Cold Front?? In PANAMA???
04 March 2013 | West Lemmon Cays, San Blas, Panama
Liz
For the first time in the several years that we have been cruising in Panama, we have had a cold front that reached all the way down here to Panama! The rainy and squally weather hit at a most inopportune time when we were "boat sitting" for another boat. This forced us to locate in the West Lemmon Cays--which is NOT a place that we would select to "hide" from strong weather. We saw gusts to 47 kts in the anchorage which got a bit bouncy. Since we were anchored several hundred yards from the boat we were watching and that boat did not have a proper anchor light (only garden solar lights), it was a bit nerve wracking and I would check on the boat with binoculars several times in the middle of the night. She was always right where she was supposed to be which was always a relief :). However, the same can't be said for another boat which drug up onto the southeastern reef in the middle of the night while the owner was ALSO absent and off in Panama City. When dawn came, a friend hailed us on the VHF radio to tell us the boat that HAD been next to them and was unoccupied was no longer there! We looked around and saw them up on the reef. So a general call was put out to all the boats in the anchorage and several dinghies rendezvoused at the floundering sailboat. Luckily, a Kuna panga with a 70 HP motor also joined in the rescue. It was cold, rainy, with choppy waves in the anchorage, and still blowing like stink! It took several hours with about 5 dinghies and the panga to eventually get the monohull free of the reef and re-anchored! The owner, a frenchman, returned from Panama City and invited everyone in for a beer at the little palapa bar on the beach to thank us. While we were completing the boat rescue, another boat leaving the anchorage ran aground on a shallow bar as there were several boats anchored in the main, deeper channel. When backing off the bar, that boat hit another boat and chaos reigned! But, the damage was fairly minimal (with a bent toe rail and a couple of bent stanchions and a bent bow roller and anchor)--except in the eyes of the owner--and no one seemed to be hurt. In our past sailing days in the Bahamas, we were used to hiding from cold fronts about every 3-4 days in the winter months. Here in Panama, the consistent NE trades in the winter have spoiled us! Although they are generally c. 20 kts for most of the winter, they are consistent and sailing behind the reefs generally gives seas of 6' or less. This rainy, squally weather is SO unusual for the DRY season in Panama!