Colombia, La Fuente, My Godson

Imagine if you will parking your boat alongside a random other.  You get talking, and next door recommend Duncan who runs a B&B in the hills above Santa Marta.  Next thing Duncan appears, sits on the side of your cockpit, and talks about the great places to see in the hills. Anyway, he disappears, and Deb and I decide we'll go see tomorrow.  Up early, take the 2 hour travel experience through Minca in the Sierra Nevada foothills, and on to 'La Fuente', Duncan's B&B.  Breakfast and a talk through where to walk from Duncan, and away we go for a great day seeing the sights. Passing through La Fuente for a pre-lunch beer, we ask the barman what Duncan's surname is.  No way, we know a Duncan Bruxsby, it just can't be, no, don't be so silly.  On with the day.  And we did that, returned to the boat, and then .... bang ... checked out our Duncan Bruxsby's mum in Northampton on Facebook, and there is a picture of our Duncan at La Fuente.  We had to return the next day and break the news to a truly gob-smacked Duncan that he had sat on his godfather's (of 27 years since) boat, then breakfasted and guided him and bade him farewell without realizing (both sides) the absolutely unique coincidence of a lifetime.  How does that happen?  Suffice it to say, we spent the next morning catching up on 27 years.  And blew away Jane, his mother, by Skype!  In the Colombian rainforest.  Surreal, or what.  Top that.

Santa Marta Colombia

Would you believe we are in Colombia?  No, no, no, we're pinching ourselves.  A great sail from Aruba over 2 nights, OK a little bumpy and the headsail pole changes (that's from one side of the front end to the other, Pop!) took their toll, but we arrived into bright sunshine and a modern dynamic city full of so many surprises.  Marina and water front are modern, but scratch the surface and you find true Colombian hospitality and local life.  The Santa Martan markets are something to behold.  We discovered them by accident when travelling up into the mountains - and that is the coincidence of the Century, I mean it!  Little yellow city taxis in the town are no more than £1.50 (pesos 7000) and then collective 4x4 ride 45 minutes to Minca, a small village in the foothills of the mountains another pesos 7000 each, cramped 8 into a Toyota Land Cruiser with chickens on the roofrack!  And then a 'moto taxi', a euphemism for a Honda 90 motorcycle pillion ride up a glorified dirt track, another pesos 7000.  Keep the small change handy!  £4.50p for 2 hours of hilarious travel.  And then to 'La Fuenta' run by Duncan and Lady.  More of this later.  So, back to the markets.  A cross between the street produce markets of North Africa, the bazaars of Istanbul, and supermarkets of the Eastern Caribbean.  Such a wealth of variety, quality and price.  But so spectacular!  Difficult to know what not to buy, so we ended up with very little.  We almost even bought what we needed (chain for the dinghy and, what was that other thing?).  Some architectural features of the old town, and lovely streets to wander through. Overall, just an eye open!  After 4 days which turned into 6 (a little Colombian bureaucracy thrown in) we sailed at sunrise on Wednesday for Carthegena via an overnight anchorage at Puerto Valero.

2016 A New Year

So, I know, we haven't blogged for some time. But those NY resolutions sometimes come in handy. So here we are. A new year, and what a year it promises to be.

Having returned to Laros in Grenada at the beginning of November, we spent 3 hard weeks putting her back together ready for the westward passages. Great  friends Catherine and Dick from Liverpool came to visit for 2 weeks. We toured Grenada by land and sea, then sailed to the Grenadines for a week. Lovely islands once again, but the winds blew strong and the nights at anchor were rolly!

Then it was time to take off west. Getting back into longer passages took its time and toll. In big winds Laros performed beautifully so that we completed  the 280 miles to Bonaire in 2 days.  Bonaire is nothing short of a divers paradise and seems to have been preserved almost exclusively for diving. We moored on buoys along the Kralendik seafront, glorious waters and easy access to the main town. Cruise ships galore though, which transformed the port almost every day, from quiet local bussle to hectic tourist shopping. We were able to spend time with Venezuelan friends, and managed a wreck dive too. In credible. Bonaire, Bonaire!

Sadly we had to miss Curacao out due to time. And so to Aruba. A totally different story. More cruise ships and American style hotels. Aruba is dominated by the US influenced tourist market. We stayed in Renaissance Marina over Christmas and NY with Debs and Fred, great friends from Northampton.  Still strong winds but we managed a night at anchor on a northern beach.  Northampton Debs  managed to stay calm!  Aruba is consumed by firecrackers and fireworks all day New Years eve. A cacophony of noise and flashes, making NY 2015/16 one of the most brilliant ever. Great food and  company, and a carnival parade thoruhg the main streets on Saturday night, made this one to remember.

On 4th January forecast winds abated to a nice 20-25 knots. We checked out  on the 5th (first place I have ever been required to present Laros physically to C&I both in and out!) by midday and sailed 2 days to Santa Marta in Colombia. With slight trepidation we arrived after a mostly smooth sail to bright Thursday morning sunshine and a very warm welcome. We sailed in distant company with the OCC rally touring the western Caribbean bowl and have made some new friends sporting the flying fish. Our experiences are nothing but superb here, the first time we have set foot on South American soil.  And what a great place.  We plan to see some of the mountainous countryside in the next few days.