January 11, 2010
Sander Vellinga can’t get far from the water. The dockmaster of Renaissance Marina in Aruba lives on the island, which is 20 miles long and five miles wide.
“You’re bound to run into the sea at some point,” Vellinga said by phone from his office. “So, yes, we’re sailors.”
Americans usually add an s to his first name, so many visitors know him as Sanders, which has prompted him to start signing that way, even to his family.
Vellinga and his wife live a full five minutes from the marina and they sail every Sunday. “My wife has said no more boats,” Vellinga said of his fleet, which includes a 33-foot sailing yacht, a couple of Sunfish, an 18-foot beach cat and a kayak he uses twice a week.
“I can sail the 33-footer myself and we can camp in it. I don’t want anything bigger,” he said.
“Some days we go to the club, we look out and say, which one will we use today?” Vellinga said. “Very luxurious life, huh?”
His family moved from Holland when he was 1 year old and he has sailed since he was 8. They had a little pram and next got a Sunfish. Then Vellinga found a boat on the beach with the keel pushed through, which he fixed up for himself.
While growing up, his father taught English and his mother taught Dutch.
“Actually everyone on this island speaks four languages; English, Dutch, Spanish and Papiamento, a mixture of Portuguese and Spanish with African grammar,” he said.
Vellinga went to university in Holland and studied law. But eventually he decided that type of life, working inside, was not for him.
“I didn’t want to sit in an office, but 30 years later, here I sit in an office,” he said. “I really do get out to the docks sometimes.”
After university in Holland, he got back to Aruba as soon as possible and took the first job he found as crew on a day charter. Then he became a charter captain and eventually organized charters.
Then, with a lot of hands on, studying and from connections with the companies he worked with over the years, he started a yacht maintenance business. This ultimately led he and a partner to start East Wind Marine Services managing Renaissance’s marina in Aruba’s capital city, Oranjestad.
Getting into the harbor is clear with two easily navigated entrances into the harbor, Vellinga explained. There is a shoal so buoys were added to make navigating as easy as possible. He has made sure the Web site information is inclusive for captains.
“We have clearance information on the Web to make it easier for all because Aruba’s customs are different from the other islands in the Caribbean,” he said. “I figured it would be better if we explained in-depth so everyone can be prepared.”
Renaissance Marina has Med mooring so length is not an issue. The entrance is 12.5 feet deep and there is 14 feet of depth at the dock.
The past two years on Aruba have seen an increase in private and charter yachts, Vellinga said, because the island is a great holding area and a relaxing place to stop. And more yachts are adding the ABC islands (Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao) and Aves Island to their itinerary, he said.
“Aruba is open all the time, we have no specific season,” he said. “Previously, we have not really been a destination because we are not as easily accessed, on the south side of the island. But it’s growing, and we are a stopover for boats transiting to or from the Panama Canal.”
The marina is in the middle of town, with a casino near the dock.
“Walk off the boat and be in a restaurant in two minutes; five minutes to party and short enough to crawl home,” he said, adding that the island has good infrastructure for dropping off crew and guests because of daily flights.
If there are unanswered questions and Vellinga is not at work, look for him sailing in the nearby sea.
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