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On Tuesday we decided to move at last. We moved a few miles to West Holandes Cays. We sailed over, and because the wind had shifted to the NW, we ended up having a nice long sail since we needed to tack to get up to anchorage. So, we sailed past the island a bit and tacked in. The winds were easing along the way which also lengthened the sail a bit.

We dropped the hook near what looked like some delightful reefs. The sun was coming out too! We immediately broke out the snorkeling gear and confirmed some nice coral reefs and fish. After an initial exploration, we got the VideoRay gear out and I showed David the works. We then took it for a spin around the reefs. Great fun!

We spent so much time snorkeling and with the VideoRay, we didn't have time to go ashore and explore the beautiful coconut-tree-lined islands with white sand beaches. In the evening, we needed to run the generator, so we introduced David and Edel to "Captain Ron". They really seemed to enjoy it.

During the night we had a big rain squall, and then the boat started turning. I was up several hours watching how close we came to the reefs. But, we were ok. The winds eased quite a bit and the rain stopped.

Yesterday was a great day! Although, initially I was worried because of how close we were to one of the reefs. But, the winds clocked and moved us away and the winds eased all day and the sun came out. We did several snorkeling trips, we also drove the VideoRay for quite a while. We saw trigger fish, reef squid, sting rays, a lion fish, and many of the more common fish and coral as well. I also took a lot of underwater photos.

What really made it special though was David and I took the dinghy ashore and explored the nearby islands. The island NW of us has a wonderful beach on the northern side with coconut trees hanging over the beach providing great shade from the sunshine. We had a great walk. The only thing marring it was the huge amount of plastic trash all up on the shore (something you see on all islands unfortunately). The worst offender is plastic water bottles, but another common item are flip-flop sandals. There are many other plastic bottles (sun tan lotion, baby oil, cosmetics, oil bottles, pill bottles, etc.). But, if you ignored the trash somehow, the scenery was wonderful! It was so wonderful having the sun back as well! We ended up taking the girls to the island later and doing the same walk. This time we brought our cameras and took lots of photos (which I'll put up in a week from now when we have Internet).

We had a visit from some Kuna Indians who sold Karen a "Mola". A quilt-like piece of fabric with a pretty fish design on it. She also got a little purse. The local indians are very nice and we often see them going to all the islands and either fishing or tending to plantings or coconut trees. They mostly use hand-made boats with just a pole, or sometimes with a small outboard motor.

The scenery is just fantastic, and is so much better now with the sunshine back. Karen gave me a haircut as the sun set ending a perfect day. We played some games after dinner and then shined a spotlight into the water to see what kind of fish we could attract. We also did some stargazing before bed as the stars were beautiful and clear at last with no city lights or clouds to block the view.

Yesterday was a much better day weather-wise, and we finally got out and did a few things. We had a few breaks in the clouds and had some sunshine, and finally managed to do some photography. We did some exploring by dinghy at nearby islands, and the evening "cook out" with many boats visiting the area was well-attended, and we met many folks there.

In the early afternoon, David and I got the kite aerial setup out and went to BBQ island and captured the entire island from 250+ feet. Because we didn't want the kite string caught in the numerous coconut trees, we walked along the edges and even well out into the water to get the kite positioned over the island. Not only that, but we ended up taking the end of the string into the dinghy and maneuvering upwind to get the windward side of the island. The force of the kite was enough to pull us in the dinghy at about one knot if we didn't use the engine to counter-act it!

We went to one island to confirm the banana trees we thought we saw there. But, there were some nasty biting sand flies on that island so we left pretty quick. There were no ripe bananas. We then went to another anchorage where we saw s/v Songline - the catamaran we met in Cartagena that is from Australia. They invited on board for a beer and we caught up on each other's trip to San Blas. We've explored about 10 islands so far to some extent, and its been a lot of fun.

In the evening we went to the "cook out". Only it was really just a finger-food pot-luck - so no substantial food. But, everyone had an enjoyable time meeting one another and comparing notes on boating destinations and stories. David and Edel said there were some interesting people there - an attribute often associated with cruising sailors - as well as many other descriptions. :-)

Unfortunately, you'll have to wait until we get to Internet to see the photos (when we get to Colon, Panama on the 15th). But, have no fear, we got a number of photos of the activities.

We arrived here in the beautiful San Blas islands on Thursday morning during a break in the clouds. It was one of the most beautiful places we've sailed into to date. But, the weather has been cloudy and rainy ever since. Yesterday was squally with strong winds and rain all day. We never even left the boat and had to raise the dinghy because it was bouncing around so much. Weather forecasts have the winds easing some in the next couple of days, but there is still a 30% chance of rain during the next couple of days.

So what have we been doing during this time? We have done a few chores on the boat, read books, swimming, watched some movies, played board and card games, played computer games, and when the weather has been clear enough we have taken the dinghy to nearby islands and reefs and explored. We found one island has some banana trees, but we're not sure whether the locals would allow us to pick any. Tonight there is supposed to be a cook-out on the aptly named BBQ island with the boats anchored in the area. We're really hoping the weather stays clear enough for the cookout!

Hopefully we'll get some clear days here, because I really want to take some pictures - especially kite aerial and 360 panoramas. Wish us luck for some good weather!

We left Cartagena on Wednesday morning and had a very nice 24 hour sail to San Blas. Actually, at the start there was no wind, but I knew within a few hours we would catch up to some wind. We headed out through the Boca Grande passage (which is the one we passed up on our way into Cartagena due to the weather condidtions). Since there was no wind, the seas were flat this time, so we had no problem passing through the narrow port exit.

It seemed we were going slower than normal as we motored out, so we stopped when we got to some clearer waters about 2 miles from shore. I dove over to check the bottom - and, sure enough, we had some slime and a few barnacles and other growth. The port waters in Cartagena are a melting pot of growth. David jumped in with me and we spent about an hour cleaning off the growth. Once we resumed motion though, it appeared we only regained about .5 knots.

By 1:30, we had picked up some wind and started motor sailing. By 2PM we were under full sail and we sailed the rest of the way. David and Edel really enjoyed the sail and even took a night-time watch for a couple of hours. We had a few rain showers during the early morning hours the next day, but the wind stayed steady. We averaged 8-9 knots in the evening, and 9-10 knots during the morning hours. So, we completed the 200 nm run to San Blas in right at 24 hours. We first saw a couple of other boats headed in as well, and then spotted the coconut trees of these little tropical islands.

The San Blas islands are an archipelago of, supposedly, 365 islands (one for each day of the year). The islands are occupied by the Kuna Indians who still live a simple life with little influence from modern technologies. They trade in coconuts, fish the islands, and take care of their environment. As a result, these islands look much like they did hundreds of years ago when the Europeans first set sight of them.

We arrived at the East Holandes Cays and were stunned by the beauty. A thousand shades of blue and turquoise water colors. White sand, and coconut lined, beaches. A smattering of sailboats at anchor. We were in heaven!

We have been exploring the area, swimming in the super clear water, and walking the beaches. This is what cruising is all about! It's too bad that none of the online mapping sites have high resolution aerial photos of the San Blas islands. But, do a search on Panoramio, Flickr, or Google Images and you'll find many photos of these awesome islands.

We stayed in Cartagena a few days longer than originally planned because we were waiting for a part to be shipped to us. Our primary fresh water pump died an ignoble death on our passage down to Cartagena. It had been giving warning signs for some time, and I have no excuse for not having bought a spare earlier. We thought the original problem was simply a broken diaphragm, which was the subject of another parts shipment back in the Grenadines. We performed the diaphragm replacement and the pump stopped leaking, so we thought it was fixed. But, there was another problem.

Anyway, we identified a company which said they could get the part we ordered (two of them, one as a spare) in the US delivered to us in a week. But, they were not very good at "tracking" the package's progress. We essentially did not know if they actually had the product here in Colombia until Monday night. Then, we didn't hear from the until late last night - but, around 7 PM they finally delivered it to me at the marina. Whew! By 8 PM, I had removed the old pump and installed the new one. And, it works beautifully!

Now we'll be able to leave soon for the San Blas archipelago in Panama (click on thumbnail above to visit in Google Maps - Google doesn't have high-res aerial photos of the area - yet). These islands are some of the most beautiful tropical islands in the Caribbean. There are supposedly 365 islands there - one for each day of the year. The islands (and surrounding tropical forest-lined shore) are occupied by the Kuna Indians who believe in keeping their lives simple, live off the sea and the land, do not use modern technologies, and keep their culture separate from foreign influences. They are reportedly very friendly as long as you don't harm their environment or violate their rules. For example, each Kuna family owns specific coconut trees (they use coconuts as a form of trade, and a source of food and supplies). It is forbidden for visitors to pick up and use coconuts for this reason.

We are looking forward to being able to jump in the waters again. The port here at Cartagena does not have very appetizing water, so we haven't been swimming in nearly two weeks! We'll have a to wait a bit for a weather window and to get cleared out of customs.

As I've mentioned before, we will have VERY limited Internet connectivity while in San Blas during the next couple of weeks. I'll still hopefully squeeze out a few blog posts - but, you'll have to wait until we get to Colon, Panama for me to upload photos. We won't be able to reply to our E-mails during this time as well. It will be a vacation!

We started our expedition formally when we departed the US shores of North Carolina on November 14, 2009. Our first goal was to make it to the Caribbean island of St. Martin and begin adjusting to our new way of life as we re-visited many islands we had first seen in 2003 up until Grenada. We also needed to learn how to use new tools we brought with us like the VideoRay ROV for underwater video, 360 Panoramas, and our kite aerial photography equipment.

We began visiting new islands with the ABC islands (Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao), and then continued west to Cartagena.

By the end of this month, we hope to be entering a whole new part of the world to us. We will be transiting the Panama Canal and sail in the Pacific Ocean for the first time. Our first major destination will be the Galapagos Islands. After viewing (and sharing) the amazing variety of life that live on and around those mystical islands, we will depart for the longest single passage in our near-term voyage: 3000 nm from the Galapagos to the French Marquesas. It will take 2-3 weeks to complete the journey, without any land in sight, until we arrive (hopefully by early May). We are looking to have some additional crew on board to help with the passage.

We hope you are enjoying following our experiences so far. Since I'm a tech geek, we are making a lot of use of "new" technologies such as Google Earth and Maps (NOTE: our map has now changed to show a more accurate rendition of our recent path - in green), 360 panoramas, kite aerial photography, Twitter, and more. Hopefully, the resulting imagery and information enhance the experience for most of you. As we enter this new phase of our trip, we hope to begin sharing more observations of the life around us, environmental impacts of mankind on the ocean life and the land sharing the sea, and more of our experiences with the cultures we encounter. We hope you'll join us on our adventure!

We have been enjoying the sights of Cartagena and most of the atmosphere of this vibrant city. One part of the atmosphere we haven't been enjoying: it has been quite hot and humid for most of our stay. But, the view of the city at night is nearly as good as the one we had in Miami. Make sure you view the slideshow below for photos from our visits to El Centro.

On Thursday, last week, we woke up with arms sore from the vaccination shots. But, not too bad, but we didn't want to do much work. The pain went away after a couple of days. We went shopping at a local mall called "Caribe Plaza Mall". One of the main stores is called "Home Center" and is compared to garden/home supply stores like "Home Depot" in the US. They also have a store called "Carrefour" that was compared to "Walmart". We took a taxi, and were curious to see they had strong security with guards - and gates at the underground parking area - who actually looked in the trunk of the taxi before admitting us, and closed circuit TVs in many areas. We were pleasantly surprised to find a huge modern air-conditioned mall. It had three floors and a real food court, and a large variety of stores. A great place to hang out during the hot days.

We also did more research on San Blas and Panama, and contacted the marina where we will stay while waiting for our canal transit. We got contact information for agents to help with the transit paperwork.

We confirmed that a couple we have been in contact with - who are doing a second round-the-world trip (a 1-year trip without a sailboat) and documenting it via a blog and photos - will be coming with us to Panama. They both have taken some beautiful photos. We have been writing each other since last year because David documents his travels using Google Earth, and had previously developed KML files written about on Google Earth Blog. We had hoped to at least rendezvous somewhere along the way.

On Friday, Karen and I went to El Centro - the beautiful historic part of Cartagena - and did some shopping and museum visits. We especially enjoyed the free museum of gold which had some excellent exhibits and english/spanish displays about the history of gold here in Colombia. As you'll see in the photos, the place is very popular and beautiful and a great place to wander and shop. All the sailors here rave about the place, and we could see why. We had a wonderful lunch in a restaurant that was popular with the locals. We ate their daily special which consisted of a huge meal with soup, chicken, a cole-slaw-like salad, bread, and a banana for dessert. Karen enjoyed the shopping and got some items for herself and our daughters.

This weekend was the beginning of an international film festival, and we ended up at the beautiful historic Teatro Heredia. The theater was first built in 1911 and later restored in 1998. It has four stories of seating, incredible decorations, and is quite beautiful. We managed to get inside and watch a couple of festival films which at least had English sub-titles. I really wish I had brought the camera equipment to do a 360 panorama of the theater! See the photos in the slideshow below:

Unfortunately, Google Maps currently has a cloudy image of the area of Cartagena we were visiting in the slideshow. If you go in Google Earth, you can use the "Historical Imagery" option and see some better views of this part of Cartagena.

On Saturday we moved the boat to Club Nautico marina and gave Tahina a much needed bath in fresh water. We also cleaned up the inside. On Sunday, David and Edel arrived from Santa Marta, Colombia by bus. We took a taxi to Centro for dinner and got to know one another better. They are from Sweden and Ireland, respectively, and actually quit their jobs to take their year-long trip around the world. One of them has already been offered a job back with their same employer upon return in April. They spend a lot of time camping and hiking to help reduce their travel costs.

[NOTE: This post is by Karen not Frank]

I know it's snowing where most of you are, but it is searing hot here, 95F in the shade, and NO wind. That makes for some very uncomfortable days. Fortunately, the internet cafe near us (in the grocery store) and some of the restaraunts nearby are air-conditioned. We have also had to run the generator some, which enables us to run the AC on our boat. Thank goodness for modern conveniences!!!

The trip over from Aruba was eventful, but I was never nervous. Frank handled the sailing expertly and set up the sails so that we were safe from the high winds. Sailing with the wind behind us (downwind sail) and the waves giving us a push (following seas) made for a relatively comfortable trip, even if the wind was howling. The fish we caught was a real fighter as I found out while holding the pole for a while. He was quite delicious too. :)

Life in Cartagena has been enjoyable. Food prices are inexpensive and the city is a modern metropolis with well preserved historic areas. Entrepreneurship is alive here with lots of street vendors selling cell phone minutes, fresh fruit, hot coffee, lunch foods, fruit juice, ice cream, ... almost anything you can think of. Even so, the grocery
store is well stocked, even if everything is in Spanish. We're managing, just barely, to communicate with our pitiful Spanish; but, we're learning. All of the people we've met have been very helpful even if we can't always understand each other.

We visited El Centro within the old walled city one evening and were delighted with the ambiance. The streets are well lit, but not glaringly so. There are plenty of police to discourage problems and plenty of people strolling the parks to make it delightful. Colon Plaza is a beautiful at night with lighted fountains and a big statue of Simon Bolivar on a horse; he was the man who was instrumental in gaining Colombia's independence from Spain. I hope to go back during daylight hours, maybe do some shopping especially for emerald and gold jewelry. Since both are mined right here in Colombia, the prices are supposed to be very good.

We spent some time today straightening out my least favorite sail, the spinnaker. It's tidy and stowed away for an easier deployment. Maybe we'll get along a bit better now.

An interesting activity in the anchorage is the fishing. The fishermen like to surround an anchored boat with their nets and slap the water with a big stick to drive the fish into the nets. Then they haul in the nets. It seems that the fish like to congregate in the
shade under the boats. I haven't seen any big catches yet, but they always catch something.

Well, that's it for now. I hope to write again before we set out for the San Blas Islands.

Yesterday we accomplished one of our sightseeing goals here in Cartagena. We wanted to visit the large fortress called Castillo de San Felipe De Barajas. This well-preserved fort overlooks the city of Cartagena and is part of the fortifications including the huge walls which surround the city, and several other forts. The fort was first built in the 1500s and later improved in the 1700s. There are look-out towers on all the corners, tunnels open to tourists let you walk through the fort, there are small cubby-holes along the passages which could have been used to attack soldiers if they had managed to breach the fort, and today there are many scenic views of the modern city.

Unfortunately, it was a bit cloudy at the start, so some of the photos do not do the fortress justice. But, there are plenty of other photos available in Panoramio if you want to see the city on a clear day.

Here is a slideshow of some of our photos:

I also took some 360 panoramas at the fort. Here is one on the SW corner of the highest part of the fort:

Castillo de San Felipe De Barajas in Colombia

After the fort visit, we made arrangements to go to a vaccination office. We needed to add some shots to make sure we are protected against tropical water dangers like Yellow Fever and Hepatitus. We ended up in the commercial district of the city which was a beehive of activity. We couldn't believe some of the shops selling and repairing hundreds of cell phones, jewelry shops, bakeries, and more. We'll have to go back when we have more time to look around.

In the evening we went to a local restaurant that caters to the boaters on Wednesday nights. We had a chance to meet some of the other cruisers, but we were both kind of tired and left early. We have been doing research on the San Blas islands as well. One thing for sure, we will be on a "vacation" from normal blogging there. There's reportedly no internet access in the San Blas islands. We will try to send out a few e-mail posts over our SSB though.

We haven't been very productive from a tourism perspective so far in Colombia. We arrived on the weekend and spent two days before we found the agent we had been looking for to help with getting our clearance. Fortunately, some friends of ours were here the first evening (but, left for San Blas the next morning) and gave us some insights on local conveniences and information. Of particular use is the local marina's guide to cruisers, which is available on their web site here. This is the best online guide I've seen by a marina to date. You may not find all the services you want here, but at least they have information on what is available.

Unfortunately, the marina - Club Nautico - is in the middle of doing a major re-construction. For some reason the local government put it to a halt at the worst possible time. So, they are operating out of a rustic shack of an office and the main facilities are in shambles - no showers, no bar, etc. And, they aren't allowed to continue construction (no building permit?). The docks are still in place, and have power and water though. And, the staff are doing their best to maintain services for the boaters.

Cartagena doesn't seem to have full-service chandleries (marine stores). There are two nearby stores, but they only have a subset of the usual items found in chandleries catering to serious boaters. I couldn't even find 3M's popular 5200 glue/sealant at the two stores, nor the usual oil we use for our engines, and I haven't been able to get the cruising guide for Panama I expected to buy here. More importantly, and this isn't as surprising, they don't have the pump we need - to replace the one that drives the water pressure on our starboard hull. I spent two days trying to determine the best way to have a new one sent to us here. We finally ordered two of the pumps (one as a spare) in the US, and are having it sent to Miami. An outfit there sends it to Colombia in the main port. Then it is brought down to Cartagena, clears customs, and is finally brought to us - where we pay the fees for the shipping, handling, and customs. If all goes as planned, it will be here by next Tuesday. We may also see if the old pump can be overhauled.

Meanwhile, we have gone to a few restaurants. We even went to Centro - the old part of Cartagena - and had a nice dinner and walked through the scenic area one night. Cartagena is a beautiful city, and we look forward to seeing more. Karen has been a bit out of commission having consumed something that didn't agree with her. We're hoping she'll be well enough today to do some sightseeing. There is a wonderful grocery store with nice Internet cafe nearby that has been our favorite haunting ground outside the boat.

We have a couple of candidates for crewing on Tahina for the upcoming long passages. If you think you may meet our criteria/dates, please contact us soon.

There is a young married couple, who are photo journalists, with whom I've been communicating with for several months now on the chance we could get together. Turns out they are in Colombia right now. They may be joining us for a couple of weeks as we depart Cartagena and go to San Blas in Panama. Then they would leave us when we reach the Panama Canal. We hope to pick up some traveling tips from them as they have done two round-the-world trips (not by sailboat). And share some photography tips as well.

The weather here has been hot and muggy. It hasn't been helped by the lack of wind the last couple of days (and more still air the next few days). We have actually been running the A/C while charging the batteries with the generator the last two times (something we never did in the windward islands).