Underway for Cartagena de Indias

We expected little wind for the 110nm passage from Santa Marta to Cartagena de Indias (to distinguish it from the Cartagena in Spain), and that it would be mostly under power.

We were underway at 11am, almost 2hrs late due to a SNAFU with the exit paperwork. The late start mattered because we wanted to reach Barranquilla before nightfall, in order to steer around the flotsam and jetsam being swept miles out to sea at the mouth of the Río Magdalena, at 1300km the longest river in Colombia.

To our surprise, we had a brisk breeze on a broad reach for the first 8 hours that took us to just off Barranquilla before the wind collapsed. We were just beyond the danger zone and lit off the Perkins as the sun set.

Shortly after setting the watch at 8pm, Vicki noticed the engine temperature had climbed to 230°F (110°C). We quickly turned off the Perkins after verifying the high temp was real with an IR temp sensor, and not a gauge issue.

We quickly switched from motoring mode to sailing mode, with just one problem. Winds were light and variable, they remained that way for the next 24 hours, and we barely maintained steerageway at 1-3kts.

Once the engine cooled enough to work around it, we looked for the source of the overheating. After hours of diagnostic troubleshooting, we finally discovered what the matter was: a wad of crustaceans had taken hold in the raw water intake line and no cooling water was circulating through the heat exchanger. Once we reamed them out and the line was clear, our Perkins once again operated at its normal operating temperature.

Because we would not make the Boca Grande entrance to Bahia de Cartagena before nightfall, we dropped anchor at Punta Canoas, about 12nm shy of Cartagena. We had a restful night on the hook, and then continued our journey to Cartagena the next day.

As a result of our delays we stretched a 22-hour passage into 2 days + 2 hours.

Cartagena de Indias is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and it’s easy to see why when approaching the historic walled city from the sea.Read more