Islas de Colombia

The islands of Colombia are a group of islands, islets and reefs lying off the east coast of Nicaragua. They are not really part of Colombia, which is several hundred miles to the south. This is the country where the pirates and privateers hung out (as opposed to being hanged out). Morgan made his home port at Providencia. We visited Providencia, San Andreas, isla Bolivar and Albuquerque reef. There are a couple more reefs in the group, but they are frequented by drug transporters, and consequently by the Navy (and a few of their friends), and are not recommended for stopovers.

It was nice to arrive at Providencia after a hard motor-sail from the Hobbies. We left early and wanted to arrive in plenty of light, as there are a couple of reefs/shoals to be avoided when entering the harbor. Providencia is a small town on the islands of Providencia and Santa Catalina. The population is about 5,500 people. Both here and at San Andreas, you must use an agent to clear in and out, which adds a bit to the cost, but makes the process very easy. After we anchored, we hailed Mr. Bush on the VHF, who told us to come to the dinghy dock the next morning and he would meet us. He walked us through immigration and took us to his office (pointing out on the way the places we would want to visit - good restaurant, grocery stores, hardware store,...) where the customs and port captain officers finished our processing. It all took about an hour and was easy.

Everyone knows everyone on the island and a friend or cousin is available to help with anything you need, from transport to propane to sighseeing - well, you get the point. We were all amazed at the number of really georgeous women on the island. There were basically none who were just average. The men are also very attractive.

After several weeks off on our own, it was nice to ease back into civilization here, with a slow paced easy lifestyle. The Friday after we arrived, the town decided to have a party on the dock for the cruisers. When we went in to the dinghy dock (built mainly for the cruisers) there were several dance groups, mainly kids performing traditional dances, followed by a short speech by someone, and disco dancing. Enter Roland. Roland is maybee-rasta, but veerrry cool. He was passing out cards to his restaurant, and I sicced him on Gilda, Shelley's sister. Over much protestation, he got her out dancing several dances. He then proceeded to dance with just about every woman there. A few days later, we went to his restaurant (it is actually a pretty rough-n-ready beach resort he has been building for several years) for dinner - beautiful food.

One Saturday, we went down to the south end of the island for a horse race. It was a major event on the island, held on a beach in a weekend area for the locals. We had a big lunch (fried fish,salad, chips, umm) and watched the bookies take bets. Then there was a shout, and before we could get our camera up, the two horses in the race were by and at the finish line. Then the parties started.

Another day, we climbed a rock formation just outside downtown, locally called Morgan's Ass. Quite a climb! Another day, Richard and Pam on Tisha Baby invited the gang (Jim and Sharon on Pelican's Flight, Annette and Bob on Tempest and Jay and Barb on Jupiter's Smile) to sail around the island. Tisha Baby is a catamaran and draws very little water, so is ideal for dancing through reefs. Another day, we went snorkeling around the point from the anchorage, in an area where some cannons are submerged just offshore.

After a few weeks, we dragged ourselves (minus Gilda who had flown to Panama to meet her partner, Peter, and continue their holiday) away from this delightful place and headed south to San Andreas. This place is totally different from Providencia. San Andreas is a tourist mecca, mainly for Colombians, but also some gringos. And, of course, the cruisers. This is a good place to re-provision and eat in a few restaurants, having been in short supply of them for a while.

We lasted two weeks before we all decided that the weather was right and we had sufficient waypoints for Cayos Bolivar. So we set off, still motor-sailing, since the wind was either non-existant or in our faces. And besides, we wanted to arrive in good light for picking our way through the reefs and not grounding and anchoring tightly.

Bolivar consists of several islands, one with an active fishing camp and one with some unoccupied camps. There is also a light one one island with four or five tenders, whom we did not visit. We did go to one small island which had a statue of Maria Riena del Mar, who is probably also The Virgin Mary dedicated to two men who had been lost in a shipwreck. We snorkeled, we walked around one of the islands, we swam and generally lazed around for a week or so, till the weather was right for Albuquerque Reef, some 30 miles southerly.

Getting in to Albuquerque reef takes about an hour. We managed to get off the route and grounded briefly, but made it ok to the anchorage. Here the anchorage is in the center of a ringing reef, between two islands. You are pretty well protected from the easterlies, but southerly gets a bit choppy. Again, there was much swimming, snorkeling, and lazing about. The water here is perhaps the clearest I have ever seen. You can see the bottom at 85 feet and make out the fish at 65 feet. There is a Colombian Navy post on one of the islands, about six men, and they ask that you check in with them when you arrive. You have to go ashore to check in, since they have no boat. There are lots of places to snorkel, one of them being fifty feet from where you are anchored. We stayed there for about a week, just looking at the water, the islands, the fish, the clouds,... Finally, the weather was right, and might not be that way again for a couple of weeks, so we all (except for Tisha Baby who had left a day before) hoisted our anchors and headed for Panama, about thirty hours away.

The trip to Panama was great. We motor-sailed most of the day, as the wind was a little farther south than forecast. Overnight the sea went flat with no wind, so we pulled down the sails and motored. The next morning the wind came back up a bit, so we put up the sails and motor-sailed for a while. About 11 am, a dolphin showed up, and suddenly, from every direction, dolphins were coming toward the boat, from up to a half-mile away. They were jumping clear out of the water, as if to get a better look at us as they came. In total, about forty dolphins showed up, and began swimming in the bow wave, perhaps ten at a time. They would trade places with others who were swimming nearby, rolling on their sides and looking at us. We were up in the bow, watching back. This went on non-stop for perhaps 45 minutes. We finally went back to the cockpit to sit down, and within a minute, they were all gone. It was as if the whole performance had been for our mutual benefit, and when we left, so did they.

About this time, the wind came around so we could sail. We shut off the engine and had a beautiful reach in 20 kts for about three hours, at which point we were at the Bocas del Toro channel outer marker. We motored in the well-marked channel and anchored for the night at Starfish Beach off Bocas del Drago. The scenery is fabulous and reminds me of islands in the South Pacific - low-lying hills with clouds sitting in the valleys between, with the hill-tops peaking through the clouds and everything getting hazy as the hills recede into the distance.

The next morning we motored on in to the anchorage next to the marina and proceded with clearing in. Another voyage completed. After a week in the anchorage, we tied up in the marina, being docked for the first time in four months.We plan to be here for about three months, while we take care of several chores and projects. Then we will be off to San Blas and more remote anchorages.