Panama - Linton Bay Marina - 1 year on the Hard 😳

It’s been over 5 months since I posted an update.

In May, Nicholas approached the critical 180 day Panama visa restriction period which included his 90 day overstay, and had to leave Panama for a Visa Renewal Run. I, having gone to South Africa in January was well within my 180 days, but Nicholas did not want to travel alone, so I made arrangements for us to do a little Vacation to Columbia, our destination the historic town of Santa Marta.

Santa Marta sits on the northern coastline of Columbia and is recognized as the oldest settled area in South America by Europeans. I booked us an Ocean View room with a Balcony at Hotel Bonita, in the Old Historic District of Santa Marta, and the hotel arranged Taxi pickup at Airport Santa Marta a 30 minute drive away, so we did not have to deal with the pushy vendors charging Gringo prices.

Hotel Bonita

Our room was lovely, with cool air conditioning, heavy curtaining to cut out the afternoon sun, and double glazing to cut out the noise of the Boulevard which comes alive with Locals and Tourists every evening to watch the amazing Sunsets. Santa Marta is located in a bay, with excellent protection from the prevailing winds - which is the major reason Santa Marta was settled.

Our Balcony and view

Amazing sunsets

Our location, in the center front of the Santa Marta Historic District

For 5 days we roamed the streets, took in the sights, museums and historic buildings, retuning to our hotel room every afternoon to escape the intense heat. After watching the amazing Sunset from our Balcony we’d go out to one of the Local restaurants in the Historic area and experience the street night life in the Historic District.

Not all buildings have been renovated

Wall Art

IGY Santa Marta Marina

Fresh Mango Juices

One road outside of the Historic District is chaos with numerous motorbikes and street vendors

Evening wandering, looking for some place for dinner. This ‘hole in the wall bar’ made the Best Margaritas

Live bands perform in the Parks in the evening

By then we’d done and seen it all, time to leave and no need to travel here ever again. Been there, done that.

Back at Meshugga, I was extremely relieved to find that this time she was intact, and we had not been robbed (like when we went to Chicago in November last). Prior to leaving I had been ultra careful, ensuring every cockpit and fly bridge locker was padlocked. Every hatch, doorway securely locked, and jammed wood into the sliders to prevent intruders from forcing the locks, and sliding doors open. We told no one at the Marina, the security staff or any Cruiser that we were leaving the boat unattended.

The weeks and months since have rolled into each other. Work is slow. Getting materials, equipment, spares takes time. Workers are slow. The weather is Hot, Humid and Summer is the Rainy Season. Nights bring heavy Rain, Thunder and Lightning. Scary sometimes and I worry we’ll get hit again.

Life on the hard is frustrating and exasperating. Every task which should take 2-3 hours takes days.

Looking through my photos, I see that I have stopped taking photos of ‘boat work’. It’s all just too much.