The Passage to Santa Marta, Colombia
January 15, 2024
"The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." Lao Tzu
The passage from St. Lucia to Santa Marta is about 850 nautical miles (980 statute miles). It was going to be our longest trip, and we were thrilled to be underway at last. Until...
After a glorious start from St Lucia, the weather deteriorated pretty quickly and Bountibou sustained some damage serious enough that we did not want to continue on to Colombia where the conditions were even worse with 45-50 knot winds and 12-15 foot seas. We did not trust our jury-rigged repair to be able to withstand those conditions. And so the decision was made to divert to Curacao for professional service.
Our hardtop (which holds our solar panels and communications gear) is connected to the boat with 6 stainless steel arms. The weld of one of the arms failed during a gale (40 mph winds).
We encountered about a dozen squalls, 3 near-gales, and 2 full gales. All but one boat reported damage during the passage. It was a busy week for the service providers in Santa Marta!
