31 Dec, Puerto Valero to Cartagena, Colombia day 12: NYE in Getsemani
We are awake early and depart our tranquil anchorage at Puerto Valero aiming to be settled in Cartagena in time to enjoy the NYE festivities. Forecast shows there would be no wind until at least midday. But as we motor out the bay, again heading westwards, the wind fills-in at a very pleasant 12-14kts and stays like that all day. To start with there is still some sizable swell but once around the corner and heading south to Cartagena the sea flattens giving us a wonderfully tranquil day-sail. And with the sails giving shade to the cockpit, it’s also pleasantly cool.
Mid-afternoon, same as Barranquilla, Cartagena appears on the horizon by way of its numerous high-rise buildings. And as we get closer we can start to see its UNESCO Heritage old citadel town in the foreground. My brother had told me to look out for a British flag flying from the old Spanish fort. Apparently he and friends had raised one when he visited in the 1970s in “protest” that the English had never managed to take this town from the Spanish. He says he still has the photo of the flag flying as they sailed away! But alas, it’s not there anymore 🤣
Cartagena has a perfect natural harbour and it’s no wonder the Spanish made it into a significant port and fortress. There are 2 entrances into the shelter of the harbour. The main one, 10 miles to the south, is for big shipping. And there is a smaller one next to the town that will cut 18 miles off our journey. This northern entrance, called Boca Grande, is interesting. It looks to be 2 miles wide, but the Spanish built an underwater wall to stop certain unwanted navy’s from entering. In the middle they have now blasted a narrow gap in this wall for “small craft entry”. Even then, depths are only 3m in the gap, plus you need permission to enter. We called the port authority on the VHF and at first they did not allow us. Then they seemed to change their mind, thankfully. As we gingerly motored in between the buoys that mark the gap, the depths instantaneously went from 20m to 3.5m then immediately back to 12m. Certainly would not like to do that with a big sea running!
Once inside we motored passed a pleasant looking beachfront that was backed by high-rise. With eyes half closed you could even believe you were next to Australia’s Gold Coast or the beaches of Rio de Janeiro. Then, once inside the inner harbour, things got rather chaotic. Pleasure craft zipping this way and that with no regard to their wake and all with blaring music. “Just like bloody Florida” we exclaimed.
Our planned marina, Club de Pesca, is right in the heart of the old town at the north end of the inner harbour. And also in the heart of this boating mayhem. It’s quite the traffic jam as we approach, including a police boat trying to slow everyone down to the mandatory maximum 5kts. We see now why this marina has the reputation of being rock’n’roll during the day and peaceful only at night when boaters are finally all tucked up in their beds.
Before our arrival, all communication with the marina office had been impeccable. They even sent us a map with the exact place of our berth, annotated with our boat name. “Call us on VHF 71 when you arrive” they said. We arrived, we called … and called again …. and again. No answer. Hmmm, it must be the B-team on duty today. Loitering inside the narrow confines of the marina, fighting a tricky cross wind, we finally saw what looked like marina employees. We shouted to them, but they appeared to have no clue about our arrival nor where we should dock.
So we showed them! Our assigned dock was a crazy tight turn to get into, with concrete tie-up posts to enter through. Oana was getting nervous, and I was also getting rather anxious. Again, we remind ourselves just how much simpler it is to anchor compared to motoring in an unfamiliar marina.
I managed to edge Cloudy’s bow between the concrete posts, but it quickly became obvious Cloudy is too fat to get all the way through them! And we got to the point of being jammed between the 2! Luckily, they were nicely protected with bound rope, so I tried to push through, until I realized the solar panels would be damaged if I went further. So, we had to reverse out again, with just enough space behind not to touch the stern on the opposite boat before I could bow-thrust away from the posts. Tight docking indeed!
We loitered again while the shore guys seemed just as useless to know where we should go. We then spotted an empty berth on the only floating dock, complete with finger pontoon. “Screw it, let’s go in there and ask forgiveness later”. Just as we started our maneuver, they actually beckoned us into that very same berth and a few minutes later we were nicely secured in what appeared to be the best spot in the marina. Pfff, finally! And just as the sun was setting too. It had taken over an hour from arrival to being docked.
From our berth we could clearly hear the old town already thronging with NYE life. After a short breather and shower we ready ourselves for shoreside activities.
To cut a long story short, we had a great time in Getsemani and the old citadel town. Many streets were closed off to traffic with family-like gatherings in the street and impromptu cocktail bars set up just outside people front doors. The whole place was alive and charged. At midnight the fireworks were flying everywhere, including horizontally! So nice to be in a place with lively NY celebrations and high spirits.
After midnight we wandered back to the marina and were in bed by 1am, way passed “sailor’s midnight” (9pm!). The next few days we will explore the town in more detail. Maybe even get our bikes out.