Following the first few days of little wind and flat seas we reached the edge of the notoriously difficult ‘bit’ round Columbia.  Denis, who had helped so much with forecasting and route planning for us had kept us well off the coast (100 miles plus) but it is difficult to avoid altogether so we had big rolly seas and gusts of up to 46 knots.  The good part was that the seas were mostly from behind which is not as uncomfortable as from the side or front.  The downside was that neither the autopilot or Barratt the wind vane were holding course to well so for much of the time we had to hand steer which is quite tiring.  Still, blue skies and on our way to some lovely tropical islands so no great hardships.

In addition though we had some problems with our instruments and one of the key ones, the Chartplotter kept turning itself off and on.  We checked for loose connection but they were all in good condition and eventually concluded that it was a result of some power problems we had had in Bonaire when the batteries had run exceptionally low.  One of our Magelan Net buddies Andrew, suggested a full reset when he heard about it and he was absolutely right.  Problem solved.

After five days we reached the delightful and perfect tropical islands called San Blas.  Part of Panama but cared for and managed by the indiginious Kuna Indians.  We had heard for a long time about the visits in dug out canoes bringing samples of their traditional applique embroidery and maybe something tasty for supper and indeed that is the case.

So, we went from this……