17°53 N 62°51W Gustavia, Saint Barth
Monday, January 30th, 2017
05.00am The calm weather did not last for long, the breeze grew stronger and the swell was so big that I woke before dawn. Still I’m thankful. Last week’s dead calm, a very unusual phenomena for this season, helped us make our preparations in Saint Martin.

The beautiful  island, famous for it’s sailing race Sint Maarten Heineken Regatta, is divided in two: the French side (Saint Martin) to the west -northwest and the Dutch side (Sint Maarten) to the east-southeast.

Most of our supplies were brought from the Dutch side of the island, 2.5 miles away from the French Marigot bay, where we are anchored, and we crossed the lagoon with our small, only 2.4 m. (8 ft) inflatable, often loaded to the limit. We were lucky as, when strong wind is blowing, as it did last Christmas, the waves soaked us to the bone in each passage.

So now, after three months of preparation, we are almost ready, if one could say that for a boat. I say almost because we’ve arranged for Filizi to haul out in the shipyard of Shelter Bay, at the Atlantic side of the Panama Canal. There will clean the hull, paint it with fresh antifouling and for safety reasons will change the old boat valves. We bought the new valves last week in Saint Martin as Mr. Chavez, the manager at Shelter Bay, warned us, we might not find ones in Panama.
It is obvious from what we’ve heard and read that, leaving the French islands of the Caribbean, we find ourselves in different world where it will difficult to find spare parts. So Captain Yorgos made sure to buy the essensials. This of course is a mind game as it says, an equation where the variables are how much you can carry and what you may need. A kind of gambling one may say.

We bought supplies for months, spaghetti, canned food, potato chips, chocolates etc, drugs for every need and emergency, and much more that a houseboat may need. To secure enough electricity we changed Filizi’s batteries and added one more. We bought jerry cans for fuel and filled them and jerry cans for water, extra gas bottles, new emergency flares, fire extinguishers , and last but not least a new VHF for the cockpit. The boat is fully loaded!

I doing this, very important for us was the advice, friendship and help of Rene and Cheryl from s/y Gypsy Blues.The valuable solidarity of the people of the sea, creates friendships that last forever.

Two days ago, as Yorgos was studying the weather forecast he turned to me and said:
– “Next week is the perfect weather window to sail to Colombia.”
My stomach felt like butterflies. The diece is cast, we are sailing away! For a while I felt startled, numb and my heart started pounding. So it is true, the dream of a lifetime si coming to reality, Filizi and us will traveler the open blue seas. I feel a sudden pain, like needles in my stomach. We became soft, spoiled. Four months in the comfort of a house in Greece were too long. The feverish preparations since November in Martinique, were done in ports and safe anchorages. And we had always friends around us. We became soft. But no more.
– “It seems unreal that our Filizi will arrive in Colombia and Panama …” I whisper and as the words come out from my lips, the beautiful picture clears in my mind. Filled with excitement and joy I sit next to Yorgos to check the weather on the iPad.

– “Look here. It will take us five to six days to get to Santa Marta. As you see, approaching in Colombia, the wind gets stronger and waves bigger. So we will make a stopover there, study the weather and proceed to Cartagena. ”

The distance from Saint Barth to Santa Marta Colombia is 780 Nautical Miles. If the forecast is correct and the wind speed at15-20 kts, with an average boat speed SOG of 6 knots, will we make average 144 NM per day and get there after 5,5days (130 hours). That should be on Sunday afternoon, February 5th 2017.

So now, drinking a cup of strong Greek coffee, I’m waiting for the sun to rise over Fort Oscar, in Saint Barth, with a feeling of farewell to the beautiful island and to the dear friends we found here.

They will all be missed, for sure, but our life has already set sails, ready to sail in the vast sea. In a few days we’ll be in the Caribbean Sea watching the sun rising in a 360° horizon, all alone but for the flying fish jumping above the waves.

Then, when we reach the San Blas Islands of Panama, we may see crocodiles and sharks swimming around Filizi. And further, when we reach Galapagos Islands, we’ll find ourselves in the most isolated ecosystem of our planet.

With these thoughts putting a smile on my face, I fetch the books our friend Dan brought us, Galapagos-preserving Darwin’s Legacy and The Beak of the Finch and ours The Panama Cruising guide and dive in their pages.
Tomorrow, Tuesday, January 31, 2017 we are sailing to Colombia.