San Blas - Cartagena

San Blas - Cartagena on Google Earth

We continue to slowly sail east through the San Blas islands and witness again the San Blas hospitality on the islands of Ailigandi, Achutupu and Mamitupu. They are beautiful, small islands with Kuna villages and many palmtrees. You wouldn’t expect difficult passages between these islands, but on the way to Ailigandi we are passing in bad light between big reefs over which a high swell is breaking. Some waves build up high in 10m of water, rocking Blue Bie heavily.

We start the passage from the San Blas islands to Cartagena in light winds and good weather. As it is getting dark on the second day, two thunderstorm clouds combine next to us and a waterspout develops. This is warning enough that there might be more energy in this thunderstorm than in the many others passing us in the last weeks. We furl the Gennaker, reef the mainsail and try to get away from the system under engine, but it is all around us. Soon the first gusts hit and we furl away the genoa, too. Too slow – the leech line is torn to pieces in less than a minute. The wind briefly gusts up to 57kn and thunderbolts are hitting the water next to us. In the howling storm it feels eerily quiet on board. Half an hour later the system is moving away and we start relaxing. We have no further damage than the torn genoa leech, even if the wind instrument has jitters for the next few hours. We are arriving the next morning in beautiful sunshine in Cartagena as if nothing has happened. Had we not been there, nobody would ever know of this storm.

Cartagena is said to be the most beautiful colonial town in Latin America and indeed the old town is fantastically conserved. Most buildings date back to the Spanish conquest in the 16th century. They radiate an eternal tranquilness, which can be felt the most on Sundays, when there are less people in town. After many months with a seafood cuisine in Cuba and San Blas, I very much enjoy the excellent steaks and sausages. I have to revise my judgment on Cartagena and Panama. I thought that Panama is more sophisticated than Columbia, but it is quite the opposite. Cartagena has a very high quality of life and is so secure that we walk and bike to town $every time of the day and night.

I am in a rush to get everything ready to haul out Blue Bie and go traveling, but soon get used to the Cartagena rhythm. Most cruisers plan to stay a few days, but stay weeks or months. I would like to get an eye laser surgery. The preliminary tests are positive, but the operation is postponed several times, since the laser is being calibrated and they are waiting for some parts. I still don’t know, when and if it will take place!

The anchorage in Cartagena is unparalleled. The water is so warm and rich in nutrients that the anchor chain fouls up within a week and within a month there are 10cm of barnacles on the chain! Also the hull clog up quickly and we have (to get it) cleaned every fortnight. Only on the number of bottom cleanings we realize, how fast the time is passing. The anchor ground is very muddy and as soon as the wind exceeds 20 knots, a third of the yachts on anchor start drifting. I have adapted my anchor technique the English way: Put anchor and have a cup of tea. Only half an hour later, when the anchor has settled in the mud by its own weight, I reverse under engine and give full chain, which is at least 35m and at least 5x water depth.

We start taking Spanish lessons three times a week, I am redesigning my homepage and spend quite some time getting used to Microsoft Vista on my new laptop computer, which I am buying for the journey to Latin America. There is luckily not much work on Blue Bie, it would be too warm for it anyway. We usually make big plans for sightseeing in the morning, but already at breakfast time it is so warm, that we only relax or work on the computer either in the marina or on board. Yes, I can understand why one doesn’t want to leave Cartagena too soon. We have no idea yet, when we will start exploring Latin America:)