| Bonaire to Panama
Hello everyone, greetings again, After leaving Puerto la Cruz we had hoped to spend about three weeks at the pristine Venezuelan outer islands of Tortuga, Los Roques and Los Aves but unfortunately, we continued to be plagued by maintenance problems. At Isla Tortuga we had a minor electrical fire which was really scary. It turned out that the mechanic forgot to re-attach the main battery ground wire to the engine. Not much damage but it could have been a lot worse. On our second day at Islas Los Roques we lost the engine fresh water pump. Without a spare, we had to cut the trip short and sail directly to Bonaire for a replacement. Bummer! Bonaire, which is part of the Netherland Antilles, has always been a nice stopover for the east or westbound cruiser. The primary attraction is the clear water, which makes it a diving/snorkeling paradise. Once again, we were faced with more bad luck. The day after our arrival, a coupe of teenage kids swam out to VIVA while we were ashore and proceeded to rifle through our belongings. Most of the items they took were small but in the process, all of my Nikon digital SLR cameras and lenses ended up overboard. Apparently, there has been a rash of robberies, mostly directed at visiting dive tourists, but it now appears that cruising sailors might be the new target. There were witnesses and the ID of the kids was known but under Dutch law there is no recourse against minors except for a slap on the wrist. We spent several days at the local police department but it soon became clear that there would be no compensation or closure. Needless to say, no pictures of Bonaire! After a 12-day wait, our engine pump finally arrived and it was on to Curacao.
The anchorage is at Spanish Bay on the east end of the island which is a bit inconvenient for clearing Customs and Immigration since it is about an hour bus ride away. However, we rented a car for a day to do some provisioning and sightseeing and which also solved the clearance problems. We then moved down to the west end of the island to wait for a weather window for the dreaded 400-mile passage to Cartagena,Colombia. We always remember the thrashing we had in 2000 when we were traveling the other direction. May and October are supposed to be the optimum months for this passage and for once we hit the perfect timing and were rewarded with a delightfully smooth downwind sail.Contrary to many experts advice, we once again opted for the coastal route, which allowed for several overnight stops at some interesting, scenic anchorages. Contrary to the Venezuelan coast we never felt threatened by security problems and it is a shame that the insurance companies charge an extra premium for yachts to visit this country. There are obviously some serious threats with all of the drug trafficking in the interior, but these activities are seldom encountered by cruising yachts and the Colombian Navy and Coast Guard keep a highly visible profile. After a pleasant 5-day trip we arrived unscathed in Cartagena. Cartagena is truly, a jewel of a city, rich in history and well worth the stop on anyone's itinerary. The old walled city and surrounding fortresses have been under constant rebuilding and renovation for several years and the area is loaded with some wonderful colonial architecture, museums, galleries, old churches and some excellent restaurants for every taste. Since our friends John and Jo Featherstone were arriving for a two-week stay we opted for Club de Pesca, which is a very upscale marina on the site of an old fortification and a two dollar cab ride from the old walled downtown or Centro.
At Club de Pesca we had the pleasure of meeting Lee Miles, a transplanted American and emerald broker. Lee, known as "Mr Emerald" and wife Pachi were delightful hosts with a wealth of knowledge on Cartagena and Colombia in general. After a week of exploring the local sights and a sail to the nearby Rosario Islands, John and Jo rented a two-bedroom apartment for a week in Bocagrande, a nearby peninsula lined with fashionable hotels, shops and beachfront condos. It was a nice treat for us after the heat, humidity and close quarters on Viva. Nothing like an air-conditioned room after a day of touring and shopping. Some scenes from the San Blas
A few highlights of that final passage which you might appreciate. As usual, the weather gurus all called for clear weather, light winds and calm seas. The first 30-40 miles were great with sunny skies, 8-10 ft. following seas and light winds off the starboard bow. Pretty neat surfing to weather. Then the wind pick up to about 20 knots with two knots of current on the nose until those nice following rollers turned into a seagoing washboard and it was back in the washing machine. About 2:00 AM the lightning/rain squalls started and for the next four hours we were surrounded by one squall after another. We have never experienced or seen so much lightning and thunder; sort of like sailing through an artillery barrage without the shrapnel During all this, we hit one of those floating trees you always see washed up on the beaches, but it must have been a glancing blow because we were still floating. To add to the excitement, we had a small container ship pass our transom less than a mile away. What is so exciting about that you ask? Try no running lights or range lights! I was only able to see him because of all the lightning flashes. Because of the lightning we had the radar and all the electronics unplugged but I did try him on the VHF. Since there was no answer, I figure they must have been all asleep, struck by lightning, running drugs or all of the above. After tiptoeing around in the dark, trying to avoid any metal contact the squalls finally passed, dawn arrived and it was then time to make our first fuel transfer. Not so easy schlepping the fuel jugs back from the bow in those conditions. At least we didn't run out! The winds died a bit and the next eight hours was spent motoring into those nasty seas against a two-knot current. We arrived at the Bocas harbor entrance about 3:00 PM. After 31 hours, we still managed to average over five knots. Think we will try the coastal route next time! We really enjoyed Bocas del Toro, what little we've seen, and hope to spend a little time exploring the area when we return. By the time you have finished reading this we will have returned to LA for the summer and we'd love to hear from you, so please drop us a line. Just remember DON'T hit the REPLY button, but instead, start a new message. Best wishes to all, PS If you are not able to download the photos, they will be posted soon on my web site.
aboard s/y VIVA
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..the anchorage at Club
Nautico
