December 6, 2020
On November 30th we were sailing with our friends from SV L’alchimiste when Francois told us about an announcement on facebook confirming that Colombian sea borders would open on 1st of December. With so many delays, I was very reluctant to believe it. It was just a post on the Cartagena Club de Pesca, no official announcement in any of the main newspapers or any other official website. Everybody on the boat was cheering and congratulating us because we would be able to go to Colombia and see our family. Messages keep coming all afternoon from other friends on boats with lots of enthusiasm and happy for us. They all knew that we were waiting for Colombia to open.
That was only the beginning, I started to call the agents in Colombia to confirm we were allowed to enter and to find out what were the procedures. PCR test? Quarantine? Test on arrival? what else?. Even before COVID to enter Colombia on a sailing boat it is necessary to have an agent that process all the papers with the authorities.
The messages were mixed. The agent in Cartagena told me the news were official. Borders were open but there was no procedure yet. In Santa Martha there was not even a reply to my calls. I keep pushing and asking couple of times a day but we started to make departure plans. We had a forecast with a good window of wind starting on Thursday, December 3rd. Our main plan was to try and find some confirmation on arrival procedures before that and go. Or just crossed our fingers and go without knowing. That implied to arrive and maybe be rejected, or put in quarantine, or asked to have a COVID test. Who knows what else. However, we made our decision, when the wind was right we would go and if arrival was not possible we would continue to Panama and fly to Colombia. Air borders were open since September 1st.
We kept going with the plan like that. I was even a bit embarrassed when people would ask me about when we were planning to go. How to explain that the border is open but one port is saying we can’t go and the other one doesn’t even reply?
With COVID this year, we tend to stay more with other sailors as there are a lot of different restrictions on land. So we have more friends, we have to say good bye to. The last couple of ports we saw people that we knew we will see again which is easier, I think. But this time some good byes were for good.
On this sailing life style we get to meet great people, some you know you will see them again, some you know you might see them again, some you know it is very unlikely to meet them again!!!
We are on the route to French Polynesia that means crossing the Panama channel and most of our friends will not go that direction, some might but not next year, so there were really good byes! Sharing some drinks and a dinner in a very peculiar place. The owner in his little hut was a bit surprised to see the 15 of us showing up. But he served us some great local food and of course lots of beers leading to stories about sailing, weather, the wind, places and plenty laughs.
Just a day before leaving I finally got in contact with the marina in Santa Martha and got written notice that we were welcome to come. They would take care of the papers for the boat, immigration, environmental controls and all. I was still a bit nervous on the back of my mind because the agent in Cartagena was still saying we could not come. “There is no procedures in place”.
On December 6, we did our last swim and I did a tour around the anchorage for a final goodbye but everyone was still asleep, I didn’t see anyone. Finally at 11 am we let the lines free of our mooring, leaving a buoy ready for SV Temanu’a and did a small tour around the anchorage. We got a big fanfare from SV L’Alchimiste and some other goodbyes.
So, this is it! Good bye Bonaire. This time I am super excited, we are going to Colombia. I almost can’t believe it. Our original plan was to be in Colombia in May but of course with COVID starting in March that was impossible. And there after we had been waiting to be able to go. Colombia reopened international borders for flights on September 1st but for boats they said 1st of October, which was extended to 1st of November and now 1st of December. I can’t wait to get there 380 nautical miles. That means 3 nights, 4 days. So until then!!!
My last phone message before I lost signal was from the agent in Cartagena, to let me know, she had received confirmation and we were allowed to enter Colombia. I told her we had made arrangements to arrive in Santa Martha already. That message made my day and my crossing because I knew we could arrive with no problem!!!
Crossing to Colombia
December 9, 2020 -380 nautical miles from Bonaire to Santa Marta-Colombia.
Lights, camera, action…. That was the feeling as we left Bonaire. It has taken us a very long time to get here. From the very beginning when we started talking about buying a boat. Where? How? What would be the route. Colombia and French Polynesia were our two mandatory stops, easy one colombian one french, not that easy when you look on the map XXX miles apart.
Back in May we had to take a difficult decision caused by all the closures on the different countries. We would not cross the Panama Channel in 2020. That decision meant we would stay in the Caribbean, even during hurricane season to give time to Colombia to recover from COVID and reopen its borders. That decision also implied French Polynesia was off the plan completely as I was supposed to go back to work in Feb 2021 and there would have not been enough time.
It is now December, Colombia is not recovered from COVID, in fact, the entire world it is not either. But here we are at one of our main stops. And the second stop is now back on the plans. We can’t come back to Australia in Feb 2021 so my work has extended my leave another six months. So more or less we are back on track.
We are in Colombia now, I can hardly believe it. We just arrived yesterday from 4 days sailing. The passage was very good. I had prepared enough meals so we didn’t have to cook much, had time to start a new series, very relaxing sunsets, a fantastic moon accompanied us on the night watches and great weather all the way. Fabulous!!! I asked the captain if the Pacific crossing would be the same, wouldn’t that be excellent? He said, yeah sure!, maybe 10% of the time. Well more on the Pacific crossing next year. Let’s concentrate on Colombia now, we will be here for the next month!
Cedric always checks the forecast and get all the info on weather patterns and sailing conditions. So for this crossing it was very important to make sure we sailed far enough from the Venezuelan coast. There had been reports from sailors on piracy on those waters. Also it is well know that the Guajira Peninsula can get very rough winds, current and waves. So he planned it in a way that we would have the strongest weather at the beginning and calmer waters at the end. It was perfect, we passed La Guajira with 10 to 12 knots of wind and current on our favour. We did such a good time and the current also help us that at the end we had to slow down a lot to make sure we would arrive in Santa Marta with daylight.
Couple of boats had arrive from Curacao two days prior. They had a very rough passing of La Guajira. So once again!! Great captain decision to wait and leave couple of days later!
Great video with lost of pictures from the crossing!
December 8, is a national holiday in Colombia, so the authorities have the day off. However, great work from Santa Marta marina who arranged for all authorities to clear all our papers on that afternoon. We arrived at 7am, got escorted to our berth in the marina and told to way inside the boat. At that point, I thought that could take long. But we didn’t mind as we were tired with plenty to clean and arrange inside the boat. It is always a touch messy after any passage so we didn’t really need to get out immediately.
I was pleasantly surprise when around 3 pm, 5 different people representing all the different authorities came to us. Medical, environment, agriculture, immigration and the marina officer. It took less than 30min to make temperature test, fill out various questionaries, stamp the passports and we were free to get on land!!! The full set of papers would take few days more.
I was so excited I could not believe it!!!
The marina was open in 2011, so it is still brand new and very well maintained. Great facilities. People is very friendly they always have a smile for you. And it is not only my bias because I’m Colombian. The comments from our neighbours, an Australian couple and a German gentleman who had only arrived two days before were even better that all I could say!!!
Look at this stunning welcoming rainbow!!
Unfortunately, COVID has touched Colombia very hard and the reason the borders are open is more related to lifting the economy. It is still a developing country after all. Santa Marta’s number of cases is getting lower, the peak has passed, but with the holiday season they are already talking about a second peak.
We got out of the boat in the afternoon for a stroll, just couple of blocks from the marina. No stops, just looking around. Everyone seem to be following or at least trying to follow all the biosecurity protocols, even the guy selling fruits in a little card outside of the marina is wearing his mask and has alcohol for its clients. Restaurants have taken the streets so all the tables are out in order to provide ventilation. Even with all this conditions it feels great to be here!!!
It is going to be a very different visit that the one we originally planned. Bringing all my family to Cartagena to go sailing on Happy Days is already off the table. We will do the best we can, we still need to be extremely careful and follow all the recommendations to protect ourselves from COVID. Our main fear is to bring the COVID to our love ones.
But for now the best news of all is that my dad has agreed to come to Santa Marta to stay onboard for a few days. He is been confined since March and even though it is still risky to get out of the house and take a plane, he is up for it!
Happy Days 