Curacao to Cartagena

So a little insight into how boat life is a bit different from the normal 9-5 routine: As we were trying to find a place to anchor in the crowded Curacao anchorage of Spanish Water, we passed a boat where a man was sitting out in the cockpit with his wife. His wife was spoon feeding a seated infant and the couple waved as we motored by. Matt and the husband had a brief, friendly conversation about whether or not you could anchor outside the marked area without being hassled. The woman was completely naked and not at all concerned about us.

When you visit a place as an outsider, you tend to notice things that locals might not. For example, I noticed no dogs in Bonaire. I'm sure there are dogs in Bonaire; I just didn't see any. This is notable because most Caribbean islands are filled, some more than others, with guard dogs, beach dogs, food stand dogs and stray dogs of all varieties. Curacao sports the typical complement of canines. From the boat, we could hear the near constant chorus of strays howling in unison. It was sort of like that Christmas song comprised of dog barks, only slightly less tuneful.

 

As we were looking for things to do in Curacao, we were thinking about taking a hike up a hill to a mesa-like area near Spanish Water. But we were warned that it is private property and that the son of the original owner wanders around with a shotgun and shoots at and threatens people who trespass. Apparently he started this forty-some years as a teenager and is still going strong. So needless to say we didn't hike there.

Because every child needs cake AND enormous solid chocolate letters
to boost their sugar levels

After celebrating Mark's 7th birthday a couple days early, we set off for Aruba to pick up our buddy boat Amelie IV. We had an action packed 5-day sail to Cartagena, with a couple brief stops along the way to get the timing right to cross the dreaded Rio Magdalena river outflow and to anchor in Cartagena during daylight hours. We had 40 knot winds! We had 12-foot waves! We caught fish (we didn't take yet another picture of the 2 mahi-mahi because Nana correctly pointed out that all the photos look pretty much the same, down to the shirt that Matt wears)! We set a new boat speed record (15.5 knots)! We saw pods of acrobatic dolphins! The main sail got back-winded, freaking out the auto-pilot and us! In fact, it's a bit too much action.  It's nice to move to new places, but it will also be nice to put the hook down and relax for a couple of weeks.

 

And finally, in closing, things to be thankful for:  In the midst of our journey to Cartagena, Matt even managed to whip up a delicious day-late Thanksgiving feast, complete with stuffing and homemade pumpkin pie (even the crust) just hours after completing 3 days and 2 nights of straight sailing. I mean that's just showing off, right?  But we were happy for it and overate, just as you ought to at a traditional Thanksgiving dinner.