Bulldozers Threaten Club Nautico Marina

The historic Colombian port of Cartegena has long been a favorite stopover for cruisers transiting the north coast of South America. And the recent construction of the highly praised Club Nautico Marina has made layovers there more pleasant than ever. But its management’s bitterly contentious struggle with the local mayor has deteriorated to the point where the property is said to be in danger of being bulldozed soon — as was the fate of the Panama Canal YC in Colon, Panama, last February.

"There are currently over 100 boats here from at least 10 different countries," reports Marlene Verdery of the Sausalito-based Manta 42 cat Damiana. "Just when everyone feels very good about being in Colombia — feeling very welcome by the locals, and also feeling that is very safe to travel throughout the country — we are now hoping that we won’t be forced out of the bay due to not having shore access."

John Halley of Club Nautico explains, "I think that marinas, wherever they are located, live in an uncertain world. It took this marina nearly 10 years to battle for a new public concession which was given two years ago. . . Seven months into the project, the local mayor responsible for the Historic and Tourist district paid a visit requesting that the work be halted due to non-compliance of some ‘act’ on his books." After construction continued, the mayor eventually sent in a police riot squad to shut it down.

From our distant perspective, this messy situation seems to be a sort of turf battle, with the marina operators insisting that their site is on national — rather than city — property (tidal waters). In any case, the battleground has now moved into the courtrooms, where we can only hope a reasonable compromise can be reached. Closure of Club Nautico would be a devastating shock to westbound cruisers heading to the Canal, as well as for eastbound sailors heading for the islands of the Eastern Caribbean. (See the website for more info.)