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| Passages home for the next two months. |
We’ve been in Colombia for over two weeks now and
so far, we are enjoying our time here. In its chaotic, lively way – everything
works. But more later and in the next few blog entries.
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| While we were anchored - I couldn't help but compare the sizes of the different vessels. |
arrive in Santa Marta Monday morning, 17 November but arrived on Sunday afternoon. Unfortunately, we could not go into the marina as the offices were closed, so we dropped anchor in the bay. While in Colombia, we will be staying in the marina for safety reasons, plus we intend travelling around the country while we are here, so it is far safer for Passages to be tied up in a marina.
There were several motorboats in the bay as everyone
was enjoying the last few hours of the weekend. Music was blaring from a few party
boats and from the beach. It was the rhythmic sound of Latin American beat, so
was uplifting and energising. By 9.00pm it was quiet and there was just us,
Passages, and two Cats anchored in the bay.
Santa Marta waterfront.
First thing Monday morning we radioed the marina
to ask if we could enter the marina and where we would be docking. We were told
to wait 10 minutes. Two hours later, we eventually pulled up anchor and headed
for the marina. Thankfully, the lovely family we had met in Curacao, Raymond,
Deanne and their two children, Miles and Vajén, were on hand to help us reverse
into our slip. They had arrived in Santa Marta on Saturday evening and had also
spent their first night at anchor before preceding into the marina. They were
next to us in Curacao Marina, so we got to know them quite well. While in
Curacao, we took them to the beach, the hardware store – like Bunnings in
Australia, the various grocery shops and of course Big Mac for their soft
serves.
But back to our sail from Curacao to Santa
Marta…… we checked out of Curacao on Thursday 13 November and like most places,
had 24 hours to leave the country. We decided to sail up the coast to Santa
Cruz as planned and anchor off for the night as we prefer to try Passages out,
especially after she has been on the hard/boatyard for so long, before doing
any extensive sailing. Raymond and Deanne on their boat Pleiterik decided to
leave for Santa Marta directly after checking out.
Raymond and Deanne are from the Netherlands, just
outside of Rotterdam and have been sailing on their boat for just over a year.
They bought their boat in Curacao last year, 2024 and it was only at the start
of this year that they sailed north to Puerto Rico and then made their way down
the east Caribbean chain.
It felt so good being at anchor as we were quite
protected from the easterly winds. Mel went for a swim and enjoyed seeing all
the healthy coral around the shoreline.
Friday morning, 6.00am the anchor was up and we
were heading to Santa Marta. The winds were behind us so we were sailing down
wind, which can be uncomfortable at times as you are cork screwing along but
one does get accustomed to the motion. Passages was doing speeds we hadn’t seen
her do for quite a while as the current was also pushing us along. After 25
hours of sailing her average speed was 6.5 knots. Pleiterik, which is a much bigger
and lighter boat – 47 foot, achieved a record for their sailing by doing 157nmiles
in 21 hours. We were keeping track of them and communicating through WhatsApp
the whole time. Starlink/Technology is amazing – most of the time.
Just before sunset on our second nights sail, we
had a HUGE pod of dolphins playing around and under Passages. It was pure
magic. They spent over half an hour jumping, tail slapping, diving, and
swimming around us. These dolphins seemed to be slightly speckled grey in
colour – the Atlantic Spotted Dolphin – I think after doing some research. Anyway,
it was absolutely fantastic to experience.
As
predicted by PredictWind, the weather app and program we use, the wind started
to die down on Sunday morning into afternoon. The last 20nmiles took forever as
we now had a current against us so were only doing 4 knots. We thought of
putting the engine on but resisted as we knew it would be easy to anchor
outside the marine if we arrived in Santa Marta after dark. The streetlights
were bright enough for us to see any other vessels in the anchorage.
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| The whisker pole. |
sail, wing on wing. (When the main sail is out on one side of the boat and the genoa, with the whisker pole on the other side of the boat – the whisker pole keeps the big genoa – our main sailing sail – out, ready to catch the wind.)
All I can say is things don’t move quickly here,
as in spite of being tied up in our pen by 10.30am, it was only on Tuesday
morning that we became legal and were allowed off the boat. By Tuesday afternoon,
we had our passes for the bathrooms and the security gate of the dock we are
on. Thankfully, Pleiterik are across the way from us, so we could use the
shower facilities with their passes. I have never enjoyed ice cold showers so
much, as the heat and humidity are relentless.
Santa Marta is in the lee of the Sierra Nevada
mountain range, which cause katabatic winds to howl down the mountain sides in
the afternoon at around 4.30pm and boy are they strong but also welcomed as
they cool everything and everyone down. We put our wind instrument on to see
the speed of these winds. We saw between 25 and 40 knots of wind – to be
precise 39.9knots of wind. We put extra lines on Passages to hold her against
the dock and have decided not to put our sunshade over the boat. It’s
unfortunate as the sunshade keeps to inside of the boat cool, but these winds
are too strong.
While we are here, which should be for about two
months, we will be getting new chaps/covers for the dinghy and doing as much
travelling as we possible. We had planned to sail and to spend some time in
Cartagena but there is so much paperwork and bureaucracy involved when sailing and
anchoring from 
Enjoying an ice cream.
one place to another in Colombia, that we’ve realise staying
here in Santa Marta and using it as our base, is far easier and cheaper. Plus,
I am very happy here. The bathrooms are great and laundry facilities are included
in the price. There is a good grocery shop about 300 metres from the entrance
to the marina and we have free access to the swimming pool at the Marriott
Hotel which is across the road from the entrance to the marina. The swimming
pool water is so welcoming as it is icy cold. PLUS, as Mel says, there are so
many amazing ice-cream shops in town.
Since being here, we, along with Deanne, Raymond
and their two adorable children, have spent a few evenings downtown where there
is an amazing and wonderful vibe. The music and atmosphere are infectious and
enjoyable. Everyone is preparing for Christmas and the Christmas decorations,
lights and huge trees are everywhere. I have had a few giggles as in quite a
few places the Christmas decorations are of snowmen, with ‘Let it snow’ written
all of them and it’s boiling hot here. Anyway… we’re heading to Cartagena by
bus for a few days since we are not sailing there.
So, until next time…..
Take care, keep well, and stay safe.
Best wishes, always
Mel and Caryn
