We sailed from Cartagena, Columbia to the San Blas Islands of Panama to San Andres to Isla Providencia to Grand Cayman to Isla Mujeres, Mexico and to Key West in about two months. It feels like we are home.
When we left the Bay of Cholon on January 15th, we motor sailed about seven miles to the Rosarios Islands. We had drinks aboard Joule with our Austrailian friends, Peter and Nani along with our German friends, Bert and Inge from Boree and Derrick and Anika from Narid, another flagged boat - maybe Dutch?. The water is clear and the anchorage is good on the south side of the islands so we spent a couple of days exploring by dinghy. There is an aquarium where they have a shark show for the tour boats, but we came a little late for that. There is a fee for the show, but after hours you can come and walk around, unguided, for free.
Another free attraction is the aviary - Palmar. It has a very extensive collection of native and exotic birds and we went ashore with Peter and Nani to see it. At the end of our very enjoyable stroll it was suggested that we might purchase a piece of jewelry at a very reasonable price and the profits from such sales went to support the aviary. Barb bought an ankle bracelet that she has worn almost every day since.The weather window we sought was in place for the voyage to the San Blas (Kuna Yala) Islands of Panama, so we departed at about midnight, on January 18th, negotiating the cut through the reef following Joule. Joule is an Island Packet 40 so we sailed compatibly on light winds, arriving at the reef off Snug Harbor at dawn a day and a half later.
We played in Snug harbor a couple of days. We left with Joule and Narid and passed through xxxxxxxxxx, where the anchorage was somewhat cramped and rolly, to the Devil Keys. A check of the weather presented us with a decision. Stay and enjoy Kuna Yala and let a rare weather window pass by or go toward the Colombian Islands San Andres and Providencia off the coast of Nicaragua on our journey back to the USA. We ambivalently elected to take the opportunity now to make headway toward the US realizing that there were many miles between us and Washington DC by June. With that in mind, we bid adieu to Joule and sailed from the Devil Keys to the west end of the Holandais Keys and a deep water anchorage with the intent of leaving at first light toward either San Andres or Providencia. Since we had not been to San Andres that was our first choice. We snorkelled from the boat in exquisitly clear water. We could see that our anchor was buried in the sand forty-five feet below us! We launched our dinghy and went to the island and explored the entire coastline. This is a very pleasant spot.
Just before sundown a vessel we had heard on the radio came into the anchorage and began nosing around for a good spot to anchor. Consort decided to anchor very close to our bow, but since the conditions were settled it did not present a problem at that moment.
We had heard them discussing their autopilot not working properly and that they were sailing to test their repairs before coming to anchor. They were also heading for either Providencia or San Andres. So, we called them on the VHF radio and discussed our respective plans. Duncan and Janet, a British couple, on Consort intended to sail to Providencia, but in addition to their autopilot repairs they had concerns about their engine consuming belts at an alarming rate. They were only getting a few hours of service from a new belt and they were down to having only one belt in reserve. We said that we would stay in touch as we both headed west.
The winds were light and remained light as we sailed on January 24th. We checked with Consort on the SSB radio periodically and all was well. The autopilot was working and they ran their generator once in a while to keep their batteries up so they were able to save their main engine (and its belt) for the upcoming anchorage. The wind and current made the way to San Andres an easy run, but heading to Providencia was too close on the wind for Consort so they settled into a course to San Andres as well. We arrived after two full days of sailing at dawn on 26 January, as planned, and sailed in a stiffening and clocking wind most of the way up the channel with Consort right behind us. We anchored off Nene's Marina and dinghyed ashore to check into Colombia again. These far flung islands are National Parks so there is a $45 fee to anchor that is good for a year. I checked our documents from our stay in Providencia and discovered that we had already paid the fee almost a year before and that it was still valid. We celebrated our good fortune with cerveza.
On the tenth day, we moved to a popular cay to anchor near the mouth of the channel to make a predawn departure to Providencia possible. On February 6th, we awoke and set out into the channel with only one channel buoy and the sea buoy to mark our way. Heading southeast, the channel buoy was spotted easily, but the light of the sea buoy was extinguished. It was "visible" only on our radar screen and with that aid, we had no problem piloting beyond the reef and into deep water. We turned north and began the close hauled sail into 12 knot winds (true) with 5-6 foot seas aft of the beam, fifty-five miles to Providencia. Sand Castle and Duchess set out after dawn from the anchorage at Nene's. We kept in touch with VHF radio and we were overheard by a vessel in Providencia's harbor: Gone, our friends Daniel and Jacline, from previous years in the Bahamas, Guatemala and Roatan. They called out reporting that they were the only boat in the harbor. We had a joyful (wine,etc) reunion with them. Sand Castle and Duchess came into the harbor to anchor nearby and with our new and old friends we dinghyed to the Santa Catalina side of the harbor to have dinner and revisit our gracious hosts from the previous April at Bamboo.
Next day (Superbowl Sunday), Daniel and Jacline came aboard and we bombarded them with information about Panama and their upcoming journey. We asked the local agent, Mr. Bush, about a location that might have the Superbowl on television where we could all meet and enjoy the annual spectacle. He suggested that we join him at his home and we did that. We all surrounded a nineteen inch TV and in between munching and drinking we explained the game of United States football to our foreign friends. Well, we, in fact, were the foreigners, weren't we? It was a great game and a great evening on a great island in the company of great people.
The wind direction was forecast to remain on the nose for the next couple of days so we stayed put until Tuesday, February 9th, when we moved eight miles to Long Cay and anchored for a head start toward our next destination, Grand Cayman. I will resume our story in the next post. Look for it soon.
Jay & Barb
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