The blog posts about Colombia will keep on coming in the next couple of weeks, but time and tide wait for no man and we’re off to Panama.

We’ve been in Santa Marta marina for way too long and the last coupe of weeks we’ve been stuck, waiting for the winds to die down to a reasonable blow. In the relative protection of the marina we have seen winds of over 40 knots, for those unfamiliar with wind speed, that is the speed when it starts to howl in the rigging.

The forecast started to look promising a few days ago so we got Itchy Foot and her crew ready to go. Lots of shopping and some boat jobs were required before we could leave to our next country, Panama. We woke in the morning to almost no wind at all so after paying and picking up our passports and official exit papers we left. We were just nosing out of the marina entrance when we brushed passed Totem, a cruising family we’re read about and exchanged messages with but without the chance to meet yet, maybe Panama.

Once we got out into the sea we were greeted with 25 knots of wind and 2-3m seas both of which were coming over the back quarter. When you wait two weeks for weather, you go when it’s safe not when it’s perfect. Definitely not perfect. We passed the outflow from the river Magdalena in the afternoon and the sea went from blue to brown, even the smell changed from salt to earth, and we were 12 miles from land. Over night was rocky and rolly, so we are all short on sleep but the sun is now up and the sea has calmed.

Half way to Panama and the San Blas islands where new adventures await.