26 ALLAN HANCOCK ATLANTIC EXPEDITION REPORT 



midpoint, and inside Little Bonaire Island. Both northwest and southwest 

 channels are navigable. Anchorage is on a narrow bank within 300 yards 

 of shore, and vessels are advised to make fast to shore with a hawser and 

 haul themselves into position. 



Curaqao 

 (Collecting Stations A45-A47) 



The island of Curagao is the largest and most important of the three. 

 It is 33 miles long and 6 miles wide and has one peak, Mt. St. ChristofEel, 

 which reaches an elevation of 1,220 feet.This peak is located at the ex- 

 treme northwest portion of the island in a position similar to that occupied 

 by Brandaris Peak on Bonaire. A secondary elevation, Mt. Santa Barbara, 

 elevation 633 feet, is located at the southeast end, and much of the inter- 

 vening portion of the island is hilly. The population of the island is about 

 50,000 inhabitants, more than half of whom live in the principal city, 

 Willemstad. 



A current setting to westward occurs seasonally along the southwest 

 shore of the island, and care must be taken in approaching the narrow 

 entrance to Santa Anna Bay. 



PFillemstad 

 (Chart 10) 



The principal port of the Netherlands West Indies is located at 

 Willemstad, the capital city, on the south side of the island of Curagao. 

 The harbor entrance is a narrow channel known as Santa Anna Bay, 

 which divides the city into two parts. Santa Anna Bay is but 120-200 

 yards wide with depths to 12 fathoms, and is spanned by a unique pontoon 

 bridge which connects Willemstad proper, on the eastern bank, with 

 Otrabanda, on the western. A scant mile beyond the pontoon bridge Santa 

 Anna Bay broadens into the Schottegat, a turning basin having two large 

 extensions, the eastern known as Boeska Bay and the western known as 

 Valentijn Bay. These arms of the Schottegat are separated by a peninsula 

 on which are located extensive oil refineries. Anchorage was had by the 

 Velero III in the eastern portion of the Schottegat at the mouth of Boeska 

 Bay in 12 fathoms. 



The city of Willemstad has a population of about 28,000. It is a 

 principal port of call of many steamship lines and has excellent communi- 

 cations and port facilities. Its chief importance lies in its proximity to the 

 oil fields of the Lake Maracaibo district of Venezuela. Crude oil is trans- 

 ported across the 35-mile channel from the mainland in shallow-draft lake 

 boats to the great refineries of Curagao, after which the refined petroleum 

 is shipped to all parts of the world. Over 5,000 ships yearly clear the 

 harbor at Willemstad, a figure comparing well with that of New York 

 Harbor. 



