Trip from Cartagena to Santa Marta

                                                                             Jan 31 2014

Greetings,

          We are now sitting at anchor in Taganga Colombia. And, for a couple of reasons, it looks like we’ll be here for a bit. The first reason is the weather. We left Cartagena on the evening of the 21^st. The weather had improved but still wasn’t great. We got as far as the river at Barranquilla but, we were buddy boating with Kokomo Kat and she had a fuel issue and lost one engine. So we decided to go back to Puerto Vallero which was down wind and has good anchoring. With a change of filters and then running long enough to get the air out of the lines she was ready to move on. But, again we had to wait a couple of days for the waves to lie down.

The wind was strong, and even in the bay there was about a two foot chop. The water was stirred up and murky. Not good for swimming. There were no water taxis so it was still better than the roll in the anchorage in Cartagena. But not somewhere we wanted to spend much time. On the 25^th it calmed down a bit again so we headed out to make the next leg around the point at Barranquilla and over to Santa Marta.

It was rough but not too bad across the river but, as night fell and the wind pick up, it got a lot rougher. We were taking waves down the deck and heavy spray on the bridge. It made Johne say “why do we need to keep reminding ourselves we don’t want to do this?” It was much better when we got in close to the lee shore, but not a fun trip all-in-all.

We pulled into the bay at Santa Marta but it’s not a great anchorage so we came around the corner to Taganga which is a much nicer, calmer, prettier bay to anchor in. The water here is much clearer. It’s surrounded by hills that look very much like the Baja Peninsula. They are very dry with big cacti. It’s windy here too but the bay is better protected so the waves aren’t so big. It’s a much nicer place to be stuck for a bit.

Which brings us to the other reason for staying longer.  As many of you know I’m having an issue with my right eye. Right before we left Puerto Vallero I emailed a friend who is an Ophthalmologist to ask her advice. She was concerned from the symptoms I described (Dropping eye lid, limited and decreasing range of motion in the upward direction) that I may have something (a tumor or aneurysm) pressing on the optic nerve. She and another Dr. friend I had consulted recommended getting an MRI and other tests to rule out things that could be an immediate danger. She didn’t think it was a good idea to wait until I got back to the states (maybe a month or more). So, when we got here, we ask Kevin to find out where I could get the tests done. He got the info for us and we’ve started down the path of trying to find the problem.

So far I have had an MRI and an initial consultation with a neurosurgeon. He has ordered more tests so we will be back at the Clinica Mar Caribe tomorrow. Going in to this I was worried about the language barrier. It has been challenging but I have to say, the staff have bent over backward to help us. I have received so much personal care and attention from everyone. From the ladies at the front decks who used the translate program in the computer to figure out what I needed, to the Tech who gave me the MRI and reassured me that it was “easy” and told me “Just Don’t Move” the rest was in Spanish but that much he made sure he got to me in English. He has also spent quite a bit of time talking to us about the other tests. And the Dr. who spent 45 min with me this morning, gave us him phone number and said to call him as soon as we had the next round of tests. On top of all that the cost here is a small fraction of what it would be in the states. The MRI was 700,000 Colombian pesos which is about $350. And the appointment with the Dr. was 35,500 pesos. I feel very good about the quality of the care I’m getting and would recommend it to anyone who needed medical care.

I will continue to post updates as I know more about my prognosis. I have received lots of support from family and friends for which I am very grateful. Thanks. It helps in trying times to know I’m that loved.