Colombia – Sailing Azimuth

January 1, 2024January 17, 2024

Exploring the San Blas Islands

Last time we left you we were still in Cartagena in Colombia. It was time to pull up the anchor and set sail for Panama. We visited our local supermarket to stock up on supplies. As far as we had gathered, the San Blas islands are very remote and there are very few shops or places to get anything. Similarly we need some US dollars to get us from Cartagena to the next to the next potential ATM in Panama which could be at least a month or 6 weeks away. THe only way to get this money was to take the cash out of the ATM in Colombian pesos and then go to one of the myriad of small money exchange places in the old town and ‘do a deal’. So we were a bit nervous carrying 3500,000 pesos all in 50,000 pesos notes, a huge stack! All the money exchange places have glass windows pretty much straight on to the street, so agreed a price (which was actually reasonable) in exchange for US dollars and then stuff all those notes through the hole at the glass window. A few minutes later, the guy had finished counting out the $730 dollars and pushed that back through the window where I tried to stuff it in to my rucksack as fast as possible and disappear in to the streets without being observed! Thankfully we got away with it.

Our friendly marine agent Jose Bonillo organised our checkout for the next day, got our passports stamped and produced our Zarpe, the document you need to check the boat in to the next port. Our next port was to be Puerto Obaldia right on the border of Panama and Colombia. This port we had heard was one of the easiest places to check in to Panama and it also had the advantage that we would be able to sail North up the Panama coast and see all of the San Blas islands, hopefully on a nice beam reach.

Documents in hand, we waved goodbye to Cartagena, pulled up the hook and set off. The growth on our chain was something to behold!

We decided to stop again in the Rosario islands and wait for a weather window to get south. Thankfully the Colombian customs don’t seem to mind yachts stopping for a few days at the islands on the way South. We had a fantastic sail to Rosario and dropped the hook in the same place we had been before.

It took me three days to de-barnacle poor Azimuth’s bottom! Incredible amount of growth including huge mats of mussels languishing on the keel!

We were in the Rosarios for a week in the end, as the wind disappeared and then turned North so that it was coming from where we wanted to go. Eventually the wind gods aligned and the weather looked perfect for a 24 hour sail south.

Off we set early at sunrise and picked our way through the reefs on what looked like a very promising morning.

The wind sort of died about 20 miles south and there was an annoying swell on the beam which made Azimuth loll around in a bad temper, bashing the sails and slowly making progress at 3 knots. As the afternoon heat built up, so did the wind and soon we found ourselves on a wonderful beam reach doing nearer 7 knots. This was more like it, although that swell was still there. We have often found that the wind picks up in the Caribbean after sunset and that’s what happened again. Steadily the wind built up, and up, and up! The Radar showed a whole line of squalls in our vicinity on a collision course with Azimuth. By this time we are doing 9 to 10 knots, but given our mainsail ripping experience on the passage between Trinidad and Curacao, we were both nervous about going anywhere near a squall especially as the wind was already force 6 at this point. So we furled away the Genoa and our speed dropped to about 6 knots on just a reefed main. We managed somehow to shoehorn ourselves through the line of squalls. The sea was pretty angry though and we took a few waves over the deck and rolled around. We both felt tired and a little sea sick and there was not much chance of getting any sleep. At first light, things always look better, but then the radar showed a big squall that we couldn’t avoid, off our starboard bow. It was an angry looking sky in the dim light and sure enough the rain started to pour and the wind to howl. The sea turned white around us as the tops of the waves blew off. Azimuth didn’t seem to care. Still with just the mainsail, I turned a little more downwind and enjoyed surfing waves at 10 knots for 20 minutes!

We approached Puerto Obaldia with some trepidation. The reports say that the anchorage is very roly at the best of times and we could see huge rollers heading in to the bay. Another yacht entered in front of us and made its way in. It turns out our CMAP charts are totally useless in this area, and so when I saw an uncharted rock off the headland of the bay pretty much where I had my way-point, I decided, no way! We made a sharp turn to port and headed back over the border to Colombia battling along the coast in force 6. We were both very happy to sea the little fishing village of Sapzurro in a perfectly protected bay just round the corner. Dropping the anchor felt a great relief!

After a great nights sleep, the fatigue of the last 24 hours washed away, the world felt good again! The wind had died to nothing, the sun was out with the occasional rain shower and the forecast looked good. Time to have another try at Puerto Obaldia. Up came the hook and we motored off round the stunning headland, to be hit by more rain! It is the tropics I guess. Arriving at Puerto Obaldia we didn’t know what to make of it?

The town was more like a little village of ramshackle houses and the port was a couple of jetty’s sticking out. However, the swell was still huge entering the bay, making the anchorage very undesirable. We dropped the hook in 10 metres and put out 60 metres of chain to make sure. Azimuth swung in the swell and dropping the dinghy and getting in it was a very tricky operation. Azimuth was bouncing up and down and slamming her back in to the waves right next to the dinghy. We slowly made our way to one of the docks and some really nice military guys helped us moor up and climb on to the rough concrete. There wasn’t much to the town really and it was swamped with water rushing off the rain soaked hills. We found a shop where we could get photocopies done of our paperwork and passports and then headed to immigration. All very easy and efficient. Then we were directed to the Port Capitan’s Office to get the boat checked in. A huge pile of paperwork was handled with a huge smile. One piece had at least 10 copies all of which had to be stamped in duplicate. He was a lovely chap and clearly happy in his work. Liberated of 220 dollars we were sent on our way. A quick visit to a ramshackle supermarket and we braved the boat trip back to Azimuth and negotiated the bucking back deck.

Feeling pretty pleased with ourselves then, up goes the Panama courtesy flag and off we set on the San Blas adventure. Just to help the sun came out and lit up the coast. It’s a stunningly beautiful place. Not what I imagined at all. The terrain in mountainous, covered in thick lush topical rainforest, shrouded in mist.

The sea is striped in deep blues and light turquoise around the reefs. Our first stop was to be the magnificent Puerto Escoses.

A huge bay surrounded on all sides by impenetrable jungle with some wood huts on stilts built by the local Kuna indians. In 1699 the Scottish arrived at this bay and set up a village and a fort at the entrance which they called Fort Andrews. It was not to be a successful mission to set up a new outpost and at least 2000 of the 3000 Scots were to die from hunger and disease. An interesting story to read about if you have chance and a catastrophe that would eventually lead to the formation of the United Kingdom.

For us though, this place was heaven! It felt so remote and we had the whole place to ourselves.

Soon after dropping the hook, we were visited by our first Kuna Indian. He came paddling his dugout canoe, singing to himself in the rain. Pulled up to Azimuth and we managed to actually have a brief conversation. The charge was $10 to stay for up to a month. Also he asked if we would charge up his mobile phones?! Of course we said. He said he would pick them up later and off he went.

True to his word he turned up later that evening and collected the phones and in exchange presented us with two freshly picked coconuts still in their husks! Good deal I say!

I had some fun trying to get in to those the next day. They were most succulent coconuts I have ever had. Delicious. I hope for many more.

The nest day another boat turned up. It was a British boat called Coral Moon and on-board were Donna and Mark. A really lovely couple, and we have so far been travelling together ever since.

By now it was getting pretty close to Christmas, and whilst Puerto Escoses was such a tempting place to stay, there was very little phone signal, and we both wanted to be able to talk to family on Christmas day so we decided to head a little further North where there are a couple of Kuna Villages, one of them with a radio mast.

I mentioned that the CMAP charts were useless. Thankfully we have a copy of the excellent cruisers guide to Panama by Bauhaus. Some clever sailor has also converted to the charts in this book in to a format for OpenCPN. These charts are very detailed and so far have been (fairly) reliable. The next villages North of us were tucked in between a chain of islands creating an inside passage of very protected water. Leaving Scotland bay the sea was still quite boisterous but as we came in to protection of the island group the sea flattened to glassy flat and we sailed our way through the narrow channel in a wide open vista.

Our first look at a Kuna village, they are incredible. Taking up all of a small islands space and virtually at sea level, the villages are a collection of thatched huts and some concrete houses, crammed as close together as possible and taking up all available of space.

We dropped our hook about half a mile off one of these villages.

It was much busier with lots of dugouts and longboats, some with outboards running around between the two villages. Most of the them detoured to take a look at us, and everybody waved enthusiastically with huge smiles. Quite a few decided to pay us a visit too! One 10 year old boy pulled up with a boat of 4 year old kids to say hello. They appreciated the Chupa Chup lollies we had on-board. We got visited by the local nutter who we couldn’t understand a word he said. We got visited by people asking for Gasoline.

This continued all afternoon, but the best was saved until last. Just as the sun was going down and we thought we were safe for the night another long boat speeds up to us with 6 guys on it screaming hello and can they take a photo?? Of course I say. So they all jump up on deck! It appears these guys have probably had a skin full. A couple were struggling to stand up. They proceeded to drape themselves all over the boat and take photos. I tried to strike up a conversation. They wanted to know where we were from. Inglaterra I say… which the all seemed to like and started shouting Beckham, Beckham! Then I asked them if they celebrated Xmas here, and that started shouts of Feliz Navidad for the next 10 minutes and lots of laughter. They were great fun. We took lots more photos and one of me on the back with them all. Then they jumped back in their boat and headed off at great speed for the next village with promises that they would return the next day! Ailsa and I headed to make our tea, somewhat shell shocked but with a big smile on our faces too!

We had one more journey to make for our final destination for Xmas. That was the island of Pinos where the Radio Tower is.

We had said we would meet the Coral Moon there too as there apparently was a little beach bar there, perfect to toast in Xmas day.

Another beautiful sail saw us arrive at Pinos Island, what a spectacular place. Very protected again, and a small village with a beach and the “bar” on stilts over the water.

Coral moon showed up that afternoon, and we took a trip to the village together and then went to the bar for sundowner beers. What a way to spend Xmas Eve!

Xmas Day arrived, and we were woken at 6:45am by our lovely children in the UK! I think it might have been punishment for being so far away! It was lovely to see all the family on WhatsApp and share with some of their day. They all went to pub for lunch. It looked like great fun to us. We wish we could have been there too.

We managed to cobble together a reasonable xmas dinner too….

During the afternoon, a couple more boats turned up, one of whom we had been anchored next too in Spanish Waters, Rolf and Andre on Rebel Rebel, and Bjorn and Linda on Sirena. We all went to the bar for Xmas afternoon / evening and had a lovely time, and the we went back to Coral Moon with Mark and Donna and properly toasted in Xmas day!

That’s all for now folks. See you again soon with more tales from the San Blas.

December 9, 2023December 9, 2023

Improving our Spanish in Cartagena!

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!

October 22, 2023October 22, 2023

Next Stop Cartagena!

Last time we left you, we were in Curacao. In this update we will tell you about finally pulling up the anchor in Spanish Waters and heading for Cartagena in Colombia. Its the first time that either of us has visited South America, and we were a little nervous about sailing the boat in to Colombia. Everyone we had met in the last few months who had been to Colombia told us that we must visit, and sang its praises. In the back of your mind you can’t help that nagging doubt about Colombia’s past reputation of violence and drug trade. Add to that the perceived difficulties of the bureaucracy of checking in to the country (and cost) and we both faced this next trip with some trepidation.

On the other had, we were definitely ready to move on from Curacao. Whilst a very nice place, we felt it was a little dull and a rather sanitised version of the Caribbean in the way the Dutch had stamped their mark upon the place, and given the country a colonial and somewhat European feel. There were still historical tensions simmering underneath that manicured exterior though.

So when the weather window finally appeared with 3 straight days to get to Colombia, we decided to go for it. A quick morning trip to Willemstad had us checked out of customs and immigration. Spending our last guilders at the supermarket and local fruit market, we took the bus back to the anchorage, prepared Azimuth, pulled up the anchor and motored out of Spanish Waters waving goodbye to the number of friends we had made during our stay.

Once out offshore to the South of Curacao, the wind freshened from the west giving us a straight down wind sail. We had already got the spinnaker pole set before we left, so we furled out the genoa and started to surf our way along Curacao on a beautiful sunny afternoon. Perfect sailing conditions, oh and the autopilot was doing all the driving too!

We left Curacao behind as the sunset ahead of us and headed onwards towards Aruba. The sea state got a little more confused, with the current fighting its way between the islands and the mainland of Venezuela. We stayed well away from Venezuelan waters, as there had been reports of piracy for those yachts that steered too close. In the night we navigated through a bizarre oil field with rigs and tankers in the shallow waters South of Aruba. The wind was strong and we were bouncing along at 8 to 9 knots heading towards Colombia. Early the next morning, I was on watch when I noticed a Venezuelan fishing boat off our port bow, heading on a direct course towards us. He was small and didn’t have AIS and did not show up on our radar. I watched him closely for about 20 minutes. In the end he came quite close to us, close enough to see the people onboard. It was a nervous moment, and self doubt comes in to play when you think about the tales of attacks on other yachts in this area. I had specifically turned off the AIS and our naviagation lights as we transited this area, so that we could not be easily tracked. In the end, we passed by without incident, and they disappeared in to the distance with me breathing a sigh of relief.

That relief increased when we finally reached Colombian waters. These are known to be patrolled by Colombian Coastguard, and are considered safe in comparison to Venezuela.

We continued to sail along at a good pace. The seas were boisterous and confused at times, but it was comfortable enough and we were making good time. It was about this time though that the autopilot started to make its familiar horrible noises associated with the grinding and slipping of gears. Not a good moment. It was having to work quite hard in the big seas, but it wasn’t anything too onerous. We decided to live with it for a bit, but it got worst over the next few hours. Damn! Just as we were getting used to the good life of having an autopilot again. The decision was made to hand steer again. We were still about 150 miles from Cartagena at this point, so not too far.

The wind became a little fickle for a bit. As usual the conditions did not match the prediction from our trusty wind app Windy. Does it ever??? So we struggled on for a few hours until the wind came back again and whisked us down the coast towards Cartagena. We were ominously followed by a huge thunder cloud with bright flashes of lightening all around us, some of it throwing huge forks across the sky. Definitely a disquieting feeling, and we tried to steer away from the worst looking candidate that eventually slipped by to our port side and gave a spectacular light show ahead of us for the rest of the night.

Early morning bought us to within 45 miles of Cartagena. The wind dropped off completely and so did the sea state, so we had to motor the last bit. The sky scrapers of Cartagena were visible in the distance. The autopilot was able to cope with the reduced sea state, and so we moved ever closer to our destination flanked by super tankers on their way too and from Cartagena.

There are two entrances in to the fine anchorage of Cartagena. The main shipping channel is 5 miles to the South and a long detour is required to navigate this (when arriving from the North). The second entrance was described in the literature as the small ships channel for boats with draft of less than 2.9m. Azimuth has a draft of 2.15m, so we should be OK to use this channel. It turns out that the channel is cut through the old underwater sea wall that was built by the Spanish to stop enemy vessels gaining entrance to the port. The channel was marked by a couple of buoys. I decided to give it a go as it would save at least 2 hours of motoring if we decided to use the main shipping channel. So we crept over the sea wall and trusted the local information was correct. I was given some confidence by watching a local sailboat sail out of the channel ahead of me. Of course the depth sounder decided not to cooperate, but we passed without incident and worked our way in to the main harbour surrounded by many speed boats whizzing anyway they liked without any regard for the rules of the road. To be fair they didn’t get in our way. We identified the anchorage and dropped the hook in front of a very impressive skyscraper skyline and breathed the usual sigh of relief that accompanies the act of arrival.

To check into Colombia, you are forced to use a marine agent. The authorities will not deal directly with a ships captain. Also given the language barrier and our dreadful Spanish, this is probably easier for us. However, this service comes at a cost, and before we left Curacao we had contacted a number of agents and received various quotes. In the end we chose Jose from the New White Light Agency for the agreed amount of US250 dollars to complete the whole process. This is by far the most expensive fee we have had to pay to enter any country. Such is the bureaucracy here that Azimuth actually has to be temporarily imported into Colombia (TIP) if we want to stay any longer than a week? Seems pretty crazy to us. As I write this, we are currently waiting for our interview and visit to the boat from the port official to make this TIP happen. Fingers crossed it goes smoothly.

So after arriving we took the dinghy in to the Club Nautico Marina right next to where we were anchored and managed to track down Jose the agent at the office. He took our passports and showed us to the ATM for the first payment! He was actually really helpful, and so we steppe on shore in South America for the first time.

Not long after we arrived in Cartagena, this fantastic tall ship arrived with great pomp and circumstance on an official visit from Mexico. A really beautiful ship that has been moored right next to us for the whole week

We were both pretty exhausted after a three day sail, and crashed for the night. Over the next few days we slowly started to explore a bit of Cartagena, and what a great city it is! We are anchored in an area of the city known as Manga. It is a vibrant area with lots of students, a huge shopping centre (notably with air conditioning! Important in this heat!) and a plethora of nice local restaurants, and a fantastic supermarket with all the trappings you might expect in the UK. One important difference though, the prices here are about one quarter of the prices in the UK and also significantly cheaper than anything we experienced in the Caribbean. Suddenly it feels like our cruising budget of about 1000 quid a month will go a long way. That is definitely a factor in endearing us to this place!

Take a 15 minute walk from the Marina across a road bridge and you find yourself in the beautiful old town of Cartagena, the Gethsemini district. This is the historic city of colonial Spain lying within an impressive 13km of centuries old stone walls. It was founded in 1533 on the site of a Carib settlement by the Spanish, destroyed by fire in 1553 and the rebuilt in stone, brick and tile where it quickly grew in to the main Spanish Port and the main gateway to South America. It became the storehouse for the treasure plundered from the locals throughout South America until the Spanish Galleons could ship it back to Spain.

Of course that made the city attractive to buccaneers and pirates and other European nations and the town was regularly attacked. In the 16th century there were at least 5 sieges by pirates the most famous of which was led by Sir Francis Drake in 1586. He sacked the town and promised not to raise it to the ground on the proviso that he was given 10 million pesos which he took back to England!

The Spanish were probably quite annoyed by this! The result being that they built huge fortifications all around the city.

So we have spent a couple of days so far exploring the old city. Its a beautiful place, incredible architecture and very well preserved. The only downside in some areas are the huge number of street hawkers who hassle you at every opportunity.

So far we have visited the Naval museum. A good test for our poor Spanish, but very interesting non the less. Detailed history of the early battles in Cartagena and then a lot of detail about the independence of Colombia in 1811 from the Spanish and the formation of Colombia’s extensive Navy.

We have stopped for lunch in a couple of fantastic restaurants. Oh and sampled a few very cheap but very potent and tasty mojitos!

Whilst we were in one restaurant called the White Patio, the staff started getting all excited and looking up at the sky. Turns out they were looking at an 80% lunar eclipse of the sun. We had no idea!

A visit to the museum of the Spanish inquisition was interesting and sobering. They caused terror throughout the indigenous population for some 250 years.