Wednesday, May 31, 1995 - Aruba

The wind was blowing even harder today, so I took the hotel shuttle boat to the island, but Roy paddled over with his diving gear. He stopped at a dive shop along the way to refill his tank. By coincidence, the boat I was on went by just as Roy was pulling his Royak up on the beach. We waved to each other. He told me later that the woman in the dive shop told him that hurricane Brett went within 15 miles of Aruba two years ago. It didn't do any damage here, but that's still too close for comfort. We thought we were safely well south of the hurricane belt. The wind was blowing like crazy on the point, and the water was full of whitecaps, but Roy strapped on his tank and went for a short dive. Fortunately, he stayed on the inside of the island. Later, he paddled to the outside, where breakers were breaking and the wind was blowing all the way to Honduras, but to my relief, he turned around and returned to the point. Then he returned his Royak to the Jofian and rode the shuttle boat to the island. We enjoyed a good swim in the delightful water, took showers, and went home. Tomorrow's D-Day -- Departure Day. Roy leaves on Air Aruba at 9:30, so he spent most of the rest of today getting packed.