Friday morning we woke up just before the crack of dawn in hope that there would be less traffic surrounding the marina so that Coen could climb up the mast without being thrown around like a cowboy trying to hold on to a bull. We established the day before that we had a new problem with the mast. The new bracket that the fore-stay attaches to – that Coen had made for him – started to slip down the mast as we were tightening the fore-stay. Not good. We even took an angle-grinder twice to shorten the fore-stay before realising what was going on, so we might have cut it too short already. The message was clear; we had to somehow move the clamp back up and think of a way to keep it there. It seemed that the new clamp was a tad too big and it obviously wasn’t tightening properly.

We had breakfast and enjoyed the nice sunrise over Cartagena before hoisting Coen up the mast to fix the problem. Meanwhile the lady’s had some washing and other chores to get on with so they took the dingy to shore. Coen managed to move the clamp up and fix the position of it by tightening the bolts and attaching some cords to the top of the mast to stop it from slipping down. We then tried to attach the fore-stay and it still had just enough give to fasten it, thank the earth. The fore-stay was now tight and the clamp didn’t slip. Job done and a sigh of relief from Coen followed by a can of beer and a few laughs.

For the rest of the day we did some shopping in town and stocked up on water, beer, food and dollars. We also got Coen a good rum called Caldas de Viejo as a present that we discovered while in Bogota that he seemed quite happy about. By the time we got back from town, the passports and crew-list that the agent took to customs were delivered and the documents were prepared for us to depart.

In the evening, Coen invited the nice Australians and American sailors on-board for a good bye drink and then we all went to the culturally lively Trinidad square in the old-town for a tasty burger and beer. We took the dingy back to the boat and got our heads down for a good nights sleep.

I apologise for the title of this post, but I couldn’t help myself. This day was make or break day as we had to cruise to a shipyard 4 nmi (Nautical Miles) away in order to renaissance with the repaired mast that had to be be lifted by a big, inland crane from a lorry, onto the boat and into an erected position. Just in case you didn’t know, 1 nmi = 1.15 miles = 1.852 km ;)

There were many variables that could work against us during the operation and the thought of something terrible happening would only ruin the day for everyone and also all the effort and perseverance that everyone put in to arrive at this critical moment. The weather could turn bad, meaning it would be difficult for us to work and dangerous for the crane that costs $1000 per hour. The mast is in an unknown state as the welding the initial guy did actually ripped open a day earlier because the mast fell off the supports while being painted and luckily someone else in the workshop just happened to know how to weld aluminium and who did it really well according to Captain Coen. Nobody will ever know how strong the mast is until one day, it may snap again.

The crane might not turn up or the truck might not show up or the guy who is managing the project might not know his way to the renaissance point, anything can happen in Colombia, so there were a lot of things that had to fall in place for this day to be a success.

After getting up and having a quick breakfast before lifting anchor, the project manager turned up on time and we revved up the engines. The weather was looking sunny and party clear, so at least that was one possible problem out of the way. We arrived at the shipyard on time and shortly after our arrival, the lorry turned up with the mast. We took the mast off the lorry by lifting it with four people and gently placing it on the dock.

Coen planned in two hours with the mast so that the last preparations could be made before erection. I helped Coen attach the radio antenna, connect a new co-axial connector to the cable and solder the tip. Then we connected the tri-colour (Red – Port, Green – Starboard and White – Stern) light that also sits at the top of the mast. All these connections had to be made on the ground as otherwise someone would have to climb the mast and that’s not fun working up there when there are swells or wakes.

Just as we finished the cabling and attaching the ropes, pulleys and shrouds, the crane arrived to lift the mast. So far so good. As the mast was positioned into the box, Coen realised that one of the shrouds was caught up on the wrong side of the lifting belt, so attaching the fore-stay was impossible. The mast had to be taken back to the dock and the shrouds and ropes were sorted out. After sorting it all out the seconds attempt was a success! The mast was in place, the shrouds tightened, the ropes untangled and everyone was happy.

What a relief it was to see that mast erected again and now we had a good chance for leaving on Saturday. The initial departure date was on 13th August and was pushed way back to the week after as the welding took quite a long time to complete. So, now we planned to leave on Saturday 24th August.

To finish off a hard mornings work, Victoria prepared some killer chicken wraps with cheese, backed beans, sweet corn, tomatoes, salad and an interesting vegetable in mayonnaise called elephant balls (at least that’s what Coen calls them). An excellent feast to finish off a job well done. Soon after, we returned to the marina to be greeted by a nice Australian couple we met on many occasion with a cute green yacht called Leaf who cheered for us as we arrived. They knew Coen, Richard and Ruth quite well as they too had been in Cartagena for a while. The crew of the Grazia had been in Cartagena for two months trying to get a replacement for the mast after calling over twenty companies and receiving many quotes, Coen was left no other choice but to repair the snapped mast.

More to follow as we make the last preparations for the boat to set sail for San Blas.

On Monday Victoria and I went for a two day trip to Playa Blanca which is about 20 km south-west from Cartagena. We took a combination of Taxi (8,000 COP), Bus (1,700 COP), Boat and Taxi (10,000 COP including the ferry) again to get there the cheap way. The normal route would be to take a boat directly from Cartagena (35,000 COP one way), however the price was pretty steep. When we got there we were greeted by crowds of people in the water and on the beach. As this was a bank holiday in Colombia, we weren’t too surprised.

As we were facing the beach, we started walking to the right and eventually we found a nice and spacious place to stay in a cabin on stilts. It was located near some trees and was right in-front of the beach, run by a guy called Alex. We managed to haggle him down to 35,000 COP (€14) from 40,000 (€16) for the cabin that was a very basic hut with a small balcony, two chairs and two single mattresses on the floor. This was a chill spot and it certainly felt that way. People were relaxed, the sun was shining and few hours later, a lot of people started to leave on boats back to Cartagena. Once all the boats had left, it looked a lot different; Even more chilled and a bit more special. The clouds rolled in and there was a few rain drops, but for the rest of the evening it was dry and warm, with a cool breeze to set the perfect temperature, nothing more than a pair of pants required!

It was really nice to escape Cartagena and just do nothing for a while. We really appreciated that and after the hard work and shock of getting up so early during the week, it felt like a well deserved weekend break. In the evening we went down to a restaurant nearby to have a tasty, candle-lit dinner at Hugo’s place. It was a bit on the pricey side to what we were used to (13,000 COP for chicken and 15,000 for fish), but it was well worth it as is tasted great and came with a friendly service and a can of beer, naturally ;)

After the meal we went back to our cabin and we were greeted by loud salsa coming from the bar next door. Victoria asked the owner Alex what time they normally turn it off, just afterwards realising that it was only 20:00. We felt like old people, complaining about the noise, perhaps were are just getting old :(

The next day was quite an early start as grandma and granddad felt so knackered the day before, that they went to bed early. It was a nice start to the day and the beach was basically deserted, the water quiet and a perfect time to do some snorkeling. We did some snorkeling right in front of the cabin, however the coral was pretty much destroyed, so the owner Alex – who kindly lent us the gear – recommended that we head straight to the far left end of the beach where the caves are and start there. It was actually quite good, but the coral was also not that incredible, but the many fish were interesting and fun to see.

We only had until about 15:00 that day on the beach until the boats departed for Cartagena, so we strolled to the other end of the beach to find basically nobody there apart from a few stray campers and a bike that was converted into a blending machine, nice. I really wish we took our tent, but in this weather all you need is a mosquito net, if that. We were also sleeping without nets in the cabin and I didn’t notice any significant bites.

On the way back we paid 15,000 COP each to treat ourselves in a fast boat returning to Cartagena. We heard that it is possible to get a fast boat (Negra Elizabeth) returning for 10,000 COP, but unfortunately we didn’t find it and later we found out that it was not running today. All in all, it was a great getaway from Cartagena and the not so nice beaches you find around the airport and Bocagrande.