Cartagena, Sept to Nov 2007

In early September 2007 we arrived at Cartagena, Colombia through the traditional (and shorter) entrance which has an underwater wall protecting the city. This wall is not visible in any way from the surface and has protected Cartagena for hundreds of years. It was built to keep out invaders by sea and proved itself to be completely effective. The only other entrance requires ships to go much farther south and turn back north behind some small islands. This circuitous route provided the Cartagena residents plenty of time to prepare for invaders. The entrance through the underwater wall is fairly narrow, but it was well marked the day we arrived so our entry was smooth and uneventful. We motored to Club Nautico and were soon docked.

That first afternoon we experienced our first chocosano. About 2:00 p.m. the sky suddenly darkened. About 3 minutes later one of the notorious Chocosanos arrived! Everything we had heard and read about these sudden high-wind storms was true. Chocosanos are a local phenomenon that also occurs in the San Blas Islands. These are very sudden, high, sustained, straight-line winds that may or may not be accompanied by rain. They usually last 30 minutes to an hour, but have been known to last as long as 3 hours. That afternoon the winds topped at 35 knots. That doesn’t sound like all that much because we have encountered 35 knot winds while out sailing and managed just fine. But these winds are different. Best description I can give is that they are straight-line solid winds, not gusting winds. This makes a huge difference.

Now we understood why boats are required to have three 100-foot bow lines tied to the underwater cable anchoring system at Club Nautico. The winds started directly on our bow and slowly clocked to our port beam, without ever letting up a bit. The strong wind caused the water to become extremely agitated and caused all the boats to start hobby-horsing like crazy. Everyone instantly got up into their cockpits -- ready to start their engines if a bow line failed or if the lines stretched too far and let their sterns pound into the dock behind them. I t was most exciting – an excitement that we would just as soon not experienced.

Then heavy rain began to blow with the strong winds. The whole thing lasted about 30 minutes as best I remember. Then it was perfectly calm and still. I have read that these Chocosanos typically occur in afternoons but the other cruisers here at the marina said that lately these storms had been happening about 3 a.m. We are glad that the first one that we experienced was during the daylight. Now we had an idea of what to expect.

Then, at 2:00 a.m. our first night in Cartagena we experienced our second Chocosano! This was most unusual to experience two in less than 24 hours, and these were only 12 hours apart! The second one did not have any accompanying rain, just the high sustained winds. All the boats were again hobby-horsed all over the place. But we again escaped any damage. And this turned out to be the last chocosano that we experienced during our 2 1/2 month stay in Cartagena. The chocosanos occur much more frequently during the summer months but usually subside by October.

Each afternoon a woman walked the docks at Club Nautico marina selling her fruits from the pan atop her head. She walked along calling out what she has available that day. One day she wore a plastic bag for rain protection as the chocosono has just passed.



Cartagena is divided into several districts. There are 2 very thick old stone walls that encircle the old town districts. Our marina was located on a small island called Manga which is just southeast of Old Town. It is an easy walk over the bridge to enter the first thick wall which surrounds the Getsemani District of the old city Cartagena. If you walk straight through the Getsemani District then you pass the Centre Convenciones. After the convention center you pass through another thick stone wall surrounding the Centro District (directly in front of you through the Clock Tower entrance of the inner wall) and the San Diego District of the old city (to the right or north of Centro). There is also anther area called La Matuna which is off to the right separating Getsemani and San Diego. I never was able to find out what La Matuna is all about; it is inside the first wall but outside the inner wall, and there is another partial wall around part of it. The other 3 districts (Getsemani, Centro and San Diego) are filled with shops, restaurants, bars, churches, libraries and museums. The La Matuna area is a mystery to me as I could not find information on anything that is supposed to be located there.

The major tourist area is the Centro District inside the old walled city. The Centro District is literally filled with shops of every kind. Lots of clothing and shoe shops, mostly higher quality items. One evening we walked for a couple of hours and finally decided it was time for dinner. The restaurants had good-looking babes standing in the streets with menus. Most of them wore tight skimpy tops and tight jeans with high-heeled sandals to get attention. They approached people walking down the street and would try their best to get you to eat at their restaurant. Same hawking was true for the hundreds of jewelry stores, except the jewelry stores all used men who were not nearly as attractive as the restaurant babes.

We chose an upstairs restaurant with a balcony table overlooking the Plaza Santo Domingo. This provided us with a wonderful opportunity to people watch on a Saturday night as this is the most popular plaza in Cartagena. I had mango ceviche appetizer and fabulous seafood pasta; Bill had a less-than-stellar churrasco (steak). This meal cost more than twice the price of the great meal that we had enjoyed at the lovely de Oliva on our first night in Cartagena. Still not an expensive evening at 92,000 pesos ($41.50) including both taxis and dinner with tip. Cartagena is a bargain for restaurants compared to the eastern Caribbean.

The people watching was fun. A dance troupe performed in the street; there was a mime; a man juggling fire sticks; several table-side guitar players for the 3 restaurants whose tables fill the plaza at night; a puppeteer; and a couple of the black boys that are famous in Cartagena. These boys (appeared to be very young men or teenagers) paint their skin and clothing totally black. They sometimes cavort around but mostly just sit quietly with a black-painted can placed in front of them to collect tips. We had heard that these black boys can cause problems during carnival by ganging around tourists and demanding money, getting black paint onto the tourists if they don’t give enough money or sometimes resorting to robbing the tourists. But all the black boys that we saw were quiet and well-behaved. It was a fun evening.

One day we visited the Gold Museum and saw beautiful items fashioned from gold by the original natives of this area. We also watched a video explaining how the natives had devised a canal and drainage system thousands of years ago that tamed the great flooding that occurs in certain areas of Colombia each year. Their drainage system was amazingly effective. But when the Spanish arrived they filled in this wonderful drainage system and caused flooding to begin again, which continues annually through today.

We also visited the House of Pain where the Spanish Inquisition was so horribly carried out in the name of the Catholic Church. Those Inquisition priests were some really sick puppies.

Like almost every visitor to Cartagena, the big fort and La Popa were also high on our must-visit list.

We truly enjoyed Cartagena and look forward to returning after we complete our circumnavigation.

Tupbak (a/k/a Isla Pinos) up to Ustupu

November 8, 2007  Thursday

Tupbak, San Blas Islands, Panama (a/k/a Isla Pinos)

09.00.061N; 077.45.767W                 

Total distance traveled 172.24 NM from wall entry at Boca Grande, Cartagena de Indias

We exited the break of the underwater wall at Boca Grande and departed Cartagena de Indias at 0900 Monday morning, 5 November.  Plans were to sail straight across to Isla Pinos, a distance of approximately 150 NM.  Paul & Michelle on BLUEPRINT MATCH had left Cartagena on Saturday and were in Los Rosarios.  They planned to leave a bit later in the day headed for the same destination.  We planned to talk on the SSB along the way.  Turned out that we were within VHF range for the entire passage.  We had both waited until today because the winds were supposed to switch back to the normal NNE trades over the weekend, which would have meant this passage would be a downwind sail the entire trip.  As happens so often, reality and forecast did not match.  Winds were on our nose for almost the entire trip.

Another sailor had told us that there would be opposing current until we reached 9 degrees 15 minutes; and that there would be no current to affect us once we were down that low.  From the very beginning we did not make very good time; winds of only 10 knots at 210 degrees, and our course was 239; so it was going to be a motor-sail.  Soon the winds were 20 knots at 230 and our course was still 239, so we took in the mainsail and motored along.  Boat speed was 7.9 knots at 2000 rpm but SOG was only 5.9, so there was 2 knots opposing current at the beginning of this passage.  By 1440 (2:20 p.m. for you landlubbers), our SOG (speed over ground) was down to only 4.1 knots, meaning that the current was increasing.  So we changed course to 185 degrees (headed towards the San Bernardos Isla Tintapan) to try and get farther south and closer to 9 degrees 15 minutes in hopes of getting below the current.  By 1500 (3:00 p.m.) our SOG had increased to 6.1 knots under sail only.  Now, this was much better!

Sailing lasted less than 2 hours.  By this time we were at 09.36.6974N  076.24.9313W.  Boat speed was 7.35 knots at 2100 rpm but SOG was 5.8 knots.  We all hoped that the 20 knot winds on our nose would die down after dark.  Sure enough, by 2245 the winds were down to only 5 knots.  Boat speed was 7.25 and our SOG was 6.2 knots, so still had opposing current of about 1 knot.  Location was 09.36.6974N, 076.24.9313W.  Course 242 degrees.

BLUEPRINT MATCH was 4 miles off our port side by the time we were 15 miles from Isla Fuerte and we were both still motor sailing into the current.  They then sped up for some reason and were soon almost out of sight ahead.  BLUEPRINT is a Catana 431 catamaran and is normally a faster boat than our heavier monohull Amel.  But by 0200 we had caught up with them.  In fact, we were so close that Michelle radioed to ask if we planned to run over them.  So we lowered to 1600 rpm to slow down to 4.4 SOG.  I also changed our course slightly to starboard at 255 degrees.  By 0300 we were down to 09.26.072N, 076.46.140W and still slugging into over 1 ½ knots opposing current, but with no wind to hinder our progress.

At 0900 we were finally down to 9 degrees 15 minutes; that magic number where we had been emphatically assured that there would be no opposing current.  Wrong!!!  Boat speed was 8.15 knots at 2100 rpm and SOG only 6.40.  Wind was only 9 knots and was 61 degrees off our port side, so we were motor sailing without wind on our nose.  So that meant we were still experiencing 1 ¾ knots opposing current.  At 0920 the mountains of mainland Panama were clearly visible through the cloudy rain cells.  Destination in sight!

At 1030 and approximately 25 miles offshore, the current finally was down to only ½ knot against us.  I did not record the precise location that the current waned, but it was approximately 9 degrees 7 minutes.

We arrived at the waypoint to enter anchorage at 1400.  Waypoint is 08.59.2000N,  077.44,6888W.  Distance traveled to this point was 170.8 NM.  It was exceptionally calm for the entire passage; none of the rough seas we had been warned about.  Just wish we had experienced the winds from the forecasted direction; then it would have been a perfect passage.  BLUEPRINT MATCH decided to head toward another tiny island called Isla Iguana.  Isla Iguana normally has breaking water all around it and is too rough because it is so exposed to the sea, but it was absolutely dead calm when we arrived in this area so they decided to try it.  Turned out to be a wise choice as they said it was a picture perfect beach with coconut palms along the shore.  Their kids needed some beach time after the passage.

Bill and I dropped anchor at 1500 at 09.00.061N, 077.45l.767W.  Took us a whole hour to travel 1.44 miles!  Depth under our keel got down to 1.8 feet at one point.   Depth under the keel is 4.4 feet where we are anchored.  Bottom is grassy over light mud and sand mixture.  It is totally flat calm; like being in a lagoon.  We are anchored behind Isla Pinos, which is really named Tupbak. 

Tupbak means whale in the Kuna language.  This island looks like a whale from a distance and has been used as a landmark by sailors for centuries.  In 1571 Sir Francis Drake anchored here and planned his attack on Nombre de Dios from this bay.  Privateers and pirates often used this well-protected anchorage.  We were greeted by a man named Peres in an ulu (dugout canoe) shortly after we anchored.  Peres speaks some English.  He came back the next day and asked us to give him some sandpaper, which we did.  No one else has come out to ask for anything or to try to sell us anything, but Peres asked us both times he visited our boat if we planned to visit the village and when and if we planned to buy any molas.  I don’t think this island sees many visiting boats.  The village appears very poor.

An official from the village also came out in his ulu the next day and requested $8 USD as an anchoring fee.  This fee goes to the village kitty.  His cheeks were painted with bright red circles. The thatched-hut village is off our port side, right on the water’s edge.  We have not gone ashore and probably won’t since it is raining today.  When weather is nice and sunny later today we will move onward to another island.  It is very nice here and we probably should go ashore and spend some money to help the local economy, but we just aren’t motivated to get out in the rain.  The people are quiet with a calm demeanor.  The men paddle around in their tiny ulus and fish with hand line.  The children play in the water in late afternoon.  I cannot believe how easily they lift themselves out of the water and into an ulu, while another boy is standing up in that ulu!  Seems like that canoe would tip over.  But they do this over and over again so they can dive back into the water.  I have seen only 3 women along the shore, but there must be more because the village looks fairly large.  Unfortunately, we are anchored too far from shore to take any photos.

Later…..we motored through the cut in the reef on the northwest side of Tupbak.  Then proceeded to motor up to Ustupu, which is the largest village in all of the San Blas Islands.   The waypoints provided in Eric Bauhaus’ guide to cruising Panama have been dead-on accurate so far.  We are anchored up behind the island of Ustupu.  We put the dinghy in the water and tried to explore up the Sugandi Tiwar river on the mainland.  It is almost spitting distance between the mainland and Ustupu island.  The river is supposed to be marked by wrecks of giant trees washed down during the great flood of 1925 which forced the village to move from the mainland to the island of Ustupu.  We went way up the channel but never found the Sugandi Tiwar river.  Apparently the mouth of the river is so overgrown with mangroves that you must know exactly where to look to maneuver your way through the mangroves to get into the actual river.  We gave up and turned back and meandered around the edge of the village at Ustupu instead.  Little kids came to the water edge and waved and yelled “hola” to us.  One woman motioned that she had molas to sell, but since we did not bring any money we called back to her that we would return “manana” for her molas.

The guide book says that villagers here do not come out to visit yachts.  But since we did not immediately go into the village and visit the sahila, he came out in an ulu and greeted us.  His name is Luis and speaks English fairly well.  We paid the $8 fee for permission to go anywhere in his waters and to visit anywhere in the village.  Luis said that we were the first yacht to visit the village in four months and that they were all excited to see us.  Hope they are that excited because we don’t plan to spend THAT much money in Ustupu.  Luis said he will show us around tomorrow.  Bill understood Luis to say that he will introduce us to the chief tomorrow, but our guide book says that Luis is the chief.  We are a bit confused, as usual.

We can upload this log via satellite phone connection, but unfortunately we cannot upload photos until we have an Internet connection.

History of where we are going next

November 3, 2007  Saturday

We got our clearance papers back from the agent in Cartagena, and these papers make no sense to us.  There was supposed to be something called a 60-day cruising permit for Colombian coastal waters.  That is not at all what we received.  We received the normal zarpe showing next destination port of Colon, Panama, via San Blas; plus another 2 sheets of paper that are stamped by Immigration and translate simply that we are leaving Cartagena bound for Colon, Panama, via San Blas.  Arguing with the agent would have gotten us nowhere since this is what he is familiar with as being called the 60-day cruising permit, even though there is no mention of any number of days and no mention of Colombian waters.  Well, we have what we have; so hopefully this will suffice when we finally reach Colon.  If not, guess we will pay a fine.  Certainly not going straight to Colon to clear in and then go back down to San Blas.  And we also are not going down to Obaldia to clear into Panama before going to San Blas.  Wish Panama had waited another year to crack down on their Immigration laws.  (Note:  the laws for Panama have changed several times since 2007 and surely will continue to change again and again.)

Now, a long basic history lesson for the area we will enter this week.  Those of you who have no interest in history can stop reading now.

Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador were originally combined into one country known as Gran Colombia.  During the very early 1800s Simon Bolivar was instrumental in the division of this territory into the 3 separate countries as known today.   But during the 1800s the area now known as Panama was actually still part of Colombia.  There has always been dissension between Panama and Colombia, and the Darien Indians in southern Panama are incredibly fierce people.  The Darien had driven the Kuna (also spelled Cuna) to the Caribbean side of the isthmus.  Even today the Darien control the Pacific side of southernmost Panama and the Kuna control the Caribbean side.  Both indigenous groups have proven over the centuries their total refusal to accept being ruled by a central government.   Both the Darien and Kuna are part of Panama, but rule themselves, each with their own unique style of tribal rule.  The central government of Panama realized after many deaths that the easiest and most logical way to deal with these people was to let them operate somewhat independent.   This has worked well over the past century.  We will write more about the Darien if and when we visit the Pacific side of Panama or if we decide to do some inland travel to the Darien area.  For now, we turn our attention back to the Caribbean side where we will be visiting for the next several months.

The Kuna live in the Comarca de San Blas, which for statistical purposes is treated as part of Colon Province in most official documents.  The provincial borders have not changed since they were determined at independence in 1903.  The other 9 provinces of Panama are divided into districts, which in turn are subdivided into sections called corregimientos.  Configurations of the corregimientos are changed periodically to accommodate population changes as revealed in the census reports.  The borders of the Comarca de San Blas where the Kuna live under tribal rule are not changed by the census count.  Don’t think the Kuna would accept that.  They are not going to give up any of their lands to the central government of Panama. 

History of Separation of Panama from Colombia (copied from an official Panama government website):

 During the last half of the nineteenth century, violent clashes between the supporters of the Liberal and Conservative parties in Colombia left the isthmus' affairs in constant turmoil. Local self-government for the department of Panama was extended when the Liberals were in power and withdrawn when the Conservatives prevailed. The Catholic Church was disestablished under the Liberals and reestablished under the Conservatives. The fortunes of local partisans rose and fell abruptly and often violently.
According to one estimate, the period witnessed forty administrations of the Panamanian department, fifty riots and rebellions, five attempted secessions, and thirteen interventions by the United States, acting under the provisions of the BidlackMallarino Treaty. Partisan clashes and foreign intervention exacerbated racial antagonisms and economic problems and intensified grievances against the central government of Colombia.
Between 1863 and 1886, the isthmus had twenty-six presidents. Coups d'état, rebellions, and violence were almost continuous, staged by troops of the central government, by local citizens against centrally imposed edicts, and by factions out of power. The chaotic conditions that had prevailed under the federalist constitution of 1863 culminated in the 1884 election of Rafael Nuñez as president of Colombia, supported by a coalition of moderate Liberals and Conservatives. Nuñez called all factions to participate in a new constituent assembly, but his request was met by an armed revolt of the radical Liberals.
Early in 1885, a revolt headed by a radical Liberal general and centered in Panama City developed into a three-way fight. Colón was virtually destroyed. United States forces landed at the request of the Colombian government but were too late to save the city. Millions of dollars in claims were submitted by companies and citizens of the United States, France, and Britain, but Colombia successfully pleaded its lack of responsibility.
Additional United States naval forces occupied both Colón and Panama City and guarded the railroad to ensure uninterrupted transit until Colombian forces landed to protect the railroad. The new constitution of 1886 established the Republic of Colombia as a unitary state; departments were distinctly subordinate to the central government, and Panama was singled out as subject to the direct authority of the government. The United States consul general reported that three-quarters of the Panamanians wanted independence from Colombia and would revolt if they could get arms and be sure of freedom from United States intervention.
Panama was drawn into Colombia's War of a Thousand Days (1899- 1902) by rebellious radical Liberals who had taken refuge in Nicaragua. Like the rest of Colombia, opinion in Panama was divided, and revolts in the southwest had hardly been suppressed when Liberals from Nicaragua invaded the Pacific coastal region and nearly succeeded in taking Panama City in mid-1900. The fortunes of war varied, and although a local armistice gave supporters of the Colombian government temporary security in the Panama-Colón region, the rebels were in control throughout the isthmus. Meanwhile, by early 1902 the rebels had been defeated in most of Colombia proper. At that point, the Colombian government asked the United States to intercede and bring about an armistice in Panama, which was arranged aboard the U.S.S. Wisconsin in the Bay of Panama in 1902.

Throughout the period of turmoil, the United States had retained its interest in building a canal through either Nicaragua or Panama. An obstacle to this goal was overcome in December 1901 when the United States and Britain signed the Hay-Pauncefote Treaty. This treaty nullified the provisions of the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty of 1850 and signified British acceptance of a canal constructed solely by or under the auspices of the United States with guarantees of neutrality. (And we all know that the US built first the Panama railroad to handle traffic for the Alaskan Gold Rush and then later built the Panama Canal; but those are future stories in our travels.)

(Aside note:  Several times in Cartagena we heard talk about the United States having expressed an interest recently in helping to build another water pathway between the Caribbean and the Pacific using 2 rivers in Colombia.  Apparently this would not require a huge investment to complete.  This secondary water pathway would be used by pleasure craft and smaller shipping vessels, and leave the Panama Canal for the larger ships.  We have no idea if there is any basis in truth for these rumors.)

All that brings us to Panama self-governance in 1903.  The Kuna won their right to self-government in the Kuna Revolution of 1925, an historic event that San Blas celebrates every February with the local holiday of Mor Ginnid.  During the Kuna Revolution, the Kuna killed everyone in the area they defined as “their land” who was not full-blooded Kuna.  They wanted no dilution of the true Kuna bloodlines.  The officials in Panama realized at this point that it was futile to continue to try to control the Kuna, and the Comarca de San Blas was established.  This system has worked well ever since.

The Kuna are a matriarchal society.  The women control the economy.  When a man marries, he goes to live in his wife’s village.  But each village has a man chief known as a saila or sahila or salia (I have seen various spellings for this Kuna word).  More about all this in future postings.  Strange arrangement but it works well for them.  The Kuna are probably the last remaining indigenous people of the Americas who continue to live a truly traditional lifestyle – no cell phones, televisions, radios, modern conveniences, etc.

The San Blas consist of 357 islands spanning roughly 260 miles of the southeastern Panama cost of the Caribbean.  There are 49 separate Kuna communities in this territory.  Truly a gorgeous place.

We can’t wait to get there!

Time to leave. We loved it here.

November 2, 2007  Friday

We will be leaving Cartagena on Monday morning.   Alberto is supposed to come clean our hull and prop tomorrow.   He does this without scuba gear or Hookla air system; he has great lung capacity.    Definitely need this cleaning done before setting out on the passage to Panama.  The slightest amount of marine growth on the auto-prop causes vibration and slows the revs and speed under motor, so the prop should always be visually checked and cleaned before leaving on a passage.  Bill usually does this by simply diving with a snorkel mask because we normally don’t get a lot of marine growth.  But here in barnacle heaven Cartagena the water is so unappealing that Bill is not getting into it.  Pay a local like Alberto to do it instead.

We will leave the marina dock Sunday morning and anchor out.  The anchorage appears pretty full to me; hope we can find a spot.  Our deep draft limits the possibilities and I hate anchoring in a crowded area.  We will leave our three 110-130-ft lines in the water when we leave the dock.  These are actually six lines pieced together to form three really long lines.  These lines are tied down on the chain anchoring system on the sea bottom that surrounds Club Nautico marina.  These lines have been submerged since our arrival on September 12, and they are covered in barnacles and marine growth that is more than 6-inches in diameter in places!  Cleaning these lines will be a nasty, stinky job!  We were dreading bringing those filthy lines up onto our deck when we leave the dock, but John the dock master suggested that we pay Alberto to clean them for us.  Apparently this is a common practice and well worth the cost.  Wouldn’t tell Alberto this, but we would be willing to pay three times his quoted fee for him to clean those stinking lines for us!   All six of these lines are good lines and we would hate to lose them because of the nasty growth on them.  Two are 3-part plait and two are 3-part braid dock lines, all of which were brand new when we arrived here.  The remaining two lines are our spare genoa sheets.  Landlubbers would probably never guess at the cost of these lines because, after all, it is just various kinds of rope; but the current replacement cost would be more than $1800 USD.  So you can see why we definitely want to save all these lines if possible.

Monday morning should find us wending our way back out through the break in the underwater rock wall across Boca Grande and on our way to the San Blas Islands of Panama.  We have decided to make it a straight passage rather than stop at any of the Colombian coastal islands.  Not going as far down as Zapzurro.  Instead, we plan to head straight across to the Los Pinos channel entering the San Blas.  Should arrive there sometime Tuesday.

There will be no internet access in the San Blas, so this website probably will not be updated after Sunday until mid-December.  I have written a couple of things about the San Blas and captured a few photos from other websites, and will upload those two blogs before we leave Cartagena, but that will likely be the last you hear from us until we arrive in Shelter Bay Marina in Panama sometime mid-December.  However, you can check our positions by clicking on “position report” to the right of our BeBe photos on the main page of our website.  The map on the website can only be updated whenever we have internet access, but the “position report” is updated every time we send/receive email or weather info via SSB radio.  Just click “position report” and then click satellite view and you can see our current location.  There are other links on that report that take you to other services, one of which actually shows the history of each time we change position and happen to send/receive email; but that is too complicated to explain.  Just play with it if you have the time and the interest.

We hope to visit our favorite Cartagena restaurant once more this weekend.  I managed to get another haircut this morning.   We are making the last-minute trips to the supermarket today to stock up on a few things since there will be no stores in the San Blas.  Finally found a use for that dishwasher in the galley – it makes a perfect storage place for the 5 dozen eggs I bought to last us for the next 7 weeks.  (Eggs are not refrigerated here; they last a long time at room temperature as long as the eggs have not been washed or refrigerated.  Once refrigerated, then eggs must remain refrigerated.)  Bill bummed a dinghy ride with Chuck on MAKER’S MATCH over to the fuel dock at Club de Pesca to fill our gasoline jerry jugs today; diesel jugs are already full.  Propane tank was refilled earlier this week.  Only thing that will not get done is re-filling one of Bill’s dive tanks.   This should not be a problem because diving is illegal in the San Blas, and if we have an emergency like a fouled prop Bill has one full tank and that would be more than sufficient for a quick dive to clear a prop.  So all our trip preparations are taken care of and we are ready to move on.

Cartagena has been a real pleasure.  We will return again; next time will try to get a slip at Club de Pesca and see how the other half lives.  We have enjoyed our stay at Club Nautico, but it would be nice to not have so much movement at dock and also would be nice not to have lines submerged.  Club de Pesca has the normal poles out front to tie off onto as you back into the slip, so no submerged lines to get nasty. 

If anyone is thinking of visiting Cartagena, we recommend it.  Wonderful old city and good people.

Cartagena folks love Halloween

November 1, 2007  Thursday

The annual Halloween party was held at Club Nautico last evening.  Almost all the cruisers made an effort to dress in costume, and some of the locals wore elaborate costumes.  Every child received a “prize” for something; there was a DJ and dancing.  Of course, Bill and I sat on our butts for the entire evening because Bill doesn’t dance any more – especially not to Colombian style music.  But most everyone else participated in the dancing.  The food served was “typical Colombian fare” which turned out to be a rice dish that was similar to paella and was served on a banana leaf with a boiled egg on the side.  I know that eggs, and especially whole eggs, are considered a symbol of prosperity in a lot of cultures.  Never would have thought of eating a boiled egg with paella, but when in Rome…….   It was nice evening.

For some reason, Halloween has reached Cartagena in a big way.  When walking downtown we saw lots of children’s costumes being sold and Halloween candy on display.  Not sure that they do Trick-or-Treat because we stayed strictly in the marina last night; maybe they just do costume parties and give candy to the kids.  But we did have 2 kids come Trick-or-Treating to our boat – Merric and Seana on BLUEPRINT MATCH looked so cute in their pirate and princess costumes.  I took some photos but I was standing on our moving boat while they stood on the dock, so none of the photos came out. 

Which, BTW, brings up the topic of just how much this boat moves while tied to this dock!  It is incredible.  Not sure why we get so much movement so far up in this bay, but our boat seems to be constantly moving.  We face bow-to the anchorage and half the time it feels like we are at sea.  This morning I was standing in the aft cabin and actually fell down on the bed because the boat was moving so much.  Don’t understand it.

Another pair of my shoes bit the dust last night.  By the time I walked back to the boat the soles and heels of my shoes had dissolved into what looked like sawdust. This time it was my nicest low-heel sandals; ones that I have only worn maybe 4 times since we moved aboard.  That makes 3 pairs of shoes that have literally disintegrated on my feet since we moved aboard.  Salt air destroys shoes?  Or is it the heat?  Any ideas?

We turned in our paperwork to our agent yesterday to begin clearing out of Colombia.  Immigration officials came to the marina this afternoon to match our faces to our passports.  We told them we plan to leave tomorrow so they would go ahead and stamp our passports and be done with that.  Actually, we hope to leave either Sunday or (more likely) Monday.  It is supposed to take 2-3 days to clear out.  We also requested a 60-day Colombia cruising permit and that “puntos intermedios” be noted on our zarpe.  By having these documents we should have no trouble when we clear into Panama.  Without these 2 items, we understand that the Panamanian officials give people a hard time or impose penalties for taking so long to clear in.  They are fully aware that people go to the San Blas Islands and hang out there for weeks (or months or sometimes years) without first going to Colon to properly clear into Panama.  By having the 60-day Colombian cruising permit, we can claim that we were in Colombian waters and not in the San Blas.  Officialdom can be a real PITA.

Yesterday we had yet another obstruction to our saltwater system on the boat.  Wasn’t barnacles this time; it was trash.  The problem was two-fold.  Some small plastic bags had been sucked into the saltwater strainer basket and were blocking water flow.  And tiny bits of debris and pieces of baby barnacle shells had been sucked beneath the diaphragms of both of the saltwater pumps for the heads.  Bill had everything cleaned out and reassembled in less than an hour.  It surprised us how fast the water flowed into the toilets after all those tiny bits of trash were removed from the pumps.  Can’t place the blame for this completely on the dirty water and trash in this bay.  Bet some of that trash has been slowly building up and diminishing the water flow for months and we never noticed it until it reached a critical point.

Now, our international finance lesson for today:  (Apologies to Boyd)

I’m sure that everyone at home knows that the US dollar has weakened worldwide.  It just isn’t worth what it used to be.  Yet another reason that we definitely are not going to the Med anytime soon and are somewhat hesitant about going to New Zealand and Australia.  There are pros and cons involved in this normal currency fluctuation.  It is actually good for the US to have a weak dollar because it brings in tourists (good for airlines, hotel, rental cars, restaurants, retail stores, etc.) and it also makes US products far more attractive to foreign markets because now “made or grown in USA” looks like a bargain to Europeans and others; thus, good for exports.  Also, our national debt is in dollars, not in foreign currencies.  So a lower valued dollar is better when making debt payments to foreign countries or international markets.  The opposite side of all this is that when US citizens are traveling abroad, then their money just doesn’t go as far. 

All that leads up to the following statement.  Bet you would never have thought that the US dollar is weakening against the Colombian peso.  After all, we arrogant Americans “know” that our country is far larger geographically and with greater population and has a more stable economy than a poor, not-fully-developed South American country like war torn Colombia.  Wrong!!  Take a look at the currency conversion history since we arrived in Cartagena.

US dollar conversion rate to Colombian pesos received from ATM withdrawals since we arrived:

9/12   --- 2222.22 pesos for one US dollar

9/20   --- 2142.85 pesos for one US dollar

9/29   --- 2068.97 pesos for one US dollar

10/12 --- 2000.00 pesos for one US dollar  Note: more than 10% decrease in 1 month!!!

10/24 --- 2068.97 pesos for one US dollar

10/27 --- 2051.28 pesos for one US dollar

10/31 --- 2000.00 pesos for one US dollar  Wow!  We are down again!

Panama uses the US dollar for currency, so at least we will not be dealing with lowering dollar value on the currency exchange market for a few months.

Too much rain; best hot dogs in the world; and the nicest bullfighter ever.

October 26, 2007 Friday

Yesterday’s heavy rains all day long nearly drove everyone nuts.  You can only play computer games or read books for just so many hours before you go stir-crazy.  But Heather on SCOTT FREE saved the sanity of a few of us by getting on the VHF and asking people to play dominoes at the bar.  Seven of us met in mid-afternoon and played until almost dark, when the electricity again went down.  I lost, but who cared; we all just wanted off our boats for a few hours.

This morning a mechanic came and serviced our generator.  Nothing wrong with it but it was time for some routine maintenance.  Bill probably could have done it but he wanted to watch a professional do it first.  The mechanic said our generator looks brand new; did not find a thing wrong with it.  Next time Bill will probably do this scheduled maintenance himself.  I don’t know what was done and really don’t care as long as it works correctly.

While Bill was watching the mechanic, I plotted our routes to the San Blas Islands.  We don’t know where we want to go; it will totally depend on the weather and the adverse current when we leave this protected bay.  So that meant that I had to plot numerous variations of routes, all of which end somewhere between Puerto Perme near the ultra-traditional Kuna village of Anachucuna on the mainland of Panama and the Pinos channel entering the San Blas Islands.  Still haven’t decided if we will do a straight shot across or if we will stop at the Rosarios, the San Bernardos and/or Isla Fuerte along the way.  Heck, we still haven’t decided if we want to go down to Zapzurro or blow that off.  

We received very good news from Globalstar this morning.  We had hundreds of minutes that were scheduled to expire 31 Dec 2007.  We have not been able to use that phone hardly at all because can never obtain and hold a signal long enough.  Bill complained and asked some questions.  Next thing we know, we received an email saying that we now have until 31 Dec 2008 to use all these minutes.  AND, and this is a big AND, Globalstar has recently put up 4 new satellites and repositioned some others; so their service has improved significantly.  Our phone actually was receiving strong signal today and we were able to retrieve voice mail; something that we have not been able to do in a couple of months.  Now if it will just work in the San Blas Islands we will be delightfully surprised.  And I now take back all my complaining about Globalstar.  They really are trying hard to provide better signal service and to improve their customer service.

Last Sunday at the flea market here in the marina Bill bought a Mini M SAT phone.  It doesn’t work (which he knew when he bought it), but we are hopeful that Sven the wonder electrical engineer will be able to repair it.  It is at his shop now.  The Mimi M phone should work worldwide, whereas the Globalstar will not.

Colombia will be holding various political elections over the weekend and Monday.  So all sales of liquor and beer and wine are banned from 6:00 p.m. tonight until Tuesday morning.  Bet that will really hurt the restaurant businesses.  Someone made an announcement about this on the VHF yesterday and we got a chuckle from all the cruisers who said they were headed down to the supermarket in the rain to buy beer so they would not run out over the weekend.  Guess some of them can’t go a day or two without beer or wine or mixed drinks.

October 28, 2007 Sunday

Another rainy, dreary day.  It appears that this slow rain isn’t going to stop today at all.  Bill is shopping online for all kinds of boat stuff; I am reading and playing computer games and searching for new recipes – none of which sound interesting enough to make me want to heat up the galley to try one.  All I can say is:  thank God we are at a dock with A/C running.  Would hate to be out on anchor in this weather in a closed up boat.  Bill says he now understands what they mean by wet season vs. dry season.  Wet season in this part of the world extends from late April through November. 

The weather forecast for this week is all wrong for our passage to the San Blas.  Winds are predicted to be from the WSW or SSW all week, ranging from 10 knots up to 35.  So we have delayed our departure plans.  Maybe next Sunday we will leave here.  Will have to make that decision by Wednesday, I guess, in order to get our zarpe in time.  It usually takes several days to clear out of Cartagena.

About half-dozen boats arrived today from Aruba or Curacao.  We have met all of them up-island at one time or another, so this week will be an opportunity to visit some old new faces.

October 30, 2007 Tuesday

Rain finally stopped this afternoon, thank goodness.  The dreary gray is depressing.  On Sunday night a heavy rainstorm blew through and several boats in the anchorage dragged anchor.  Some boats started their engines and took evasive action to avoid being hit, but owner of the catamaran TANDEM didn’t awaken and go sit in his cockpit during the rainstorm and was unaware of the potential problem until he was hit.  Don’t know how much damage was sustained by either boat, hopefully nothing serious.

Last night we went to La Carreta (a/k/a The Burger House) with Buddy & Melissa on INDIGO MOON, one of the boats that arrived here Sunday.  We had met them in Bonaire but hadn’t had an opportunity to visit with them back then.  The burgers were okay (never as good as what we grill on the boat), and we enjoyed talking with Buddy & Melissa.  The burgers were served with the normal leaf of lettuce, mayo and ketchup, the ground beef patty, and a slice of cheese, plus what is apparently a Colombian variation of hamburguesa --a slice of green tomato and a thin slice of ham.  Strange; but it tasted okay.  BTW, they do not sell pickles here.  Hard to find any kind of pickle at all in the supermarkets.  Sliced dill pickles like we use on sandwiches in the US are unknown in most of the Caribbean; that is just an American thing.  Since Bill likes dill pickles and he eats a lot of sandwiches, I usually buy every jar of pickles on the shelf when lucky enough to find any.   

This morning we went back to old town Cartagena and walked around.  I was searching for a moisture proof salt shaker and possibly costumes for the Halloween party tomorrow night.  Didn’t find either.  Then we walked back to the hot dog man and the bullfighter bar that we had visited weeks ago.  The hot dog was just as good as last time, covered with crushed potato chips.  Found out what the mystery sauce is that he dispenses on top of the ketchup and mustard and mayo and thousand island dressing looking stuff --- it is a pineapple sauce.  Would never have guessed that a pineapple sauce would be good on a hot dog, but it is.  That also settles the question of what the almost clear sauce was that was put on the table with our hamburguesas last night—it also was pineapple sauce.  None of us tried it on our hamburgers.  But it is good on hot dogs.

After talking with hot dog man and Colombia at the bullfighter bar, then we walked along the top of the old wall that runs along the seaside.  Took a couple of photos to show you just how wide these walls are and how high.  No wonder the city was never after these walls were constructed. 

El Convento de la Popa and the Castillo San Felipe de Barajas. And wouldn't you love to have a gold goat?

October 25, 2007  Thursday

It is pouring rain and predicted to continue all day.  Since we are stuck inside the boat (wimps that we are), I will take this opportunity to try and remember what we have done this week.  Of course the electricity is off; thus, the marina WiFi is down; so this won’t be updated until the power is restored. 

Last Friday evening we were invited to an impromptu wine tasting aboard BLUEPRINT MATCH.  Paul and Michelle had purchased several bottles of wine with intentions of going back and buying more of the best bottle(s).  Tom & Colleen on UNPLUGGED also joined in.  We tasted (actually….drank….) almost 5 bottles of wine between the 6 of us.  Think most of us were feeling a little sluggish the next day.  The Malbec was voted the best.  It was a fun evening even though Bill and Colleen violated a major cruiser rule and got a little heavy into a political discussion.  That topic is usually avoided.

Sunday was another afternoon of Mexican Train dominoes and then the weekly pot luck dinner at the marina.  Nothing newsworthy about either event.  Sunday morning there was a flea market held at Club Nautico for us cruisers to empty our bilges of unwanted stuff.  We sold a set of charts for the Leewards, some double layer blank DVDs that won’t work on our computers and a gallon of paint that we would never use.  I bought 3 springform cake pans and 3 DVD movies.  Bill bought a non-working Mini-M satellite phone.  He bought the phone for exactly the same amount that we sold our crap for.  There is a German electronics guy nearby who might be able to repair this phone.  He does repairs even on the circuit board level.  If he can get it working, then we will have a sat phone for the South Pacific.  Otherwise, we won’t have lost much money.

We spent most of Monday cleaning out yet more barnacles from the saltwater system of our boat.  There were barnacles growing inside the copper manifold and the main outlet hose was absolutely jam-packed full of barnacles.  That was restricting the flow of saltwater to the toilets and air-conditioners.  Cartagena truly is the barnacle capital of the world.  When we first arrived we thought cleaning every 2 weeks would be sufficient.  That was a mistake and we changed to cleaning every 10 days.  That still was not frequent enough so we changed to cleaning every 6 days.  That too was definitely not frequent enough, so now we are down to cleaning the sea chest strainer every other day and cleaning out the intake thru-hull every 5 days.  We hope that cleaning this frequently will prevent any more barnacle growth in the hoses and manifold.  We are very glad that our Amel is plumbed with a sea chest instead of a bunch of different intake thru-hulls.  Most boats would have at least 8 intakes for the conveniences we have on this boat.  That would be 8 different thru-hulls to keep clean of barnacles.  Amel plumbs all saltwater intakes through the one sea chest, so we have only one to keep clean.  Yay, Amel!

Tuesday we did a tour of El Convento de la Popa and the Castillo San Felipe de Barajas.  The tour guide was DuranDuran, and he is a fabulous guide.  I think he used to be a history teacher.  He has a great sense of humor, and he sort of quizzes you throughout the tour by asking questions which reinforce your memory of what he has told you about.  Would highly recommend using him as a tour guide if you visit Cartagena.  There were 12 tourists included in this tour, all cruisers.

The Popa Convent was founded in 1607 by Fr. Alonso Garcia Paredes de la Cruz, an Augustinian Recollet Priest.  Later the convent was used by a mulatto who was lured by a renegade Spaniard into believing that one could be granted happiness and prosperity in life only by worshipping the devil in the form of a gold goat.  So they built a goat from gold.  People would bring gold and emeralds and diamonds and deposit these in a basket by the gold goat.  One night the Spaniard and the basket of gold and jewels disappeared.  We think he also took the gold goat. Then the mulatto was sentenced to 7 years of hard labor and life imprisonment.  After Simon Bolivar wrested Colombia from Spanish rule in 1811, the Austinians were expelled from the convent.  La Popa was uninhabited from 1817 until 1961, when Augustinian Friars began restoring it.

La Virgen de la Candelaria is the patron saint of Cartagena and La Popa is her sanctuary.  Her image stands in the center of the altar in the Chapel of the Convent.  Each year from January 28 to February 2 there is a huge celebration in Cartagena and hundreds of thousands of people attend services in the Chapel.  One hundred people at a time are allowed inside the Chapel (don’t know how they possibly fit 100 people in that small space).  People sleep outside on the stone courtyard awaiting their turn inside the Chapel.  La Popa is 512 feet above the city of Catagena and there are white crosses along the street leading up to the top.  These are not markers for accident victims; these are the Stations of the Cross and worshippers pray at each Station as they make their way up the steep hill.  On July 6, 1986, Pope John Paul II canonically crowned the image of Nuestra Senora de la Candelaria.

La Popa got this name because it is constructed at the top of a hill that looks like the stern of a boat when seen upside down.  The stern of a boat is la popa in Spanish.

Our next stop was the Castillo San Felipe de Barajas, the largest military installation in the Americas from Colonial times.  This fort is very impressive.  The tallest part of the fort with the 4 guard houses was built in 1657.  No further construction was done on the fort until 1697.  At that time the fort was enlarged extensively.  These are tunnels throughout the fort.  Some guides in the past told tourists that these tunnels were escape tunnels and used to lead far out away from the fort.  This is not true.  Some of the tunnels do lead to the outside base of the fort, but none of the tunnels ever extended past the base of the fort.  Many of the lower tunnels now are flooded with water because they are below sea level.  Bill went down in one of them to the water level, but I opted not to go down into that hot, dark place that looked like a perfect home for bats.  I did walk through some of the higher level tunnels.

DuranDuran told us an interesting historical story about Lawrence Washington (brother of George Washington) coming from Virginia to Colombia in 1741 in an attempt to free Cartagena from Spanish rule.  Accompanying Lawrence was Sir Vernon from Britain.  Lawrence Washington did take La Popa, but the fort was not taken.  They fought for days and finally at 5 a.m. on Sunday morning Sir Vernon requested a temporary truce in order to remove their dead and wounded from around the fort.  It was agreed that fighting would resume in 2 hours.  But the fighting never resumed because their surviving men threatened mutiny.  Their army was devastated by tropical diseases.  Instead, Sir Vernon and Lawrence Washington returned to their ships and sailed away.   When they left, there were more than 8000 bodies floating in the Bay of Cartagena---their crew and army who had died from dysentery, yellow fever, malaria, etc.  If Sir Vernon and Lawrence Washington had been successful, Colombians and probably most of South America would be speaking English today instead of Spanish.

Again we heard the story of the Half Man.  And, again, we don’t remember all the details.  His name was Don Blas.  He joined the Spanish navy when he was 15.  When he arrived in Cartagena at the age of 23, he had already lost his left leg and left eye and right hand.  Also, he had no movement in his right arm due to a shoulder injury.  All these injuries had been sustained during battles aboard ships.  But he was strong enough to protect Cartagena.  He was the leader at Castillo San Felipe de Barajas when Sir Vernon and Lawrence Washington were repelled.  Stephen Spielberg visited the fort several years ago and spent many hours going through it.  He said that he might make a movie about it some day.  If he does, then we would definitely want to see that movie.

As we were leaving the fort we saw a group of young men dressed in rather strange uniforms.  DuranDuran said they were missionaries.  They all spoke English (sounded American) and call themselves the Caballeros de la Virgen.  Information about these guys can be found at www.heralds.us .  I think info can also be found at www.salvadmereina.org.co  but since we don’t have electricity at the moment I cannot check this out.

After the tour we enjoyed a late lunch with Tom on UNPLUGGED and Scott & Heather on SCOTT FREE.  We tried a place a few blocks from the marina that was new to all of us, and it was quite a find.  Nice, healthy lunch for about $2.50 including beverage.  We will go back there.  Wish we had discovered this place earlier in our stay here.

Last night was the weekly Wednesday night happy hour.  Afterwards, we walked to a Chinese restaurant.  Chinese menu written in Spanish; almost as bad as the Arabian menu written in Spanish.  Pollo is chicken and arroz is rice; that was all we needed to know.  Can’t go wrong with anything that says chicken and rice in a Chinese restaurant.  There was a free opera (Pavarotti in The Three Tenors) video in the theater at the fort tonight.  I would have enjoyed it but Bill would never have sat through an opera, especially not a live one.  Tonight there is a free live piano concert, but I do not think we will go in all this rain.

Barnacle capital of the world -- but we love this city

October 13, 2007 Saturday

                 

Bill spent the past 2 days working his little skinny butt off!  Thursday morning he decided it was time to clean the saltwater strainer for the sea chest.  Oooohhhh….that was nasty!  It was so clogged with tiny bits of sea grass that I am surprised that it allowed sufficient flow for the air conditioners and toilets to work properly.  Then he decided that since he was already hot and sweaty that he would also clean out our sump bilge.  He does this every 3 months or so.  Well, that turned into a major project!

He borrowed a wet/dry vac from Paul on BLUEPRINT MATCH.  (We really have to buy one of those…..if we can ever find one that is 220v-50hz.)  When he suctioned out the bottom 2-inches of water in the sump bilge, he could see that the copper ground strap had broken.  The ground strap connects wiring, engine, generator, fuel tank and other things to a keel bolt at the bottom of the sump bilge.  This ground strap was intact when Bill cleaned out the sump bilge when we did the haul-out in Grenada in June.  So sometime between mid-June and mid-September the copper ground strap had corroded in two.  Really not a good thing!  Bill had noticed when we were hauled out here in Cartagena recently that the new zincs on the rudder looked abnormally corroded for 3 months use.  And the ground plate for the SSB radio looked corroded, something which we had never noticed before.  Bill was concerned about both of these and was worried about galvanic corrosion.  He had noticed an electrical wire hanging in the water from the boat next to us last week.  There was a taped splice actually in the water!!!!  When Alberto dived to check our prop for barnacles, he received an electrical shock when he touched the prop.  Hey…people could get killed that way!  We told the dock master and he rectified it immediately and will be chastising the caretaker of that boat for carelessness.

Bill found our trusty worker-friend Alberto.  If anyone knows where to find items needed for working on a boat in Cartagena, it is Alberto.  Alberto examined the bilge and ground strap arrangement and off he and Bill went to find the copper for replacement.  They were back in about half an hour with a perfectly sized strip of copper.  It was 1/8-inch thick and 2-inches wide.  They bent it in the appropriate dimensions for a proper fit and made a hole to connect to the keel bolt.  This was not a simple job!  Plus, like everything on a boat, access was torturous!  The keel bolt is more than 3 feet down in the sump bilge.  The bilge sides make an opening of only about 18-inches by 12-inches.  Try reaching 3-feet down when you can’t get into the opening!  Bill thought he was becoming a contortionist.  But it finally was securely in place. 

Today Bill worked on getting the wires attached to the upper end of the new ground strap.  This required trips to 2 stores for terminators (why is it that no matter what spares you have onboard they are never the right size?), and it took half the day to finish this project.  After many exclamations of distressed words that shan’t be repeated here, Bill finished the job by early afternoon.  Hope this new thicker ground strap lasts longer than the original one did.

October 16, 2007 Tuesday

Think I mentioned last week how tiny the taxis are here in Cartagena.  Most seat only 4 people, the driver and 3 passengers.   These are all either Chevrolets or Toyotas and the two brands look identical.  We have never seen these tiny Chevrolets or Toyotas in the states.  There are also a couple other modes of public transportation in addition to the normal busses.  There are bicycles with covered 2-passenger trailers attached on the rear; remind me of rickshaws.  We often see housekeepers or nannies picking up small children from school or doing household shopping using these bicycle taxis.  They are most often seen in the middle-class residential neighborhood on Isla Manga.  These are just standard old-fashioned bicycles so the driver must have strong legs.  Then there are these small motorcycles that one sees zipping all over the place.  If the driver is alone on the motorcycle, he will be wearing an orange vest with large numbers across the back.  He wears a helmet and also carries a second helmet, usually on the left handlebar.  This second helmet is for when he picks up a passenger.  He may or may not also give the passenger an orange vest with the same numbers on the back.  These are the numbers of his license to operate as a single passenger taxi.  These motorcycle taxis are most popular with young women, but we have also seen a few men using them.  We assume this is an inexpensive form of taxi service.  We have also seen police check points to confirm that the driver’s license to operate a motorcycle taxi is current.  If the license is not current then the motorcycle is confiscated and placed inside the back of a large police truck.  Don’t think they haul the person to jail, but they definitely take away his motorcycle.  The bicycle taxis do not appear to require any special license to operate.

Yesterday SCOTT FREE (Heather & Scott) and UNPLUGGED (Tom & Colleen) arrived here in Cartagena.  UNPLUGGED arrived and anchored under sail because their prop was fouled so badly with vegetation that they could not use the engine.  Both boats had enjoyed a leisurely 10-day coastal passage from Aruba.  They said there was almost no wind and they either motored or motor-sailed the entire way.  Quite a difference from the strong winds we experienced when we made the offshore passage from Curacao and over the top of Aruba down to Cartagena.  They enjoyed all their stops along the coast and found all the people to be very friendly.   In fact, they did a bit of land exploration at each of their stops along the Colombian coast.  The bad stories that one hears about cruising the coast of Colombia are blown way out of proportion.  We have not talked to one person who has had a bad experience except for the guy who anchored in Los Rosarios and was boarded; and he was anchored at the island closest to the mainland and completely away from the rest of the Rosarios islands.  He chased the 2 guys off the boat and took away their weapons.  Sounded like pretty inexperienced criminals to us.  Los Rosarios is a group of small islands about 20 miles south of Cartagena.  Maybe there is more danger in the coastal areas of Colombia between Cartagena and Panama, but it appears to be quite safe in the other direction from Cartagena to Aruba.  It is not safe to travel inland in most of Colombia yet; but the coastal areas appear to be just fine.  If you plan to travel inland from Cartagena, it is safest to do it by plane.

Probable change of plans --- again!  As most cruisers say:  our plans are written in jello.

We are now toying with the idea of cruising up and back down the western side of the Caribbean next year; and delaying heading to the South Pacific until spring 2009.  I am ready to head towards New Zealand, but Bill still is not keen on the idea of crossing the Pacific; he doesn’t want to commit to the time required to sail completely around the world.  And he believes that once we go through the canal that we would be forced to continue all the way around.  There are other options:  like the Sea of Cortez, Ecuador, Peru and Chile.  (Did you know there is a canal system in Chile that sailboats can cruise?)  Anyway, since we will already be in Panama it makes sense to continue up to Guatemala or Belize and Honduras; then back down to San Blas Islands again and maybe even back to Cartagena for a few months.  Gives Bill another year to maybe get more interested in doing the South Pacific.  We will have to make our decision on this by the end of the year because our insurance renews in January and we will need to tell them the geographic boundaries for which we want coverage for 2008.

October 19, 2007 Friday

Wednesday was a fun day for me; not so fun for Bill.  Bill was filling our water tank with dock water because we certainly would not operate our watermaker in this filthy water.  He got busy doing something on a computer.  It wasn’t until the water was overflowing into the main saloon that he finally realized what was happening.  The water only got into 2 floor lockers but that meant Bill had to completely empty those 2 lockers; dry everything; and then replace the contents.  It is a good idea to go through lockers every now and then, but this was not how he planned to spend that particular day.

My fun day was visiting thrift shops down in what we would call the barrio.  Judi on FIA has been in Cartagena for more than 5 months and she has been just about everywhere during that time.  She is the “social director” for cruisers here now (every anchorage needs one).  So Judi agreed to show several of us where the thrift shops are located.  Joanne on CALICO JACK and Kim on MIRAMAR accompanied us, and the 4 of us were actually able to squeeze into one of those tiny taxis.  Judi soon left us to our own devices because she had errands to run.  They must leave Colombia again soon because you are only allowed to be in Colombia a total of 6 months during any calendar year.  You initially get 60 days and can apply for a 30-day extension, then you leave the country; then you can re-enter for another 60 days and then apply for another 30-day extension.  After that second 90 days is up, you must leave the country for the balance of that calendar year.

Joanne, Kim and I had a good time browsing through the thrift shops.  These are really tiny “shops” in an alleyway.  We were the only gringos in that area.  A well-dressed young Colombian woman came up to Kim and Joanne and told them to hold their purses in front of their bodies so they wouldn’t be robbed ---this was in Spanish and that was the best we could make out of what she was saying to them.  Both Kim and Joanne know lots more Spanish than I do.  A few minutes later a Tourista Policia (armed with the obligatory big gun) arrived and proceeded to follow us around for the next hour.  He stayed a couple of yards behind us and waited outside the entry of each “shop” while we browsed.  Kim and Joanne didn’t even notice him until I pointed him out when we walked away from that alleyway.  He followed us several more blocks down the main boulevard until we reached a “safer” area.  He never said a word to us, but he was obviously alerted by someone that tourists were in the local market sector.  Cartagena does not want tourists robbed or harassed in any way because they are trying desperately to get tourist business back to the city like it used to be before their civil war and drug wars.  This is the safest city we have ever visited --- including any city in the US.  BTW, this local market sector is the La Matuna district of old town Cartagena that I mentioned earlier.  Guess that is why there is no tourist information on La Matuna; it is just the main shopping district for the locals.  Very interesting place.  Wish I had brought a camera, but I didn’t carry any purse or bag.  Instead I wore tight jeans --- no one can pick your pocket if you wear tight jeans.  People were cooking all sorts of food in pots set up right on the sidewalk; some of which looked and smelled really good!

My reason for this thrift shop expedition was to buy clothes to give to the Kuna children when we visit San Blas Islands next month.  We are bringing clothes, candies and crayons and construction paper for the children; fishing hooks and nylon line for the men; and reading glasses and sewing needles for the women.  Bill might also give some of his older tee-shirts to the men.  We really won’t give these things to the Kuna because that creates a charity expectant society.  Instead, we will trade these items for whatever the Kuna have to offer.  A kid can bring us a pretty shell and get a pair of shorts or a tee-shirt, but he must give us something to trade.  We don’t want them to start expecting hand-outs from visitors.

After we completed our bargain purchases we walked down the main boulevard to Vivero.  Vivero is a 3-story business that could best be described as a Caribbean version of a Target or Wal-Mart.   We each made a few purchases and walked on.  This time through the produce and flower market.  We planned to catch a taxi back to the marina but decided that we would treat ourselves to lunch instead.  So we walked past the Clock Tower, past Plaza Simon Bolivar, and down the side street to Crepes and Waffles.  After a 3-hour lunch we found a taxi and went home.  A very fun day away from the marina.

Yesterday morning we awoke to canon fire!  A beautiful old tall-ship arrived in the bay.  They fired a 7-gun salute and the salute was returned from one of the very old forts on Tierra Bomba, the island just south of Boca Grande at the entrance to the Bay of Cartagena.  The tall-ship was dressed; meaning that she was flying flags completely over the ship, up the forestay, across the triadic stays, and down the backstay.   This was a ship of the Argentinean Navy, we think.  The uniformed crew was standing at attention on deck and crew were also standing at attention at the end of each yardarm.  True old navy tradition!  Quite a sight to wake up to.  Stick your head out of the companionway hatch and find smoke wafting up from canon fire and this beautiful old tall-ship being maneuvered into dock by tugboats.  I do not think this ship has an engine, as she sailed into the bay and then was maneuvered to dock by 2 tugboats – a truely traditional tall-ship.  Wish we knew her name, but we never saw the stern.

This morning Alberto went diving under our boat to remove any barnacles.  The large inlet to the sea chest was completely clogged with barnacles.  We had noticed that water flow to the toilets wasn’t as strong as normal, and the salt-water pump started making a whining sound; so we assumed that the flow was restricted.  Sure enough, Alberto said it was packed solid with barnacles.  Alberto also said there were big barnacles growing on our newly painted bottom section of the keel.  We splashed 3 weeks ago today!.  One would expect that $300 gallon of Hempel Globic anti-foul paint to have worked better than that!!!   There are no barnacles at all on the hull, which is painted with Micron 66.  Interlux Micron 66 is by far the best anti-foul paint for the warm waters of the Caribbean, worth the extra cost; but not available in Colombia.   If you come here on a boat, be sure to clean your seawater strainer at least every 5 days and have a diver clean your prop and inspect the bottom at least every 2 weeks.  Cartagena truly is the barnacle capital of the entire world.