Cartagena - Providencia, Colombia

10 24.66 N 75 32.10 W

Our sail to Cartegena was bumpy and very fast – I am getting used to this “down wind” sailing – our slow boat now does 5 – 8 knots and we hoon down the rhumb line. We either had to slow down or arrive at night – never a good idea in a strange anchorage but after 2 nights at sea I was definitely encouraging getting as much speed as possible and taking the risk of arriving at night – which of course we did. We arrived in the shipping channel as the sun was setting – the channel into the main harbour is 10 miles long and takes a few hours under motor to reach the anchorage. Not being brave (or stupid) enough to negotiate a crowded anchorage at night we simply dropped our anchor at the rear of the pack and settled down for the night – as much as possible – we were next to the container shipping dock and had the dock flood lights sending rays of bright light through our port holes as we moved around on our chain – also the constant beep beep of the machinery in operation (like a truck reversing) – we eventually got used to our new temporary home – it did take a few nights though.

The next day we met John and Jill on board a catamaran named “Stevie Jean” named after their granddaughter. The catamaran was a reasonably new Lagoon 44 and simply luxurious aboard – Don said it would be like sailing in your lounge room. John and Jill are from Dongara Western Australia, John has been a lobster fisherman for the later half of his working life. True to lobster fisherman form John was a typical Aussie – colloquial sayings “lets get on the frog and toad” and many that had me stumped, which Don had to interpret. They were a gold mine of good information and saved us a lot of messing around with checking into a new country, finding supermarkets etc. The Colombian authorities insist all yachties use an agent for their customs, immigration and checking documentation – this was a complete pain as the several on offer were either lazy or the authorities they had to deal with were untimely – for example we did not receive our correct checking in papers until the day prior to leaving (and our exit papers were not ready for our day of departure so we simply could not leave until our agent decided to do our paperwork for us). They charge steeply for this “non” service. Club Nautico is the name of the local marina. Apparently it was a lovely lively place but the authorities insisted on changes which meant the club had to be demolished and to date has not been rebuilt. The place is a mess - broken pieces of concrete, reo and wires, old dead dinghies and broken furniture. The boats tied up to the docks rock and roll in the swell and without the benefit of floating docks one has to perform a death defying leap from the dock to the boat – very scary. It is such a shame as the marina is the only one in the area and essential for visiting yachts.

We arrived in Cartagena, Colombia a few days before Christmas and much to our delight found a cafe with the grand name of "Australian Fusion Cafe" so that is where we celebrated Christmas lunch, amongst pictures of Uluru, kangaroos and vegemite.

Cartagena is mostly known for its walled city – known as a very safe area for tourists, day and night, but we were advised against any inland travel. Paola, our agent, advised me against wearing any jewellery – simple stud earrings were ok but take off wedding rings etc etc. Paola is a native resident Colombian and had her wedding rings stolen in Cartagena. The advice was good, Ann on “Memory Maker” told us the story of her favourite mermaid necklace – very small pendant with a thin silver chain. A local well dressed man in his 20's walked up to her and grabbed her by the throat – she thought she was being choked. Ann fought him – he broke her chain and ran off with her necklace. The necklace had little monetary value, her husband had given it to her on their first date so it had invaluable sentimental value. Going from fear to anger Ann chased the man down the street yelling out to everyone. 20 odd locals joined in the chase and eventually the man was apprehended and taken to the police office. He was beaten thoroughly and Ann was told to come back tomorrow to collect her chain – oh I forgot to mention the thief immediately swallowed the evidence upon being chased. Ann decided that she didn't really want the chain back after all, she later found that the mermaid pendant had fallen off the chain and was lodged in her bra.

The old town in Cartagena is surrounded by Las Murallas, thick sturdy walls for protection. The construction of the wall began toward the end of the 16^th Century after the attack by Francis Drake. The project took two centuries to complete due to repeated storm damage and pirate attacks. The inner walled town contains the historical districts of El Centro and San Diego. It is fascinating to explore the tiny alleyways and admire the beautiful architecture. The Plaza de los Coches was once used as a slave market. Plaza de la Aduana was used as a parade ground and all governmental buildings surrounded the Plaza. Convento de San Pedro Claver was built by the Jesuits in honour of the Spanish born monk Pedro Claver who lived and died in the convent. He spent his life ministering to the slaves brought from Africa. Claver's cell is open to visitor as is the convent. The Church alongside the convent contains the remains of San Pedro Claver in a glass coffin in the high altar.

Nearby in the Plaza de Bolivar is the Palacio de la Inquisition, an impressive building dating from the 1770s. The building is a museum that displays Inquisitors' instruments of torture. Everything from body stretching racks, hangman's noose, finger crushers, skull crushers etc. is on display with various of evil looking contraptions, the use of which is left to your imagination.

We were fortunate to be in Cartegena during the Classical Music Festival – performances were held during the day and evening, some outside. The area is busy with cultural activities. Each morning the cruisers net advises the activities for the day.

Coast Guard

The local Coast Guard prowls around the anchorage every day and began to board visiting boats - they started with John and Jill's new catamaran - said they were looking for guns and drugs but spent a lot of time looking through Jill's underwear draw and her jewellery boxes - a local told us they choose the newer cats and plant sugar or flour then pretend they found cocaine, they confiscate the boat and use it as a party boat until the matter is cleared up and the boat returned - if ever!!! 

After Stevie Jean was boarded several other boats were also boarded - the Coast Guards generally turned up late afternoon or night - if there were two people on the boat they would send 3 guards on board - that is to ensure there was always one guard unsupervised by the owners.  They stole 2 cameras and an ipod from one catamaran and a wallet from another sloop apart from that they were making a nuisance of themselves by requesting beer from yachties and/or boarding boats that had guests in the cockpit then eating the nibbles and drinking all the beer.  They were reported and the missing items were found in the locker of one of the Coast Guards - they have been severely punished - in jail - and we were all notified that the Coast Guard in Colombia is not allowed to request to board a boat without a specific legal document and they must have a genuine reason for applying for that warrant.

It doesn't stop there - the other night a man painted black swam from shore to the closest catamaran, boarded it and woke the occupants.  The owner shined a very bright torch on the intruder (did I mention he was butt naked??) who tried to jump overboard but got tangled up in the life lines.  He ended up in the water and the owner tried to shoot at him with his Hawaiian sling shot (thank goodness he didn't hit him) then fired a flare into the sky and hailed the police.  The man was arrested but allowed to go - the vessel owner wanted to press charges but the police were not interested.

We had our fuel "polished" today - we have been suffering from algae growth in our large fuel tank and have been warned that the fuel in Colombia, by law, has 10% bio-diesel added, which in our terms means it has 10% old cooking oil from Kentucky Fried Chicken (called Pollo Frito here) :-).  That in turn means bacteria etc. and amazing algae growth - keeps the local fuel cleaning service in business. 

Do you ever get that feeling that you really need some type of food and just can't do without it - well they do not have much in the way of desserts or cakes or for that matter sweet biscuits here.  I usually do all my own baking but it has been too hot inside the boat so have gone without (Don thinks all his Christmases had come at once when he learnt that by marrying me he was ensuring a constant supply of home cooked food - and he knows he has to tow the line in order for this supply to continue !!! ).  Now back to my cravings - I'm not sure what I want but after three days of wanting something to cure this craving I have decided to make a steamed pudding with raisins and golden syrup sauce.  I have some UHT cream that we can try - not really sure what Colombian UHT cream will be like - I thought I bought milk yesterday but found it was yoghurt this morning - not good in my cup of tea !!  Anyway I am writing this while sweltering in the galley watching the temperature gauge on the oven, as soon as you look away the stupid thing goes sky high and I burn everything.  (it is the next day and the pudding is flat, set like concrete, stuck to the bottom of the pan and I enjoyed every mouthful, cream resembled playdough).

After leaving Cartagena we stopped at the Bay of Cholon to clean our hull. Cartegena is known for super fast super stuck mussels and crud on boat bottoms – all boats have their bottom cleaned every few weeks. We spent the next two days (mostly Don) scraping an inch thick cement like crust off the bottom – not easy when holding ones breath and diving.

Eagles Nest is a house “casa” belonging to an expat yachtie. From his “casa” he can view boats entering the narrow shallow channel that is the entrance to the Bay of Cholon and often calls them on the radio and offers much appreciated advice. He is an icon and a great help to all boaters in his area. When (I forget his name) organised to have his casa built he received quotes from builders, agreed and watched his new home take shape – and boy did it take shape. The plans were in feet but the local builders interpreted it as metres – his lounge is huge – great for inviting lots of yachties to pot lucks. Now he cannot afford to furnish or fit out the overwhelming building.

Our next stop was Islas del Rosario which is an archipelago about 35km south west of Cartagena and consists of 27 small coral islands. The whole area is a national park.

Just a few more days and we shall settle into one spot for a while - yea !!!  We left the beautiful San Blas area early because of a promise of work for Don in New Zealand - we had to get the boat to a place that would be easy for me for the month Don would be away - Cartegena had a marina - although after seeing the bomb site we would not have used it.  The work did happen but Neil went instead but softened the blow with a promise of work in Papua New Guinea - now thoroughly fed up with organising our life around work that may or may not happen, we simply went on our way to Providencia.  Cartegena was wonderful but cities always wear thin for me very quickly - the first few days I am in awe of shops, bakeries and even supermarkets, then the normal tourist places, things to see and do and once that has happened - well - what's around the next corner ??  The water in Cartagena was not suitable for swimming and being so close to the city and main shipping ports our boat quickly became covered with a thick film of black gluey muck - even inside.  I was happy to leave and our next stop - Providencia - was a wonderful change.