After a sad departure from Cali on November 30, Kim, Maria & Daniel flew from Cali to Cartagena to get Kikuyu ready for the trip back to the US. We were hoping to go on a couple of trips to towns around the Atlantic coast of Colombia but getting Kikuyu cleaned up, waxed, its stainless-steel polished, its batteries replaced and provisioned while at the same time helping Daniel move ahead in his schooling prevented us from leaving the dock of Club Nautico in Cartagena. Literarily, we spent just about every day until December 18th doing all of these tasks. Finally, after checking all systems and topping off all engine and water fluids, we left the dock at Club Nautico, motored to Club de Pesca to fill Kikuyu's diesel tank and anchored for the night in the bay of Cartagena just across from our dock at Club Nautico. The next day, on Friday December 19, we left the bay of Cartagena and sailed 5 hours to Islas Rosarios, a set of small Colombian islands that are a popular touristic attraction. It was a sunny, clear day and this short trip was perfect for us to start getting back into sailing - we were amazed at how rusty our knowledge and our bodies had gotten after being off Kikuyu for a few months.
Unlike when we left the US when thinking about the long trip we had ahead of us gave us a "stomach churn", this time thinking of the 3000+ miles that we expect to sail getting back to the United States did not seem like a lot. Having met many sailors who have been sailing for 10, 20 and 30+ years and given our own accumulated experiences from the trip so far, our perceptions about long passages and the types of obstacles we are likely to encounter and how we deal with them have changed. We feel more comfortable in our knowledge and have more confidence in how we would face the many challenges that we are to encounter on our return trip. View pictures of our preparing to sail back in the album "Cartagena: Getting Ready and Sailing Away"