We made it!! A place we both really wanted to visit having heard rave reports from Amy & Sym ( Previous owners) and numerous fellow cruisers about how great it is. With Andy & Dorn leaving us in the San Blas we had to consider our options as our Panamanian visas were about to expire! No wonder you are all thinking "Are they still in Panama???" Yes we are and it has been nearly 3 months! Its funny where time goes..the days just fly by and we have really needed every minute to get used to the boat, systems, entertain visiting dignitaries and cruising the area. The list is growing with the number of things we need looked at before we head across the Pacific and Cartagena seems the place to get it all done.

Luckily we had a break in the relentless NE trade winds and we left San Blas on Friday 12th Feb. A 200 mile trip and the wind and sea state was great for nearly the whole trip. The last 30 miles the wind picked up to 25 knots making it a pretty fast sail. We arrived into Cartagena about 3pm on Valentines day. How romantic after 2 days at sea...not! The entrance to Cartagena apparently has a break water wall on the charts.(no breakwater wall to be seen however we did find a very narrow bouyed channel to enter the bay ) A bit hectic with the wind and swell but once inside the bay it was sheltered and apart from navigating our way around some huge shipping containers we made it to the anchorage at Club Nautico on the Island of Manga. Not quite how we had envisioned it to be.. From a distance it looks a bit like Miami!

We were both looking forward SO much for a shower and a good meal only to find "Club Nautico" has been ripped down and all there is left are some concrete pillers, and metal posts poking up out the water. Unsure if we had the right place we asked some other guys in a dinghy and they said "Yup.. welcome to Club Nautico!"
(The marina is still in existence, it is in the process of being rebuilt,however the rebuild is on hold due to local politics..a battle is being fought!) We did manage to find a shower, a temporary one out on the dock with a wooden door that doesn't shut and springs wide open in the wind (As Sammy found out whilst mid shower..luckily it was dark!). THe docks need a complete rebuild. You walk on the dock and it feels like it is going to give way underneath you, old pylons poking up through the water so you can trash your boat and nails sticking out all over the place to trash your dinghy or your flesh. (We are on anchor) Anyway the rebuild is in process so hopefully the politics will sort themeselves out and the club will be rebuilt.

The island of Manga is a lovely place, an upmarket part of town,  and it is very safe to walk around. The streets are spotless such a welcome change to dirty Colon. We are only a 20 minute walk from the old city which is stunning. Lots of old catherdrals, forts and beautiful buildings. A real mixture of old and new, there are numerous restaurants and bars which all pretty upmarket and so are prices! ( It ain't cheap!). Apparently Cartagena is the most expensive place in Colombia and Colombia is the most expensive place in all of South America. 

There is a lot of wealth here..... No questions asked! Apparently it's where the Cartel bosses have their holiday homes so it has been declared a "no crime zone". ALthough last night yet another dighy got stolen right near us. Oh and an armed robbery at the Fishing Club (next to us) which resulted in a shooting. Oh and did I mention that a restaurant owner was assassintaed on Saturday night (abt 3 minuted walk away!) in his restaurant. Shot 14 times or so... Guess thats no crime Colombian stylee. Anyhow the streets do somehow feel safe, especially when compared to Colon....

Provisioning is excellent, the supermarkets are excellent (Far better than Panama and I would even go to say Australia!) Deli counters and great bakery etc.

We have started already on the long list of jobs to be done. Diesel mechanic arrived today and we have a problem with one of the injectors on the engine so he has taken it off to get repaired hopefully not a big issue and it should be back with us tomorrow. The guy was highly recommended and seems to know his stuff! Thank god. We also managed bundled the 2 headsails into a taxi and went to see Benjamin Herrera about repairs and making a couple of new sun covers for the boat. All good and hopefully we will have them back by next week. A few more bits and pieces to do this week and hopefully we shall be a bit closer to being ready.

We better get back to our jobs.... Will update soon on how it all goes and our sight seeing adventures.....