No:12 Reflections on the sailing season 2025 - 2026

 

In my last blog entry for the sailing season, I am always a little philosophical as I reflect on what we have done, seen and experienced.

I am not sure whether there is a saying, expression or analogy, which says life is like a train journey. People get on your train journey at various stops or stations, some stay the whole journey, while others travel for just for one stop. I know the Japanese have a similar saying about a train journey, which says Life is like a journey so enjoy the ride, etc. Anyway….

Sailing is a bit like a train journey, you meet people along the way, some stay with you for the whole sailing season or longer, while others for just a short while.

Ivo and Mira (sv Fata Morgana) whom we buddy boated with in 2014, we still regularly have video calls with them. They spent a few years back in Canada as their children finished their schooling. They bought a bigger Cat at the end of 2024 and are now chartering around parts of the Mediterranean Sea.

Linda and John, sv Blue Moon. They spent six sailing seasons in the East Caribbean, then sold Blue Moon. We hear from them a few times during the year, which is always wonderful.

Sv Pleiterik – a lovely family, Deanne, Raymond, Miles, and Vajén; who as I write this entry, are having a wonderful time in the Galapagos Islands and will soon be embarking on the long sail of approximately 28 days to the French Polynesian Islands.

While in Curaçao at the start of the sailing season, we saw Dave and Monica on sv Evy. It was lovely catching up with them before they sailed north back up the Caribbean chain to the BVI’s.

When we first started sailing December 2013, I started a book, where I would write people’s names, boat name and where they are from and the place where we met them. If they gave us their boat card, I pasted the boat card into the book along with any relevant information. We often page through this book which gives us many special and wonderful memories. I will have to start a new one for when we start our next huge adventure across the Pacific Ocean as the book has only about one full page left.

 One of the main disappointments of this season has been the number of plastics and general rubbish

along the beautiful coastlines and beaches and out at sea. What are we doing to our world! AND HOW can we ‘make things right.” Plastics are not going to go away, so let us face facts. Plus, the huge food companies are not going to reduce their packaging as it will eat into their profits. We have been astounded by the food packaging. When we buy any food in huge quantities, we break it up and place, whatever it is in useable zip lock bags. However, many items are individually wrapped in plastic or cellophane. We have often said on our travels – The first world has created a problem for the less developed world and countries. For example: in the Guna Yala along most of their eastern coastlines that have the Caribbean Sea lapping on that side of their island, they are full of plastic and junk that has travelled across the Caribbean Sea from the East Caribbean. The Guna Yala do not have the facilities to clean their coastlines or to dispose of this waste and litter. Many islands burn the plastics but that opens another complex issue as happened on the San Blas WhatsApp group when someone asked what they should do with their rubbish. Like many times on social media, it became quite nasty and personal. Over the two months that we were in the Guna Yala, we collected three bags of rubbish, one big bag of recyclable stuff and most nights we emptied our organic stuff into the sea, like veggie and fruit peels. We noticed on some of the bigger islands like Ustupu that the locals are trying to have some sort of recycling using three different bins. It is a HUGE issue, however.

Along the same lines of challenges and changes, we and many other people, including the locals, have

noticed a change in the weather patterns. The north easterlies hang around for longer than usual; there was a lot more rain and the locals said it was much colder than usual.

The sargassum weed is a major concern and problem – another environmental issue that has been created by the warmer waters of the sea. Along with the plastics washing up on the shores of these beautiful islands, the sargassum weed is also devouring the islands. While in Shelter Bay Marina, a HUGE amount of sargassum weed flowed into the marina and amongst the boats. It smells awful and many boats needed to be towed out of the marina to clear waters, so the weed did not enter their engines and stop their engines from working. We have lots of filters and Mel checks them regularly but there is always a small chance of the weed clogging up some water inlet pipe.

Another challenge for us this year was having our Starlink router stop working and it made us realise just how dependent we have become on the internet. Good or bad – it is a tricky one to answer.

What was a game changer for me this sailing season was a washing machine on board Passages. Mel installed a small 2.5kg washing machine and it has been wonderful to use instead of a bucket to wash

our clothes.

What are our plans, well…. We intend being back with Passages in November 2026 as we prepare for the BIG and the main reason for Passages, Mel’s dream to cross the Pacific Ocean. There are still a few things that need to be done on Passages before we begin the ‘Pacific puddle jump’ as it is sometimes referred to. At present we are keeping track of several boats that are crossing the Pacific and hearing all about their wonderful and at times frustrating experiences. A common ‘issue’ is the autopilot not working. The autopilot is like cruise control – the autopilot drives the boat in the direction you have set, automatically, so you do not have to hand steer the boat. The autopilot uses power from the boat’s battery bank, whereas a wind vane just uses the wind to steer the boat. Whenever Mel hears this, he is forever grateful to have fitted the wind vane onto the boat, even though it was a major mission and nearly caused a divorce! (Only kidding but….).

So here we are at the end of another season. We are first heading to South Africa for a month before returning to Perth. On our way to South Africa, we have decided to stop over for a few days in Rio de Janeiro which should be interesting as we will be there over the Easter weekend.

Thank you to all who read our blog. It is not intended to be a brag session but a record for us of our time on Passages and an insight into another way of living and places in our wonderful and amazing world.

Until next time…..whenever that may be.

Take care, keep well, and stay safe.

Best wishes, always

Mel and Caryn

 👉Maintenance in Paradise

No 11 - Panama – Guna Yala – Banedup – the Eastern Holandes Cay, East Lemmon Cays, Chichime – our sail to Shelter Bay Marina, Colon.

 

Chichime

I thought this would be my final blog entry for this sailing season; however, we had some excitement while in Banedup in the East Holandes Cay, so I thought I would fill you in along with a YouTube clip that was created by another boat in the anchorage.

After dinner, while Mel was washing up (he is the main dishwasher while we are on Passages), I was sitting in the cockpit like I usually do, enjoying the serenity of the anchorage and ‘swinging on the anchor’, when I noticed a ketch – a yacht with two masts – one is bigger than the other , coming into the huge anchorage from what is referred to as the Hot Tub. The Hot Tub is an anchorage behind a small island, surrounded by coral reefs. I commented that it was rather late to be sailing around in this area, as there are coral reefs all around and it is best to approach any anchorage when there is good daylight. There is an unwritten ‘rule’ by the locals to be in an anchorage by 6.00pm at the latest.

Little did we know when we woke up the following morning, Saturday, that the same yacht had grounded itself quite badly on a reef. Nobody knows exactly how it happened and that is not really the point as one NEVER wants to see any vessel stuck, lopsided on a reef at the mercy of the water and

waves.

By 7.00am there were quite a few dinghies trying desperately to help the lone sailor – a mature German sailor. After about two hours of trying to do all that could be done and while the tide was in, it was soon realised that a stronger, more powerful boat was needed to pull the yacht off the reef and the best time was later in the day at about 4.00pm, when the next tide was in. In this area the morning tides are higher than the afternoon tides, but the tidal range is minimal.

As is the norm now – fortunately or unfortunately – WhatsApp is the way of communicating with everyone in the area, i.e., if you have joined the San Blas WhatsApp group.

(BTW – it is driving us a bit crazy with all the messages, so we have turned off the notifications.)

A message was put out for people to help on the boat with winching, etc., and not to bring their dinghy to the boat - Mel put his hand up as we have had a few issues with our outboard motor. It is just one of those things that happens when living on a boat and is a whole other story which I will not bore you with, other than saying Mel has been doing LOTS of rowing!!!

Just before 4.00pm, Mel was collected and taken to the stranded boat. I was watching what was going through the binoculars from Passages and all I can say is I saw Mel winching away (against an anchor

they had put out to kedge the boat off). He was exhausted when he returned to Passages. Well, the good news was the yacht was pulled off the reef with minimal damage – Luckily it was an old boat with a full keel. We can be snobs when referring to different makes/types of boats.

Mel said the owner of the boat was quite traumatised as he thought he was about to lose his boat for good.  It was wonderful to see how many people galvanised to assist and offered help afterwards, making sure he was okay.

👉YouTube clip of vessel being pulled off the reef.

Mel can be seen towards the end throwing lines to a dinghy as he was ‘stationed' on the side that was heeling over into the water.

Thankfully our last day in the beautiful anchorage of the East Holandes was uneventful.

On Monday morning 9 March, we decided to leave Banedup, East Holandes for the East Lemmon Cays, which was 11 nmiles away. We sailed the whole way which was wonderful and reminded us of all the positives of sailing and having a sailboat. It is quite amazing, as can be seen (hopefully) in the photos of the different depths. For example, on entering this anchorage, we went from 45 – 50 metres (dark blue)

to 5 metres (turquoise) below the keel in a blink of an eye.

 

While we were here, we were visited by Chandra – sv/Serendipity, also from Fremantle and who we had met while in the East Holandes – Banedup. We rowed over to his lovely cat for sundowners.

We stayed in the East Lemmons for 3 days, then sailed the very short distance to Chichime, which is our final anchorage in the Guna Yala/San Blas Islands.

Chichime is the first island/anchorage in the Guna Yala Islands that most people anchor in when they sail from Colon, Panama or from Colombia because it is a very open and wide anchorage and it is closest to Porvenir, one of the two entry points to Panama in the Guna Yala. The other being further SE

in Puerto Obaldia, where we ‘checked in’. There were lots of tourist boats with day trippers, coming and going from the mainland to the island. We enjoyed our time here despite the anchorage being a little rollie, as the waters were beautiful and clear and so refreshing as the heat and humidity has been quite relentless (and it’s their winter). We had lunch at one of the restaurants, although we are starting to get a bit tired of deep-fried chicken, rice or plantains and a very small salad.

After three nights at Chichime, we saw there was a good weather window to sail west along the Caribbean coast of Panama as we would now be out of the Guna Yala territory. We left early on Saturday morning (March 14^th) arriving in Linton Bay anchorage at just before 4.00pm. As we were anchoring, Jeroen and Carin on sv/White Pearl came passed us in their dinghy. It is always great seeing familiar faces.

Linton Bay has a marina and boatyard, plus one of the best chandleries in the area, which always gets

Linton Bay.

Mel excited. We spent quite a while in the chandlery as there is always something to buy for Passages.

We had dinner at a local restaurant at the marina with Jeroen and Carin – this time we had a tasty Thai Chicken curry for a change.

While we were in Linton Bay, we noticed a cat with two kangaroos on either side of the boat, entering the anchorage. The name of the boat was Billaroo, and the occupants were Sue and Kerry from Mackay, Queensland. They came over to Passages and introduced themselves and asked if we would like to join them for dinner that evening at the next anchorage where there is a small marina, called Panamarina. To get to this anchorage, we went in Billaroo’s dinghy and travelled through the mangroves. It was quite special and a little hairy especially in the darkness, but we had a lovely meal and evening.

Portabello anchorage.

The following day, we sailed to Portabello, which is the next main anchorage along the coast and the last one before the entrance to the Panama Canal at Bahia Limon and where Shelter Bay Marina is located. Portabello was celebrating their 429^th birthday while we were there. It is quite a historical place as Christopher Columbus used it as a trading town. It has an old fort and Customs House, all very dilapidated though. Early in the morning and as the sun was setting, we would hear the guttural sounds of the howler monkeys. The bird life in this area was quite prolific as well.

Portabello is also well known among the sailing community for having one of the best pizza restaurants with a dinghy dock in Panama. Naturally we spent some time in town and had to try out the pizza restaurant. We were not disappointed. The only downside was the fact that the weather was awful and Mel had to row. When it rains here in Panama, it buckets down like a huge body of water falling from the sky. It is quite incredible. A positive is it isn’t cold but a lovely temperate after the rain.

We spent 3 nights in Portabello and then sailed our last sail of the season to the anchorage outside of Shelter Bay Marina. This anchorage can become quite busy as many boats that are making the Canal crossing, wait here for the advisor who must be onboard your boat, when going through the Canal.

On our approach to the Panama Canal, we had never seen so many container ships or tankers anchored. It was fascinating to see and hear on the radio the organisation and the flow of these huge vessels,

Outside the marina with a few big ships.

entering and departing the Panama Canal. We knew we would have to radio Cristóbal Signal Station asking for permission to enter Bahai Limon and the breakwater leading to the Panama Canal.

When we did this, the official just said to watch out for any ships entering and exiting the entrance, as if we wouldn’t be watching out for these huge vessels. On our AIS, we could see the movement of some ships, so waited for one to exit the breakwater, before we made our mad dash across the entrance and safely to the anchorage. There were quite a few ships anchored close to our anchorage as we could hear their generators humming along.

We had decided to arrive at the anchorage outside the marina the day before we had booked to stay at the marina, so we could make an early start into the marina, as we knew we had quite a lot of work to do on Passages preparing her for storage. While we were in Shelter Bay Marina, we met up with Iris and Peter sv IP – we last saw them when they were leaving Santa Marta, Colombia for Panama, and once again Jeroen and Carin sv White Pearl and Sue and Kerry sv Billaroo.

The entrance to Shelter Bay Marina - Mel was
at the top of the mast.

In Shelter Bay Marina there is a special vibe as many or most of the boats in the marina are preparing to cross the Panama Canal or have just completed their crossing. An indication that a boat would soon be making the crossing were the big fenders and bright blue lines on the vessel. The fenders would either be bright fluorescent red or white. Plus, there would be many trolley loads of supplies being carted to the vessel.

So here we are at the end of the sailing season. Passages is back on the hard with all her covers on to protect her from the sun. We always have such mixed feelings leaving Passages as she is our home for half the year and we do worry whether we have prepared her enough to withstand the weather conditions, wherever she is. Panama experiences a lot of rain and the humidity is oppressive. We have organised someone to check her twice a month, making sure the dehumidifier is working and that she is okay.

I intend writing one more blog post, reflecting on our sailing season – which has been a bit of a challenge, particularly keeping the blog going without Starlink but…….

So, until next time…..

Take care, keep well, and stay safe.

Best wishes, always

Mel and Caryn

 

Children having a wonderful time in Chichime.

Passages on her way to the storage yard.

Shelter Bay Marina from top of the mast.

No 10: Panama – Guna Yala – Green Island, Esnasdup, Banedup – the Eastern Holandes Cay, Chichime.

 

Green Island.

 Well, here we are in the heart of the beautiful Guna Yala Islands – it is picture postcard perfect. You know the small islands covered with palm trees, surrounded by beautiful crystal-clear blue waters.

From Rio Diablo, we sailed to Green Island. It only took us an hour from taking up the anchor to putting it back down and yes, we sailed the WHOLE 6nmiles. The prevailing winds are NE, and we are travelling NW up the island chain. The one downside to being in these parts are there are plenty of other boats, but it is not nearly as crowded as the anchorages have become in the East Caribbean.

Green Island – well we walked around most of the island, swam in the perfect waters and just enjoyed our time swinging on the anchor. I don’t want to make you all envious, but I think over the last few blog

posts, I am going to sound like a stuck record. One negative are the flies and bugs. If the wind is not blowing, it’s not fun being outside particularly at sunset. While we were at Green Island many charter boats spent time in the anchorage. They would drop their anchor around lunch time, some would spend the night but by mid-morning the following day, they would be heading off somewhere else.

 The weather turned on us as well while at Green Island. According to the forecast it stated Tuesday (24^th February) would be a very wet, windy and overcast day, so we thought we would head over to another small island, Esnasdup, which

One of the little boys on Green Island
was keen to show us the starfish.

would provide us with the necessary wind protection. However, the awful weather came through on the Monday (23^rd February), so we spent the day bunkered down on the boat, keeping a watchful eye on the anchor alarm and other boats. Tuesday 24^th February, ended up being a wonderful, sunny blue sky, type of day, so we headed for Esnasdup.

There wasn’t much to do in Esnasdup as the island was covered in palm trees and the beach line was small, depending on the tide. The waters were lovely and clear – I have found the temperature of the water to be perfect as I struggle to stay in waters that are too cold (below 28degrees – I know, ridiculous). We spent 4 days in Esnasdup and ventured to the other small island close by called Banerdup where there was a small shop selling fruit and vegetables. Every day we were visited by at least one boat selling either mola’s or fruit and vegetables. Although our food stocks are running extremely low, we certainly will not be starving due to the lovely fresh fruit and vegetables available.

While we were in Esnasdup, the Guna Revolution celebrations took place – February 25.

Banedup - what was available on the
island.

A little bit of history…Back in 1750, the Gunas became uncharacteristically violent against the settlers, who at the time were mainly Spanish. A treaty was signed between the Spanish authorities of Gran Colombia in 1785 and the high chief of the Gunas. This allowed them to live in peace, and it is when the coconut trade between the two ‘countries’ started. Unfortunately, at the present time, this trade is not going very well for the Gunas as it seems the Colombians don’t want as many coconuts as before.

In 1903 the Republic of Panama was established, and repressive police posts were established. A Latino Governor, elected by the Panamanian government and residing in Porvenir (one of the main entry points to the Guna Yala area) was established to rule over the Guna Yala as a form of dictatorship. The Gunas were still very loyal to the Colombians which lead to many clashes between the Panamanian authorities and the Guna people/warriors. On February 21, 1925, the Guna warriors rebelled, killing Panamanian police and Gunas of mixed heritage. This rebellion was called the ‘Holocausto de las Razas’ – hence the flag and the swastika which has no connection to the Nazi symbol.

After the rebellion, Cacique or the high chief declared total independence under the name of the Guna Yala ‘Republic of the Guna’. When this news reached the government in Panama City, a military campaign was launched. However, due to the quick intervention of the USA Navy, the U.S.S. Cleveland, an awful and bloody retaliation was prevented. Since then, the Guna people live in relative peace with the Panamanian government.

 

Guna Yala is officially part of Panama, but it is ruled autonomously by the Guna general ‘congreso.’

On March 4, 1925, the Gunas agreed to be part of the Republic of Panama, under condition that the Panamanian government respect their tribal laws, traditions and culture in the Comarca de Guna Yala. Subsequently, there have been movements towards independence, marked by partial autonomy in 1930, the recognition as an official reserve in 1938, the Guna constitution in 1945 and the grant of full administrative and juridical powers in 1953 – information taken directly from The Panama Cruising Guide, 3^rd Edition by Eric Bauhaus pg. 206

To quote Nele Kantule “We respect and admire the great cultures of the world, and we hope to be respected as a dignified and humane people”.

PRIDE, IDENTITY AND RESISTANCE OF THE GUNA PEOPLE – this is one of their sayings/mottos.

After 4 days at Esnasdup, we decided to head up to the Holandes chain of islands. These islands are the furthest islands away from the mainland. They are only about 10nmiles from the mainland so many day

East Holandes - Banedup.

trippers also make their way to the Holandes. We sailed to Banedup – it was a very slow but comfortable sail. The anchorage is very popular, so it was quite full when we arrived, and over the course of the time we were anchored here, it emptied out but soon became full again.

While we were in Banedup, we were visited by Chandra – an ophthalmologist from Bunbury W.A. Like us, he spends half the year on his huge cat and the other half working in Bunbury. We also met up with Wayne and Rosiland from Sydney who are doing a circumnavigation on their kat – CathayOz. They will be going through the Panama Canal in three weeks’ time.

 We were also fortunate to meet up with a couple who we had met briefly before leaving the marina in Santa Marta, Karin and Jeroen from the Netherlands on their boat, White Pearl. We spent an enjoyable time together over lunch at one of the two restaurants found on the island of Banedup. They have been sailing for over 6 years and are in the process of selling their boat as they prepare for the next chapter of their adventures.

While in Banedup we enjoyed the beach – it was a lovely big beach by San Blas standards, where we could feel like you’ve done some exercise. Not much but some. There were two restaurants, as mentioned previously, with equally as good food, service and Starlink!!!!

 The one thing we have noticed while being in Guna Yala is the amount of albino people. You can only feel sorry for them as the sun and UV is high and they must keep themselves completely covered. A few have asked if we have any sunscreen, which we have given what we can of our supplies. One of the reasons for this is that since the 1925 revolution, no Guna is allowed to marry a non-Guna. If this happens, they can be expelled from the Guna Yala. (and I am not sure what happened when Pablo from Mamitupu married an English lady).

Our time on Passages is ending as we prepare to make our way further west, towards Shelter Bay Marina – Colon.

We are hoping to sail to the Lemmon Cays, which also has an anchorage called Banedup and then to Chichime which is one of the last anchorages on the western side of the Guna Yala. From this point, we will be sailing along the coastline of Panama and no longer in the Guna Yala area. Our plan is to take a week sailing along the coastline stopping off at two anchorages along the way, as these sails will be quite short. The longest sail will be from Chichime, Guna Yala to Linton Bay anchorage, Panama. This will be approximately 40nmiles – which we hope will only take us about 6 hours as the wind should be aft of beam – not quite behind us, but on our side.

The next blog post will be our last for this sailing season and as I always tend to do, is reflect on the season we have had. It will be quite interesting going into Shelter Bay Marina, as we must pass through the main entry point of the Panama Canal, where EVERY vessel MUST go through on their way to the Canal.

So, until next time…..

Take care, keep well, and stay safe.

Best wishes, always

Mel and Caryn

 

No 9 - Passages 2026 Panama – the Guna Yala Islands – Ustupu, Mamitupu, Snug Harbour, Rio Diablo/Nargana.

 

Ustupu - the main water tanks.

It was a long hard slog up to Ustupu, but we eventually arrived and dropped anchor in the main anchoring area. Sv Dalyan – Meric, had arrived the day earlier, and he came over to our boat to welcome us and to pass on some information about Ustupu. We noticed as we were entering Ustupu, how many of the Guna Revolutionary flags were flying. A little later the officials arrived asking for the anchoring fee and insisted we buy a Guna revolutionary flag, as the month of February was their celebration month. We were in a delicate situation so thought we’d fly the flag while we were in Ustupu to respect their culture BUT it will be taken down asap.

The revolutionary flag is the second Guna flag and was created by Waga Ebingili at age 11. Apparently, he had a dream of a flag with three red stripes, a white centre, and a black cross and shared his dream with his grandfather. They interpreted its meaning:

• Red Stripes: Represent the blood spilled by Guna fighters during the revolution.

• White Stripe: Signifies the peace and purity that the Guna people uphold as a guiding principle.

• Black Cross: Reflects the suffering of those who fought against oppression.

Later, the white stripe was replaced by yellow to represent prosperity. Today, the Guna Revolution Flag remains widely recognized across Panama. Although some find the black cross controversial, it purely represents the Guna people’s struggle for justice and unity.

The ‘swastika’ on the Guna Yala flag aligns with the counterclockwise version, connecting it to themes of balance, cosmic cycles, and harmony with nature. Guna Yala flag of San Blas, Panama, with its counterclockwise ‘swastika’ (卍), or the ‘swastika’ represents the night and karma. Information taken from Wikipedia

We had decided to stop off at Ustupu due to the awful weather predicted for the next few days. Ustupu anchorage offered protection from the expected 35 plus knot winds coming from the NW North and NE, plus the swell, as we were behind the island. We knew we could buy the odd fresh veggie, freshly baked bread rolls and there were several local restaurants. Ustupu is made up of two islands joined together by a few bridges, plus there is a small airport and we would often hear a small aircraft preparing to land, as the anchorage was in the flight path. In fact, there are quite a few small airports on the various islands in Guna Yala. Some are old remnants from WWII, that were built by the U.S.A.

We ended up spending a week anchored in Ustupu. The current weather patterns have been very

unusual for this time of year, even the local Guna people are complaining as there has been plenty of rain. This time of the year is usually their dry season. Some Guna people have been saying that it is cold – well we are not complaining as at least it hasn’t been hot and humid.

What has been fascinating to watch are the men going out in their ulus (dug-out canoes) to their fields, regardless of the weather conditions. Many people do not have outboard engines, so they row out across the bay to some of the outlying islands. We watched three men rowing out across the bay that we had motored across, in swells I would not have felt comfortable in, sitting in Passages, let alone in a little dugout canoe.

We saw some youngsters enjoying themselves in an ulu. They rowed out to the middle of the anchorage/bay and then jump overboard, then scrabbled to catch the side of the ulu as it drifted down stream. We thought they were mad as the waters were not great. We didn’t attempt to make any water while we were in Ustupu as like in many islands, toilets are situated along the water’s edge and the odd time we would see some ‘interesting’ things floating along.  It didn’t take long for Passages hull to look dirty.

Many people, mostly the Guna women, make mola’s. (We saw the odd man making a mola). We had been shown a few mola’s on the various islands that we had visited so far. The women wear mola’s across their chest and waist areas. Some are extremely elaborate and either have geometrical designs on them or birds/wildlife found in these parts. Most of them are done by hand although I did see a very old Singer sewing machine being used. Seeing the sewing machine brought back memories as I learnt how to sew at school using one of those machines.

Ustupu is a very significant and important village in the Guna Yala culture, as it played a significant part in the Revolution of 1925 and one of the founding members and leaders, Nele Kantule was born in

The island where Nele Kantule is buried.

Ustupu and is now buried on the island that was behind us, in the anchorage.

 On our last day/evening in the Ustupu anchorage, we had a little bit of excitement. We were at the restaurant on the ‘waterfront’, when we noticed a sail going past the entrance to the anchorage. The yacht put down anchor under sail, which was rather impressive. Pandemonium erupted – the officials and locals sitting along the dockside (which there were many and seem to be there the whole day) became very animated and asked us if we could tell the recently arrived yacht to move. The reason for the drama was that they had dropped their anchor right in front of the water tower, which is fed from the mainland via a pipe on the seabed. We knew that many islands have water towers and it is a cardinal sin to drop anchor right in front of the water tower.

We dinghied over to the boat to inform the two guys, Steve, originally from Perth Australia and Patrick from the USA, about the locals wanted them to move their yacht. They told us their engine had died on them and they had spent the whole night bobbing along, waiting for good light to enter the anchorage. By this time, the officials had come over so Steve and Patrick explained to them what had happened. The officials were quick to hook them up and move them further up the anchorage.

This wasn’t the end of the ‘drama’ – while I was drying the dishes after dinner, I was peering out the galley/kitchen porthole when I said to Mel, ‘I think Steve’s boat is dragging’. Mel popped his head outside to look and sure enough, the yacht was dragging, heading towards Dalyan – Meric’s boat. Mel sounded the hooter and flashed the huge spotlight we have onto Steve’s boat, as they were none the wiser. Meric responded quite quickly to the sound of the hooter and saw what was about to happen. Steve’s boat collided with Meric’s, but we later found out that no damage was caused.

Steve tied his boat alongside Meric’s for the night. The following morning, before we left the anchorage, Meric towed Steve further up the anchorage, making sure he had let out enough chain to prevent his boat from dragging, before Meric also left the anchorage

After being in the Ustupu anchorage for a week, we left for Mamitupu anchorage, while Meric left for further up the island chain. We had to motor the 6NM to Mamitupu as the winds were from the bow and we were limited by the surrounding reefs. We knew that the next few days there was some more unsettled weather, so we didn’t want to move too far.

I have mentioned this a few times that Passages is a heavy boat, so she doesn’t handle swell when under motor. We knew we would not be able to make any anchorage further west with the current winds and swells.

Mamitupu 

We had only been in Mamitupu anchorage for about 15 minutes, when another boat Ara, anchored slightly further along. Nancy and Steve from Camden in Maine came over to us for a cup of tea and we had a good chin wag. They were planning on only staying in the anchorage for a night before heading further down towards Isla Pinos, where we had recently been.

We ended up staying in Mamitupu for a week, due to the weather and the awful swells. While we were anchored a few boats anchored alongside us. Some were going further down the island chain, while others were like us slowly making their way up the chain.

It was good to have some company. We met Christophe and Benedikte, French Canadians who were making their way to Cartagena. John from the USA, Steve and Helena from the U.K (the creators of NFL), and Carla and Volker from Glucksberg, Germany – near the Danish border.

In Mamitupu, Pablo is a well-known individual as he is mentioned in the various books and apps. He speaks English and was once married to an English woman and lived in North London for over 6 years.

Pablo and his current wife - all the Mola's.

According to all the information on Mamitupu, Pablo ran the coconut press which extracted coconut oil from coconuts after they have been shredded by hand. It was a ‘must see’ if you stopped off in Mamitupu. Unfortunately, the coconut presses were not working. Since we knew we would be in the anchorage for a few days (it ended up being 8 days due to the awful weather) Mel offered to look at them both but promising Pablo nothing. Anyway, Mel was able to get one of the presses going but unfortunately the other one was beyond repair. It was quite frustrating as Mel had to contend with island time mentality and time frame.

We eventually left Mamitupu and meandered our way behind the island chain to Snug Harbour where we met up with Carla and Volker on their beautiful cat, Momo.

Ailigandi.

As we motored towards Snug Harbour we passed a few traditional Guna villages. One village, Ailigandi, was made famous by Johnny Golf who was an aircraft pilot, who worked for Al Capone. He spent his senior years hiding out in Ailigandi.

Ailigandi like Ustupu was also a significant place during the 1925 Revolution, as its chief at the time, Simral Colman, like Nele Kantula was one of the main leaders in the revolt.

Snug Harbour was beautiful. Your typical picture postcard tropical island, with palm trees and reefs. The anchorage was protected and had beautiful clean fresh water, which was a relief as we were getting quite low in our water reserves. It was great to be making water once again. We enjoyed the surroundings and the lovely waters, where Mel did a bit of snorkelling and we both went for a few swims in the beautiful waters.

Snug Harbour received its name from the English schooners that used to stop for coconuts in the days of sailing merchant ships.

After spending two nights in Snug Harbour, there was an opportunity for us to sail, yes SAIL, further up the island chain, so we took it. We were running very low in a few basic food stuffs, which was pretty good considering the last time we had done any shopping, bar a few tomatoes and bread rolls from

Snug Harbour.

Ustupu, was in Santa Marta. We decided to go to Rio Diablo or Nargana before we headed for the true, tropical and touristy part of Guna Yala, where there are the beautiful clear blue waters and white sandy beaches framed with palm trees.

Nargana is not your traditional Guna village as the people have decided to adopt the more western type of living and dress code. Many of the buildings were concrete and not the traditional stick and coconut palm construction. The anchorage was huge and quite active as there were many boats coming and going due to the small airport. Every morning, we would see a few small aircraft land and then take off back to Panama City. In Guna Yala, there are chartered boats, but they are not like in other Caribbean places as the crew are locals. You can not just charter a boat and go off sailing; you must have a local crew. Nargana was a dropping off and collection

Nargana 

point.

Next time, I will write a bit about the revolution as the national day is on February 25, with huge celebrations planned.

So……until then……Take care, keep well, and stay safe.

Best wishes, always

Mel and Caryn

 

Ustupu.

The boat being towed away from the village water pipeline.

Mamitupu.

A trade boat from Colombia.

There is so MUCH plastic on many of the islands, carried over from across the Caribbean Sea.

I am slowly making progress with my bread making skills. Here are some bread roll

Snug Harbour.