We had a good run to make today to get to the Holandes but we knew that our current anchorage was going to be hard to beat. We spent a lovely morning in our private lagoon. While I was still sleeping in, some Kuna folks came by in a couple of big RIBs to pick up the guys who had stayed on the island. I think that when they saw only women on board they decided not to approach too closely. They did point out their chief to Em as they motored out of the lagoon though.

Margaret had done the navigation for our trip today so once the boat was ready to go we began ticking off waypoints such as Marg-A, and Marg-B. We closed on the Holandes at around four in the afternoon. We approached the east entrance through a shallow and narrow reef break. As we got closer I decided I'd rather not see if we could get in that way. Just a little too much in the way of seas and wind pushing us on. In short order we were around the south side with the sails in the bag and heading up along Ogoppiriadup (I love that name).

The Holandes are very pretty but they are also the focal point of San Blas cruising. My preference is definitely the isolated anchorages. It is always fun to meet new folks though and all cruisers are characters (author included of course).

We worked our way through a couple of spots marked as anchorages on the chart. We passed on some because they were in 30 feet of water and others because they were in the lee of Banedup which is supposed to be buggy. We ended up parking just off of the beach at BBQ Island. Boats all around and AirXs howling.

Margaret and Em went for a swim in the crystal clear water while I put the boat away and Hideko made dinner. We hit the hay early so that we could start the long run to the Panama Canal first thing in the morning.