On Monday, Dec 5th, before sunrise we left our home and traveled to Colombia. Cartagena welcomed us with a heavy rain, high humidity, and muddy streets. Mauricio, the manager of the marina told us that they got an unusual amount of rain this season and some hurricanes. In the marina, Nina was waiting for us, safe on the hard. With 2 begs and 3 suitcases full of necessity for 5 months, climbing a narrow wiggly ladder up to the boat, seemed like an impossible task at first.
The second day progressed much better. The marina’s office produces nice cups of excellent Colombian coffee and immediately became my favorite spot. We got a small room on top of the marina’s office with a shower and air condition… We are very happy to escape from the heat to the room after lunch.

Our first meal in a local restaurant was a fish soup with two islands of potatoes, a main dish that was fried fish with salad, rice, plantain and a good cuban beer. The cook was a young woman dressed in white with a beautiful smile. A great contrast to the dusty roads and the semi industrial rundown landscape around us.

Back to the boat: the engine-work looks well done, but we have to try it before going off shore. The refrigerator works better, but will have to prove itself in the near future. We put up the Bimini and the Dogger. We met with the carpenter, mechanic and the electronic guy that will help us install the new automatic pilot.
Tomorrow the day is going to start, we hope, with the Canvas Woman.