08:37.912N  079:02.279W

 
Wednesday 24th February

 
We all woke up on Wednesday morning feeling rather queasy after a very rocky night in the anchorage. The wind was still blowing strong but nowhere near as much as it did throughout the night, it was so bad some people slept up on deck to keep an eye out. While Amy and Jack were bringing the dinghy up on deck in the morning Amy had to make a dash to the loo as she was sea sick. She was distraught that we hadn't even left the anchorage and she was ill! She wasn't alone though as another lady was also ill in the anchorage.
 
After a few last minute preparations we weighed anchor, fueled up the bladder and waved goodbye to Panama. 38 miles later and we were at the Las Perlas islands. We even managed to sail all the way! We couldn't believe something so nice could be so close to Panama! We arrived at Isla Contadora just in time to watch a fabulous sunset. You'd think we'd be tired of sunsets now, but no two are the same and this one was something else.
 
In January 1979, after the followers of the Ayatollah Ruholla Khomeini had forced Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi to pack up his hundreds of millions of dollars and flee Iran, the shah looked the world over and moved to Isla Contadora. It's one of 90 named islands in the Archipielago de las Perlas, or Pearl Islands, any one of which is fit for a king - or a shah! Named for the large pearls that are found in its waters, the Pearl Islands are compromised of 90 named islands and over 100 unnamed islets, each surrounded by travel magazine worthy, white sand beaches and turquoise waters. Isla Contadora is the best known island of the group, especially since the island is home to the palatial mansions of the rich and powerful.
 
The following morning we weighed anchor along with Blue Magic to move to the south of the island. We dinghy-ed ashore and made it about 100 yards up the beach before we stopped for a beer in a swish beachfront restaurant. Lunch, wine and ice-cream followed the beers and then we set off to explore the island. We walked from the south side to the "town centre" on the north side in about 15 minutes! As it was Mark on Blue Magic's birthday on Friday we moved down to the next island Isla Chapera so that he could wake up in a beautiful anchorage on his birthday. We joined Bali Blue at the island and Bionic wasn't far behind us.
 
Pictures to follow.