Blog Post 51 – The San Blas Islands, Guna Yala, Panama

01/18/17- 01/30/17

09:35.12W – 79:51.09N

It was time to move on. We had been in Shelter Bay for 5 weeks. We said our tearful goodbyes to our all friends in Shelter Bay and headed for Portobello, 22 miles away. After being in a marina for over a month we were a little rusty running the boat. We were buddy boating with our neighbors on the dock, Doug and Sheryl. Doug had recently beat leukemia, with a successful bone marrow transplant and was living out one of his long time dreams to sail the world. The first stop was Portobello, a mere 9 miles away.

Figure 1 - Sailboat that sank in hurricane Otto

Figure 2 - A house built right around the ruins of the old Spanish fort

Figure 3 - A view of a sunken boat from the ruins of the fort

Portobello was discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1502, on his last journey to the Americas. It has a large natural harbor that is protected on all sides. It is surrounded by dense forest, very different from the jungles just 25 miles north. We had only planned to spend the night, but we liked it so much we decided to stay another day. The bay and the town were surrounded by 3 old Spanish forts. They were just begging to be explored. We started with the one across the bay from town that appeared to be less busy than the other two. Our friends from Tanda Malaica told us that after we explored the fort nearest the water to look for a hidden trail that led up the hill to more fortifications. It was not an easy hike but it was well worth the effort. The fortifications at the top of the hill and had almost been taken over by the jungle. There was a moat around the fort that was still clear of jungle growth after all these years. We had a great time exploring the ruins and taking pictures. The Spanish sure knew how to build. It boggles the mind that these forts were built with local materials and are still standing today, despite the harsh environment.

Figure 4- Spanish fort

We went into the little town, which today is little more than a village. In its heyday almost 30,000 people lived here. The Spanish used the huge protected bay as their trans-shipping point, meaning that their ships laden with treasure coming from Mexico and the Americas were trans-loaded here for shipment to Seville, Spain. They took on cargo, food and water here for the long trip home to Spain. Over a 200 year period this bay serviced more than 70 sailing fleets. The sleepy little village seems not to be aware of its former glory. The villagers have built their homes around the ruins, some of the aqueducts are still working. There was a street vendor selling pork kabobs, of all things, in the square that were so delicious we went there 3 times in our 2 day visit. There were some very sad reminders of hurricanes past in the harbor of Portobello. Late last year Hurricane Otto rolled through here and over 30 boats were lost. The hurricane was off the coast of Nicaragua and was supposed to go straight to the west, then avoiding this area. At the last minute it dipped 2 degrees south and that was enough to bring the winds of the hurricane raging through here at 70 miles per hour. Winds never come out of the west here so people were taken by surprise. It was a late season hurricane and the sudden change in direction to the south was forecasted very late, almost as it was happening. It was the first time that had happened in over 80 years. There were sunken boats everywhere, making getting to the shore very hazardous. We went ashore the first time right at dusk and the light was very dim and we got a really eerie feeling seeing the masts sticking out of the water. Many of the boats that were lost had been abandoned by their owners but many more belonged to cruisers that thought they were safe leaving their boats here unattended. Dreams lost….

On most days, Portobello is a sleepy little village. But in late October the celebration of the “Black Christ” is held in the Church of the Black Christ. Legend has it that 400 years ago a Spanish ship entered the harbor. It had in its cargo hold a statue of a black Christ. The sailors were fearful of the statue and thought it brought them bad luck. Every time they tried to leave the harbor and continue their journey a storm would blow in and keep them from leaving the bay. After their 3^rd attempt, the superstitious sailors threw the black Christ statue overboard. As soon as they did the skies cleared and they sailed away, leaving the statue floating in the water. It soon washed up on shore and was immediately accepted as a good omen. There were several miracles that were attributed to the statue. People believed that is could heal the sick, wounded and crippled. They built a church to house the statue and every October 22^nd, people come from as far away as Panama City to make the pilgrimage to the church, some crawling on their hands and knees the final miles. On that day, the statue is dressed in a fine robe, that changes every year but is always purple and a procession is led down the streets of the village. There is a huge feast afterwards and the festival carries on for a few days. When I first read about the black Christ, I really wanted to be here to see it and we did our best to get there. I thought it would be a great cultural event for Nico as we studied the history and the culture of the area. But boat repairs got in the way and we did not get to Portobello until January.

We were all anxious to get the San Blas so we got ready to move on. The next stop was Linton Bay. Because of the dangerous reefs in the San Blas, you are warned to never arrive late in the day. You need the sun behind you as you are coming into an anchorage so you can see the varying degrees of water color denoting depth and see the coral heads as you approach them. The San Blas is a 50 mile run from Linton Bay. That is a lot of ground to cover in one day for most sailboats. Most cruisers stay here and make a very early morning departure in order to arrive in the San Blas as early as possible. We were stunned at how many boats were in the anchorage, easily 200 or so. It was totally protected from the wind and the swell. There was not much to do here so we moved on to Isla Grande, just next door, the next day. Jirig did not like the looks of the anchorage that the guide book suggested so he decided that he would find a better place. We dropped anchor in about 30 feet of water. The plan was to get up at sunrise and make the run to the San Blas. We awoke early the next morning started the engines and Daniel went to pull the anchor and no go. It would not budge. We tried everything we could to get the anchor up. The only thing left was for someone to dive down and see what was up. Since we were in 30 feet of water that meant that they needed to suit up with a tank of air and all the associated equipment. We had not planned on diving so all the equipment was naturally in the bottom of the deepest locker on deck. Everything had to come out. It was 6:30 in the morning and that water was a shocker, not cold, but it still stuns you that early when you just woke up. Daniel volunteered. He was not a happy camper as he jumped in. Things only got worse for him. The anchor and 150 feet of chain was completely tangled in dead coral at the bottom. He could not even see the anchor, let alone free it, so he tried to follow the chain. He had to it lift up and untangle the entire thing. It took a tremendous amount of effort and skill. Meanwhile, Jirig and I are on the deck trying to assist but there is no way to communicate with someone under the water! We were trying to pull the chain in with the winch as he was untangling it. The bond between father and son kicked in and although they could not speak were able to communicate with each other. It took a good 45 minutes and a whole tank of air to get the job done. When Daniel got back on board he was exhausted. We pulled up the freed anchor and got the hell out of there. San Blas here we come.

Figure 5 - A view of the fort from our boat

Figure 6 - Fooling around on Isla Grande

Figure 7- Brothers just hanging and sharing their music

Every cruiser in this part of the world has heard of the San Blas islands. They are legendary. Not only for their unique beauty but also for their treachery to cruising boats. The San Blas are remote. They are about 200 miles S/ SW of Colon, Panama. They hug the coast and run east to west as the coastline turns inward as you head towards Columbia. In the summer, there are intense lightning storms here. This part of Panama gets more lightening that any other place in the world. Many a cruising boat has been fried by lightening here. They have never been properly surveyed, the last time it was done the British did it in the 1880’s. The charts, both electronic and paper are inaccurate. Some of the islands do not even show on them. There is only one guidebook, Cruising Panama, by Eric Bauhaus, that provides accurate charts and approaches to the anchorages. The electronic version of them are traded amongst sailors like gold. We got our copy while in Shelter Bay. Every time I would talk to cruisers about the San Blas, I would ask them where they anchored? I was trying to find secret places that no one else knew about. They always answered the same thing, the East Lemmon’s or the Hollandes. Both are groups of islands. When we finally got there, I understood. Here, like in Portobello, there were boats sunk everywhere. These were not destroyed by a hurricane, these boats got caught on a reef or were struck by lightening. Jirig did not even want to come to the San Blas. He thought it was too dangerous. I insisted. It could be done; you just had to be careful. The reason that everyone goes to the same anchorages is because those are the ones proven to be the safest. You cannot just randomly sail and anchor where you want just because it looks pretty. The reefs surround the islands and the way in and way out are treacherous. In some cases we had just a few feet between us and the reef on either side. Daniel, Nico and I all stood on the deck looking for coral heads close to the surface. It was creepy seeing these sunken boats, just to think some cruiser families dream just ended on that reef, boat destroyed. When a boat gets caught on a reef the Kuna people advance. As soon as you leave it, they will swarm the boat and strip it of everything of value. There is no official salvage operation out here, just the Kuna.

Figure 8 - The weekly Kuna veggie boat that provides the only food available in the San Blas

Figure 9 - A giant ferry boat that wrecked on the reef. After it sank they gave up thee ferry service to the San Blas

Figure 10 - The view from our boat in the anchorage in the East Lemons

The first thing you notice about the San Blas is the water. It is absolutely stunning. It has a clarity and a color that we had never seen before. There are reefs and coral heads everywhere. Based on the depth of the water it will reflect the depth of color blue. Light aqua marine blue then the water is shallow and dark blue means its deep, with varying degrees in between. The other thing you notice is how small the islands are! How come in all the conversations I had had with cruisers about the San Blas, not one person mentioned that most of these islands are about 100 yards long and maybe 20 yards wide? There are a few that are larger and several that are smaller. There is no water, no animals, no snakes, no spiders, no bugs except mosquitos and No See Ums. The islands are but a few feet above sea level. Climate change will hit this area hard. No wonder these islands have never been developed. They are remote, they are tiny and there is no fresh water to speak of. But damn! Are they beautiful! We had never seen any islands like them. The first anchorage we came to was the East Lemmon’s. It was easy to see where the anchorage was, just look for all the boats. The anchorage was absolutely stunning. As soon as we arrived the local indigenous people, called Kuna, started to arrive in their dugout canoes. The Kuna are a peaceful but stubborn people. There were the only indigenous people of the Americas that never accepted Spanish rule. They fiercely resisted the Spanish and refused to adopt their culture or their religion. This cost them dearly, but in the end they prevailed. When the Spanish arrived in 1502 there were approximately 500,000 Kuna people living in the area. Today only 50,000 remain. They remain true to their culture and religion. They are a matriarchal society; the women pick their husbands and the husband moves into the wife’s home. They are semi-autonomous from the Panamanian government. They have their own laws, their own police, their own judicial punishment. They are not allowed to intermarry, if they do they will be banished from the tribe. There is one small island designated for the people that have been banished. They are known for their beautiful molas, intricate textile designs with embroidery that the women wear as tops and sell to the tourists for wall hangings and pillow covers. They live a subsistence life, they grow their own food that they supplement with fish and shellfish from the sea. They grow coconuts that they sell to Columbian traders. While in the San Blas you are not allowed to dive or fish with a line or trap. You can only fish in the traditional Kuna way as not to compete with them for food. The coconuts are strictly theirs. Every island has coconut trees, there are thousands of them and every single tree is tended by a Kuna person. Besides selling their molas to tourists and their coconuts to the Columbians they have no other source of income beside the cruisers that come in by boat. The cruisers that come to the San Blas provide for the Kuna in many ways. They take guided tours of the sea and the land, they buy vegetables from the Kuna boats that come to the anchorage and they pay a nominal fee for the use of the anchorages. It is a sweet deal for everyone involved.

Figure 11 - Another view of the East Lemons anchorage

Figure 12 - A tiny island about to disappear under the sea. There is a reef surrounding this island where were found the best snorkeling we have seen so far

Figure 13 - A view of the water from the boat with the tiny restaurant with the red roof in the background

We anchored near our friends that we were buddy boating with and settled in. First on the agenda was to snorkel around the boat. I don’t have the words to describe the water. It was so clear, so blue and it was contoured with reefs and coral heads everywhere. We could clearly see our anchor sitting on the sea bottom 35 feet below the boat. Another reason to only anchor in the proscribed anchorages is to avoid destroying the coral reefs below. Most coral grow less than one inch a year and an anchor can do serious damage to coral that could take hundreds of years to repair.  We were very careful not to damage the reefs.

The anchorage was in-between two small islands. On one of the islands there was a small hut with a red roof. Our neighbors in the anchorage told us that this was a restaurant, the only one in the San Blas. We had to try it. The Kuna eat very traditionally and use very little spices. Our hopes were not high for a great meal but it would be an interesting experience, never the less. There were 5 things on the menu, which was a chalkboard. Your options were, fish, octopus, lobster or chicken. No explanation as to how it was prepared or what it came with. I went for the lobster, Jirig and Daniel for the fish and Nico for the chicken. The chicken was by far the worst choice, it looked pathetic, like a street chicken that was underfed. The lobster and the fish were great, plain but good. Not bad for the only option for miles.  Any meal I do not have to cook on the boat is a good one! We watched a stunning sunset and chatted with 2 young couples from Louisiana. They also had a small bar, which consisted of 2 types of beer, rum, vodka and soda and a couple of mixers. A good time was had by all as we exchanged stories about how we came to be in this remote and beautiful spot on the planet.

Figure 14 - Jirig on a tiny island with the anchorage in the background

Figure 15 - Family pic on an island we claimed as our own

Figure 16 - The boys playing volleyball with a beach ball

The next day we deiced to move to the next anchorage in the chain of islands known as the Hollandes. Getting there was dicey, weaving through the reefs. We had the best version of the charts for the area that were available but it is still scary. At times the passages through the reefs left us with just inches to spare on either side. One erroneous move, one minute of inattention and the hull of your boat was ripped to shreds. Jirig was cursing the whole way. If it was up to him we never would have come here. Our buddy boating pals just followed us everywhere figuring it was safer to have us go first just in case….

Figure 17 - Sunset from the only restaurant in the San Blas

Figure 18 - Our own tiny island. What Daniel had to do to take this picture.....

We dropped our anchor in an anchorage known as the Bathtub. It is names that because the water is very shallow in this bay and it is warmer as a result. It does not get any better than this. There were only a few boats out here, we were surrounded by these amazing reefs. We could hardly contain our joy about being able to explore this place. We have 2 dinghies on board and that ensured that we were out an about as much as we could. We spent our days snorkeling and exploring and our nights eating and watching movies. We lived on our bathing suits. All of us were sunburned and full of salt.

Unfortunately, all good things come to an end and for us that moment had arrived. For regular readers of this blog, you know that we have had generator issues since we began this trip. As we were preparing for this journey back in Long Beach, we had to make a decision about our generator.  It was not working properly and the question was, do we rebuild it or buy a new one? A new generator costs about as much as a small car, it is a big investment. We decided to rebuild it at a cost of $6000. As we were cruising the Sea of Cortez in Mexico, we realized just how important a reliable generator is on a boat and that our rebuilt one could not support our needs. That was painful. Jirig tried everything to get it working properly. After spending that much money, he was determined to make it work. Well that afternoon sitting in the Hot Tub anchorage, our generator died a slow and painful death. We were done. We had to get a new generator. The next leg of our journey was taking us to remote places where marinas were not always an option and we needed to solve this problem once and for all. Now, where to get a new generator? We had 2 options. We could continue on to Cartagena, Columbia as planned, or we could turn back and return to Colon, which would also give us access to Panama City. We spoke with other cruisers in the anchorage and everyone said go back to Shelter Bay. Columbia has a 30% tax on all imports and did not have as many options for generators as Panama had. The decision was made, we were returning to Shelter Bay, AGAIN! This will the 3^rd time we have returned there to get some critical part for the boat. The decision had a silver lining for the kids though. It meant that they would get to return to their friends in the marina.