We do need to be a little better about updates to our blog! So much going on as we are sitting in Shelter Bay Marina getting ready to transit the Panama Canal and sail to the Galapagos.

The first leg of the trip from St Lucia to Santa Marta Columbia went well and we finished under 5 days. The arrival in Santa Marta is in a wind convergence zone and as expected winds increased greatly as we approached around 10pm. We saw winds in the 32-36kts range with some stronger gusts. As we were approaching a fellow WARC (World ARC) boat issued a pan pan (a radio message issued by a boat to declare they have an issue) . We and another boat, Bluewater Mooney (HR 54) were the closest and we altered course and stood by the other vessel until they were able to get their situation under control and safely come in the Marina (about 30 minutes away). With high winds and large swells, there was not a lot we could do but standing by is always comforting to the boat in distress!

Adam and Timo in the 'man cave' during the passage.

Seth on the VHF talking to his friends on Chillalot

We docked in the Marina in the early morning and had a good night sleep.The next morning we checked in (customs and immigration) and registered in the Marina Office. We were impressed by the security to the docks (fingerprints) and bathrooms (face recognition).

Seth in the marina while we wait to check in. Great breakfast at the marina cafe.

There are a lot of stray cats in Santa Marta.

Santa Marta is a very vibrant town. It was the first Spanish settlement in Columbia and is surrounded by the tall peaks of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. its is the highest coastal range in the tropics reaching 5700 m (18,700ft) just 42km (26 mi) from the sea. The snow capped peaks, Pico Simon Bolivar and Pico Christobal  Colon are visible on clear days.

Motorcycles are the family car for some. Crossing the street is an art!

The economy is based on tourism, trade, port activity, fishing and agriculture. The main products are bananas, coffee, cocoa and cassava.

A sunset, many gather on the boardwalk for pictures and selfies 

I hope this young lady does not mind my posting of her quinceañera picture! She was resplendent.

After cleaning the boat, putting away the sails and lines and checking the rig (pulling Adam up the mast to make sure everything is as it should) it was time to start exploring.

The WARC had organized a tour of the city of Minca, a small town of about 600 inhabitants located 15 km (9.3 miles) southeast of the city of Santa Marta, in the department of Magdalena. We boarded four wheeled drive cars to go visit first ‘La Victoria’ a coffee plantation founded in 1892 by a German couple. Today the farm is more a coffee museum, still producing enough coffee for their restaurant and to sell to tourists. Still owned by descendants of the original founders’ they pride themselves in traditional methods and in taking care of their workers many of whom have houses on the plantation. 

original truck...

Kids enjoying cake at the end of the tour.

After the plantation, we went to see and swim in the ‘Marinka’ waterfalls and had lunch in a local restaurant.

On the hike up to the waterfalls there were lots of bottle cap sculptures and benches! Very colorful!

We also booked a tour to visit the archeological site of Taironaka and go tubing down the San Diego river. Taironaka is a nature reserve in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. The landscape is lush and tropical, with paths through the forest and along the banks of the San Diego river.

The ancient Tayrona civilization once lived here and the ruins of their settlements remain to this day, with houses arranged around terraced stone circles according to social hierarchy. There's also a reconstructed Tayrona home and a small and informative museum.

Our guide Juliette did a great job mixing history and ecology and being French was also open to answer some of our questions about the political history of the region. This would warrant a full other post…

After the educational part of the tour, we slowly drifted down the river in tubes, cooling off and trying to spot as much wildlife as possible, howler monkeys, king fishers, heron, egrets, eagles. It was particularly fun to do this on a Sunday when many local families where also swimming and picnicking on the banks of the river. The sea and beaches are really rough and the surf so strong that swimming is a lot safer and calmer in the many rivers coming down the mountains.

Floating down the river.

Nice little cayman napping on shore...we did not see it until the return trip up the river in a boat!

We ended our stay in Santa Marta with the prize giving dinner for the first leg. The fleet is broken up in three categories, two for monohauls, Cruising A, Cruising B and one for multihulls. While we did not arrive first, on corrected time, we ended up first in Cruising A which was an unexpected surprise. Prizes were really nice, local handicrafts, ours is a wooden domino game in a sweet sailboat themed box. Definitely a keepsake. 



The kids were recognized at the start of the prizegiving. 

Kids from Imi Ola, Living the Dream, Chillalot and Saltair. A couple of the other family boats were not able to attend.

Afew more pic of some of our colorful and flavorful meals.

Breakfast at Serena.

Dinner at Ouzo.

Avocado toast in the marina.

Tacos at 'La Immortal'

Next leg is Santa Marta to Panama via the San Blas Islands. A short leg but with quite the wind and seas.