BOATBUMMS LOG: Cholon and friends visiting

After a couple of weeks of socializing, shopping, some boat chores, annoying sulfur and smoke smells in the early mornings causing sinus problems, being waked by what seemed hundreds of boats all day long, a lot of barnacles growing very fast on the bottom of the boat, we decided it was time to head into a cleaner and more quite environment. Sid was shocked to see that the boat from the waterline all the way to the bottom of the keel was 99% covered with barnacles when he cleaned the propeller. That kept us busy for a couple of hours in the clean anchorage of Cholon. (Don’t get me wrong as bad as the anchorage in Cartagena sounds, it has a breath taking view and it is worth stopping here to see charming Cartagena Vieja).

The night before we left we had Keith and Rob over for dinner. Couldn’t have been a better evening to invite Keith as during dinner he told us know that this was his Birthday. It sure made Keith’s day not having to celebrate it alone and ours that we had chosen the perfect day. Happy Birthday Keith!

Amazing the wind had been blowing out of the NE ever since we arrived in Colombia but of course the day we’re trying to sail west the wind came out of there. We motored though the channel of Boca Chica which reminded us of the ICW except for all the tourist boats speeding on either side leaving huge wakes behind. The entrance to Boca Chica is very beautiful as there is a well preserved fort on either side.

Heading out the Boca the water was calm with only a one foot long swell out of the North. We pulled the sails out and since the wind was right on the nose we had to sail 90 degrees off our course. For about 15 minutes we sailed at 3 knots then we gradually slowed down as the wind got lighter. When the knot meter read 1.8 knots we had enough and pulled the jib in and motor sailed the 9 miles to the first way point. After that we had four more to follow for which the last one was very confusing as it was behind the island and we do not sail well across land. Some adrenaline was flowing while trying to figure out where to next. There seemed to be a little channel between the two islands, one had a long reef extending the other a shallow beach. As we watched a pleasure boat motoring through the cut we followed him very, very slowly with Sid on the bow and Manuela steering with a sharp eye on the depth sounder. Can you imagine driving your 6 foot draft boat through a narrow channel and only 10 feet next to you are people standing in waste deep water waving to you, yikes.

We managed to get into the Bay of Cholon with no problem, lots of friendly waves from swimmers and never saw less than 10 feet of water. The bay is huge and, very protected weather wise but unfortunately not from scum bags. The night before we arrived two dinghy engines where stolen off two cruising boats. Even though both dinghies were pulled out of the water during the night the thieves managed to steel the motors as they were not locked to the dinghy. Lock it or loose it!

The bay is beautiful with several little islands just big enough for some big shot to build a weekend retreat on it. The anchorage has good holding and the water is a lot cleaner than in Cartagena although not clear either. First thing we did was clean the bottom of the boat, yikes that was some work, we were sore for a couple of days from the underwater acrobatics.

We had the best reunion with Carmen and Roberto, formerly “Fresh Air”, last time we saw them was 10 years ago in Cartagena. They live up on top of the hill in a huge house, had a bit of confusion when they built it, between feet and meters so they ended up with a house triple the size than planned. The house “Crows Nest” is nestled on top of the hill surrounded by lush vegetation with a breathtaking 320 degree ocean view, wow. In the bay sits an old big shrimping boat “Manatee” owned by Roberto and Carmen and every Wednesday and Saturday they have a Happy Hour on board. Some times it’s a potluck and some times Carmen cooks up Hot Dogs. When we participated we had a scrumptious potluck and everybody that played an instrument brought it along. We had one guitar and 3 harmonica players and we played way into the night.

Daily Crows Nest and Paradise went for an early morning walk along the bay, Paradise ending up with blisters on their feet, had fresh brewed coffee afterwards overlooking this beautiful bay.

Roberto and Carmen

Manatee

The nights were so quite you could hear a mouse fart, but just before the sun puts her blinking eye over the horizon peacocks started screaming in unison, being followed by another species of bird which we have not found out yet what it is. This bird call is so pretty it sounds like a flute. Then there is the Guacharaca a bird about 53 - 58 cm, dark brown above and pale below dull plumage and similar in appearance to a turkey with smaller head, long strong legs and a long broad tail. This bird makes the loudest noise of all the birds and like the wave at a foot ball game from one side of the bay to the other. We asked for the English name of the bird, nobody seemed to know and it didn’t Sid take long to figure out the name himself as all you hear when they squawk is: “whatthefuckwhatthefuckwhatthefuck”. I read up on it, it’s a Rufous- vented Chacalaca, Ortalis rificauda a member of an ancient group of birds of the Cracidae family. It inhabits northeast Colombia and Venezuela. It is also known as Cocrico and can also be found in the Grenadines, Bequia and Union Island. The male’s call is a loud and low ka-ka-rooki-rooki-ka answered by the female’s high-pitched watch-a-lak. I don’t’ blame them for yelling back what we think is what-the-f….

I tried to capture the sound on a video but only managed to get the peacock and the flute bird but if you listen very carefully you will hear them.

We had a wonderful time but also some problems with the alternator, it did not charge our batteries which is a mayor problem. Also the solar panel regulator quit working so did the wash down pump so back to town. Besides we were expecting visitors and didn’t want to chance getting stuck in Cholon. The weather was another worry as it had been howling 25 knots for a solid 3 days, we had a break in the weather and we took it with a gentle 10 knots on the nose.

We were all excited to have guests and what a perfect timing, we just got out of the Taxi in front of the Charleston Hotel in Old Town Cartagena when Dave Baker our friend got out of the Taxi right behind us. His friend jerry Maize joined him and we had nothing but a good time. Don’t know who wore whom out, I’ll just let the photos talk:

We explored the Cartagena Vieja (Old Town):

Walked the famous old wall “Murales” around the city

Climbed the San Felipe Fort with Gustavo our tour guide:

Meet Gustavo (click on arrow to watch):

Talked to Mom (ask Dave who’s Mom):

Ate at the best restaurants in town:

Roof Restaurant at Charleston Hotel

Wonderful Lunch at Club de Pesca

Assorted tropical fruits on Paradise

Got hooked on Mojitos and Zacapa Rum:

Toured the Bay in a speed boat and explored the Boca Chica Fort”

Where Romancing the Stone with Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas was filmed:

Of course we also rested in the cockpit of Paradise catching up on good old times and savoring the moment our friends were with us. Dave found a few things he thinks we should change on the boat like this:

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