Mamaraga, Apaidup, and Ogumnaga

Our position today is 9 14.45N 078 15.2W - in a place called Snug Harbor. It is formed by the islands Yauala, Mamaraga, Apaidup and Ogumnaga. Try to say those 3 times fast!! The name for the harbor comes from the English schooners that used to stop for coconuts in the days of the sailing merchant ships. Getting here was tricky as we worked our way through many reefs and around shoals and small islands. It's so much fun when both the chart plotter and paper charts have the area marked as "unsurveyed." We have a Panama Cruisisng Guide which does have waypoints that have been accurate and helpful. We may stay here for a day or so because winds and seas are forecasted to pick up - when they mention 12 foot seas - they are usually off by 3-4 feet and it's hard for Equinox to make any headway when the seas reach those heights.

Yesterday we were still at Mamitupu and went for a long walk with Pablo Perez. He has started a very small hotel on the island is looking forward to having some eco-tourists staying there. The hotel has running water and occasionally electricity. He had lived in England for a while and married and English women. Kuna Yala is based on a matrilineal society and have also created laws that do not allow Kunas to marry non-Kunas. Unfortuanly, Pablo's wife was not accepted on the island so she lives in England and visits occasionally.

We took our dinghy across the bay and met with 3 other couples from boats anchored with us. Our first stop was at a fresh water lake that has crocodiles. Didn't see any - Moira not really disappointed because we were on foot near the edge of the lake and she has watched enough National Geographic shows to know that they can move faster than she can! We then walked through areas on the mainland that each Kuna family cultivates. Calabash, bananas, cocoa, breadfruit, pineapples and coconuts were just some of the produce that we saw. Everything belongs to the Kunas and you can't take anything without permission.

Still in Colombia 01/22

We are in Chienaga de Cholon about 20 miles south of Cartagena. Getting into the bay was very tricky with reefs on both sides and a very narrow entrance
and you had to use eye ball navigation. The entrance had a reef on one side and very shallow beach on the other and it looked like we would end up right on the beach because you came within 10 feet of it. We have been cleaning and scrubbing off all the dirt on the boat and covers that came from being in Cartagena. Have been swimming here the last couple of days but yesterday I got stung by a jelly fish. It is a bit itchy but no real problem.

Our plans are to head to the San Bernardo Islands today and then leave early Saturday morning for Panama. That passage should be about 140 miles and we will arrive in the most eastern part of the San Blas where we will be able to see more of the traditional Kuna Indian's villages.

Leaving Cartagena

Just a quick note to let you know that we are leaving Cartagena in a few hours and will not have wifi access for a long time. We will be using the winlink way of getting in touch. Have had a great time and will write about it when we finally settle back into the crusing mode.

Safe from Haitian Earthquake

We are safe. We heard on the SSB this morning that there had been a tsunami warning for the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos, but it was downgraded pretty quickly. There was one place that said they had a tsunami, but it was only 3 inches! There is a major cold front that will impact us with winds up to 35 knots this weekend, but that is all.

Mud Volcano Pictures

At Colombia's mud volcano.

Cartagena

Just to let you know we have made it to Cartagena. We will be clearing in today and then looking for a better way to communicate if possible (phone or web). We are anchored with about 140 boats from all over the world. Will send more when we get cleared in.

Punta Hermosa

We left Rodadero at 2 AM in order to make it to Punta Hermosa in the daylight so that we could find our way in around the reef. We also wanted to get past the Reo Magdalena before the winds built up. After leaving one of the boats we were traveling with developed engine problems and we turned back to assist. He had broken motor mounts and electrical problems and we planned to tow him back to Rodadero but luckly he is Puerto Rican and speaks spanish as his first language. He got hold of the coast guard and they towed him back. We turned around and started motoring on our way. The wind filled in a bit later and we shut down the engine and sailed. The winds built to 25 to 30 knots with higher gusts and the seas exceeded 10 feet. So much for getting past the Reo Magdalena before the winds built up. When we crossed the river outfall the sea turned muddy brown and the seas actually went down. It was a lumpy ride but we arrived and anchored in Punta Hermosa at about 1 PM. The anchorage had 25 knots of wind blowing when we arrived.