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5th Dec 2008 - 20th Jan 2009
Curacao to Cartagena! Liward in South America
This update will cover a lot of ground, about 500 miles worth. This, in Liward sailing miles, is a long time. We started December in the Dutch island of Curacao. Our plan was for a quick visit just long enough to stock up at the great grocery stores, but, as usual weather had another plan! So we spent about two weeks in Curacao and enjoyed seeing the island. On December 12 a good weather window arrived so we made the trip to Colombia. This passage has a reputation of being on the list of five worst passages, but we didn’t do too badly. Our first stop in Colombia was a place called Five Bays where we spent five days. A great place to get a feel for Colombia. Then we made quick stops in Roadadero and Punta Hermosa before arriving in Cartagena just in time for Christmas. We’ve been here for over a month now so it`s time to get the website updated!
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Diary Photos
| 5th Dec 2008 |
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| Happy Birthday |
| A toast was the first order of business on Lili’s birthday! It is so hard to believe that another year has passed . The Venezuelan coast is only 35 miles away so you can buy one of their cheap beers called Polar. But they only have 8 ounces so we call them beer shots! “You get what you pay for”! |
| 5th Dec 2008 |
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| Complete with Fireworks! |
| Then dinner at a lovely restaurant called the Boatyard, complete with fireworks. We spent two weeks in a very protected bay called Spanse Waters. It was super convenient with free buses to the supermarkets every morning, diesel, and of course a chandlery where we always manage to find something we need. |
| 6th Dec 2008 |
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| Island Tour |
| While waiting on a good weather window to start our 3 ½ day passage to Colombia, we rented a car for a couple of days. So off we went to tour the island which really means looking for surf! We found some waves on the north side at Playa Kanga. The waves weren’t great but Steve caught a few. The surf shack on the shore was better than the waves, complete with a lazy boy. |
| 7th Dec 2008 |
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| Curacoa Picnic |
| Curacao has many very pretty small bays with beaches, a nice stop for a lunch picnic. The wind was blowing so hard that we had to use rocks to hold the table cloth on. |
| 8th Dec 2008 |
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| Curacao South Coast |
| The island is about 35 miles by 5 miles with a population of about 160, 000. Very Dutch so you almost think you are in Europe. |
| 9th Dec 2008 |
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| Is it the Houston Ship Channel? |
| Shell Oil built a refinery in 1918. Steve thought about knocking on the door for a job. But then he came to his senses. The refinery is now owned by Curacao who leases to the Venezuelan Oil Company which is kind of scary. There is a large port and industrial area which is accessed through a pontoon bridge. We got caught on the bridge while it was opening one day and had a little ride! |
| 10th Dec 2008 |
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| We found the Christmas Spirit! |
| Willemstad, the capital of Curacao almost looks like little Amsterdam with the lovely pastel colored buildings. We caught a little Christmas spirit and decided it was time to sail for Colombia. |
| 11th Dec 2008 |
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| Offshore Rig |
| We had a three night passage with the first days being really light wind. We flew our new spinnaker but still made pretty slow time. So we knew we couldn’t make landfall in Colombia before nightfall so we had to spend an extra night at sea. And the wind seemed to know it. Because we could not slow the boat down. We had only a little piece of sail up and we were still doing 4 knots with the wind was gusting up to 50 knots. Just before sunset we saw an offshore rig in the distance and it reminded us of sailing on the Texas coast. Only there was just one rig! So we had two days of light weather and one day that was pretty bad. But this passage has a reputation for being one of the top five worst so we felt pretty lucky. We did get buzzed at mast height by a Colombian Coast Guard plane. And then got a call on the radio by name! They were so close they got the name off the back of the boat. But we were very glad they were there keeping an eye on things. |
| 12th Dec 2008 |
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| The Welcome Committee! |
| We were sure happy to arrive in Guayaraca Bay in an area called Five Bays, Colombia. Our new friend Reynaldo paddled out to the boat in his dugout canoe to welcome us. He is the one man welcome committee for the sailors and has quite a boatcard collection. We stayed in Five Bays for five days. |
| 13th Dec 2008 |
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| Five Bays |
| This bay has a small fishing village….ok a very small fishing village….. Well, a really, really small village with no electricity or running water. The wind continued to blow hard for a few days. Even one of our canvas hatch covers blew away! We wanted to ask the fishermen to keep an eye out for it so we tried to figure out how to say “hatch cover” in Spanish. The best we could come up with was a “window shirt”! |
| 14th Dec 2008 |
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| Traditional Fishing |
| The fisherman still fish traditionally. Paddling out with a net weighted with big rocks with holes drilled in them. |
| 15th Dec 2008 |
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| Pull! |
| The net is set and then about 10 men get on the beach and pull it in. It looked like quite a task. |
| 16th Dec 2008 |
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| The Catch! |
| The catch didn’t look very impressive to us but they were excited. These sardines were quickly scooped up into buckets, put on the back of motorcycles and raced off to the nearest town, we assume with electricity and ice. |
| 17th Dec 2008 |
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| Beautiful Coast |
| We spent time hiking the area and enjoying the locals. Americans were quite the novelty and we found the locals to be very friendly. We did have the Colombian Coast Guard check on us a couple of times but they were extremely friendly. The first time they were wearing bullet proof vests and carrying guns but greeted us with smiles. The second time they came around with face masks on and we don't think they were looking for us! |
| 19th Dec 2008 |
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| Private Anchorage |
| Just a nice shot of Liward anchored in Five Bays. Definitely no crowds. But that was to come. Our next stop was a resort beach called Roadadero which looks like Miami beach. It was like night and day going from a beautiful spot with no electricity to a beach lined with restaurants, discos, and bars! |
| 20th Dec 2008 |
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| Cartegena Colombia |
| We arrived in Cartegena on December 23. And what a city of contrasts. In the 1600 -1800’s, it became the treasure city of the Spanish Main and served as the primary shipping port for precious gems and minerals destined for Spain. The walled city is filled with interesting narrow streets, balconies of bougainvillea, beautiful plazas with cafes, and wonderful museums. We’ve been here a month and still haven’t seen everything. |
| 21st Dec 2008 |
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| San Felipe Fort |
| In 1639 King Ferdinand ordered the city of Cartagena to be fortified to protect Spain's treasures. This fortress took nearly 200 years and cost 245 tons of gold to build. It is the greatest and strongest fort ever built by the Spanish in their colonies. We spent half a day exploring. |
| 22nd Dec 2008 |
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| Don Blas |
| Don Blas de Lezo is the hero of Cartagena. He is quite a soldier. When he was 16 he lost is left leg in the battle of Gibraltar. In the battle of Tolon he lost is right eye and in the battle of Barcelona he lost his right arm But he continued to command and with only 2000 soldiers he defeated the 23, 000 British under Admiral Vernon when they attacked in 1741. When the English first attacked they were so sure of their success that they had their victory medals made with the inscription “The pride of Spain humbled by Ad. Vernon” showing Don Blas kneeling in surrender. The English apparently felt it was ungallant to conquer half a man so they put his arm and leg back on the medal! But they ended up losing with a little help from malaria and dysentery and Don Blas saved Cartagena. Sadly he died after the battle from a wound to his remaining good leg. And here’s another interesting tidbit. One of the regiments fighting with the British were Americans commanded by Lawrence Washington, brother to George. The Washington family admired Edward Vernon so much that they named the family home site Mount Vernon in his honor. |
| 23rd Dec 2008 |
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| Tunnels |
| We spent some time in the San Felipe fort, tunnel system which was built to supply and evacuate the fortress. Don’t go down here if you are claustrophobic! The tunnel system was pretty impressive with little cubby holes to house the soldiers and hiding places to jump out and bayonet the enemy! And if all else failed it included a cache of explosives that the last man out could ignite! |
| 24th Dec 2008 |
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| Boca Grande |
| Boca Grande is the tourist area of Cartagena with high rise hotels, casinos, and upscale shopping. From the boat at anchor we can see the contrast of the walled city with a modern skyline. |
| 25th Dec 2008 |
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| Spanish Inquisition |
| Cartagena was also the New World center of the Spanish inquisition. We learned that 400 trials were held here with only 4 death sentences carried out. Today the Inquisition palace is a great history museum. |
| 26th Dec 2008 |
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| Catredral |
| The Spanish architecture and great history make old town fascinating. We can walk from the boat in about 20 minutes, and do so every couple of days. |
| 27th Dec 2008 |
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| Gold! |
| The Spanish found gold in the area of Cartagena. But not to mine! From 200 BC the Zenu Indians of South America made beautiful gold pieces and buried them as ornamentation with their dead. So the Spanish took the easy way and dug up all the graves! |
| 28th Dec 2008 |
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| More Gold! |
| Some of the goldwork looked like mesh to signify the importance of the irrigation canals which were built in the farming areas. There was quite a network of canals to tame the rivers which can overflow in rainy season. |
| 29th Dec 2008 |
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| And even more gold! |
| The detail of these pieces was just amazing and were made using the lost wax technique. Appropriately the Gold Museum was housed in the Banco Colombia building with plenty of guards |
| 30th Dec 2008 |
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| Theatre Heredia |
| The main theater in Cartagena is beautiful and we wanted to experience it. So we heard about a traditional music show that was scheduled. Only we didn’t try to get tickets until the day of the show. And the box office’s computer was down so no tickets could be sold. So we were approached by a vendor on the street selling tickets, but that sure didn’t seem like a good idea in Colombia. After assurance from a theater employee and other locals that the tickets were good, we bought the tickets off the street. Imagine our surprise when we were led to our seats in the President’s Box! The show was wonderful, with 7 performers from 4 different South American countries, a 12 piece band and dancers. |
| 4th Jan 2009 |
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| Day at the Beach |
| Steve searched out the surf and found the spot! He takes the dingy over to the "Miami Beach" area and pays a guy 2000 pesos ($1) to keep an eye on it. Then hikes over to the ocean side. His man, Fausto, who rents chairs and cabanas, watches his stuff while he surfs, only another 2000 pesos. And then Flora the fruit lady has a fresh platter waiting when he gets out of the water! Since we can’t swim in the water where the boat is anchored we decided to spend a day at the beach with new friends Ian and Ida on Ishka, and Una and Jeff on Dragonfly. |
| 5th Jan 2009 |
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| Anything and Everything! |
| The Colombians love their beach! We’ve never seen so many people. Three rows of cabanas were wall to wall for a couple of miles. And it was almost “standing room only”. You can get anything you want in your cabana…fruit plate, pina colada, cold beer, shrimp cocktail, massage, pedicure, blood pressure check…..the list goes on. It was an interesting day, not our usual “cup of tea” but fun for a day. |
| 6th Jan 2009 |
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| La Catedral |
| This is the church where Francis Drake parked his cannon in the front door and demanded a huge ransom from the city of Cartagena. When they refused he blasted the cannon and destroyed much of the church. Then the ransom was paid. Its funny how English history remembers Francis Drake as “Sir” while Colombian history must have a different view! The cathedral was started 1575 partially demolished by Sir Francis Drake's cannons, and finally completed in 1602. |
| 7th Jan 2009 |
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| Lovely Streets |
| THe old walled city is filled with narrow cobblestone streets. Great shopping, eating and just enjoying! |
| 8th Jan 2009 |
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| Botera Sculpture |
| This "heavy" bronze sculpture by Fernando Botera, the famous Colombian artist is right in front of the church of Santo Domingo. Legend has it that the devil tried to wrench out the church tower but only managed to make it crooked. And now this sculpture keeps an eye on things. Where people have touched the sculpture its really shiney! We'll let you guess where those spots are! |
| 9th Jan 2009 |
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| Street Vendors |
| When the breeze stops it can get very hot. So Steve decided to buy a snow cone from this street vendor. He shaved the ice right on the spot! Nice cool down. We find the Colombians to be very enterprising and hard workers. Motorcycle riders provide taxi service rides on the back of their bikes, cell phone owners set up tables on the street selling minutes for a few pesos, and strolling muscians entertain! |
| 19th Jan 2009 |
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| Happy New Year |
| So our New Year has started well! Cartagena was a great spot for the holidays with fireworks, music in the plazas, and dining in the streets. We hope 2009 brings you all you wish for! We'll stay in Cartagena about another 2 weeks and then head for the offshore islands of Colombia and Panama. We are looking forward to getting back in clear water! |
| 20th Jan 2009 |
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| Can you Toucan? |
| The Rosario Islands of Colombia are a popular tourist destination. Boats carry the visitors the 24 miles from Cartagena where they spend the day enjoying the beautiful clear water and then return them to the mainland at sundown. It was a perfect place for us to spend a few days and get back into the cruising lifestyle. We found a wonderful surprise with an awesome bird sanctuary that is privately owned but allows visitors. They must have had hundreds of birds of every kind imaginable: toucans, macaws, parrots, ostrich, peacocks, owls, emus. You get the idea! |
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