Passages - Colombia & Grand Cayman March-April 2026

An underlying tension was building as we neared the end of our carefree cruising in the San Blas Islands. Before long we were going to have to claw our way out of the far southwestern corner of the Caribbean Sea, and the options were multi-day passages east or north.  Both directions are daunting with steady trades blowing from the east and an acceleration zone along the Colombian coast that builds the seas up.  Jimmy Cornell’s “World Cruising Routes” suggests that the best month to journey across the central Caribbean basin is April, when the trades periodically lay down.   We settled on a route that would first take us east to Cartagena, Colombia, a destination we were keen to experience.  We hoped the easting would give us a good angle to head north to Grand Cayman with fast sailing on a relatively comfortable close reach.  Optimizing both sailing performance and comfort were important for this 4-day passage which would be our longest to date with just two of us.  We were a little sad to take Jamaica out of our plan, but the appeal of the destination had waned after the catastrophic impact of Hurricane Melissa, and it would have required hard on the wind sailing and motor-sailing.  

We officially checked out of Panama on March 7.  Thankfully nobody chases you out of the country after you’ve checked out, so we enjoyed the San Blas islands while we awaited optimal weather to tackle the 150-mile passage east to Colombia. Every morning we would check the weather for an upcoming break in the persistent trades. Weather windows in the extended forecast would appear promising but often faded away as the days grew nearer.  Our friends Tom and Patty, on SV Trieana, had plans to make the same passage, so we compared notes and hung out together in beautiful Snug Harbor while we prepped.  Finally, a window in the extended forecast stuck—even improved as it got closer! We departed Mar 19 and were blessed with a great overnight passage.  We were able to fly our spinnaker all day and sail with the white sails all night in 8-12 knots of wind and 3-4 ft seas. (We don't fly the spinnaker after dark since it can be tricky to douse if the wind pipes up).

We arrived at Isla Grande on the morning of Mar 20, a pretty spot to rest, then sailed the final 20 miles the next morning—a fun sail that took us to the dramatic entrance of the bustling Cartagena harbor. The harbormaster gave us permission to enter the harbor over the radio and we followed the well-marked channel.  The Boca Chica entrance had a huge Colombian flag flying high on a massive stone buttress.  On the way to Marina Pesca, we passed the industrial port, tour boats and ferries, kids racing sabots, and the Virgin Mary statue watching over the harbor.

It was awe inspiring to reflect on the rich and complicated history of this place as we entered.  Cartagena was founded in 1533 by the Spanish who took advantage of the protective natural harbor to build a port for export of Bolivian silver and other treasure back to Spain and import of slaves from Africa.  They continued to add stone walls and defenses over the centuries in response to the changing tactics of frequent pirate attacks. Above the harbor sits the improsing San Felipe fortress, built to defend the city against a land invasion that never came. We had fun exploring its tunnels, stairways and lookouts with Tom and Patty. Today, Cartegena is a world heritage site and modern city with skyscrapers, sophisticated restaurants and shops, and streets bustling with locals and tourists.  Its old town has retained its colonial architecture and is surrounded by centuries old stone walls on which we hiked the perimeter.  We took a boat break and enjoyed a few rejuvenating days in the colorful old town at the charming Casa Lola boutique hotel.  Local guide, Casandra, led us on a great bike tour and we treated ourselves to a creative and delicious meal at Casera, a Latin America top 50 restaurant—and we can attest to why!

Beagle Spirit was moored at the Marina Pesca for the 2 weeks we spent in Cartagena. We had been referred to Javier by other cruisers, and he and his crew did a great job helping us get several boats projects done.  Most importantly we had the hoses for our heads replaced.  We had been having trouble with unpleasant and smelly backflow into our toilets since January. Brett had replaced the joker valves 3 times and snaked the hoses-but no improvement. The next step was the unpleasant tasks of replacing the hoses, a task we were eager to hire out.  Once done, after one more joker valve replacement we celebrated fresh and perfectly working heads!   We also had new varnish applied in the cockpit, the AC serviced, all 7 winches serviced, stainless polished and the hull washed and waxed. Finally, the bottom was cleaned just before we left—a necessity due to the dirty water in the harbor which causes rapid growth of barnacles.

Meanwhile, we were continuing our daily weather watch.  Our big passage north was next and we would need another good weather window. We were looking for wind >10 and <30 knots (strong enough to sail, but not extreme); waves that are <3 meters (Brett), <2 meters (Kay); wave period that is longer than the height of the waves—if tall waves are spaced closely it produces steep uncomfortable conditions; low CAPE which is a measure of atmospheric energy and correlates with thunderstorm intensity should they develop.  Predict Wind, our weather software, can also predict our boat motion—rolling (side to side motion) and vertical acceleration (up and down motion).  We also look to keep these measures below thresholds that make moving around on the boat difficult or cause seasickness.  For this big passage we also utilized Commander's Weather, a professional weather router who helped us decide upon the optimal departure date and route.

The wait for the right weather was a bit longer than expected, so we took advantage of the time to fly inland to the Colombian city of Medellin. At 5000ft, this was a refreshingly cool place to visit and simply an amazing place.   Local guides offered us great insight into the city’s checkered history of colonial beginnings, tremendous growth, tragedy, and transformation.  The Comuna 13 tour was amazing in terms of the unique urban setting as well as the resilience and healing process of its residents demonstrated by the urban art, creative entrepreneurialism, and the energetic spirit.  The metro system is cutting edge and great sense of community pride as evidenced by its cleanliness and reliable efficiency.  It includes traditional metro lines as well as its cable cars and tramways stretching into the steep hills, all three of which we rode.

April 7^th was our date—we prepared to head north out of Cartagena at first light.  We wished Tom and Patty well as they headed east towards Aruba.  Our first test was exiting the harbor at the northern Boca Grande entrance, which has a trick. As a defense the Spanish built a stone underwater wall that would sink unsuspecting enemy ships, with a small cut known only to them. Today, the narrow cut in the wall is marked by buoys and just deep enough for our 2-meter draft to pass. It was a little nerve wracking knowing the sabotaging wall was under there, but we safely passed through the well charted cut.  As soon as we were clear, we raised the sails and didn’t drop them until final approach into Grand Cayman 650 miles later!

For the most part the passage was as expected and went very well.  The first day was the toughest getting through the rougher waters just north of Colombia—5-6 ft choppy swells made for a queasy start. The sea state steadily improved the further north we went and the steady 14-20 knot wind allowed us to sail a respectable 6.5-7.5 knots directly towards Grand Cayman. Our watch schedule was one 6-hour shift each at night and two 3-hour shifts each during the day.  Sleeping on a moving boat is not easy, but this schedule gave us some good chunks of time to rest. Night shifts were dark with a late rising moon, but the stars were fantastic and blue bioluminescence was visible in our wake. Once the moon did rise, the horizon was visible providing improved orientation and visibility. We saw no other pleasure boats but did cross paths with several cargo ships which kept us alert.  Highlights included a cute barn swallow who visited us to rest on our rail and perhaps enjoy our company, a good sized mahi mahi on Brett's fishing line and watching flying fish zip across the ocean surface. We arrived on April 11 at 12:30am—arriving in the dark not ideal, but we were warmly welcomed by the Grand Cayman port authority over the radio who provided us with waypoints for free government moorings where we could tie up.  Needless to say, we were thrilled to arrive and slept like the dead.

Our two weeks in Grand Cayman really felt like a vacation. Our boat chores were done, which left us to enjoy the beautiful Seven Mile Beach, scuba dive and snorkel unspoiled reefs, and try out some terrific restaurants. We enjoyed getting our bikes out for the first time in quite a while for a ride. The public shuttle buses were inexpensive and got us to the Queen Elizabeth Botanical Gardens with its Blue Iguana conservation center and Pedro St James historical site where Cayman’s first parliament gathered and where the proclamation ending slavery in the British Empire was read in 1835.  The Cayman Islands Art Museum and Nova, a nice beach club to celebrate my birthday were also great stops.  We nervously navigated the very shallow North Sound to the Cayman Yacht Club anchorage, which was a great base for exploring. After reprovisioning and fueling up, we were ready to make our next hop to Honduras’ Swan and Bay Islands!