No more San Blass
Pearl of Persia
Andrew Lock
Sat 9 Feb 2013 15:46
taking away very special memories. During our last few days several
other Oyster boats arrive in the islands and we were often in the same
anchorage with someone we knew, so there was plenty of time to 'boat hop' on
other boats. But it was now time to leave and as we were 60 miles away from
the entrance to the Panama Canal we decided to stop off half way at
Portobello, a wonderful natural bay and the very first port the Spaniards
built to ship the Inca gold and treasures from Peru and South America. It
was sacked by pirate Henry Morgan in the 1600s and eventually the Spaniards
decided Cartagena was easier to defend and Portobello fell into decline. The
decline has continued. We anchored in the beautiful bay overlooking the old
Fort. The shock came as we took the dingy into the small town to see if we
could buy some fresh fruit and veg. It was like arriving into a Hollywood
scene of desolation. Probably beautiful in 1900 but by now , broken down and
seemingly without hope. But extraordinarily, up the hill, past the burnt out
buildings and hopelessness was 'Cap'n Jacks' . An American guy, pony tail
and ex hippy, his wife, young, oriental and beautiful serving wonderful food
to the few 'Yachties' who sail through. And then back to the boat, in the
dingy, through a typical tropical rain storm, so strong we could barely see
in front of us
