Having returned from our trip to Cartagena, our focus was now on our passage to Panama. This involved numerous trips to the various supermarkets to provision, starting with bottled and tinned items and finishing off with fresh and frozen food on the final day prior to departure. As we don't have a freezer, it's necessary to buy food which is vacuum packed and well-dated, which usually means smoked, cured or preserved products like bacon, sausages, minced beef and cheese. We also needed to have our camping gas bottle refilled and make sure our diesel tank and 4 spare diesel cans were full. As we had to give immigration and the marina 48 hours to leave, we were constantly checking the weather forecast to determine the best time to sail. Once we had given notice, there was no opportunity to change the time or the destination, which isn't very accommodating for sailors. Other chores included washing the boat and a final round of laundry and a bedding change. It wasn't all work though, as we visited the pool at the AC Hotel some afternoons, went to our favourite restaurants again (Done Chucha Gourmet; Reses 13; Ouzo) and had drinks at Cambiante (marina bar) with friends, old and new, including Shane & Mickey, Hugh & Debbie, Adam & Bev and Grant & Annie. It was also Carnaval in Santa Marta, so the city was buzzing with people and music.
We decided to depart on Wednesday 5th March, so went into the office to see Yerlis and complete the departure forms at 8am on Monday. We selected Linton as our destination in Panama. On Tuesday, late afternoon, we unplugged the shore power and water, so the marina could take readings and we could settle our invoice to avoid any delays tomorrow. We also completed the first step of our application for a Panama cruising permit.
On Wednesday morning, we were up with the lark and waiting outside the marina office before 8am. They took our passports, gave us our Colombia cruising permit, which lasts for 1 year and told us to return in an hour, when immigration would be ready to clear us out. How can it take an hour for them to stamp our passports? We went to Cambiante for a coffee while we waited. At 0850 hours we were admitted to the immigration office (it looked like they had just arrived) where they stamped our passports and provided 2 copies of the zarpe (exit / entry papers) for Panama. We returned to the boat and 15 minutes later, Shane and Mickey helped us slip our lines and we departed the marina. Unfortunately the wind was blowing from the southwest, so we were head to wind leaving Santa Marta and heading out to sea. We remained under engine and rolled with the swell, which was more or less on our beam. The tide was also against us. It wasn't the start that we wanted or expected, given the forecast for north east winds. Then we had company, in the form of the Colombian Navy, in a big, battered, grey rib. They pulled alongside to ask for the boat name, then backed off and seemed to say that we could continue on our way. At this point, having left the shelter of the bay, we had enough wind and raised the mainsail. Five minutes later the Navy were back and said they wanted to come on board to do an inspection. They waited while we lowered the sail and then attempted to come alongside, while we were still beam on to the 2m swell and they didn't come slowly either. The result was that they rose on a wave as we dipped and their boat came down on top of our starboard side, ripping out one of the stanchions, kinking the guardrail and putting a dent in the deck and the teak toe rail. They also scraped the hull but that should polish out. We signalled that we were returning to Santa Marta to assess the damage, which they were unhappy about. They stayed beside us for the 50 minutes it took for us to motor back and constantly tried to persuade us to turn around and continue on our journey. We steadfastly refused, as our safety was compromised. We tried to contact the marina on VHF channel 72 but didn't get a response, so we pulled onto the fuel berth and Pete asked the attendant to contact Sebastian. The Navy boat pulled in behind us and called their supervisor. Sebastian acted as translator while we discussed the incident and a lieutenant from the Navy arrived who spoke good English. Eventually, it was determined that the boys on the Navy boat, not the Navy itself, would have to pay for the damage to be repaired and a contractor would be with us after 2pm, as everyone was going away for their 2 hour lunch break. Shane, Mickey and their Colombian, ex-Navy friend, Manny, arrived with beer. Manny asked if we had called the port authority on channel 16 before we left, which we hadn't, as nobody had mentioned that we should. That was apparently why the Navy wanted to carry out an inspection. Adam, who was in the yard on Blu, brought us mango with salt and lime, a refreshing snack, as we weren't allowed to leave the dock and it was very hot. Surprisingly, at 2pm, 2 men arrived to repair the stanchion and re-fix it to the deck. The Navy lieutenant also returned to monitor proceedings, took photos of all our papers and passports and asked if we would consider contributing to the cost of the repairs, which was around £54, as it was a lot of money for the 4 boys to incur. We contributed our last 70,000 pesos and unbeknown to me, Pete also gave them US$30, so we more or less paid the bill ourselves. We felt it was unfair of the Navy to make the boys pay when it was their supervisor that insisted they board our boat in unsuitable conditions. With the repairs completed and a pretty good job done, we motored out to the bay to anchor for the night, as we weren't allowed to stay on marina premises, having cleared out. We had 24 hours from our initial clearance time of 8am, to depart and we confirmed to the Navy and the marina that we would be gone at first light on Thursday. We had intended to spend a night at anchor outside the marina at Valero, to reduce the number of night sails but this wouldn't be possible now. During the night, the swell was hitting the beam of the boat and we were rolling from side to side, especially for 2 hours from midnight, so we didn't really get the sleep we needed and so ended a bad day at the office.