04/Aug/2012, Cartagena - Colombia
A mixture of motoring in oily calm with sluggish large swell from the NE, motor-sailing and genuine sailing with winds up to 28 knots from the astern sector. Finally we arrived at the approaches to Cartagena. The much mentioned Pizzaz waypoint off the passage through the submerged wall at Bocas Grande was still accurate, the depth under the keel was about 1.5 metres (3.6m total depth) as reported. The passage marked by red and green buoys was easy to find and we could see the buoys from 2 miles off.
Pitufa was at anchor off Club Nautico. We last saw Birgit and Christian in Spaanse Water, Curacao about 7 weeks ago. Moana with Pedro aboard radioed to say he arrived a couple of hours after us after also departing Santa Marta yesterday.
This photo shows high rise Cartegena from seaward ....
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s/y Estelle
...and a tantalising sample of the old Spanish Colonial architecture which we hope to explore over the next few days.
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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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