Bay of Cholon

Colombia

We are in the Bay of Cholon, near Cartagena Colombia and it just feels like home to us.   It is a very safe anchorage, protected in all directions from storms and full of friends that we enjoy being around.

Today, some friends we met on the launcha last Monday came by to visit us.   They are Fidel Plasencia, Marcela Tirado, Angelo Loochkartt, Daele Ramos, Gabriel Upegui, and Dora Londono.   They live in Medellin and are here in Baru for a weeks vacation.   We hope to get together with them again before they leave on Saturday.

This morning we walked early then returned to Valentina for breakfast and our chores.

We left in our dinghy to find our new friends at Puenta Baru.  It is outside the reef and mangroves, so we went slow against the oncoming waves.   We finally found them at Azul, near the scuba diving school.  They are a fun bunch that truly enjoy life.   Their careers are dentist, engineer, pediatrician, psychiatrist, office manager, and salesman,  They are leaving early in the morning, but we wish they were staying longer.

At 5 p.m. everyone in the anchorage was invited to come to Valentina.   George and Pixy (S/V Silver Sea) just arrived today.  So we had Silver Sea, Hello World, Stravaig, and Carmen from Crow's Nest.   It was a full boat, but the guys stayed on the deck while the ladies met in the cockpit.   The ladies tease that we are all in the cockpit talking about watermakers, heads, and solar panels.   They say.....the cockpit was a little louder than the deck.   Imagine that? 

We had a very good time.

I made a couple of pecan pies this morning and a pizza for lunch.  The pizza really hit the spot for us.  Jan on S/V Slip Away gave me a packet for Pizza Crust Mix and it was really easy and good.

S/V Will of the Wisp came into Cholon today.   We went out to meet them and help guide them in.   Honorea gave us some homemade oatmeal cookies.   What a treat!

Sonny tackled our generator again today.    We are not having sufficient water coming out when it is running.   We have flushed it before with vinegar and it worked a while, but now is not working again.   It is a Panda 4kw, saltwater cooled.    So, today he flushed it with muratic acid, as advised from some other cruisers.   After doing so, it worked for about an hour and we were celebrating.

But, all too soon.   It stopped pumping water out again.    Back to the drawing board.

We are so thankful we have sufficient solar panels that we do not rely on our generator.   But, we do want it to work properly.

This morning, after our walk, we emptied the quarter berth (our garage) and checked the water level in the batteries.  Our batteries are located under the berth, so it is an ordeal to empty all of our storage to get to them.

I am still varnishing our new cockpit table pieces.  Five coats on, so far.  It won't be long now.

We walked up to see Carmen this afternoon.   Her mother, sister, two nieces and a nephew are visiting her while Robert is visiting in the States.

George and Pixy, S/V Silver Sea, invited the three boats in the anchorage to their boat this afternoon.  Jeff, S/V Stravaig, told the story of a fellow sailing friend that he has not seen in 37 years.   Jeff and Josie are planning on reuniting with them in Puerto Rico in a few months.  What a reunion that will be!

Cruising is such an adventure.  Different cultures, different dialects.  Tonight we had people from England, Scotland, Boston, and Texas.  We were all speaking English, but sounded from four totally different countries.

We began early by picking up our local friend at 7 a.m. to help clean the stainless on Valentina.  

At 7:30, we picked up D.J. and Kate (S/V Hello World) and met with Jeff and Josie (S/V Stravaig) to dinghy to the village of Baru.    There is a local that makes 160 seafood arapas each morning.   They sell out by 9 a.m. so we want to make sure we get our morning arapas before they sell out.   They cost two ml (which is $1 US) and are hot and delicious.

Then we got some supplies while in the village.

We came across a "cross" donkey with a dark stripe down its back and a bar around his shoulders which makes a cross. Legend tells us the donkey that carried Jesus into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday followed Him to Calvary. Appalled by the sight of Jesus on the cross, the donkey turned away but could not leave. It is said that the shadow of the cross fell upon the shoulders and back of the donkey. A cross marking found on many donkeys today remains a testimony of the love and devotion of a humble, little donkey.

The supply boats have arrived at the dock for the village.  One with bottled drinks and one old sailboat.

Baru may be small, poor, and primitive, but it is being proactive with trash.   There are men working in uniforms and here is their garbage truck below.

What a cool trip today!   When we were going through the mangrove channel, we passed two boys standing on the back of a donkey with two dogs swimming behind them.    They were crossing the channel to get water in their jugs.

Almost back to Valentina, we see a runaway sailboat, sailing downwind in the water.  We know who the owners are, so we pick up the sailboat and return it to Michael and JoHohn.

After we returned to the boats, Sonny and I began cleaning the rollers and hardware on our cap rail traveler.  One of our rollers was completely frozen up and not turning.  So we took it apart and cleaned it.

Then, we were relaxing in the cockpit watching the sunset.   We saw a ketch coming in the channel, when it suddenly stopped.  He had run aground and had at least 9 people on board.

Sonny said, "We need to go help them" so we dropped the dinghy and headed that way, a few miles away.   We left in such a hurry, we did not close the hatches.

Sure enough, the boat was hard aground.   There was a big power boat there to help, another cruiser in a dinghy, and a local boat.

The sailboat was trying to drop his anchor in the dinghy so he could take it to deeper water, to kedge off.  When the anchor dropped in his dinghy, it hit his handle to his outboard motor and increased the power.   This threw the gentleman out of his dinghy.   The dinghy circled him, at high speed, at least three times.   We heard a bump one time and just knew the prop had hit him.   Finally, he was able to hold on to the side of his dinghy and climb back in.  He just collapsed, once inside.  He was, miraculously unharmed.   The noise we heard was his head hitting on the bottom of the fiberglass dinghy.   So thankful he was OK!   We keep replaying that scene in our minds.

Then, the powerboat was trying to pull the sailboat off, and he ran aground.  We pushed with our dinghy to try to help him and he finally got off.

Then, we saw a very dark cloud and lightning near Valentina.   So, we headed back to secure the boat before the storm hit with our hatches all open.

The gust front met us on the way in our dinghy and the wind picked up tremendously as it started raining, burning our eyes.   We arrived at Valentina just in time.  We jumped aboard and started trying to close hatches.   The main hatch above our settee (and computer) had blown completely back and stripped the latch.   We finally got it closed and secured.

Jeff (S/V Stravaig) clocked 57 knots of wind during the cullo de pollo.  It was very intense and would hit us from the beam.  This is the worst one anyone we have talked to has been in.  Thankfully, the gusts are short and the high winds do not last forever.

After the storm, Sonny and Jeff went back out to check on the sailboat that was aground.   All is well.  They took his anchor to deep water and told him to keep tension on it all night.   High tide is tomorrow afternoon at 1 p.m.

Then, they went by to check on the driver of the dinghy, and he, too, was fine.  A very lucky man.

My friend, Pat called me on Skype about this time checking on us.   She has a direct line to heaven and I am thankful for her obedience.   It was good and reassuring to talk to her.

We called Carmen (the house on the hill) to check on her, as Robert is out of town.   She had a huge window on the first floor break and water was flooded in her upstairs room from the wind and rain.  But, all is well.

We are thankful to be here, where there is protection.   It would have been really rough in any another place.

So, exhausted, we will all sleep well tonight.   Good night!

We had a grommet torn out of our awning and our latch for our big hatch was stripped.

Carmen did lose two windows,  a big glass window and a small one from the high wind at her house on the hill.  I cannot imagine how much wind she must have had on top of the hill.   We are protected, here in the bay, and got 57 knots of wind.

The beach nearby lost 15 of the 20 palapas.

It was a pretty serious storm that passed through.

And, the sailboat is still aground.

Around 10 a.m. the tide is rising. Four dinghies in the anchorage headed that way to help push him off to deeper water.    A launcha full of locals arrived at the scene and began to jump in the water and literally push the sailboat.   

Finally, after several hours, several tries, and a line tied from the mast, an anchor kedging off, three dinghies and 15 locals pushing, the sailboat motoring, and a high tide.....he finally got into deeper water and was floating again.

The locals all jumped on his boat as he was driving into the bay.   I am sure, they were wanting some pesos in their hands for their efforts.

After another coat of varnish and a trip up the hill to check on Carmen, we are relaxing, once again in our cockpit at sunset.

We received a call on the radio.   The boat that was aground is ready to leave for San Blas.  We wish them a safe trip and deep water.

It is so good to receive emails from people who have been traveling with us through our website.   You know us personally with our daily thoughts and activities and we would love to hear from you to see what is happening in your life and your world.   You can email us at   sailingvalentina@hotmail.com                   Thanks!

Sonny has been interested in learning how to make bread on board.  Jose (S/V Stravaig) came over this morning and gave him lessons and a recipe. He successfully made two loaves.

Our friends from Cartagena came to their house this weekend.  It is a Colombian holiday, so it is a 3 day weekend.  There are a lot of boats in the bay, most we have ever seen.

Some sights we see as we walk around the area.

Our friends have a lot of guests this weekend, 4 additional families with their children.   They all swam out the Valentina and had fun jumping off the boat into the water.

We had a potluck at Roberto and Carmen's house this afternoon.   Boats that attended were:  Will of the Wisp, Silver Sea, Hello World, Jolly Witch and Valentina.  Robert and Carmen also had friends down from Cartagena.

Robert and Carmen had a friend and her family visiting who had a very pretty daughter named, "Valentina".

Damon and David, S/V Bruadair, arrived in the anchorage today.   It is so good to see them again.   Our boats are the same colors and look very similar.  People get us confused regularly.   They are a 33' Hans Christian in excellent condition.

Sonny took the kids for a ride in the dinghy this morning.

We are enjoying our gechos on board these days.   I spotted this one by our dorade box and put a piece of banana out for her (I think she is pregnant).  Then, we saw another one,  peeking his head under the canvas.

Then, later we saw a tiny baby about one inch long and gave him a piece of papaya.  It was fun to watch him sneak up to eat it.

We all went up to Robert and Carmen's today for the sunset view.

Around 7 a.m. the rain was coming down, so we did not attempt to walk our 2 miles.

Sonny made some gravy to go on some of our homemade bread he recently made.   Have I bragged lately about how wonderful of a husband I have?  Homemade bread and gravy?  It does not get any better than that, if you are from Texas.   But, we have a new recipe for biscuits we will have to try when we get some new baking powder and baking soda.

After the rain stopped, we dinghied around the anchorage and chatted with the other 5 boats.  It was good to get off the boat and visit with our friends again.

Green anons growing on a tree. Here is the inside of a ripe one.   Very sweet flesh with a very hard black seed inside the sack.  Tastes similar to sweet watermelon.

Sonny went over to watch Damon (S/V Bruadair) rebuild his PUR C-80 watermaker pump.   You are supposed to do that after 1,000 hours, so it is about time for that project on Valentina.  We have the same watermakers on board and have not attempted that yet.

Went to M/V Manatee to visit with Robert, as we have not seen much of him since his return trip from the States.

We returned to our cockpit, where I beat Sonny in farkle, and enjoyed the colorful red sunset.

We just don't need a lot to get by.   Beautiful sunsets, calm water, a safe and secure boat/home, a few bathing suits, and each other.   Our life is pretty simple.   We enjoy watching our gecko eating at our buffet we supply each day.

Last night, I put a piece of our left-over popcorn on the buffet, and when we woke up, just the kernel was left.  Maybe I should not feed them so much so they will catch and eat the bugs.  ; )   It is cheap entertainment for us.

It would entail, visiting several of the pristine, beautiful secluded islands of Kuna Yala, San Blas Panama.  As you have probably seen on our website, it is white sandy beaches covered with palm trees.  We would spend our time snorkeling, fishing, visiting a Kuna Indian village, and enjoying everyday life of living aboard a sailboat.

If interested, email us at     sailingvalentina@hotmail.com

David (S/V Bruadair), Peter (S/V Jolly Witch) George and Pixy and Sonny and I gathered for the big game.   It was a lot of fun.  Pixy was so lucky, she would throw the dice and score big points.   Of course, I received the benefit of sitting next to her.  

Sonny and Damon (S/V Bruadair) rebuilt our watermaker motor today.   You are supposed to do that every 1,000 hours, so it was time for that project.

Damon and David ate spaghetti with us afterwards.  

We went up to Roberto and Carmen's this evening to visit and watch the sunset over the islands.   It is so beautiful.

George and Pixy came over for the afternoon to watch NE Patriots play football.   Our football games are usually sketchy and not good quality.   But, better than nothing. 

Did I say.....We dropped our dinghy?   That is exactly what happened.   The wire line holding the bow of the dinghy to the arch broke.   So, we lowered the  stern of the dinghy down into the water.   Just another project....but on today's list.

It rained.....and rained.....and rained today.    Sounds like some of the weather Texas has been having lately.   We welcome it with open arms.   Full water tanks are great.  

Sonny installed our gauge to see how much water our watermaker makes per hour.  It is consistently making four gallons per hour.

We made a trip into Baru in our dinghy this morning.   Although we have been many times, every trip is different with interesting pictures and events.

We jumped in the water this afternoon and George and Pixy on S/V Silver Sea jumped in at their boat nearby.   We met in between our boats and visited for a couple of hours as we swam in the water.  They like being in the water as much as we do.

I made a Texas Sheet Cake from a recipe I got from Jan on S/V Slip Away.

Another early morning trip to Baru.   We arrived in time to get a fried potato ball with chicken.   It was very greasy but very good (except for my cholesterol).

This morning, as we walked around, we saw a young girl all dressed in white with her mother.    It was her first communion at the Catholic Church.

As we took pictures of them and looked around, Kathy Kay, our friend, was one of them.   A very special day in the village of Baru.   You wonder how these very poor families have the money for these beautiful clothes.

As we walked along the dirt streets, we saw several men tending to their roosters in preparation for an upcoming cock fight.  This man was explaining his rooster had a sore throat so he was putting ice down his throat.

Every trip to this small village is always different and exciting.

Tonight, we were watching the Texas UT/Missouri football game over the internet.   When Texas got ahead by 30 points in the 2nd quarter, the site we were watching it on, switched to another college game.  So we did not get to see the second half, but heard they won.

And.....It is our 18th Anniversary!   What a good day we have had.

Kate, on S/V Hello World, called early on the VHF to wish us happy anniversary.  Then, Robert and Carmen, Damon and David, Dan and Jaime, George and Pixy, and Jeff and Josie.   The whole anchorage was aware of our special day.

Then, we had a call on the VHF radio.   Pam and Denis on S/V Glide were arriving to Cholon from an overnight trip from San Blas.  Sonny, Damon and I went out in our dinghy to guide them in.   Reunions are so good.   It has been five months since we have seen them.

Pam organized a dinghy raft up and float to celebrate our anniversary.   It was a calm evening, so we just all went up wind, tied our dinghies together and shared appetizers with each other as we floated back to our boats. 

  A very memorable anniversary with some friends. 

So, after  a lengthy discussion with several boats, Sonny and Denis went into Baru in our dinghy and bought two tanks to fill the propane tanks of 5 boats in the anchorage.    It was a slow process, and some tanks would not work, but at the end of the day, we had successfully filled most of the tanks.

We all went up the hill to Robert and Carmen's to enjoy the sunset.   Denis gave a cooking class on how to make his fish cakes.   Tonight, he used grated potato, chopped plantains, coconut, hot sauce, bread crumbs, an egg, and fish.

Denis made some delicious fish cakes and promised to give us the recipe.

We hitched a ride into Cartagena with Jeff and Josie (S/V Stravaig).   It was a calm trip, no wind or waves.   We were hoping for wind so we could experience it aboard a trimaran.

We arrived around noon and went to eat lunch at La Carretta, our favorite lunch places.   You get a great, local meal for $2.50. 

Then, we went to check into our hotel.

Wow....we are staying in a hotel!   We do not leave our boat, so it is a real treat to celebrate our anniversary in a hotel in Cartagena.    When we have Valentina in Cartagena, we stay pretty close to her, as you never know when a storm will blow in and cause nearby boats (or you) to drag in the anchorage.

Then, we hopped in a taxi headed to Macro.

Macro is a very large store, similar to Sam's in the US.   We buy honey, olives, sliced cheese, raisins, and peanuts there.  You buy in larger quantities, so it works well for us.

Then, we headed back to the hotel.   When we walked into the room, we could smell something fresh.   On our nightstand, there was a beautiful, huge bouquet of roses with bird of paradise.  The hotel manager said Robert and Carmen sent them for us to enjoy.   Then, a bottle of wine arrived, with 2 wine glasses.

   We felt so special!

Rich and Jan (S/V Slip Away) and Kathy (S/V Attitude) came by the hotel around 5 and we all walked to Old Town to Crapes and Waffles for a nice dinner, and.....of course.....ice cream.

It was a wonderful evening to celebrate with friends.  We all walked around Old Town, then back to the hotel.             

When we arrived at Valentina and began unpacking, everything survived, except our bananas.   They were smashed.

Robert announced on the VHF a potluck dinner tomorrow on M/V Manatee at 3 p.m.

Then, we jumped in the water and swam over to see George and Pixy.   She quickly announced that she already had her dish for potluck made.   She made potato salad!   So, I made a vegetable quiche dish. 

When we got to the boat for the potluck, Carmen had made potato salad also.   Great minds think alike.  But, you can never have too much potato salad.

Jeff and Josie are in the anchorage, so we went to gather our supplies.   It took the rest of the day to store them away.   We have supplies again for a few months.  We had a slow drizzle today but not enough to gather any for our tanks.

We did not even have any trick-or-treaters come by the boat tonight.    We left the lights on.....  ; )