Back in Colombia

As it turned out on Friday (Oct. 18), Peter returned from Almirante shortly after 2:30 p.m., and we were able to get to the Port Captain’s office in time to clear the boat out. Then we had to go to the office of Customs, where the agent completed our paperwork in advance of seeing the boat since we told him our printer on board is not working and he needed to give us a copy of the paperwork. Then it was a 15 minute walk to the airport for Immigration to stamp our passports. We stopped for a few provisions on the way back to the Port Captain’s office, where we met up with the Customs agent, who rode with us in our dinghy for a quick boat inspection. So, after 5 hours, a water taxi round-trip, 2 towns and 4 agencies, we were free to leave Panamá. 

We enjoyed a nice evening at the Bocas Marina. We went for the Friday evening barbecue. Peter had barbecued meat and vegetables and I was thrilled with the vegetarian pizza which includes asparagus and dollops of mozzarella cheese. Both meals were huge, and we saved half for the trip at sea. We socialized with an older man and his slightly younger wife, he from South Africa and she from Toronto; a German couple; and the father and three kids from British Columbia. It was a very pleasurable way to enjoy our last evening in Panamá.

Our plan was to leave around 10 p.m. on Friday evening, but we delayed our departure for a few hours because my dad was in the hospital and, basically, we wanted to make sure it was unlikely he would die within the next two days while we were at sea. He was still alive and more than ready to get out of the hospital when we arrived in San Andres, Colombia, but he was still being held captive for a variety of reasons. He finally escaped on Monday.

The trip from Bocas del Toro to San Andrés took about 38 hours. There was only wind sufficient for sailng for about 10 of those hours, so we had to motor much more than we would have liked, adding engine hours, using diesel fuel and polluting the environment. The seas were calm, so at least the ride was smooth. But a boat is still plowing her way through the water under power. When we are sailing, the boat becomes more in tune with the ambiant conditions, moving with the wind, waves and swells, and the trip is much more pleasant. Also, when we are using the engine, we have to use our steaming lights at night, so we are casting a bright white glow off the stern, ruining the view of the bioluminescence trailing out like a stream of bright, transient stars in our wake. When sailing, the navigation lights are all up on the mast, so at our level on the deck, it is dark.

On Saturday morning, Oct. 19, we were joined, one by one, by four gorgeous yellow warblers (at least one appeared to be a Thompson’s warbler with two white wing bands, and they may all have been morphs) and one handsome bank swallow with a dark back and wings, highlighted with iridescent blue; a light brown collar; and a fluffy cream chest and belly, mottled with light cinammon. At first, they sat on the life lines or the winches on the stern, but then the warblers became curious and accustomed to our presence. After a few hours, they were hopping and flitting about in the pilot house, darting in and out of hatches, exploring down below and tamely sitting on us. We went through a rain shower in the late afternoon, and the swallow flew away, but the warblers made themselves at home and, as night approached, found themselves comfortable places to sleep for the night, two on deck and two down below. We are pretty sure that they are migrating south, so they were going the wrong direction when they stayed with us, but they did get some rest. 

Warbler with distinctive wing bars 

Do birds yawn?

Bank swallow helping to steer

Blue coloring in the feathers visible

Warbler taking a turn at the wheel

Close-up of warbler's head 

Warbler ready to help out on the winch

Warbler on watch 

Well-groomed bird with beautiful coloring and nice crest

Warbler with black eye patch

Warbler playing cards

Warblers resting on Peter

Three warblers on Peter 

Warbler ready to help with radio communication

One by one on Sunday morning, Oct. 20, they flew away except for one, which remained below, huddled up. Peter carried it up, but it would not fly. We gave it some water,which it drank, put it in a small cereal bowl with a little water to make a bird bath to cool it down and offered it some papaya, which it refused. Then, it just lay down on its side and would not get up at all. It died quickly and peacefully, and, after saying a few words of thanks for the joy it had brought to us, we buried it at sea. 

Little bird about 20 minutes before it died

We were hoping to get it to land, and we were in sight of Isla de San Andrés when it died, but we had been worried about how to conceal a live animal on board. Perhaps luckily for us it was gone, because we were boarded by the military (which is not unusual) while we were maneuvering through the zig-zag channel to the bay. 

The anchorage off the waterfront of the town of San Andrés is small and filled with pleasure craft and a few sunken vessels, so we had to spend some time finding a good place to anchor. We had arranged by radio to meet with the maritime agent we had contacted, Julian Watson, at 3 p.m., but it was already close to that time by the time we settled in, so we called him to re-arranged for the next morning. This meant that we could not go ashore, but we were tired, sweaty and hungry, and we didn’t mind staying on board and going to bed early. Luckily, we still had our leftovers from Bocas, so we had a great meal.

At 8 a.m. on Monday morning, Oct. 21, we met him at Nene’s Marina directly on shore from our  boat. In addition to him, an agent from Immigration and an agent from the municipal office were waiting for us. The whole process went very smoothly, and after paying $166, we were free to enter Colombia again. We spent the rest of the morning and the early afternoon exploring El Centro and the waterfront on Spratt Bight on the northeast shore of the island. The weather was overcast with intermittent rain showers, which we mostly avoided by stopping for food and drink. Our first stop was across from the beach on Spratt Way, where we indulged in a yummy crepe filled and topped with arequipe (dulce de leche), slivers of toasted coconut and fresh whipped cream. After wandering around some more (stopping, of course, in a hardware store), we chatted with the South African man who is anchored next to us, whom we encountered near the marina, and then went in search of a restaurant for lunch. We were fortunate to choose the Regatta Restaurant next to the marina of Club Nautico for three reasons. First, it has a wonderful ambience with eclectic decorations. Secondly, the food was delicious. I had a vegetarian bowl that was both beautiful and delectable, and Peter enjoyed a bowl with rice steeped in molasses, fried plantains and fish cracklings. The third reason was that the rain began to pour right as our food was served, so we remained dry through the heaviest rainstorm of the day. 

We searched out two stores selling outboard motors, one Yamaha and one Suzuki, to see what was available. The Archipelielago de San Andres, Providencia y Santa Catalina was declared a duty free zone in the early 1950s, so there was a possibility that prices would be good.  Prices were comparable to those in the U.S., not only at the stores selling motors but at the few stores we stopped in with American brands such as Columbia Sportswear, where the prices were the equivalent of full retail in the U.S. (and who pays full retail?). For the mainland Colombians who arrive here with empty suitcases for a shopping vacation, the prices are good value as the taxes on imported goods are high.

The shopping areas and the waterfront are filled with life-size sculptures of characters representative of the culture and history of the island, including some pirates. I made Peter pose with them. We are now flying our giant black pirate flag, hoping to scare the real pirates whom we must avoid as we continue north and then west to Roatán and then Guatemala.

Which one looks more like a pirate?

Peter as a pirate but still wearing his Aussie hat

Mantra's pirate flag flies again

In 2000, the entire archipelago was declared a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve and named Seaflower, and the city is obviously trying to raise awareness of environmental protection with signage and recycling campaigns. There are some fanciful sculptures made from re-purposed plastic near the government buidlings which are quite colorful and charming.

Colorful tropical fish sculpture 

Reef sculpture

Tuesday, Oct. 22, was a cleaning day. I took hours to thoroughly clean everything down below, even the cushions on the couches and seating around the table. While doing so, I found a dead warbler hidden behind some throw pillows. Peter had to send it to a watery grave like the other. It’s a good thing the officials didn’t find it. While I slaved away down below in the heat, Peter took apart and cleaned winches while a cruiser from South Africa whom we met the previous day was busy cleaning the hull--when he wasn’t entertaining Peter with stories.

Today, Wednesday, Oct. 23, I did four loads of laundry while Peter worked on various things. We must have opened and closed the hatches a dozen times as brief showers fell intermittently throughout the day. We met a German woman on the dinghy dock when we went in to check on getting diesel and to find ice cream for a treat. She and her friend who owns a nearby boat came over for drinks. Since both of them have expertise with engines and generators, a large part of the lively conversation was an analysis of all the possible causes for our generator’s erractic behavior of running maybe for two minutes or maybe for an hour and then cutting out suddenly and then staying on once it is re-started. It’s just a mystery!

As soon as we get a good weather window, we will begin to sail (or motor) north, staying at least 100 miles offshore of Nicaragua and Hondurus to avoid pirates. If it seems safe to go to Roatán, we will stop there; otherwise, we will head straight for the Caribbean coast of Guatemala, where we plan to leave the boat for a couple of months.