SAN ANDRES - WE'RE ON THE MOVE !

San Andres 12.34N 81.41W April 16 - April 21 2007

A very easy passage brought us to San Andres and a very nice tuna decided to join us along the way…can you say Sashimi? Now that is some kind of eating…mmmm mmmm good.

We are here only long enough to re-provision, fuel up…(there is no shortage of fuel in Columbia…mmmm and the price is reasonable 5,200 pesos a gallon, sounds scary don’t it…it’s actually only $2.60) This is a regular stop off for cruisers heading north or south because of all that this ‘rich little island’ affords. It’s not unlike shopping in San Francisco or New York and you can get most any kind of food products.

PROVIDENCIA - CAPT MORGAN, MR BUSH & ELVIS

Providencia 13.22N 81.41W April 8 April 15 2007

Sailing the 211 miles Providencia took 29 hours. During our passage we caught three fish, a small tuna, a 31-inch Spanish mackerel, a 37-inch barracuda, which we released. Between watching for fish and holding his bladder I am amazed at how Doc manages to ‘keep control’ altho there is some dispute whether this is a correct description during the ‘fish landing’ process. He is quite simply beside himself…and when the fish is landed, photographed and measured he sits enguard by the bucket with ‘his’ new prize.

Providencia’s check in procedures includes a visit from Mr. Bush and Elvis. Truly, that is their names and not only did they make the check in painless, but Mr. Bush was there to accommodate everything from laundry, to island tours and fuel if required.

Providencia is so laid back and joined to Santa Catalina island via walkway that lead to a lookout spot where Capt Morgan built his fort in defense of his pirate hideaway. If you look close you can see his image in the rocks.

We departed Providencia at midnight on April 15 for a wonderful nite passage to San Andres, the Hawaii for the Columbians.

VIVORILLOS - A LITTLE TOUCH OF PARADISE!

Vivorillos 15.50N 83.17W Mar 26 – April 8 2007

Early in the morning we departed for our overnighter into the Vivorillos, a small group of islands located 180 miles east. Just at Sunset we were joined by a pair of swallows (locals call the sparrows) who settled in for the night and the ride on a small line in the cockpit. Doc was mesmerized and spent the entire nightshift checking on his two new friends (or snack) not sure what he was thinking. They departed at sunrise after spending 100 miles with us. Maybe this is how different species migrate, but we were happy to have their company.

It was a solid 24 hours from hook up to hook down and no sooner had we settled in than we made friends with the local fishing boat out from Guanaja Lady Atty, and Arturo (the captain’s brother) was especially taken with Doc and by days end had provided us with 2 lobster, two good sized hogfish, and 3 lbs of cleaned conch (the cleaning is the tough part on conch…catching em ain’t too tuff, cause they swim slow:o).

The Lady Atty, had generator problems and had to depart for Guanaja to save their catch, leaving behind a solitary soul to guard their stuff. His name was Marvi, and Gary and Doc would visit him two or three times a day, and before long they were ‘fishin buddies’. Marvi taking Gary to his favorite spots and each day they would bring back 5 or six good size grouper, trigger, grunts and Gary got his first big hogfish…and she was a 22-inch beauty. We spent two weeks enjoying this wonderful place and were joined along the way by fellow cruisers and got to enjoy a fun get together celebrating Greg & Judy’s (LoneStar Love) Anniversary and Sonny’s birthday (Sonny & Kay, S/v Valentina)
During our stay, we had some very interesting weather including a ‘waterspout’ which came as close as we cared to view it, here is a picture taken by fellow cruisers of KaijaSong with the ‘spout’ in the background…note the size of the funnel and the water at the base.

One of the attractions during our visit was the nesting of the ‘brown booby’ and I do mean birds. Kaija had great fun walking among them taking pictures, despite her presence they paid her little mind and seemed quite comfortable in her company.

Once again, weather was the determining factor in our departure and with light but favorable winds we set sail for Providencia, around the corner of Nicaragua into Columbia Territory and a most pleasant stop along the way.

GUANAJA

Guanaja 16.27N 85.52W Mar 21 – Mar 25 2007

We set sail for Guanaja, which is tallest of the Bay Islands discovered by Columbus on his 4th and final journey in 1502. The town settlement is unique in that it is two small islands in the bay…very little development exists on the big island itself. There are no roads, no cars, and no traffic, only sidewalks in the settlement, along with a menagerie of canals.

Checkout procedures were easy and we took advantage of a weather window without seeing all the sites such as Michael’s Rock on the north shore or Josh’s Cay which is quite popular with the cruisers, however we did enjoy the grand re-opening of the Manatee Restaurant which was severely damaged during the last hurricane season.

JONESVILLE DEPARTURE!

Jonesville Departure 16.23N 86.22W March 21 2007


With saddened hearts we said our farewells to the many new friends in Jonesville. This included dear Gladys whom we met thru Don & Yvonne and does great laundry…thank you Gladys. We had fun visiting the Iguana farm run by owner Sherman Archer whose life work is saving this species. Since it is a local menu item, his challenge is great, however, he encourages locals to bring him anything over a foot length and he trades them for a chicken, a win win situation. It was amazing to see his ‘preserve’ of these wonderful animals, parrots, monkeys and other animals indigenous to the island.

Our farewell dinner was at Mi Gato owners Jurgen & Stefani Derer from Germany…via Canada, oh my…what a meal and a wonderful setting amongst her gardens.