We finally had another decent weather window, and it was 65 miles to Cartagena, so it was time to move on. Of course we were motoring to start (the wind wouldn’t kick in till afternoon), and of course I jinxed us when I asked Trip about a friend’s situation with crud in their fuel tanks. Our engine sputtered and died an hour later, most likely from all the huge swell we had passed through that probably stirred up crud on the bottom of the tank. Luckily Trip was able to clear the sludge out of the bowl, change the element, and I was able maintain a few knots under jib.
We knew we wouldn’t get to Cartagena till dark, so we found another anchorage for the evening by studying the charts. This time we picked Cala Salitrona, just north of Cabo Tinoso in the La Azohia region. We didn’t drop anchor till the last bits of daylight were fading, and we were the only boat in the anchorage, but we could tell it was amazing.
We woke up in the morning surrounded by mountains, and fortress after fortress in the hills. If we had had more time, we would have stayed a day or two and hiked, but it was time to move on.
Nicole,
I think I just got an honorable(?) mention.
My boat sat at dock for over 4 years before I bought it and I truly doubt that Trip would ever let your tanks get in as bad a condition as mine were.
Tim – believe it or not this was another friend who had fouled tanks more recently, though probably not as bad as you described!