PLEASE NOTE: As of writing this post, our Starlink modem has stopped working, so we are now back to the days, when we relied on mobile network coverage. I will NOT be able to upload any videos.
The WIFI where we are is absolutely awful
– when I have better coverage I will add photos to our blog. Please bear with
me as I face a few technical issues.
Well, here we are in Panama. A significant place
in the world due to the Panama Canal. There have been a few times since
arriving here, that I pinch myself as I often say to Mel, 20 years ago, I would
never have thought I would be in Panama.
We eventually left Santa Marta marina as planned
after lunch time on Wednesday 14 January and spent the night anchored in the
bay, ready for an early morning start on Thursday morning. We had obviously
been monitoring the weather and knew we had a small, 2 – 3-day weather window
to sail to Panama. When we plan our sailing route, we use an app called Predictwind.
You put in parameters of our yacht, how fast it can go given the angle and
speed of the wind, length of boat, how low must the wind be before you switch
the engine on, etc. All this information assists us in planning when to depart
and when we are expected to arrive at the destination. Remember, we are dealing
with the weather which has its own plans despite us mortal humans trying to
make sense of it.
During any
long-distance sail, we download the weather twice a day (morning and evening)
and during these times there can be quite a few different and conflicting
information depending on the different weather models. (This is when Starlink
is working)
We decided to leave Santa Marta and say ‘Goodbye’
to Colombia by 5.30am on Thursday morning. The anchor was up by 5.25am and we
were motoring out west towards Panama. To begin with, the swell was unpleasant
and for the first time in a VERY long time, I suffered from seasickness for the
first day of our three-day sail.
By our second day of sailing, we realised that we
might arrive in Puerto Obaldia, late Saturday afternoon or early evening which
wasn’t a great option. Puerto Obaldia has an extremely bad reputation for being
an awful anchorage, particularly if you are in a monohull. We never like to
arrive in any anchorage in the dark, plus by the many reports, this was an
anchorage you wanted to leave as soon as possible. We also knew that we needed
to give ourselves enough time to be able to sail/motor to a safe, calm anchorage,
after checking into Panama at Puerto Obaldia.
Pleiterik, who had arrived in Panama about 10
days before us, warned us about how bad the swell was in Puerto Obaldia and the
struggles they experienced to put their dinghy down into the water, to go
ashore to check in. We had also read on NFL (NoForeignLand.com) a mixture of
reviews on arriving in Puerto Obaldia.
Two of the main weather models on Predictwind
said that we would have to put the boat’s engine on at a certain point as the
wind would be below 4 knots. We decided that we would spend an extra night out
at sea by NOT putting our engine on, reduce sail and just bob along, hoping to
arrive in Puerto Obaldia between 6 – 8.00am, Sunday morning.
The wind
was a lot higher than forecast so we only had a handkerchief of a sail out and
managed to arrive in Puerto Obaldia as planned, just before 7.00am.
But…oh my goodness….. the swell!!!!
Firstly, no sailor is comfortable anchoring on a
lee shore – that is having the stern/back of the boat towards the land and the
wind howling and pushing you towards the shore. It is dangerous for obvious
reasons. Thankfully, we knew from the various reviews that the holding in the
anchorage was great.
As always in situations like this, Mel put out
plenty of chain.
This was only the beginning of the fun and
games…… We now had to put the dinghy down in 2-metre swells and try to attach
the outbound motor to the dinghy. We had been in situations like this before
BUT NEVER with such a swell. Pleiterik had advised us to have the engine on the
dinghy before we arrived, but we couldn’t do that as our outboard motor is
quite a heavy one and it would damage the whole arch and fixtures at the back
of the boat. It just wasn’t doable. Eventually after a rather tense period of
trying to work out what we should do, Mel decided he would row to land. So that
is what happened.
Thankfully, we had not anchored too far from the
closest pier but there was more to come.
The immigration and customs officials were all
very friendly and we had completed what we thought were all the formalities
within less than an hour. However, the military had other ideas. We knew from
Pleiterik that the military would want to ‘board’ the boat. Let’s just say
there was a slight misunderstanding or communication mix up. We went back to
the boat and waited a while, only to realise that the official would only be
coming to our boat on our dinghy. So, Mel, left me on the boat and he rowed
back to the pier to collect the officials.
Two Officials decided to come out to our boat……..
well Mel had rowed halfway, when they told him to take them back to the pier.
As I came onto deck to assist with their arrival, I saw one of them take a
photo of Passages, then indicate to Mel to take them back. As Mel was rowing,
he was wetting one of the officials who must have got fed up with being wet. Anyway,
who cares as soon as we could we hoisted the dinghy back onto the boat, lifted
the anchor and headed to Puerto Escoses anchorage, 20 NM away.
A bit of history about the San Blas or as the
traditional Kuna Indians prefer you calling it the Guna Yala. San Blas is the
colonial name of the area. It is spelt Guna Yala, but you say Kuna – K.
The Panama
Cruising Guide by Eric Bauhaus is where I have obtained the following
information about the Kuna Indians.
The San Blas Islands consist of over 340
islands. They are unique in that they are home to the Kuna Indians who have and
are trying hard to reserve their culture and traditions. This area of Panama is also one of the most preserved
and untouched areas of natural rainforest left in the world. Some areas haven’t
even been explored yet. The Kuna Indians control this area of Panama and have a
deep respect for the area. Nobody owns the land as it is not divided by fences.
The Kunas are small people, like the pygmies. They are very friendly and
peaceful and have a strict hierarchy of tribal leaders.
“Each village has three ‘Sailas” (chiefs)
who hold the highest authority at the village level. Three “Caciques” or high
chiefs rule the nation as a whole; each represents his part of the land. Of
these, one is elected supreme leader of the Kuna Nation. Sailas are much more
than political leaders as they are holders of the Kuna spiritualism, poesy,
medicinal knowledge and history” – this is taken directly from Eric Bauhaus’s
book 3rd edition pg. 205.
We
eventually dropped our anchor in Puerto Escoses, which was surrounded by
tropical jungle. The waters looked calm, but we knew we would not be able to
swim as crocodiles were in the area. It was so peaceful and calm but extremely
dark once the sun set, which made for the evening sky to look spectacular with
all the stars.
Soon after settling down for the evening, we were
visited by one of the elders in their wooden dugout canoe/boat, called ‘ulus’
to pay an anchoring fee. We were expecting this as this is the norm here in Guna
Yala country. We had to take a photo of the money transaction taking place as
evidence that the money had been received. In other islands/anchorages we knew
we would or may receive a written receipt.
We slept like babies, as we were exhausted after
our sail to Panama.
The following day, we pottered around on the boat
and were visited by one of the local families who asked us to charge their
battery banks and mobile phone. Cesio, one of the men, could speak some English.
This is also a common practise to be asked to charge mobile phones, etc.,
especially in the more remote and isolated islands and anchorages. We were
later invited to their home and had our photo taken with them. The men seem
quite outspoken whereas the women seem quite shy and reserved.
We spent five nights anchored in Puerto Escoses
and enjoyed the quiet seclusion of the anchorage as all we could hear were the
birds or the howler monkeys early in the morning. During our time, a few other
men came from another part of the inlet asking us to charge one of his power
tools and we charged a boom box, another mobile phone and power back for Cesio
and family.
A bit of history about Puerto Escoses –
in 1698, William Patterson organized and financed an expedition to establish a
settlement in the Bay of Puerto Escoses. William Patterson was the cofounder of
the Bank of England. Fort Andrew was built by over 1000 Scots who ended up
having an awful time with disease and starvation. After 2 years, the project
came to an end. As they returned to Scotland, another expedition left Scotland
and had another go to establish Fort Andrew. This was also a disaster, as out
of the 3000 people involved, 2000 people died. In 1702, the project was scrapped
for good. It is difficult to see and find any remnants of Fort Andrew. -
Information from Eric Bauhaus’s book 3rd edition pg. 278.
From Puerto Escoses, we motored to Suledup which
was just under 6nmiles away. Unfortunately, in this part of the islands, due to
the direction of the wind, motoring is the norm.
Entering the anchorage at Suledup needed us to
keep an eye on the depth and coral heads but once we were passed the tricky
parts, it was magical. Pure paradise. We were completely protected by either
the hill or the reefs and mangroves around us. We were not alone as another
boat from Turkey, Dalyan, the skipper’s name is Meyrick, had arrived a few
minutes before us. The water was suitable for swimming and for making water.
Thank goodness!
The nearest town to the anchorage is called
Caledonia. We dinghied over to the island, skirting around the mangroves and
reefs. We eventually found somewhere to tie up the dinghy, and it felt good to
be able to be on land and to stretch our legs. We knew we had to be respectful
and not take photos of people only buildings. We also knew from NFL that we
could organise a meal at Doña Amelia, so we arranged to have Sunday lunch. The
view was spectacular and the meal consisted of deep-fried chicken and
plantains. A very traditional meal in this part of the world.
While in Suledup, we had quite a few local people
coming to the boat asking to trade mangoes or plantains for something. We also
knew this would happen, so while in Santa Marta, we had bought quite a few
small packets of rice and bottles of oil, plus some lady products and school
essentials.
On Australia Day, we decided to move a little
further north, to the anchorage at Isla Pino. Most of the journey was behind
the island of Caledonia, weaving between some very shallow areas. We arrived in
our new anchorage by teatime ready to enjoy some cup-cakes I had baked to
celebrate Australia Day. (Blue berry
cupcakes – I added some cranberries, so they represented the Australian flag).
Isla Pino or Tupak as it is also referred
to, means whale in Kuna as the island resembles a whale coming out of the sea.
This island had been used for centuries
by pirates and sailors as a landmark. In 1571, Sir Francis Drake planned his
attack on Nombre de Dios (Nombre de Dios was the oldest continuously inhabited
European settlement in the continental Americas. Developed as a
major port of call for the Spanish treasure
fleet,[2] Nombre de
Dios was the most significant port for shipping in the Americas between 1540
and 1580. It was dominated by Spanish colonial traffic. – information taken directly from Wikipedia).
The boat, Dalyan later joined us in Isla Pino,
and we organised to meet at the main village dock the following morning, where Juan
David would welcome us and show us around his community. Juan David introduced
us to one of the three chiefs, who gave us permission to be shown around the
village by Juan David. He explained various aspects of Guna life. Juan David is
very passionate about his heritage and spreading this knowledge to others. His
English was pretty good. He has a few students who he is teaching them English
as he wants to encourage tourism on the island and provide opportunities for
the younger generation. However, like in many or most parts of the world, the
use of mobile phones and the internet have eroded away some of the traditional
ways of life, as the population in the village is dwindling as more people move
to Panama City or Colon.
Our
current plan is to slowly move up north, along the island chain, weather
dependent. For example, according to Predictwind, we are expecting strong winds
at the start of next week (1st week of February) and where we are is
partly protected from these winds. Ustupu, the next anchorage we are planning
on visiting, has good protection, so our current plan is to leave Isla Pino on
either Friday or Saturday. We will be motoring – unfortunately due to the
direction we are heading and the direction of the wind – both north. Passages
is a heavy boat, and she sails better than she motors, so we know it’s going to
be a long, slow journey up to - Ustupu
Until next time…..
Take care, keep well, and stay safe.
Best wishes, always
Mel and Caryn
