Well, we did it. We are now in Cartagena! But first, it’s time for a fond recap of our farewell to Panama.

After leaving the boat at Red Frog Marina for a year, we returned to a boat covered in green stuff. Several washes later, Footloose started to look normal again. Even the mast required a thorough cleaning (Michael Loves going up the mast…not).

The boat came together with very few difficulties, except for the generator seemed to be fighting us. First the starter needed to be taken apart and the solenoid freed up and greased. Once started, the raw water pump began to leak saltwater. So, a replacement was ordered and installed, and all seemed well.

Pet onboard?

Turns out we have a pet, Spidey. I first saw him on the deck with his bright yellow shell and thought he was a kind of crab, but no…he’s a spider (Spiny-backed Orbweaver)

Touring Bocas del Toro

Finally, after a month of cleaning and boat work, we were underway! We left the marina October 1 and spent some time in the Bocas del Toro archipelago, visiting some favorite haunts including Starfish beach and the Chocolate farm.

Zapatillo Islands

Our last stop on the way out of Bocas was to the beautiful Zapatillo islands. We enjoyed some snorkeling and the beauty of the islands, but the highlight was watching the release of some hawksbill turtles!

Veraguas de Escudo

Another 40 miles brought a stop at Veraguas Escudo. We anchored for a few days and enjoyed the sparkling Caribbean water and dramatic views of the island.

Rio Chagres

We next traveled overnight to stay a night in the Rio Chagres. As we entered the river and began to follow this verdant path with our ocean going boat, Lisa mentioned that she felt as though she was on the African Queen. The water is bright green with algae and yet this river supplies all the drinking water for Panama City. Spidey, still with us, helped by killing the biting insects that seemed fascinated with our bright white boat. Birds and monkeys called to us, perhaps dismayed at our presence. In the morning we took a dingy ride to explore a small tributary near our anchorage. After taking some pictures of birds including the mealy parrot (what a name) we started to raise the anchor. We usually traverse shallow areas with our fish finder on, allowing a detailed view of the bottom, and our trip up the river revealed the completely featureless bottom you would expect of a muddy green river. Nevertheless, on trying to raise the anchor, we found ourselves unable to raise the last hundred feet of anchor chain. Our anchor was trapped by some large submerged object. Despite the fact that our position on the river was very nearby Shelter Bay Marina (our next stop),there was no cellular service. We could have been on the moon. (not time to panic:))

So after an hour of attempting to hoist the chain, we used our satellite phone to call the marina and Juanjo promised to develop a plan to send a diver up the river. Anchored in 45 feet of pea soup, we had no way to get to the anchor ourselves.

While we were waiting, I thought about how the boat had drifted under the influence of the tides and currents in the river. I remembered that we had moved in a roughly clockwise pattern around our anchor and so we endeavored to make one more attempt at recovering our 75 pound stainless steel anchor.

We let out some chain to increase our freedom of movement and I began to circle counter clockwise, pausing to pull back every 90 degrees or so. After about four counter clockwise turns we were suddenly free. What a relief. Our call with Juanjo revealed that the cost of the diver would be $3500.

Boat Fun, Shelter Bay/Panama City

At Shelter Bay, we waited for our friends Celia and Art to arrive for a trip to the San Blas Islands (Guna Yala).

While we waited we had a few projects… one was to re-certify our life raft and the other was to try and get our SSB radio working. The later involved taking the various components to a Radio specialist near the port offices in Panama City. What an interesting man. He spoke very little English, but we managed to get through the necessary discussion with the aid of google translate. As we sat at his work bench, he pulled out a drawer to find something and I noticed that the top of the drawer was completely worn down. Full of holes from drilling and burn marks from the soldering gun. I asked him how long he had been there…. 50 years. Further probing revealed that he had arrived from Peru to Colon as a young man, as the radioman on a big ship. The main engines on the ship failed and when no repairs were in sight he found work in Colon and just stayed on. I asked his age– 79. You would have guessed him in his 50’s. He told his story of settling in Colon and building a life with grandchildren and a home overlooking the Caribbean. He knew radios. Electronica Cristobal – Joaquin Vizcaino 6675-7433.

Before leaving Shelter Bay, we were discussing games with Art and Celia and it turned out that Art is a big fan of cribbage. We don’t have a cribbage board and Lisa and I have never played. Off I went to the boat yard, where I scrounged a piece of scrap teak from the work area. In no time, we had a hand-crafted cribbage board. Art turned out to be a patient teacher and no money was lost in learning the rudiments of the game.

Onward to San Blas

Our first stop on the way to San Blas was at Portobello and the rainy overcast gave a somber feel to the 16th century Spanish fortification there. After a rainy night we proceeded through several squalls to arrive at our first anchorage at Chicheme catching a Big Eye Tuna along the way.

We spent three weeks in the San Blas with Art and Celia. The San Blas Islands are a group of islands inhabited by the Guna Yala tribe. While being part of the Country of Panama, this group of islands is self-governed by the Congresso de Guna Yala. The meetings are held frequently and all tribal members are free to speak. The meetings tend to run a little long, so someone is always assigned the task of randomly shrieking out loud just to keep everyone on their toes. (Try that at your next meeting!)

Molas of the Guna Yala

The Guna Yala are a matriarchal society and also famous for their molas which are images formed by stitching layers of cloth in different colors. Transgender people are an accepted part of the society.

Ulus of the San Blas

The various islands are roughly five to ten miles apart, and the Gunas travel between them in sailing ulus. The ulus are carved out of a single tree. The mast is set in a thwart in the forward 20 percent of the boat. The mast is rigged when preparing to sail, and lowered at other times.

It’s a pretty interesting place and culture and you can read more about it here. BBC Travel Guna Yala

The Guna Yala live from the sea with lobster and fish very easily caught. We caught a big eye tuna and a king mackerel. Art made Poke from the Big eye one night, which was delicious.

Changing Views of the San Blas

These islands rise only a few feet above sea level making it very easy to observe the effects of sea level rise in these islands. Our charts from the Bauhouse guide were made in 2015 by a man who used high tech equipment to take literally millions of soundings of the area. His charts clearly show some long islands that are now broken into three pieces by the rising waters flooding the lowest portions of the island.

Snorkeling at West Hollandes

Our favorite anchorage was at West Hollandes which had great snorkeling to see beautiful coral gardens.

Another interesting stop was at Dog Island, where the captain of a sinking freighter deliberately ran his small ship aground in order to save its cargo. The wreck is easily available for snorkelers…

Cruising with Friends

Having friends aboard was great fun. We always learn something from these guys, including how to go 2 up on a SUP, and how to use noodles while cooling off with a beer after a hot day….

Meanwhile the generator was not done with its shenanigans and began to leak oil. A lot of oil, about 1/3 qt per hour! Despite a careful inspection, we could not find the leak and assumed the end seal had failed. With four people on board, we cannot live on solar alone and need an hour or two of generator time each evening. So, every other day we mopped most of a quart of engine oil out of the pan and in no time that used up all of our oil absorbent pads. Luckily, it turns out you can wring them out and use them again! During the three weeks we leaked 2 gallons of motor oil. No Bueno.

We left our friends in the small town of Carti, arriving in a total downpour. The muddy fresh water is less dense than the salty ocean and created a muddy layer easily seen in our wake.

Fittingly, our last days in Panama were rainy ones (thankfully without lightening too close). We spent the time learning cribbage and watching the weather for our long-anticipated passage to Cartagena, Colombia. Finally, with a forecast for 70 percent reaching conditions in winds to 15 knots we departed in overcast conditions and lumpy 4 foot, 5 second seas. Despite using the recommended waypoints for our journey, the reaching conditions never materialized and we motored against 4 knots of wind in sloppy conditions, arriving in Cartagena 30 hours later. True to form in our cruising experience, the weather is never right….

Land Ho

Arriving at Club de Pesca Marina, with the boat set up for a normal docking situation, we were confronted with our first mooring between pilings opportunity. The complexity was too much for my tired brain, and we opted to anchor out. Time to rest. HA

We arrived during a weekend celebration. The normally crowded channel was even more packed with a parade of charter boats all blasting music and bright lights until late into the night (dawn)…. Quite a contrast from the secluded San Blas Islands I’d say. Welcome to Colombia!

Many more adventures to come, including Christmas in Cartagena and a haul-out/Footloose spa treatment at the yard.

P.S. Spidey is now an illegal alien in Colombia, if he survives the boatyard…