Hi to everyone. Sorry its been a while since I last did a post. Last time we chatted we had just arrived in Cartagena. This time, we have been here in Cartagena for almost two months are actually in the process of preparing to leave. So let me tell you about what we have been up to for the last few weeks. Well to be truthful, not a great deal! We have both been ill! The heat here is unbelievable and that wipes you out, meaning you don’t feel like doing much either. That given though, we do still have a few things to tell you all…
We have been really trying to get to grips with the Spanish. Duolingo to the rescue and we spend a good deal of the day trying to talk to each other in Spanish too. The problem comes when ever we meet any locals. They speak here at the speed of a machine gun! A stream of words leaves us mostly completely clueless, and we fumble along somehow. Its getting better though slowly, and we both feel a little more confident in our language abilities. At least we’re trying right??!
So like I said, we have both been ill to the point where we couldn’t stray far from a toilet for any length of time… something got us good! We ended up spending a least two weeks feeling sorry for ourselves with the occasional trip to the supermarket to resupply and little else. Guess its one of the downsides of the tropics. Lots of nasty bugs waiting to get you. All that has been put aside now though and we are back fighting the good fight again.
A few weeks ago, we decided to take a jaunt down to the nearby Rosario Islands to get away from the city for a bit, but mostly to make some water in a sea that was not a deep soupy green colour and full of rubbish and oil like it is here in Cartagena. Not good for the watermaker filters, or probably for your health either.
So we pulled up the chain, scraped off a million barnacles (more on that later) and motored our way out of the bay. Its a beautiful skyline and we are lucky to have this as the backdrop to our anchorage. The locals call it little Miami.
Azimuth felt a little sluggish after only 3 weeks of sitting in the green soup water. Her bottom was clean when we arrived. The growth was unbelievably fast in that time.
It only took a few hours to get to the Rosario Islands, and it really was very pretty anchorage. A difficult entrance through shallow reefs and a huge wide open bay that felt exposed, but was actually very sheltered.
The heat built up through the day and the skies in the afternoons were huge, and full of energy, lightening and thunder!
The water was flat calm and crystal clear, so I spent about two days scraping all those barnacles off the bottom. Thanks to our sailing buddy John from Portishead who gave me the hooker system back in Portugal. I managed to get it working properly recently and used it for the first time here. It was dead good! Basically it is a compressor with a diving regulator and a line which allows me to dive for extended time under the boat and scrape away.
We had a lovely week of swimming, eating fish bought from the local fisherman and enjoying the fantastic sunsets
After a week or so we headed back to Cartagena. There was still more to see here, and so we took a trip to the biggest fort in the town, the Castillo de San Fellipe de Barajas. This huge fort was started in 1536 and expanded on over the next 200 years where the place was improved after several attacks over this period. Its a bizarre place, built on a natural hill but looking for all intents and purposes as manmade and commanding a huge presence over the old city.
Cut in to the hillside, the fort was riddled with stone tunnels that you were allowed to wander around. These tunnels at one time were packed with gunpowder. In the event that the Castillo had been successfully sieged, the plan was to blow up the tunnels and kill everyone in the fort! They never actually had to light the fuse. The best thing today about the tunnels was the lovely cool temperature!
We spent most of the day exploring this place. Well worth the visit.
You may remember we mentioned a friend from Ireland called Reiss on their boat Zora who we had been in contact with and finally met up with in Curacao? Well after we both left Curacao, Reiss had sailed to Aruba and his wife Niamh had joined him again from Ireland. They had decided to do a tour of South America by plane and land. As it turned out, they arrived in Cartagena whilst we were still at anchor, and so we managed to meet up again for two lovely days exploring the Old town. Thanks guys it was really great to meet up with you!
They organised a guided tour around the old town and invited us along! It was a great day out. We also met up and walked to little Miami for a look see, and then ended up back in the old town for a few drinks at a rooftop bar with spectacular views.
I think one of our favourite parts of the old town is the Gethsemini district, at one time a dangerous crime ridden no go zone, but now a thriving tourist area with vibrant colours and crazy streets. Here’s a flavour!
Some of you will have read over the past few months about our saga over the autopilot or lack of one on our last few sails! Well, we decided enough was enough, and shortly after arriving in Cartagena, and after a considerable amount of research, I decided to bite the bullet and order a new one from America. It was a pretty long drawn out experience. I had to find an agent to import it for us in to Colombia. In the end it went pretty smoothly. Our new agent friend Javier Hoyos has a business in Miami in Florida. So we had the autopilot shipped from Seattle in the USA to his premises in Miami. Then for not a great deal of money, Javier arranged for it to be shipped to Cartagena, via customs in Bogata and delivered to us at the marina near where we are anchored. The whole process took about a month and went without a hitch. First time for me to deal with such complexities but i’m sure it wont be the last.
It arrived in a huge box!
Whilst I was waiting for it to arrive, I managed to get some parts made at a local metal bashers in the city. They were incredibly helpful and accommodating of our terrible Spanish. Its true that Colombians cannot do enough to help you out.
We also made several trips to the local DIY store, a huge place with everything we needed, including bolts, wood and metalwork.
It took me 5 days to get the thing installed in the “hellhole” under the cockpit. I have high hopes that this will solve our autopilot woes. Time will tell!
So there you go, I guess we haven’t been totally idle! I leave you with some more sunset shots from the anchorage. Oh and I might now and then sit and drink a fine Colombian beer on deck and enjoy the view!
Join us again soon as we leave Colombia and sail onwards to Panama and the desert islands of the San Blas!
Adios Amigos!