20130308-20130331 Cruising the Coast of Colombia, Santa Marta, Cartagena, Rosario Islands

Latin music - everywhere. Salsa, Cuban, Merengue, Bacchata, Rhumba - almost on every street, corner café, vendors' tiendas, and indoor/outdoor bars and restos. Similar to Cuba, music is a big part of the Colombian culture.

Just Mark and I now. We made our plans for departing Aruba, looking for a good weather window which was forecasted to be early March. After making our goodbyes to many local yachties and acquaintances we met, we left the dock, saying our last goodbye to our young sailing friend Blair.

Well, it took us 3 long long day sails (did I say long?) and another half day sail to get to Santa Marta Marina. We anchored off designated bays, several of which were quite bouncy due to waves and winds from a previous front. We saw many dolphins along the way with the wind and the waves on our stern pushing us along, sometimes reaching est 15 knots with just using the Genny and the Jib! - a good thing. We were hesitant to hoist the Main due to our last Spinnaker blow out and its halyard still in the mast, next to the Main halyard. The fear was we could not lower the Main if the Spinn halyard knotted up next to it, and with squalls blowing infrequently up to 35 knots, it could be a big problem. We will have to test this dilemma when on anchor or at a dock in light or no wind.

One of our favorite anchorages along the coast to Santa Marta was Cabo Vela. We dingyied into their town which was really dirt streets full of thatched roofed bungalows.... only one Tienda with minimal provisions. We had an arrival drink and purchased snacks for many young children who politely greeted us when we dragged our dinghy onto shore. Quite a change of pace now from our time in Aruba, with poverty and simpler lives in this 3rd world country.

Exhausted from the long day sails over, we docked in Santa Marta Marina, known to be quite safe in security vs those in Cartagena. We had somewhat been flying a little blind since the charts of Colombia are very inaccurate, and no pilot book is available, but from Mark's diligent research, Santa Marta proved to be a reliable place to keep aVida when we travelled in the coming weeks.

The town of Santa Marta is the oldest town in Colombia - however, it is quite frankly not so attractive in architecture and culture. Regardless, it has a charm of local flair, and little tourism if any.

Our sailing friend Blair arrived the following day after a challenging sail when the winds kicked in as predicted. We spent some nights with him and his crew member Neal having drinks and dinner, as they were quite fun, and really not much else to do there.

We had about three weeks to go before we go home to the USA for three weeks. After our pending maintenance work was done, we planned a side trip to Cartagena... a "must see" from what we knew. And it is. Arriving there by a comfortable van and a scenic four hour ride along side the Sierra Nevada mountains and the coastline, we found a handful of quaint boutique hotels to lodge for the following days. Cartagena is a fantastic town - filled with courtyard mansions from the days of wealthy Spaniards, the cobblestone streets lined with markets and vendors selling their wares, Cuban music resonating from colorful bungalows, horse drawn-taxis, friendly locals - we felt like we were back in Havana, minus the old cars from the 50s. What a treat!

Cartagena is a walled town with other surrounding regions outside its walls. We hiked several forts, with much history dating back to the 1500s. We had the pleasure of lodging in one of the oldest mansions refurbished into housing for its owner with rooms to let on request. We danced salsa many nights in several favorite Cuban bars and restos, enjoying the town immensely.

After we maxed out exploring the town, we took a side trip to the Rosario Islands SW of Cartagena, via taxi and less than an hour boat ride. We chose to lodge at San Pedro Resort on the largest island "Isla Grande". Mangrove built, with huge exotic convoluted old rubber trees and a collection of thatched roof natural eco-friendly bungalows. Our first day we took an eco-friendly day tour canoeing through a maze of mangroves and hiked back through the villages, buying small crafts along the way from the locals . Surprisingly, the housing and way of life was not much far from those in African villages.

The 2nd day at this lodge, we snorkeled with a private guide across the grand reef only about a mile from the lodge. Speed boat traffic is frequent, so we were required to have a guide take us to the reef for safety reasons. Lots of coral, schools of many fish, mostly smaller. All in all it was good to get some water exercise and relief from the sweltering sun.

Back to Cartagena the following day for one more night of salsa music and dancing. Latin music-we love it as you may already know. We call it the "Spice of Life". Colombians call it "Their Way of Life".

Back to Santa Marta the morning after our last night in Cartagena via a day bus ride.

So, we arrive at the dock with our backpacks and approach aVida, and sadly noticed Blair moved on.

And, what the h.... happened while we were gone? The port side of aVida's lifeline was severed and her fenders retied around anything but the lifeline. Apparently the heavy wind front we anticipated did some damage while we were gone. Some parts of other docks had been dislocated as well. When the heavy winds hit, they brought in huge waves crashing over the breakwall causing a huge surge and swell into the harbor. Mark retied the fenders and was to arrange for a new lifeline to be fabricated and installed, and thankfully nothing else was damaged.

A week to go, for more maintenance, cleanup, organization, and packing, and then a return to the good ole US of A for three weeks beginning April 1!