Life could be worse
03 December 2011 | The Hot Tub
Sunny, min 77F, max 84F, water temp 81.5F
The reef off The Hot Tub
We found our way into Green Island, mostly in spite of our charts. We are a bit like the man with three watches... a man with one watch knows what time it is... a man with three is never sure. We have three electronic charting systems (there are really no paper charts for the area except our cruising guide). Two of the electronic charts are, I think, based on the same information. The third is an electronic version of the definitive cruising guide to the area by Eric Bauhaus. His charts are said to be the best, and they have been converted from his paper back guide into electronic format.
So we have been giving his information more weight. But last night working our way into Green Island, we had some tense moments as the sun was no help picking out the reefs (as it usually is) and depths were significantly less than they ought to have been. This morning, we decided that the other charts were more accurate in that area.
So go the challenges of navigation in the San Blas. There is not a single navigation aid in the entire area. As a result, broken hulls are far from uncommon, yachts and commercial vessels alike. Challenging navigation!
But enough of that... we left Green Island (with good light that showed us the way out and confirmed our concerns with the Bauhaus charts) and motored back to the Holandase Cays. We decided to try The Hot Tub, as the Swimming Pool had more (8) boats. The entrance is described as narrow but deep. In the bright sunlight we easily found our way in (going from 100' to 20' in two boat lengths) and anchored in a huge sheltered anchorage alone!
Dinghy launched, we motored out through cuts in the coral to the edge of the reef where we watched waves towering above us come crashing down on the reef, reduced to quiet wavelets that we splashed in. Back in, we beached the dinghy on an un-named cay and wandered the beaches, cooling down in the late afternoon with a swim. Dinner was roast turkey breast. Not sure what we were thinking when we bought it, but it was time to eat it, so with roasted beets and potatoes and a $17,000 (Columbian) bottle of Chardonnay, a nice evening in the cockpit.