Cleaning day

Since we've been sailing so much in these past few weeks, our boats interior has kind of been neglected. Easiest when moving around and having people onboard, is to just keep pushing things into the lockers to make more space on the floor, and so the cupboards, lockers and shelfs was in urgent need of some cleaning and re-organizing. Here I'm climbing on the fridge, into the cupboards, trying to reach the very end of that curvaceous tumblehome. The joinery and interior is beautiful on our boat, but not so very practical at all times.
Nicole from s/v Dreamkeeper once taught me to use these non skid sheets, everything sticks to it and nothing rolls over while underway. Great to use in cockpit, or any storage compartment.
Bottles firmly stuck to the shelf.
Walls and floors cleaned and all in place. 
During the same time, in another corner of the boat...
Captain is fed up with having a heavy TV on the wall since we never watch that thing anyway.
So we gave it to a guy that works in the marina.
Another cupboard to be cleaned. The Tea storage!
And another one…. Does it look like this in your home too? Are you also living with the constant fear of having things falling over you when opening the doors? Especially annoying it is while sailing.
All cleaned out, that's the inspection plate for the water-tank by the way. Can you believe that someone would want to install a water-tank this high up on the hull? Above the water-line. We were first contemplating on moving this tank someplace closer to the keel, but now we're thinking it might be good to keep it as an air ballast. Still not sure which way to go, also not sure where exactly we could move that tank since space is at a minimum and it's quite congested by the keel already. 
All back in place. Except the heavy cans that has been transferred to a plastic container by the floor to get rid of some weight from up here. If you're not a sailor, I might need to inform you that the reason to why we have these ongoing weight battles, is that a sailboat, like any other boat, sails better and more steady the closer the heavy weight is to the bottom of the boat. So we try to keep light things up and all the heavy stuff down below the waterline and as close to the center as possible.
Time for lunch. We're in love with this kebab sauce. If anyone of you are sailing to Colombia from a Dutch island in the nearest future, please could you bring us a couple bottles of this Shoarma sauce? Dinner's on us!
All books back in place.
The little shark we once caught and ate outside of Marie-Galante, and a dead coral we found on the beach in Bonaire.
Bathroom tidied up too.
And that's how a boat bathroom can look like in case you never seen one. We pump manually with the handle on the wall. In boat language, this room is called the head, in case you wondered that as well.
Captain by his chart table. Behind him is a guest bunk, fits approximately one and a half people. And the same space on the other side which currently is used for storing surfboards, fishing rods and other miscellaneous things.
Tomorrow I'm supposed to clean the rest of our cupboards as well as the master bedroom… Many of you have also asked how we store our clothes on the boat so I'll show that one of these days too if you'd like.

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Santa Marta

Santa Marta is one of the first cities in the Americas colonised by the Spanish in the 16th century. Just as in many other latin towns, the streets are filled with beautiful Spanish colonial architecture in rainbows all shades with the traditional high ceilings with wooden beams and the small balconies overlooking the streets. Santa Marta is known as the “pearl of the Colombian Caribbean” and it is easy to see why. The quaint town by the water, with the ever so present snow clad Sierra Nevada mountains as a backdrop, and the lush Tayrona National Park to the North, a short bus drive away. In the city you can find South America’s oldest building - La Casa de la Aduana from 1531. As well as the cathedral, the mother of all Colombian churches, a national monument that was built in 1766 and once held the remains of the liberator of South America, Simón Bolívar, before his tomb was moved to Caracas, Venezuela. There's also an open-air museum "Quinta de San Pedro Alejandrino", a 17th-century hacienda where Simón Bolívar spent the last few days of his life. 

We have spent many of our evenings in Parque de los novios (park for the engaged) yet this square was not always a streetlamp-lighted place for lovers. Just a few years back, the park was a run down area trafficked by prostitutes and petty criminals. We've been told that until eight or so years ago, nobody would come to Santa Marta because of the guerrillas, but the government has in recent years done a good job in cleaning up drug and paramilitary activity in the region. Crime has now been replaced by tourism and Santa Marta’s reputation as an up-and-coming travel destination is growing by the day. Many Colombian's from other cities have came to live here and they love this place because it still feels real and Colombian. People are attracted by the authenticity, which the city has maintained despite the recent development.

What is so refreshing is that everyone is busy doing something, going to work or selling things on the street, not in particular to foreigners, but to everyone, natives included, and life seem to continue no matter if we are there or not. And all those fruits that are so well made use of, fresh juice, ice cream and candy on every street corner. Not to mention the abundance of beautiful, friendly people that Latin America is so famous for. Very glad we had to pull in here because of the strong winds the other day, otherwise we would probably have missed this little gem completely.

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Awaiting paperwork and the right winds

Due to very long clearance procedures in Colombia, we had to stay here in Santa Marta for almost a week, and now when most of the important paperwork seem to be done, the weather isn't exactly in our favor so we'll be staying another few days. If intending on spending more than five days in Colombia, it is not enough with a regular clear-in, but you also need to temporarily import your boat to the country, for a reasonable fee. Very old fashioned, probably because there still aren't that many people sailing here, and they also aren't used to cruisers to the same extent as in the West Indies for example. Will give you more detailed information on the whole procedure when all is done if that can be of interest. We're very happy with our agent Dino though who's been handling all paperwork for us so we haven't needed to go to any officials at all thus far. 

Santa Marta is such a quaint and beautiful little town, but we can't wait to get to our final destination Cartagena, where we'll continue with the refit and upgrade of the boat. Some of the things we need to have done before our journey can continue anywhere:

- One more bulkhead to be built.
- Build a new mast step, and therefore also lift the mast once again.
- Paint the bottom.
- Get a new main sail.
- Reinforce the rudder and keel. Maybe re-design the rudder a bit. Still not sure.
- Install that water maker, haven't had the time yet.
- Remove more weight from the boat, we are still much overloaded. Twelve sails, tons of super heavy power tools and other tools, hundreds of books, still thirty pairs of shoes and winter clothes... much of it must go.

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Cultural differences

Our friend is flying home to Boston today so we'll be back to our normal routines again. From today our days will not be filled with as much dining and exploring out, but instead we'll be back to preparing the boat for our Pacific Crossing that is rushing towards us at a fast pace. I will also be back with the computer to catch up with work that's been neglected in the previous weeks of "vacation". As of the strong winds in the bay outside we have decided to stay another week here in the beautiful town of Santa Marta before continuing to Cartagena. 

I know I'm repeating myself, but what a wonderful change to be here in a South American country. The West Indies are great in many ways: the beautiful beaches and lush nature. The scenery, the sailing grounds and the volcanic mountains are equally attractive and especially in hurricane season, you can still find astonishing places where your boat is the only one in the bay which gives a sense of disconnection to all and everything. You can also get a hold on good craftsmen for boat restoration and repair, for that Antigua and Grenada seem to be the best. But no matter how much we tried to see it, the culture and way of living didn't rhyme well with the way we see life should be lived. Here in Colombia people are happy though they don't have much in terms of money or security. They find joy and thankfulness in each other, music and just the fact that they are alive. People work hard for the little money they make and they are, generally, very friendly and hospitable to both natives and visitors alike.

In many parts of the West Indies (of the islands we've visited), many of the people we met seemed unhappy for some reason, or unmotivated is maybe the right word. There are many West Indian people that work hard, but most of the ones that you meet, are either extremely unproductive or have an attitude problem or in many cases, both. Something else that could frustrate us immensely is that people rather spend hours and hours, days after days waiting in the shade for that right tourist to pass by who they can overcharge for an, often, bad service or for not such a valuable product, rather than lowering the price and offering a smile, to be able to sell more. The philosophy on how to make a living and keep your visitors and clients happy seem to be the extreme opposite in the West Indies as opposed to a country like Colombia and many other places on earth.

The native West Indian people are also often racists towards white - some are better in hiding that than others, and inevitably, it creates a tension and feeds the negative energy from both sides and a segregation between locals and visitors is an unfortunate fact. Even many of the expats who've chosen to settle on the islands, has become equally bitter and pessimistic, probably due to how they've been treated, this is especially the case in Antigua (Falmouth Harbour area in particular). Sorry to say, but it's one of the most depressing places we've ever been, not because of the beautiful beaches for which they are so famous, but because of the fact that such a large amount of its population, whites as well as blacks seem to be fed up with life and they spread that negative energy all around. I would like to not have to mention any of this at all, but after having lived in the Caribbean for two years, it is a fact impossible to ignore. The only two ex-British islands we've come across that gave us a real positive overall experience were Grenada and Nevis, especially due to the kindness of the people we met, and we can't recommend them enough as lovely vacation destinations. 

The French islands are generally more hospitable than the British in our opinion, and the smaller ones of them, Marie-Galante and Les Saintes, are some of our favorites in the Caribbean - and the special sort of small-island-vibe is very much apparent on both of them. St Martin and St Barts will forever be very close to our hearts but unfortunately in this case, it is mainly because they reminded us of the mixed culture of Europe rather than the one of the other Caribbean islands. I have so much more to say about the West Indies and as soon as I have an opportunity I will go through them all one by one, but for now we are just happy to be someplace else to be able to get a real perspective of our past two years that we've spent over there. As you might know, we had never planned on spending such an extended amount of time in the West Indies, but different events kept us there for longer time than what we wanted and so we tried to make the best out of it according to our possibilities. But it is not before now that we are out of there and being in the light of this new, inviting and hospitable culture, that we can establish a fair look upon what we've actually been through. 

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