Archiv
CW 52 2002
16.12. - 22.12.02
I'd been hoping I could get the missing water pump on Monday morning, but
not a chance, it's only possible in the afternoon. So I spend the time buying
a few things and seeing a dentist who quickly fixes this small thing. I also
replace a lamp on the mast to which Frank from the S/Y SILVER hauls me up.
I finally get the new pump at 3pm, but by the time it's built in and checked
it's already getting dark.
It works great though and for that, and as a good-bye, I treat myself to a
rice dish menu in a good Indonesian restaurant with Frank and a few others.
We have 40 different dishes. Wow, and who's going to roll me back aboard now?
On Tuesday I finally take off. The weather report for the following days is
excellent: easterly winds with 15-20 knots and 4-5 feet swell. At 9.30am I
unfasten the boat and slowly sail past Little Bonaire, out into the Atlantic
Ocean.
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The tour starts relaxed and in the afternoon I cook myself a tasty dinner
and the day fades away peacefully with a magnificent sunset. The peacefulness
was about to change drastically, but first, Wednesday and Thursday stay
relaxed. Curasao and Aruba are way behind me and the calm weather leaves
me plenty of time to get some sleep now and again. During those times
the radar checks my surroundings and warns me, if anything approaches. Creatures of the ocean keep landing aboard; flying fish and once even a calamari. Since when can calamari fly? |
| The inhabitants of the ocean I see on Thursday afternoon don't land
on deck - which is very fortunate. Out of the corner of my eye I see a
couple of fins popping out of the water and as I take a closer look, three
small whales (as if on command) appear out of a wave. Incredibly beautiful!
By this time the swell had grown quite a bit and on Friday night - as was to be expected - the wind also picks up. On Friday noon it's up to 35 knots and the swell is 10 feet high. The dolphins that visit me on Friday enjoy playing in the waves, but I get the water into the cockpit and once even into the salon. |
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| But, I'll be arriving soon! On Saturday, with the sunrise, I arrive at Cartagena, passing an old fort that the Spaniards used to defend the bay in the olden days. | Entering the bay a statue greets me, conveying the contradictions of past and future in Cartagena. | |
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More about that in two weeks (the press office is closed for the holidays).
I wish you all a peaceful Christmas and a happy new year!
TOM
