Shark!

Sunday really was a bit of a slow day. Late morning all of us bar Helen went snorkeling out on the reef. It was quite choppy but it turned out interesting. Sam and I saw a nurse shark early on. Later, Annie pointed out there was a large fish in a cave. I looked down and it was probably the same nurse shark skulking there. I should have let Annie know they are harmless but she took off. There was a rather large barracuda lurking in the area we were swimming too. The area was fairly abundant with the usual reef minions. Annie is turning out to be the best lobster finder. She found one hiding in the coral but it was a bit small to take back for the pot.

In the afternoon the kuna selling produce showed up. He only had four crabs but he did have some lobster. These were consumed for evening meal with stir fried veg. We finished up the evening with a movie. At least that’s how it finished for Helen and I. The younger ones stayed up chatting in the dark.

Today we’re off to Nagana, a densely Kuna populated pair of islands joined by a bridge. The allure of the palm tree covered islands is wearing off and the crew need some town time. The Nagana inhabitants are known to have shed their roots and culture having been reeducated by the missionaries that ply their trade here. Nevertheless, we all need to see something different. Yesterday, I inquired on the morning SSB net about the Diablo river ride and side walk. From the responses it seems worth doing but will take all day. That’s lined up for tomorrow.

Posted in Panama | 1 Comment

Coco Bandero Cays

Our final morning at the Swimming Pool turned out to be a little busy. I popped over to Curious to talk to Steve and Trish about a river tour they had organized. We want to do something similar and want to get info on the various options. Another possibility is a tour up the Diablo River close to where we are now. While I was there, Gerald popped by reminding us of the rubbish/trash burn that occurs on BBQ island at 10am each day. Steve and I both had some to dispose of so I returned to Dignity to collect the bags, boys and Annie and take them to the island. One cruiser who has, I understand, been here for year rakes the island every day and burns the dry stuff each day at 10am. He got very angry, taking it very personally, when he discovered some glass in the fire. He accused Gerald of doing it without any real evidence and refused Gerald’s plea of innocence. You meet them all.

After the burn I took my laptop back to Curious to collect some documentation on the Pacific. Next stop was Whiskers to help Gerald getting his music files into iTunes and then it was back to Dignity for lunch.

Right after lunch we set off for the Coco Bandero Cays 6 miles away as the crow flies. The wind was a little light so we motored half the way and then sailed once we turned and put the wind on our beam. Our Code Zero was needed for the downwind run but that’s in for repair.

Our first stop in the Cays was a bit rolly and Helen didn’t like it. We took off in the dinghy to see if there were any gaps in the crowd of boats squeezed between the islands where the water was calm. There did appear to be so we brought Dignity around. I think the boat next to us thought we were too near to them cos they moved a short way away later on. Either that or they moved to get more of a breeze. Our only trip from the boat was to swim to the little island north of us and walk around it. The sea life visible in that short swim was abundant. We swam through a large shoal of tiny fish with a barracuda lurking on the fringe. Under logs we could see small lobsters, a crab and a large eel.

A kuna came by in his dugout canoe from whom we bought kuna bread and ordered five crabs for today. We ended the day with curried turkey and a vege curry for Annie.

We’ll hang around here for the day no doubt heading out to the reef for a snorkel. Hopefully the crabs will be delivered which we’ll cook this evening.

Posted in Panama | Leave a comment

Christmas in the Swimming Pool

We had a jolly old Christmas here in the Swimming Pool in the East Holandes. In the morning we had a brief present opening and a little later we headed out to the reef for a snorkel. I snagged one crayfish spotted by Annie which we shared back on the boat. Christmas lunch started around 1pm with soup and freshly made bread. Around 2:30 we had the main course of turkey, potatoes and veg (no sprouts – hurray) very well cooked by Helen. Later we went ashore to BBQ island to share time with the cruisers who were gathering there and later still we retired to the boat for Christmas pud and a lengthy game of dominoes.

Today we’re off to Cocos Banderos for a couple of days. Hopefully we’ll have lunch with Whiskers before we depart.

Posted in Panama | Leave a comment

Christmas Eve in The Pool

We’re settling into a nice slow rhythm here in The Pool. In the morning Fernancia, a Kuna “master mola” maker came around selling his wares. He had three buckets of molas to show us. He pulled them all out one by one so we could see each one. Then, as he returned them to his buckets we picked out the ones that we found appealing. We ended up with a rather large pile which we had to whittle down further. Then came the price negotiation. The prices have gone up over the last few years as the Kuna react to the ‘market’. Sadly cruise ships now turn up in the area from time to time and the popularity of molas has grown so they know what they can get. Nevertheless we stuck to buying some of the more detailed molas. These will turn into treasured memories of the trip. Annie managed to acquire three to her liking too.

With John’s help I managed to do a project. I installed a bridge (ordered from the US) between the Raymarine boat instruments and our Garmin chartplotter. From the bridge we also ran a serial cable to the navigation station. Now that the Garmin chartplotter can receive information from the digital compass the MARPA functionality is now enabled. That allows us to track the speed and direction of radar targets. Useful for tracking squalls and ships that don’t show on AIS. The flow of information from the Garmin to the Raymarine equipment now seems better too. This may improve the ability of the autopilot to follow the charted route rather than a given direction. Finally, it now allows the wind data to show up on the computer. This should now come through on our position updates.

I spent a couple of sessions out on the reef looking for lobsters/crayfish. I managed to catch a couple at the smaller end of what is worth catching plus one much smaller still. Their tails went on the grill later in the evening as an appetizer to our Columbian steaks (mahi, mahi for Annie).

Around 4pm I put out a general invitation to folks nearby to join us on the beach of BBQ Island for sundowners at 5. A few folks turned up for a pleasant chat. Among them were Whiskers, Rosie and Jim from Sojourn (who we shared Thanksgiving table with in Cartagena), Saphire, Changing Spots (who we met on the island tour in Grenada), Steve and Trish from Curious (heading out to Pacific next year) and a few others.

After our BBQ on board we did a little star gazing. We were able to spot Andromeda but it was weak due to the moon being near. We also took a look at the craters and mountains on the moon as well as Jupiter and it’s moons. We finished the evening watching the end of the first Pirates movie as noone made it to the end the previous evening.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Posted in Curious, Panama, Sojourn, Whiskers | 2 Comments

Cayo Holandes – The Pool

Ready to set off we changed all the plans we had and decided to join Whiskers at “The Pool” in the East Holandes. Again – no wind to speak of so we motored the 10nm there trailing lines in the hope of catching something.

Arriving at “The Pool” we found a number of boats there as this is one of the most popular spots in the entire San Blas. And for good reason. The place is divine. I’ve used superlatives in the past to describe places like the Tobago Cays but this place puts them into the shade. The only downside is the sea life is sparce and shy.

Gerald from Whiskers popped over to say hello as soon as we arrived and shortly after we took lunch. After a brief rest all but Helen took off in the dinghy to find the “tunnel” we’d heard about. We did indeed find it. Below the water there was a tunnel with plenty of gaps to the surface. Along the surface was a channel which could be traversed to a point. Unfortunately the current entering the lagoon prevented us reaching the outside reef. I did manage to spot another shark coming down the channel towards me but both of us used the encounter as a trigger to turn around. Perhaps we’ll go back and explore with the scuba gear.

We spent well over an hour exploring the inside of the reef. We saw a few interesting creatures including a large parrot fish and a very large puffer fish.

Back on the boat it was back to relaxing. Sam and Annie took a walk around BBQ island. Later, Dianne and Gerald showed up for a few drinks which turned out, as ever, into a few more.

Most went to bed but Sam, Annie and I stayed up to after 1am chatting and looking at the stars.

INSERT_MAP

Posted in Panama, Whiskers | Leave a comment