Sailing from South America to Central America
Trip Start
Sep 13, 2004
1
20
25
Trip End
Apr 30, 2005
Panama City,
Panama
Thursday, February 3, 2005
Remember last travel journal entry when we were a bit worried about waiting around in Cartagena and trying to organize a boat ride to Panama? Well that night we met some people in our hostel who had found a boat leaving in a day, we met the captain (who we hadn't heard the greatest rumors about) and decided to do it.
After some minor set backs (among his many faults our captain had some serious organizational issues), we set sail early the morning of the 26th aboard a beautifull 75 foot, double masted yacht. The boat had three bedrooms and three bathrooms, a huge living room, a dining room and a kichen, it was nicer than most of the hostels we've stayed in. The upper deck was lovely, a large comfy cockpit that could sit all 11 of us and lots of space to suntan on the deck. Besides our less than ideal captain (Dennis the dud) and his crazy Columbian girlfriend (the cook), we sailed with 7 other backpackers from all over; Peru, Spain, Australia, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, and Austria. The group was really great, we all got along well and enjoyed sharing our experiences in a mix of spanish, english and german.
The first bit of the trip was a bit rough, from Cartagena Harbour until we arrived in the San Blas islands, some 30 hours later, we sailed way out in the Carribean in 6 feet swells. Dennis was thrilled and kept telling us how lucky we were to have such calm weather, I kept thinking that if what we had was calm seas then I'd really hate to see the rough stuff. Needless to say we spent most of the 30 hours laying up on deck, rolling back and forth, trying not to move too much and feeling a bit queesy (no barfing, don't worry). My sailing experience doesn't extend much further than sailing lasers in English Bay in summer sailing lessons so I really enjoyed the chance to be out in the open ocean in a real boat. It was neat to expereince seeing nothing but huge swells, the horizon and so many stars for so long but I'll be honest and say that I don't plan on making any ocean crossings any time soon.
After our big sail we spent four nights and three days in the San Blas islands off the coast of north western Panama. These islands belong to the Kuna Indians who are self governing and consider themslves separate from the rest of Panama. The islands are incredible, most are deserted, covered in white sand that is the consistancy of flour, and full of coconut plams. I think there are about 50 islands, all quite small (we could walk around one in about 15 minutes) and some are inhabited by two or three Kuna families who fish, grow and harvest coconuts and make "molas" (beautifull colored fabric art things) for a living. The islands are nestled in many amazing coral reefs and we had a couple FANTASTIC snorkels, highlights included seeing a nurse shark and swimming with stingrays. After snorkeling we'd sit on the yacht in the sun, drink beer and BBQ fresh red snapper for dinner. It really did feel like paradise.
It took another full day of rolling seas and open water to reach mainland Panama at a town called Puertobelo. From there we caught a bus to Panama City and have spent the past four days here enjoying some of the comforts offered in the big city. Panama city is the most modern and Americanized place we have been in the past five months, we felt a little bit culture shocked arriving here to McDonalds on every street, supermarkets better than the ones at home (including a health food section), traffic lights, shopping malls and many other things we recognize from home. It has been a good opportunity to stock up on all the things we need and can't get in developing countries but it has also made us think about what coming home is going to be like, how fast the novelty of going to the supermarket and buying ready made things is going to wear off. After some debate we took advantage of some cheaper prices and nice stores and the other day we bought a new digital camera to replace the one we had stolen (the $30 point and shoot we bought in Ecuador was turning out pretty crummy pictures).
I am feeling a bit sad to have left South America behind, I really did have a great time on that section of our trip and I hope to return but I am also excited to be in Central America, it finally feels like Mexico is getting close. I am looking forward to shorter bus rides, more beaches and hopefully some different food.
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Okay, let's talk skipper for a minute here, Cap'n Dennis surely deserves it. Julie speaks the truth, the boat, a 75 ft cutter-rigged ketch with four auto-furling sails and all the toys, was beautiful. The ownership was unclear as the righful owner, relationship to skipper Dennis and first mate/beer wench Dina was unclear at best and downright disturbing (in the Jerry Springer sense of the word) at worse, had recently kicked the bucket and his will and testament had yet to be revealed although both skipper and wench made public claim to the boat while privately discrediting and making death threats (no joke) about the other. Both had their flaws but Dennis's were more interesting. You could set your watch by the pfsssst! sound of an opening beer can in his hand ever 30 minutes, night or day and usually someone else's beer (complimented by someone else's cigarettes). He was a borderline incompetent and underacheiving sailor: His idea of sailing was setting one small headsail, keeping the diesel engine on and plugging coordinates into the autopilot (all with beer and cigarette in hand). At one point he failed to properly set the anchor and we drifted into a 35 ft catamaran, snapping its anchor chain and losing its anchor (one of the passengers was later to put on a mask and snorkel and retreive it... Dennis was too busy drinking and explaining how it wasn't his fault). Rumour has it that was the 3rd or 4th anchor our skip was responsible for losing. He also had a penchant for hearing his own voice which can be extremely unpleasant at 2am when he is once again shouting his rebuttal to anti-american sentiments (real or imagined), "If it wasn't for us the French would be speaking German right now..." In short, if the scenery and company hadn't been so damn good there would have been a bloody mutiny.
Panama city could well be a smaller, hotter Miami. It's amazing what a canal and an offshore banking industry will do for a country. Speaking of the canal, we payed a visit to the world's most famous waterway the other day.
A few interesting canal-facts for the trivially inclined: The construction of the canal cost 90,000 lives, mostly at the hands of malaria and yellow fever. The canal was built, owned and managed by the US until 1999 when it was transferred to Panama. The canal is not sea-level, it is actually a series of artifical lakes, damns and locks connecting the two oceans. Many of the world's large oceangoing vessels are built to "canal spec's" meaning their lenght and beam are built to fit within the canal's locks with only a meter to spare on either side. It costs an average of $30,000 for a ship to pass through the canal, paid by weight so that the largest ships able to pass through can pay in excess of $200,000 for the service. Revenue from the canal comprises some 7% of Panama's GDP. The canal is widely considered (certainly by any Panamanian) to be the greatest civil engineering acheivement of all time.
Well, after all that buildup, a little disappointment could only be expected. We went by cab and bus to the last set of locks (there are three) on the Pacific side in order to watch the afternoon traffic passing through. While it didn't take any breath away it was certainly cool to watch tankers and container ships squeeze through the artificial holding tanks, their last step in a 80 mile journey from Altantic to Pacific.
We've now been in Panama city for four days and are scheduled to leave tonight via overnight bus to Bocas del Toro, an archipelego in the Northwest corner of the country that offers more of the same: white sand and clear water... times are hard.
love to all,
Julie and Pete
