As today’s sailing distance was short, we first had breakfast and lifted the anchor just after 1000. The wind was of pretty strong 5 Bft. This means it required much more attention and steering while going through the small passage of 8 m water depth to leave the lagoon we were in.

Once we passed an underwater rock, we turned W and pulled out the genoa for an AWA of 150 deg. This only for a short stretch because when we turned NW we set the main at reef 1 and pulled the genoa fully out.

With a bit of trimming we sailed with 15 -17 KN AWS and AWA of 70 deg 10.6 KN top speed but mostly around 9 KN. Unfortunately we reached the Chichime Cays pretty fast.

Until I was really satisfied, we dropped the anchor 3 times today.

Now we are hanging in winds around NE and 3 – 5 Bft.

MaRe is safe, so we are too.

We wanted to spent the day at anchor to look at the island Salardup and try to catch fish.

Starting with fishing, it was without any success. We must have tried it at the wrong spot. Ok, we didn’t consider to go by tender to a place where the swell from outside of the reef brings in food for the fishes. We only had a look for such spots by watching the Kunas’ dugout positions and the places where the pelicans were catching their fishes.

I looked with the binoculars several times over to the island but could not recognize the friendly people we met about a week ago.

I prepared with the help of DeepL a Spanish text explaining who we met last time. We also brought rice and lentils along. Buying Italian food, one of them would like to eat again, was neither possible in Puertobello nor Puerto Lindon. Wal will try to get some next week in Panama City.

We then took the tender to drive over to the island. As soon as we had the tender carried on the beach, a young Kuna came to us when we suddenly recognized each other. What a joy!

I introduced Wal & Kar and explained that the Spanish speaking friend of last time is now back in Germany.

The 3 of us got permission to walk around the island. I was very much interested in walking once around the island. However I failed. More towards the west of the island there is a swamp with a larger reed areas which I could not cross or walk around. But I made it to the most western point of the island.

What i saw was very interesting. It was jungle of mainly coconut trees but also a lot of others plants in between. Coconut trees’ entire life span was to be seen. From young sprouts just peeking out of a coconut, to rotten big stems which once stood up high in the wind, carrying delicious coconuts.

When I reached the western tip of the island where the outer reef is close by, thus carries lots of things to the island, I was shocked. Really shocked. I found truck loads of drink bottles and other plastic products being washed ashore. For an island like Salardup there would be at least 2 full time working people be needed to clean the shore from the garbage of the so called civilized world. The world of which we are so proud of.

Since I’m sailing in the Caribbean I getting more and more convinced that this globe drowns in plastic, which we produce for the convenience of our life.

You can say that every individual of this globe should take responsibility to make sure that all plastic is properly disposed and recycled. But I blame the governments. Germany, called world champion in collecting and separating garbage, ships every year hundred thousands of tons of collected garbage to Indonesia, where it is just burned. There are German and Indonesian companies who makes money with this; the government of both countries are turning a blind eye on this. This is only an example of Germany and Indonesia but the other rich and civilized countries are doing the same.

Governments around the world are turning a blind eye since more then 30 years to global warming and the flood of plastic. Now they are calling activists of “The last Generation” terrorist. In my opinion just to satisfy their sponsors, the industry.

But back to the people of the island. Later being back from the failed walk around the island, they brought each of us a glass of water. Delicious. But where comes this water comes from? There can’t be a spring on the island. Rain water? Bottled water from mainland?

We thanked them for the water and I inquired on where the water is from. They get it in 25 l plastic bottles from a water purifying company. “Purified water”, that’s what I learned, is made from saltwater by reversed osmosis, which is the principle MaRe’s water maker uses. Thus, i asked them for an empty 25 l bottle and told them i fill it up at our boat. They looked happy when Wal and I l returned the full bottle.

This was the least thing i could do for these so friendly people.

We could buy a small tuna from a dugout, which came buy to sell the huge crabs they caught during the day. The crabs are huge, but I don’t know how to deal with them. OBM might know.

Wal again fixed a 4 star dinner with pieces of the fried tuna to the level of “raw”. Simply excellent.

An interesting day came to its end.

… deep blue waters .. in the San Blas archipelago. We had from last night’s anchorage to the this nights anchorage, a stretch of 10 NM which we sailed. Main up to reef 1 and the genoa out fully we sailed mostly between 8 – 9 KN. It just was great to see MaRe cutting through the deep blue water with white horses garnished waves. Unfortunately we could not enjoy it longer.

For passing the southern sandbanks we had to be very carefully. Thus, we got the sails down and passed the gap with only 2 – 3 KN and the engines.

The passage, I passed already about 10 d before for the first time, was in this was easily to be made. After the shallow passage with a minimum depth of 7 m, we then crossed the deep water part inside the lagoon (35 m) and dropped the anchor on the same spot as the first time.

MaRe hangs at her anchor with about 55 m rode and gently sways in the smaller waves coming towards here from the reef about 3/4 NM away.

The anchorage between at N 09° 35.238, W 078° 52.809, between the 2 bigger islands of the Chichime Cays, turned out to be good. The anchor is at about 10 m and I let out 55 m of rode. MaRe quickly hang stable in the trade wind blowing with 3 Bft in a very narrow angle of about +- 15 deg from ENEterly direction. As we are behind a broad reef there is no swell coming in. Very comfortable.

The island south to put place is inhabited. It seems that there are even cabanas (cottages) offered to tourists. Clearly to be seen is the effect of solar cells. The Kuna have light around their places. Still they come along boats when it is already dark. Last night they offered fish. Wal bought one for the dinner he already started to make. The fish tasted excellent in the paella he made.

Another dugout came by just begging for coffee not offering anything. I had second thoughts and declined. Was I wrong?

BTW – you can send me feed back to this email address: skipper-cat-mare@myiridium.net. I get these normal emails via satellite.

Although we have now 15 KN wind, AWA 25 – 35 deg PRT, and the genoa gives us with the engines sometimes even 7 KN, I decided to take the first possible anchorage of the San Blas archipelago. This is between 2 islands of the Chichime Cays. I hope that there is still some space for MaRe.

The island are to be seen already, but still to far away to see yachts.

Sea is not as choppy anymore as it was in the morning. Swell is now down to about a meter and 50 m long and runs from about 60 deg PRT on to MaRe.

The entry to the anchorage I plotted with WPT taken from the Bauhaus Panama Guide. An excellent guide book, my OBM brought along when she came to Havana. In the Boca’s del Toro and in the San Blas archipelago these are the only maps to rely on. Navionics maps can only be used in the broad channels between island groups, not between islands.

Wal & Kar are both having a nap. I’m enjoying writing this narration, watching the blue sea, it’s waves with still some white horses on them.

In the meantime, we have reach the 20 m depth area of the NW entry channel into the San Blas archipelago. At about 1600 we shall reach the first WPT of the entry channel into the Chichime Cays. An hour later MaRe should be enjoying being secured hanging at the 45 kg ROCNA anchor.

The last days in LBM, we had strong winds from NE, which would have meant long tacks are needed and a night at sea with sails. Running with engines against 4 – 6 Bft winds with engines would not have been an alternative.

A night at sea would have been needed, because without sufficient daylight it’s not safe to navigate to an anchorage. Additionally, I didn’t want to sail at night with 2 friends who are on board the only the second time. Last time was in 2017 or 18 in Croatia.

So I used the last 2 days to re-install my x230 PC again. I simple re-installed again the Linux Mint 20.3 version with the Cinnamon desktop. Now it’s running perfectly fine again.
A few weeks ago, by mistake, I damage something on the Linux OS and now I wanted to have it running fine again; and it does.

Back to sailing. Wal likes to fish, so we are trolling a line with several lures. High-tech compared to what we used on the Atlantic and earlier parts of the Caribbean sea. Please keep fingers crossed for a good catch!

Currently Wal prepares a salad with tuna. Easy to eat while MaRe rocks in a swell of up to 2 m rolling towards her from about 60 deg PRT.

Lifted the anchor in the first daylight from 15 m. That time there was a nice wind, because i didn’t want to have wind while lifting the hook single handed.

When I wanted the wind, it got blown into the wind. Only engines.

Currently AWA between 30 – 120 deg PRT. The greatest sailing wind of all.

During the night before and far into the day it was raining. Thus, I decided to stay a day at anchor. Had to do quite the some work and decided I start 221129 with the first daylight and head back to LBM.

During the day I got some visitors.

The first man offered to clean the boat. I might have taken the chance but was busy with IT work for my OBM and I needed to move all data from one PC to another. Therefore, I needed to stay focused. The guy, friendly so, came on board and we talked using his 7 words of English and my 7 words of Spanish. At the end he was begging for money. I gave him a shirt, which I had on board for such a purpose (Thanks Shi!). The way he took it made me understand that he simply wanted to have money.

Another one, who spoke a reasonable English, came with his wife and son. He complained that, due to the rain he could not catch a fish all night long. He offered to get me fruits from the village but I have enough on board for the next day. At the end he asked if I have some juice for his son but i ran out of juice.

A while later, when I did laundry, he came again with wife and son and offered to do my laundry, but the washing machine had finished the work. He offered me to chop a coconut for a drink. I said thanks and told him to give it to his son. His reply was that his son gets coconut water every day.

To reject his offer of a coconut was maybe a mistake. It would have given him a dollar or two in cash. Later i thought that the Kuna in the village (=island) near by, need cash to buy things offered in the 3 shops on the island. The shops offer a bit of elementary food and a few useful things for daily life, but also a lot of junk food packed in plastic. The so called “civilization” had reached the island. The island is densely populated no space for coconut or other trees as sources for fruits/vegetables. The natural habitat of the Kuna is destroyed. They only can take their dugout and go fishing.

I wanted to buy a fish during the day, but no boat with fishes came by, thus I had a forced vegan day.

When it went dark I got some work done and was tired. Answering mails and messages I needed to shift to the next day.

Already while I dropped the hook again in front of El Porvenir island, the same ladies as two days ago, came again in their dugouts and tried to sell their molas…

Looking at the watch, I decided to do this admin work of paying my fees already today.

Today, with me alone on board, the tender surfed over the water with his 5 HP motor. Thus, I was pretty fast around the sandbank at the docking place.

As I knew the building from yesterday, I didn’t need to ask but could go straight.

At the entrance door I stopped and looked down at the several pair of beach sandals laying in front of the door. From my many years in Japan I have a sensitivity for shoes in front of a door. I took mine off as well.

After having paid, I used my DeepL translator and asked if Kuna always take shoes off when they enter a door and they confirmed.

Taking off shoes when entering houses is what Kuna and Japanese have in common.

This morning we left around 0800 the anchorage at El Porvenir to motor to Puerto di Carti. There Ste, Kas, and Kon had an appointment with Edgar, a local Guna taxi driver to bring them to the airport.

While at anchor already at Puerto di Carti, we had some last things to be done and some last talks, a boat came by and asked for the sailing permission of the “Congresso”. I understood immediately that this is the special permit for Guna Yala. Guna Yala is part of Panama but with certain privileges. Although I have a cruising permit for all Panama, i need additionally the permit of the “Congresso”. The”Congresso” is the governing body of Guna Yala.

Finally the 3 left and now it’s again a bit unused to be alone on the boat. I hope they come back for another sail in the Pacific.

Concerning single handed sailing, I’m used to it. I know the sequences in which needs to do things when single handed. I also know very well we’re I need to extremely carefully. In 2019 I started single handed sailing in Greece and from there all the way to Sardinia and also in the Ballearic Islands and Span I sailed a lot single handed. Single handed sailing in the Caribbean is just an extension with increasing experience.

To get this permit i need to go to El Porvenir, where we just were yesterday. History can’t be changed, so I’m heading, right now, back to El Porvenir to get the “Congresso” permission.

BTW, this morning, when we sailed S, the wind blew from S. Now, because I’m heading N, the wind blows from N. Really no other direction possible, dear wind?