We were in Cartagena, Colombia for almost 18 months. We arrived in May of 2024 and recently got a good weather window that allowed us to finally be able to move on. We got what turned out to be a great weather window which for this passage is rare. Several months ago at our marina's Hamburger Night for Cruisers I was talking with another boater who at that time was looking for a window to go to Curacao. He mentioned that often when there is a hurricane in the eastern Carib you could possibly get sailable winds to the ABC's. I said, that was my dream. Well, as it turned out my dream almost came true.
We never had a grand plan for our stay in Cartagena, but we had 2 major objectives we wanted to accomplish. The first was to do a major refit on our boat after living aboard it for 10 years. We had some ideas about what we wanted to do and our project plan developed as we went. The second objective was to travel around South America because Cartagena was a convenient place for traveling. Our traveling became intertwined with our work plan. In hindsight, I can't see how we could have done it in less time than what we had and probably could have used more time. But, we were constrained by the visa rules for Colombia/
We also knew that we really wanted to have our work done during the "dry season." Unfortunately or fortunately, that is the season everyone (including us) wants to be cruising in the San Blas or elsewhere. With the work we wanted to get done and the schedule I wanted to achieve we couldn't have any rain delays. The entire time we were on the hard it did not rain which is fortunate because for several weeks the boat was wide open with all the hatches off and gel coat and stain were being applied. We didn't lose one day of work. People trying to get the same work done now will take much longer. That was the controlling factor behind our entire schedule in Cartagena.
Colombia allows US travelers to be in Colombia for up to 6 months of each calendar year. Fortunately, the clock stops when you leave the country. That's how we were able to stretch 12 months into 18. While the work was being done we had to be here. Originally, I thought we could do some traveling while the boat work was getting done. But, I ended up being at the yard 6 and sometimes 7 days a week.
When we arrived in May of 2024 we took the first week off where we just relaxed, did some sightseeing and did nothing serious. Then the next week we started making appointments and talking to contractors. Anyone that has managed a large project knows that pieces of the project are not always linear and evolve until the final work is achieved. That phase took us from May of last year until the end of July when we left for the States with a big shopping list and a template for our counters.
We did manage to get in one short enjoyable trip to the Amazon in that time but we were still doing business by text and email.
In those first months we were able to achieve several major elements that were instrumental in our project. We selected the yard for the work, after visiting several, and identified contractors for the major tasks. Once we got married to Manzanillo Marina we were able to rent storage space from them which became invaluable because it allowed us to get so much of our stuff off the boat and out of the way of the work. It also allowed us a spot to store the large multitude of products that we had shipped in for the work. Having that space was truly a blessing. Also during that time we met with the South American rep for Quantum Sails and ordered a new mainsail.
The major work accomplishment during that first few months was that our carpenter developed the template for our new countertops that we hand carried on our flight and delivered to the factory for them to develop an estimate for our new Corian countertops. So, in those 90 days we accomplished much towards our first goal and we got in one small trip. Also during that time I found a local guy looking for work and he became my helper.
During our two months back in the States we purchased all the products for our complete canvas replacement, the new electronics, bottom paint, interior stain, picked up the new sail, the new gelcoat and other material the contractors needed and supplies that I needed for mywork. All of this in addition to the usual supplies we bring to the boat for our year of cruising. In all we shipped and carried back about 2,000 lbs of material.
We purchased and shipped the products from the US because much of the material in Colombia is very poor quality and the high quality products from the US that are available are outrageously expensive. A business here in Colombia that buys a US product for resale pays shipping to Colombia, Colombian duties of at least 30% which is on the purchase price and shipping and then a VAT of 19% on all that. Then the reseller adds his profit and when I buy it I pay another 19% VAT on all of that. For every $1,000 I brought in the US I saved $1,000 by not buying it in Colombia and much of it isn't available there.
Shortly after we arrived in Cartagena, a local guy who had worked with a friend latched on to me and I used him almost full-time since we got to Cartagena. He asked for 50,000COP which is the equivalent of about US$12.50. The first day he worked for me I knew I needed to provide lunch, but had no idea how to do that so I gave him another 50,000COP (most tipico lunches here are about 12,000COP) so I paid him 100,000COP (or about $25) a day. He was also required to have a worker's insurance of about $7 a month that I also paid for him. The marina wouldn't let him in without it.
Having a worker show up every day was obtrusive to me because it meant I had to be disciplined and organized so we could work through things that needed to be done. I had a laundry list of projects that I thought I would do when I had time and so he got something done from those everyday. In actuality he really only worked 4-6 hrs a day. But, he had a car and knew everyone in town and knew where to go to get stuff. We also gave him lots of castoff things and when we left we gave him all the Colombian cash we had left. So for a year and a half our helper had a steady income that was about twice the minimum wage.
I wrote an entire blog article about the work so I'm not going to discuss it more here. Nor am I going to talk more about our 3 major trips. Those were to Peru, Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Europe. I wrote blog articles about them as well. So we did get to travel quite a lot in the 18 months we were in Cartagena. I didn't write a blog article about our time in the States this year because it was wonderful for us but not really of interest to many people.
The only comment that I will make is that every place we have traveled to we want to go back to again. For any North American reader I would suggest you consider South American travel. It's not what you think and it's actually wonderful. There are some parts of it that are third world, but, for the most part it is as first world as visiting parts of the first world. We found some incredible wine and food in South America. I will admit that I was never thrilled with South American wine but our trip made a believer out of me. There are some incredibly fine wines from South America. The sad thing is that most don't make it to North America because they just don't export the good stuff.
It's been a long stay in Cartagena and we weren't able to move the boat often because parts of it were often torn apart for one reason or another. Projects in general went mostly as we conceived them in the big scheme of things but it was time to move on.
We had really gotten comfortable in Cartagena. People are mostly friendly. Cost of living is very reasonable and there are some great restaurants to enjoy. From our marina it was easy walking around the town. Being comfortable makes it hard to leave but it was time to go. My helper will find new boats to work on and all of the skilled craftsmen are always busy.
We missed doing more traveling in Colombia because had to be judicious with our days in country so we opted to leave and do foreign travel instead. Perhaps when we come back we can do more domestic travel. But, now on to our next adventure.
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Before we left we did 2 sea trials. The first one went ok but we had some failures that weren't major and we corrected them. The second seatrial went without issue. We went offshore and while out there I swam to look at the bottom of the boat and all looked well. We pulled out the sails on both trials and the boat performed well. I was a little rusty having not used the sails in over a year but it came back quickly. Our new mainsail was nice but the other sails are showing their age.
We left Cartagena about 0730 on 9 October and sailed about 50 NM to an area known as Puerto Velero. Our stop there gave us the opportunity to avoid 3 nights moving and a chance to repair things we found on the first leg and I found several. During an attempt to reef the mainsail one of the turning blocks pulled out of the deck. I was able to repair that with some larger screws. I also changed our Racor filter ( the first fuel filter) on the engine which was dirty and the filter bowl had a lot of crud in it. In addition to a few other minor projects I also had to change the freshwater pump which started acting strangely the night before we left.
The next morning we left about the same time as the day before after a discussion about the forecasts of extreme readings in the gauges that predict severe weather. The boat that was traveling with us said his forecasts predicted that the indexes would lighten up ahead of our travels so we left. During that day and night we were constantly evading electrical squalls. But, we were making good progress.
On the second day we actually got some great weather. Weather that allowed us to sail just like in my dream scenario. From there the travel was uneventful as we motor sailed to Playa Santa Cruz where we anchored for a night before clearing in.
In all, we traveled about 460 NM miles in 64 hours. Not bad for traveling through an area that is restricted more than 90% of the time. We saw the opening and we took it. Our engine performed well through all the conditions. It provided lots of power and speed. After I changed the filter it stayed clean which was a big concern given the biodiesel from Colombia and the boat sitting for 18 months.. Using our sails helped a great deal by giving us extra speed when the conditions warranted and allowed us to sail when we had favorable wind. There was a lot of rain and lightning the first 2 days but after that the weather was pleasant. We even had wind to help give us lift to overcome the adverse current from Aruba to Curacao. And now our home is in a new country.
So, now our playtime in Curacao begins after 18 months of work. Back to anchoring out, making our own water and diving. Fun begins again.
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