In my last email I indicated that it could be the last for this year, I lied! So much has happened.

 

After three weeks of howling wind in Santa Marta Marina, three days before we leave, it dropped, how pleasant was that!

We left the marina and within half a mile it was back with a vengeance. How naive was I to think it had gone. For the next 24 hours it was not very pleasant. With 35 knots of wind, we recorded our highest sustained speed of the trip this year. 19 knots, but it was not nice. Once again, the virtues of Mr Boeing were discussed. On day two the wind abated after moving away from the katabatic winds produced by the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta Mountains.

On day three we arrived in the San Blas, Wow!

Nothing had prepared us for this. Beautiful Islands with seas so blue and clear and coral reefs and sands so fine.

 

The islands are inhabited by the Kuna Indians who are fiercely independent of Panama.

The females are dominant and invite males to share their homes. The male takes on the surname of the female. If the family produces more than two boys the third is brought up as a transgender.

The Kuna Indians  predominantly earn a living by fishing, gathering coconuts or making Molas which are a traditional intricate woven cloth. You can see examples of these in the photos when we were visited by Valencia who was selling Molas that he had made, some taking up to a month to produce.

We visited many small islands, which were home to one or two families, the islands were clean and the families were self supporting, apart from fresh drinking water.

Some islands had forsaken the traditional way of living and opted for the trappings of the modern world along with its many pitfalls. We noted the abundance of rubbish, satellite tv and unemployed males in bars that never closed. Compared  with other Kuna islands that are still living in the traditional way, the difference was very stark. 

 

We so enjoyed our stay in the San Blas, unfortunately it was to be too short. As with all our trips, there is an end date culminating in a flight home and ten days of laying up the boat. With nine hundred miles still to sail I always had my eye for the weather window.

 

Our route to Guatemala took us past the coasts of Nicaragua and Honduras, both notorious for pirate attacks on sail boats. We kept over a hundred miles offshore, however the third day I was awoken early by Lynn saying there was a boat showing on the radar about six miles behind us. It was still dark. We were sailing without lights and had our AIS switched off.

I made a 90 degree turn and the boat moved with us, still astern. I made another 90 degree turn, the other boat was still astern. Something was obviously amiss. I then turned directly toward the boat it was still astern! Either he had a transporter system similar to the Star Ship Enterprise or the settings on our radar were set to Relative motion! This means any targets would always appear in the same position.

By that time it was getting light and we could see a yacht, I looked trough the binoculars and could not see Captain Kirk so I guess the radar needed resetting!

 

The sense of relief was genuine as we had discussed pirate strategy before we left. This included hiding valuables behind panels, having a sacrificial stash and making pirate prodders to repel boarding, (see picture.)

We had been lucky with the weather, however during the last night the wind picked up making the last night of a five day passage entertaining.   

By the next morning, Guatemala was in sight and the entrance to the Rio Dulce. Our haul out was to be twenty miles up river. It is the first time Out-Rageous had been in fresh water since Seville in 2014. 

 

So here we are at the end of another season, personally it has been the best by far. The Eastern Caribbean is unique, however it was all mostly beaches and bars with the individual characters of the people creating each islands own unique personality.

 

This trip we started in Bonaire where we were so taken with the camaraderie that existed amongst the cruisers and of course the diving and then to Colombia. From windy Santa Marta and its coffee plantation to the so very wonderfully sophisticated Cartagena. Then to the San Blas, without doubt we will go back. So unspoilt, lobster at $5 each fresh delivered to your boat!

Panama, as an avid reader of 17th – 19th century naval history, I had to visit Portobello, not the road but the actual. The original restored customs house built in 1630 is still there, where all the plundered Spanish gold from Peru, Bolivia and Mexico all went. Billions of pounds worth, not mention the thousands of slaves. Sir Francis Drake lies at the bottom of nearby Nombre de Dios Bay, he was buried in full armour in a lead coffin.

 

Finally to Guatemala, so far it has tremendous potential. Next year we intend to travel more inland as we are ideally located for Peru, Machu Picchu, Lake Titicaca, Galapagos and the Mayan ruins of Guatemala.

 

Thanks for reading.

 

Lynn and Derek.