Finally arrived in Bocas… yipeeee! It seemed that everything was stacked against us getting here and a few times we wondered if we were really meant to get here. A tough trip, not from the sailing standpoint but with various things deciding not to work.

Left Shelter Bay on the 5^th January and had a beautiful peaceful sail around to Rio Chagres. The plan was to leave early the next day for Bocas, however in covering a distance of 7nm we had engine failure and a ripped main sail. On taking the main down, a tiny, sharp protruding screw end (in the lazy jack) caught the sail and ripped an 18 inch tear smack bang in the middle of the main. Luckily the engine somehow managed to start after the 7^th try in-order for us to enter The Chagres (between a reef and shallow breaking surf) safely but after that we had no such luck. So 2 days were spent trying to figure out why the engine wouldn’t start (hence batteries not charging) and Sammy trying to remember how to sew!. Finally figured that one of the starter circuit wires had melted completely through behind the engine.  Mike managed to re-cable it and hey presto... it started! Happy days J  Met a lovely couple who were from the UK but whom had lived in New York for the last 11 years (How mad is this…. he went to the same school as Mike in the UK! ) on their Catamaran who pointed out a fresh water pool and waterfall up one of the inlets off the river. Can’t describe how nice it was to swim in the small freshwater pool. Felt great until Sammy decided to fall down a hole in the rocks and badly hurt her leg L All good now though.

It has to be said that if you have to be holed up anywhere fixing things, then the Chagres is the place. It’s stunning in its entire length with no sign of civilisation except maybe the odd fisherman or boat but even that is rare. The jungle canopy is so high and dense and you can touch it from the boat as you navigate down towards the Gatun Dam and Lake at the inland end. The only sounds are from the many birds, Howler Monkeys and the crocs and fish hunting in the River. We smelt a large cat nearby but didn’t manage to spot it. We did see several Kingfishers though and there is a pair of parrots who would give cockatoo’s a challenge in lairiness….

After 3 nights on The Chagres we left for Bluefields Lagoon then Bocas. The sail started well on a nicely balanced and smooth reach, averaging 6 knots with our eta at Bluefields about 6am. However at 2 am the wind swung around onto the nose and we were hit by a 1-2 knot Easterly current which was knocking us 60 degress of course. A frustrating night. Re-planned and aimed for Isla Escudo De Vergasus (again) as we figured a rough night’s sleep at anchor was better than no sleep en route. Arrived on a gorgeous evening sunset and glad we had made it. Both shattered and frustrated that it is taking us so long to get anywhere. The island was back to its old tricks and at about 11pm the wind picked up and it was a really uncomfortable night, lots of banging and rolling as the swell picked up form N Westerly (El Nino year – trade winds are supposed to be constant NE!!!). No sleep for us both and we moved on first thing.  Saw a beautiful turtle and pods of dolphins as we left, that’s what makes it all worth it!

We had a long beat to Bluefields (28nm) tried to stay inshore as much as we could to escape the current and needed to motorsail to make progress quickly and arrive before dark. Our eta was 7pm… sun sets at 6:30pm so it would be dark just as we arrive. At around 5:30pm a huge squall came through, gusts of 30-35knots and no visibility. A bit nerve racking as we were entering Bluefields and trying to miss rocks and shoals. Mikes Navigation was spot on so near misses... thank God!

With waypoints in the Chartplotter we managed to make it into the anchorage. It was pitch black and what Sammy thought were other boats were actually houses on the water so luckily with Mikes keen eye on the chart we made it around the houses and into the anchorage.

A gorgeous spot, no other boats but we did receive a lot of visitors whom at first were lovely. A few wee boys in their dugs outs went ashore and brought us bananas from their garden. We tried to communicate as much as possible with our pathetic Spanish but we did discover that the wee boy is one of 10 children, has 8 brothers and 2 sisters!  We had discovered a Panamanian Murphy family!!

We spent 3 days here as the weather decided to close in and we experienced 3 days of solid torrential rain (dry season? Ha ha…) Miserable weather but it made us do lots of jobs (Sewing leather back onto the steering wheel, expoxying the fuel filler as it had a crack and spilt diesel fuel all over the main cabin) that needed doing and oh how could I forget…the Maccerator (Poo pump/chopper) decided to stop working. This is a major issue and not cool. With much swearing and tantrums we managed to get it out of the small cupboard. Not a nice job at all. Mike pulled it apart and found it clogged with weed etc but also the Impeller has lost 2 arms . Put it back together and it runs but we think it is now not powerful enough to suck out all the stuff from the holding tank. Arggghhhh….we have no toilet…Ming…Ming… Ming…..

As I was saying about the locals at Bluefields, the children were really lovely and just wanted to chat and hang out by the boat, it was the older woman who became a pain. They hung onto the boat and asked for money, clothes, magazines and just wouldn’t budge. We happily gave the children magazines etc but the begging woman were really hard to deal with. It’s hard to know what to do. Add to that we tried to go for a walk when some “official” turned up, receipt book in hand asking for $10 for the boat and $3 each. For what exactly? Your sympathy and interest soon runs out when you feel like you are being screwed so time to depart! (We did receive one unusual visitor. At 10pm we were watching a film when we heard an intruder, it sounded like something falling down the stairs. On checking it was a small bird, tired and confused which Mike picked up and left on deck with some food – it was gone in the am so hopefully he sorted himself out!)

Finally left Bluefields for Bocas…Yippeee. Arrived later that day at about 5:30pm. The sun came out and we had a nice motor sail to Bocas. So glad to have arrived finally. Anchored just off the South end of town. Sammy was here 7 yrs ago and her parents came to visit. Mike got to hear about how things have changed and how, last time, there were only 5 boats here! It was a sleepy wee town and it has now exploded into a major tourist town although it has still kept some of its character. There are now some modern condos built on the water unlike the cool original shacks - and it’s not cheap at all.

We plan to spend the next week or so exploring the many lagoons, reefs, hopefully diving and of course, more fixing boat systems……….. Oh did I mention there is SURF, SURF, SURF? But this morning the fridge has stopped working, so first things first!