Category Archives: Columbia

Columbia: Santa Marta, Cartagena, Minca

Mercado Público: “The” Fresh Fruit, Veggie, Meat, & Fish Market

Colombians are very entrepreneurial people selling fruits, vegetables, hats, tchotchkes, clothing, services, cardboard and just about anything.  There are pop up stands, rolling carts, booths, small stores, and large stores selling your heart’s desire.  Do you need a Mercado Público?

Fruits & veggies can be bought on the street by various vendors selling them off push carts or bikes with carts.  This allows them to  easily move their goods around to high traffic areas.

The largest food market we have encountered is called Mercado Público.  The market fills a two story building that takes up the entire block.  And in fact, it is so large that it spills out onto the neighboring streets.  Matt, Mia (from “Itchy Foot”), and I visited this market one morning which was absolutely overwhelming to all of our senses.

We visited the outside fish market first.  There are lot of fisherman selling a variety of fish that have been cut and cleaned for you.  You could get a great fish, if you knew what you were looking at and could put up with the assault on your nose.

Entering the two story building on the first floor you see that it is divided into two sections for fish and meat. We decided to continue to torture our noses by finishing up the fish area.

As we completed the fish section, we crossed over to the meat section which has all meats except chicken.  Where the fish attacked our sense of smell, the meat besieged our vision!  I get it, I eat meat and meat comes from animals.  I am not a vegetarian, but I do not eat red meat (for health reasons).  But, seeing the meat market almost made me change my ways.

We did not make the entire round as you’ve seen one pig’s head and foot you’ve seen them all.  We moved upstairs to the fruit and veggie market which was far more pleasant to see and smell.  In fact, some of it was mouth watering to be around!

In addition to food, you can also buy some pets.  We found a few vendors selling birds in the main building and then stumbled across the pet store street.  In this area, they group like vendors together to make it easier for shoppers.

STREET SECTIONS:

  • pet street
  • hardware street
  • fabric street
  • auto street

Truck of Columbia

Bienvenido a Columbia Sugar Shack

Welcome to Columbia Sugar Shack! We were woke up at 0830, after 4 hours of sleep, because were ready to get in the marina and see Santa Marta, Columbia.  The marina instructed us to head to E dock which is the first dock you see at the entrance to the marina. The winds were light but it seemed like they were blowing from all different directions.  We typically like to be nose into the wind for the optimum wind flow inside. The staff instructed us to go stern in which Matt expertly accomplished. No easy task as our neighbor’s dinghy was tied to the side of his boat in the middle of the slip.

Sugar Shack in E-Dock next to the dinghy.

Sugar Shack in E-Dock next to the dinghy.

We secured the boat to the dock and headed to the office to check in.  The marina provides an agent who helps you with the clearance process.  However, since it was Saturday the agent was not working, so we supplied the necessary paper work and turned over our passports.

Everything is sophisticated and secure here at the marina.  Your fingerprint gives you access to the bathrooms, showers, and the dock gate.  We did a cursory look around the marina, which includes a small mini market with snacks, soda, beer, and some chandlery items.  There is a large outdoor gathering space, a small laundry area, captain’s quarters with AC, TV and wifi, men’s and women’s showers and an office.  The entire space is very clean and pretty.

Marina Santa Marta - we are in E-Dock as you enter the marina.

Marina Santa Marta – we are in E-Dock as you enter the marina.

Next we decided to explore the town of Santa Marta.  Just about everything can be found off the main road, Calle 22.  Streets with “calle” run perpendicular to the waterfront and streets with “Carrera” are parallel.

We quickly found an ATM so we could get local currency. Columbia uses the Colombian peso and the exchange rate is about 3000 pesos to $1 U.S. dollar.  After you get $200 from the ATM you feel rich because their money is in the millions.  This image is 523, 000 pesos or about $174.00.

This is 523,000 pesos or $174.

This is 523,000 pesos or $174.

Pesos use a lot of zeros-which makes it really confusing when purchasing goods. I know my numbers, but not into the millions.

50 Million Pesos. Lots of Zeros!

50 Million Pesos. Lots of Zeros!

To make it even more confusing, they have several denominations that have old and new versions in circulation. For example, the 5,000 peso and the 2,000 pesos below:

Old and new denominations of the 5000 and 2000 bills.

Old and new denominations of the 5000 and 2000 bills.

We came across a HUGE store called Exito that was part Walmart, Target, and Vons.  It was overwhelming, while at the same time clean, organized, and well stocked.  We roamed around a little bit more and found another market called Carulla Market which was like a mini Trader Joe’s. All the fruits and veggies were lined up neat in a row and the shelves were well stocked.

Typical beer run.  The employees thought we were crazy wanting 8 cases of beer or (ocho cajas de cerveza).  They kept thinking we wanted 8 six packs of beer.  After a lot of pointing and reaffirming, they got more cases from the back and loaded us up.  The cashier then questioned us a lot, but finally rung up the order, then the security guard stopped us and had to radio in to his supervisor.  Crazy Americans!  And what they don’t know is this is just to get us started.  We are loading up before the San Blas islands. Beer here is $0.66 per beer.

Matt carrying his loot away. 8 Cases of Beer.

Matt carrying his loot away. 8 Cases of Beer.

On the way back to the boat, we passed by Barry (“Adventures of an Old Sea Dog“) and he told us about an impromptu happy hour.  Cruisers buy beers from the mini market for 2500 pesos and meet at the gathering space.  It was great to see several other boaters that we’ve met in Curacao, Bonaire and Aruba.

Do you remember us talking about these boats?

  • Kattimi,
  • White Shadow
  • Kokopeli
  • Nomad
  • Itchy Foot?

They are all here in Columbia!  We’ve also recognized several other boats from previous anchorages but we don’t know them as well yet – give us time.

Really pretty sunset from this spot, I could get used to these sunsets in Colombia!

Sunset from the Marina.

Sunset from the Marina.

Santa Marta is considered pretty safe and has a decent public transit system.  In addition there are a ton of taxis running around that can probably get you anywhere in town for about 3000-5000 pesos.  Food and beverages are pretty darn inexpensive so it offsets the price of the marina which is nice.

Mia on “Itchy Foot” and I decided to start a walking club.  We meet each morning at 0700 to explore the shores.  Matt decided to join us one day as we were heading to the top of a mountain that he wanted to see.  We had heard it was a mile to the trail and a mile up the mountain, but as it turned out, we walked up and over to the other city which became a 7.2 mile walk!  We ventured up over Cerro Ziruma (a national park split in half by the road we walked on) into Santa Marta Central.

Top of hill looking down at Santa Marta Central - we walked down to the city which is on the water's edge.

Top of hill looking down at Santa Marta Central – we walked down to the city which is on the water’s edge.

This gorgeous wall lined a small section of the street on our way over the hill.

Yep, I climbed on this beautiful wall.

Yep, I climbed on this beautiful wall.

We ran into several colorful buses and trucks:

Very festive trucks and buses.

Very festive trucks and buses.

And we’ve seen beautiful architecture and artwork which represents many artists in Columbia.

Typical downtown mural.

Typical downtown mural.

Pretty church downtown.

Pretty church downtown.

Loved this wooden door against the tattered building.

Loved this wooden door against the tattered building.

It is wicked hot with little breeze so Matt put up our cabin cover. We officially feel like white trash but at least it’s cooler inside.

Bringing down the neighborhood with our tarp!

Bringing down the neighborhood with our tarp!

Columbia Passage Sunset Night 1

Columbia Passage

The Columbia passage is 280 nm (nautical miles) from Aruba and we wanted to arrive in daylight.  Matt uses several apps for weather, but a new favorite is PredictWind Offshore which is an app that charts your course based on your boat model, and the current wind and wave conditions.  We set our sail plan based on the average of several models provided by PredictWind Offshore.  Basically, we were looking at a downwind sail with a wind speed average of 17-19 knots and less than 1 meter waves.  It predicted we would arrive in 40 hours.  Based on this data, we decided to leave Aruba around 1400-1500 with the hopes of arriving Santa Marta around 0800-0900.

We reserved a slip at the Marina Santa Marta arriving on 4 November. The marina’s hours of operation on Saturday are from 0800-1700.  If we arrived before 0800 we would have to find a place to anchor or moor.  Unfortunately, we were not able to find out if there were any moorings or anchor spots near the marina before we left.  The one map that we found showed an anchorage in 10-15 meters of water which is too deep for us as we only have 100 meters of chain.

We always seem to learn a thing or two on each passage. One key learning was that we should have made meals before setting sail.  It is not terrible cooking when the boat is on a downwind tack, but it is easier if meals are prepared ahead of time.  The day before we left, Matt cooked up a huge batch of fejuiada which is a Brazilian bean stew with pork shoulder, black beans, sausage, spices, onions, tomatoes, and a few other bits of yumminess.  We also had an extra meal from Maria (our Venezuelan chef) and tuna salad for sandwiches.  We were all set.

At 1400, we pulled up our anchor, raised the main, hoisted the small spinnaker, set our course, and put out the fishing lines and teasers.  Our Columbia passage begins.

Columbia Passage with Small Spinnaker

Columbia Passage with Small Spinnaker

Matt is sitting at the starboard helm and I am at the port helm.  There are fishing polls behind each seat.  2.5 hours into our sail, the fishing pole behind me starts to do a small dance, but doesn’t “zing.”  Matt happened to be looking at me and I caught it in my peripheral vision – yep, something is hooked.  Matt reeled in a tuna which was pretty small but would still make a great snack!  The drag was set too high and our fish was too little which was why it did not zing.

Big Eye Tuna #1

Big Eye Tuna #1

About 45 minutes later, the same line sang out loud “ZING” and spooled out.  Before Matt could get to the line, a second line went “ZING” and we suddenly had two “fish on.”  I brought in the two teasers as Matt hauled in the next tuna and then pulled in a bigger tuna.  Sweet, three big eye tuna’s, two caught on a cedar plug and one on a skirt.  We didn’t even have to turn on the engines, slow the boat down, or alter course.

Big Eye Tuna #2 and #3

Big Eye Tuna #2 and #3

With the freezer full, we decided to pull in the lines so we did not have to worry about them during the night.  We were settling back in when a pod of dolphins decided to play with us.  They were fairly small dolphins, but very playful and stayed with us for well over a half hour.

Matt enjoying some dolphin time.

Matt enjoying some dolphin time.

Just as I was thinking this sail could not be any better, the sun started to set providing a spectacular sunset!

Sunset on first night.

Sunset on first night.

We decided on 3 hour shifts for the night.  Matt took the first shift at 2030 as I took a nap.  The rest of the night rotated on and off with only one sail change around 2330.  The wind shifted slightly so we had to jibe the sail.  We turned the engines on to give us forward motion in order to take the kite down before resetting.  All went smoothly and we carried on for the night with just the main and kite flying.

Matt was sleeping (or trying to) as I listened to my music during my 0500 shift.  My mom, or the Heavens, or the universe were trying to get my attention, because as the sun was rising, “Alive” by SIA started playing and it just got my blood pumping.  Hearing this song at such a majestic moment took my breath away.  I am grateful for every waking moment of every day.  But some moments are extraordinary reminders of just how far I’ve come – all I can say is “thank you!”

We rounded Peninsula de la Guajira just after sunrise with wind in our main and our spinnaker, we were on track to have a 200 mile day.  We were averaging almost 9 knots and had a top speed of over 15!  Just cruising along with good winds and waves.

Mid-morning brought another pod of huge dolphins that were out to show off.  They were having a good ole time at the bow of our boat.  Some would then jet out a 100 yards in front of us and would jump out of the water and flip around.  So fabulously fun!

Second pod of dolphins on day two.

Second pod of dolphins on day two.

Just before 1100 the winds left us and our boat speed dropped to 3-4 knots.  We limped along with both sails up and tried our best to maintain our course.  Several hours later, we hit our 24 hour mark and here are our stats:

24 HOUR STATS for Columbia Passage:
  • 187 miles sailed (we so wanted to hit 200)
  • 15.5 Top speed (awesome speed for us!)
  • 7.9 Average speed (far cry from 9)

It was a bit frustrating with just the spinnaker out and no wind. We were forced to use the engines so we turned on the port engine but it would not start!  WTF?  This is the engine with the new alternator, but that one charges the house batteries, not the starter battery.  For $hit $ake.  It was not worth running one engine so we continued to limp along without the engines until the winds picked up which was around 1500.  We jibbed the spinnaker again and were clicking along at 7-8 knots.  Yeah!  Life is good.

Both nights were blessed with 95% moon (almost full) which produced a brilliant well lit sky and ocean for us.

Almost a full moon lighting our way.

Almost a full moon lighting our way.

Our original arrival time was between 2300 and 2400 when we were averaging almost 9 knots.  But with the decreased boat speed, our arrival time changed to 0300-0400.  About 15 miles away from our destination, we had to take the spinnaker down and turn on the engines in order to make the marina.  To our surprise, port started right up (thank goodness), but starboard was not spitting water, which is not good.  The engines intake sea water to keep them cool so spitting water is imperative.  Matt primed it–nothing.  He replaced the impeller–nothing. It wasn’t until he re-tightened the hose clamps and primed it again, that it finally started spitting water.  We were back in business.  We did not want to learn how difficult it would be to anchor or pull into a slip with one engine.

It is never ideal to arrive to a new place in the dark, but we had no choice.  We slowly motored around the anchorage just outside the marina with the hopes of finding a shallow place to drop the hook.  Luckily, I saw a boat just outside the marina entrance so we headed toward her, dropped the hook, and fell fast asleep!  And with that, the Columbia Passage comes to an end…Good Night.

FINAL STATS for Columbia Passage:
  • 278 miles sailed (we so wanted to hit 200)
  • 15.5 Top speed
  • 7.2 Average speed
  • 38:45 Moving time