Finally, on Friday February 27 at 9AM we set sail for San Andres. Conditions were forecasted to be reasonable and we only had a 2-day window which is exactly what the trip was supposed to take: 48 hours. However, as soon as we motored out of the bay of Portobello and set our sails we realized that our angle of sail was excellent - about 60 degrees. Also, the waves, though still high, were hitting Kikuyu's bow on the starboard side and the bumping was not too uncomfortable. More so, we saw our speeds clocking in the high 7's which we had seen in the past (even seen many 8-10 knots) but we thought this was just temporary. But to our amazement, Kikuyu's speed remained from high 6's to mid 7's and on the second day its speed was a nearly constant mid 7s in winds of 15-20 knots. With these sustained speeds Kikuyu averaged nearly 7 knots for the entire trip and arrived at San Andres in 1.5 days - 220 miles in 31.5 hours! This is the fastest longest passage we have made in that the speed was sustained and the angle of sail even improved on the second day when the ocean was nearly flat. We also arrived in the daytime, with ample time to navigate through the narrow channel through the reef surrounding San Andres Island. We were elated by such of performance from Kikuyu, a 37-foot boat which safely speeds past our expectations all the time. Other sailing boats much larger than ours (over 42 feet) took longer than ours to make the passage. Of course, a little credit also goes to the sailors, primarily Kim who enjoys trimming or letting out enough sail to gain better performance from Kikuyu.

Entering the bay of San Andres was a display of the most beautiful sea colors we have seen so far - teals, blues, indigos, green colors were so crisp and clear that one's eyes were just fixed on the ocean and the white-suds created by the surge hitting the reef that protects the island. Half-way into our trip we had noticed that the ocean had gotten bluer than we had seen in the Caribbean. This is because we were entering the area of the Caribbean where the 2rd largest reef in the world sits, the Belize Barrier Reef which stretches from the Bay Islands in Honduras to Mexico. We filled our senses with these incredibly beautiful colors and, after anchoring and cleaning Kikuyu a bit, we sat in our cockpit to admire the harbor and the surging ocean waves hitting the reef around the island creating a festival of colors. San Andres is the beginning of a marine paradise.

The archipelago of San Andres which includes 2 large islands (San Andres and Providencia) and many cays is over 400 miles away from Colombia. Because of it is closer to Nicaragua than Colombia, Nicaraguans have claimed the archipelago for years. However, the islands were awarded to Colombia when Colombia became independent from Spain. We wondered how the islanders would feel about belonging to a country whose culture is very different from their African Caribbean culture as most islanders came from the West Indies and are of African descent? The islanders' language is primarily Caribbean-type English which is a mixture of many languages but mostly English as San Andres was first inhabited by white English Lutherans. It wasn't until the early 1980s when the Colombian government started paying closer attention to all the islands encompassing the archipelago of San Andres, establishing Spanish as the primary language to be used, advertising nationalistic propaganda to make islanders proud to be Colombians. However, we saw seeds of the Rastafarian movement and Bob Marlin-type dresses and hairdos in many islanders. We learned that there is a separatist movement in the island and wonder how long Colombia can keep its grip in this fantastic archipelago.

Maria was in San Andres with her parents in two occasions - back in 1990 and 1992. Her memories of the island were much different from what the island looks like today. Back then the island had many little shops and the beach was busy with vendors. Now, the streets are in great condition, very clean and the shops are very nice and attractive. Few or almost no vendors can be found on the beach asking visitors to buy their wares. Few vendors have their own stalls to display their wares. We were told that this is part of an improvement program the island instituted to make visitors' stay more pleasant.

San Andres is a thriving tourist attraction, with beautiful beaches, a wonderful walk-way along the beach built just 3 years ago, extremely clean and with very friendly people. We loved San Andres instantly and felt comfortable about having to stay in the island at least 1 week as we waited out a cold front coming down from Mexico. The island is about 12 x 5 long and easy to explore by land. One day we took a bus that took us around the island - the buses are very inexpensive and comfortable. Other days we walked the streets of the town and along the beach trying to get back into a bit of a shape. Being in the boat for extended periods of time with little exercise save for using our legs and arms to walk around and sail Kikuyu has taken a toll on our physical condition. Therefore, whenever we are on land we try to walk everywhere we go. San Andres' ambiance and relaxed atmosphere made it very pleasant to walk the same streets over and over. It is the low season now and so there are few tourists around. Nonetheless, it seems that even during high tourists' season the islanders continue their relaxed way of life, closing shops from 12-3PM to eat lunch and take a "siesta".
We plan to leave San Andres tomorrow Wednesday March 11, weather permitting, and sail to Providencia, spending a couple of nights there before continuing our northbound sail to Vivorillos Cays off of Honduras.

Pictures can be viewed in the album San Andres in the Gallery of Pictures.