03/Aug/2012, En Route Santa Marta to Cartagena - Colombia
Clutching our latest Zarpe (permit to sail) we headed off at 9am today bound for Cartagena. Only 110 sea miles distant heading SW along the coast but little wind so far and a lot of motoring. Grey skies sheltered us from the sun as a humid day emerged, strong winds blowing from the mountains overnight eased off at about 3.30am, another 2 hours slumber before arising and doing the final preparations for sea.
Weather forecasts downloaded to check the latest info on Tropical Storm Ernesto. His track passed the East Caribbean islands early this morning, almost directly over the areas we enjoyed cruising just 3 months ago. The projected track should pass about 350M off the Colombia coast and we should be safely tucked up in Cartagena 36 hours before he romps past to the north emanating large swells in all directions.
Photo shows a view from this morning, looking astern from 2 miles offshore from Santa Marta.
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01/Aug/2012, Ensenada Bonito Gordo - Tayrona - Colombia
A return visit today and we found the shy seahorse in pretty much the same location...this time we remembered the underwater camera
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...Mountains in the background with Iolea at anchor
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31/Jul/2012, Concha Cove - Parque Tayrona - Colombia
A short hike and another snorkeling excursion today. The walking is not very rewarding with few views from amongst the thorny trees and cactus while skirting along the coast path.
Today the skies are quite grey, so not so good for solar power. Moody dark skies with intermittent rain has given a completely new atmosphere to this coastline. A dinghy trip to a cove in the west of the bay brought new underwater views, slightly better visibility but a host of small corals and fish to watch while finning over a boulder strewn sea bed. Lots of porcupine fish hiding in gaps, large shoals of Blue Tangs flitting by, the territorial fiestiness of Damsel Fishes as they nip at fingers and knuckles. The highlight of today was the large seahorse clinging to seaweed as the swell caused a surge to flow and ebb across his perch. So much time spent hunting for these creatures in Bonaire and this one spotted by Ed & Faye was a treat to see.
Tomorrow we will head back to civilisation and prepare for our departure towards Cartagena. If we can arrange clearances before the weekend we might arrive there on Saturday or Sunday; only a 110 Mile passage it is looking like a motoring session with little wind forecast.
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30/Jul/2012, Concha Cove - Parque Tayrona - Colombia
So much for hopes of a quiet night. The buffeting from about 11pm through until 4am is quite the norm in these bays. The beauty of the Sierra Nevada backdrop is compensated for by the strong offshore winds overnight with gale force gusts, maybe they are less during the winter months when the Caribbean Sea is not so hot, but then the trade winds are more established at that time of the year?? We are very pleased with our 30Kg Spade anchor, we were sold on them after using a 20Kg version with our previous boat but the past few days has resulted in a big tick. Now anchored off the beach at the head of the bay so we'll see how gusty conditions are here tonight, instead of being under the cliffs.
Snorkeling again this morning. The water is not crystal clear and that makes the experience less than perfect. Many smaller fish and some nice corals but one needs to duck dive down to see them without particulates in the water...we were thoroughly spoiled in Bonaire's clear waters so everything is now judged against that benchmark.
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29/Jul/2012, Ensenada Concha - Parque Tayrona - Colombia
Swell hooked around the headland to make the anchorage in Ensenada Chengue rather bouncy. That in itself would not have been too uncomfortable but the anchor chain occasionally snagged on a rocky outcrop on the bottom bringing the movement up short with a sudden jerk. An attempt was made to toast the sunset with a beer from a nearby beach. We lasted about 90 seconds ashore as the insect life screamed dinner is served. It was pleasant finishing our beers bobbing just offshore and out of the buzzing clutches of the mosquitos and biting flies.
Enough of this swelly cove and on to Ensenada Concha, the closest to Santa Marta and obviously geared up for more visitors; a long expanse of sandy beach at the head of the bay was kitted out with shades and loungers for hire, quite a contrast to the deserted bays seen so far. We chose an anchorage to the side of the bay just off a shingle beach. Iolea with Paul and Kate aboard joined us about an hour after arriving and are anchorted close by. Maybe tonight will prove to supply less of a series of katabatic winds from the mountains beyond. The scenery is still stunning and our short sail from bay to bay was rewarded with a small pod of dolphins joining us for a short while. A delight for Ed & Faye who managed to take some short film of their antics with a mobile phone camera.
Photo shows Faye, Sue and Ed toasting the sunset.
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