Crossing from Bonaire to Santa Marta, Columbia

Crossing from Bonaire to Columbia

PHOTOS CLICK HERE —>> Passage from Bonaire to Santa Marta, Columbia

The weather conditions between the ABC islands and Columbia can be notoriously windy, with huge seas and squalls. It was essential to us to set off in the best conditions possible. As there was a tropical storm that actually became hurricane Joaquin north of the Bahamas the energy was being drawn north. When this happens there are much calmer conditions in the southern Caribbean making it perfect for our crossing.

1st Leg

We set off at 14:00 Sept 30th. The 1st leg of our journey took us past the southern side of Curacao to the southern side of Aruba. We were actually off of Curacao during the evening and into the night. What was amazing was the number of ships, freighters and tankers waiting off of the coast to enter Curacao. Some of these tankers were absolutely massive. I felt like I was playing dodge up cars while on watch from 21:00 till midnight. During this leg our seas were 3-5′, winds 15k from the east, fine calm conditions. We arrived at 09:30, a passage of 19h 10mins at an average of 5.3knots.

Aruba

In Aruba we anchored up in a bay next to the main harbour and just rested for the day and night. Aruba looked to be a very busy, commercial island. The beaches we saw from a distance looked very nice.

2nd Leg

From Aruba at 07:00 Oct. 2nd we set off for Cabo Del La Vela, Columbia. This was a passage of over 24 hours. Again off of Aruba there were dozens of ships of every type either waiting to get into Aruba or queuing to get into Venezuelan ports. This is a very busy area for sea traffic.

Now we had planned on calmer conditions, but what we got was dead calm conditions and wind on the nose. Yes, the easterly trade winds reversed into westerly winds. We had 24 hour of motoring with only short breaks of sailing in between when heavy rain clouds from the land would pass over thus affording some wind. During one of breaks when we were sailing and it was slightly rough and windy we caught a tuna. John and Chico were very pleased. John chucked Chico the tail to play and chew with/on. Then it was back to motoring in dead calm conditions.

The night was quiet for sea traffic with just a few ships but noisy with the engine running. It really was eerily calm and dark. We arrived at Cabo Del La Vela at 8:00 to find 2 other sailboats there, both of which we knew. Tomorrows Dawn – Jean and Mike and Ian an Australian we had met were anchored up. It was a 26 hour 15 minute passage at an average speed of 5.2 knots for 126 miles.

Cabo Del La Vela, Columbia

The bay at Cabo Del La Vela is over 2 miles across surrounded by desert like landscape, which is a ruddy dark colour with mountains in the background. The sea is a dark turquoise blue; there are Pelicans, frigate birds and Boobies soaring overhead. Ashore there is a local village and in the bay fishermen in dugouts and prorogues put!-put! around. It was starkly beautiful; the colors were a wonderful mix of contrasts. We spoke to Mike who told us they were setting off and then to Ian who had been in the bay overnight awaiting Sorren who he was supposed to be buddy boat with. However Ian had lost Sorren off of Aruba. He believed Sorren was out there drifting waiting for wind to sail.

We stayed the day and over night in the bay. The sunset was amazing!! The headland is actually visited each evening by tourists to watch the sunset as it is famed for its beauty. Dinner was our fresh tuna. It was wonderful! Chico was so happy, fresh tuna, birds to watch and butterflies visiting the boat to tease him.

3rd Leg

Off we headed for Santa Marta on October 4th at 08:40 the next morning. There was a breeze from the shore and then a light northeasterly wind kicked in. The sailing was more challenging for the next 24 hours as the direction and the speed of the wind kept changing. The seas were moderate and following for the majority of the passage. We were relaxing when zzziinng! The fishing line went off. Attached was a large tuna. John reeled it in and slaughtered it on the stern. This was by far the biggest tuna we had ever caught. Again Chico was totally charged when he was given the tail to play with. In the evening there were 3 little birds – swallows or martins – they looked like, that were flying around and around the boat. They kept landing on the rigging and …lines, very close to the cockpit. This of course wound Chico right up, so he had to be confined to the cabin. The birds roosted under our hatch cover and in the early morning they flew off. We also had Dolphins with us; the whole area is full of life. We could see the Santa Marta Sierra Nevada Mountains in the distance. They descend right down to the shoreline creating fiords, which looked from afar, to be beautiful. This area is the Parque Nacional Natural Tayrona and around the corner was Santa Marta. We arrived at 11:40 after 146 miles for 27 hours, average speed of 5.4 knots.

Santa Marta

We were met at the entrance to the marina by the very helpful staff and guided to our berth. There were several of our friends waiting to help and greet us. The marina is wonderful! We have a finger dock for side tie, next to our friends Kay and John on Bad Bunny. The idea is that they will tour while we cat sit and then we will tour while they cat sit Chico. Anyway the marina is very large and has all the facilities we enjoy like a laundry and a mini mart.

Chico likes it here. He especially likes the large powerboats, which he jumps on and climbs to the flying bridge to look out. He would investigate the outside and inside of every boat if allowed. Everyone loves him and we have had staff taking pictures of him as they say he is so big and handsome. As Chico is prone to being too friendly we keep him secured in the boat. However he will try to escape at any opportunity and he has given John the slip a few times now.

Our overall 1st impression of Columbia is John: …. colorful, busy, confusing, loud, very different. Jen: …..full of culture and life, music playing, horns blowing, narrow busy streets, full of colorful sights and inexpensive!!