Final days in San Blas
AJAYA'S CRUISE
Phil & Nikki Hoskins
Sat 14 Apr 2012 18:53
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For the 'Admiral's' 5?th Birthday we motored 30 miles to
Snug Harbour which lies towards the eastern San Blas. We had first entered this
area with the RAF Trade Winds Rally in 1996 although this time we arrived
from the west. A far safer option than picking a hazardous
route through the outer reefs to the east. Our destination was a tiny island the
size of a football pitch that was then called Iskardup but has since
been renamed Sapibenega. It's a Kuna lodge. Guests fly in via the local
airstrip to spend a couple of days chilling out in the few huts
located on the island. Looking at one or two planes arriving through a tiny gap
in the hilly jungle before flopping onto the airstrip you would need a couple of
days to recover from the flight itself. This is a tropical
paradise that probably costs an arm and a leg to stay at. All we had to
do, apart from sail 5000 miles to begin with, was to anchor off and pay a $10
fee to the local Kunas to enjoy the views and tranquillity. We were the only
visiting boat in Snug that day.
The day got off to a decidedly bad start as Skip served
up a rotten boiled egg for the 'Admirals' dippy soldiers to fight their way
into. Sod's Law states that the rotten section of the egg is never at the top in
the egg cup but lurking lower down as a nasty last mouthful. A shriek of disgust
was uttered towards the Breakfast chef who had no Sous Chef to pass the buck
down to. The eggie soldiers were now in full retreat as the egg was the
giant sized version in the pic we've posted. The little egg was just fine, what
there was of it , but by then we had both been put off our breakfast.
Shame, on such a special day as well. We had suspected there may have been a
problem with those monstrous eggs and can imagine the poor hen had tears in its
eyes that day.
  Birthday boiled eggs - one small one, one
rotten one...... On the subject of dodgy
food... Skip's Homemade bread rolls - a dentist's
dream
We booked a table for lunch. The island has changed
considerably since we were last there. The old restaurant is no longer in
evidence. A newer eating area for lunchtime has been constructed on a pier
over the water with half a dozen tables for guests. There was just one choice of
meal which was locally caught fish with potatoes and a salad. This was
preceded by a very tasty fish soup. Washed down with a couple of beers we
then had coffees sitting in rocking chairs in the splendid lounge area with a
convenient view over the protected anchorage towards - the boat. It was just a
perfect afternoon and one we'll remember well into the future.
  Iskardup today - in
parts quite different from 1996
but we could still easily recognise the grounds as they
were
  Pre-lunch beer in the grounds
before tucking into fish and potatoes
   The lunch area which is new
Skip holds up an article written by Dr Dick Allen in 1996 about the
island
  Murals depicting the Kuna Lodge -
Sapibenega means a type of tree as might be
obvious along
with another mural in the lounge area
Snug Harbour was used by sailing ships taking on cargos of
coconuts back in the 1800s. The area was also used in Drake's time
when he planned his attack on a place further along the coast to the west called
'Nombre de dios' . This was the port used for keeping and loading
Spanish gold from the Americas to be shipped back to Spain. San Blas seems
to have been the area where notable pirates (even if they did play the odd game
of bowls on Plymouth Hoe) chose to sneak out from and rob the Spanish galleons
of their treasures. Later the gold reserves were moved to Portobelo which
was much easier to defend.
We left the following day and motored a couple of miles north
to the Ratones Cays where we enjoyed the anchorage all to ourselves with just a
few Kuna ulus that could be seen fishing off the reefs close-by. Skip went off
to the reef to try out the Hawaiian sling that had been a parting gift from
'Soul Mates'. Whilst it may sound like an exotic cocktail it is in
fact a 6 foot long harpoon powered by a rubber sling. Unlike a traditional spear
gun where the spear is launched towards the fish leaving the diver attached by
the gun and a piece of string to the spear the whole sling itself shoots off
(hopefully) towards the fish and you are left holding just the rubber sling. It
had all the makings of a disaster in Skip's hands or his right hand to be
precise but eager to try his luck he ventured off leaving the 'Admiral'
safely back onboard preferring to play around with the Singapore variety of
sling. Needless to say fish was not on the menu that evening although the
'hunter' returned with tales of having given a Lion Fish a dreadful headache.
These interlopers are not native to the Caribbean and are causing problems
in many of the reef systems and so must be destroyed at all costs. But get
stung by one and the fish has the last laugh.
Lion fish (not the actual one
though)
With the weather suddenly changeable and thunder and
lightening visible the next morning we pulled the anchor and headed back to the
western San Blas where there is more all-round shelter from sudden storms that
will become a feature of the weather in the months to come. As the northeast
trades start to diminish and the temperature of the water and land increases we
become subjected to violent thunderstorms which will sometimes - but not always
- bring 50 knot winds from just about any direction. Nice.
Motoring westwards again we looked for another island
that we stopped at in 1996 which was then deserted. Unfortunately, with no
coordinates to go by we weren't able to exactly locate the tiny strip of sand
and palm trees. We finally gave up the hunt choosing to anchor off
Nargana again as we were running low on diesel and veggies. Seven gallons
of diesel, as before were filtered through the remains of
old clothing, possibly underpants for all we
know, but re-filtered back onboard through a slightly more reliable device
we keep for that purpose.
Wishing to spend our last few days in the islands somewhere
special we sailed out to the eastern Holandes Cays one of the most impressive
locations on the cruising itinerary in this part of Panama. We arrived to
crystal clear water equal if not more impressive than anything we'd seen in the
Bahamas until horror of horrors, the wind changed into the west for a day. Not a
danger for our boat as it was not strong enough to affect our anchor holding but
it was strong enough to blow every bit of floating garbage that has been
pinned in the Western San Blas throughout the northeast trade wind
season back eastwards. Overnight the pristine water was overwhelmed by
floating detritus of flip-flops, plastic water containers, babies nappies,
plastic bags and other unsavoury items which completely removed any thoughts of
taking a refreshing dip. Just as quickly another day of northeasterlies blew it
all back to the west again and the day we left to head for the Lemmon Cays there
was not a single floating flip or flop to be seen.
  Yacht
wreck off the Holandes Cays (not the only one in the San
Blas!)
Sunset off Bug Island - Holandes Cays
Hove-to off the Lemons to call home we heard of a yacht in
distress having grounded on one of the nearby reefs. This was not a cruising
yacht (the floating home of a couple just like us that had unfortunately
wandered into the shallows and needed assistance) but a
notorious 'Backpacker' boat which was ferrying, at huge expense, four
students that had no doubt paid the skipper the going rate of $500 each to be
taken from Portobelo Panama to Cartagena Columbia. To any students, or the
parents of any students reading this we urge great caution in getting onto one
of these craft. Many are not up to the trip which in the popular dry season can
be hellishly rough going against the Caribbean trades. Only five weeks ago one
of these boats had to put out a Mayday having lost steerage and yet another
suffered difficulties.
This boat and the poor unfortunates onboard had been 9 days at
sea with the top forestay fitting having parted early on in the voyage. The
yacht had then subsequently suffered an engine failure. All they had to be
able to make any headway was the mainsail. Their grounding on the
reef provided the students with the opportunity to plead over the
VHF for help to get off the boat as they feared for their
lives. Not that they were now in any danger as the east Lemons are pretty
crowded with cruisers who would not allow such an event to happen. In fact it
was an armada of dinghies that went out to pull this sorry apology for a yacht
off the reef and into deeper water. The story told the next day was that they
were all taken to the Port Captain's office in Porvenir where the youngsters
demanded their money back from the skipper who was (surprise, surprise) unable
to comply for reasons unknown. He was apparently shipped off to jail in Colon.
The boat, which doesn't look fit to undertake any voyage anytime soon was left
at anchor outside the west Lemons where maybe somebody will kindly cut the rode
and open the seacocks one day! Since we heard about this traffic in human cargo
between Panama and Columbia we have been amazed at how young people with perhaps
no experience of boats will willingly pay good money to an unscrupulous skipper
in exchange for a possible ride from hell in their efforts to hike round the
Caribbean. One never ceases to wonder!
We finally cleared from San Blas ready to move westwards back
to Colon where we are in need of a marina for a few days before heading onwards
to Bocas del Toro, an altogether different part of Panama with a completely
different feel. Here's hoping we like it.
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