October 19, 2006 - Curacao
When we left Bonaire, the weather wasn't great, but the squall quickly passed.
We arrived in Curacao on Tuesday, October 17th after a very nice 7-hour trip. There was little wind and it was directly on the nose, so we had to decide whether to motor for 7 hours or sail for 14, tacking all the way. Duh....we took the lazy man's path and had a very enjoyable trip. Bret caught yet another Mahi Mahi, this time a smaller 5 pound one which he grilled for dinner. Yum! The rum was to kill the fish, not for Bret to drink. For those of you that don't fish, the quickest, easiest way to kill a fish is to pour some rum into its gills...it really is much more humane than letting it drown in the air. As much as Lisa enjoys eating the catch, she still hates to see it die...
We anchored in a beautiful lagoon where everyone has to anchor before checking in to Customs and Immigration. Here is the entrance to the lagoon.
On Wednesday we went into town to check in with Customs, Immigration and the Anchorage Authority. We have to do this in every single place we go, but here it is an incredible pain in the ass. It required taking our dinghy to the fisherman's dock, walking to the local bus stop, taking a bus into the city, walking to Customs, walking to Immigration, and walking to the Anchorage Authority. This took just about three hours and then we were able to walk around the city of Willemstad, which is a large, bustling city complete with a cruise ship dock, canals and lots of shopping. We ate at Pizza Hut (yes, I know, but sometimes you need comfort food from home).
The city of Willemstad is half modern and half quaint. Here is the quaint part...the modern part is pretty much the same as anywhere else.
The architecture is very nice in Curacao...here is an example of a typical building.
The quaint part caters to the cruise ship trade with lots of t-shirt shops, jewelry shops and duty-free perfume shops. We enjoyed the city, but don't feel the need to go back.
here is a pontoon bridge over one of the canals that moves to allow boats through. Here is a picture of the bridge just as it detaches from the street.
Here it is out in the middle of the canal.
As we walked by the cruise ship, we looked up at the hull. The cruise ship is tied to the dock by huge lines (ropes) that run from holes in its hull to the pier. Rats love to crawl up these lines and get into the ships so they put a sign on the line telling the rats not to go any further. You can read the word "STOP" and the pictures of the rats. Why a Dutch cruise ship assumes that the rats speak English is beyond us. And even if they do speak English, we haven't know rats to obey signs that well anyway.
October 22, 2006
Here are a few pictures of the anchorage in Curacao.
And one at night.
There is a large supermarket in the middle of the island that sends a free bus around to all the marinas and anchorages to take us all grocery shopping. We haven't seen such a well-stocked supermarket since the US and at had all our favorite US products. It is fun to sample other countries' foods, but there is nothing like getting your favorites every once in a while. Lisa almost cried! Here are some of the things we found that are very hard to get in most of the islands: tortilla chips, salsa, Crystal Lite, peanut butter, French cheeses, olives, BBQ sauce, albacore tuna, beans and rice and American magazines. We didn't buy the magazines because People was $6.00 and Newsweek was $7.00. We didn't really care much about American politics or whether Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes are still married.
We went out to dinner at a very different kind of place. It is named "Equis" and is actually a horse stable with beautiful stables and lots of thoroughbred horses. On Fridays (and only on Fridays) they serve dinner. All they offer is skewers of meat (no, not horse meat) or chicken, along with garlic bread. No plates, no utensils. But, of course, a full bar. They bring you the skewers and bread and you use the heavily-garliced bread to take the meat off the skewer and then dip it in one of three different sauces. Then you eat it sort of like mini-sandwiches. We were skeptical at first, but the place was full and had a long line fifteen minutes before they even opened. Then we saw the skewers waiting to be grilled. The meat was some of the best we have ever had...it melted in your mouth.
October 23, 2006
We filled up with diesel yesterday to get ready for our run to Aruba and Colombia. This is a pain because we have to raise our anchor, motor to the fuel dock and sit there to wait our turn for fuel, then motor back to the anchorage and anchor again. At least we now have enough fuel to make it to Colombia if there is no wind.
We went back into Willemstad and checked out of Curacao today...the reverse cluster fuck of checking in. In the middle of the city we saw some goats.
We are leaving tomorrow morning to make a five hour trip to stay in a more remote (i.e. quiet with a beautiful beach) anchorage on Curacao (they give you 48 hours to leave the country after you check out) and then on to Aruba on Wednesday or Thursday.
The big issue is when to leave Aruba for Cartagena, Colombia. We need six full days of good weather, i.e. low seas with waves from the east, winds from the east between 15 and 20 knots, and no really strong currents. The trip from Aruba to Cartagena is known to be one of the worst passages in the world (weather wise) and has to be done before the Christmas winds hit in late November. We will be traveling with two or three other boats for safety purposes. We do get daily and weekly weather forecasts over the SSB (single side band radio) every morning and we down load weather from the weather satellites when we can get e-mail. What we will do is be ready in Aruba for a good weather window and then leave immediately.
The Trip to Cartagena, Colombia
Day 1
On Tuesday, October 24th, we made the 30 mile (6 hour) trek to the northern most part of Curacao (a fishing village called West Punt)and spent a couple of days snorkeling. It is much more beautiful on this end of the island than where we were previously anchored. There are a couple of exclusive hotels, two dive operations, some restaurants (too expensive for our budget) and some beach bars (just right for our tastes). It was a wonderful 2 days.
Our boat is on the right.
Here are some of the birds on Curacao. The first one is the national bird of Curacao and is 10 inches long.
These are finches that all over the country. This is a male and a female and they are about 3 inches long.
Day 2
On Thursday we left at 7:00 AM and took the 50 mile (10 hour) trip to Aruba. There wasn't much wind so we had to motor sail which makes Lisa seasick. She seems to get less and less affected with each passage. The next week will really tell if Lisa has finally got her sea stomach.
About a mile off the Aruba coast we were greeted by a pod of about 12 dolphins. The swam around the boat and played in the bow wake. The were also jumping completely out of the water to get a good look at us. They stayed with us for about 1/2 houir...it was amazing.
When we approached Aruba, it didn't look like the paradise everyone talks about.
But then it got better.
And better...
This is a picture Bret took and Lisa liked it so much she included it here. It was taken just off the coast of Aruba at about 6:00 PM, right before the above sunset..
We stayed in Aruba only one night because we had been given a good weather window to make it the 400 or so miles to Cartagena, Colombia. We could either go directly southwest with no stopping and it would take us 4 days or we can go due south and sail west along the Venezuelan and Colombian coasts, stopping and anchoring each night in small bays...this would take us 6 days. We are planning on leaving very early tomorrow with the other two boats in order to do the coastal route, which we hear from people who have just traveled this route is safe (as long as you are in a group) and very beautiful. Neither of us particularly like night sailing especially when it is four nights in a row.
Day 3
During our sail on Friday from Aruba, we picked up a little guest. This finch was obviously not scared of people...Bret was able to pick it up and hold it in his hand. It stayed there for about 10 minutes and then left. It was only about 2 inches long and very cute. (NO Lisa, you cannot keep it!!!)
After a 9 hour sail (with wonderful winds and low seas and no vomiting on Lisa's part) the first stop on our way to Cartagena was at an island 18 miles off of Venezuela. Actually, it is just a rock sticking out of the sea in the middle of the ocean.
There is a rope across a bay in the tiny island for boats to tie up to overnight. It sort of looks like how the cowboys in the old west tied up their horses on a rope between two trees. We were a bit leery about this, but the one boat that was already tied up when we arrived told us that it is good holding. That boat has been there for three weeks waiting for a good weather window to go to Aruba. Having good sailing in one direction guarantees horrible conditions going in the other direction.
Venezuela has a small coast guard station on the rock and they came to inspect our boats for drugs. They were two young men who searched our boat, but were very pleasant and polite about it. When they were done we gave them a couple of beers and they happily went back to their station. I'm not sure what these guys did or who they pissed of to land an assignment on this rock. They are dropped off by a boat and then picked up a month later. It is an ugly rock with no wildlife except fish and birds. I think they come on board the boats simply because they are so bored and lonely. Luckily, John on Caliente speaks Spanish or we would have been a bit worried when they came aboard.
Two of the boats we are sailing with are named Caliente and Paldemar. Here is a picture of John and Sandy on Caliente.
This is Paldemar as they came into the small bay...you can see Paul at the bow picking up the line to tie up to the rope.
Days 4 & 5
Days 3 and 4 are together because we did an overnight trip. We heard there was some bad weather towards the beginning of net week so we decided not to stop for the night. The trip was 200 miles and took us 31 hours due to rough seas and constantly shifting wind conditions. And, YES, Lisa was a bit sick, but it gets less and less with every trip.
We got up at 3:45 AM and were out on the open sea by 4:00 AM. Getting out of the anchorage in the pitch blackness was nerve wracking to say the least. The wind was up and we were getting blown all over the place while trying to avoid the rocks on our left and right and the other boats tied to the rope. All this in complete darkness with only a flashlight for light.
FINALLY IN Colombia!!!!! We hit the Colombia shore mid-morning and turned to sail along the coast. Here is our first glimpse of Colombia...not very pretty at all....the shoreline is all rock with no vegetation vi sable.
The sailing went well, but we had changing winds and higher than expected seas. Lisa's was seasick much of the time leaving Bret to do most of the sailing alone. At one point, well after dark, Lisa jumped off the seat of the cockpit screaming and jumping around. It turns out that a flying fish had landed right in her lap and was flopping around. She couldn't see it in the dark and all she felt was something large, wet and slimy jumping all over her. And, NO, this time it wasn't Bret. Lisa also gets pretty bored during these passages so here is the one and only use of the camera that she is allowed. She calls it "Melange of Tanned Foot and Sail Lines" and it is dedicated to Lenore who knows when to laugh at art!
Lisa and Bret took shifts through the night so each could get some sleep. You really feel how small you are when you can only see about two feet of water around you, the stars above you and just a small light each on the bow and the stern of your boat. Lisa in particular does not like night sailing due to the feeling of blindness ( and the attack flying fish).
As the sun came up this morning, Colombia was a bit more pretty. These are the Colombian mountains in the mist during sunrise.
The area around the northern coast is all mountains right down to the water. We pulled into a bay (one of 5 called, amazingly enough, 5 Bays) which has been known for it's good anchoring. This is one of the boats we have been sailing with, Zippidee Du anchored in the bay. We are looking out of the bay through it's mouth.
There was also a nice little fishing family living on the bay, but nothing else. Although I do think we saw Juan Valdez up on the side of the mountain with his donkey. It is absolutely beautiful here...we are surrounded on three sides by mountains ending at the water line. Covering is a combination of lush jungle and cacti...very interesting and very beautiful. The only sounds were of the water lapping the shore and some wild turkeys.
Day 6
We took a short trip down the Colombian coast for 15 miles and stayed the night in Santa Marta. The reason for such a short trip is that it is not advisable to travel the Colombian shore at night due to floating debris from Rio Magdalena. So Day 6 is only 15 miles, Day 7 is 50 miles and Day 8 is 50 miles. This will ensure we have safe places to stop each night.
About an hour out of the anchorage we were approached by a very fast and well-armed Colombian Coast Guard boat that told us all to stop for inspection. They boarded each sail boat, looked at our paperwork and did a very thorough inspection of the interior of the boats, looking in all drawers, storage units, refrigerators, etc... They were armed to the teeth, but extremely polite. When they were finished they wished us a good trip and told us to call them on the VHF radio if we needed anything. Here is Zippidee Du being boarded by the Colombian Coast Guard.
We made it to Santa Marta in about three and a half hours. Santa Marta was the opposite of where we were the night before in that it is a large resort town. We were completely surprised because we had no idea of what to expect. There are no cruising guides for the coastal area directly south of Aruba to Cartagena...we have been following some advice from a cruiser that sailed the coast last year. They published their notes on this voyage in a Caribbean cruisers' magazine which we picked up in Curacao, but the article was not very detailed. We are some of the first American cruisers to come this shore route.
We anchored across the beach from condos and hotels with families of vacationers. It looked a bit like Miami Beach.
There was also a privately owned island in the middle of the bay. It looks like something out of "Lord of the Rings"!
The people on the beach were as surprised to see us as were were to see them. As soon as we let down our anchors, we were surrounded by tons of teenagers on kayaks, rowboats, wave runners and the little tourist boats that you run with your feet. From what we could gather with our broken Spanish, they had not seen too many Americans and wanted to ask us all sorts of questions. They were very polite and kept pointing at things on our boats that apparently they had never seen before.
Bret decided to go to shore with Paul and Mary from Paldimar. They put their dinghy in the water, came and picked up Bret and headed for shore. About a half hour later, they are heading back from shore being towed by one of those foot-pedaled tourist boats. Paldimar's dinghy engine had broken down and the kids offered them a tow. Here is a picture of Bret, Paul and Mary being left off at Paldimar after a very embarrassing tow.
They switched motors and made it to town. Bret said that they were stared at and asked questions everywhere they went. The people had never met real Americans before. Everyone was polite, but curious. They were asked where they were from, how long it took for us to get there, what did we think of Colombia, etc...
So far, Colombia has been a very pleasant surprise!
Day 7
We left Santa Marta at 5:45 AM to make the next 50 mile leg of our trip. About an hour out, Bret had gone inside to get something and noticed that our bilge was filled with water and more was coming in. He traced the problem to a broken hose clamp in an very difficult area to reach of the engine. We stopped cold, called the other boats in our caravan and went about fixing the engine. It took about an hour and we were all under way again. There was no wind what so ever so we had to motor all the way. If we hadn't been able to fix the engine we would have had to wait two or three days (drifting) until the wind built up.
Along the way we passed another huge city on the coast.
We also had to cross the mouth of the Magdelena River. This river dumps mud and debris into the sea and the trail is about 5 or 6 miles long. You can tell when you get to this trail of debris by looking at the color of the water. The water on the bottom is the dirty water from the river and you can see it gets blue again on the other side.
Here is some of the debris we passed. Bret thought it might be the lost city of Atlantis.
This was a nerve wracking 5 miles because we had to have one of us at the bow to search for debris and the other steering off of it. And for some of the time we had pounding rain. During this time, we heard a very loud honking, looked behind us and saw a huge ship about to plow us down. We had been so intent on avoiding debris that we hadn't looked behind us for about a 1/2 hour. Thank goodness they actually honked at us, because they were not going to change their route. We immediately turned off and circled around to behind the ship.
We stayed in another beautiful, very secluded bay for the night.
Day 8
November 1st - Our one year anniversary living on the boat. Yea!!!!
Last day at sea!!!! We made it in less than 10 hours on calm seas and clear skies. We had problems anchoring and Bret and Lisa screamed at each other for about 10 minutes, then decided to have some rum and try again. We are here for three months.