Pictures are

Caba del Vela

Monjes del Sur from the Lighthouse

The lighthouse on Monjes del Sur
Venezuelan Fish Boat

Cinto Bahia

Monjes del Sur

Cinto Bahia

After waiting for boat repairs to be finished and the weather to turn favourable the day finally arrived. Nov 09th we awoke at 0400 and started underway. Cartagena has 2 entrances Boca Chica y Boca Grande. Boca Grande gets you out into the ocean much quicker but it has a very narrow entrance with shoals around it. As we approached we became aware that the entrance was breaking with very large waves so the extra 3 hrs would be necessary. When we were finally into the Caribbean the waves were much larger than the forcast has said they would be. We motored on in wet, wet conditions. Suddenly the Colombian Coast Guard appeared to our starboard side. They and the Port Authorities had been trying to radio us but we did not hear. Ken radioed into the Port Authority to be told that we were not authorized to leave as there was a large storm in the area. Turn around we must. CRAP. So back we went feeling that we were never going to get out of Cartagena.

The following morning we radioed the Port Authority at 0400 hrs and they said we could leave.

As it turned out that extra day made a huge difference in the sea conditions and also alowed us to check more info on the internet. Our plans are now slightly altered as we will go straight to Grenada and not attempt Trinidad this time around. There has been 4 more attacks by Venezuelans with guns being used. We do not feel that it is safe to travel this area and to get to Trinidad we would be right in the thick of things.

Anyways, our first day took us to an anchorage that was protected by a sand spit. It rained hard all night but quit by the time we had to leave in the morning. We were entertained with a Colombian Navy ship that had its cadets jumping off the bow and swimming around the boat. They appeared to be having al ot of fun with the task at hand.

Cinto Bay was our next anchorage. It's a beautiful anchorage with crystal clear water. The swimming was fabulous and it was a great anchorage to stage for our long overnighter to Caba del Vela.

We departed the next day at 1300 hr. The day was beautiful. Sunny very little wind and very small seas. But... at about 1800 hrs things began to change. There were some pretty serious low systems further north putting us in the ITCZ again. As you all know by now that means lightning. It also means squalls. Squalls contain, lightning, wind and torential downpours. It was now dark so we had our radar on which also allowed us to track the squalls. Squalls have a mind of their own and usually you can track the direction they are headed but sometimes they like to surprise you and chase you a bit. When all is said and done Ernie and Ken did a great job dodging as many as possible. We couldn't miss a total of five of them but we missed at least 12. Not bad odds. The lightning show continued for the next 3 days. We had plan on doing 1 1/2 hr shifts each but we had 2 on at all times and the shifts varied. Needless to say by the time we reached our destination we were tired.

The next leg would take us 80 nautical miles out of Colombia and into Venezuela to Monjes del Sur. We couldn't have asked for better conditions and we arrived and had 4 Venezuelan fishermen tie us up to the dock. It was a very interesting place. The Venezuelan Coast Guard take safety very seriously. We had to show them everything and they went through everything! We passed.

We took a hike around the island and were rewarded with great views. A geocache here would be awesome.

The fishing began to improve and we have been catching blackfin tuna and a small dorado. Filling the freezer with fish is now the challenge.

We are now in Aruba after a 52 nautical cruise in nice calm seas and lightning.

This portion of our travel is considered the 5th worst area for sea conditions. We transversed it at the right time of the year and watched our weather windows and found it to be pleasant with the exception of lightning. We stayed within 4 miles of shore and had plenty of depth. If a sailboat were to do this trip they too could stay this close as they would have enough depth with wind to push them along but gentle waves. It took us a total of 1 week to get here.

We will spend a week or slightly more in the ABC islands and will write about that next week.