Wednesday 18th January 2012  Chichime Cays 9 34.95N 78 52.92W  

Today’s Blog by David

We appreciate that we have been a bit quiet since we arrived on Saturday. The journey here quite took its toll and we have been recovering  - relaxing among the  San Blas Islands – sleeping, eating, snorkelling etc. ……. as one does.  This was the first island we anchored off;

Disarmingly called Three Palm Island, there were actually five palms on it.

Idyllic is an over worked adjective but these islands are like none I have ever seen before. They are belt of about 360 islands that lie along a 40 mile stretch of the N Panama coast line. The sea floor rises from depths of 1,000 metres or more to a shelf about 40-50m deep.  It is an area strewn with coral reefs, some of which have turned into sandy islands, covered in coconut palms.  

The snorkelling is excellent with unusually accessible coral reefs in five or less metres of water with some spectacular colours of coral and fish alike.

The weather  has been disappointingly overcast and still quite windy; until today that is when the wind dropped and the sky cleared and it is now unbearably hot.

The largest island we have seen so far was probably 3 acres in size.  Each island is surrounded coral reefs;  the anchorages around them  of differing degrees of difficulty to enter. (Don’t talk to Simone about last night’s  white knuckle entrance to Limon Cays…!) where a yacht was wrecked on a reef at the entrance (we have seen four yachts stranded on reefs  here – the most recent being three months ago on Sail Rock, off Porvenir.

To be fair, they are all pretty much similar.  They are mostly uninhabited although every coconut palm (and thus every coconut!) has an owner and woe betide you if you are caught taking one without permission!

The inhabited islands are occupied by the Kuna Yala and indigenous people who survived the Spanish Conquista by first taking to the hills and then to the islands. The Kuna Yala have a fearsome reputation  as fighters which is a surprise since none of them seems much taller than about 4’ 6”! (1.4 metres). That doesn’t stop them  levying a landing tax for every boat and every crew member wherever we stop; in the larger communities we have to pay this levy by making a personal appearance at the Congresso to have an audience with the local Sahila (chief; pronounced sila, like silo). The proceedings are conducted in Spanish which makes them pretty brief unless Bob is with me *.

This afternoon there was a Rendezvous of all the World ARC fleet in Chichime Cays for a “pot luck” lunch (everyone brings a pot of food – and you are lucky if there is anything left  to eat by the time you  have elbowed our way to the front of the feeding frenzy!).   

It was a good gathering and well worthwhile. We were hosted by Humberto who owns the island and who had all kinds of local crafts for us to examine (eerrr …….. and buy!).  And if you slid away from the proceedings empty handed, Humberto was quite happy to send his representatives.

Lastly, I should say that Bob was not with us today. He went to Panama City to meet his wife Linda off the plane from the UK.  Being a pensioner, he travelled economy, of course.

The chap at the back is in business class. He got a life jacket (of sorts) and a blue poncho to keep him dry as the waves break over the bow!

Note* I am not suggesting that Bob is in the least bit talkative; all I am saying here is that Bob speaks a good Spanglais so at least we can have a dialogue!