On January 7 we continued our westbound sailing route to Holandes Cays, praised by sailors for their beauty and the many reefs with vast sea life. Some sailors apparently live in the Holandes Cays ifor months and even years. Kunas in Ulus with engines come here to sell fresh food making it easy to stay at anchor for extended periods of time. A park-like area is kept up by sailors in one of the islands, where grass has been grown and even a water hole has been dug up with enough sweet water to do a lot of laundry. A makeshift table has been set up using that of a sailing boat which ran aground. Sailors often do gatherings and barbeques on this island and hence they named it Barbeque Island.

These cays are famous among sailors not just because of their beauty but also because a lot of newsworthy events happen here. Boats run aground routinely and some with fatal consequences. Just within the last week from when we arrived a boat had hit a reef trying to get into the Swimming Pool anchorage as the Holandes Cays main anchorage is called. This anchorage is right off Barbeque island.

A sad event occurred here on New Year's eve after midnight when the sailors' New Year celebration party ended was the death of a French sailor. He was a single-handler on a Catamaran and left the party alone in his dingy. The next day his dingy was found against a reef by a sailor in the Swimming Pool with its engine on and in neutral. Many sailors in the anchorage joined in the search for the Frenchman and his body was soon found on an island near his boat. Taking his body and his boat to Nargana, the closest most civilized island, was difficult since authorities claimed that they did not have the resources needed. Sailors took care of most logistics, moved his boat to Nargana and contributed the money needed to have the body taken to Panama city in an air conditioned SUV (one that takes backpackers to and from Panama) so that it could be placed in a morgue to await autopsy. As we have found throughout our sailing trip, sailors are very helpful and willing to donate their time, knowledge and money to help fellow cruisers and others in need. This makes this group a special group of people of whom we are fortunate to be a part.

We stayed 5 days in these islands where we were able to snorkel a lot the first two days. Unfortunately the wind increased and the long reef to the east of the islands which blocks waves was not able to block the currents. We tried to snorkel the other days but managed to stay out for short periods of time. We did laundry in the water hole, cooked nice meals and socialized with the other sailors. When it was time to leave we understood why some sailors would stay in the Swimming pool for extended periods of time.