Remember photo story is at the end of report, in case you don't feel like reading the story.It's time again to change our location,
As we head out to see to visit a new Nation.
Mother Nature doesn’t know yet what to due
Will the wind pick up? We have no clue.
The waves are coming any which way
As we motor sail further away from the bay
The sky is blue and on the horizon arise some clouds.
Sitting back relaxing and in our mind we have no doubts,
That the next anchorage we will drop the hook,
We’ll havenew stories to write down in our book.
Maybe about the dolphins playing around our boat
Or maybe what it feels like to be so remote.
Or to be away from civilization out on the blue sea
Where your mind just wanders making you feel free.
Or when a big squall approaches very fast
You worry if it will hit or if it will pass.
Or especially about the big tuna that bit the hook
Will definitely make a good story for the book.
Whatever the story may be
Tells that we love to be out at sea.
Manuela Olshefski 12/20/2010 on our way from Aruba to Colombia
Little did I know what was in store for us when I wrote the poem, this is a story we never will forget and hope never to live through again.
We left Aruba on 12/19/10 and had an uneventful motor sail to Isla Monjes del Sur a Venezuelan island offshore the Maracaibo Bay a 50 miles trip. Our buddy boat Wind Shear a 58 foot sailboat of course a heck of a lot faster was had only 4 miles to go while we still had 13 which is a difference of 3 hours. The Venezuelan Navy stationed on the island called them to find out what their intentions were. Knowing neither of them speak any Spanish I answered for the radio call and told the authority who we were and asking for permission to spend the night. The guy, very friendly, stayed in contact with us until we arrived at the island. Isla Monjes del Sur are two islands connected with a man made wall of rocks, between the two islands a thick rope is attached used by the local fisherman to tie themselves off for the night. The rope is about 175 feet long and can hold 6 or 7 boats with a reasonable distance between them but we heard they had as many as 36 boats on the line. Paradise ventured first into the anchorage and noticed that it was easy to tie up as the rope had several floating lines attached for easy pick up. We tied up with one on each side of the bow then motioned to Wind Shear to come in and do the same while Sid was aiding with the dinghy. The wind here blows usually out of the East but and if an occasional westerly blows it is advised to abandon. There were already 4 fishing boats tied up and later a 5th one arrived. On the left side is a long concrete dock and as soon as we had the engine turned off Debi and I went ashore to check in with the Navy guy. As we arrived at the dock we could not believe how tall it was, there was NO way we could get up there.
The fishing boat closest or almost tied to the dock saw our predicament and offered us to climb via their boat onto the dock. Easier said than done as the boat was a very high climb up from the dinghy, then we had to balance on the railing while holding onto the roof at the same time they pulled the boat close to the dock so that we could step off. We didn’t quite make it to the Guardia station as the Navy guy came towards us. He greeted us politely and asked if we wanted to check in on land or on our boats. I had a hunch that he wanted to see our boats so I let him decide. We walked back to the dock, climbed like monkeys across the fishing boat into our dinghy.
Checking in was easy he just wanted to see paper work and asked safety questions and of course wanted to see the boats. When he was on our boat I offered him a coke to which he wrinkled his nose the mention of beer brought as mile on his face.
While in Aruba we briefly met Kismet a German/South African boat and were warned by others not to stay away from them they are irresponsible people, drinkers and don’t care about anybodies property. They had invited themselves to buddy boat with us and followed us. I brought the Navy guy over to their boat and after they were done checking in Kismet brought him back to the high dock and the poor Navy guy fell in the water including his cell phone in his pocket.
Wind Shear who had caught 2 tunas on the way invited us for dinner which was fabulous. We were talking about this weird anchoring arrangement when I said that this place will be a lot to write about in the Blog, again little did I know what was in store for us. We did not like the arrangement very much and since our trip the next day was 80 miles for us 16 hours Sid and I decided that we would leave already at 1 am. The wind was blowing anywhere from NE to SE and while eating dinner Paradise moved sideways to the cable and onto the other side. We had just finished dinner and it was getting dark when Sid jumped into the water and to free Paradise from the cable which was hung up between the rudder and keel, then we put a stern anchor out from Wind Shear and we rafted to them. Question was if we should leave already but we all agreed that we needed a few hours of sleep. It was nice and calm and we fell asleep the minute we hit the pillow. I woke up at 00:30 thinking I had another 30 minutes to sleep. Then I heard Sid running around to close hatches as it started to rain then there was this god awful bang bang noise the whole boat shuttered we hit something, first I thought it was Wind Shear put a T-Shirt on and ran on deck. I could not believe what I was facing. On our starboard side was the high wall of rocks, Paradise had hit the rocks, but we were still afloat luckily the water here is deep enough. Next to us was Wind Shear. Kismet was tied to the fishing boat and I saw both sitting in the cockpit smoking a cigarette and watching. I cannot even remember what went through my mind and all from then on went very fast. It was like being in a nightmare you can’t wake up. While Sid yelled for Rob and Debi to get on deck I grabbed the mike and yelled into the VHF for help from the fishermen. In just split seconds all the fishing boats lights were on then a few splashes as some fishermen swam our direction. All fishing boats turned the engines on and left the rope. Rain was pelting down as the squall blew right into the bay. We immediately lowered our dinghy into the water while Kismet now not tied up to the fishing boat anymore drifted right into Wind Shear while they still sat in the cockpit smoking their cigarettes. Sid took off like a rocket and pushed all three boats with our 15 hp engine towards the thick rope, while Rob, Debi and I moved bumpers and pushed the boats so we would not sustain damage. Man I tell you what an adrenaline rush, we were all over the place making sure we’re staying off each other when I noticed that our neighbors on “B” still leisurely sat in the cockpit both smoking a f%#(* cigarette, I lost it and so did Rob we yelled at them to get off their asses and help. He just replied with his German accent: “Vee have no motar!” I yelled back at him and said: “then jump in your dinghy and help my husband”. “Vee have no motar” and he kept sucking on his cigarette. Their dog was barking wildly which was the most annoying thing we didn’t need and Rob yelled at the guy to shut the dog up or he will make it shut up. I think they took the dog down below. Actually both went down below with the dog and we didn’t see them for a while. Then we smelled an electrical fire or something smoldering and thought oh gosh it’s our dinghy overheating. Luckily that one was fine, Sid asked me now if I had turned on the engine on, nope and neither did Rob and Debi. No idea where the smell came from. A while later still fending the boats from each other including Kismet and Sid busy with the dinghy, the woman on Kismet finally came on deck we all yelled to her to help us out here that’s when she told us that they had a fire in their engine. How stupid can you be, knowing that you were tide up on a rope with many lines attached to turn the engine on and put it in gear and now they’re propeller was wrapped, unbelievable. By there stupid action they put us even more in jeopardy hindering us to get pulled free. They had plenty of time to turn the engine on and get themselves out of the predicament while they were let go by the fishermen and started drifting over here, even without motor he could have jumped into his dinghy with 18 hp outboard and pulled himself into deeper water. The guy from Kismet never even came up on deck anymore but we all sure kept trying to tell her what to do and she ran round the deck like a chicken with her head cut off. Some fishermen were now on each of our boats helping us, some in the water. By the way the waves started to get bigger too and headed right into the bay. Our davits got hung up over Kismets life line and one of the fisherman, god bless them all, was able to free us. The same guy motioned to the anchor that we need to get Kismets anchor out so that they could pull us out. She wouldn’t have any of it just complained about Sid having taken her bow lines. I told the guy to just take their dinghy which he did. When he came back I had her lower the anchor into the dinghy then he went out to set it but after only about 40 feet the rode came to an end. How the heck do they anchor!!!
S
id was busy with the dinghy and what I learned later had to drive back and fourth with some fishermen to their main ship and had to ask for permission to help us, the captain looked at his watch and allowed one hour wow, hey thanks a lot. To make an already long story shorter, if this is any possible LOL, Sid man aged to get Paradise free although still on the wrong side of the cable we were tied securely to the rope and out of harms way. While he had to drive back to the main ship Wind Shear slipped back and hit bottom or rocks. Between Sid and the main ship they finally managed to get Wind Shear out of there over the cable and into deeper water. Now it was Paradise time. They let the line go and I don’t know what happened but they lost the line as well to Paradise and we were floating back and headed to some nasty looking blocks that definitely would have crushed our rudder. Luckily we had a good moon shining and the lights from the Guardia station lit so I noticed one of the yellow floating lines, grabbed the boat hook as fast as I could and pulled us back up to the cable. Sid then was able to tie us up with a long line that reached out to the fishing boat and Paradise was pulled towards the cable but was hung up on the anchor of Kisemet. After one of the guys pulled their anchor in, Paradise was pulled free while the woman on Kismet was screaming frantically: “how about me, how about me and what about my bow lines and dem anded them back.” I had no longer sympathy for that broad and told her to shut up and that the boats were more important than her stupid line. Man what incompetent people.
As I was motoring about Sid went back to help Kismet and found out the guy was down below trying to fix the starter and Sid was asked to get on the boat and help him. No way, that starter could be fixed later, the important thing was to get the boat out of the mess as the wind still was blowing hard and the swells into the bay got bigger. Besides once you set foot on a boat in distress you kind of take over the responsibility and definitely not with a derelict boat as this. The fishermen cleared Kismet’s prop but now the problem was they wanted money, without money they were not going to pull them free. I think Sid said they wanted 200 dollars per boat. After asking Sid how much she would pay them he just answered how much is your boat worth it, he’d give them at least 500 dollars. This was not their problem between them and the fishing boat and so Sid came back to Paradise. After she gave them some money they pulled Kismet free. They were in tow with the fishing boat, the boat was afloat, they have sails, they were OK so we decided to get underway. Besides their destination was a Venezuelan port. Windshear had quite a big wad of Venezuelan money left over and wanted to give it to the Venezuelan Fishermen. Sid went back by dinghy but since we were low on fuel we had to exchange the gas tank. Man I tell you that was an ordeal in itself. While hobby horsing around in the wind waves while trying to hook up the tank the davits missed his head just by a little bit so I pulled him closer in again. He then drove over to the Veni boat and handed them the money and couldn’t thank them enough. They were very happy that he came back and each one of them shook his hand. After he returned we headed to the lee of the island hoping to be able to pull the dinghy up on the davits, but even there the swells were too high. We had no choice but to pull our dinghy which is in pretty bad shape as it is and we were worried we would loose it. Sure enough 5 minutes into the sail a loud pop told us that one of the lines had broken off the dinghy. We slowed down and Superman Sid climbed out the back down into the dinghy which was not easy, I gave him more slack on the line so he would not get hit by the boat’s up and down motion, he tied a line on had a hard time climbing back onto the boat and we kept on going. Windshear told us later that Kismet was drifting with no sail up behind the rock. I almost forgot at one point the woman on Kismet told me that her husband had taken some sleeping pills so that he would have a good nights sleep!!!! We sure as hell hope never to run into them again. (While in Santa Marta later we heard that they had been kicked out of Venezuela, Curacao and Aruba.
The wind was still coming out of the West with about 15 knots and was right on the bow, so we had to motor sail. Planwas to sail to Cabo de la Vela 80 miles and would take us 16 hours and definitely longer with the dinghy in tow, that slowed us down by a knot and a half. So we decided to stop in Bahia Honda and get the dinghy up then head to Vela.
Bahia Honda is such a beautiful place we decided after all that we needed a rest and lick our wounds. And licking we did, we were all so sore for days to come, our necks were the worst. We found bruises where we didn’t even knew we hit, it was a well deserved rest. Besides on the following day the 21st was Debi’s birthday we didn’t think she should be underway and miss her day. We had dinner aboard Paradise and spoiled her with baked over lobster with Bechamel sauce appetizer, Sambucca shrimp as main dish and Swiss apple pie for desert. I even found some candles for her to make a wish. We had a very nice relaxed evening even though we went over and over what could have been a major disasterfor all of us. We can’t say enough how lucky we were. We all were a super team working together to protect what we own, without any of us especially without Sid and his thinking and taking over the situation we would have not had a happy outcome. Sid is still my hero and always will be what a guy we all are so proud of him.
We found no damage on he hull not even scratches, we fended the boats off well. What’s below the water line is still a mystery As we wanted to get in the water to check we noticed these little jelly fish the size of a penny, they look like a monster’s eye with blue iris and dark blue pupil and the many tentacles look like the veins in the white of the eye. They just looked painful so we abandoned the idea. Besides there is no water in the bilge so it’s just cosmetic damage if any. (In Santa Marta we found just a few scratches in the bottom paint).
Bahia Honda is a huge bay some 6 miles across in any direction and reminds us a bit of the Sea of Cortez, with barren hills and taller mountains in the background. We had two waypoints from the Pizazz route, which both were to rolly, so we ventured into the west side about 1/3 into the bay and found a pretty calm spot to anchor (12°21.06’N 071° 49.41’W).
The first night we enjoyed watching the lunar eclipse and the many blinking stars that filled the sky and realizing how lucky we were and how wonderful life is.
Fishermen kept coming buy in their self made boats all with about 10 hp gas engines with no gear. One kid in particular Mario from the Pueblo Bahia Honda to the East kept coming every day and liked to hang out next to Paradise talking to us. I noticed his pants were torn to shreds so Sid found him an old pair of his he does not wear anymore. The kids smiled his biggest smile. You should see his bilge pump a 4 inch PVC tube he inserts a wooden stick in it and starts to pull and push it through the tube like a plunger which fills with water, amazing. His anchor is a giant rock with a huge hole in the middle where a thick rope is tied through. It also has a short stick with a sail made out of old potato sacks. The first day when he came by with his father we gave them some water to drink and baseball caps since they asked for it. They were so happy he gave me a tiny lobster, the only thing I guess they had caught that day (that was the BD appetizer). Later on another fishing boat arrived from the village to the west end of the bay. They asked if we had paint, hats, rice, fishing stuff. We gave the hats away already but Sid found a big spool of fishing line and 1 ½ cans of oil based paint and of course lots of water again, Winds Shear had another can of paint as well. They were happy and returned a few hours later with a huge lobster for us and one for Windshear. As I was just in the process of making sandwiches I gave them two with more water and they were happy. We chat for quite a bit and so I found out that this area is safe from robbers, but he said to be careful from Cabo de Vela southward on. For any future cruisers stopping here in Bahia Honda, this is what the fishermen need:
Clothing, caps, fishing line and hooks, oil based paints for their boats, rice, beans, cigarettes, coke, just about anything you have too much of on the boat.
We knew there was a tropical waves underway and so we decided to spend Christmas here, there can be a slight roll heading into the bay but it stayed comfortable for us so far. The wind picked up to 15 knots and leaving us with a tolerable 2 foot wind chop.
The beaches here are of brown sand and when the sun plays in it, it sparkles with gold and silver, really neat. We found lots of really nice conch shells one even a king’s helmet conch which is rare to find.
On the second beach we found lots of brown seeds not sure what they are called but they are used for jewelry. From this beach we had a better look further west into the Bay and it seemed the water was even calmer there so Sid and Rob pioneered with dinghy and hand held depth sounder to check the area out. They found a perfect spot for catamarans in 7 foot of water but there is also a submerged rock close buy. In general we found 30 feet of water in the bay, it shallows quickly towards the shore so we were about 300 yards away from the beach anchored in about 14 feet of water.
We were looking forward to spending a nice and quite Christmas just with our friends Debi, Rob and Captain Jack, but the weather had other plans for us. The tropical wave brought us one squall after another with a sustained 22 to 25 knots of wind and gusts up to 35 knots. The holding in this bay is great but we did get the wind chop and started hobby horsing up and down and were unable to leave the boats and visit each other. It was rough so we celebrated Christmas via VHF radio and took some photos of each others boats during a squall or when a rainbow towered over a boat. We managed to get some sleep but it was like being underway but we were not going anywhere. The fishermen even stayed away from our boats. We couldn’teven enjoy our Christmas decoration, it was wildly swinging in the cockpit therefore it was stored down below. It blew for 5 sad days straight andwe were stuck. Originally we had planned to spend Christmas here then sail to Cabo de Vela for one day then to the 5 Bays and arrive in Santa Marta just before New Years Eve.
On the 27th we finally departed and we had only a 2 day weather window with 15 to 18 knots before very heavy winds would start again. Although the next anchorage Cabo de Vela was only about 30 miles away, we decided to head straight to Santa Marta a 160 mile stretch as the weather prognoses didn’t look too good for several weeks so we didn’t want to get stuck in another rolly anchorage. We had a fairly good sail for several hours then the wind started to pick up and the swells 7 to 9 feet were from beam to quarter. With the wind behind us we had to double reef the main, then a couple hours later triple reefed and before sunset we took the main down as the boat was twisting from side to side bringing the high waves on the beam, not a good thing with swells up to 12 feet and only 5 to 6 seconds apart,wind 25 + this could be disastrous. The Jib was on a triple reef as well and we still did over 7 knots and an occasional swell pushed us as fast as 8.7 knots. Our hull speed is 6 knots so we had to slow down again (don’t you hate when that happens?!!!) to make it more comfortable. We also had a 1 ½ knot current with us which shortened the trip by many hours.
Towards the morning the swells seemed to relax a bit so did the wind but when we were 40 miles away from the 5 Bays the wind started to blow with 20 knots then a steady 25 with higher gusts and the swells picked up accordingly. 10 miles out from the 5 Bays we finally started seeing land and in clear conditions the snow capped mountains of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta can be seen. Unfortunately we did not have a clear day but what we saw was none the least spectacular. The coast is surrounded by tall lush mountains with mountains in the background towering over them while several fiords cut into the mountain range along the coast which is the Tayrona National Park (referred to as 5 Bays by cruisers, beautiful bays to spend days and days but with 30 plus knots of wind it would be too rolly in there). Around the corner from the Tayrona National Park some 15 miles away lies Santa Marta.
7 Miles out of the 5 Bays we encountered so much debris it took all our concentration to dodge around the many lily pads, wooden boards, banana trees and tree trunks it was a big challenge. 5 miles out, we then encountered winds at 30 plus knots and then it went up to a steady 38 knots as we rounded the corner and headed towards Santa Marta. The wind kept howling at 38 knots but at least here we were sheltered from the 12 foot seas as we motored towards Santa Marta. Wind Shear was 5 miles ahead of us and had arrived in front of the Santa Marta Marina. An hour later as we were just outside the bay next to Santa Marta “Taganga” Wind Shear called us, the Guarda Costa forbid them to anchor in front of the marina and there wasno way they could go into the marina in 38 Knots of wind. They also said it was too shallow too anchor, (later we found out that they tried to anchor where the small fishermen keep their boats therefore shallow and no room for a sailboat their size, hence the Guardia sending them away. To the right of there just before the entrance of the marina it’s suitable for us to anchor. When they told us about this we changed directions towards the Taganga anchorage to check it out if we could anchor over night. It turned out to be not just a beautiful and well protected anchorage but the closer we came to land the calmer the wind became and when we anchored in 12 feet of water we only had 15 knots of wind while it still roared 38 knots outside the bay. A while later Wind Shear dropped the anchor behind us lowered the dinghy and joined us for a Swiss Cheese Pie I had prepared for us. This bay is absolutely gorgeous surrounded by tall mountains belonging to the Sierra Nevada.
At one point the Guardia came buy and tied up next to us. We thought they wanted to see our paper work and we might be in trouble for not being checked in yet in Sana Marta. But that was not the case, they were very friendly welcomed us to Colombia and told us that this anchorage is only good during the day as it is questionable safety wise at night and recommended us to anchor in front of the Santa Marta Marina. Wow that was nice of them, good to know that the Coastguard here look out for us cruisers. Around 4 PM the wind seemed to have died down a bit so we pulled anchor and headed to the marina. We were going to anchor out but the marina hailed us on the radio and invited us to take a slip and since the wind was only blowing 15 knots we took them up on it. Not even 20 minutes later securely tide up in the slip the wind started to blow over 30 knots again and stayed that way for 7 days with gusts over 40 knots. The funny thing about this is we were in a marina and the stove was on gimbal. The not so funny thing is the wind blew sand from the beach and covered the boats inside and out. Not even here could I enjoy my Christmas decoration as the wind blew it all over the place so on the second day I took it all down.
The view from the marina was incredible as the sun was just setting the city lights lit this place up into the brightest Christmas scene. Since my childhood in Switzerland I have never seen Christmas decoration as bright as this. The Malecon was covered with lights and there were people all over the place, it gave it this incredible homey feeling. The Christmas season here is until 3 Kings Day, which is held on the first Monday after the 6th of January, this year on the 10th. From early morning to late at night the streets are filled with people and happiness.
New Year’s Eve approached, Fine Line, Bamboo and Paradise decided to celebrate with the locals. We heard that the locals stay home until Midnight than all come out and the fireworks show begins. At 10 PM we all left the marina and headed into town to find the normally bustling streets and beach empty, there was nobody but us in the streets, it was like a ghost tow. A few restaurants on the Malecon were open and were only visited by a few people, probably tourists like us. We sat down and enjoyed a drink wondering when all will come out to the beach. Three minutes before midnight of the New Year we paid the bill, crossed the street to the beach and waited for midnight. Midnight came and only a few people were on the beach and it stayed that way, no fireworks either. After wishing each other a Happy New Year we disappointedly went back to our boats and I was even more disappointed as nobody was interested in a champagne toast so a bit later I sat on deck by myself with a glass of champagne in my hand toasting into the New Year. Happy New Year everyone!!!
We realized that the marina was a better deal than anchoring out especially with these wind conditions. The marina is fairly new and the slips are now all hooked up with water and power but around the marina there was still a lot of construction going on including the bathrooms and showers so for the moment we have to take sun showers in the cockpit until the bathrooms are finished (another month we were told). Luckily there are no boats next to us so we do have our privacy. At the moment the price was negotiable and pretty much everybody got 20% off the price. The dock boys clean the docks in the morning and take our trash away. Around 9 a security guard comes by with coffee which they call tinto (a shot of strong coffee served with lots of sugar, in every street of every town you find tinto sellers each carrying up to 6 bottles selling tintos for 10 cents). If we need ice we can just call the marina and they will deliver ice to the boat. Margy a nice Colombiana comes to the marina on call to pick up our laundry and two days later they come back not just clean but nice smelling and ironed. There’s nothing better than the feel of an ironed T-shirt on your body LOL.
Oh by the way boat Kismet was just half way down the dock from us! After he greeted me like we are old pals or friends for life, I had a few questions for him, why he let his boat drift into our boats hindering us from escaping. His answer was when you’re tide up to a line you never let go. And to the fact that he was hindering us he just said that he gives a sh… about other’s property! Nice guy.
The dock across from us harbored our friendly neighbors Fine Line, Bamboo, Sandial, Dragon Fly and Wind Hound and 2 more Dutch boats. One dock further out on the big docks was Windshear also happy to have made it safely here before the wind kicked up. Occasionally we all got together on the middle dock for Sundowners. It was great to catch up with every body and share each adventure story sailing along this wild coast. By the way I read that this trip from Aruba to Santa Marta is one of the 5 most treacherous places in the world to sail! I believe it!!!
Santa Marta is a very charming town and is the oldest surviving city in South America and the second most important colonial city on the Colombia’s Caribbean coast. Although the city’s glory days are long past it still is a bustling commercial city. The long waterfront beach is a favorite vacation spot for Colombians especially at Easter and Christmas time. Every morning right after sunrise the beaches are filled with the laughter of children splashing in the water. The Malecon (Boardwalk) is lined with venders selling anything from cotton candy, souvenirs, snow cones, beers, arts and crafts until the sun sets and the streets seem never to die down, (except for New Years Eve LOL).
Even cruise ships sail into Santa Marta a couple times a week and the stores are open every day even on most Holidays.
After the first few days of cleaning and straightening up Paradise we realized that this was an endless effort as the wind was howling 30 knots and gusts over 40 for days and days tugging on our nerves, not to mention the sand that accumulates in every crack and corner. Sunglasses are a must at any time as the sand will get into your eyes. Going into town makes you forget about the wind misery. Santa Marta is an amazingly charming town with narrow roads and alleys reminding me of Cartagena except not as well kept up but they are trying hard to make it more comparable to Cartagena. The grocery stores are great and along the every street there are many vendors with tropical fruits sweet and juicy as they can only be freshly picked from the trees. It’s nice to be in a place again where a dollar goes a long ways, a bottle of beer costs 60 cents and a local cigar only 15 cents, not bad either we heard just as good as good Cuban cigar. The restaurants are wonderful and the meals are around 10 dollars for good quality food. Our favorite so far is “Agave Azul” a Mexican/Cuban type restaurant with the yummiest Mojitos (rum, sugar, mint and club soda blended with ice) on Happy Hour daily from 5 to 8 PM. The food is fabulous.
We like it so much here we singed up with the marina for one month with the thought of finding a place for Super Bowl to stay a bit longer longer. In the mean time we had lots to do, I found myself some sewing projects (Bamboo blew out their spinnaker on the way down, over some cocktails we cut it apart and all got a piece of he material, I sewed up some laundry bags and I’m sure I can come up with other ideas). Our boom took a beating weather wise, Sid was sanding all the corrosion off and his quest will be to find primer and paint for it. Of course we were planning to travel this area a bit as well. So if you don’t hear from us for a while, we’re still busy sewing, painting, repairing and discovering this incredible part of Colombia.
To be continued………
