Thursday, March 7, 2013
Friday, April 16, 2010
April Update!
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!!
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
March Update!
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!!
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!!
Thursday, February 4, 2010
February Update!
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!
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!
Friday, January 8, 2010
Jan 2010 Is Here!
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!!
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.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
San Blas - April 2009
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.
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
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Back in the San Blas
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.
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
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