Saturday, January 15, 2011

The Last of the Mohicans


One week there was perfect so we move on to the next stage, 130 miles to Titumate, 24 hours with 20 knots of wind on the bottom. The boat was shaking a lot, I couldn't stand myself and I think Charly was scared that I would fell on the water so he sent me to sleep (really difficult to do it) and he did all the night on his own. On the way we saw a group of 10 dolphins that were playing on the prow during 30 min, really cool! On Belle de Lune they saw something as well: a shark ate his Rapala so they took it up to the boat to free him. After all the adventures we arrived there, it was difficult to anchor because the bottom wasn't so deep but the long trip was worthy, there the cosy Family Otero was waiting for us.


During the week that we spent there they treat us really good, they wanted to show his village so every day was a new adventure. The second day we made a walked around the jungle until we arrived to a wild beach where Chino delight us with some cocos that he took from the top of a palm! We spent the rest of the day eating cocos and then when we came back a delicious colombian speciality was waiting for us! And that was just the beggining of the week!  


The third day was really cool: First we ate some delicious biscuits at Calixto's Supermarket while we were waiting for the car that will bring us to the river. When the 11 persons were inside of the 40 years old frlejj (10 inside and three on the roof) we were ready for the departure. It was impressing how the car managed during 30 minutes on paths were just horses can go. We arrived to the river where two indians (one looked exactly like the last of the mohicans) crossed us with a canoa made of the tronk of a tree. On the other side appeared a beatiful small community like I never saw before. It was a really interesting to see how they live, their houses, to listen his language, see the way they cook, the school, everything. On the way back I decided to jump up on the roof of the car with the kids to enjoy the beautiful landscape and when we arrived we drunk and ate a coco from the garden of Rafael. We invited all the family to have dinner on Belle de Lune and the next day we planned to go to another village called Trigana with the catamaran.


 









At 9 AM all the people was on board really excited, so we lifted the anchor and Chino brought us to this small village where we made a walk along the beach and we took a swim. Then we came back with a new captain, Chiki who always with the supervision of Charly ordered to pull up the sails to his crew. Everybody did a good job so when we arrived we were tired but another delicious meal was waiting: grilled fish with sweet rice and salad. It was the third day of eating a lot so then I went to make a walk around Titumate with the two sons of Rafael, Camilo and Andres. I was so lucky because when we were coming back, the football match between all the guys from the village was starting. They played quite hard and some where playing with boots another ones without others just with one in the foot that they use to kick the ball. They didn't care about how many people were in each team (13 that I counted), the outsides, the faults, the pigs crossing the fill, the important thing was to have fun and at the end the winner team will win 4 lemonades. I had a great time watching this show with the rest of the spectators and when it finished the appetizers were still hot at home: chorizo, fritters with cheese and custard, delicious! Then we wait until 6 PM to check the weather on internet, because this is the time when everyday the electricity comes until 10 PM so we decided that we will leave in 2 days when the win on the face wouldn't be too strong so we could go all the way to San Blas. But we still had time and energy to party a little bit and to make Charly and Luké try the Aguardiente that both of them found really strong.




 




 
 The last day we woke up with no plans so we prepared MOJITO to sail next morning and we went on land to say goodbye to everybody. It was pretty sad because it was a week that we spent with the family so we got used to see them everyday.

At 9 AM we left heading to Sapzurro where we spent one night and some fishermans asked to pay for the anchorage but next morning at 6 AM we escaped and after the cape we were already in Panama, saved! The wind was strong and on the back so it was perfect for going up. Mojito was really fast and almost touching the water in 45°, it was difficult to have breakfast but it was the best hour since I'm sailing, we were between 7 and 9 knots of speed. Then the wind stopped so we had to turn on the engine all the way to go up, then the sun was coming down and it was 6 oclock when we finally found a place to muillage, in the middle of stones. We made 2 fishes on the BBQ that we took on the way and next morning we were ready for the last 4 hours that would bring us to the paradise of San Blas.

Saturday, January 1, 2011

New Years Eve in Isla Grande


 After one week in Cartagena we couldn't stand anymore the anchorage. It was very crowded, there were many boats passing too close and making big waves, the water was dirty so no possibility of taking a bath after washing MOJITO under the hot sun. We checked the meteorology and if we managed to get Isla Grande before 1 PM the wind would be still calm. Charly woke me up at 6 AM because he needed some help to lift the dinghy, I slept just 4 hours taking advantage of my last day with Internet on board to publish some news.We had breakfast on our way when we already passed through big waves where the depth was just 4 metres. I must say that the day before the captain persuade me to watch The Perfect Storm so when I saw the waves I felt a mixed of adrenaline, fear and fun.

We sailed during 4 hours with a flat sea but with a little problem. A boat with tourists was coming in our direction in course of collision and there is an international code that says that sailing boats have ALWAYS the priority in front of a motor boat. Well the other captain didn't care about that and he was expecting that we will change our course, MOJITO kept going so finally the other boat passed behind us to cut us the fishing line. Results: The line went into the propeller of the motor boat so it was pushing our fishing rod, Charly was screaming like hell to the other captain that we had the priority, the tourists were saying hello so me too and we lost our last and best calamari for fishing. And I wonder: Isn't big enough the sea for everybody?

After all the incident we arrived to Isla Grande where just a boat was there, it looked that finally we found our paradise with crystalline and calm water and sun that will allow us some rest but work as well. The hull of Mojito was very dirty and we just did it 1 month ago in Curacao but in Santa Marta and Cartagena the water was not really nice. So we went under the boat xith our mask and fins to clean everything, we took it easy we had days so we made a little bit each day. I finished the inox so now they are shinning. Charly finished the work with the poulleys to pull up the dinghy every night and the days passed like this. We visited as well the village, I had some time to practice with the dinghy and more boats arrived to spend the last night of the year 2010.

MOJITO and Belle de Lune prepared again a big party, it was difficult to resist until 12 PM because we are used to wake up early and go to sleep soon but with some music and dancing we did it! We started the 2011 exploding the emergency flares from Belle de Lune but no panic he has more and the ones that we exploded had 15 years so just 2 of them worked properly. Good to know! By the way, the menu of the night was: Asparagus and salmon, "Confit de canard" with potatoes and two desserts: a biscuits with rose flavour and "mousse de chocolat" from Colombia. Everything served of course with Champagne Di Andre! Delicious! And two days before we ate 5 lobsters!