Cruising the San Blas Islands

From December 9, 2006 to February 7, 2007, we cruised the San Blas Islands on Dream Caper. During that time we thoroughly enjoyed the picture perfect islands and made lots of new friends. The cruising community is generally ½ American and ½ European. Also, there are many more catamarans in the Caribbean than in the Pacific. In one anchorage there were 2 other boats of the same model as Dream Caper.

Our days were spent snorkeling, kayaking and exploring many small islands. We took a wonderful hike up the Rio Sidro River on mainland Panama with several other cruisers visiting a Kuna Indian cemetery on the way. Kuna families and friends often cook and eat dinner in the cemetery to be near their loved ones. It was wonderfully refreshing to frolic in the freshwater river and wash the salt water out of our hair. On the return trip we hiked right through the river rather than taking the trails back. It was a blast jumping off rock cliffs and swimming in order to continue our progress back to the ulu. The “ulu” is a dugout canoe. For this trip, the ulu was large and motorized, capable of carrying 14 adult passengers. Our boats were anchored some 6 miles away at a wonderful island named Salardup. Through the waves it took us an hour in the ulu. The cost of the hike including the ulu ride? $8 including a Kuna guide.

We are often asked what we do in a typical day on the boat. Here is an example: Portia is usually up by 6:30 am, after the sun has been up for a ½ hour. She checks email over the HAM radio using the computer. Steve is usually up by 8:00 am. We eat breakfast and listen to the Panama Connection Cruisers’ Net on the Ham radio at 8:30 am. Most cruisers listen to the Net to hear what is happening in the cruising community. Boats check in and report on weather and sea conditions from Cartagena (Columbia), Honduras, Ecuador, Belize, Costa Rica, the Galapagos and Panama City. Any boat emergencies or news of interest involving cruising in our area are reported. Sometimes significant world news is also reported. Those cruisers needing information or repair parts or assistance ask their questions. It is remarkable how most of the questions get satisfactory answers and how often some solution is found for needed parts or information. The cruisers connect with each during the Net, often giving one liners to each other or changing to another frequency to carry on a conversation.

Immediately following the Net which usually lasts until 9:15 am, we take the dinghy or kayak to a nearby island to do yoga with Shirley from the sailing vessel Bruja. We enjoy wonderful yoga on towels under the palm trees, with the sounds of water lapping on the beach. It is truly invigorating and good for us. After visiting a little while afterwards, we usually get back to the boat around 11:30 am, just in time to clean up and have lunch. There is always something to be repaired on the boat so we usually do chores for a few hours. In mid-afternoon, we are normally in the water snorkeling or kayaking. We often take the dinghy to coral reefs in the area looking for good snorkeling locations. Steve likes to spearfish so we are often in the water for a few hours. The air temperature is usually about 85 degrees and the water temperature is 84 degrees. After snorkeling or kayaking we usually relax before cooking up the fish for dinner. Often times we have another boat over for drinks and snacks or we go to other boats to do the same. A favorite evening is “Burn Garbage” night when all of the cruisers in the area bring their burnable trash to the beach to be burned in a large bonfire. We all bring drinks and snacks to enjoy as the sun goes down and our trash gets burned. It is always a happy occasion to get the garbage off of our boats. There is no trash service in the San Blas Islands. Often Kuna Indians will take cruisers trash for a fee and them simply throw it in the water. So, we either carry out what we have brought in or burn it.

By dark, all cruisers are normally back to their boats unless they are visiting another boat for dinner or an evening of dominoes or cards. Even then, a late night is 9:00 or 10:00 pm. On evenings when we are alone on our boat, we are usually in bed around 8:30 to 9:00 pm. It is dark by 7 pm so 2 hours of using electricity for overhead lights is enough draw on the batteries. Many evenings we pick a movie from our 350 movie CD library on board. We often exchange movies with other cruisers for variety.

Cruising in the San Blas Islands is outstanding in so many ways. Besides being surrounded by outrageously gorgeous scenery every day, there is an abundance of delicious fish to catch and cook. Steve regularly shoots small reef fish for every day eating. We drag 2 fishing lines with lures when we sail between islands. In early February we caught two 10# tunas at once on the drag lines. The tuna rolled in sesame seeds and singed in a hot pan for a few seconds resulted in yummy sashimi dipped in wasabi! Steve shot a huge grouper while snorkeling a few days later. It was 25# and it bent the steel spear into a pretzel. It was delicious and we invited 2 other couples over for dinner, sent them home with fresh grouper to cook, and later gave pounds of it away in Colon when we returned to the marina. On our sail from the San Blas to Colon, we caught a nice sized Wahoo. We have been providing fish to lots of cruisers in the past month.
There are a few enterprising Kuna Indians who sell fresh fruit and vegetables to cruisers. Thank heavens, because the small tiendas (stores) on the islands have very little to offer in the way of fresh produce. For the 2 months we were in the San Blas our generator was not working and since it powers our watermaker we had to obtain fresh water from islands close to the mainland, mostly river water. It was a chore to tie up at the small island docks and have water carried in 5 gallon jerry cans until our 160 gallon tank was full. On the other hand, it gave us a chance to see village life on the more densely populated islands.

After securing Dream Caper at the Shelter Bay Marina in Colon, we spent 2 days in Panama City before departing on February 14. We flew to Miami for the big Miami Boat Show mostly to check out generators, buy a few boat parts, and view some of the new catamarans on the market, just out of curiosity. After 3 days in Miami, we flew to San Francisco to do taxes, check up on our properties, visit friends and family, and ski a few days on fresh Sierra snow. Portia’s son Mako joined us for great skiing through the trees!!! After 3 weeks we will fly back to Panama City and then Colon, to Dream Caper and return to the San Blas Islands for 2-3 more months before putting Dream Caper on the hard at the Shelter Bay Marina sometime in June, assuming their new lift and storage area will be completed and ready for us.