Sailing from Santa Marta to Carthagena
24 February 2014 | Carthagena
Against the advice of recent cruising articles to visit Cartagena by bus from Santa Marta, we sailed there. Despite paying an additional US70 for an agent to clear us in, this was the better option as we could stay as long as we wished.
The notorious stretch of water between Santa Marta and Cartagena could also be done in two daylight passages and anchoring overnight at Puerto Velero (Punta Hermoso). This 114NM stretch can be one of the most dangerous in the Caribbean. You can encounter 40kt winds, unpredictable downwind seas, the crossing of the Magdalena river estuary and pirates at Puerto Velero.
Since the last reported case of piracy was 2012 we ruled this risk out as long as we anchored close to the new marina at Punta Velero. Rainfall was low this time of year, so debris ladened river flow was also a low risk. Our only concern was the wind, so we were lucky when a very calm weather window opened.
We set off from Santa Marta at 0600 with 5 kts head winds forecast to change soon in our favour. The wind didn't change until much later. We had to motor but, the consolation was, we had relatively calm seas. We only noticed crossing the Rio Magdalena because the sea changed colour from blue to dirty brown. At midday the wind finaly changed and blew from behind at 15-20kts (forecast 15kts).
At 1600 we approached Puerto Velero. Here we had to be very careful and navigate by eye only. Not easy in murky water. Only Google Earth showed a realistic map of the land spit that protruded 2NM out from the coast. There are no water depths on Google! . Navionics, Garmin and CMap charts all showed a spit half this size. Only later did we obtain an official Columbian chart that appeared accurate. By the time we got to the marina the wind was gusting 25kts and there was no way we were going to try a med mooring without help, so we anchored in 5m of water to the west of the dock in very calm water.