Christmas in Curacao

When we last wrote we were in Santa Martha Baai awaiting the arrival of family to help us celebrate Christmas. Christmas is over and we are back in Spanish Waters waiting for a weather window to head north to Antigua. What happened in between you may ask. Some expectations were met, others weren't.

We headed up to Lucy's Place on the 19th to meet Daniella, the rental agent, and await the arrival of the Perry's at noon. Daniella informed us that there was a major electrical problem that was being worked on and that we wouldn't have access to the villa until the afternoon. Because the Perry's were expecting to meet us there we chose to stay at the villa and relax on the patio. Come 3PM the workers were still busy and it looked like we wouldn't get into the villa that day and the Perry's still hadn't arrived. Daniella arranged for us to stay at another villa for the night and took Griff to the resort in order to check e-mail to see if there was any news from the Perry's - there was. Their plane had been delayed in Trinidad and they were just arriving in Curacao. They finally arrived and we got settled in to the new villa for the night with the promise that Lucy's Place would be available the next day at noon.

We went back to Lucy's Place at noon to find that the workers were still there. The wiring was fixed, but there was no air conditioning, no TV, no dishwasher and we later discovered no hot water. There went the Perry's expectations of hot showers and air conditioning. They were really looking forward to those two things after their apartment in Grenada which had neither. The A/C and dishwasher were repaired later that evening and the TV replaced, but still no hot water and the A/C was making noise like it was working but there was no air blowing and therefore no cooling. We had to move in because the other villa had other renters now. We decided we could live with things the way they were as long as they were still being worked on. Daniella assured us she had been in contact with the owner and everything would be repaired. Oh yes - the WiFi quit working Friday night so we lost contact with family back home unless we went downto the resort, the dive shop or the boat.

On Sunday the A/C was replaced with separate units in each bedroom, however, the workers were in the house most of the day and quite often in the evening. They frequently arrived just as we were sitting down to dinner, which we ate every evening on the balconey overlooking Mystic Journey in the bay. There went another expectation of quiet family meals.

Rob arrived at 8:30PM Sunday. Our family group was now complete. Monday half of us went into Willemstadt to shop while the other half stayed at the resort and went snorkeling. On Tuesday this was reversed. We had to do it that way because we did not have a vehicle big enough to transport all of us at once. That was the last expectation not met for us - group outings to take in the sites of the island and going snorkeling.

By now you are probably thinking that the time we spent together was terrible. Actually, despite all the problems I listed above we did have a great time visiting with family and spending the Christmas season with them. We did go to the beach and snorkeling on Christmas day. We were able to call family on Christmas day and enjoyed watching the Sparks' family and Jason opening their presents. We accepted the challenge of cooking a Christmas turkey when all we had was a two burner stove, a toaster oven and the barbecue on the boat. We finally decided to cut up the turkey, boil it at the villa and then take it to the boat to brown it on the barbecue. Surprisingly it still tasted like Christmas turkey - only no stuffing.

The Perry's headed back to Grenada on the 26th. On the 27th we headed out of Santa Martha Baai with Rob aboard. We were headed back to Spanish Waters. That would be more convenient for us to access Customs and Immigration and for Rob to leave for the airport. We also wanted Rob to have the opportunity of sailing with us. TO BE CONTINUED.