Caribbean Sea: on the Quest

May 18, 2017

The evening before our departure we have a group meeting at our hostel. It seems like we have a nice group of people: a German couple, two Dutch girls, a Belgian couple and two Danish girls. Ten passengers in total and five of them speak Dutch. The captain is Goeran Persson, a Swedish guy who has worked on the seas his whole life, built himself a “dream boat” and is sailing the oceans. Gigs like this must help him pay the bills. We paid $550 each for the journey, which includes six nights / five days on board and all your meals. It seems like all boats charge the same and it does not matter whether you book directly with a captain, or go through an agency or hostel like we did.

Wednesday the 17th we ride our bikes to the marina only about two kilometers away from the hostel. We are all supposed to meet there at about six pm, but we want to arrive early to pack up our bikes. We have bought clear plastic sheeting, a roll of tape and some nylon cord. After taking off the pedals and turning the handlebars sideways we roll the bikes in the plastic, tape-up all seams and wrap the package with the cord so it gives something to grab onto.

As the group gathers and we wait for the Captain, there is a rainbow. We can see the Quest at anchor in the bay and at about six Goeran comes over in his dinghy to shuttle all of us and our gear to the boat. The boat looks small from the shore, but it is much wider and longer than it seems. There is a nice large shaded deck behind the enclosed wheel house, a three two person cabins below in the bow, a large sitting area, kitchen and two bathrooms. What makes the Quest special is that it has its own water filtration system. On most boats fresh water is valuable and not used for bathing. The Quest has plenty of water, we are told to take showers on the after deck whenever we come out of the ocean to rinse off the salt and keep the inside of the ship as salt and sand free as possible. She was built as an expedition ship, Goeran has taken her out as far north as Spitsbergen and all over the Caribbean.

Our cabin is nice, there is one double bunkbed with reading lights and a small personal fan. In the ceiling is a deck hatch and there are some cabinets to store our gear. The gear we do not need on the journey is locked away in a waterproof compartment on the afterdeck.

After we have settled in we meet the others on the afterdeck while the cook cooks up a nice meal. The captain takes a nap and at about 11pm we lift anchor and motor out of the Cartagena Bay listening to Jimmy Buffet. We did not have to do any of the border formalities, an advantage of doing a trip like this is that the captain goes to immigration and gets your exit and entry stamps. We are expecting a calm crossing, the sea between here and Panama can be quite rough, but not at this time of year. Patrick, who is prone to sea sickness, is happy to hear that. Still he takes a Dramamine before we leave. After enjoying our exit from Cartagena and having a cold beer we head below for our bunks.

While at sea the deck hatches need to stay closed, there is always the chance of a rogue wave, actually on our way out of the harbor we pass by a large container ship coming in and the bow wave of that ship sends us bucking pretty good. The bikes are safely tied in the middle of the foredeck to a life raft. The captain of the Quest did charge us for taking our bikes, $50 each, while most other boats do not. We were a bit miffed about that, but we went with it because we liked the description of this ship, some reviews we read and the fact that it only takes ten passengers, some boats take up to 25.

The night is pretty hot downstairs, but the fan helps and the Dramamine knocks us out pretty good. It is already light outside and the boat is gently riding the waves that can come from behind and pass under us. After a cold shower the best place to spend time is on the afterdeck, a breeze to cool us and shade from a large tarpaulin. We spend the day talking with our fellow passengers and the Captain. The ship has automatic steering, once it is on the right course and heading it is pretty much hands-off, though the captain does keep continual watch. There is radar with a proximity alarm which allows the captain short naps during the night. But for the most part he is sailing for about 32 hours straight to reach the San Blas Islands off the Panama coast. We see one or two large ships on the horizon and one other sailing yacht way out there. There are some floating logs, plastic bottles and a large Styrofoam cube just floating in the ocean. A 360 view is only of water, no land in sight.

Our cook is Nina a young Colombian lady who cooks up some very nice food in the small and very hot kitchen. Before our departure we had mashed potatoes and pork stew, lunch today is two different kinds of pasta salad and dinner a nice potato salad. Patrick stays on the Dramamine for the whole ride to San Blas, but it does not make him as drowsy as it did before. The passage is not rough by any means, but there is a good swell and the boat bobs like a cork. Fortunately nobody gets seasick and the food is appreciated by all. We are on motor power the whole way but in the afternoon the winds are good and we raise one of the fore sails.

After an awesome sunset on the ocean with no land in sight anywhere and couple of cold beers to celebrate we go to bed fairly early, tired after a day doing nothing.

Last kilometers in Colombia, we have arrived at the marina.

Our bikes wrapped in plastic, ready for transfer to the Quest which is at anchor in the bay.

Captain Goeran shuttles our bikes and Patrick to the ship first.

It has been a long night for the Captain. He takes naps during the day while the Quest is on auto-steering.

Somewhere on the Caribbean Sea. The bikes are secured on the foredeck.

Our bikes on the foredeck of the Quest. This trip is not cheap, but we are riding a 2 million dollar yacht!

Our bikes secured on the foredeck of the Quest.

Today's ride: 2 km (1 miles)
Total: 31,822 km (19,761 miles)

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