We have spent the past two weeks exploring the Caribbean coast of Panama, and we have enjoyed it thoroughly. Our original goal of reaching the San Blas Islands fell by the wayside when we parted some wires on our standing rigging near Portobello. (Standing rigging: wire rope supporting the mast). We rigged an emergency support with a spare halyard which has allowed us to motor along safely, but we are hesitant to raise too much sail until we can replace the rigging.
There have been plenty of picturesque anchorages along the way, and all of the stops we have made have involved very short hops from one anchorage to another. In the Pacific the protected anchorages were always much farther apart. Here we can move from one place to another with plenty of time for breakfast, swimming, snorkeling, beers, sunsets… It is a truly remarkable corner of the Caribbean.
We dropped off our Canal crew in Portobello (9° 33.349'N 79° 39.480'W) and took the opportunity to explore this historic town. Portobello was the main port for the shipment of Peruvian gold and treasures to Spain beginning in the early 1500s. The port was subsequently raided by a series of privateers and pirates including Francis Drake (who died in Portobello) and the infamous Henry Morgan. The ruins of the fortifications built in the mid 1700s (and which never got attacked) are in pretty good condition because they were merely abandoned (as opposed to being destroyed in battle) when Colombia gained independence from Spain in 1822.
From Portobello we proceeded to anchor in one beautiful spot after another. (Buenaventura, Playa Blanca, Isla Linton). The water here ranges from green to turquoise depending on the bottom conditions, and the winds have been stronger and steadier than what we experienced in the Pacific. Because the winds maintain a constant direction it is easy to anchor behind a reef so that while the wind blows all night, the water is flat and the anchor holds securely.
For New Years Day we managed to find ourselves in a crowded Panamanian beach resort. We anchored off the small town and hailed a panga to take us ashore where we mingled with hundreds of Panamanians enjoying the vacation time on the beaches and in the small bars and restaurants. We also found two remote restaurants (i.e. in very small villages), one run by a French couple and another run by a Dutch ex-patriot, that gave us an opportunity sample some great food at very modest prices.
This area of Panama is a real crossroads for the sailing community. Of course the Canal is a big draw with the European boats headed across the Pacific, and the many Pacific cruisers headed for the Caribbean, but there are also lots of boats that never transit the Canal cruising the San Blas Islands as part of a Caribbean circumnavigation. We are in the Shelter Bay Marina in Cristobal (Colon), Panama where we will leave the boat for the winter while we are home working. About a quarter of the boats here show US home ports while the rest are Canadian and European.
Our last stop before Shelter Bay was the Chagres River. We motored below the ruins of Fort San Lorenzo and into the lower Chagres. The Chagres River was dammed to create Lake Gatun which is the main body of water in the Panama Canal, but you can explore the six mile stretch from the Caribbean entrance up to the massive Gatun dam. The river is awesome. Panamanian jungles line both sides of the narrow river and crocodiles and howler monkeys add to the mystique. We anchored in the river for two nights with only the monkeys for company. Eerie.
Our trip is ending. We will spend four days here in Shelter Bay preparing the boat for winter storage and planning next year’s maintenance. We have decided to haul the boat and store on the hard so that we can paint the bottom (discourages little barnacle critters from traveling with us) and install new engines. Next week we will be home in CA, getting ready for work, and missing some great sailing opportunities. This is the toughest part of the trip… leaving when the sailing is at its best. Right now the wind is howling (and has been for four days), but we know the winds will settle, the sun will shine and there are seas to sail. On the other hand we miss our CA friends, and we are looking forward to home and the comforts of home. We have multiple repairs scheduled (motors, new sails, new standing rigging, new windows) and parts to smuggle in from the States that will keep us busy in the spring, but next year we PROMISE…. The legendary San Blas Islands or Bust.
Tom and Andrea
