just going through a major upgrade funded by a Chinese energy conglomerate. The fact that the Venezuelan state-owned oil company lost its lease on the facility was another blow to that country's economic problems.

There ROTTERDAM made a 180° turn and started back down the channel towards her berth.

As we came down the channel and under the bridge, on our port side was a private yacht named TATOOSH that was impressive. In addition to a helicopter, she carried not 1 but 2 sizeable launches midships. Forward we saw at least three smaller ones. The boat displayed no hailing port.

Hello Google. She is the 60th largest megayacht in the world. She has a 35- person crew. Click on the link above for more details.

The ship pulled alongside its berth. Messenger lines (such as the one indicated by red arrow) were thrown out to the longshoreman who used them to pull the heavy docking lines ashore. Soon it was announced that they ship had been cleared by local authorities and everyone could go ashore.

Pam and I held back until the initial stampede disembarked, then headed out for a walk. We started out walking some busy side streets near the ship. As we had observed in other places numerous times, just a couple of blocks away from the tourist haunts Willemstad had a much different personality. We felt more like outsiders looking in on the personal lives of the locals. It was not threatening, but it was not welcoming.

We wandered back to the channel and after browsing around the old fort which had now been converted to shops, cafes and a hotel, we walked across the pontoon pedestrian bridge.

We had lunch at a waterfront table at the Iguana Cafe. It is a fun place to watch people and boat traffic. During lunch the Queen Emma Bridge opened partway to let a tug slip into the harbor.

Again we took to some back streets, but these were tourist haunts.

We were disappointed to find the open air market which backed onto a small side-channel much changed from our previous visits. Before, It was a row of fish and produce venders. Behind the stands were boats from which the stands were restocked and where the venders and crew lived. Everyone was from Venezuela. The boats were relatively small, made of wood and had 55-gallon fuel drums strapped to the top of the superstructure. It was a vibrant place with lots of activity and personality. It was now a row of tourist trinket vendors.

Venezuela broke ties with the Netherland Antilles islands because the latter supported the opposition to the former's President Maduro. Venezuela closed its border with the islands.

The fishermen and farmers of the Venezuelan coastal communities have suffered because they are now forced to sell internally in a country experiencing hyper-inflation. The people on the islands haved suffered because the land is too arid to grow crops or raise livestock. Food is very expensive. Produce and fish provided by Venezuelans helped mitigate that cost.

We recrossed the pontoon bridge and returned to ROTTERDAM.