We made landfall in Providencia, Colombia after a two day/night sail from the San Blas islands, leaving a well-worn trail across that archipelago and vowing to return. Reach performed excellently upwind at around 60* apparent angle and even as the winds lightened, we were able to sail the entire trip save one hour thanks to our apparent wind.
Providencia is surrounded by a 32 km barrier reef from end to end. The entrance to the harbor was azure blue as we crossed the shallow banks and passed [Captain Henry] Morgan's Head.
The scenic bay is protected by a sister island Santa Catalina, so we anchored between Morgan's Head and Morgan's Ass up the hill. We promptly took a hike out to the point on Santa Catalina and had spectacular views of the harbor.
En route we discovered that Dave & Britta on Anam Cara took the same weather window as us.
As it turns out, several boats made the trip from Panama the same days we did and many more trickled in over the next few days, making for a crowded check-in with Mr. Bush.
We enjoyed catching up over some wonderful meals, found a spot to do yoga in the mornings and then went out to hit the reefs for a snorkel.
The reefs are protected here and I noted that fairy basslets, rock beauty's, angelfish and hogfish are around every corner.
A curious black grouper kept checking us out like he knew Mark didn't have his speargun and a cute ocean triggerfish followed me everywhere I went ~ my new pet.
