Sailing the San Blas

February 8-12, 2016

Finally my days in Cartagena came to an end, and it was time for the Caribbean sailing adventure that I'd been looking forward to for months.

The lights of Cartagena's shipping yard

There's no road between Colombia and Panama (the only place the Panamerican highway stops between Canada and Argentina), only the mass of jungle that's the Darién Gap. And to go through there you need good boots, plenty of bug spray, and $200,000 for when you get kidnapped. Since I left my good boots at home this trip, I opted for the boat trip option.

We left in the evening, so I had a day to prep my packs,  and change over the last of my Colombian currency. Somehow I was able to make money pulling out pesos and changing them to USD which is the paper money of Panama, so I maxed my debit at an ATM one last time. A short taxi to the docks, pause for a police bag inspection, and we were headed in a dingy for the Ave Maria, my home for the next 5 days.

She's a 50 foot single keel boat, and we had 11 passengers and her captains Paul and Sindry, from Australia and Colombia respectively. The rest of us were Liz and Matt from Minnesota, Kees (Case) and Jal (Yal) from Holland, Hanna and Matilda, and Gerd and Lassen from Sweden, and Pablo and Mariana from Argentina.

End of trip picture, one of the good ones of Ave Maria

We got bags stowed, showed to out bunks, and weighed anchor. About 11pm we exited the protected harbor under power and with a sail up, and the next 36 hours were a misery.

I won't sugarcoat this part, on the whole it sucked. This time of year the bad weather blows in, meaning we had 40 knot winds and swells that were probably 15-20 feet high. (It was kinda cool being in the middle of absolute nowhere though)

This video doesn't quite show the magnitude of the ocean, but it gets close.

Just about everyone was sick to some degree. The rocking was huge, and it didn't stop. I found being up on deck didn't bother me, but going below where there wasn't a good view of the water was terrible. Just as I get carsick if I read without looking up, this did that. I think it has something to do with peripheral vision.

The scene for most of the open water part, with miserable passengers getting fresh air. Sindry is at the helm.

I took a dramamine from someone else the first night after getting scared into it from all the talk, and I think the pill upset my stomach as much as anything. That was the only meds I took, and I never tossed my cookies, though I came close after taking a nap during the day.

I caught a fish the first morning. Flying fish of various sizes launched themselves on deck during the night. This was one of the smaller ones.

So below deck equalled sick, the front deck was rather unsafe due to its sometimes vertical nature, and the cockpit courted rain squalls, sun, wind, and waves blowing in your face every so often. Not exactly paridise.

The second night was worse than the first, and water was coming in closed hatches. (I'd have thought waterproofing would have been a priority). Mattresses were sliding off bunks, and I had to hold the ceiling more than once to keep from falling off my top bunk wedged in the bow. Needless to say we were all praying for dawn, since we knew that's when we were due to reach the islands and protected reef waters.

My bunk was the top. There was about six inches clearance and I had to army crawl to get in it.

The rest of the cabin, looking from the door of my room up front.

Eventually the islands came, and they were glorious.

White sand beaches filled with palm trees, turquoise water lapping at the edges. It was still rather windy, but we could swim off the boat, read up on deck, and generally enjoy the Caribbean. Cue photo montage.

Webbed foot pelicans in trees still crack me up. It was great watching them fish for hours in the shallows, a couple flaps to loft and search for a target, then diving, wings folded.

Taking only photos, leaving only footprints.

Selfie on a deserted Caribbean island!

I went paddling the little dingy with Kees and Jal to one of the islands the first day, it had a small population of Kuna on it. We fought the wind and the waves, two paddling one swimming, to see the island and deliver the boat's gift to Rosalind, the island's Queen. The Kuna have a male governed society, but matriarchal rule. She was on another island, but we delivered the bag of coffee and foods from the mainland to her husband.

I also negotiated fresh coconuts for the guys. A kid went and knocked two out of a palm tree and them macheted them open so they could drink the milk. Just as fresh as it gets.

Dingy in question, adventure vessel and source of amusement.

Along the lines of as fresh as it gets, we bought lobster from locals in a canoe, and had that for dinner.  My first time trying lobster actually.

It was good, and wonderfully cooked. I still think shrimp are just as good at a third of the cost though.

Since scuba is prohibited in San Blas, the Kuna free dive up to 40 feet to hand collect the lobster.

Day two we scooted islands and had a delightful barbeque on the beach. Salad and pork chops wonderfully marinated and grilled on a palm-fire.

Grill balanced on coconuts

Super salad, and the whole crew eating

I took a nap in a hammock for a while, though I am sorry I missed my chance to sleep in a hammock on a deserted Caribbean island. That would have been the first night, and I was just too excited about a non-bucking bed to consider a hammock. Also I know I freeze easy and wasn't prepared with a plan to stay warm yet.

The view definitely didn't suck.

The next morning I swam to the other little island which had a small wreck to snorkel. Armed with snorkel, fins, and a life jacket hugged to my chest to keep me floating easy, I fought the wind and current.

Talk about stereotypical

The boat was a small sailboat that hit the reef, a bit of its mast still sticking above the water to help locate it. Its sides were falling apart, but it was cool to float over. The surrounding reef had some cool corals and pretty fish too. I made it back to the boat without getting swept out to sea by the current, but my legs were jelly when I finally hit the beach.

The next day after another peaceful night, we sailed 4 hours to El Porvenir, one of the main islands. I sat on the deck the whole time and got my first touches of sunburn. It was a lovely sail in nice water, and the highlight for me was the dolphins that came with us for a bit.

The first time I just saw one back roll out of the water before they disappeared. A half hour later the alert was called again, and this time there were two jumping alongside the bow for maybe 5 minutes. It was amazing watching them, and seeing them swim along just under the water at our bow.

El Porvenir wasn't much, but it had an airstrip and the Immigration office where our passports got stamped in.

El Porvenir docks

Beautiful sunset photo curtosy of Kees and his waterproof camera. 

The next morning we all took a boat to Carti on the coast, then a jeep to Panama City.

Paul and Sindry

All of us in the lancha to Carti

Though some parts were uncomfortable and difficult, it was an experience I won't forget. I got to visit places that were National Geographic material, and I made it safely to Panama to start the next installment in my adventures!