Hundreds of sailboats and ships from 12 countries came together Thursday for the third “Sail Cartagena de Indias” festival along Colombia’s Caribbean coast, national media reported.
Roughly 1,600 sailors converged on the northern Colombian city Thursday, the El Espectador newspaper reported.
The sailors came from ships from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, the United States, Holland, Honduras, England, Mexico, Peru, the Dominican Republic, and Venezuela.
The event, which took place in the city in 2006 and 2010 is being held from May 15 to May 19, according to the website for the event.
“The Sail Cartagena de Indias 2014 is the largest international naval operation carried out in Colombia and is part of an effort to strengthen ties of friendship and international cooperation with fraternal countries and nations with which we share common interests, such as combating the various international threats,” Vice Admiral Leonardo Santamaria, commander of the Naval Force of the Caribbean and operative director of Sail Cartagena de Indias 2014 said, according to the El Universal newspaper.
A torrential rain Thursday did not stop participants and spectators alike from attending the kickoff event, at which the 15 vessels, eight sailboats and seven ships, docked at navy pier La Bodeguita, in the center, Edurbe, Manga, and Sociedad Portuaria.
From 9AM in the morning the boats began to arrive one by one to the bay while still more people attented the area. A heavy rain began to fall, but this did not prevent interested citizens and tourists from entering the docks at 2PM, according to El Universal newspaper.
“SAIL , is the name given to the global meeting of large ships in a harbor, it is a task that can be considered simple , but nothing is further from reality in the case of ships and sailboats with their training programs, commitments, and world cruises planned over a year in advance,” according to the website of Sail Cartagena de Indias 2014.
Ships and sailboats that arrived to Cartagena Thursday are part of the cruise “Sails South America 2014” on which they have visited ports of Itajai (Brazil), Punta del Este (Uruguay), Mar del Plata and Ushuaia (Argentina), Cape Horn, Punta Arenas, Talcahuano and Valparaiso (Chile), Callao (Peru), and Manta (Ecuador), according to the events website.
On Monday May 19 the crew leaves Cartagena and departs in the direction of La Guaira (Venezuela ), Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic), Veracruz (Mexico ).
Sources
- 15 buques de 12 países engalanan la bahía de la Heroica (El Universal)
- Veleros y buques adornan las aguas de Cartagena (El Universal)
- Empezó el Sail Cartagena 2014 (El Espectador)
- Sail Cartagena de Indias 2014
