Las Perlas

Yesterday we left Panama and headed offshore to the islands known as Las Perlas. They are about 36nm from where we were anchored off the causeway in Panama. When the Spannish first arrived here the indians tried to give then pearls for their safety and freedom. The Spanish took the pearls and wiped them out. Today the islands are a weekend get away for those that live in the City of Panama. Weekend the place can get busy but at the moment it is all very quiet. We are anchored off Contadora where there is a small village on the island. It is the largest village in the islands, but there is not much here. There is a runway and planes arrive all day. Looking at some of the houses there are a few very rich people that have their weekend "Cottage" here with pools etc all over looking the sea. It is very dry at the moment and the trees have not yet decided to sprout even though its so hot. I guess that they are waiting for the rains to start.

We motored all the way over as there was no wind untill we almost got to the islands. We unfurled the jib and motor sailed the last hour or so. We caught two great tuna on the way over... within the first two hours... so pulled up the lines for the rest of the trip. We shared some fillets with some friends on another yacht. Fish for supper, lunch......

As slow as a ... Sloth

One of the animals we really wanted to see was a sloth. The one day we walked to the chandlery and on the way back contemplated going into a small reserve to see if we could find a sloth. It cost $5each to go in and while we were trying to establish if there were sloths to be seen I spied one down the road next to nthe parking area for the chandlery. So no need to enter the reserve and off we went to see the sloth. As we got to it we found another sitting at our feet on the ground. So a double strike and we had the camera. We got some good shots but unfortunately on very weak wifi connections the photos go funny. So here it is... Note the claws on the feet and hands. They spend their life hanging upside bdown and as a result their hair hangs theopposite way to allow the water to run off.

Panama... the City

Well what a difference to Colon. The city is liberally scatterred with 100 story or there about sky scrapers. The shopping malls go on for ever. One of the malls ...Multiplaza Pacifica... has all the top end shops and was not that busy. We enjoyed walking around there as it was really different and bigger than anything that we have been in for a number of years. The other centre we went to was even larger with many more shops with very cheap clothes etc. It was interesting to see that these shops actually had many clients unlike the other one where we looked at a shoe shop and a pair of not so great looking shoes but with the right lable on cost $1250.00. Getting around is easy as there are many taxi's and one can usually negotiate a fair  fare to where you are going.

We paid the fresh produce market a visit that is open every day. The prices are totally unbelieveable and we went to town on stocking up with fruit and veg. 3pineapples $1...4kg of bananas $1.65 just great stuff and fresh from the growers. When we got there we hired a Kuna Indian with his trolly to cart all our stuff(only $2) He was very good and with his limited English he showed us around and made sure that we got a fair deal. We often got him to get the price and pay. What a great experience!

The anchourage where we were was not the best and the water was filthy. We could not use our watermaker and the sides of the boat became real grimey with oil and other dirt. The wind carried a fine soot that it deposited on the boat.... on everything and everywhere.... YUCK

It is time to get out of here

Colon

Looiking down the centre of the main road in Colon looks pretty but is not the safest place to be. Walking down on either side of this street is not advised. There are markets everywhere with everyone trying to eke out a living. These photos were taken from the safety of the bus

One road back and you find the buildings falling down and filth everywhere. you would not be able to venture down any of the side streets at all. There are plenty of poplice... almost on every corner all armed ready to start a war. most buildings are locked and only let you in once they see you at the door.

As for the anchorage nothing much better... broken down wrecks dirty water shoreline etc



Very glad to leave this place!!!!!

Crossing over to the Pacific

Since Sunday things seem to have happened in a rush. We were told that we would get through the canal on the 19^th but still needed to phone in to see if there were any changes to the schedule. Come Sunday night and we were told that we would be going through the canal the next day. From there we were flat out reorganising the boat for three more people to sleep as well as doing shopping for food for the trip and sorting out the boat. We left the anchorage at 2:30 and went around to the flats to wait for our pilot/advisor. He was due at 5:00pm but they do sometimes move you earlier so we had to be there ready and waiting. Our advisor arrived on time and we headed off to the first of the locks. As we approached the first lock we rafted up with two other yachts. We entered the first lock behind a small ship and tied up. It was still light and was amazing how fast the lock filled. The currents are incredible and the water boils all around the yacht. We repeated this exercise another two times as we climbed up to the Gatun Lake.  From the top lock we motored about a mile to where we all tied up to two large buoys. We spent the night here and at six the next morning our advisor for the trip across the lake and down the other side arrived. The lake is full of islands covered in rainforest. We took a shortcut called the “Banana Cut” which goes through between lots of the islands. It takes around 3-4 hours to motor through to the first of the locks on the other side. The first lock is stand alone after which you have to motor over the Miraflores Lake to the next two locks. While waiting to enter the next lock a large crocodile swam by. It was the only one we saw on the lake but they are pretty common. By 1:00pm we exited the last lock and were finally in the Pacific Ocean. After dropping off our advisor we headed all the way down to the sea and around the causeway where we anchored with a great view of Panama City. Roy and Margaret that came with us as line handlers returned to Colon and the next day Che who helped us as well went back. We went into town with Che and walked around the old city. The next day we returned to Colon by bus to line handle for Roy and Margaret on Barnstorm. The first day was long as we were supposed to leave the flats at 3:30pm but finally got away at 7:30. We only reached the lake at 1:15am. The advisors arrived at 6:00am the next morning, so all in the trip was very tiring. We have been through twice now and are now focussing on the road ahead to Galapagos. We will try updating photos when we get a good wifi connection Till then....

San Blas Islands.... Photo's

Porvenir was where we signed in to the San Blas Islands 

This was the first time I had seen a dugout canoe and they are truly amazing craft

The Kuna ladies dress in beautiful traditional dress but do not like being photographed

The islands are all small and the dwellings on them blend in well being made of palm fonds.

in the larger islands there are many concrete structures but not on the outer islands

Many small islands are unoccupied and covered in palms.

But every palm has an owner, so.......

Sign on tree at Porvenir.

A typical dwelling out on an island in the Holandes Cays.

This is the view from our anchorage in the "Hot Tub" in the eastern Holandes Cays

Barbeque Island and the "Swimming Pool" Anchorage

Daily one is approached to but molas... this is the master mola maker showing us his excellent work

Besides molas they sell fish, veg and anything else they can. The crayfish, crabs and octopus were great. we kept them alive in a large "spanish" bucket so that they stayed fresh... and tasty

The canoes are shaped out of a single log. They are paddled and sailed.

Leaveng the Coco Bandero Cays

Another small island full of trees

Lemon Cay the only place there is a "pub" ashore.

His father was selling fish and he climbed aboard, but no smile

Bye for now

Colon ... entry to the Panama Canal

Having spent a few days in Portobello it was again time to move on. It was a pleasant four hour downwind sail to Colon. The entry to the harbour is very easy and we anchored off Club Nautico. What a shock to the senses. Visually ... we were surrounded by wrecks on the shore and old boats tied off to the wharves. Smell... the aroma of rubbish burning on the far side of the harbour and a disused bunker boat that was giving of strong fumes from the left over fuels inside. Noise ... the rumble of engines from all the ships that are in the port or on their way in or out. Balance ... waves caused by the wind are fine, but then you get rolled around by the wakes of all the service boats running up and down the port. Well after quiet islands surrounded by nature, what a mess.
Going ashore is no better as the area is very unsafe. You need to take a taxi to anywhere that you want to go to. There is also nowhere really to go ashore, however Club Nautico does allow you to tie up to their dinghy dock for US$5 a day. It's not the best of places and must be the most run down Club Nautico that we have come across; at least there are security guards there so the dinghy is fairly safe. The taxi's often come past the gate and are, at least, very cheap. The security guards are all armed to the teeth and the police look like they are ready to go to war. You have two police on a motorbike with the back cop carrying an Uzi submachine gun at the ready. Any decent looking houses are barricaded like we have never seen before and sadly there are few of these homes as most of the lovely old building in town have either collapse from lack of maintenance and repair or are about to fall apart. The city is filthy and it is sad to see the poverty and the squalor that a lot of the people live in.
We organised with Tito who is an agent for getting through Panama and the Canal. He has been very good and yesterday we did all the initial paperwork. Today we had our boat measured at the flats which is on the other side of Colon. We motored around yesterday and spent the night. We rolled around a lot due to all the traffic in the port and the channel leading up to the locks. After the measuring process...lots of forms, we returned to the old anchorage and then had to go to the bank and pay our US$1500 for our transit through the Panama Canal ($800 is refunded should you transit the canal without any delays). We still have to pay Tito, line handlers ($75 each X three), for the hiring of ten tyre fenders and four 38m ropes....that adds up to around $400. This is an extremely costly exercise. These are just the canal costs and do not take into account your cruising permit for Panama and other immigration and customs fees. Tonight we hear from the canal control when we can expect to get through which we reckon could be in 4-5days.
Three boats go through together rafted together. We spend the night up in the lake and then come down the other side the next day. There are cameras at all the locks and if you google Panama canal live cams you should easily find the site. We will try and post our time that we are due to enter the lock here and you can see us going through. Oh what fun... till then

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Portobello

We have now moved out of the San Blas Islands and are only 20nm out of Colon. We are anchored in a beautiful bay of Portobello. We arrived here yesterday after a good sail down the coast. The winds were between 12-17 knots and we maintain a good 6knots plus all the way. Before leaving we moved from the Lemon Cays to Porvenir to sign out. It was very rolly there and wanting to have a good night's sleep we headed up to the Chichime Cays where the anchorage was flat. The islands had a few Kuna living on them in traditional houses and using their dugout canoes as their main form of transport. What a beautiful setting for our last night in the San Blas. From here we did not have to beat to weather at the start of the trip as we were on our lay line to follow the coast.... so a nice easy start to the day. Light winds and an easy reach for 35nm and then round the corner and a run down to Portobello.
Today we took a walk around the town and visited some of the forts and old buildings. The town is a world heritage site as it was used by the Spanish as one of their main ports to establish a foothold in the area.(1500's) A third of the worlds gold passed through here when the Spanish plundered the area. It was also used as a slave trading area and many slaves were used to build the forts around the bay. As it was a strategic port the English and the Dutch also took great interest in the place and there were many battles fought here for control of the area. The town or at least parts of it were rebuilt on a few occasions after these battles. Today the village is a little run down and there are many buildings in need of repair. The people are poor and their houses fairly simple. Most of the people that we have come across are very friendly and there is a jolly mood around the place... maybe because carnival is coming up and everyone is getting ready for that. Yesterday just after we anchored there was a lot of splashing and thrashing in the shallows. The people ashore quickly headed out to the spot and caught a massive marlin 7-8 feet in length. They managed to get it into a boat and take it ashore. I do not know if there was a long line out for fish and if the marlin had come in for a feed but it was in less than 0.5m of water. Lots of shouting and celebrating!!! I should have had a line out.
Well thats it for now... till we write again.

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Lemon Cays

We are currently in the Lemon Cays where there are hoards of other boats anchored. Today we will cross over to Porvenir and sign out. Tomorrow we will head off down towards Colon and stop at Linden Island that is 40nm down the track. We will spend the night and maybe a day before moving on to Portabella a further 20nm down the coast.
The Lemon Cays are popular as it has a little bar on the one island that is popular for people to meet with other boats. Yesterday we were there and met up with a few other boats from Australia. The chief's daughter had her 7th birthday and they celebrated that with all the yachties gathered there. They had been grilling a large section of hog that they cut up and served with a potato dish ice-cream and cake all on the same plate. Lovely ice-cream as long as you ate it first. As they say.... life is uncertain eat dessert first!!!
Everything on board is good ...we have hardly made a dent in any of our supplies. We have had lots of fish and when we have not caught them we have bought them from the Kuna's in their canoes. We bought two lovely bonita/skipack the other day (US$5) and invited our friends on Toucan to join us for dinner. Had a wonderful evening with them and they also brought some very tasty salads to share. That's what is great about getting together and sharing food... there are such great and tasty dishes that get shared around.
That's it for now... catch up from down the coast somewhere...till then

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