We left Cartagena, Colombia on Nov. 21st after spending nearly 2 months there. We traveled for 4 days without a hitch to San Andres , a small Colombian island off the coast of Nicaragua. We picked up 2 crew members to make this trip and they were great and kept their watches like clockwork. One of the crew was Willie from Argentina, who carves jewelry that he then sells for living expenses along the way. He is now on his way to the Bay Islands on Le Reve. The other crew member was Clint, a Canadian, who is heading back to the Caymans to work., much like we are planning. Clint left San Andres on Carpe Diem crewing for Mark.
We have no autopilot so it worked out well - 2 hour watches and 6 hours off. The seas were calm and the wind about 15 knots, so we had a slow but nice motor sail. We even had the opportunity to jump off Sorrento and swim in the beautiful warm sea. We caught a small 3 foot shark but no other fish.
San Andres Island with the harbor in which we anchored in the top right.
We arrived in San Andres on the 24th of Nov. about noon . Our crew spent the night aboard at anchorage and then found a hotel room the next day because friends Mary Ann and Ted Mitchell boarded for the beginning of a wonderful visit. We swam and snorkeled when the weather permitted. We seemed to have a lot of rain with high winds and seas, but we were safe in our anchorage. We toured around the 7 x 3 mile island and visited Pirate Morgan's cave. No treasure or rum !!
|
Mary Ann and Ted in the Cave |
Dave thinks the 12 pounder, outside Morgan's cave, is too big for the Sorrento |
The Club Nautico Yacht Club where we anchored was very nice. We had access to a pool, a TV ,2 restaurants and bars. We were a couple of blocks from the telecom/internet office so that worked out well. In fact, everything was central and close to our anchorage.
Club Nautico is the low building with the green roof just left of center.
We arrived in San Andres with Trivial Pursuit and Carefree Isle and during our stay got to socialize from time to time with them and other cruisers. Micki G came along after awhile-we hadn't seen them since Huatucal, Mexico back in March of '99. They had an open house one afternoon and it was a ton of fun. We met a lot of other cruisers.
The Aquarium where we dinghied and were served a delicious fish meal
We were planning to go to Providencia with other stops at banks up to the Cayman Islands. However, it's true what they say about the northers- it was blowing like a hurricane. We had to abort the trip as the winds were blowing 20 to 25 knots into our bow, and the waves were well above 10 to 12 feet. It made for a very rough and uncomfortable ride and without an autopilot, we felt it was not doable. We took a vote and the Captain decided we should turn back to the safe and sure anchorage inside the reef of San Andres.
Mary Ann is in with the fish
From some angles this wreak looks like a B-17 bomber. (That's Fran's Hand in the fore-ground.)
Mary Ann and Ted spent the remainder of their vacation with us in this little paradise. We enjoyed going to Johnny Cay and snorkeling the reef surrounding the island and going to LaFonda-Ted's favorite place. He just loved the 'mountain man' special! We really enjoyed their visit and hope they did also. We owe them a sail trip though! They left for Reno on Dec. 16 with a stopover in San Jose, Costa Rica, then on to Dallas and Reno. They made it safe and sound.
Dave and I waited for a part for our autopilot, got it, installed it and took off for Providencia. However, Mr. Autopilot didn't cooperate so we decided to turn towards Colon where we could order and receive a new auto pilot. The trip took 55 hours - we averaged about 4 knots. It was a bit rolly and we ate only sandwiches. I couldn't cook! We entered the Colon, Panama anchorage on Christmas Eve. Christmas was quiet and we rested most of the day.
We have ordered a Robertson auto pilot and hope it comes soon. Once we get it installed, we will take off for Providencia and pick up our trip from there.
Our kids are safe and sound. Laura and her boyfriend, Scott, live in San Sebastian, Spain and David went to visit them during the Christmas break.
Hope everyone is well and has a wonderful and safe and healthy New Year.
Love, Fran and Dave
