January 2019

Buenas Dias Chicos y Feliz Annos Nueves!

Captain Bonzo here with the long overdue update from distant shores.

When Alex crafted the last update we were preparing to leave Santa Marta and head for Cartagena, for a lift out and a European break to visit family.

So we set sail for Cartagena, after a last minute change of boatyards due to the statement “we are full” (despite the fact we had booked - sort of - Colombian style). After an uneventful trip of 2 days, we arrived in Cartagena, met with the agent to clear us in, slept, moved to the boatyard, lifted out, spent 2 days putting Ari to sleep, then the crew taxied to the airport and flew to England. Bish bash bosh. As always I remained on board. I didn’t dare leave the boat, as the yard had a number of scary guard dogs, so I settled in for a few weeks of boredom.

Meanwhile the crew visited family, a short trip for Alex to Vienna, lots of parts shopping and 4 wonderful days in a stunning beachfront house in Praa Sands, Cornwall, courtesy of the crew of Windward – thanks again!! And thank you Lucja (Carla’s Mum) for your wonderful hospitality.

According to the crew, the time in Europe flew by and it was time for them to return to Colombia. A week of boat work was scheduled and delivered to prepare Ari for the coming season. All in order, we launched again in Cartagena, planning on leaving the next day for the Colombian islands on the way to Panama. Well. Despite all the time in Santa Marta, doing jobs, and the maintenance program, we had a seized outboard (despite proper layup), the generator didn’t feel like starting, the shower pump had developed a leak, the toilet vented loop was breaking and needed replacing and a number of other assorted minor issues. Plus, the in mast furling unit was playing up. That’s a story in itself, which would take up a lot of room. Suffice to say that the crew spent days trying to get it sorted, with support from the factory on the other side of the planet. At the time of writing, all issues have been sorted, but the crew is fully expecting new problems to arise at anytime. By the way, when talking to other boaters, this is standard procedure. Boats are complex, the environment harsh and repairs are ongoing for all of us.

Alex has upped the spare part stocks to new highs and we are lower in the water than ever. Let’s hope we have everything we need....

After leaving Cartagena, we spent a lovely few days with friends Robin and Carolina in the Rosario islands. They are diving instructors and previously work in the area, so they know all the best spots. Carla went for an amazing dive with them and they showed her how to spear lionfish. Oh my God! They have no idea what they have started!

On to Tintipan, where our friends guided us into the mangrove channels (they had previously depth sounded the northern passage in). This was a spectacular anchorage, very still and peaceful. The next day with wind blowing from the northern quadrant it was time to say goodbye to our friends and sail (motor – the wind stopped as soon as we had navigated out!) onto Isla Fuerte, a lovely island, which lacks a secure anchorage if the wind has some south in it. Guess what? Yes. Wind from the south, at night. Sat out an anchorwatch with a leeshore, hoping the wind would abate, but no such luck. Managed to move the next day to a slightly better anchorage and were wondering why the wind always blows from where you want to go.

Since the anchorage wasn’t too comfortable, we decided to leave in the evening and make our way towards the Colombian, Panamanian border, some 80 miles away. We arrived the next afternoon, after motoring 50 of the 80 miles. Crappy trip Alex commented. And no fish Carla commented. So all in all really crap.

Sapzurro, our last stop in Colombia was nice though and after a calm night, we motored over the border to Obaldia to complete our paperwork with customs, immigration and the harbourmaster. We expected to be there for a good half day, but after only 50 minutes and countless photocopies we were all cleared in and legal!

What lay in front of us was the famous San Blas archipelago, home to the Guna Indians, who call their land Guna Yala (sometimes spelt Kuna Yala). They originate from Colombia and are descendants of the Kogi Indians from the Sierra Nevadas. Driven out by the Spanish (again), they fled to the Darian mountains of the San Blas area, but could never find peace. Today they number 55.000, or roughly 10% of what they were before the Spanish arrived..... They remained loyal to Colombia, causing decades of unrest until in 1925 they agreed to be part of Panama, providing they can govern themselves and continue their way of life, which is largely unchanged to date. The Gunas live on the tiny islands of the archipelago and do not inhabit the mainland. Needless to say, they are expert seafarers. Happy to report they seem to live in peace – finally.

Alex asked me for a 5 day stopover in the first available anchorage to rest, repair, maintain and chill out a bit. It had been go go go for a long time. So, the team sailed to Suledup and found a lovely anchorage with excellent all round protection. The Gunas stopped by in their ulus (dugout canoes) on their way to and fro from village. Occasionally one of them had lobster or cran for sale, but for the most part they just stopped out of interest for a chat. It was a good opportunity for the crew to practice their Spanish and Carla made cookies for the children. The crew visited the village and were greeted by the Saila (chief), a short man with a very large hat called Aristotle. The crew were given a tour of the island including the school where all the children were learning English. The huts are made from cane wih a thatched roof and a compacted sand floor. Each hut has a ‘longdrop’ toilet built out over the sea and they also keep pigs in similar structures over the sea.

An interesting fact about the area is that it is very poorly charted. The detail available on standard Navionics charts is unusable for navigation. A German called Bauhaus has written a cruising guide for Panama and supplies the only useable charts for the area, and even they are out in places. We have sailed over land and anchored in a village.. J Makes for interesting sailing – very careful, with good light only and eyeball navigation.

So what happens when you set sail again, the light is poor and gets worse due to rainstorms all around and the water is murky from all the rain and you need to stop in a bay and you can’t see f**** all? You run aground...........

Fortunately, our forward looking sonar showed the shoal coming up, but by the time Alex engaged reverse and managed to stop all the 19 tons Ari weighs, we tapped the bottom 3 times – but didn’t get stuck. Without the sonar things may have been different...... Damage to the keel was superficial and for the time being has been patched up with underwater epoxy putty.

Unfortunately, all of the Eastern San Blas (these islands are close to the mainland) was suffering from heavy rainfalls and associated poor weather and murky water (and they do have crocodiles here) – on top of that the wind kept blowing on our nose. Had we known that we would have to do so much motoring by heading to the south eastern end of Panama we would have made landfall in the central San Blas instead. So we decided to head for central San Blas and islands further away from the mainland for more sun and better snorkelling.

We managed to hook up with our friends on Windward and spent a few days with them before our friends on Karma arrived and the party really started. Lots of snorkelling (hunting forlLionfish, crabs (massive), lobsters and anything else edible) was on the daily agenda, with reasonable success. The San Blas islands are magnificent, matching the Maldives for sheer beauty, with miles and miles of reefs which provided plenty of space for the daily hunting parties.

As Xmas was approaching, the 3 boats went west to Linton and Colon to stock up, get a turkey and spend a few days in civilisation, only to return to San Blas for the Xmas and New Year, which was duly celebrated in style. On Xmas day we kicked off with mulled wine on Karma, then after a short break continued with smoked salmon starters on Windward and a full blown turkey dinner in the afternoon. Lovely...

Boxing day was celebrated on bbq island with sausages, lobster and ribs on the menue.

 Unfortunately Alex’s mum suffered a stroke prior to Xmas and is in hospital as we speak, likely to remain there or in a care home. Everybody, cross your fingers that she’ll get better please.

After a couple of nights in the Green island area, we headed back to the East Lemon cays for New Year. On the afternoon of the 30th , Graeme on Karma picked up a distress call of a French Catamaran, asking about his position, since he either had no charts or an issue with the navigation system. He could see two wrecks, so it was concluded that he was outside Cicime, roughly 3 miles from our position. He was anchored in the surf zone on the windward side of the reefs and could not see where to get into the anchorage. Graeme and Alex to the rescue, they went out in the dinghy and guided the guy in. They did receive a thank you, but not much else.... Disturbingly, none of the 25 boats at anchor within sight of the Catamaran responded to the call for assistance...

In any case, New Year had arrived and it was time for a party. Karma hosted a rowdy bunch of 10 people, with the crew of Matador providing live music on banjo, guitar and violin, with the party continuing into the small hours of the morning – for the first time in years the crew made it past midnight.

At 2am, Alex heard a sound and found a dog clinging to the boarding ladder of Karma, clearly exhausted, so they fished her out and brought her on board Ari B! I almost shat my pants when a dog climbed aboard!!!!!! Fortunately she was exhausted, rolled up under the table in the cockpit and slept for 8 hours. Alex managed to find someone in the morning who knew the dog and could return it to the owner, but we still don’t know what actually happened.

Today, the crew has moved to Portobello, scheduled to arrive in Shelter bay marina, Colon tomorrow for canal transit preparations, liferaft service, sail service etc. The canal authorities come to the boat to measure her, which then enables them to confirm the price and schedule a date. We are hoping to transit the canal end of the month (so there you have it Duncan, patience...:-) It’s going to be interesting.......

Date: 15/01/2019

Position: East Lemon Cays, San Blas islands

We had arrived in Shelter bay on the 6th January and were scheduled to receive the rep from the Canal authority the next day. As there is a big jump in price if your boat is over 50 feet, we removed the davits and the dinghy to measure in at 46.5 feet. Measurement went without any issues and after an hour of forms to complete, we were allowed to pay our fees and ask for a transit date – we will be going through the canal on the 30th January and there is a webcam, just search in Google – not sure if it will work, but our transit is likely to be in the evening hours – you can watch if you are still awake..... (Alex thinks some people may be interested in the cost of the transit, and says it’s 800 dollar for the boat, and another 600 for agents, lines and assorted fees)

At the same time we got our sails serviced and the liferaft as well, expensive few days in Shelter bay......

Friends Kieran (who did the Atlantic crossing  with us) and Sharon have arrived to spend a couple of weeks with us and help with the canal transit (one needs 4 crew plus Captain and stuffed dogs don’t count apparently.) So we sailed back to the San Blas islands for a few days of holiday and are now back in Shelter Bay to prepare for our transit on the 30th.

Once in the Pacific, we are planning to head for a marina for a month for more maintenance and preparations to cross the Pacific ocean from Panama to the Marquesas in French Polynesia. For interested parties, that’s roughly 4,000 nautical miles or 7,200 km – that’s like flying from Vienna to London, and back. 3 times in a row. Or two Atlantic crossings....In a boat that travels at 10km per hour it will take a month or so. Yes, we are apprehensive – even stuffed dogs can feel the heat. Big adventure.

So, next time you hear from us will be a lot further west than we are now, and we will have crossed the equator and be in the Southern Pacific, the bit Alex has been most excited about (and now he’s bricking it the wimp J)

Until then

Hasta Luego (next time it will be French..)

Ari B out

Isla Tigres, Kuna Yala

Todays Catch