First Ocean Pearl blog
Oceanpearl
Tue 15 Mar 2022 15:07
I might now be just a step away from launching a blog via a different host and email provider called Mailasail.
In all my struggles to get a blog going, two obstacles have been holding me back - an independent email address and my inadequate IT skills. I might now have a solution to both: a subscription to my own email provider and …. A simpler blog set-up.
So…….. instead of trying to give an account of everything we have done to date , like crossing the Atlantic, a month in Antigua, including Christmas and New Year, 7 day passage across the Caribbean to know San Blas Islands, our first stop in Panama, then to Atlantic side of Panama Canal, amazing passage through the first set of locks, overnight in Lake Gatun, a man made lake that joins the Canals, then through the Pacific locks to the Pacific Ocean. Our Panama Canal transit took place February 16th (in the dark) and 17th.
We then had 7 days in Flamenco Island Marina, doing a few repairs on the boat and a little exploration of the huge contrasts of
We arrived at the Las Perlas islands at 11 ish last night having left Flamenco Marina after refuelling, at 5 pm.
The Las Perlas islands form an archipelago of islands. They got their name when the Spanish conquistadors robbed a large amount of pearls from the indigenous King Toe. In 1515 they defeated the king and enslaved his skilled Pearl divers. The 31 carat ‘peregrina’
Pearl of Queen Mary Tudor came from these islands.
The islands are now the weekend playground of the wealthy of Panama City who have second homes there. It was a 6 hour passage for us, but there is a small air strip too. The islands are very beautiful and still unspoilt and undeveloped.
We then set sail in the Pacific Ocean to the Galápagos Islands. I am sending this from Puerto Ayora, Santa Cruz Island having had an amazing week or so visiting the highly protected islands with a naturalist, doing walks/hikes and snorkelling twice a day!
More of that later.
Over the next few days I will try to upload blogs I have written encounter to give you a flavour of what we have done so far.
Meanwhile, I will try to write an update every few days.
We are setting off on an 18 day passage across the Pacific Ocean to the Marquesas Islands. I may be able to blog during that time…….but maybe not.
Please let me know if you have managed to access this.
Best to all,
Your intrepid (?) Sailor
Mary
I
Sent from my iPad