03/28/2009, Punta Guanico, Panama
We got up early to prepare for the 60 nm passage towards Benao Cove. We headed out of Naranjo Cove just as the sun was rising. We were excited for another passage getting us closer to the Canal and a new landfall by sunset. As we came out of the anchorage and headed for our first wave point the wind picked up to 10- 15 knots however again it was in the wrong direction! As the day progressed, so did the wind (to 20knots) and of course it was still right on our nose...it never changed direction as we had hoped! We even had an adverse current...what the heck is going on?? So confusing! Most of the guidebooks mention that in this area we should have a current heading our way as well as a more favorable wind to sail! Not only the wind and current was not with us, we had a swell that slowed us down. Needless to say this passage was not a very comfortable one! In order to make any headway towards our destination we had to tack every few miles to make our way down the coast. Our course on the chart plot looks like an edge to a saw. Our original plan for this passage was to sail to Benao Cove before sunset. As we approached Punta Guanico, we ended up having favorable winds and current but sunset was nearing rather quickly. We were excited b/c we actually could sail at 6.5 to 7 knots! We needed to make a decision to play the odds that the wind was going to continue in our favor and get us to Benao and set anchor before night or turn in to Punta Guanico to play it safe?? We took a vote on the boat and there was unanimous decision that we would be able to make it to Benao in time to set the anchor just before complete blackness. In this are once the sunsets and dusk is over there are no city light or lights of any kind and it is very dark! Well just as we had agreed on this and we had just passed the wave point for Punta Guanico, the wind seemed to die. Just our luck! Well, you guessed it, we decided to play it safe and turn back around. We decided to stay at Punta Guanico for the night since it was a guarantee that we would have sunlight to set the anchor. This turned out to be a fairly calm anchorage. There was a small village on land but for the most part it was desolate except for an occasional fishing panga zooming by for night fishing. We planned to get some rest and then head over to Benao by mid morning. Benao is only 10 miles across the bay and reported as a good anchorage that also has surf!
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03/27/2009, Naranjo Cove, Western Panama
We arrived late afternoon to this small cove to anchor. We were the only boat in the area. We could see a small village (looked abandoned) slightly hidden in the jungle just along the coast of the beach. From the binos, I could see a couple of cows wading in the water as well as grazing along the hillside on the recently cleared hills. This area was just forest for raising cattle. What we understand that there is no road that comes to this area and the area is known as the Cerro Hoya National Park. We found that this anchorage was a nice quite and fairly calm. This was just a place to rest and prepare for our longer passage the next day.
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03/25/2009, Isla Santa Catalina, Panama
We arrived to this small island in the late afternoon after a day of motor sailing approximately 40 nm. We are happy to say that we now have entered an area that we get winds strong enough to sail but our luck has been that is blowing against us rather than the predicted NE'terly direction that this area calls for...go figure...we do not understand it! Even with the winds at our bow we were able to motor sail, pinching quite a bit but able to get to Santa Catalina well before sunset. We were able to anchor just off the north shore with white sandy beach, in front of the small white house (the only building on the island). Once we went to shore we found out that the house is vacant but in the middle of renovation. We were able to tuck behind the island behind a reef that kept it somewhat protected. This was a relatively calm anchorage except is a bit rolly at change of tide. The island sits across the bay (approximately 2 miles) from mainland where there is a small town that is also called Santa Catalina. From the binoculars we could see a few pangas just off the mainland as well as the surf at the south end of the town.
While tidying up the boat after our passage and making sure our anchor was set, there were pangas that were bringing a few passengers to the island to swim and hike. Brian was able to hail one of the panga drivers down and arrange for an early morning pick up for a morning surf session on one of the breaks that we could spot from the binos. We were excited to be able to have the panga driver pick us to take us to the surf therefore we do not have to launch our dinghy, especially with the distance across the bay it is unpredictable if the motor will run consistently until the carburetor is clean/adjusted. Just another boat project on the list!
Since it has been a while since our feet have been on land, we decided swim over to the island to take a walk and explore. The water was a bit cooler than it had been in Costa Rico but very refreshing! Apparently the Ecuadorian current influences Panama's water this time of year and it is expected that the ocean water temps will drop to 60 degrees as we head closer to Panama City. No problem man! We hiked the island as far as we could; we were limited due to the rising tide. The island only has one small white house that is vacant. We actually met the owner the next day, supervising a group of workers cleaning the house up. He also pointed out his current house across the bay that over looked the bay and Island Santa Catalina.
The next day we got up just at daybreak to be ready for our panga ride to the surf! Unfortunately, our panga driver never showed at the scheduled time...at first we did not know if this was because we had crossed over the time zone and we were on the wrong time or was it because when we checked to see if there was any surf it appeared that the swell dropped. Bummer! Well, we decided to swim ashore again and check out the island again. Since the tide was low it appeared that we would be able to hike around the island. We were able to hike further than we did the previous day but not the entire island due to the volcanic reef. We had fun looking/gathering shells (possible new homes) for the hermit crabs. There were so many of them and just about every shell you would picked up there was a hermit crab that had already claimed it as their home, even if it was broken! As the tide was changing we decided to swim back to the boat, which was a bit of a challenge due to the increase current.
We decided since the swell had dropped and it did not look like we were going to be able to surf, we would continue on our journey towards the Panama Canal. We would put up our anchor in the morning and head to Naranjo Cove, which would be another day sail, approximately 35 nm.
We hope for fair winds and following seas!
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03/23/2009, Bahia Honda, Panama
It was not until Brian and I woke up from our deep sleep that we realized the beauty of Bahia Honda. Bahia Honda lies in the province of Verguas in western Panama. It is a very calm and sheltered anchorage with only a small water front village on an island called Isla Talon at the northern shores of the bay, which lies within the bay. There were also a couple of bungalows tucked just off the beach on the main land of Bahia Honda. The village is the only population for miles and we have read that there are no roads; travel is by water via canoe or pangas. Surprisingly for us, this is the first Panamanians that we have come across since we have entered the country. Shortly after we arrived and stuck our anchor in the mud, we had one of the locals, Domingo, welcome us and asked us if we wanted to trade diesel for some fruit. At the time we were so tried we told him come back later. Later that day another local, Kennedy, came by and asked us if we wanted some fresh fruit, and he named a few items, papaya, pineapple, bananas, avocado etc. He said that his wife could bring it by in the morning if we are still here. We agreed, not really knowing what to expect but were hoping to get some fresh fruit since it has been a while for fresh items. Sure enough, the next morning, Olivia and her son Kennedy Jr,, paddled over to our boat with various fresh fruits (huge stalk of bananas, and papaya, pineapples and noni) as well as a request for items that they needed; some of the items the asked if we had were women shoes, toothbrushes, scissors, and dive mask. I tried to explain to Olivia in my broken Spanish that I may have some flip-flops but they would be "grande". She did not quite understand until I showed her a pair of shoes that I could spare....I think her response was "Si, pie grande!" We learned from them that Domingo was Kennedy's father and she also has a daughter Melanie. We paid for the fresh fruit as well as gave them some of the requested items. They were very thankful and brought us some fresh coconut (for the coconut milk and more bananas!) early the next morning. Olivia had paddle out with her daughter Melanie and their pet parrots sitting in the dugged out canoe. The papaya and pineapple was the "best"...very fresh! We are still enjoying the bananas, and will have to eat at a faster rate since they all seem to ripen at the same time! Where are those monkeys when you need them?
Since this was a calm anchorage, Brian decided to clean the bottom of the boat. It has only been a couple weeks since he last cleaned it but it is amazing how quickly the marine life grows in this warm water. Luckily it did not get a full beard but there were quite a bit of crabs and barnacles on it! Before cleaning the boat, he dove on the anchor and found the smallest seahorse hanging out on the anchor chain! He brought it to me to show it to me. This is the first real live seahorse that we have ever seen! I took a few pictures of Brian riding it around the boat...I hope they came out! No not really...he held in the palm of his hand then he put it back on the anchor chain. Stay tune for the pictures! Since Internet is still rare in this neck of the woods we hope to post them when we can get it.
Western Panama is very beautiful with many islands that have now been claimed as National Parks or privately owned. It is much more remote along this coast then we expected. Since March is quickly coming to an end and we still have a lot of miles to travel up the Caribbean coast we decided to keep moving so we have to by pass a lot of those islands. The next island we are going to explore is Isla Santa Catalina. There is a south swell due and by the time we reach this island we may be able to ride the waves at Santa Catalina!
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03/22/2009, Isla Secas, Panama
We started sailing towards Isla Secas early in the morning for an all day sail. The wind was light so we had to motor sail. We were excited about the Secas (about 4 small islands) because we heard they were very beautiful islands. As we neared the island group the wind had freshen up to 15 knots. The direction of the wind did not fit any of the predictions or the usual prevailing winds. We arrived about four o'clock in the afternoon and found a somewhat protected anchorage behind a huge rock. This place was absolutely beautiful, something out of a romantic dream. Empty white sandy beach with palm trees and blue crystal clear water (I dove the anchor and could see 80 feet down). After sitting on the anchor for 45 minutes we decided that it might not be the best anchorage with the building sea and from the now increasing winds. We headed for what we thought would be a more sheltered anchorage on one of the other islands. As we rounded the other island we realized the wind was also blowing \right into the anchorage. This did not look good. We headed back to our original "prefect" beach but the chop had increased and made this a poor anchorage. Our only choice was to slowly sail through the night to our next destination.
The problem with this plan is that we were both tired and we would get to Bahia Honda at around midnight and we don't enter anchorages at night. We left Isla Secas at dark under headsail with the wind blowing from our beam around 15 knots. We were moving too fast which would put us at Bahia Honda in the night. We decided to "heave to" which means putting your sails in such a configuration to stall the boat just off the wind and get some sleep. It was a very dark night and we couldn't see any lights around us. We slept for a few hours until the wind died completely and the boat fell out of the "heave to" position and really started to rock. With no wind, I calculated that if we motored at 3 knots we would get there at first light. I set the engine to 1000 rpms and we "slowly" moved towards our next anchorage. Wow, what a long night.
We arrived as the sun was just lighting the sky and anchored in 25 feet of water in calm water. We quickly fell into bed for a deep sleep.
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03/21/2009, Punta Balsa, Panama
We rounded Punta Burica, which is the boundary between Costa Rica and Panama. As we sailed offshore of the point we passed a Costa Rican Coast Guard ship. We were glad that the officials were out keeping an eye on things. Once around the point we headed 10 miles to a small roadstead (a roadstead anchorage means that it isn't really a bay but you may get some sleep) anchorage called Punta Balsa. There were a couple of houses on the beach but nothing else. We could hear howler monkeys in the lush jungle making their at dusk howling sounds. Their sounds make it really seem like "jungle". We had a restful night with good anchor holding and an easy roll. Tomorrow we will wake up early and sail to a small group of lslands called Isla Secas.
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