After suffering through the tie up at the Aruba customs and immigration office again, we finally began the passage to Colombia. As you will recall, we tried to hire Captain Crazy to take the boat because we just did not want to be that crazy but alas, here we are. Heading to Colombia on one of the most notorious passages in the world. The passage is known for high winds that run in crazy directions due to the mountains on the coast of Colombia, waves in excess of 20 feet at times and of course, the Magdalena River crossing. With no other favorable options, we decided we would just take Galt ourselves. We watched weather all week and decided Friday through Tuesday would be our best weather window for the trip. We left Aruba around 5pm on Friday. The first night was uneventful as was the next day. The weather was as predicted so we chugged along with the only major aggravation being the wind direction. The wind was directly on our tail end which makes setting up the sails properly a bit challenging. Plus, once Bill would get the sails set, the wind would shift slightly. Very aggravating! My aggravation was the following seas. Those who wish “Fair winds and following seas” have never been on Galt in following seas. The waves pick up the back end of the boat and Galt slides far to the right and then shifts back left before settling in for the next wave. It drives my vestibular system insane! In order to distract me, nature sent the most amazing pod of dolphins. We think it must have been the nursery pod because the dolphins were all about 2 to 3 feet long and had sweet pink bellies with spots on their backs. They would start behind Galt and catch a wave whisking by us and then launch themselves into the air doing flips and twists. It was amazing!
Even with the persnickety winds and the sliding ass end of Galt, we arrived around lunchtime on Sunday in Santa Marta, Colombia. More than halfway to our destination! Prior to arrival, we were introduced to the Colombian coast guard via their VHF call outs starting at 5am. They were trying to contact a boat and repeated the call every 5 minutes for at least 2 hours, “Motor vessel, Katarina. This is the Colombian coast guard. You can copy?” It got to the point that we were going to answer the hail just to make them stop. Our fun started once we pulled into Santa Marta and contacted the port authority for permission to sleep overnight and move on rather than check into customs in Santa Marta. Between their English, our Spanish and our 40 year old VHF radio crackles, we did not do well communicating. We finally contacted the local marina and they contacted the port authority for us. It turned out that all the hullabaloo was because we were anchored in an area they did not like. So, after relocating 200 yards away and dropping anchor, all was good! Even the all night party on the Santa Marta beach could not keep us awake because we were both so exhausted. At 2:30am, we arose and headed out to tackle the day of the infamous Rio Magdalena. The river is infamous because it flows from the mountains into the ocean and it carries massive amounts of debris including reports of entire trees, dead cows and even cars. The previous morning, the flapper valve on our exhaust system failed. After a little research, Bill determined the valve’s main job was to keep animals and foreign objects out of the exhaust line so we knew it could be repaired once we reached Cartagena. One by-product of the missing flapper that we had not considered was the weight of the water that would sit at the end of the exhaust pipe. As we chugged along toward the river on Monday morning, I noticed the bilge pump was coming on more than usual. Bill went down to check on the situation and immediately turned off Larry the Lehman engine. Never a good sign! He quickly explained (quickly because other wise I freak out!) that the elbow came loose from the exhaust line which meant that sea water from the engine cooling system was flooding into the bilge. Like Superman, he grabbed his socket wrenches and spare hose clamps and jumped into the engine room while I held open the hatch door so it would not slam on his head. Without the engine, the boat tossed and turned relentlessly but somehow, Bill got the new clamps onto the exhaust line. The only injury occurred when I tried to get the wrench set for him and fell across the floor onto my knees. I’m going to have a bruise to show for it. Thus…the reason my only job is to hold the hatch door! After far too much excitement at 3:00am, we cranked Larry and headed on our way with no further leaking issues. We had carefully planned to arrive at the Magdalena around 10am in the morning which was reportedly the best time to pass. We knew if we stuck close to the shoreline we would not encounter any large waves or winds. As we approached the river, we heard a hail on the VHF from the port authority. The port authority told us that we had to head out 3 miles from the coastline to cross the river. Are you kidding me? Three miles in Galt time is around a 40 minute trek. Given no other option, Bill turned Galt and headed out to sea. The waves were no longer following. The waves were directly on the side of the boat. The waves were no longer 3 to 6 feet. The waves were 10 to 12 feet. The wind was howling. Needless to say, I had a bit of a meltdown but Bill was once again my Superman and muscled Galt through it all. At three miles out, he turned Galt back to the following seas and I was never so happy to have following seas! In my life, I have had many “that is the darnedest thing!” moments. I once stood five feet from a flow of lava that melted everything in its’ path….that is the darnedest thing! I once had a kid I worked with for seven years who left therapy at 4pm on a Tuesday able to communicate only in single words. When he walked in for therapy on Wednesday at 3:30pm, he was talking in complete paragraphs….that is the darnedest thing! In regards to the Magdalena River…..THAT IS THE DARNEDEST THING! As we approached, both Bill and I fell silent. Staring. Trying to figure out what we were seeing. At first, we both thought we were staring at an odd strip of land that just happened to protrude 3 miles out into the ocean. Then, we thought perhaps it was a huge mass of sargassum. Then, we both realized, it was the RIVER! Three miles out into the ocean, this river spewed and roiled brown water that was at least 5 miles wide. The ocean went from its’ beautiful blue to coffee colored water in an instant. As we approached the demarcation line, nerves were on high alert. About that time, one of our plastic water bottles escaped and rolled onto the deck. Bill said, “Grab the water bottle before it flies off” to which I responded, “They are talking about dead cows and cars floating by me and they want me to be concerned about a water bottle? I think not!” (I actually added a little colorful language related to plastic and kissing a part of my anatomy but I won’t go into it!) As we crossed into the brown water deluge, Galt began to fly! We were averaging 9 knots and even hit 10 knots a few times! We scanned the water for dangerous refuse but none arrived. Perhaps the river knew we had reached our darnedest thing limit for one day. After a night of sleep in a very windy bay, we continued our final day into Cartagena. The waters were flat and the winds calm so it was an easy last leg. The beautiful, white skyline of Cartagena rose out of the sea to greet us under a threatening sky that thankfully did not welcome us with rain. We had a bit of a challenge getting Galt into the tight slip at the marina with dock staff that only spoke Spanish and not one of them in charge. Luckily, a couple of cruisers came over to assist and on the fourth try, Bill slid Galt into place. We then ran for a hot shower, a delicious dinner (sorry, I forgot pics!) and some very cold and well-earned beers. We look forward to exploring Cartagena this week and I promise to take food pictures for my foodies! This blog was written on Wednesday morning after we arrived on Tuesday. I will not be updating this blog for our end of week activities but I will include them next week. We need some rest!
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We finished out our time in Aruba with a little more site seeing, a few boat adjustments and a lot of pool time. On Monday, we decided to go snorkeling and evidently every tourist on the island decided Monday was a good day to snorkel as well. Despite the crowds, we had a nice snorkel with a visit from a young turtle and a few schools of fish. We also discovered the island’s pet cemetery. Hundreds of pet graves sat along side the ocean with homemade markers of all kinds. I have yet to see a human cemetery on the island but the dogs and cats are set! Another odd discovery was the cruise ship, Free Winds. Since we arrived in Aruba, the ship has been tied up in the harbor. Curiosity finally got me and I googled it to see what story it had to tell. The answer turned out to be very interesting! Free Winds is a cruise ship that is currently owned by the Church of Scientology. They market it as a fundraising venue but for any of you who have watched Leah Rimini’s expose’ on Scientology, you will recognize it as one of the recuperation ships. Basically (according to Leah and others), people who are wanting to leave the Church are taken out on ships for months at a time for “reprogramming” and are only taken back to land once they agree to stay in the Church. Whether that is true or not, I found it fascinating that the Church actually does have such a ship available! I think the most ironic part of the story is that the ship was put on lock down a few years ago for a measles outbreak onboard the ship. Hmmmm, perhaps a vaccination would help!
We came across another oddity in Aruba this week. The island has many roundabouts. I am usually a fan of roundabouts on islands because they generally work well to keep traffic moving. Leave it up to Aruba to find a way to screw up the actual purpose of a roundabout. If you have not encountered a roundabout in your lifetime, roundabouts are designed so that a car entering the roundabout yields until the area is clear and then proceeds about the circle until it is ready to exit the circle and continue on its’ way. Cars move from the outer lanes to the inner lanes and back again based on the design of the roundabout and which exit they need. Not in Aruba. Aruba has put up dividers between the lanes in the roundabout. So, if you enter the roundabout in the incorrect lane, you have no choice except to exit from that lane, drive down the street, make a U turn and then enter the circle and try again. The dividers defeat the entire purpose of a roundabout! Our last day in Aruba, we went to visit the resort’s private island. I am pretty sure the resort got a steal on their island because it sat just at the end of the runway at the airport. Aside from the roar of planes, the island had a beautiful beach (adults only side so that was a plus) with crystal clear water for swimming. Our overpriced drinks were covered by Bill’s successful blackjack adventures the night before so we figured the drinks were “free”. We have enjoyed our time on Aruba but it is time to move on to our next port of call….Cartagena, Colombia. Neither of us are looking forward to the trip as it will involve several days of limited sleep again but once we arrive, we will be calling Cartagena home for quite a while. Fingers crossed that all goes smoothly and that the next blog will be from South America! On Sunday morning in Puerto Rico, we moved Galt to the fuel dock to fill up for the trip to Aruba. Our crew hand had shown up on Saturday so we were one step closer to getting on the move. As we moved Galt, Bill noticed the TACH (which measures the RPMs) was not registering. The TACH information runs through the alternator and as you might recall, Captain Crazy changed the perfectly good alternator without permission last week and had obviously not connected the wires for the RPM. We had a quick discussion and we both felt that Bill has such a good feel for Galt and Larry the Lehman that he could hit the RPMs pretty close just by feel. The next hurdle was the ball valve on fuel tank one broke so we could not easily fill that tank with fuel. After another meeting, we decided the fuel in tank one would have been “security” fuel so we filled the other three tanks knowing that 300 gallons would be more than enough fuel to make it to Aruba and beyond. After fueling, we headed out to sea. Having chosen the perfect weather window, we followed in the wake of Tropical Storm Bret who sucked all the energy out of the Caribbean. We had perfect wind and waves almost the entire trip. Halfway through day one, Bill set up a sleep spot on the deck for us which was great for catching a nap and for me to sleep in the fresh air. I tend to get claustrophobic down in the cabin when all the portholes are closed so being on deck all night was a blessing. We gave our young crewman the 2am to 5am watch which allowed Bill and me to get at least a little sleep each night. The main issue we had was boredom which was a blessing! Boredom equals no boat emergencies! In fact, halfway through the trip, the TACH started working suddenly so even the gremlins took time off! On day three at 4:30am, we pulled into Aruba and tied up to the immigration check-in dock thinking we would get some sleep until 9am. We were met at the dock by security who informed us we had to check in at 6am and leave the dock at that time. So much for sleep! By the time we checked in and moved over to the marina, we were not sure how we were still functioning. Exhausted, but very proud of ourselves for making the long trip, we grabbed a quick nap and relaxed the rest of the day. In Aruba, we are staying at the Renaissance Resort and Marina. Our marina slip costs around $35.00 a day. A room at the resort costs between $300-$500 a day. So, one of the many perks of boat life is living the resort lifestyle without the resort price tag. We have full access to all the resort amenities including two pools, two casinos and a private island! There is a small mall adjacent to the marina with a Dunkin Donuts, Haagen Daas ice cream place, several restaurants and a store. Everything we need is within walking distance! On Friday afternoon, we rented a car for the weekend so we could explore Aruba. As we drove toward our first destination, we noticed that Aruba is very different from the other islands in the Caribbean. In Aruba, the wind is constantly blowing…which should be a good thing in a hot, arid yet strangely humid environment. However, I have never been anyplace where I am standing in a wonderful wind and still sweating! As we drove around the island, we discussed how Aruba is very “un-island like”. There are beautiful beaches next to a huge refinery on one side and a phosphate mine on the other. There are no distinct neighborhoods. There are houses and businesses scattered everywhere without any organization. We have decided that Aruba is an island in search of an identity. On one hand, you have the tourist/cruise area which is your usual cruise port with shops and fancy hotels. Then, you have the industrial area, the home furnishings and building materials area followed by a conglomeration of deserted buildings. There are at least three deserted movie theaters! Among all this chaos, you have the usual smattering of American fast food restaurants. The next identity crisis involves their language. Aruba is a Dutch island. Since we arrived, Bill has been stuck in Spanish-mode even though they are Dutch. However, many of them are from Colombia, Venezuela and other Spanish countries so his Spanish was working. On the second day, Bill made a concerted effort to not speak Spanish. He learned that the locals say, “Danki” for thank you which is a mixture of Dutch, German and the island language. As he approached the checkout counter at the store, he proudly said, “Danki” to which the customer service rep responded, “De Nada!” which is Spanish! When we asked about the mixture of languages, the locals seemed confused by our question. One server said, “No, Spanish is de nada….we say de naaaada….so it’s not Spanish”. We gave up trying to understand at that point! So, Aruba markets itself as “The Happy Island”. Bill thinks the “happy” is a cover story for “we have no idea who we are so we’ll just say we are happy and move on”. So, each day we are here, we meet a new personality for the island which confuses us even more….so we’ll just say we are happy! As for our initial adventures, we spent Friday night at one of the casinos and Bill had some luck at the craps table and I doubled my $10.00 bet at the roulette table so we had a good time. We set out Saturday morning to visit Arikok National Park which had caves, tons of cacti and some beautiful coastline. We visited the ruins of an old gold mine and took a quick swim in the ocean which was lovely. To continue the hodge-podge-i-ality of the island, we went to the restaurant on the beach called Big Mama’s Place. When we sat down, we noticed the entire restaurant was themed after The Flintstones including replicas of Dino and Fred’s car. The waitstaff all wore dresses like Wilma. It was very confusing. We finished our day with a trip to Super Foods to pick up some groceries. We have never experienced anything like Super Foods. First, the door to enter and exit is a huge revolving door. Everyone enters and exits, pushing their grocery carts along with them through the revolving door….you can imagine how well that works. Then, there were so many people in the store that I decided to stand with our cart because I was so overwhelmed. The entire island of Aruba only has 100,000 people. Evidently, they all shop on Saturdays. It was a nightmare! Sunday was nature day. We started with a visit to the Butterfly Farm, followed by the bird sanctuary and then the animal sanctuary which had rescue animals such monkeys, ostriches, goats, sheep, bunnies, snakes and a lot of birds. During our trek, we decided to take the “beach” road to get to the oldest chapel on the island. The road was a definite road less traveled in a rental car but we finally made it. We thought we would finish the night with a trip to another casino. When we walked into the casino, we were immediately met with hundreds of old people playing bingo. They were scattered throughout the casino and had bingo cards spread out all over the blackjack tables, the bar and even the slot machines! We made our way to the customer service desk and the woman explained that “4:30 to 6:30 everyday is bingo time”. Nowhere in anything we had read about the casino mentioned the bingo takeover! We decided to grab some food so we went to the restaurant to ask the cost of the buffet and were told we needed to go to the hotel reception for that information. We made our way to the bar to get a drink and were told by the bartender that he could not serve us if we were not staying at the hotel because it was all inclusive. By this time, we were so frustrated we left and headed down the street to another casino that had told Bill they had a craps table. Nope. No craps table. Deciding destiny was telling us not to gamble this day, we went to dinner at a Peruvian restaurant and had some delicious fish. Overall, our time on Aruba has been interesting and we are enjoying our stay. This week, we will continue exploring and we will check out our private island as well! Have a wonderful and safe Fourth of July and remember, when in doubt....be happy! More Pics on the Pictures Tab Is it possible that it is time to go to Aruba? We spent all week watching weather reports as Tropical Storm Bret caused issues in the Caribbean. We were lucky that he lost his spunk by the time he reached Puerto Rico and he swung well below us down toward Aruba. We did not even get rain! Just as Bret was making his way into the Caribbean, the next “event” as the weather folks like to call them followed closely and then a third left the coast of Africa. Luckily, the second one (probably Cindy) will swing north and should bless us by sucking all the wind and waves out of our way as we make the three to four day trek to Aruba. After firing our captain, we found some help to assist with the move so hopefully it won’t be too painful! We will fill up with fuel in the morning because fuel is half the price in Puerto Rico as in Aruba so we will get enough fuel to eventually get us to Colombia. Galt is as ready as he is ever going to get for the crossing so now we just have to go. Neither of us are thrilled about being out of sight of land for so long but the good thing is, there’s usually nothing to bump into on the wide open ocean!
I guess the only other madness we had this week was trying to get our downpayment back from Captain Crazy. On Tuesday, he called from Colombia to say my bank transfer information was not working. On Wednesday, he called to say that his phone did not work in Colombia so he could not get the transfer approval code from the bank. On Thursday, he called to say he was flying back to Puerto Rico to bring me cash. On Thursday evening, he called to say he could not find a rental car. On Friday, he called from Walmart and made Bill speak to Roberto. Evidently, one can send a cash wire through Walmart customer service. However, Roberto said the money owed to us was over the Walmart limit and needed to be broken into two payments that had to be done by two different people. So now, Captain Crazy began walking around Walmart asking strangers to help him wire money. You can imagine how well that event went! Next call from Captain Crazy was saying he had gone to pick up a maid from the marina he was staying in so she could help him make the transfer at Walmart. Meanwhile, Bill had located a rental car and told Captain Crazy to go get it but the captain thought his idea was better. Next call from Captain Crazy was from Walmart saying “Walmart won’t help me so I’m picking up the rental car now”. As if we didn’t see that one coming! Our last interaction with Captain Crazy was him texting to tell me he was at our marina and I needed to bring him a receipt for the money. Keep in mind that this man had no paperwork, no contract, nothing and anything that had been put in writing had been done by me. When we walked over to get the money, he asked, “Did you bring a receipt?” to which I responded, “Nope. Give me my money.” I think he could tell from our expressions that we were over the Captain Crazy game for our lifetime. So, money in hand, Captain out of hair, we continue on our way! I’m not even going to say what I usually say at the end of blogs when we are planning a move….I’ll just say, see you next week! |
AuthorSally Miller Archives
May 2024
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