Santa Marta was a lovely new marina that was very secure and well organized.  It had a rather nice adjacent beach , which was great for swimming, but the water was a little murky at times.  The Colombian people seemed very friendly and were very keen to have there photo taken!  Every afternoon a warm breeze sprung up making the very hot weather bearable.  Apart from the vicinity of the marina and the commercial areas which were undergoing development, the town beyond was very run down. The transition was like walking (if you dared!) from a modern town into the third world.  In the developed area there were many restaurants around busy squares.  The vibrant night  life appeared to go on all night and according to the boys, did!  The food in the restaurants was very good and reasonably priced.  We  even managed to get Brian to a disco after one meal!

The marina owner organised and funded a very special bbq for the WARC. It involved transportation in coaches to a National Park.  The coaches then meandered along miles of dusty tracks to the most amazing bay with clear blue sea and golden sands which we were fortunate enough to have to ourselves.  A delicious bbq and drinks were served.  Some of the WARC participants organized cricket and a tug of war on the beach for the younger members of our group, which was great fun to watch. Some of the oldies watched from garden chairs in the sea!  A the end of the day, the marina owner, Manuel,  invited some to return to the marina in his luxury yacht which was anchored in the bay.  Unfortunately, Brian wasn't one of them!   He was a really likeable business character with all the trappings of a wealthy 'Columbian family' apparently presided over by the matriarchal mother!   The three brothers all owned large motor yachts and a helicopter (more later), all of which were of course based at the marina.  There was much speculation as to where the money had come from!

 

Brian and I went on a city tour which gave us an insight into the town itself.  We visited a museum housed in the oldest building in Santa Marta, the oldest church in South America and a park where Simon Bolivar once resided.   A lot of the history centred around him.  He was famous for his success in ending Spanish colonial rule in Columbia and then (less successfully) attempting to unify the adjacent countries. The boys went on a river adventure.  We also went on a tour around a coffee plantation which showed us how they produce the well known Columbian coffee, which we sampled …delicious. All from 20th century machinery marked 'Made in London'!  At the end of the tour we swam in a pool underneath a waterfall which was great way to cool off.

One of the highlights was all the British skippers were invited to Sunday dinner at the helicopter pilot's penthouse flat.  Stewart is English with a Columbian wife and employed by the 'Columbian family'.  It transpired that as well as business activities a regular duty is to fly the 'mother' to lunch parties with her friends across Columbia!

Stewart enjoys meeting up with English yachties and apparently Sunday dinner is a regular event.  It turned out to be a fabulous night and the food was delicious.  Roast Beef and Yorkshire pudding of course!  Brian went on the helicopter the following day and was given an aerial tour of the town, surrounding mountains and coastline.  Brian's first in a helicopter and he  said it was terrific (or terrifying?), including the low level flight through mountain valleys and wave skimming along sandy beaches whilst surprising and waving to the few  beachgoers.  Not exactly safe, but he survived.  Now, he wants a helicopter at Wishanger!!  Stewart very kindly organized a butcher friend to stock the boat up with fillets of beef at a very reasonable price.  We also stocked up at the local supermarket which was new and not unlike Waitrose, but reasonably priced!

We had the prize giving dinner for the second leg in the very posh Santa Marta Yacht Club with superb 'old fashioned' service. 'Mother' was president and one of the brothers commodore!   It was delicious, steak as a main course cooked and served to perfection for the 200 or so guests.

 

We were scheduled to leave the following day but due to adverse weather conditions the harbourmaster closed the port thereby preventing our departure.  We are not used to this in Europe but apparently in Columbia the harbour master is the law!  It caused much frustration with the WARC organisers but did give us an extra day to clean the boat.  The marina was close to a coal depot from which Columbian coal is exported ('it was thought, of course, thet the family' have some involvment!).  Unfortunately, due to the high winds which had blown fr a number of days, the boats were taintedn with black coal dust.

 

The following day we departed Santa Marta and very soon we realised why we were stopped from sailing the previous day. After a windless start we were soon met with enormous seas and gusting 40 knot winds which took the fleet by surprise… Talk about all hands on deck!!  Onward then to the San Blas Islands…..