Panama
After sailing for 5 weeks in the San Blas Islands we finally reached Cayos Limon and after spending the night we headed out into the open ocean again. Sunday March 29 we left with very little wind but it picked up as the day went on. By late evening we had made our way to Portabella. This is a wonderful old fort that was used by the Spanish to move gold and supplies across Panama from the Pacific Ocean. Many of the cannons are still set in the rock wall around this beautiful little harbor. However some of the wall was torn down in the early 1900's in order to build the Panama Canal. The history of this area dates back to the 1500's. We left Portabella the next day and had an easy sail to Colon, Panama. There is lots of shipping going in and out and we had to be careful of the big ships. However once inside the rock jetty, it was an easy sail over to Shelter Bay Marina. This is the first Marina we had pulled into since leaving Cartagena Columbia back in February. Things have really changed in Panama since the Americans gave the canal back and pulled out of the area. It's sad what has happened there.
There are many housing complexes that built for the Americans to stay in that was destroyed by the government after we pulled out. They didn't want anyone living in them so they tore down the outside walls. Shelter Bay is across the bay from Colon and it takes about an hour to go by taxi to the city. However you can only go to certain areas in Colon that the military protects so that visitors can buy food and things. If you get outside that area, you will be robbed at gunpoint and if it's at night, you will probably be shot as well. Panama is the only place that we have been to that I felt unsafe. I don't think I will ever go back.
The problem started several years ago when a wealthy man in that area wanted to get elected as President. He knew he had no chance against the current government and military so in order to win support from the people, he bought trailer loads of guns and gave them away on the streets of Colon. As a result you can buy anything including rocket launchers on the streets of Colon now. That is why it's so dangerous in Colon because all these criminals have all these guns and if you're not from that area, you will be robbed or shot. Even the people from other areas of Panama don't go to Colon at night.
After checking into Panama I got an offer to ride through the Canal on a couple of boats. The first was on The Yacht "Long White Cloud" from New Zealand. Thomas and I both left on Friday afternoon to help Stephen and Paula Pepperell take their boat through the canal. After going through the first set of locks we tied up to the mooring buoy in the lake and spent the night.
While tied up in the lake, you could hear the monkeys hollering. Panama has several types of monkeys in this area including a small brown monkey, a small white face, black monkey and a larger black monkey. You can hear them holler during the day but especially at night. I saw one white face monkey and some brown ones but not the big black ones.
The next day, we headed off across the lake to the final set of locks that would take us down to the Pacific Ocean. We had a wonderful trip and arrived in Panama City Panama around 3pm. We then headed to the bus station and took the bus back over to Colon and then a taxi out to Shelter Bay. This was a wonderful experience aboard this very beautiful yacht and I want to thank Steven for allowing us to go with them.

So after having one crossing under our belt we felt very comfortable taking the next boat, Viva Lass, across with Terry Wright. We left on Monday and headed for the first set of locks and again spent the night in the lake on a mooring buoy. The next day we arrived in Panama
City but this time we couldn't get a mooring at the yacht club because they were full. So Thomas, Terry and I sailed on to a small cove just inside the open ocean and anchored. Thomas and I went to the beach and hired a boat to come out and get our luggage. From there we took a taxi a motel at the airport and spent the night there. Thomas had plans to fly back to Maine and take a position aboard an old John Alden Schooner that does charters. Monica got off after we came out of the locks with another boat that was heading back to the Caribbean.
My story is somewhat different. As many of you know I have a son that I have not seen in about 15 years. We lost track of each other after he flew back to California from a summer visit. I looked for him for years but was never able to find any trace of him. Well guess what, thanks to this sailblog, we have found each other again. His mother contacted me while I was in the Bahamas and has been very helpful in getting Daniel and me back together. Apparently, they found my blog and she verified that it was actually me doing this trip. She is the reason that I learned to sail in the first place and going cruising around the world was actually her idea in the first place. I really love cruising and being aboard Nina has been a wonderful experience for me, but now I have a chance to be reacquainted with my son. The love for my son has always been and still is the most important thing in my life. I only wish I could have told him how much I loved him all these years. So for now I will return to the USA and I hope to fly out to California and see my son and my grandchildren soon.
I have been asked by many people if I was ever scared by the storms we went through. I am thankful that I can answer that question without hesitation. Not one time did I ever have any fear while on this trip about any of the conditions we were in. Not even when the waves were breaking over the stern. Nina is a strong boat and built for rough conditions and Captain Dyche is a capable captain. I learned a lot about ocean sailing from this trip and will always cherish my time onboard Nina. I don't know what the future holds for me at this time but maybe someday I will join them again for more of their circumnavigation. So to Captain David, Rosemary and LD, Thank you for a wonderful experience. My best wishes to you and may you have a wonderful trip through the Pacific. I'll catch up with you later.
Tom

After spending a couple of wonderful weeks at Cartagena Columbia, we headed out for the San Blas Islands. It is about 150 miles to the beginning of the islands so we were not long at sea. We pulled into an island by the name of Los Pinos. It was inhabited by a tribe of Kuna Indians which had built a small village on the island. About 200 people live on this island and eat mostly fruits and some fish. They do have some farms up on a plateau on the main land. Years ago, the Kuna Indians were almost wiped out by the inhabitants of Panama but the US government stepped in and stopped the killing. A truce was arranged and the Indians were given some land near the coast to farm as part of the settlement. Since that time, the Kuna have lived on the islands but farm on the plateaus of the mainland of Panama. They try and fish but not many fish remain in this area because they have had no conservation and over the years have taken too many. Now only small fish remain and it's not enough for all the people. There are not too many lobster and conch left either and they now have some conservation measures set up by the government but the locals don't always respect the new laws.
The people in the San Blas all live in grass huts and most have dirt floors. They are very friendly and seem to be happy. They have very little in material goods but all the family stays together and there are many children of all ages. They have schools which are built by the government and made of concrete blocks. They speak their own language as well as Spanish although some do speak English.
When you anchor at one of the islands, they come out in dugout canoes and bring things for you to buy. They always have bread that they make each day and some avocadoes, mangoes, and bananas. The women also stay busy sewing and make something called a mola. It is a picture of something or a colorful pattern that usually takes about a month to complete. They range in price from $5 to $20.
We stayed a week at this island before heading on to Snug Harbor.



As we left Los Pinos, we had very high seas close to the island. I think they were the highest we saw on our trip, about 20 feet. But as we got off shore, they settled down some and we sailed about 5 miles off shore for the 45 miles we had to go to our next stop. We had heard many good things about Snug Harbor and decided to spend a week there. However, as we sailed we saw breakers all along the way the entire day. When we arrived at the channel into the place, we were still seeing breakers. David closed the boat up and had those on deck to put their harness on and we headed in. The water in that area goes from about 700 feet to about 30 feet and it the waves are being pushed by the wind, it causes the waves to break over the shallow water. We took a wave over the stern as we approached the shallow water, nothing too bad. Then out of nowhere, a wave about 15 feet broke over the stern. It was so strong that it knocked David through the wheel on the boat and completely broke it off. It also tore the doors off the hatch and broke one of them in half. It ripped the hatch completely off and filled the cockpit with water. Since the wheel was gone, we had no steering and the boat was pushed sideways and almost on its side. We were pushed at 19.1 knots by this wave but Nina is a good, strong boat and she came right back up. We then proceeded to get the emergency tiller out and attach it. As we did, we had another wave to come over the stern but as big as the other. I had been in the nav station all this time and had gotten totally wet by the water that came below from the opening where the doors should have been. By now the computer that I was using to navigate by had stopped working but the GPS was still up. Luckily, I had loaded the chart program onto to another computer and we were able to get it up quickly and we then went around the other side of the island and anchored.
Note: For all you cruisers out there, I don't recommend going through breakers. It's very damaging to your boat and usually expensive. You might try going around or hang off shore until they calm down.

We spent a week in Snug Harbor and visited a larger community of Kuna Indians but found the same friendly people. As we traveled further toward the Panama Canal, the water became more beautiful.

Our next stop was a town called Nargana that actually had a restaurant and a hospital. We ate at the restaurant several times over the next couple of weeks. From here we visited Rio Diablo, the Holandes, and finally Coco Bandero. There are hundreds of small islands scattered all through the San Blas but if you ever make it to Coco Bandero you will have made it to heaven on earth. The water is so clear and beautiful and the islands all have such pure white sand with palm trees and really large coconuts. One of the islands even has a fresh water well on it. This place is by far the most beautiful of all the places we visited. If you want some place very remote with only a few people ever around, this is the place. I loved it here.
We left Coco Bandero and finished out visit to the San Blas with a stop at Cayos Limon. This too was very beautiful but it is on the western most parts of the Islands. We only spent one night here but had a good time on the beach. After spending 5 weeks instead of the planned 3 weeks in the San Blas, we headed for the Panama Canal.

Hey Guys we made it to Colon on Monday March 30,2009. We will haul out while here to do some needed repairs. I will try and update the site more in a few days.

Hey Guys we are in Rio Diablo San Blas Islands, Panama. We should be here about a week then move on to Colon. Will let you know when we reach Colon.

Hello everyone,
Well after a couple of weeks here in beautiful Cartagena Columbia, we will be leaving on Friday. We are headed for the San Blas Islands off Panama. It is 152nm from here to there and should take us about 18 hours, maybe less if this wind keeps up. We have been getting 30k+ winds everyday from about noon until early morning.

Let me say this about Cartagena, Its a beautiful place with lots of history and the women are really beautiful. So guys, pack your seabag and untie those dock lines and head this way. You want be disappointed. The weather is not bad considering its at the 10* latitude. The days are warn, not too hot, and the nights are cool, not too cold. There is lots of wind here so the sailing is very good if you like wind. I think I like this place better than any other we have visited. I will again attempt to upload some pictures so you can see some of the things around here.
See you in Panama.
Tom

Hello to all from Cartagena Columbia South America.
We sailed from Jamaica south and arrived in Cartagena last night around midnight. It was 3 and 1/2 days of heavy weather sailing with seas about 12 to 15' and wind 30 to 35 almost all the way. The boat did fine but most of us ran out of dry clothes before we arrived. It was a wet ride but fast. We sailed 530 miles in 84 hours. That includes getting into the bay and anchoring. Most of the way we were doing about 8knots. It was a good sail and I did take some video when things calmed down the last day. I will try and get that on the site soon. I like it here and are looking forward to spending about 2 weeks in this area before heading to San Blas Islands.
Send me a comment I would love to hear from you.
Tom