Danki Dushi Aruba

Days flies by when you have good times with friends. I did not think about staying in Aruba for three weeks, nonetheless it has been a pleasant visit. You know you have been in one anchorage too long when; you recognize most of the boats around and every time you step ashore people know you by name, then it’s time to move on! The longer you stay in one Island the more convenient it becomes, you know where things are, where to go and you find new friends. However, the main reasons Earthling has not moved in three weeks is the weather. There will be a weather window on Monday and Tuesday with calm seas and moderate wind and we have to jump on it to sail to Colombia. The passage from Aruba to Colombia is considered to be very challenging. It is rated as the fifth most difficult passage in the world. Swells and currents from the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic ocean can collide and create large sharp seas. We shall wait and see in a couple of days.

California Light House

The Old Fort on the Windward

Sunset by Arashi Beach

Aruba is a great hub for friends and family to fly into. My friend Nick flew in on a non stop flight from Boston last week. It is nice to have old friends aboard, Nick’s visit was a great reunion. We rented a car and explored the Island. The highest elevation is 175m/600ft and there are steps on the side of the hill going all the way up, it didn’t take long to go up and down and the best view of the island could be viewed from here! We also drove through Arikok National Park to the windward side where there are a few very cool caves worth seeing. The drive through the national park and the North side of the Island is scenic and it is a fun ride on dirt roads along the windward coast. On the Leeward are the “High Rise Hotels” along long beautiful beaches such as Palm Beach, Eagle beach, and Manchebo Beach. At the most Eastern corner is Arashi Beach, where locals go to and the California sand dunes and Lighthouse are just around the corner.

View of the Tallest Hill

View from the highest Point

Nick is pointing at the Pinnacle

The Light Shall Set You Free

Guadirikiri Cave

Stock up Reef Rocks and make a wish, lots of wishes must come true here

As of a couple days ago my friend Hector joined Earthling. He will be aboard till Cartagena, Colombia. Hector is fluent in Spanish, which makes communication easier in a Spanish speaking nation. Earthling’s boat buddy S/V “Chiron” is also here and we will be making the passage alongside each other.

In Papiamento
Danki=Thanks
Dushi=Sweet

View the complete Album of Aruba on fb page, click here

Follow Earthling’s crumb trail from Aruba to Colombia on spot connect       

Love From Aruba

Back on Earthling

First of all I want to apologize to all followers and friends that I have not updated the blog for such a long time. Life on land has been tense and full of actions. Actions that I’ve been wanting to write about but never found the peaceful alone time. I am neither a writer nor a reader. Writing to me has always been like homework. I am still working on my writing skills and this blog has surely helped me to overcome some of the difficulties. Aboard Earthling, I always had someone to help me fix my writing. Many thanks to Kelly, Nico, and Katherine. Kelly is up in the Rocky Mountains/Aspen working in her field as a hair stylist. Nico is traveling in Israel and then South East Asia for the next few months, and Katherine is coming to visit Earthling for New Years.

In the last five months, I have been working in Chicago, visited my parents, grand parents, and family in Iran, and visited my siblings and family in Sweden.
Now, I am back on Earthling on the hard, alone. I came back to a fried lizard and a fried battery. Unfortunately It was difficult to tell if it was Lizzy or Quickie, but I believe it was Lizzy and I think Quickie was fast enough to get away. The first house battery had to be thrown out and single cells in a couple of the other batteries are bad. Otherwise Earthling is in fine condition, no mice or cockroaches.

Blisters along the old water line

My full time/overtime job now is to give Earthling lots of love and attention, so she can keep me and crew safe at sea. The biggest project is to raise the water line two to four inches. She is a heavy girl and now she has even more toys. A new Lofran Tigres windlass with a wireless remote control along with 150ft of 10mm chain. Only the chain weighs 400 to 450 pounds! She got a new Wirie wifi booster/router, an arch for the antennas and solar panels, new spinnaker (thanks to Donna Hastings), truough-hull for salt water at the sink (in the past we washed dishes with salt water in a bucket), new galley faucet, radar reflector, halyards, lines, and many other small upgrades. The plan is to launch on Thursday Dec 20th and the goal is to finish most of the projects. I wish I could just pay someone to do all the work. To raise the water line cost $2700, approximately 40 hours of labor. Well if I'm lucky It takes me 70 hours to make $2700 and this job will not take me more than 70 hours, logically, I should do it myself. It’s like going to work but for yourself and it is absolutely more rewarding. 


Love from Earthling