Cape Horn of Colombia

We attempted to leave Curacao early on Wednesday morning…. But in the process of hoisting the dinghy we maligned the arm of the wind turbine…. So we replaced the parts and continued onward. We went to the Curacao Yacht Club only to realize they had 5ft depth, so we back tracked to the other fuel dock… and over flowed the tank. Not a great start to the voyage, but we persisted, nearly missing the channel and getting into the shallows — the frazzled captain made the turn, put up the sail and we were OFF!
We sailed into the night, beyond Aruba, making good time under sail. We were goi g to Jib at 2-3am but waited till dawn, to move the preventer (keeping the boom from an accidental jib). Once we jibbed, it was evident that we would need the engine as we were no longer on a broad reach but full downwind.
Eventually we took the main sail down and put out the geneoa on the wisker pole. We motor sailed like this all day…. However, in the morning we noticed an odd noise coming from the rudder which was a cause for great concern. I asked Brian to check it out, and he didn’t think much of it…. But as the day progressed, and he heard it consistently, he worried. By dinner he had called his friend (Migel from Colombia) and had them put us in touch with the coast guard. They suggested we go into Puerto Bolivar (Cabo de la Vela), but it was not a lite entry and too dangerous for us. We decided to proceed toward Santa Marta. We asked our weather guru, Chris Parker, for an updated forecast — but he was slow to respond.
We took the pole down, and motored with the stay sail through the night. The next morning Brian was anxious that the Gudgeon was the problem. I had no such concern. We checked it out again and finally I put my phone in the water (with a case), and Brian stuck his head in the water…. Relieved that it was not the rudder itself. With that information in hand we decided to proceed past Santa Marta and head directly for Cartagena, aiming to arrive on the afternoon of the fourth day.
We expected the wind and swells to recede after we past Barranquilla, however the swells seemed to get bigger and the wind only backed off slightly. The highlight on day 3 and 4 were the dolphins!! 4 different and distinct looking pods visited us over a 36 hour span. The entrance to the Cartagena harbour at Grand Boca, is very narrow, and has no physical bouys, only marks on the GPS. The charts showed that we had depth to cross prior to the green, but it was wrong and we saw 4ft under the keel… and quickly motored away with me shouting “starboard.” Although we had a slip at Club de Pesca, the wind was high and we opted to anchor and try in the morning. We arrived, ate and went to bed.
Sleep was SO good!!
Today we messaged for help as we knew it would be a tight squeeze and Robe came out with his tender. Unfortunately, with an enclosed pilothouse, Brian cannot hear the shouts of Spanish, and I could not understand. After we burst a fender, I asked Brian to reverse and talk to the workers who were hollering instructions I did not understand. Once we knew what we had to do, the process went smooth and although tight, we managed to get into dock 123. Once in, and caffeinated, Brian dove the rudder again to see if it would give a clue to the noise, we then bleed the lines and tightened the stern gland. Tomorrow we have a guy coming to the boat to help us.
Afterwords, we both had a long shower and washed our hair at the marina… such a highlight. We hadn’t taken an unlimited water shower since Trinidad, over a month ago… the little luxuries!!
After getting the electric hooked up, we turned on the A/C and went for a walk in the old city, having a nice dinner at Mar Y Zielo.Read more