Getting Around Providencia

Isla de Providencia is a small island with a 18 km two lane paved roadway running the perimeter. Most of the islands 4500 inhabitants get around on motorbikes.

For us besides walking, which we enjoy, we have tried some other options, all of which worked out and were memorable. A bunch of us planned a day hike to the Peak and then having lunch in Southwest. We caught a taxi right at the park next to the dinghy dock to take us to the hiking trail. Taxi's are typically pickup trucks with a U shaped bench around the inside perimeter of the truck bed. Ours was driven by Trinidad. Linda got to ride in the front so she had a good conversation with Trinidad.



Trinidad 

Taxi

The island also has bus service. The so called bus just keeps making a circuitous route all day. The bus is actually a converted delivery truck. It has had windows cut into the sides and crude wooden benches bolted to the floor. Apparently the most important piece of equipment on the bus is a big amplifier to blast music well beyond the buses' interior. Luckily for us on our trip it was Christmas music. We recognized the tunes, but not the lyrics. One such song was something about 'A Ghetto Christmas'. We all piled on the bus while the driver was on break. He came out, started the bus, and after moving about ten feet, the engine acted up. After about twenty minutes with the driver and the local neighborhood men starring at the engine, the problem resolved itself and we were on our way.

Bus Service

Another way to get around is mototaxi. This is only good for one person, since it riding as a passenger on a motorbike. I needed to get our propane tank filled and decided the mototaxi would be the best option. There is no way to distinguish a mototaxi from any of the other hundreds of motorbikes around, so I just yelled out my need for a mototaxi, and I was soon on my way, propane tank held to my side. We had no sooner started when it began to rain. It has rained here frequently since we arrived, but the showers are usually of short duration, but can be heavy. My driver made for someones garage and we waited out the rain there before continuing on. As it were, there was no propane available that day, so all I accomplished was ride to a part of the island I had not been to.

Also available are motorbike and golf cart rentals, neither of which we did, because the other options are such an adventure.

Very International

Before traveling to a new area we try to learn as much as we can from a cruiser's perspective. This has become easier now with blogs and other internet articles. One source we found very interesting and helpful for this area was written by Sharon on 'Rose of Sharon' describing their journey from Guanaja to Bocos del Toro. One comment that Sharon made that really puzzled me was that in arriving at Providencia she described the anchorage as crowded with cruisers from every country. Up until now we have seen a preponderance of American and Canadian cruisers, and occasionally a boat or two with another flag. Every country may be a slight exaggeration, but clearly we are finally out of close proximity to the United States and Canada so we no longer dominate the anchorage in numbers. One evening since arriving here, for example, we were invited aboard a Swiss boat 'Anna' along with other cruisers in the anchorage. Besides our Swiss hosts, there were couples off two Dutch boats, a family of three off a German boat, a Canadian couple from Vancouver Island and a French Canadian couple from north of Montreal. We were the only Americans.

We are going against the general flow. Most boats, especially European, arrive in the Eastern Caribbean and then come across the coast of Venezuela, usually stopping at the ABC islands of Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao, to the arrive in the Western Caribbean. Others arrive here from the North American west coast by coming through the Panama Canal.

Leading up to Christmas, they constructed a stage near where we land our dinghy.  We were not sure exactly what and when the event would be but knew it would be around Christmas.  Christmas Eve they had live entertainment and much partying.  At midnight they set off fireworks and we had perfect seats on Ariel.

To clear into Colombia, one must use an agent.  Here in Providencia the agent is Mr. Bush.  We all get to know him as this is not a fast process to clear in so there is a lot of sitting and waiting and talking.  One of the boats in the anchorage decided to organize a traditional Christmas dinner and Mr. Bush was instrumental in getting the resources needed, namely someone to cook the turkey and ham and a place to have it.

We are really enjoying spending time with cruisers from so many different places.  On Christmas day, there were ten boats in the anchorage.  Of these nine boats attended our Christmas potluck.  The one other boat was asked by a local family to spend Christmas with them.  The turkey and ham  was prepared by a local lady with help from friends.  Originally we were to have dinner at her house, but she felt the house was too hot with the baking so it was moved to a pavilion at the Port Captain's facility.  This turned out to be the perfect place.  Anyway we placed the dishes on the tables which had been placed in a long row so we could sit together.  The turkey and ham was still back at the house and they left to retrieve them.  Mr. Bush asked the French Canadian women to say grace.  She said she would feel uncomfortable saying it in English, so we all agreed French was fine.  The turkey and ham had not arrived and suddenly dishes were being passed and plates filled.  No one listened to my protest and not to be left out I filled my plate.  We all started eating and after the plates were pretty much cleared, the meat arrived.  Later I found out that in Holland, it is normal to have the meal in courses and for the vegetables and such to precede the meat, and since we had three Dutch couples at the tables, all was very normal to them and we just had  involuntarily adopted a different way of eating our meal.   It was was a wonderful and memorable Christmas

Our Lovely Cook Bringing The Turkey

Port Captain Stopping To Visit

Agent Mr. Bush at End of Table



Isla de Providencia

Colombian Flag

Ashore in Providencia we were hearing three languages. They would speak to us in English or Spanish, often starting with Spanish, but quickly switching to English once they knew it to be our preference. However the language heard on the street and in the stores, shops and restaurants is Kriol, the native language.

We were very interested in the history of the island and how it became Colombian, with it's close proximity to the Nicaraguan coast. Looking into this we found the history, like the island itself to be fascinating.



A Morgan Cannon

Morgans Head

Providence Island was settled by Puritans in 1630. They found the tropical island more promising than the cold and harsh New England shores. The development of Providence was nothing like that of the New England colony. They used slave labor to work the plantations and resorted to privateering. The privateering led to their capture by the Spanish in 1641. In 1670 English buccaneers led by Sir Henry Morgan took control of the island and held it until 1689.

In 1803 Spain assigned the area which includes Isla de Providencia and San Andres to be administered by Cartahenga (Colombia). In 1822 these colonies became independent, but voluntarily aligned with the Republic of Colombia.





Fort Warwick

With the islands not far off the coast of Nicaragua one would expect a difference of opinion as to ownership and indeed there is. In 1928 Colombia and Nicaragua signed a treaty giving Colombia control of the islands. In the 1980's the Sandinista government assumed power in Nicaragua and repudiated the treaty.

In 2009 the International Court of Justice ruled the islands were Colombian territory. Still to be resolved in the International Court of Justice is a maritime border dispute since Nicaragua claims the waters these islands lie in as their territory. Colombia maintains a military presence on these islands. We have seen troops rotating, being transported by the Navy. We know from fellow cruisers that they even keep troops stationed on the Albuquerque Cays, an uninhabited atoll southwest from here.

The chart for Isla de Providencia is based on the British survey completed in 1835. It shows the safe route through the coral reef is done by lining up the front edge of Morgans Head with Fairway Hill in the distance. Studying these old charts is interesting. What the chart does not show is that a ships channel has been cut with modern lighted buoys. It was a little disconcerting following the marked channel while the chart indicated we were passing directly over coral heads, which if there could severely damage our boat in short order.



We are anchored in a protected bay just off Santa Isabel Village, the largest settlement. Supplies for the island come from San Andres to a pier at this village. The pier, close by to us is a beehive of activity when a supply boat arrives. We have found everything we need in town. Our biggest issue was finding an internet connection with enough speed to accomplish even simple tasks such as sending e-mail. After spending several days and hours at an internet cafe, paying for time, not data, I finally got a lead on a faster source. I tracked down the guy that manages the computer and networks for the government. He gave me access to their system, which is free and I am able to work in one of the government buildings.

As you might expect the diet here centers around fish, and it is so good. It makes it easy when planning to dine out, just plan for seafood.

We have found the people friendly wherever we have been, but particularity so in Providencia. They know we are off one one the boats, that goes without saying, and it is obvious they want to help. We have found it very easy to become engaged in conversation.





On Our Way To Panama

Last season we did not make the 37 mile trip to Guanaja because we had planned to be there at the end of the year waiting on weather to continue on east and south to Panama. Well, so much for that idea. We saw very good conditions developing for our trip, so our stay in Guanaja was just 17 hours. We arrived at El Bight, got anchored and then hurried to the town of Bonacca to clear out of Honduras and to jerry jug fuel to top off before our 343 mile trip to Providencia, Colombia.

We were very disappointed we could not spend more time on Guanaja. We definitely will try on our return trip. Our very limited experience was fascinating. Bonacca is actually a very small island in a bay protected by the larger island of Guanaja. It is literally packed shore to shore with structures, homes and businesses, with only narrow sidewalks running between then. The people were friendly and quick to lend assistance, as getting lost in the maze of buildings is very easy to do for the inexperienced.

By dinner we had checked out, topped off the fuel and checked weather, and decided it was a go for a 6 am departure. We departed our anchorage at 6:15 am. At 8 am we called into the Northwest Caribbean Net on SSB to report our position, weather, and conditions aboard. This way the Net Controllers can keep tabs on us and our friends on the net are updated on our progress. Each day we reported in at 8 am.

We had just about the best conditions that could be hoped for. The wind was always favorable throughout the trip, usually on our side from a close reach to a broad reach, but usually a beam reach. We had a few hours with the wind behind us, but slightly off the port quarter which made for comfortable sailing. The seas were not as kind. We traveled east until Vivorillos Bank and then turned more southeast. Until the turn we were sideways to the waves which made for a very uncomfortable sideways rolling motion. After 26 hours we reached our waypoint and made the turn.  Immediately the boat motion was very comfortable, and remained that way for the remainder of the trip.

We arrived at Providencia at 1:30 pm after 55 ½ hours. We were actually several hours ahead of our plan due to all the help we got from the wind. So here we are in Colombia. We plan to stay here through the holidays. We are only slightly more than halfway to Panama, and early in the new year we will finish our trip. More on Providencia in the in our next post.

Ariel Secure in Providencia

.

On The Move Again

We were waiting at Monkey Bay Marina for our dinghy to arrive with more time on our hands than we knew what to do with. We both managed to read several books each and so made positive contributions to the book exchange at the marina. We bought our new outboard motor at our leisure at the local Yamaha distributor. We had dealt with them before when we had our previous outboard serviced. We bought a 15hp two stroke. This is actually the motor we wanted originally, but they are no longer sold in the United States. Our motor that was stolen was a 15hp four stroke, which was much heavier than our new one. Our dinghy arrived the day before Thanksgiving, actually ahead of schedule. It turns out Karen at Ram Marine where we bought it, pads the delivery date a few days to give her customers a pleasant surprise. With the dinghy and outboard we were now back in position to leave the Rio Dulce. We checked the weather and the beginning of the following week looked good for going east against the trades. We were then suddenly very busy with last minute provisioning so we could leave the marina on Saturday.

We went to Backpackers Hotel and Restaurant with many friends for our Thanksgiving Day dinner. Backpackers is owned by Casa Guatemala, an orphanage on the Rio Dulce that we care very much about. Backpackers provides jobs and training to some of the older young adults. There were about 60 or so for dinner which was served buffet style. The traditional turkey dinner was fabulous, which is amazing since this type of food is totally foreign to Guatemalans. We even finished the meal off with pumpkin and apple pies. Linda got a chance to talk with Angie, the founder and director of Casa Guatemala. She got an update on Beverly, a fifth grader we know and like to get news about.

Heather Checking That Buffet Line Is Ready To Open

We left Monkey Bay marina on Saturday morning as planned. Phil and Nikki on Ajaya, a Prout 39 catamaran from Portsmouth, United Kingdom, left Monkey Bay Marina shortly after we did and we have been traveling more or less together since.

Our first stop was to anchor at Texan Bay, a very convenient stop on the way down the river. In all there were five boats planning to leave the river Tuesday morning at high tide. Monday morning we all piled in the Texan Bay Marina launcha for the trip to Livingston to clear out of Guatemala. Texan Bay Marina is now under new ownership and management. Gary has been living on the river for 6 or 7 years and decided to invest in the marina. We were gone for several hours on a small adventure making stops down and up the river. All in all this was our best visit ever at Texan Bay.

We were the first boat to depart Tuesday morning. Ajaya had planned to depart earlier, but engine problems delayed them. They are as mentioned a catamaran so they have two engines and can travel with just one, which is what they ultimately decided to do. We later heard one of the boats behind us, Menacee, which has a deeper draft became stuck on the bar at the mouth of the river.

The wind on our trip to Isla de Utila, Honduras was not as forecast. During the day and night we had wind from just about every point of sail. The seas were also varied and during the night were quite rough. When we arrived at Utila and got the anchor down, we discovered pressing the stop button to turn off our diesel engine had no effect. Very strange. I couldn't remember where the manual stop lever was on the engine and I couldn't spot it, so I blocked the air intake which killed the engine. Later after we were rested, I decided to re-start the engine to see if this was a continuing problem and by now I had found the well hidden stop lever. The engine would not start until I added our house battery bank to the circuit. Ah, problem solved, our starter battery completely died on the trip across, probably from the pounding we were taking. It did not have enough power to activate the stop solenoid.

We cleared into Honduras, which was the purpose of our stop in Utila. It is so easy in Utila and everyone is so friendly there. There was absolutely no fees for us or our boat to clear into Honduras. We had lunch at Bundu Cafe and picked up some groceries at Bushes. Ajaya diverted to Utila because they heard there was a Yanmar supplier there and maybe they could get the parts they needed for repairs. We only stayed one night as the anchorage was very rough. Ajaya got their parts and they departed Utila a couple hours behind us. We moved on to French Cay Harbor, Roatan, where we knew it would be calm but principally to do provisioning before moving on. The stores here are the closest thing we know of anywhere around to American style selection, in fact much of the selves are stocked with imports from the United States.

If you are thinking, wait a minute these are the places they went to last season, well you are right. This time however we are just passing through. Our next planned stop is Guanja, the next island to the east, which will be new to us.