Hunting winds from Las Perlas to Galàpagos going through Ecuador

We left Panama City scheduled by the Captain’s smooth and lazy rhythms: at 6.00am we leave the mooring “La playta”. The ocean is really pacific and winds are even hard to imagine here at the moment. We decided to stop for a week or so to Las Perlas isands. 36 miles far from the city, they are a quiet archipelago forgotten by the tourism machine that probably prefer the Caribbean coast. Suddenly we realized that fishing here is the easiest thing ever. Fish are everywhere, and also big ones are not shy to show up to our bait and close to us while we are swimming. We first anchored in front of Isla Contadora and visited the magnificent beaches. There are a few hotels, a little airport and an internet café. It looks to me that here someone tried to build structures for tourism but it didn’t work so well and most of them are abandoned and attacked from mother nature. The first time I dove here I got really scared from the quantity of curious fish that come close to your feet and hands to smell if you are well done for their dinner. It took me a few minutes before I could live the rope from the boat and quietly swim. With the Captain we decided to sail the eastern part of the archipelago, touching places like Mogo Mogo, San Miguel and Los Viveros. Don’t expect to come here and find anything else than nature. We really spent a few days like if someone took the time back of hundreds years, living between jungles and beached forgotten by god. The only “city” and actually the biggest of Las Perlas is Sant Miguel: if you are thinking to go there, be sure to arrive with your dinghy and the high tide so you’ll don’t have to walk in the mud for 300 hundreds meters, as we did. The local population is very friendly and they will show you around without asking money, only for the pleasure to stay with you. The day before we arrived, someone had the brilliant idea to bring a Big Caterpillar into the beach with the low tide to bring his boat closer to the shore. He actually made it to take the boat, although the Cat is still there half grounded in the mud. So I guess you will easily recognize where you should stop with your dinghy. Tides here are serious, up to 5 meters and lots of sailors take advantage to work on their Catamarans hulls while they are out of the water. Basic food can be found in the village 3 times per week.

Mentally ready or not…we are now looking the Perlas far behind us, almost disappearing on the horizon…our destination is now Manta, Ecuador, where we’ll try to get some diesel and leave for the Galàpagos. The ocean is really incredible, calm like oil and reflecting every color of the sky. Late in the day we also had some winds and a small Barracuda.

We are expecting to sail for 5 days before land will appear in front of us again, from here we can already say that the line of the small sailing trial is passed, from now on we will have to be ready of days and days of navigation that hopefully will take us in some of the best places in this world.

Arriving in Manta, a commercial port, we all felt lucky to have a fantastic sail. The area between Panama and Colombia is well known as unpredictable zone of wind. The “Doldrums”. When 50 knots are rare but they can happen, often is totally the opposite, so no wind at all and if you are planning a direct Pacific crossing from Panama to Polynesia without stop to Galàpagos, be ready to start your engine for a few days or check the forecasts and hope for a good window.  We luckily had 15 knots almost every day and the sea was flat like never before, which allowed us to speed up a little more enjoying at same time the fantastic cruise.

Manta is one of the largest city in Ecuador, the commercial port is full of foreign fish companies well equipped with big boats and helicopters ready to empty the ocean. We found a little hard to anchor between the big and small boats parked everywhere. Weird thing was that when we decided to go into the only yacht club, we could entry, eat, use internet wi fi, swimming pool, and after a few hours the manager came to us with the info we asked before, telling that by the way we were not allowed to stay there, nor to use the facilities and not even to make petrol. We were a bit shocked, since the main reason why we made this stop-over was basically to make petrol. Anyway I remember since my last trip here that Ecuador is one of those countries where you can’t stop, buy the petrol and leave. A national law establishes that the local price for petrol is not to apply for foreign people, it is too cheap for us. The only solution was going back to Bahia De Caraquez Marina or continue forward to Salinas, and for both the options we were obliged to make a formal entry in the country with an agent. Too expensive and far from our final destination, so we took a night of good sleep and left after a little incursion to the excellent supermarket.

The Captain is that kind of person that feels always a bit lost when there is nothing to do and he’s awesome to create new situations, add this kind of personality to mine… et voila… What was an easy look to the diagnostic of the autopilot trying to set up a new program for sailing following the wind, we pushed something wrong and everything suddenly shuttled down. We were like the two kids with a broken bone after mom said not to jump from there!!!

Alice and Mme Nicole were not so far from killing us, and even if we tried everything to re-organized it again, Furuno GPS had no intention to start again. The only solution was to arrange 24h watches, 2 hours per person at the steer, trying to direct a boat that nobody of us almost drove before except from short occasions under engine power. Luckily we had not a drop of rain nor strong winds, 4 days and 4 nights of learning to do what could seem obvious for a sailor but is absolutely not, on the modern sail boats with amazing technology that makes everything smooth and easy just pushing a few buttons. At the end of the day we arrive in Puerto Ayora on the Santa Cruz island of Galàpagos. It was a calm morning of glory for us four. Alice learnt how to sail without listening to her brain that at the beginning was making her listen someone screaming or even seeing ghost islands in front of the boat. I was fully satisfy to finally try the old manual way to sail and thought that also Cap and Mde where happy to make the four days a little different than usual. When we relished the anchor in the middle of the bay, the weight of the effort came down to us, but even that was not enough to contain our excitement when we realized that we were surrounded by hundreds of birds, sea lions and huge turtles swimming close the boat. We couldn’t ask a better welcome from this world famous archipelago, and  I’ve got the feeling this is going to be a very special spot destined to last long on our memories. Later on the Captain invited us to an excellent local restaurant to celebrate the arrival. Tired and proud of us, I felt blessed to look at the sea from the little window of my room, and see the water growing on the reef 100mt on our side. I could totally see the reflection of the moon while the wave was creating a perfect stage for tomorrow’s surf!!!!!

CROSSING THE PANAMA CANAL

When we founded UZIWA nearly two years ago, I thought that it was the result of my comitment to surf and travelling. Making all the steps to let now the brand walk alone was not easy. Today, while with my girlfriend Alice we are sailing around the world, I’m proud to see that UZIWA is not only the “brand” of clothes I thought it was…it becomes a point of connection between surfers and travelers. Everywhere we go and always more often we meet other travelers and talk with people that are dreaming to travel all around the world with any sort of transportation, and better than anything else it is really helpful to share our experiences and give our contacts the chance to meet each other. We have people from Peru, Chile, Morocco, Ecuador asking where to go surfing.  Incredible things happen every day and we feel so lucky to have the chance to live a life avoiding that moment when in the morning you look to yourself in the mirror thinking that you are not what you would love to be. So when from far away we saw the entrance of the Panama Canal, something happened. It was like the conclusion of a first big step of our adventure, now we had to set everything up and be ready in a week time for the Big Pacific.  Practically it doesn’t change so much, sailing on this side or on the other is nearly the same, but there is something of being here that makes all of us feel like we are going to pass not only a “canal”, but a psychological barrier that for European people consists in going on the other side of the world and not “be able” to pull back. Trade winds, currents, weather and a voyager’s syndrome make all of us think that the only way to go is WEST. Shelter bay Marina is the only possible spot where to go with your boat while waiting for the Canal crossing. There are other Marinas like Turtle Cay or a new one in Linton Island  but far from the canal and not with the same services. Moreover, if you want to handle all the complex procedures to cross the canal you want an agent to follow all this horrible bureaucracy. What most people do here is using this place like garage for the boats. You’ll find here everything to repair your boat, from a French sailmaker to a Colombian-Panamanian plumber. Unfortunately, like every place in the Caribe (except some islands), you will have to supervise every job done on your boat because most of the workers here are people that understood that behind the boat there are lots of money and they will tell you they can repair everything, even if they don’t really know what they are doing. Personally I often trust some people that tell me – give me as much as you think is good for you and only if the job is done properly –

Luckily we don’t have so many repairs to do on the Lazy Jack ….ah ah ….I was joking !!!

By sailing every day we realize that newest model of boat are very, very different than the oldest ones. Also if we are on a top quality boat, also when we only change the oil of something, or clean the filter of the water maker, we easily realize like the boat makers are not the same of twenty years ago. We especially experience it while travelling with Luc, the owner of a Supermaramu who traveled with us so far from Bonaire. He spent all his life working for the big company Amel. He is that kind of person who starts from building a boat and arrives to build a knowledge of every single piece of the boats the company he works for makes and is extremely proud to be part of it. Obviously times change and now we all know how the world’s economic situation makes things a lot harder for the companies brave enough to try to stay into the boats market. So we accept the situation that when on board we use something, we have to be more careful than usual. During the week we spent in Shelter Bay Marina we had the chance to meet people from other boats, especially the ones that are participating to the Jimmy Cornell’s rally. Nearly everyone here is doing what we are going to do and everyone takes the overcrowded bus every morning to go to Colon looking for food and spare parts. It was like to live in a micro cosmos where someone melted together the essence of travelling with sailboats across the oceans. People from England, Scotland, Germany, South Africa, USA, Chile, France, Sweden and last but not least an incredible group of people from Holland. Not so many Italians and the ones we met are really the maximum expression of our actual situation. While the other boats are just spending their retirements travelling, we are struggling on the travel-charter world. But at least we never stop to find the way to do what we want.

11 trolleys full of food and beverages: we beat the supermarket’s bingo record! The manager was so excited after seeing the bill that he offered us free transportation to the boat, a few boxes of chocolate and 4 Bacardi mojito glasses. After this massive stock under the beds of Lazy Jack, we are now ready to push our floating house through the Canal.

It’s a fantastic day, Luc, Martine and Didier join us to help like line handlers. Very important thing to remember if you are thinking to make the pass, is to have at least 5 people on board, 4 line handlers and the Captain. If you have a boat smaller than 65ft, the organization of transport will provide you a supervisor to help the navigation. Over 65ft they will provide you a Captain to drive your boat through. 

The beautiful lunch on the bay was only the beginning of our little adventure. First of all, 30minutes before to go, we suddenly realize that Pau Hana, the 41ft boat from Montana who hit us in the San Blas, is one of the two mono-hull with whom we are going to make the nest. Fate or destiny, coincidences or life’s case,  it doesn’t really matter how we wanna call it. I saw the Captain’s shocked eyes looking straight into Martin’s ones and that was not so funny for Mr. Johnson I guess. We also talked during the crossing and I have to admit that he and his wife are super nice people. They also told us “We are heading to the same direction, so maybe one they we are going to be friend!”. That was so funny and tragic at same time.
 Like a giant we were driving into the canal with these two boats on our side and a big cargo in front of us. The power and the speed of the water that the human being built here to achieve this result are incredible. In less than three hours we were already sailing on the artificial Gatun Lake and looking for our designated anchorage in the dark. That was the moment when they made me jump on top of a boe to tide the rope and help the other boats. Not a problem if the boee was not one square meters wobbling piece of plastic into a crocodile’s infested lake!!!

The night was calm and not too hot. After dinner we had our chance to experience the quite lake Gatun with rock music coming from a motor yacht behind us. When the next day we went through the Miraflores, we could already smell the Pacific. After nearly 40 miles of navigation on the lake, we finally descended to the other side. Very different than the first one we had done. Here a lot of tourists come to see the boats passing, ferry companies overload their small boats and in half day they take people through the barrage for a couple of dollars.  We are finally sailing on the side of Panama City, passing under the Bridge of the Americas and exploring with our eyes the immensity of the skyline of one of the fastes growing city in the world. I don’t know what I thought to expect from this city, but if you come here, try to think that you’ll be in a place more like Dubai than a big old and dangerous city. Things changed a lot here I guess and the free taxation added to the strategic geographic position helped a lot this place to reach the explosion of modernity that is now shown to the world. Our plan is to stay here only a few days and leave after the week end, setting our sail to the Las Perlas Islands.

SAILING FROM COLOMBIA TO KUNA YALA the San Blass

When we decided to leave Santa Marta, was the only positive  weather’s window we had since two weeks or so. Luckily the sea seems to be calm as the wind and it took us only a full day to reach Puerto Velero in Barranquilla. The navigation was really bad, I got nearly sick and took a pill to let my breakfast stay into my stomach. Just the time to get a bit better and we found ourselves in front of the Barranquilla’s river mouth. Too late we realized that we were into the wrong spot: in front of us a little  fisherman’s boat with his full net on the back pushES us even more closer to the shore and when we started to turn through the open water 4mt waves where bumping everywhere around us. I was staying on the Captain’s side trying to help him to look on every possible directions and when we both realize that a gigantic baby was coming straight on us, I just warned Alice to stay inside and close door. I felt a bit like one of the sailor from the Volvo Ocean Race, the wave came from prow and reached us with a fast car’s speed. Both of us were well prepared and strongly attached to the steering wheel. Wet like seals and just a little scared, after a few seconds later we saw a big Cargo boat coming out from nowhere on a collision course with us. With full sail,  20 knots of winds  and 4 mt waves, the bloody Cargo didn’t answer to our radio transmission and was only thanks to the experience of the Captain that we could avoid just for 20mt the big boat.  My next pictures when I looked inside, was Alice trying to clean the brown water from the kitchen, Mme Nicole sitting on the couch wearing  safety vest, and the two friends paralyzed on the sliding bed.

Anyway the entrance in the bay of Puerto Velero was a dream, the most quite bay on heart or probably after all we had this afternoon it looked like that to me. Dozens of kite surfs going around and some other sail boats, the anchor is down and relax time on. Ah ah just joking, because “relax” is a word that Captain Jack deleted from the dictionary long time ago. That’s why in less than half an hour after anchoring I found myself in a car of two perfect strangers, met ten minutes before on the beach, who offered us a lift to go looking for some “Sodastrem” (machine for make sparkling water that apparently is a must on a boat). Me and the Captain around Shakira’s city, a real melting pot of modernity and Colombian history. They were so nice to decide to drive us everywhere we needed, and after two hours of going around with the super friendly Nelson and his beautiful wife, the only good news was their outstanding way to be kind and try as much as they could to help us find the gas bottle.

I was looking at myself sitting on my surfboard alone when all the other are already tired or they have enough for the day, or when 10 minutes before to close the kitchen I feel like to make a cake or a sauce for tomorrow, proving to myself that I can do it rapidly and without making too much mess …there is nothing that could take me out the idea that this is the only things I have to do now….

But travelling? I can’t imagine to do it for years and don’t have time to make friends in any country I’ve been…

They day after my visit to the city, I couldn’t resist to rent a kite surf and try after a year or so to pull the sail up. As I was expecting, it was nearly a catastrophe but at the end I had a lot of fun and I felt revitalized. Every day it gets really challenging to be able to prepare something good and original to my “customers” on board. Luckily they are all super nice and with no intention to make my job harder. The only thing I learnt very quickly was not to always trust people that tell you they can eat everything!!!

Our journey continued very well and after Puerto Velero we soon reached Cartagena, a shining city with a vibrant atmosphere and an unexpected lifestyle. If you come here after you visited any other city in Colombia you probably think that this is Miami. The new city with his modern buildings raised just on the side of the old and historical town. After a few days around we can easily say that here it’s a washing machine for money!! A lot of jewelry, diamantes, boutiques and even classy and original shops not easy to find in Europe. Everything seems melted with the well-known Colombian life style. So you can meet a pineapple seller right in front of a Ferragamo Boutique or buy a whole coconut for a dollar right after you bought  Miuccia Prada sunglasses.

As you can imagine we only had the pleasure to taste some fresh pineapple and a fresh coconut, actually we were very happy to keep going to taste the very popular “Arepa de queso” and the best fruit salad on the street ever. After we met a bit of other sailors and we stocked the boat with four trolleys full of food, we were ready to point our compass straight to the San Blas Islands. The navigation took approximately 20 hours and our destination was Mamitupu.

During the night we decided to take down the main sail and leave only the Jennaker to make the sail smoother for our lady, and we forgot that we were sailing with other two boats. One was easily recognizable on our side, but the other was too far behind us that nobody took care to watch it only until when he passed us on a 10 mt distance that we could really see into their rooms!!!

Lucky us!!!

When I started to sail I thought it was like a science, you study how to do it, make some experience and this is it. After a few years I’m still thinking that sailing is like a science, but new experiences never end, and never stop to teach us something new.

Finally arriving in “Kuna Yala” the Kuna’s Land, we met this incredible population. They are indigenous people, recognized independent from the Panama government, that always lived in these islands between the Darrien gap and the Panama Canal on the Caribbean side. The second shorter population in the world after the Pigmies. Starting from the non-touristic side of these islands was really special. Mamitupu and the island on her side, Ashutupu,  allowed us to meet them without any filter. When Alice and I went around, we were amazed by the joy and kindness of this population. Nobody was asking for money and none had other interest than invite us to their house and show us their family. Kids were everywhere, trying to attract our attention. Every girl we saw was typically dressed with the “mola” and a few bracelets on the arms and legs if they were married. Man are easier, wearing only old clothes or shorts useful for the long distance to cover a few times a day with the canoe. When we met Lean, his wife and family, we felt really weird to be there with a big yacht and be invited from a family on their wood made house, without roof and one only chair. However on the other side I found myself comfortable and curious to know something about them. Apparently the woman decides everything (and until here no difference with European culture ;-)), I noticed that every married girl had a small key on their neck, that was the key of the power!!! Since a few years they are used to use money. Before the mobile phones nobody needed money, but now it’s all another story. “Thanks to technology” these people are a bit struggling for electricity, recharge and internet. Before that, women didn’t need to keep the key of the security box on their neck. Walking around we were followed by dozen of kids, we played soccer with them and had some fun with the youngest of them that while they were trying to prove themselves yelling something at us, they were running everywhere when I suddenly chased them screaming like a bear.

The whole island was following our steps, giving us some support to know better the places where we were. I guess we are pretty lucky to visit a place like this before globalization will definitely take them.

We spent nearly three weeks sailing around the San Blas, islands like no other. The sea around here is full of every kind of fish, beaches are really close to a dream and islands seem to jump out of the magazines we are used to in Europe. My story of the San Blas and the Kuna could stop here, but I will not feel honest with the people who read my blog if I do that. There are other stories that deserve to be told at the public. I will tell you only two of those because I know that from a travelling blog we want only shining dreams.

The first one  about the navigation: thanks to the book “The Cruising Guide of Panama” of Erick Bauhaus , a lot of people now can reach these islands. But always remember that also if you will have any details of this part of the world, navigation here is hard and can be very dangerous. Reefs are everywhere, the ground not always ideal for anchoring. Every day we met a few shipwrecks and often our instinct was telling us to do the exact opposite of what we should really do. So if you intent to navigate here just be prepared to be extremely careful because only like that you’ll enjoy some of the best colors of the Caribbean, between jungle, rivers, beaches and paradise islands.

We actually saved a sailboat from shipwrecking one night. We were anchored in the windy Porvenir with other 8 boats. 11 pm, everything still and silent. Only the sound of the wind and the waves that break in a reef about 50 meters from our boat. We were in our cabin, Alice almost asleep and I was reading. Suddenly we hear a noise against the hull. Alice firmly says: “A boat hit us.” I reply that it’s impossible. She is near the window and insists “ There is a boat in front of us and a curly woman trying to pull the anchor up!!!”. Ok, immediately I think the worse. Some pirates are trying to come on board and kidnap everybody. Without even putting my shirt on, I jump out of the cabin, ready to fight. In front of my eyes the situation is now clear: as Alice said, we had some visits tonight. The supposed pirates reveal to be instead a sleepy but terrorized couple from Montana, who used too little chain for their anchor and whose boat had been pushed by the current luckily right against us. Yes, I said luckily. Lazy Jack literally saved Pau Hana from smashing against a scary reef, where lied already two sunken sailboats. Another reason why sailing in the middle of the Pacific will be 100% safer than travelling along the coast or, worse, near dreamy atolls and wonderful islands.

The other story is about us becoming ecologist!!!! Maybe when someone was sailing here 30 years ago will remember only the real paradise. However my friends, if you may wonder to travel here, be prepared to see tons of plastic dragged from the see to the coast of these beautiful islands. Luckily someone comes to pick it up a few times per year from the most touristic places. But when you’ll visit the local villages, you suddenly realize how we are destroying our beautiful world.

It’s enough for the moment from the Kuna Yala, I don’t wanna say everything about them, experiences must be different for anyone of us so, let’s come to meet the little Kuna when you have the chance!!

P.s. Nearly forgot to tell you that National Sport here is Basketball….which was a kind of weird considering that the tallest Kuna is 1.60cm tall.

Sailing from Hollandaise Antilles to Colombia

Bonaire, Aruba and Curaçao, the Dutch creatures of the Caribe where we can surf, kite surf, wind surf, dive and even do kayak on a perfectly shaped bay. We are travelling with Roberto and Victoria, our special guests from Switzerland who came on board to test the Catana 59. We were very positive about having them on board, especially after they opened their huge baggage and showed what they brought for us. I can imagine that it was like when Marco Polo showed up in Venice with the epic food and spices bought from the Gran Kahn. Champagne  and foie gras are only two of the delicatessen that were welcome into the fridge. But my legs were shaking when I saw a Parma Ham and a few kilos of Parmigiano Reggiano.  Like for the kids, it took us a few days to understand what kind of people we were dealing with, and it was a nice surprise to figure out how nice and easy they were. It was funny sometimes to see the contrast from three different generations of nice people getting along together in difficult conditions as it can be during the navigation with someone you don’t really know. I’m putting so much effort to improve my culinary style and I’m taking little advices here and there thanks to the amazing people I had the chance to work with. Chef Matteo, working now in the USA, and Roberto Zanca, chef at La Corte Sconta in Este are always ready to help me with recipes and advices to stimulate my fantasy.  We are starting to understand that life on the boat is never boring. If there’s not a problem to be fixed nor broken thinks (which is very rare),  we spend our time fishing, sailing, talking, swimming and cooking. Sometimes I feel like Alice and I are wiping in a washing machine, spinning like hell.  However the smile on our faces is always shining and the landscapes are making us proud to be here every moment.

When we got to Spanish Waters in Curaçao we nearly went on a reef, one of those typical things that happen when look here and there while your boat is going on the wrong direction. Luckily, I looked for one second at portside and saw a strange movement in the water not more than a meter far from us: we were really close to a reef. The Captain was fast enough to turn starboard and give us the right adrenaline for a big aperitif. The spot is clean and wealthy and right in front of our boat there is a windsurf school that let Roberto’s experience show us what he could do with that. The guy knows how to manage a sail and everyday makes us jealous of his rides.

Unbelievable but it’s already Christmas and today, more than ever, my cooking skills are under judgment. Luc and Martine are invited and the atmosphere is colorful and sparkling like the champagne we can toast with. Crab legs, stuffed calamari, mushroom lasagna, crab cake, scallops and king prawns with asparagus….only some of the incredible food I had the chance to deal with, closing the show with artisanal panettone and pandoro dipped into a fresh zabaione .

Everybody was very happy and grateful. We had some really amazing time considering also that Captain and Mme Nicole made awesome presents for us to thank us for the help until this moment.

Some of these moments will be so far more important and remarkable than a lot of places we are now visiting. The journey with people never seen before and the friendship we built with other travelers are making our trip to Australia even more interesting.

Sometimes it seems strange to say that we cannot spend 2-3 weeks in each of these places, but we have 10 months to arrive in New Zealand before the cyclones season. The way is still so long. So, after a few days of hard party and visit to the island’s main attractions, we are sailing to Aruba, the last of the Hollandaise Antilles before to reach Colombia. It’s good that with this kind of catamaran we can reach nearly all of these islands on a day trip, without spending too many nights in the deep black sea!

And it’s right there, when we are relaxed and quite, that we made a little mistake. Doing our routine with the sail arriving to the port, the wind suddenly jumped from 6 to 27 kts and our Gennaker took less than one second to twist around the Genoa, starting to make a noise like if an helicopter was trying to land on our boat. As we often tried to explain to Roberto and Victoria that would love to buy a big cat and not having someone around to help, sometimes two people are absolutely enough, however other times six are not.  The immense power of the 240sm sail was impossible to contrast and the situation needed  a melting of power and intelligence to be resolved. After two hours of sacrifice ;-) we got the crazy sail and sat at the table in front of a fresh salmon filet, we could laugh of what just happened.

Sailing is always like this, unpredictable and fascinating. We now enjoy the beach and the sun of Aruba, one of the favorite places for the big cruises and Marlin fishermen. The mooring is one really the best we had till now: every 10 minutes an airplane lands or takes off right above our heads, making us shake like belly-dancers. KLM made a great job down here, but all this tourism exploitation is reflected in the island’s nature. It’s really difficult to see fish or birds here. But if you like casinos, pubs, fine restaurants and huge cinemas, that’s your spot.

December the 27^th Lazy Jack is ready for the 250 miles navigation from Bonaire to Santa Marta, Colombia. The wind is on our side and we sail easily kissed by the sun and blessed by Mother Nature: we have the chance to cross a big group of excited dolphins that stay with us about 15 minutes, playing with our hulls. It’s the first time for Alice, she never met a dolphin in his habitat before. Our stomachs are well marinated and I cook in navigation with no problems at all. Helped by Roberto, I fish a fantastic tuna, which is after his proper blast freezer treatment ready to become a tasty sashimi, on top of an avocado and papaya ring, mixed with Venus rice. The night passes smooth and nice. In the morning we reach 19 knots of speed!!! This is a great record for LJ! The wind helps us to reach the Colombian shores and we pass through what every sailor knows as the Cape Horn of the Caribbean with no issues at all. Maybe we’re just lucky, since we later met an Australian couple who destroyed his Genoa right in this tricky spot.  Mme Nicole can’t wait to enter Santa Marta Marina and begins the arrival ritual by putting a nice bottle of champagne in the cooler, to be ready for the celebration.

Santa Marta. A Caribbean loud and crowded city. The contrast between the highly protected and sophisticated marina and the crazy streets full of sound and smell of brochetas  is overwhelming. We say goodbye to our Swiss guests and start to set up the boat for a 15 days stop-over in this marina: Lazy Jack needs to be cleaned, a new lazy bag (which was damaged during the arrival) and some relax. Mme Nicole and the Captain left me and Alice in Santa Marta and went to Bogota to make a tour of the Colombian main attractions. We are the boat’s keepers, but we also enjoy our free time in this original corner of the world. I can get a Colombian style new haircut and found some surf spots around, Alice can spend her time with her Wi-Fi spot in the marina. She gets a bit scared when the 50 knots wind that shakes the boat: the catamaran pulls so strongly that we almost broke the floating pier. Santa Marta is definitely way too windy in January.

After their land trip to Colombia’s heart, Mme Nicole and the Captain come back with two super special guests: Mme Michou and Maître Jan. They travel together since 10 years and they are good friends. We welcome them in the best way possible, with a delicious dinner and a fresh made Lemon Merengue Pie. Our 6 weeks together towards the Colombian coast and San Blas Islands start in a super positive way.

SAILING FROM TRINIDAD & TOBAGO TO BONAIRE

Bloody Hell!!!

We are finally leaving Trinidad and everybody is feeling good.

I’m just joking. Maybe a bit of emotions or the long waves from east, we are all smashed by the  sea sickness. The plan is try to reach Testigo Island where we can spend a day. The boat run well and also if we have always some little things to fix we are really enjoying the cruise.

Cooking  while cruising on a catamaran is so much comfortable than on a mono hull, but is still far from be easy. The very good thing is that yesterday we went to shopping  on three different amazing place, made for the one that want to eat first choice meal.  And for who knows how to cook it ;-)

The first it’s a normal big shopping center in Port of Spain, where we could find nearly everything like in Europe except the gourmet things. And the other two that you can easily google it to find some real gourmet food:

BLOOMS : sell every kind of high quality frozen meat and fish. Everything  is vacuum sealed and well maintained. They have also a good choice of olive oil and sauces. I cannot recommend something in particular because all the food we bought there was absolutely excellent.  The prices are quite high but sincerely worth the quality.

PERPPERCORN: this shop is into a shopping center  and from the outside it looks like a chocolate shop, but it’s a real mini market with every kind of deli from Italy, France and all over the world. Here you can easily find Riso Arborio, Foie Gras, Champagne, Tahine, Pasta, Tea, Nutella etc… Also here your wallet will be lighter after the cash out, but like the other, we can say that everything was excellent .

This is the first experience for me of cooking on board, and honestly I lie if I say that I’m not a bit scare of what I’m going to do, however this challenge makes me everyday always more committed to this job.

I always wanted  to be a chef, it was just hard to accept it, but once I’ve done it, I felt like limitless, or better, borderless.

We arrived at Testigos during the night and that was a lot more comfortable than we thought, the big open  bay between the two island allowed the entry without any issue and the mooring was quite good. When we woke up in the morning  we couldn’t wait to jump into the trip’s first bath. Blue sky, green forest and turquoise sea, nothing better than a day spent swimming, fishing and eating our own catch of the day.

The fantastic sunset under the note of Ravel’s Bolero was only the signature on a perfect day. What was funny of this three island, was mainly the facts that all the women are living on the big island with the school for the kids, and all the mans are on the other  island mainly fishing lobster.

Lazy and happy we pointed the boat on Isla Blanquilla at 3pm in the afternoon, planning to be there before the dark the next day. I start also to understand how to calculate and program a trip on a cruise, so much different than when we are on a race and we are always sniffing for the best corner with the right wind. Here the gigantic jennaker is always the protagonist and make us sure to have at least our 8-9knots with comfort especially on the night cruise.

At 6am the next day, with 15kts of wind, a 10kg tuna decided that our Rapala was his choice and so I had the chance to  explore a bit of my knowledge in raw fish and  tropical fruit. The smile on the face of the guest it’s always the top for me.

After a meeting with the Venezuelan coast guard concluded with two Coronas we finally let down the anchor in front of one of the most typical pictures of the Caribbean sea: white sand, blue water and one only palm standing  on a perfect beach. That was enough to make us happy and proud of our day. 

Next step is also our first real destination : Los Roques. This colorful and breathless archipelago it’s an amazing place to visit, we snaked in from the south island and anchor on a turquoise bay, full of corals, pelicans and mangroves. The beach in front of us was also one of the main attraction for some fishermans or day trip for tourist, so we thought to spend a few days surrounded by the most amazing nature.

Days are going fast and Captain Jack is not here for relax or joke to much, the aim is to do the world tour in approximately three years, and the schedule of friends that are joining us on board is already settled, so sometimes we feel like if we were rushing a bit, however, every place is special and also if we stayed for a couple of days, it’s always hard to leave it.

It was the same for our next stop on Aves Islands, amazing view and hundreds of birds right on top of a tiny little island that makes us feeling like lost on the peaceful sea.

Our next destination is going to be Bonaire, apparently the first place till know that should be fully organize and has supermarket, restaurants and other tourists. It seems funny to say but fe feel like to see some sort of life around us. We entered the island from the South and we were a bit surprised to find a fully filled coast line with salt and oil company. A big cruise ship was sitting on what we could imagine it was the city center and not many other boat where on our side in the marina where we anchored the cat. The island’s first impression  was no longer last after the first tour along the beach. Everybody that love to dive should come on this side of the world, and actually lots of people come here for these reasons. The colors of the water is excellent and  the visibility unbelievable. We can easily see something from the surface to twenty meters on the bottom of the sea, corals and fishes are always ready to welcome you on their world and for us it’s so much nice to snorkel  on this paradise. On the opposite side we can say that other than snorkel or diving there is not much else to do.

The island is a Dutch colony, and the population is divided by the hollandaise and the “carribegni”. The first are people very serious and tipically from north of Europe. The other are more or less the opposite with a touch of afro American style. So when you go around on this island, don’t be so confuse if crossing a street you’ll see a car stopping twenty meters before to let you pass and the next time you’ll try to cross, you’ll hear some high volume music coming from a messy car that seems run into you.

We are going to stay here for a week or so, waiting for Victoria e Roberto, a couple of dentist from swiss that are coming on board to see if they like this boat and eventually buy one. We don’t know much about them but from the mail they send to Captain back and forward, they sounds very nice.

For the moment we chill a bit on the sun of the Caribe and we enjoy the company of Luc e Martin, other two big guy that are travelling since a few years with their Amel Super MAramou 2000S.

From Bonaire See You Soon     

UZIWA ON BOARD the beginning TRINIDAD & TOBAGO

When the wheels of the airplane screamed, I was looking into Alice’s eyes. I’m happy to be here and to start this new adventure with her. Everybody in my family said that if we could make the ten months on a boat, it will be forever. I would say that between me and her it’s already forever. Honestly, at the moment I’m too excited to think of what it will be. I’m just getting sharp to sail and cook as better as I can. The incredible heat welcomed us to Trinidad. Palms three and birds seem to be the owners of this place. When we first spotted a white and “blonde” guy in the middle of an African American crowd coming to us, we understood  we found our guy. From the moment when we jumped in that car, our life was different. I thought I could speak a good French, however I found myself a bit lost. Luckily Alice always gets where I can’t and  like a teacher at school she was always ready to help me to find the good way to communicate.

Captain Jack, a man on his sixties, tall, white hair and tanned enough to say that his spending a bit of time on the sun. He’s an outstanding example of a very magnetic person. Cleaver enough to succeed on his life, he was a vascular surgeon. He likes to say that he was the champion on his branch of study, and we can easily believe it. It’s always like this: when  you meet someone, the first impression lasts minimum three days and after that you start to have the real feeling of who really are the people around you.

It’s the first time we jump on big Cat like this, and still after a few days it’s very special to walk on it. At the beginning we were on board also with Gerome, a French guy working as well as mechanic and a lot of other things, he has Italianorigins and he could also speak some Italian. Actually I thought he was a lot more Italian than French, good on the big things to do and so messy on other little thousands. We had to wait a couple of days to finally meet the person that also if she was not on board yet, she was already terrifying us.

Mme Nicole, a woman on her more beautiful age that apparently doesn’t like the skin of the tomato and likes a lot French classy style table settings. These were the only reports before we met this super gentle lady, with a smile like no other and a beautiful relationship with the washing machine and the anchor of her boat.

If Captain Jack was already an interesting person, Mme Nicole makes their couple even more special. This two big guys, when they realized that was time to retirement, I can guess they squeeze d their pocket of dreams and things to do, and made up some very good plans. First of all they walked from Antwerp to Cannes, then sailed the Mediterranean sea, and finally got a bigger boat and decided to sail around the world.

After the trans-atlantic, Miami boat show and the northern part of the Caribbean sea, they left the boat in Trinidad for a few months of more organization before to head north and think to cross the Panama canal. As the Captain like to say: the canal is a place like no other, it’s a way point in your mind, and once you’ve done it, you have to keep going thought the Pacific Ocean. I like to think that for us the Canal is going to be the end of a first big step, where we will know our self better than before and so we will know if our commitment will be so strong to keep going and make sweet love with the gigantic Pacific Oc.

For the moment I don’t really think much about it, also because we don’t even know when we are going to leave this place yet. Between work on the boat and immigration paper, our days are fully stuffed of things to do that makes easier also to test and learn all the different personality on board.

• The impact with the kitchen  -

I will never forget how happy I was when before to arrive at the boat the first time the Captain pull over and stopped at the nearest Subway. For a chef it’s always a good indicator to see that his client can stand and smile at the table also when he has a tuna and olives sub or a meatballs foot long. That was our first dinner on the boat. I will never forget as well the next day, when we went to a small grocery store in front of the immigration where it took us nearly an hour to pay because this is the carribe, and life is better when is slow. First lunch: cesar salad. First dinner: pumpkin soup with yogurt and almonds. What I understood from the first two meals: smaller portion and good vibrations on the table. I guess I will be definitely happy to cook on a nearly fully equipped kitchen. I like to say “nearly”, because a good kitchen is like a good woman,  she need someone that take care of her and add some little things that will makes her sexy. So let’s start to make some sexy food.                  

Ready for the next Bus from Santa Cruz de Bolivia to Asuncion

Ovviamente non potevamo non concludere la ns ultima tappa in bellezza. 25 ore di autobus, da Santa Cruz de Bolivia ad Asuncion in Paraguay. Le uniche cose che ancora ci sostengono nel procedere sono la certezza che al ns arrivo saremo ben coccolati e, che per un po’ non saremo più sballottati tra bus ed ostelli. L’amico Rolando e la sua famiglia sono pronti ad accoglierci. Il viaggio, immancabilmente, ben presto si trasforma nel pellegrinaggio della speranza. Di tutti i bus decenti che abbiamo visto, il ns era rigorosamente un ronzino dall’aria smilza e un po’ acciaccata. Mancavano la griglia del radiatore e un paio di file di sedili. Ma una cosa buona avevamo: 36 posti e quindici persone a bordo. Anche a voler pagare di più, esiste solo una compagnia che effettua questa tratta, ed è la Stel Turismo. Chiunque cerchi di vendervi i biglietti in stazione, li ricompra comunque al botteghino della Stel guadagnandoci una commissione. Calcolate che il viaggio costa circa 300 mila boliviano x persona e che difficilmente fanno sconti ai gringhi. (l’arrivo dell’ultimo minuto è sempre un rischio ma caldamente consigliato x ottenere i migliori prezzi)

Si parte bene, aria condizionata a manetta e televisione che non da segni di vita. Alle 2 di notte arriviamo al confine paraguagio e un’ora più tardi al primo avamposto della dogana, dove con tutte le ns valigie siamo scesi ed uno ad uno in fila, come pronti ad un’esecuzione, ci hanno fatto avvicinare dei cani ed esaminato le valige. Ovviamente in cerca di droga o chissà cos’altro. In Paraguay fiorisce il contrabbando di droga e vestiti di marca, ecco che ogni due ore di viaggio, veniamo fermati e controllati a dovere.

Siamo gli unici turisti del bus, tutti gli altri stanno tornando a casa o andando a trovare amici . Dettaglio simpatico da riportare: in uno dei controlli, arriviamo in questa stazione di servizio trasformata in dogana. I poliziotti escono dalle loro tende tipo Quechua della decathlon, si mettono una giacca mimetica e cominciano a controllare le ns valige. Una volta finito, un paio di loro si rimettono in borghese e saltano a bordo con noi. Ci siamo anche chiesti per quale ragione, in quanto non sarebbe impossibile pensare che potrebbe essere che vogliano essere certi che qualcuno non smerci qualcosa di strano durante il tragitto. Ma le storie di contrabbando sono sempre incredibili. Ed infatti, ecco che ad un certo punto, nel pieno del Chaco Paraguaiano, veniamo affiancati da un pick up ed una volta accostato. Mi ritrovo a dare una mano a uno di questi due poliziotti a scaricare pacchi su pacchi di vestiti contraffatti. Mi è sembrato per un attimo di tornare ai vecchi tempi con l’amico Talebano Alberto di Reggio Emilia, quando sembrava che le scarpe di Prada e le borse di Louis Vuiton fossero il futuro della vendita on line.

Alle dieci di  mattina e con 49 gradi all’ombra, ci facciamo finalmente stampare il passaporto. Seduti in attesa di sentire il ns nome per entrare nell’ufficio dell’immigrazione, eravamo tutti dipendenti dalla sbuffata di aria condizionata che usciva dalla porta di fronte a noi.

12 controlli di polizia e 3 gomme bucate più tardi, arriviamo finalmente ad Asuncion. Ovviamente il driver ci comunica che non ci lasceranno veramente alla stazione ma in una stradina giusto dietro. Troppi problemi con la polizia.

Noi possiamo solo che sorridere, la capitale del Paraguay sembra un luogo incantato dopo ciò che abbiamo visto fino ad ora. Un misto di culture e stati sociali. Anche solo attraversandola in autobus si può davvero notare come esista ancora il sud America come noi lo avevamo visto fino ad ora, ma molto più preponderante è come si sia instaurato invece un benessere dilagante.

In pochi istanti rimane solo il ricordo delle lunghe notti spese nei bus e le ricerche degli ostelli più economici all’alba del nuovo giorno. Dopo una pizza ai carciofi e cuori di palma ed una pallina di gelato alla vaniglia, immensa doccia e manco a dirlo…testa sui cuscini.

Il risveglio in terra paraguagia non poteva offrire di meglio. La famiglia di amici che ci ospita è davvero incredibile. Abbiamo a disposizione tutti i comfort possibili immaginabili. A cominciare da una cuoca ed un autista, fino alla piscina, campo da basket e bici, quasi dimenticavo anche la lavandaia. Proprio a quest'ultima è toccato il lavoro più duro. Ha per caso fatto lo sbaglio di chiedere se avevamo qualcosa da lavare. Non abbiamo nemmeno aperto gli zaini, le abbiamo consegnato tutto il backpack, scarpe incluse. Forse non avevamo nemmeno bisogno di lavare veramente tutto, ma era più l’idea di aver lasciato alle spalle una grandiosa esperienza di viaggio, che si è anche rivelata una delle più intense per corpo e mente fino ad ora.

Se avessi potuto avrei bruciato lo zaino e comprato tutto nuovo di fresco shopping, ma infondo sono troppo affezionato ad alcune magliette ed alle giacche che mi hanno accompagnato lungo i sentieri tra le Ande o nelle giornate di festa tra i mercati peruviani.

Insieme a Roly J,r che ha la stessa età di Alice, scorrazziamo in giro per tutta la città. Ma prima ancora di visitare il centro, ci porta a fare un esperienza unica che nella sua semplicità è riuscita a sorprendermi. Siamo andati a trovare le sue due tigri. Ovviamente ognuno di noi da bambino ha avuto o sognato di avere un cagnolino o un gattino. Chi magari aveva il criceto o la tartaruga, comunque un animaletto da compagnia. Il ns amico aveva un paio di tigri in giardino. Finché erano piccole, tutto bene. Ma dopo che un paio di giardinieri ed i due cani del vicino furono dati per dispersi, avevano ben pensato di creare uno spazio apposito, finanziando una associazione che riqualificasse un parco in disuso all’interno della città. I questo parco vivono ora decine di animali esotici ed è diventato quasi come uno zoo, ma non troppo spettacolare per i turisti, in quanto tiene molto più conto delle esigenze degli animali a cui non manca certo lo spazio. La cosa più bella è stata però vedere come queste due tigri immense, appena ci siamo avvicinati alla rete, abbiano riconosciuto il loro padrone. Da distanti e incuranti dei passanti che erano fino a poco prima, sono venute ad appoggiarsi alla rete con la testa, lasciandosi accarezzare ed ammirare ad una distanza inusuale e che creava in noi un misto di stupore ed adrenalina.

Asuncion è una capitale incredibile, molto più simile a qualche città del Brasile forse che a quelle della costa pacifica viste fino ad ora. E’ il classico esempio di come convivano due società completamente differenti. C’è chi suona un campanello per farsi fare un succo e chi vende la camomilla secca l mercato, seduto su dei cartoni. Ma questa è la vita nei paesi in via di sviluppo, ed il Paraguay sicuramente è in super sviluppo, vien da pensare che da queste parti  tra qualche anno avremo delle nuove Miami sul fiume. A proposito di fiume, memorabile la nostra gita in pick up sul versante brasilero delle cascate di Iguazu. Partenza programmata alle 3 del pomeriggio, saliamo in macchina alle 21pm. Direzione Ciudad del Este. L’amico Roly è una gran persona, ma al volante ragazzi è come una scheggia impazzita. Sorpassi nella notte a destra ed a sinistra con velocità minima misurata di 180 km/h. Io ed Alice eravamo attaccati alle portiere come ragni e Magaly nel sedile davanti continuava a implorare il suo pequegnu di rallentare. Alla fine arriviamo alla dogana della città del commercio per eccellenza. Ovviamente, a detta di qualcuno, in Paraguay tutto è infrangibile, e soprattutto le leggi. Quindi dove c’è una dogana, c’è anche un passaggio alternativo. E quindi Brasile fu, senza nemmeno aver tirato fuori il passaporto. Abbastanza surreale la scena che ci vede entrare nell’hotel prenotato via internet qualche giorno prima. 2am della notte, noi distrutti e con i piedi scalzi, entriamo nella hall di questo 4 stelle e forniamo i ns nomi. Questi ci guardano e ci comunicano che non avevano nessuna prenotazione. Insomma dopo varie discussioni esce fuori che c’era un altro hotel con lo stesso nome ma che si trovava dall’altro lato della frontiera. Quindi altro giro ed altra corsa ed alle 3 di notte appoggiamo finalmente le teste al cuscino. L’indomani, un po’ assonnati, godiamo di un’abbondante colazione a buffet e andiamo passeggiando in quel di uno dei luoghi più belli al mondo. Le cascate sono indescrivibili, un luogo da vedere e valorizzato dalla macchina del turismo, che invece di distruggere, cerca di proteggere un luogo incastonato tra il fiume, la foresta e le montagne. Esperienza da provare, il motoscafo che vi porta fino a sotto le cascate. Lo so che fa molto turista, ma vi posso assicurare che quando sarete in mezzo al fiume in piena e vedrete le rapide cercare di assalire la barca, non penserete più di essere in mezzo ad un teatrino. Per non parlare di quando vi porteranno sotto ad alcune delle cascate dove verrete completamente immersi nel fragore dell’acqua che vi martellerà la testa. Abbiamo anche il tempo di incontrare Angela, un’amica di scuola di Rolando. La prima persona che io abbia mai visto con i lineamenti tipicamente asiatici e specialmente cinesi ma molto bella, dal  passaporto paraguaiano, che parla spagnolo e che porta un nome italiano. Un bel mix di simpatia e spensieratezza che ci porta a spasso per la movida notturna di Foz de Iguazu  fino a tarda notte. Il giorno del ns ritorno è anche il nostro ultimo in Paraguay. E come si dice in questi casi. Se dobbiamo concludere un’esperienza per aprirne altre di nuove, lo si deve fare col botto. Fortunatamente non in macchina, ma grazie ad altri amici che ci aspettavano per pranzo e che hanno organizzato una cosa incredibile per salutarci. Chef stellato con catering privato su casa affacciata sul fiume. Finger food e cooking show, musica e tanti sorrisi…wake board e tramonto sul fiume con la Alicina che mi stringe le braccia alla schiena mentre sfrecciamo verso l’Argentina in moto d’acqua. Che dire? Penso già al rene che dovrò vendere per sdebitarmi dell’accoglienza quando i ns nuovi amici paraguagi verranno a trovarci in Italia. Ma in fondo, quali sarebbero veramente le ragioni di viaggiare, mangiare, scoprire e stupirsi se non quelle di condividerle con qualcuno. La condivisione della propria felicità non ha prezzo e può solo che portare verso amicizie ed esperienze più profonde, che legano le persone a ricordi indelebili di momenti unici. Per il momento possiamo solo ringraziare tutte le persone che hanno reso il ns viaggio fantastico e soprattutto quelle che ci hanno permesso di concluderlo in maniera ancor più incredibile.