We originally planned to spend only a few weeks in Cartagena, leaving just after Christmas. Well, that plan got blown all to hell. We seemed to have a cascading series of mechanical issues, starting with the non functioning 24v alternator when we pulled into the harbor. Then we decided to get the damaged bow pulpit welded, followed by Meryl having to resew the top of the genoa where the sail had torn away from the luff tape for about six inches. Luckily labor is relatively inexpensive in Cartagena, and people are very motivated to work, so we slowly got things done.
One person who helped us a lot was the Seven Seas Cruising Association station chief in Cartagena, Lee Miles. Lee is an American who came to Columbia in his twenties to help work on a ranch his family had bought. One thing lead to another and he married a local Columbian woman, Pachi, and over the years established several businesses. He is now know as "Mr. Emerald" for his jewelry business that caters mainly to the cruise ship crowd. He's one of the most ethical and honest guys I've met in that business. Lee lives in a high rise overlooking the harbor and invited us up to review our charts for our upcoming trip to the San Blas.
Several days before our departure I decided to start the engine to make sure everything was running OK. The engine barely turned over. I had been worrying about the starter motor, but when I switched the battery to another bank the engine started right up. Time to get my friendly electrician out to the boat. Again, speaking not a word of Spanish, Juan came out and we pulled out the 12v starter battery. We tried to start the motor using the 12v house bank battery but it didn't work either. These are the two batteries I didn't replace when I replaced all the 24v batteries. We also suspected the 12v alternator wasn't working properly (which would account for the dead batteries) so we removed it also along with the 12v house bank battery.
Lifting heavy batteries out of a pitching sailboat, into the dingy, onto the dock, and into a cab is a lot of exercise I learned. Off we roared in the cab to my buddy's battery supplier. There on the sidewalk we load tested both batteries and found them dead. Luckily they had two similar batteries (size to within a 1/4" was important since they fit into a specific space on the boat). Remember, no one is speaking any English here. We repeated the whole process again to get the new batteries on the boat, and Juan took the alternator back to his shop for repair. Well, as they say, better to find out here than 1000 miles out at sea.
With the rebuilt 12v alternator working and the two new batteries we were back in business. Two days later I was checking the oil in the engine compartment and my bare elbow brushed against the 24v alternator (we have two alternators on the boat, a 12v and a 24v). It was hotter than hell. It was a Saturday but I called my buddy Juan again, using our agent David as an interpreter, and had him come out on his motorcycle. I picked him up at the dock (again) and out to the boat. A hot alternator is definitely a fire hazard so we got it unhooked and off the boat. Got a call later from David that there are no replacement alternators of that size in Columbia (and Columbia charges a minimum 35% import duty on parts shipped in) so he suggested we totally rebuild it. Sounds like a plan, who cares if we don't have a cent to our name when we leave?
True to his word Juan worked through the weekend and had the rebuilt alternator back on the boat on Monday. OK, now we really getting ready to leave.
We said good-by to Kuhela who was heading back to the British Virgin Islands, and coordinated with both Miss Molly and Bendecita who were heading for the San Blas. We left Cartegena (on Jan. 12th) with everything on the boat finally working, a great feeling for a cruiser. Our plan was to go to Rosario Island, about 20 miles south and anchor, then quickly clean the bottom and leave early the next morning for the San Blas.
When we got close to Rosario we slowed way down since there are a number of reefs around the island. We had gotten waypoints from the official Columbian guide and a hand drawn map of the entrance. Unfortunately it was around 5 pm and the light wasn't that great. We slowly approached the wooden post that serves as a mark with Meryl on the bow when I felt the keel bump on the bottom. The depth sounder had been fine that last time I looked at it, but now we were bumping lightly on the bottom. I immediately put the engine in hard reverse which rotated the boat to the right, but we still seemed stuck. I quickly got on the VHF and called Miss Molly and Bendecita that we may need help. I kept working the throttle back and forth trying to rotate the boat around. By some miracle (the wind and waves behind us were fairly light so we weren't being driven up on the reef any further) we managed to find a spot 1" deeper than our keel and slowly began headed back out to sea. About then Bob and John from Bendecita came roaring up in the dingy. We were sufficiently shaken that we didn't want to attempt the entrance again in the failing light, and to go around the whole island to where our two friends (both cats) were anchored was out of the question, so we told them we were just going to head straight for the San Blas. We've only touched bottom a few times in the four years we been cruising, and that has been in sand, so this was a real eye opener for us.
Our planned arrival time to the San Blas was now all blown to hell. By our calculations we would arrive at 7 pm (after about 200 miles of sailing). If we could pick up a couple hours underway we could make it, but everyone stresses you don't come into the San Blas in failing light. Using our new prudence we rigged the boat to sail at about 3 knots an hour so we would arrive in the morning in two days.
Not a fun way to sail, but necessary under the circumstances.
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| Lee Miles and Meryl in front of Lee's sailboat at the posh Club de Pesca. |
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| I love this panorama view from Lee's balcony overlook Club Nautico. Somewhere out there to the left is Flying Cloud. |
Lifting heavy batteries out of a pitching sailboat, into the dingy, onto the dock, and into a cab is a lot of exercise I learned. Off we roared in the cab to my buddy's battery supplier. There on the sidewalk we load tested both batteries and found them dead. Luckily they had two similar batteries (size to within a 1/4" was important since they fit into a specific space on the boat). Remember, no one is speaking any English here. We repeated the whole process again to get the new batteries on the boat, and Juan took the alternator back to his shop for repair. Well, as they say, better to find out here than 1000 miles out at sea.
With the rebuilt 12v alternator working and the two new batteries we were back in business. Two days later I was checking the oil in the engine compartment and my bare elbow brushed against the 24v alternator (we have two alternators on the boat, a 12v and a 24v). It was hotter than hell. It was a Saturday but I called my buddy Juan again, using our agent David as an interpreter, and had him come out on his motorcycle. I picked him up at the dock (again) and out to the boat. A hot alternator is definitely a fire hazard so we got it unhooked and off the boat. Got a call later from David that there are no replacement alternators of that size in Columbia (and Columbia charges a minimum 35% import duty on parts shipped in) so he suggested we totally rebuild it. Sounds like a plan, who cares if we don't have a cent to our name when we leave?
True to his word Juan worked through the weekend and had the rebuilt alternator back on the boat on Monday. OK, now we really getting ready to leave.
We said good-by to Kuhela who was heading back to the British Virgin Islands, and coordinated with both Miss Molly and Bendecita who were heading for the San Blas. We left Cartegena (on Jan. 12th) with everything on the boat finally working, a great feeling for a cruiser. Our plan was to go to Rosario Island, about 20 miles south and anchor, then quickly clean the bottom and leave early the next morning for the San Blas.
When we got close to Rosario we slowed way down since there are a number of reefs around the island. We had gotten waypoints from the official Columbian guide and a hand drawn map of the entrance. Unfortunately it was around 5 pm and the light wasn't that great. We slowly approached the wooden post that serves as a mark with Meryl on the bow when I felt the keel bump on the bottom. The depth sounder had been fine that last time I looked at it, but now we were bumping lightly on the bottom. I immediately put the engine in hard reverse which rotated the boat to the right, but we still seemed stuck. I quickly got on the VHF and called Miss Molly and Bendecita that we may need help. I kept working the throttle back and forth trying to rotate the boat around. By some miracle (the wind and waves behind us were fairly light so we weren't being driven up on the reef any further) we managed to find a spot 1" deeper than our keel and slowly began headed back out to sea. About then Bob and John from Bendecita came roaring up in the dingy. We were sufficiently shaken that we didn't want to attempt the entrance again in the failing light, and to go around the whole island to where our two friends (both cats) were anchored was out of the question, so we told them we were just going to head straight for the San Blas. We've only touched bottom a few times in the four years we been cruising, and that has been in sand, so this was a real eye opener for us.
Our planned arrival time to the San Blas was now all blown to hell. By our calculations we would arrive at 7 pm (after about 200 miles of sailing). If we could pick up a couple hours underway we could make it, but everyone stresses you don't come into the San Blas in failing light. Using our new prudence we rigged the boat to sail at about 3 knots an hour so we would arrive in the morning in two days.
Not a fun way to sail, but necessary under the circumstances.
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