Towards Cartagena
Author: Shirlz
Now it was on to Santa Marta about 130 nm away. I sailed out of Ensenada Huaraticheru at dawn. I hadn’t been able to get a weather forecast but the wind was light and things looked stable. There was a gentle breeze which would have been enough to keep us moving in a flat sea, but flat it was not and the Navik couldn’t cope with the conditions. I didn’t fancy hand-steering for two days so I hauled out the electric autopilot and started motors-sailing. It was boring but effective. At about 11am the wind picked up a bit and we were able to sail again.
The whole of the next day we made slow steady progress without having to resort to motoring. A little before midnight we passed the entrance to Santa Marta just ahead of a big tanker that was slowly moving out. It was rather alarming. I decided not to go into the busy commercial harbour in the dark and carried on for a few more miles to the beach resort of Rodadero just around the corner and very nicely protected from the Easterly wind.
The bay is deep until you get right up close to the beach. Even at that time of night there were people about, strolling along the promenade and loud music was playing. I anchored in 12m which should keep me far enough away from the swimming area.
Next day I rowed ashore and left the dinghy on the crowded fisherman’s beach. A young boy promised to keep an eye on it for me. The waterfront was lined with high-rise apartment buildings and there was a palm tree shaded promenade, already busy at 9 in the morning. The scene was very reminiscent of similar resorts in Brazil. People were enjoying themselves.
I needed to get some local money and a chip for my tablet so that I could get connected again. It could have been done right there in Rodadero, but I wanted to have a look at the old city of Santa Marta. There were plenty of ATM’s so I drew some cash ($1 ~ 2900 Colombian pesos) and found out where to catch a bus into town. It was good to be back in a place where there was public transport. The half hour ride to town cost 1600 pesos – about 60c. In fact I got a free ride as I didn’t have small change and the driver said not to worry.
I got off in the beautiful old historical part of town and really enjoyed just strolling around. The streets were busy with street vendors selling everything from cell phones to handwoven fabric bags. Fruit stalls with mangoes and pineapples. Delicious smelling hot cooked snacks. I managed to get some prepaid data time for the tablet from a street vendor on a busy corner. It was very efficiently done until it came to finding change for the 50000 peso note which I wanted to pay with. It was the smallest that had come out of the ATM. But, no problem! She dashed off down the street with my cash and phone and was able to get change from a driver of one of the busses passing by.
I walked down to the waterfront promenade and found a shady place to have an icy freshly squeezed orange juice while I checked my mail and the latest weather info. I had a look at the big marina but felt that, for a short stay, I was far better off anchored in the bay at Rodadero. I did some more sightseeing and when an afternoon thunderstorm broke I caught the bus back.
After a luxurious full night’s sleep I spent the next day on board, intermittently fending off curious pedal boaters. The only problem with Rodadero is that you are forced to anchor fairly close to the crowded beach and become the centre of attraction. Hired pedal boats are very popular and during the day there was a fairly steady stream of them pedalling by and taking pictures or just hanging in my lee while chilling out with a few beers.
The next day I had a fast sail down to Puerto Velero, a very good anchorage protected by a long sandbank. The entrance is well marked with lighted buoys. The new marina didn’t look very busy and I was the only cruising boat in the anchorage off the beach on the NE corner. Nothing much ashore except the usual thatched beach shacks and a few bars.
Before reaching Puerto Velero I had to cross the mouth of the Magdalena River with its busy entrance to the commercial port of Barranquilla. Ships were coming from all directions and the AIS came in very handy, showing me how they were heading. To add to the fun, the sea was very rough with big swells. We were running dead downwind with the sail right out. At times I had to help the Navik to stay on track as a gybe here would have been nasty.
I left Puerto Velero at moonrise, about 8:30 pm, heading for Cartagena, 60 miles away. The moonlight was bright and it was wonderfully cool. Speedwell doesn’t have very effective sun protection while sailing as the sheet for the junk sail crosses low through the cockpit. It can be a problem in the tropics. So a moonlight sail makes a lot of sense.
This time the forecast was accurate and we had to motor all the way. There was also some current running against us and we were only able to manage 2 – 3 knots. At about 2pm on Saturday we still had just over 20 miles to go and the forest of high-rise apartment blocks and hotels that line the Cartagena waterfront were visible. We passes a flotilla of fishermen in open boats working a sandbank.
Cartagena is a walled city, a necessity in the old days to fend off invaders. Part of the wall extends across Boca Chica, the widest and most convenient entrance to the bay. It is underwater and can’t be seen. I wondered how many old ships had smashed up against it. Nowadays there is a section where the water over it is deep enough for small boats to cross. My guide book said that there were buoys marking the spot and at last I was able to see them. I steered carefully through keeping a sharp eye on the depth sounder. We passed over a short section of 3m and we were in.
Now we were surrounded by water taxis, weekend sailors, big ships, tugs and millionaire gin-palace yachts. All speeding around and churning up the water. Speedwell chugged steadily along for the nearly 2 miles to the anchorage off the Club Nautica marina and we thankfully dropped anchor in 13m. It was reassuring to see that we weren’t the only cruising boat in the country.
May 24th, 2017 at 02:04
Sigh – As soon as my current situation improves – I am so THERE !
Thanks for the update