Tropical Sailing Adventures

12/5/2011
We arrived in Bahia Honda today and it is just as Len remembered. It is a peaceful 360 degree protected anchorage with little access to civilization. We hopped in the dingy with Eric and Tommy of Perfect Wave and headed for the remote and rustic village to negotiate some provisions and fuel. We found out quickly that neither were going to be easily accessable. The village was sparce. There was no fresh food. Canned goods only. Our first encounter was with some locals whom were quite drunk lounging on the dirt floor shore side open-air establishment.

We located Senior Domingo, a respected local name we picked up who seemingly runs the limited produce opotions. He wasn't drunk so we new we were in better shape to get things done. He helped us organize the fuel run. He also rowed out in his dugout canoe and brought us cilantro, spinach and pimentos. Many dugouts and pangas frequented our vessel with various offerings. One boat came by with a large turtle flipped upsidedown, buckets of langostina, conch, fish and oysters. I bought more lobsters for the freezer and gave some of the children pens and paper and clothing for their school in the village. (maybe a couple chocolates too!)

The following day Len and Eric took an all day adventure to aquire fuel down the coast on a panga, up a river, hour on road via taxis and truck (PICTURE: broken down vehicles and transferring fuel drums on the side of the road) - the full central American road adventure! One thing is sure when you travel with locals - tires go flat, gas runs out and time is of no consequence! They returned just before sunset with about 100 gallons each and a panga full of families catching a ride.

12/7/11
Coiba Island was a joy. The expensive fees were not a joy but we are glad that we made the trip out to the elusive islands. Coiba National Park is a group of 38 islands including Coiba Island (Isla Coiba) and the waters surrounding them and covers 430,825 acres.
Identified by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 2005, Coiba National Park offers rich and well preserved natural resources.
We anchored one night at Playa Rosario. The waters were crystal clear and we saw white-faced monkeys running across the beach on two occasions that we toured the area. From there we headed for a day anchorage near the beautiful little gem of an island called Granito De Ora. The snorkeling was decent and the waters were crystal blue clear. In the afternoon we headed to anchor at Bahia Damas; the 2nd largest reef system in the Eastern Pacific. (according to records) It was a wonderful anchorage but we found the reef to be almost entirely wiped out. No question that there was an eiry presence of large aquatics (Eric saw a large Bull Shark while paddle boarding!) but the small fish have almost been wiped out. After a couple hours of searching we found a diverse spot with a variety of mushroom, brain, finger, Acropora and various hard corals. The tropicals were schooling in large colorful variety.

12/10/11
Isla Jicaron and back to Bahia Damas in one day. Isla Jicaron is the most remote of the islands and supposed to be an area with a deep shelf that brings an array of large fish to the area. Reef sharks should be guaranteed? Both ends of the island were slamming with surf and 20kts of wind. It was a bash getting to the island and we were not happy to see the anchorages to be untenable. We made the call not to tough it out for the night in 3ft chop and rushed back to Bahia Damas before sunset. We were starting to think towards Panama City as our Christmas scheduling hopes was adding a little additional pressure.

12/11/11
We left Bahia Damas in the morning and shortly after encountered 6ft quartering seas w/10kts. It was a little lumpy. We were headed for an anchorage to position us to round the acrimonious Punta Mala but this anchorage (again) was untenable. We had been spoiled up to this point with excellent weather and stunning anchorages so having to avoid areas was really making us feel particularlity annoyed! We looked at heading south and rounding Punta Mala at night when the tides weren't right (and through shipping lanes) but that thought quickly sent us to backtrack 20 miles (something we dislike very much) to the Island Of Cebaco. This was the only protected place in the area to get us out of this nasty little swell! Cebaco was a nice respite but we spent most of our waking hours considering our rounding of Punta Mala. Weather was coming in and the self induced pressure of Chrismas schedule was pushing us to make a decision. After a night of rest we bit the bullet, weigh anchored at 1600 and headed to round Punta Mala. This can be a nasty point due to the Humbolt current that literatly rips through the Bay Of Panama and gushes past the area bringing with it wind and seas that are greatly dependant on tidal shifts. This area must be respected. The Panama shipping lanes run very close to the point which can also add for extra excitement. But... the story ends unclimactically. We rounded Mala at the exact tidal recommendation with flat calm waters, little wind at the break of dawn. We passed her another 7 miles and hunkered down at a shallow area 1 mile offshore called Punta Purio for some needed rest. Panama City manana!

12/15/11
Arrival at Panama City was just as we remembered with the hundreds of container ships at anchor awaiting Canal Control to schedule them through. What was extrememly different was the size of the cities skyline. It has grown at least (4) times the size in the past 10 years. Coming in from the relaxing islands and finding out that there was no option for dockage was a disappointment. Our vessel is too large for the majority of the berths that they have available here. There are hundreds on waiting lists. The city is filthy as is the water surrounding the optional anchorages. (This part was not a surprise) We provisioned and shopped at a coupe of malls, hit the boat stores and got the heck out to the Las Perlas Islands!