The road to Cartegena

The fun continued in Curaçao while we were waiting for a weather window to Cartegena. We had our friends over for an evening with Wallace and Gromit. With popcorn.

And the ladies had haircuts by Amanda.

Had a last day out in Willemstad with Chris and Amy.

Mandy was again in vegetable heaven at the floating market with all the fresh cheap products from Venezuela.

Went to the lion fish restaurant. Delicious fish and an invasive species so very environmentally friendly guilt free food.

Had a night out in Zanzibar, Jan Thiel where all the beautiful Dutch kids hang out. I was the oldest person there and strangely all the songs the band played where from my era. Get your own music kids.

Got a great photo of Amy.

Then our weather window arrived and it was time to leave Curaçao, our home for 2 months. It was sad saying goodbye to our friends but we'll meet again. It was a 5 day crossing and we were both a little nervous as it had been a while. On leaving Mandy dropped the boat hook in the water but Chris kindly dived in an retrieved it for us. Thanks Chris. So our boat hook total is still a zero sum game. We lost one in Spain but found one in the BVIs.

First night we had a great view of the famous Catatumbo lightning. Beautiful when you know it's not going to come anywhere near you.

The trip was fine, a little rolly at times. Up to a 3 meter swell from behind and the wind didn't go past 30 knots. It took us exactly 5 days. Predict wind said 1.5 days motoring but we managed only half a day. 

We have our routine now. 4hrs on, 4hrs off, 3hrs on, 3 hrs off. I do up until 11pm and Mandy gets the sunrise shift. So we both are happy with the amount of sleep we get and could do this indefinitely. (As long as the weather holds) Speaking to the people in Cartegena we had an easy crossing. Our friend Henri and Siska has sustained winds of 30 knots gusting to 40.

And then we saw Cartegena, quite the metropolis. Not what I expected at all. And sooooo hot. 

 Our friends Henri and Siska where in the anchorage to welcome us.

Of course it was a holiday so there were no staff at the marina except the security guards who didn't speak English but were super helpful. And the bow thrusters didn't work because of all the growth on the propellers. Anyway, who needs bowthrusters. We eventually got into our berth, first marina in nearly a year. And we are here for a month - Relax