taganga

taganga is a bay north of santa marta. it is a fishermen’s village that has developed into a tourist destination. it is pretty and very protected from the crazy winds. the people are friendly and the food is spectacular. fruits, fish, plantains and everything coconut imaginable. simply delicious!

we were told this place has become a very popular destination among Israelis after their graduation. we really could not tell the nationality of the tourists but we did notice the town was mostly visited by backpackers; and the place had lots of hostels.  the atmosphere is very laid back with people enjoying the sun and the beach and lots of vendors of beautiful handcrafts; mostly hats and the mochila arahuaca which is a beautiful handmade purse.  

near the sierra nevada

north of santa marta is the tayrona park and some beautiful farms with lush vegetation contrasting the deserted surroundings. there are fresh water streams flowing down from the sierra nevada very close to the beach. the ocean is rough and cold and the beaches look very untouched. we visited ios’ place with my parents. a paradise below coconut trees. from here we walked the virgin beaches and saw for the first time the snow peaks of the sierra. it was phenomenal. one of the best places we have visited. with no electricity and only nature around, what more can one ask for?

santa marta

after a rough several hours with the strong winds, we made it safely into the wonderful new marina santa marta in santa marta of course. what a trip. Later we found out that the wind is called “la loca” and that we were very lucky to have rushed to get in, as for the next week that we were here, we had up to 40 knots of wind every day. this is close to shore. we can only imagine how it must have been out at sea. but being safely tied in the slip of a new marina, we enjoyed the city, and walking around, and specially meeting some of my family.

This stop had mixed feelings, as it is now a country where we have already stopped, meaning that our circumnavigation is close to being complete. a good feeling of accomplishment indeed, but a sad feeling to see that the round the world adventure will soon come to an end…

cabo de la vela

cabo de la vela was the last point of ok weather. we approached but decided not to stay. we had the last hours of good weather and knew that if we stayed, we would have to stay for at least a week for the weather to calm down again. so we unfortunately missed this place known for its cool sand dunes and home to the wayuu indigenous people. after our approach, it was crazy windy until we reached sanata marta. we sailed through the tayrona park and could not even see the high peak of the sierra nevada of santa marta because there were so many nasty clouds on top. rather we were sailing very fast with one of the strongest winds we have had on the entire circumnavigation, trying to get to a protected harbor before the worse of the storm.

sailing through venezuela & colombia

sailing through venezuela and the northeastern part of colombia is said to be one of the most complicated legs in the world! it is in fact very windy, specially this time of year, and there is a 1.5 knot of current against the wind, creating rough seas. the wind blows constantly at 30 knots and the gusts are easily up to 40 every single day. we had not thought much about this before, but when approaching we were a bit nervous. we tried to plan around the weather and left bonaire with a good window of two days ahead, however the next leg was for three days, and we knew we were going to have rough seas and strong winds the last day. we had planned on several stops, including los monjes, which is a military base in venezuela north of the gulf of maracaibo, but when we were close to that area the wind and seas seemed ok, so we moved on through the cabo de la vela in guajira, colombia.

at the end the wind was not so terrible in this part, but what did complicate things a bit was the heavy traffic of ships carrying oil from venezuela and coal from colombia. we were constantly watching them approach us and pass very close. they kept us awake all the time.

bonaire

bonaire was fantastic. we moored in the lee of the island between the main island bonaire and a little island across. the little island across had no buildings at all. it was a park with plenty of diving and snorkeling spots. the water was great and we did get to see a little of the underwater sights. on the main island, there were many pretty buildings and most of them looked like the typical dutch architecture.

the island is very dry and we enjoyed the scene with cactus and lots of pink flamingos.

we were also very pleased to do a one stop only immigration and customs, with no lines and absolutely free. definitely a sailor friendly place. not to mention there were plenty of moorings for us to choose from and grab, as anchoring is strictly forbidden in the entire island, to preserve the coral of course.

diving here is a main attraction and people do so from the beach. it is a unique spot for that. we also felt very comfortable as we heard a lot of spanish. being so close to venezuela, seemed to us that spanish was the common language, but of course is papiamento, which if we concentrated a bit we could understand. in fact we even laughed because it sounded to us like a funny spanish but with a slight variation, but still easy to understand.

we enjoyed going around some canals in our dinghy and a beautiful marina complex with incredibly pristine beaches and water.

sailing towards the abc's

we left grenada towards the abc’s, specifically bonaire. as every other leg in the caribbean, we had constant 20 knots of wind from the east. we set the sails wing on wing and went on a run for 3 days. this was our fastest leg ever. our average speed was over 6 knots and the boat was sailing great. we almost did not feel the wind or the swell. it was beautiful, except for the last day when he had torrential rains and some nasty weather in the horizon, but at the end, it did not affect us much.

we were expecting to catch lots of fish but we had actually zero bites. so soup and pasta had to do. it was ok. at least 3 days is not that long.

driving around the island

we rented a convertible jeep and went around the entire island; from sand beaches to jungle through rocky rivers and everything in between. of course we got lost in our tour but that made it even better as we saw almost every single parish and road of grenada.

grenada

this island of just over 100,000 inhabitants used to be a british outpost but after WWII when britain started to let go of all of its colonies, grenada did not want independence. over 51% of its population voted against but nevertheless england gave it up and ever since, they have been a sovereign country. now all the colonial buildings are dilapidated. most houses are very small and poor but look picturesque nevertheless.

the sailing industry is very developed here. there are over 10 fully equipped marinas with yards to haul out boats and stores of the size seen in the us. boaters can find everything they need here. it is probably used as a base point and hurricane shelter and from here they go up to sail the caribbean and down again at the beginning of the hurricane season.

there is also a lot of evidence of foreign investment with beautiful resorts, boutiques and top class restaurants. an example of this is the true blue marina and hotel complex where we stayed. we really enjoyed our stay in this wonderful paradise. on our last night we had a marvelous dinner on the beach and then, in the mooring we had a superb steel band playing in the background.