Tuesday, August 8, 1995 - Aruba

Roy put on his SCUBA gear and finished scrubbing the bottom of the hull. Then he paddled back to the dive shop for another 3000 pounds of air. I paddled into town, got rid of most of the rest of my Aruban money, which will be totally worthless after we leave here, picked up a copy of "Aruba Today", the free English-language newspaper, went to the Post Office for a final check for mail at Poste Restante (General Delivery), and bought a few groceries. Around four in the afternoon, we picked up the anchor and headed for Eddie's place. The weather forecast was for 10 to 15 knot winds, but it was blowing 20 and of course directly towards us. It took us an hour to go the two miles. The engine overheated again, but not as badly as on Saturday. Nevertheless, it's a problem that must be corrected before we head out over 70 miles of open sea to Cura‡ao. We also realized we need more diesel. We have 35 gallons, but if we only make two knots, we might run out just before reaching Willemstad. I had hoped there would be less wind in the little cove in front of Eddie's house, but if anything, it's even windier than at Surfside. When we first dropped anchor, it dragged, but we didn't have enough chain out. We put out more chain and ran the lead weight down the chain. After that, we held. We're next to the garbage dump, but the wind blows the smoke away from us. On the beach next to the dump is a dwelling that is difficult to describe. It's too small and dilapidated to be called a hut or shack. It's sort of a droopy tent made, apparently, of pieces of plastic and sticks. Perhaps hovel would be the word. The man who lives there has nine large dogs. No wonder he can't afford a house; he must use most of his money to buy dogfood. He probably earns a living by scavenging from the dump. Despite his lifestyle, he looks healthy and strong. He's probably in his twenties or thirties. At night, he lit a bonfire on the beach. It burned for several hours. Shortly after we arrived, we saw a strange sight. A southbound cruise ship went by a mile or two off shore, stopped, and began drifting backwards. We could only assume it was having major propulsion problems. It continued drifting slowly backwards for several miles. Then it disappeared from our view behind Sonesta Island. But around midnight it returned, brightly lit as a cruise ship should be, and back on course.