Aruba to Panama ( 2nd Leg)

(1^st to 25^th March 2022)

Carlos, Natalia ( Brazil), Sonja, Coral ( Canada), Anabel and Ava ( USA) arrived on board on the 1^st March. The first day is always going to be a little crazy with boat orientation, reiteration of do’s and don’ts, getting to know each other and the job noone really enjoys….provisioning. Shawn and I weren’t very successful at finding a supermarket where we could buy everything in one place, but Sonja, having spent a few days on island AND having a hire car, knew exactly where to go! So she and Coral, Shawn and I went shopping whilst the others spent time ashore finding their personal snacks/drinks in the smaller shops. The following day, we went out sailing and everyone was given time on the helm with tuition on how to handle Imagination manually and with auto pilot concentrating mainly on downwind sailing as the crossing to Panama would be at this point of sail. We were out all day with a short stop for swimming, snorkelling, relaxing after having had a pod of dolphins swimming with us for 10 minutes which was totally awesome – never get bored of seeing these beautiful creatures. We would have liked to have had more time to do more training, but the weather predictions dictated that we leave sooner rather than later for Panama or we would be stuck in Aruba indefinitely.

On the 3^rd of March, we left for Panama at 09.10 with everyone feeling very excited and full of anticipation. We had a rota for shifts and dinner prep so everyone knew what was going on and what was expected and it worked really, really well. There is a different vibe on the boat during long passages – people are generally quieter and spend time resting, reading, watching tv/movies and eating between watches. Whilst dinner is an organised affair, breakfast and lunch is a “do it yourself” thing and with shifts/watches, it’s the best way to allow crew to rest and eat as and when they feel the need. The first two nights, although very dark with a very small moon, were very smooth sailing and our crew were doing a great job at following the instructions given to them, calling for reassurance and advice whenever they felt they needed to. We flew the spinnaker for 7 hours during the afternoon of the second day which was really comfortable and easy and we brought it down as the winds picked up and nightfall approached. Shawn spent the first night sleeping upstairs when not on shift so that he was immediately available if needed. He also did “random” checks throughout the rest of the crossing to ensure all was well and crew where comfortable. The 3^rd night was a very different story with up to 15ft waves following us and stronger winds but the auto pilot continued to cope amazingly well and although the waves were big, they were long, so it wasn’t uncomfortable. Over the course of the following day and evening the wind and waves diminished to the point where we could fly the spinnaker again. Just after dinner on the 7^th March land became visible and suddenly the boat became a much noisier place. We were coming in under cover of darkness again which is not ideal in unfamiliar waters, but with numerous pairs of eyes looking out and with the help of flash lights, we came safely into Linton Bay and dropped anchor at 20.40 local time after a 642 nautical mile/ 83.5 hour sail. Coral by this time was fast asleep, but the rest of us celebrated our arrival with a beer or glass of wine and a chat in the cockpit before going to bed without the need for an alarm to wake us up for shifts and without the constant motion that comes with being at sea.

Doing the entry formalities the next day seemed to take forever! Shawn went ashore initially but then came back for paperwork from some of the crew, even though we had all filled in the forms online and had a confirmation email with QR code. He returned to land along with Carlos and Natalia for company and eventually all was done and we were free to cruise the area.

We sailed to the San Blas Islands where we spent a wonderful week exploring some of the islands. There are a total of 365?? islands making up the San Blas and some of them are inhabited by the Guna Yala Indians. They are self governing, and have been for 97? years. They have their own set of rules,regualtions and flag. Some live on the islands year round, but others share their island with numerous other families and they all spend 3 months there on a rotational basis, returning to their village on the mainland in between times. They are peaceful, happy, friendly and welcoming people who are happy to share their island with visitors. Each island group had a different “feel” about it, but our favourite by far was Waisaladup in the Holandes Cays. The families there were so lovely….telling us that their home was our home and they agreed to us having a BBQ one evening and helped us with the fire and provided the lobsters . They had a rescued Spider Monkey called Mawi who was a real personality and enjoyed play fighting with Shawn and trying to bite his nipples!! In return for their hospitality and that of another elderly couple further along the beach who gave us a papaya from their tree, we supplied them with drinking water, some cooking oil and printed a copy of a photograph Ally had taken of Julio and Laura which they were over the moon with. Twice, in different anchorages we had dolphins within just feet of the boat. Sonja managed to get close on her paddleboard, but they disappeared once we got in the water to try and swim with them.

The time came for us to leave for the sail back to Linton Bay, where we had to pick up our finalised Cruising Permit. We ( Shawn and Ally ) went for a walk along the road to see if we could find any wildlife and we saw 3 sloths! The first one was very small and was up a tree right at the side of the road and was tightly tucked into a little nook, so we could barely see it. The other 2 were much larger with the last one climbing a tree just a little way back from the road side. It climbed to the top, foraged for a few minutes before climbing back down again and disappearing into the undergrowth. Shawn took dozens of pictures to make sure he got some good clear ones but when he later looked to go through them, he hadn’t put a memory card in his camera!! Whilst we were doing that, “the girls” sat in the marina bar on the internet and playing games and the others went back to Isla Mamey for a few hours.

Our next and last stop for this crew was Portobelo. Not such a pretty anchorage at first glance, but the town area seems friendly enough and there are several small supermarkets and restaurants which is where everyone except us headed to almost as soon as the anchor went down. We had anchored right behind out friend Rob – a South African we first met in Carriacou. He sailed over to Panama single handedly in October, so we knew he was here, but it was so good to see a familiar face on arrival. He came over for a coffee and catch up before we briefly went ashore for some provisions and then taking the dinghy and heading into the Mangroves which is a huge area. We were in there for quite some time looking for any signs of wildlife, cutting the engine to listen to the sounds of nature – so very peaceful. Then we heard it…the familiar cry of the Howler Monkeys. We headed in the general direction the shouts had come from and cut the engine again. They didn’t make any more noise…but we did get to see them. Just! They were quite a distance away in the canopy of the trees, just sitting and relaxing in the mid afternoon sun. It always feels so special to see creatures in their natural environment, even if it is a distance away. The following afternoon some if us went around to a tiny beach for a few hours. This beach was just gorgeous – just on the edge of pure, wild, mostly impenetrable jungle. Whilst snorkelling we saw 2 sea horses which was majical and then just as we were thinking about leaving, a troupe of spider monkeys came through the canopy adjcent to where we were sitting.

Again, it was time for our crew to leave and the following day, we both went to Panama City – Ally to fly home and Shawn to visit the French Consulate to apply for a long stay French Visa. To see more pictures of our adventures, see our facebook page: Sailing Crew Adventures with Scuba Diving | Facebook