The Passage of Pain – Aruba to Colombia

The passage to Colombia is noted as one of the most unpredictable and potentially difficult sails on the cruisers circuit.   The high mountains on the headland close to Santa Marta often cause winds to accelerate down the steep slopes and sailing can be treacherous, or at best, uncomfortable with high winds and rolling waves.   The weather forecast is only a considered prediction and things can change very quickly, so several things needed to be taken into account before we left the safe and sheltered anchorage of Spanish Waters.   First and foremost, we needed to make sure the boat, and we, were ready for the three day passage – tick!   We then needed to ensure the different models of wind forecasts we looked at were starting to align and predicted lighter winds than we would normally choose for a short passage.  This is because we’ve found the winds are often more than forecast and we didn’t want to risk strong winds close to Colombia.   Finally, we needed an alternative plan, in case things turned to custard and we needed to escape somewhere for shelter or wait for a better weather window. 

Zen Again had led the way out of Spanish Waters followed a little while later by us and our single-handed octogenarian, Fred who was still unsure if he wanted to go but was being ruled by the company being offered – an unwise thing for a seasoned sailor as its important to make your own decisions when sailing!    Aruba is an 80NM sail from Curacao and we found wind keeping close to the Curacao coastline, opting to take the northern route around Aruba, while Fred had already told us he was going south of the island as it was a shorter route.   He came on the radio and once again voiced his intention to stop in Aruba as he felt the winds were too light.    By this time, we were making good progress and felt confident we could arrive in Santa Marta before a forecast weather system was due to hit in a couple of days.  

From a sailing point of view, the passage was perfect!   We had excellent wind conditions – all exactly as forecast – and only one squall to deal with in the middle of night one.  Sadly though other things didn’t go so well…… Steve had a boom v’s head incident in the middle of the darkest moonless night and ended up with an enormous egg shaped lump above his left eye.   This later developed into two black eyes, but at the time caused a painful bruise and pounding headache.   Then, the next day as we changed our course and started heading straight towards Santa Marta, I started to feel very unwell.  I spent the whole day curled up under a makeshift sunshade on the cockpit floor only moving when I had to vomit or have a drink!   If it was seasickness, I have never experienced it as badly as that with a headache that must have matched Steve’s!    Fortunately Hilda the Hydrovane was on top form and she steered us all day without even an adjustment needed.  

As we approached Santa Marta on the northern coast of Colombia, we heard Fred on the VHF radio trying to raise the Port Authority to ask permission to enter the harbour.   We listened with some amusement as Fred, who is as deaf as a post, with his gruff American voice, tried unsuccessfully to communicate with the port and the port tried unsuccessfully to communicate with him!   We called the port and received an immediate response so Fred decided to just slip in behind and follow us into the harbour, repeating the same procedure as we contacted the marina to request a berth.   After spending about 20 minutes drifting in the port while the marina found us a couple of suitable spaces, we made our way into the small marina with limited information on where we were supposed to go!   Once safely tied up and the check in procedure had started, using the very friendly and hard working marina staff, we set out to explore the town!  

Santa Marta is a popular destination for Colombians to visit for a few days as the city is small, lively and picturesque.   The narrow streets are on an easy to navigate grid system, which are meant to be one-way but we soon learned that traffic rules seem to be optional in Colombia and we frequently had to avoid motorbikes or bicycles careering up streets the wrong way.   We soon found the “High Street” lined with busy shops and market stalls set up on the roadside and pavements.   A four piece mobile band walked down the street playing beautiful music as they joined the busy afternoon bustle, fruit carts ladened with bananas, oranges and mangos were being pulled by tired looking men while taxis and buses wove their way through the chaotic streets, beeping their horns continuously as they looked for business.   It was a senses overload for us as we had not been in a busy city for some time and we were still in awe at the thought of being in South America and tired from the passage, so we soon wound our way back to the marina to have a celebrational drink with Fred and Zen Again who had just arrived. 

Over the next few days we explored the city, taking a guided walking tour to learn more about Simon Bolivar, the revolutionary leader born in Venezuela and died in Santa Marta in 1831.  He fought the Spanish and led the movement for independence, having a huge influence in several countries due to his leadership qualities and ability to pull people together from different backgrounds and tribes.  His dream was to create a “United States” with what is now Colombia, Venezuela, Panama, parts of Brazil, Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia to form a region known as the United Provinces of New Granada or Republic of Gran Colombia.  Gran Colombia did not exist for long as it was dissolved in 1831, but for a time the Republic was among the most powerful and influential regions in the western hemisphere.  Not everyone shared Bolivars vision of a centralised government and it is believed by many in Santa Marta that he was in fact poisoned as he died at only age 47.   Interestingly, his statue in the main square in Santa Marta has him riding a horse with two legs raised, a symbol of a soldier that died in battle while statues we saw of him riding a horse in other Colombian cities do not have the raised legs.  

We enjoyed many cups of delicious coffee and tasty food, running the gauntlet of hustlers and street hawkers as we chose a restaurant in the main dining streets.   Eating out is so cheap it was hardly worth cooking on the boat and was a great excuse to socialise and experience the vibrant early evening atmosphere of the central areas.  

We set a plan with Zen Again to explore inland Colombia and soon realised that we needed to be very selective in our choice of places to visit – there just wasn’t enough time to do everything we wanted to experience in the country we were fast learning, was a jewel in the crown of South America.