Sailing Vessel Icarian

April Update!

2010-04-16T18:54:00.000-07:00

April 14th, 2010

Provisioning in the San Blas can be somewhat challenging. As far as 'fresh foods' go, some very enterprising Kuna's fill their panga's with produce and wine and beer etc. and visit the anchorages every couple of weeks. It is such a treat when the 'veg'y boat' arrives with lovely fruits etc.
When we left Columbia we had provisioned for 2 months and by mid March Icarian's cupboards were very sparse. There are a few options for re-stocking the larder. A small commuter plane comes to the San Blas every morning from Panama City and for approximately $40.00 each way, you can get back and forth but you are restricted on how much you can bring back. Another option is a jungle road from Carti to Panama City and a number of jeeps and trucks make the 3 hour trek daily. It is a very rough road and during rainy season washes out regularly. Sometimes you must forge the river in ulu's and transfer to another jeep on the other side. Can be quite an adventure and spectacular scenery. The good thing is that the jeeps will bring back as much as you can buy, maybe a little bruised but a good service.
Another option is the one Icarian chose this year and that is sailing 40 miles west to Linton on the mainland. We left the boat at anchor and took a local bus into Sabanitas, a 1½ hour ride along the coast. There is a very good Rey's supermarket there with all we needed. Sabanitas is also where you can get a bus into Colon or to Panama City. A taxi from Rey's back to Icarian cost about $30.00. One day we went all the way to Panama City on the bus which took more than 3 hours. It was interesting seeing the 'big' city again and we picked up some parts there that Brian had ordered. Our trip to Linton took about a week and we were lucky with good weather windows at both ends of this journey.

We are now in Canbombia, the eastern most island in the Nagaurandup Cays, at the present time doing boat projects. Our sewing machine has been busy doing repairs and Brian is once again working on our teak decks. Mostly just general maintenance but doing it in Paradise makes it so much better.
We have a few more weeks in the San Blas before we need to head back to Cartagena and we plan to fit as much snorkeling and swimming in as we can till then.
Hasta luego!!

March Update!

2010-03-10T18:44:00.000-08:00

March 8th, 2010
One of the beauties of the San Blas Islands is that there are lots of them and they are not too far apart so moving from one anchorage to another is only a short sail away. This past month we have been doing lots of moving around and when I look at our log we have actually moved 15 times.
Just naming a few highlights:
-The Western Coco Banderos where we were the only boat and the snorkeling was amazing. Lots of brightly coloured fish living in wonderful gardens of coral. The shell collecting on the islands was good too!
-Green Island where we welcomed friends on 'Slip Away' back to the San Blas with a pot luck dinner hosted by ourselves and 'Fortuitous'.
-Ogoppukibdup (you got to love these names), a tiny anchorage between two small islands where we were the only boat once again. Great snorkeling!
-Eastern Holandes where the two anchorages we frequent are known to us cruisers as the 'Hot Tub' and the 'Swimming Pool'. We like to come here every couple of weeks on Mondays as they have a great pot luck get together where we meet cruisers from all over the world.
-Esnesdup, a big favourite of ours! The snorkeling is amazing. This year we celebrated Marilyn's birthday here and our good friends on Fortuitous and Homer's Odyssey produced a fantastic dinner complete with cake!
-Isla Tigre where we took part in their yearly celebration of their independence. They re-enact the whole dramatic day that they took back control over their own lives from the Panama Government and the Church. It is very well done and a lesson they want their young people to never forget. The village is so welcoming to the cruisers and this year about 20 cruising boats attended.

The weather this last month has not been normal for this time of year. February is supposed to be the windiest month but part of it was absolutely calm with flat seas. Then the wind returned with high seas again and lots of clouds mixed in with the sun and also quite a bit of rain. It is always lovely and warm here with the temperatures steady in the high 80's. Unusual conditions seem to be happening in many parts of the world this year. It is all good though, no complaints here!!

February Update!

2010-02-04T18:08:00.000-08:00

February 4, 2010
Icarian is situated in Esnesdup in the Naguargandup Cays in Kuna Yala, Panama! In other words 'Paradise'! We arrived back in Kuna Yala on January 10th after a 35 hour passage from Cartagena, Columbia. The passage was relatively good with winds from the NE varying from 15 to 20 knots. Our seas were in the 8 to 10 foot range and on our stern quarter so kind of rolly. We arrived in the Eastern Hollandes at 10:30 p.m. and with the previous tracking on our GPS and radar we were able to anchor right where we wanted to be.
Brian has been in project mode having now replaced a lower rigging wire and checked out all the rest of our rigging. He installed a new 'Tacktick' wind speed and direction instrument on our masthead. This unit is wireless so no wires to slap in the mast. He has also replaced two turning blocks with ones twice the size and was not too surprised to see some of the bolts on the old ones just break off. Now no worries!
He had to trouble shoot a problem with our generator as it spewed oil all over the engine compartment. It had blown a tiny ¼" plug which he then had to find in all the muck under the engine. He did find it and now the generator is working like a charm.
Marilyn learned a lesson on packing the freezer. She thought that because we had all our meats pre-frozen that packing them tightly together would be just fine. Well freezers only work well when the cold air can circulate around the food otherwise it thaws. Luckily the lesson was learned and only a quarter of our supplies had thawed.
We are into the windy month here in Kuna Yala and those people with wind generators are very happy. Icarian tends to anchor behind lovely islands out of the breeze where the waters are very tranquil. We have done some snorkeling and swimming and Marilyn has been into water aerobics around the boat.
At the moment there are about 180 boats enjoying the San Blas. About 100 of those are just passing through en-route to the Panama Canal from Europe.
There have been two, "around the world rally's" pass through the area with many boats enjoying a 15 month round the world tour together. They seem to be having a great time and have lots of interesting boat names to amuse us.
So that is it from Paradise for now. Happy Sailing everyone!

Jan 2010 Is Here!

2010-01-08T12:54:00.000-08:00

Backing up briefly to December our ‘non cruising’ season is coming to an end and Brian is heading back to Cartagena Columbia at the beginning of December. He has some maintenance to take care of and hopes to have Icarian launched just before Christmas. Marilyn arrives then and after a Christmas celebration in Cartagena, we will leave for the San Blas once more.
Marilyn got a new knee this summer and is ready to take on the world. The surgery was very successful and totally worth the pain and therapy it took.
We had a great time with family and friends and welcomed a new Granddaughter Emily Ann. The weather this summer in British Columbia was amazing but now it is getting cold and wet and definitely time to head south.

January 7th, 2010 and Icarian is anchored just off Club Nautico in Cartagena, Columbia. It is amazing weather here in the high 80’s and we are just finishing a major provisioning. Two months of staples are now on board, the freezer is full and we are all set to head for the San Blas in Panama.
We spent Christmas here in Cartagena on Marlene and Roy’s catamaran Damiana with 7 other cruisers we had met on the Pacific side. There were Tammy formally of Secret of Life, Jan and Rich from Slip Away, Rob and Linda from Cat-n-about and Lillianna and John from Gloria Maris. We started out with Roy’s famous Kringle for breakfast and later in the day a delicious turkey dinner with all the fixings. Yum!
We headed out of the city to celebrate New Years Eve in Chalon, just south of Cartagena. This lovely, secluded spot is the vacation destination for many of Columbia’s wealthiest citizens and a former cruiser, Robert, has built a beautiful home there. Robert also has a converted shrimp boat named ‘Manatee’ which has become the party spot of Chalon. As many cruisers find midnight way too late, our New Year’s celebration was at 7p.m. with all the folks in the British Isles. Bring on 2010!
Icarian is now headed back to Chalon to wait for a good weather window for our passage back to the San Blas!!

pixs: Icarian with her new bimini, a typical San Blas island, a private islet in Cholon Columbia.

San Blas - April 2009

2009-04-14T16:14:00.000-07:00

Icarian and crew are having a wonderful time in Paradise.The San Blas Islands have everything that we are looking for, lovely weather, amazing warm turquoise blue water, beautiful white sand beaches and reefs alive with coral and fish. Perfect!!
There are very few stores but we get vegetables and fruits delivered weekly by some enterprising Kuna's who provide this service. They load up their panga's with produce from Panama City and make the rounds of all the anchorages.
No lobster or crab though. It is April at the moment and taking seafood except for fish is not allowed. The ban runs March through May every year during mating season. We arrived just after it was in place and will leave before it is lifted so Brian is out of luck this year.

We had our friends Stan and Lynn (Homer's Odyssey) on board for a week. They left their boat in Panama City and flew into Nargana to see what life is like on the Caribbean side. It was great to show them some of our best spots and they are considering coming through the Canal next year.

The Kuna's main mode of transportation is a log dugout called an ulu. They can be sailed or paddled and we attended some fun races where any method of getting them to go was allowed. Cruisers were invited along to be ballast or bailers, whatever was needed and the course was around 3 small islands. Afterwards the Kuna ladies provided us with a typical meal of fish, rice and salad, delicious!
We have so far been staying in the western San Blas moving from island to island as the mood strikes us. At the beginning of May, we will likely start heading east before crossing to Columbia once again.
Hasta Luego!
Marilyn and Brian

Back in the San Blas

2009-03-10T05:36:00.000-07:00

Icarian is back in cruising mode and it truly is wonderful.
Since we got such a late start to this cruising season we decided to retrace our steps back to the San Blas in Panama and enjoy the sights that so enchanted us last year. We spent most of February doing the final maintenance jobs on the boat and she is now in great shape.

The weather in Cartagena was sunny and very blustery and that seems to be what is normal this year. We set sail for the Rosario's, a group of Islands very close to Cartagena, on February 22nd and spent a week there enjoying the laid back atmosphere and waiting for a good weather window to cross back to the San Blas Islands. Each day the afternoon winds got up to 20 knots and the weather faxes told us that was as good as we were going to get.

We left 7 a.m. March 4th for the 176 mile crossing in building winds that sustained 20 to 25 knots all the way across. We had wind waves to 8 feet on our beam making it a very wet and rolly ride. We averaged 7 knots of speed and were in the San Blas 26 hours later. There has been a gale blowing ever since so we were very lucky to get here when we did.
Our passage was not without mishap, the captain suffered a stubbed toe, a sore head due to a flapping block and a perfectly good pair of glasses now in Davey Jones' locker and the first mate with her usual queasy 'first day at sea' stomach. Leaving the Rosario's we had a dolphin escort for about an hour. They could be seen rising in the waves right up to our eye level and looking like they were having lots of fun!!

We are now anchored in the Eastern Hollandes Cays in a bay locally known as the Hot Tub. We love it here and will likely spend a few days getting into relaxing mode. The weather is still blustery with short rain showers followed by glorious sunshine moments later. The waters are 83'F. and crystal clear turquoise in color. With palm trees, white sand and many reefs to explore, I think we should be able to fill a couple of months just fine.
Hasta Luego!
Marilyn and Brian

Nazca and Arequipa

2008-12-09T15:28:00.000-08:00

We didn’t get to Puna and Lake Titicaca so maybe we will have to go back again some day. The local farmers blockaded the road to Puna in protest against a government’s decision to sell their properties to commercial companies for the mineral rights and thus moving the farmers off lands they have worked for decades. This is a sad situation we support the farmer’s right to do this. We waited 4 days for it to clear but then ran out of time.
We took an overnight bus through the mountains towards the pacific coast to Nazca and then another late bus to Arequipa. This was about 16 hours of bus travel but the buses were lovely with sleeper seats so we weren’t exactly suffering. Arequipa is the second largest city in Lima and is distinctive as many buildings are built with a white porous type stone. It is nestled at the base of a large mountain and an active volcano named Misti. The weather here is dry and sunny. We stayed in a lovely old hostel called ‘El Tumi del Oro’. Huge rooms with so much character and a roof top patio with swings, tables and umbrellas.

We visited the beautiful old convent of Santa Catalina that has been continuously operating for 400 years. It is like a city unto itself and very well preserved. We visited the museum where ‘Juanita’ the Inca Ice Princess is housed. The Inca on the Volcano Ampato sacrificed her to the gods and her grave was discovered in 1995. Because she was frozen, she was very well preserved and her DNA has been used to uncover many mysteries of that era. This museum was extremely well done and the treasures found in the graves beautifully displayed.
From Arequipa we took an overnight tour to the Colca Canyon. One of the 7 wonders of the world, this canyon is more than twice as deep as the Grand Canyon. Colca is home to Giant Condors, which are reported to be quite a sight as they soar in the updrafts. The day we were there however was lovely and still and the Condors don’t fly unless there is a breeze. We did see many Llamas, and Alpacas and even the rare and wild Vicuna’s.

Next stop was Nazca where we visited the legendary Nazca Lines. They are pictures etched in the desert sand that have been there since 200 BC. Nobody knows who put them there or why but they have inspired many fantastic explanations. We flew over the lines in a Cesna airplane and circled many of most famous pictures. There is a spider and a monkey, a parrot, a dog, hummingbird and astronaut and many others. They cover a 400 square miles of desert. Nobody can explain why sand has not covered them up over time; it is a total mystery. We had a wonderful holiday in Peru. The sights are truly spectacular and more than lived up to all the expectations.

We then flew back to Cartagena and Icarian and it was lovely to be back. We had 4 days in Columbia before an emergency at home called us back to Canada. Unfortunately Marilyn’s Dad passed away 4 hours after we got home. Our plans for this year are now under ‘re-write’. We will stay home in Canada till mid January and then see where our journey goes from there.

Pix:

1 Main plaza in Arequipa

2 Vicunas which are a relative of the llama

3 Farmers trucks

4 Colca Canyon

5 Colca Canyon

6 Peruvian farmer

7 Colca Canyon

8 The hummingbird at Nazca from 5000 ft.

The Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu

2008-10-22T10:23:00.000-07:00

The Sacred Valley of Peru is amazingly beautiful. Majestic mountains that rise out of the valley floor so sharply with no foothills - just straight up! The mountains are quite baron with cactus and mostly scrub land and lately Eucalyptus trees from Australia have been planted. These trees grow quickly and provide beams for house construction and many other things.
Our first stop in the Sacred Valley was Ollantaytambo, one of the few intact Inca villages. The village is surrounded by lush farms and a rushing Urubamba River. Corn is the crop mostly grown here and since it is Spring in this part of the world the healthy young crop was well underway.

We climbed the ruins at Ollantaytambo, which has steep stairs rising through terraces once farmed by the Inca. It is so mind boggling to imagine just how this site was built. Huge stones were moved from a quarry 6 kms away and when the river got in the way, they just diverted it around the rocks.

Another Inca site we visited was called ‘Salinas’ where water from a hot spring fills huge stone pans and evaporated to produce salt . This is still in operation today.

Not far from Salinas, ‘Moray’ an Inca agricultural site that was built like a huge amphitheater. Each level of the theater was planted with different crops and they were then able to see which crops grew best at each elevation. The Inca’s were masters in engineering and these sites had built in irrigation and drainage. One of the trademarks we have seen in all the sites we have visited is very precise craftsmanship. The huge rocks fit together perfectly with no need for any filler. All corners and edges are perfectly straight. Amazing!

October 15th we took the Perurail Vistadome train to Machu Picchu.
This trip was totally mind boggling with the steep mountains so close to the train that you had to look through the roof to see the tops. When we got to Aqua Calientes, the town at the base of Machu Picchu, it was raining so we waited till the afternoon and luckily the sun came out. The bus trip to the top of the mountain is about ½ hour on switch back roads with scenery that just no words will support. The site was so much more than we expected and I think it was the incredible setting of Machu Picchu with the huge surrounding mountains that make it so. We hiked the whole site and just knew that it would be an experience neither of us would ever forget.

Back in Cusco, we took a day trip to another small valley town called Pisac.
This town is also at the base of another incredible Inca ruin and on Sundays they have a huge market with goods from all over the valley. We hiked the amazing ruins first and then took in the market.

October 2008 - Peru!

2008-10-09T15:11:00.000-07:00

Brian and Marilyn left Victoria at the end of September and 6 planes and 2 days later we were in Lima, Peru.

We try to always find good things to say about a place but we are hard pressed to come up with too many superlatives about Lima. The Plaza de Armas, where the Presidential Palace and the Cathedral are located is a lovely square, as is Plaza San Martin but the rest of Lima is just large and noisy. Hostel Iquique, where we stayed, was also great and they are keeping two large bags for us full of boat parts destined for Icarian.

After 4 days in Lima we flew to Cuzco, a charming town at the elevation of 3326 meters in the Andes Mountains. The day we arrived was sunny and hot, a treat we were not expecting but it proved to be kind of a fluke as the temperatures are for the most part very chilly here. Cusco is beautiful with cobblestone streets, quaint restaurants and is nestled on a valley surrounded by steep mountains. The people here have been great.

Tomorrow we are heading to a small village in the Sacred Valley called Ollantaytamba. We wanted to experience the feel of a village where not too many tourists come and this Inca village has been continuously inhabited since the 13th century. This should prove to be a very interesting stop on our way to Machu Picchu.
bye for now
Pixs: Lima Central Square, 3 in Cusco

Back home for a summer holiday

2008-09-16T11:28:00.000-07:00

September 2008 and Marilyn and Brian are all set to begin year 5 of their amazing adventure. Icarian has spent the summer on the hard in Cartagena, Columbia where she is well below the hurricane belt. Brian got the bottom ready for painting and then worked on the engine, doing some very important servicing. Back in B.C. we have had a great time catching up with family and friends and attended two lovely weddings.

We fly out of Victoria on September 30th to Lima, Peru where we plan six weeks of inland travel. Machu Pichu, Lake Titicaca are a couple of the highlights but we plan to see much more.
Over the summer we have changed our cruising itinerary. We plan to launch Icarian at the end of November and after provisioning, leave Cartagena around the 1st of December. We have decided to do another season in the Western Caribbean as there is still so much more to see. First landfall will be Providencia where we will enjoy the Christmas season. Our plans include exploring the Bay of Islands of Honduras, Belize and Guatemala and more.
We will keep you posted on what we discover this year.
Bye for now

Pix: Some other cruisers visiting home, Sidney waterfront,Buchart's Gardens, Sidney malecon

July in Cartagena

2008-07-04T13:22:00.000-07:00

Icarian has spent the last month anchored off Club Nautico in Cartagena.
We have been very spoiled with excellent weather as the rainy season was really late getting started.
Mid June we watched a big celebration that sent the tall ship ‘Gloria’ on a lengthy voyage. The pomp and ceremony involved in her ‘bon voyage’ party was really impressive. Sailors lined all the yardarms dressed in the colours of their flag, the bay was full of many kinds of boats and a tug gave a water salute as the Gloria departed.
We have enjoyed many nights wandering around the lovely ‘old town’, watching street dancing and lots of other forms of entertainment. We visited the amazing fortress of San Felipe and let our imagination runaway with visions of life in the 1600’s. The fort is very well preserved and the history associated with it so very interesting.
Marilyn is heading home to Canada in a couple of days and Brian will begin Icarian’s haulout.

June in Cartagena

2008-06-02T13:05:00.000-07:00

We are now in this season’s final destination ‘Cartagena’ and what a beautiful big city it is. Our first impression was how much it was like Vancouver but without the mountains in the background.
Our journey here took us southeast along the coast of Panama as far as a small Kuna village called ‘Achitupu’. The village occupies a small island and appears to be bursting at the seams. A steady stream of children ventured out to visit us. They came on board to see how we lived and were very taken with pictures of our family back home. With our limited Spanish we had a great time. We passed out the rest of the school supplies we had brought with us and lots of homemade cookies and the children all left with happy smiles. The San Blas Islands are now our favourite cruising experience.

Our first landfall in Columbia was Isla Tintipan where we found some lovely private haciendas but as it was the off season, they were pretty much deserted. We moved northeast to the Rosario’s, a grouping of small island’s only 20 miles from Cartagena. This is a very funky area that has lots of fishermen’s cottages and weekend homes for some wealthy people in Cartagena.

Lively music, clean warm water and a lovely atmosphere made this an area we hope to visit again soon. We visited an aquarium there and saw lots of sharks up close and a very good dolphin show.. The feeding frenzy of the sharks, I won’t soon forget! Yikes!!

The old city is just gorgeous. The architecture just amazing and makes me wish that in Canada we weren’t so quick to tear down the old and put up modern buildings with no character. Lovely narrow streets with over hanging balconies and flowers spilling down towards the street. Just lovely! Surrounding the old city, the walls of the fortress are massive and very well preserved. So much history here!!
It’s time to do some serious boat projects over the next couple of months as well as investigate the many sites and sounds of the city. Icarian is getting a new bimini and will be hauled out for some TLC. We’re heading back to Vancouver (Marilyn July 8 and Brian Aug 12) to visits the clan and friends
Hasta luego!!

Icarian's May update!!

2008-05-01T08:41:00.000-07:00

San Blas May 1st, 2008

Hi again from Paradise!
Brian and I are still here in the San Blas and have just spent 3 weeks with good friends Larry and Julie on Komara.

We have snorkeled some amazing reefs as we have re-visited some of our favourite spots. We are now getting used to sharks but I prefer them sleeping on the sand which is often where we find them. Brian likes them swimming around of course and is always ready to spur them on. Yikes!
This last week we saw a 5` Barracuda just hovering in one spot no doubt waiting for some tasty morsel to swim by.
In the Western Holandes Islands we discovered a series of underwater passageways and arches and tunnels leading to a secluded beach. The water actually shimmered it was so warm, it had to be over 100 degrees. We think there must have been an underwater hot springs helping the sun and were surprised to see lots of fish still swimming in that heat.

We visited a typical Kuna village called Isla Maquina. It is a tiny island with over 300 inhabitants and there is not a square inch of land not in use. A young man named Ildefonso had invited us to his village and he took us to the Congresso to meet his chief and get the necessary permission to walk around.
The pathways between the thatched cottages are narrow and so neat and lovely colourful hibiscus grow everywhere. Ildefonso speaks pretty good English that he has picked up from making friends with the passing Cruisers.

Brian and Larry went for a sail on an ulu. Amazing the speed and manouverability they can achieve in a dug out log with craps of material sewn together for a sail. The Kuna are true sailors!!

Icarian is now starting the next leg of this year's journey and that is heading East to Cartagena.
We left Nargana yesterday and ran right into a huge rain squall which continued all day and evening. We calculated 4 inches had come down and we managed to just about fill our water tanks. Icarian is now squeaky clean too!
The rainy season is just starting and we hope that it eases in slowly.

We are now in Snug Harbor a beautiful little spot nestled between 4 small islands and the mountainous mainland is close by.
The anchorages and villages we are about to visit are very remote and very few cruisers come this way.
Our plan is to coastal hop down as far as the Columbian border and then shoot across to Cartagena by mid May.
Hasta luego!
Marilyn and Brian

April's update - San Blas Islands

2008-04-08T07:40:00.000-07:00

Icarian is presently anchored in the Eastern Holandes Cays in a lagoon commonly referred to as the Hot Tub.
It is lovely here, truly a paradise.

We made a short trip down to Colon in the middle of March. We needed to reprovision after 2 months in the islands and haul the boat out of the water to straighten the strut that had become bent when our propeller encountered a stray line. Long story, but luckily it straightened with no trouble and we were back in the water again within an hour. In Colon we were able to do a good re-provisioning again and are now set for another couple of months.
While we were in Colon they were filming the upcoming new James Bond movie called 'Quantum of Solace'. In fact, the filming was happening all around and in the Shelter Bay Marina where we were staying. The film company had hired about 40 cruising boats to anchor off the marina and form the back drop for a lot of the action. We saw some amazing stunts being practiced again and again and then watched as they shot the actual footage. Daniel Craig is James Bond and his leading lady Olga was very pretty.
I was interested to see that most of the work is done by the stunt doubles and the main actors are just slotted in at the end. The stunt double for James was named Wade and he was so friendly and had all the girls fawning over him. Fun to watch.

Yesterday our cruising friends Larry and Julie on Komara arrived here in the San Blas. We cruised with them in the Sea of Cortez in 2005 and now find ourselves back together for a couple of weeks before we head in different directions again.
We have some awesome 'favourite spots' to show them!!
Hasta luego!!

San Blas March 1st, 2008

2008-03-02T09:12:00.000-08:00

We have spent the month gunkholing around the Naguargandup Cays, finding many great anchorages where we are all by ourselves. The San Blas has many 'popular' anchorages where this year they are seeing record numbers of cruisers. There are sometimes as many as 15 boats enjoying the same spot. If you are a little adventuresome and just nose around you can find seclusion if that is what you want. We like to mix it up. Our friends Gary and Celeste on Sol Surfin arrived in the San Blas mid February and we have really enjoyed cruising with them again. We have cruised with them on and off on the Pacific side for the past two seasons.

A definite highlight of this month was visiting Isla Tigre and joining in the celebration of the Kuna nation's Independence Day. February 25th 1925 the Kuna taught the Panamanian police and the missionaries a lesson. They did not want to conform to the way of life they were preaching and just wanted to live their own peaceful life rich with tradition. The celebration included a re-enactment of their successful fight. They act out through skits the way the Revolution day unfolded showing the hardships

they had to endure leading up to that day. They keep this memory alive through the skits preformed once a year and through their dancing. The friendliness of the Kuna people was so wonderful to experience. We have some awesome pictures to show you but will have to wait till we are in a civilized area again that has access to the internet.

At present we are in the Coco Banderos Cays. Yesterday while snorkeling on an outer reef Brian dove down to see what was under an interesting looking ledge. Looking back at him was a very large shark. Beating a hasty retreat we tried another area with our friends and ran into a 12' nurse shark just taking a rest on the bottom. Brian swam right over him to have a closer look (he is crazy!) and the shark spun around to face him before swimming off around some rocks and headed right where I was
swimming. I have had a few wakeful moments reliving that experience. They say the nurse sharks are not aggressive but they are sure big and mean looking. Yikes!
We can't say enough about the wonderland under the water on these reefs. Truly amazing!

So that is it for now, we are just planning on hanging out here for another couple of weeks and then heading back towards Colon to do some more provisioning. Then we will return to this wonderful area till the beginning of May and then head for Cartegena.
Hasta Luego!

Pix: Brian goes for a sail in an ulu, Kuna villagers at Isla Tigre

San Blas Update

2008-02-02T09:56:00.000-08:00

What is the definition of Paradise?
Well we think we have found it. Icarian is anchored off a little island called Morbedup in the San Blas Cays. It is truly lovely here. White sand beaches, palm trees, birds singing, turquoise water and very comfortable temperatures.
The snorkeling in the San Blas has been amazing too. The coral varieties here are so varied in colour and shapes and every reef is a new wonderful garden to discover. There are amazing 4 foot fan ferns in delicate purples and mounds of coral in bright oranges and maroons. The fish are the added bonus of course with all their different shapes and colours. Awesome!!

Island hopping is so easy. We just unfurl the jib and sail from one to the other. The northeast tradewinds have been blowing while we have been here but we have been able to find nice little knooks for protection. The reefs that surround the islands cut the waves just like there is a wall. Amazing to see.

Brian has been enjoying lobsters and crabs galore, he is so lucky!
So that is our update for now. We are just hanging out and having fun.
Sorry..pix will have to wait until we get to an internet cafe in a few months.

Pixs: Marilyn's birthday, the crabs are BIG, a cute girl at Isla Tigre

Icarian in the San Blas!

2008-01-05T09:34:00.000-08:00

Icarian spent Christmas 2007 in the lovely harbour of Portobello. This very protected bay is just loaded with history having been discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1502. The Spanish soon claimed it and sent their galleons to load up on gold and silver from Central and South America. These galleons and Portobello became the target of pirates like Henry Morgan and Sir Francis Drake who died in Portobello. Forts surround the bay and we found ourselves anchored with many rusty old canons pointed our way. The forts have not been restored so they are just as they were way back when. Very cool! :) We had our Christmas lights up and although the weather was a little wet we managed an excellent feast with friends off Second Nature and Quinuituk.

After a brief stop at Islas Linton and Grande we set off for the San Blas Islands on New Years Eve. We had a great sail in sunny skies and winds in the 15 to 20 knot range with seas averaging in the 6 to 8' . We arrived in the San Blas at a little Island called Chichime (chee-chee-may) late in the afternoon. It is the first time in many years we welcomed in the New Year sound asleep! :)

The San Blas is a huge area of coral reefs with the odd small island thrown in. In fact there are over 300 of these little islands and the reefs give protection from the 6-10ft swell rolling in from the Caribbean. The weather since we arrived here has been fairly windy which is keeping us cool. Water temperature is about 84'F and the skies have been mostly sunny!!
The beach here has very white soft sand and palm trees galore with few native huts nestled under them.

The Kuna Indians govern the San Blas as an independent state within Panama. We have begun to see and buy some of their crafts. They are famous for needlework called Molas which are very colorful pictures usually depicting their history and lifestyle. These pictures take a long time to complete and are very beautiful. We plan to investigate many of the islands in the San Blas in the next three months before heading to Cartegena.

Pixs: A typical island in San Blas and an ulu used by most of the Kuna for fishing/transportation.

Icarian does float in the Atlantic!

2007-12-16T07:50:00.000-08:00

Icarian transited the Panama Canal on December 12th 2007 and is now in Shelter Bay Marina across the bay from Colon. This is our first stop in a marina since we were in Puesta del Sol, Nicaragua in April 2006!
Our transit went off without a hitch! We had our niece Kelsi and her boyfriend Chris from Kamloops, Steve on the sailboat 'Last Resort' and another cruiser named Spencer from 'Second Nature' as crew. We had a very nice day with only one rain squall.
We 'locked up' at about 10:15 a.m. in the Miraflores and Pedro Meguel Locks, a series of three locks and were out of there by about 11:15. Then it was about a 5 hour trip through the Gaillard Cut and Gatun Lake. We passed many interesting freighters and cruise ships heading for the Pacific side. We then 'locked down' in the Gatun locks about 6 p.m. It was a long day but it went off without a hitch. Our crew left us in Colon in a taxi Steve had arranged for the return trip to Panama City.
Icarian spent the night in the flats off off Colon and then moved to the new Shelter Bay Marina the next morning. This is a lovely facility in a jungle setting on the old sight of Fort Sherman. The wreck's of old barracks and runways can still be seen and I am sure there is lots of history here. We have now completed our paperwork and tomorrow leave to begin the fun part of this year's adventure.
Our first destination will be Portobello where we will most likely spend the Christmas holiday. Our Christmas decorations along with the cards we received last year are now up and give us a festive look. We will put our outside lights up when we reach Portobello. Christmas in the tropics is still a little weird to us but we will give it all the spirit we can muster.
Hope you are all enjoying this wonderful season!

Pix: Our niece Kelsi taking in the sites, Steve our #1 line handler taking a break and the southbound line-up in the cut.

Panama City Again

2007-12-01T09:07:00.001-08:00

We left Bahia de Caraquez, Ecuador on an early morning high tide November 14^th. We so enjoyed our months in the Bahia. The 'family' atmosphere of Puerto Amistad was so welcoming and the people living there very friendly. This is a super place for Summering over and a safe place to leave your boat while travelling inland or visiting home. It will remain one of our favourite spots.

Icarian is once again in the anchorage called 'La Playita' in Panama City. It is so green here now as of course we have just finished the rainy season. Very beautiful! Our passage from Ecuador was great. It took us 5 days and 4 hours which is a very good time. We left Bahia with a SW wind about 12 knots and we had a steady reach for 4 days straight. Very little changes had to be made with the sails all we had to do was keep a look out for fishing boats and freighters. Our fifth day had no wind so we turned on the engine and continued into the Bay of Panama.

A highlight of this trip was the sighting of a big whale feeding on the surface. We are not sure if it was a Blue or a Humpback whale but it was waving it's pectoral flippers in the air and rolling over, just enjoying himself. We managed to get pretty close before he dove to find more feed. It is always so special to see these amazing creatures.

One evening on the passage we had a flock of a dozen tiny little land birds, like sparrows, come and spend the night. They flew down below to check out our living quarters but ended up snuggling down for the night huddled together under the dodger. They were so cute! At first light they were off again swooping over the waves.

The last few days have been dealing with officials. We have cleared with the Port Captain and Immigration and are now organizing our papers for transit of the Canal. We have been measured and inspected and this evening we should hear if we get the date, Dec. 12, that we requested.

Our lists have been made and now the provisioning begins. Sure hope we don't forget anything!

Pix - Our good friend Janet in Bahia, colorful fishermen in the Bahia market and the new BC Ferry exiting the Panama Canal!

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Off to Panama

2007-11-08T10:21:00.000-08:00

Icarian is enjoying the last few days at anchor in Bahia de Caraquez, Ecuador. We have very much enjoyed our stay here. This is a very beautiful country and we would not hesitate to recommend it to everyone.
Our yearly maintenance is complete. Icarian’s decks have received a full refit with new seams, new plugs and a complete sanding to make it look like a newly laid deck. The heads have been rebuilt and new bilge pump to name just a few jobs Brian managed to fit in this year. Marilyn’s task has been to ready the below deck storage to take on supplies for approximately 3 months of staples.
We are setting sail on November 14th, 2007 and heading for Panama City.
Expected duration should be about 5 days. Our first order of business will be to book our transit date to go through the Panama Canal. We are hoping to get December 12th as our niece Kelsi is flying down to transit the Canal with us. We hope this works in with the powers that be.
In Panama City we need to provision as we have never done before.
Our destination is the San Blas Islands of Panama and stores as we know them are non-existent. We will hopefully be able to trade for fresh food with the Kuna Indians but other than that we need to be self-sufficient. We have done lots of reading research and can hardly wait to enter a world so different to any we have visited so far. There are more than 340 Islands in this chain so that should give us lots of destination options. We also hope to be in Cartagena, Columbia when the rainy season starts again next June.
We have changed from our web-site this season to another format, which will allow us to update you more regularly via e-mail as to what we are up to. We will plug pictures into our blog whenever we have Internet coverage.
So we are off!!

Pictures: A waterfall outside Banos, the flower market in Cuenca, and a massive cathedral in Cuenca which took up a whole city block!!

Bring on year 4!!

2007-11-08T10:03:00.000-08:00

It is mid October and Brian and Marilyn are all set to return to Ecuador and Icarian. Our daughter Melanie was wed to James in Vancouver on October 6th and the wedding was a huge success. Marilyn made the wedding dress (a real labour of love) which turned out to be just what the bride wanted - a huge relief! It was wonderful to be part of this special event and so satisfying to see everyone so happy.
Weddings mean getting together with family and friends and we really got to enjoy everyone this year.

While Marilyn was home with her sewing project, Brian was doing maintenance on Icarian. Her teak decks are now in good shape with all the plugs replaced and hopefully sealed.Some mechanical maintenance was also in order and now we are set for another year of cruising.
Our plan is to be back on board by about the 20th of October where we will spend a few weeks getting all the systems like the fridge and freezer up and running again. We will need to do a major re-provisioning with a departure date around mid November. Our plan is to once again head towards the Western Islands of Panama as this route has proved to be very favourable. Then on to Panama City where we will start planning our transit of the Panama Canal. Hopefully this will happen about mid December and we can celebrate Christmas on the Caribbean side.
We plan to spend most of this cruising season in the San Blas Islands, which number over 300, and then summer over in Cartagena Colombia next year.

So that is it from here. We are excited to be on to year number 4 and will keep you all posted as we go.
Happy Cruising!

PS...yes that is black steam puffing out of the volcano just outside Banos, Ecuador