Big seas and small streets

Helen: We made it to Cartagena in one piece...but had the roughest weather we've ever been in on the way over. The passage was 3 and half days - 3 days of which was great fun (we even managed to play the name game - Amelia's impression of Michael Jackson was wonderful - and James caught 2 tuna (he nearly caught a whopper...but it ended up the fish taking the whole lure and double hook - it was probably a mahi mahi, they seem to love the green and yellow plastic squid lures)). We'd been told that the trip from Aruba to Cartagena is one of the 5 roughest trips in a circumnavigation (cos the trade winds have blown all across the atlantic and then suddenly run into C America and have nowhere to go - the waves get reflected back and run into the waves going the other way, and, to complicate matters further, the sea bed shelves from 1000m to 200m in a mile or so, so all the water and wind gets funneled into a much smaller space). Anyway, the upshot of all this geekery is that the seas are supposed to be huge in this part of the world - we steeled ourselves for the worst, and got past the point where everyone said it was the worst with big smiles and clear blue skies 'Gosh, what was all the fuss about'...Well, that came later - we had 10m seas (from top of wave to bottom of trough), many of which broke over the back of the boat. Occasionally some came from the other direction too and slamed into the side of the boat really rocking her. These ones that come 'beam on' are the ones you have to watch for as they are the ones that have the ability to knock you over. In fact, our skipper said that if we'd been in a monohull, as opposed to a cat, we'd likely have been knocked down. So, well done Rahula!! She coped wonderfully - it was so stable inside even during these seas and 40knt winds that we managed to cook and sleep in beds without lee cloths. All very civilised. In fact, I slept through a large part of the evening it was so stable inside. I can see why people like cats! It was quite an experience sitting in the saloon watching great walls of water approach over the stern. Also quite humbling knowing that there's not much you can do about it! (In these conditions people often just shut the hatches and go to sleep letting nature take it's course...)

Anyway, that was our excitement. Hopefully that will be the only bad thing that happens on this boat - we've had enough go wrong on our other boats! So, we got here, and had a drunken barbie with another boat's crew using the tuna we'd caught to celebrate. It was strange approaching Cartagena - it was totally different from what we were expecting and different to what we've seen for the last few months - we've been used to palm trees and beaches and not much in the way of civilisation - Cartagena has 1m inhabitants and a skyline full of skyscrapers! But, there is also a lovely old town, dating from 17th C, with cobbled streets and beautifully cared for buildings. Did a bit of a recce yesterday (without a map so we could properly explore) and loved it. Going back today armed with the guide book to do some serious sightseeing!

Hxx

PS have heard from Susan and Murray that our torts have arrived in Scilly safely and are enjoying the greenhouse!!