Pat Bon - Santa Marta, Columbia

We safely arrived in Santa Marta marina on Thursday morning, after slowing down to allow us to enter this harbour in daylight. As predicted, the winds really picked up off the headland and we had 38+ knots over the deck at one point with very confused seas. Sadly one of ARC yachts suffered severe damage to her boom and mainsail (the beautiful 74’ Solaris Luminous 3) and all the yachts ahead of us reported very strong winds. It’s so easy for a dream to get snuffed out if the wrong decisions are made, so we’re pleased we took the prudent decision to drop all the sails and motor the last few miles to across the finish line.

Nearly all the ARC fleet have now arrived, with just 2 yachts yet to arrive. They left St Lucia late due to technical problems. We’ve enjoyed our time here, once again meeting other boats at the various functions organised by ARC. Yesterday we went on an expedition into the nearby mountainous national park to visit an ancient coffee plantation and factory and also some lovely waterfalls in the jungle. La Victoria coffee plantation produces about 40 tonnes a year and it is all organic. They still use all the original machinery built in the UK from the mid 1800’s along with a water generator. A really interesting tour - I never knew that the beans are fermented for a short time to improve the flavours of the coffee!

After the coffee tour we headed to the waterfalls and then walked back to the nearby village of Minka. Several people, including Nathan went for a refreshing dip in the pool under the falls, however as the water didn’t look too clean (due to some heavy rain earlier in the week), Peter, Val and I decided not to bother! The water was very chilly apparently!

We are now thinking about our departure and getting Pat Bon prepared for the windy passage to the San Blas islands off Panama. It should take us about 36 hours to sail there, but a lot depends on the weather conditions. We were planning on leaving first light on Monday, however it now looks as if the winds are going to be very strong tomorrow - gusts over 45 kts, so we think we’ll delay 24 hours and leave on Tuesday morning. This leg is not a race and the fleet can basically leave when they want, but we do have specified dates we need to be at Shelter Bay marina at the entrance to the Panama Canal. We’ve been allocated in the first group to pass through and need to be available from the 28th Jan.

After talking with friends who did the World ARC last year, the San Blas islands sound amazing. Tropical sandy atols with an indigenous population living there who shun the modern western world and preferring their traditional way of life. Will send some pics when we get there.

I’ll send another update when we get to the San Blas islands. Rich x