Farewell Panama, Hello Colombia!

We departed Bocas del Toro about 9 am and arrived at San Andrés – a Colombian island located off the coast of Nicaragua – at 11:30 pm the following night, the roughly 200-mile trip having been slowed by choppy seas and intermittent squalls. Fortunately, the entrance channel is extremely well marked with lighted buoys (yes, functioning navigation lights in the Caribbean!) and there’s an easy-access (and empty) anchorage just off the second red, so we pulled in and dropped anchor in the calm waters behind the reef, sparing ourselves an uncomfortable night heaving to and bouncing around until dawn. Yeah Chris for spotting that anchorage on one of our charts! Once morning arrived, we motored into the anchorage proper up by town, extremely glad that we hadn’t chanced weaving through the anchored boats here the previous night. In Colombia, check in must be done through an agent, and we used Julian Watson, whom Chris had contacted before we left Panama. We met him ashore at Nene’s Marina, and he already had all the paperwork completed. A few signatures, and we were done for now. We’ve never used an agent before, and I have to say, it was pretty painless save for the out-of-pocket expense. I’d heard that Colombia requires reams of paperwork and, since we planned to be in Colombian waters for more than five days, it was necessary for us to temporarily “import” Mr Mac, so there was that paperwork, too. Julian did a lot of running around, so I think he earned his money. One hundred dollars US covered Julian’s fee and any other associated port/cruising costs, and we paid an additional $41 per person for immigration. Not the cheapest country we’ve checked in to, but not the most expensive either. This granted us permission to stay for up to ninety days (a 90-day extension is available if desired). By the way, if you’re planning to cruise in Colombia, either the islands or the mainland, Caribbean or Pacific, the Colombian tourist bureau has put out an excellent “Cruising Guide to Colombia: Its Exotic Caribbean and Pacific Coasts”. It’s chock full of cruising-related information on all the coastal areas of Colombia – marinas, anchorages, services, history, places of interest, you name it. It also provides really nice nautical charts of selected areas like entrances and harbors. I think we picked our copy up at a Seven Seas Cruising Association gam a few years ago, and I’m told that there’s now an updated version. This is the first government-produced cruising guide that I’ve seen, and I’ve got to say, it’s been really useful. In addition, upon arrival in San Andrés, Julian also gave us a folder – “Archipiélago de San Andrés, Providencia"; Santa Catalina” – containing a booklet with information (in both Spanish and English and illustrated with beautiful photos) on these islands, as well as a small brochure with maps that you can stick in a pocket and carry around with you. What a great way to say “Welcome! Come cruise with us!”

Lounge Lizards

The approach...

 In Panama, we picked up some new pets…kind of. Every once in a while in the cockpit, we’d catch movement out of the corner of our eyes, and finally they were bold enough to come right out. They’re adorable little lizards, at least two and more likely three, who’ve adopted Mr Mac as their new home. One lives in the little wooden pot containing my aloe vera plant and another has been sighted by the winch, inside the fan atop the hatch, and elsewhere. The possible third lives inside around our galley. When we have a fruit shake for lunch, we’ll leave little drops of it on the deck and they come out to lick it up with their tiny tongues. We've also had one climb up on the table to lick up toast crumbs on the paper towel. The boldest visited when I was reading in the cockpit one evening. It skittered along the deck, then hopped onto the winch. Another hop to the edge of my plastic wine glass to lick up some of the condensation on the outside. Looking back a few minutes later, I thought the lizard had left until I spied it curled inside the glass, licking at the drop of wine in the bottom! Oh, well, I guess everyone needs a happy hour now and then.

...and she's in!

So Long, Panama

A final sunset over the Panamanian mountains

We returned to Mr Mac – once again at the Red Frog Marina on Isla Bastimentos near Bocas del Toro – in late October. We’d been in Panama for the last two cruising seasons and decided it was time to move on, so we had a lot to do. First on the list was cleaning the deck of the black mold and mildew than had flourished in the tropical humidity and sunlight. The marina had contacted us about doing it, but we’d thought “We’ll be back there in a week, so why not save the money and do it ourselves!” Well, it took Chris two full days to scrub the deck clean, but it finally looked decent again, and we spent the money we saved on our anniversary (27 years!) dinner. Next up was installing a new radar dome and display (our old one crapped out last spring), which went relatively easily, considering that we only had to install a new cord from our cockpit to the mast, and not an entirely new power cord up the mast, which is always a bitch to do. Our most dreaded job was hauling out and painting the bottom. Never a pleasant job, we were also wary of our shameful lack of Spanish complicating matters. Fortunately, Fabian, the yard manager at Bocas Yacht Services, spoke great English (being from Brazil, his native tongue is Portuguese, so Spanish was a second language for him, too). We were doing our own work, so communication with the other yard workers was almost entirely social, consisting of our broken Spanish, their broken English, and lots of smiles and sign language. There’s a little hotel in Almirante only a dinghy ride and short walk from the boatyard with rooms for $25 a night – not the most comfortable, but certainly cheap and boasting a great little restaurant. Lo and behold, the rain held off just long enough and we were done and back in the water in three days – the quickest and easiest haulout we’ve ever had. It was hard saying goodbye to the friends we’ve made in Bocas over the past couple of years, but as we’ve learned so often in cruising, we may well see them in another anchorage!

Red Frog has added a lovely beach club with infinity pool, bar, and restaurant (and flowers!)

Mementos of a walk through the Red Frog property - a tropical flower and the outside leaf of a banana tree blossom

We’re Back!

Mr Mac anchored in Providencia, Colombia

So sorry for the long silence. It’s been a busy year, and I’ll catch up some with occasional throwback posts. However, for now, we’re in Colombia, but probably not the Colombia you picture on the north coast of South America. We’re actually visiting two small islands – San Andrés and Providencia – that are owned by Colombia, but sit off of the Nicaraguan coast. They’re only about 50 miles apart, but boy, they couldn’t be more different! San Andrés is quite the tourist destination with lots of hotels, restaurants, shops, nightlife, and traffic…god, you gotta hate traffic. It’s a long, thin island with a ridge down the middle, spiky at the north end with tall buildings. Providencia, on the other hand, is rounder and incredibly lumpy with sharp-pitched hills, and a tiny little main town of Santa Isabel. It’s also a tourist destination, but a lower-key, more out of the way kind of place. You’ll see from the pictures I’ll post. For now, it’s great to be back!