Three Full Moons are the Charm

Earthling Getting Launched

Finally Earthling got launched and it feels great to be floating. Last season she was launched in Grenada right before Christmas and this season launched a few days before the Persian New Year, “Norouz”. The fifth leg of this sailing adventure is about to start, although it's much later than previous years, but I’m still feeling fortunate to live and experience this lifestyle. The agenda for this leg is to sail Northbound. First to San Andres and Providencia, followed by the Islands off Honduras, then Rio Dulce in Guatemala, and then Belize. I have to be back to Chicago for summer and the Mackinac race in July and I would feel bad to store my boat on the hard somewhere in the tropics again! Boats stored unattended in the heat and rain simply can get destroyed. Therefore, if everything goes well, I am contemplating to sail back to the U.S. by end of this season. The previous legs are as following; the first leg started in Chicago and ended in Florida through various rivers and the intercostal waterway. Second leg started in Florida to the Virgin Islands through the Bahamas, Turks & Caicos, Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico. Third leg was from the Virgin Islands to Grenada through the Leeward and Windward nations/Islands. And the fourth one came true from Grenada to Panama through Trinidad, quaint Venezuelan Islands, Colombia, and the San Blas Islands. I would have liked to visit Bocas Del Toro Islands in Panama as well, but there is no more time left for Panama.  

I will always remember the stress and trouble I had to go through in this Marina to get my boat back in water. Yesterday was full moon and my third full moon here at Turtle Cay Marina; it took three of them to get Earthling in water! 
Turtle Cay Marina have charged boaters for haul out and launch, but they refused to launch the remaining boats. The boat owners had to pay from pocket and hire a private crane company to launch our boats. This marina is located in a very peaceful place but it’s lacking intelligent management system! Bathrooms are rarely running, Internet gets disconnected constantly, it doesn’t have laundry, and it’s far away from stores without a consistent reliable transportation. But it’s the closest marina to the San Blas (Kuna Yala) and it’s a great stop before hitting the Panama Canal. The only person that knows how to run this place is the harbor master, Yogi. He has been a cruiser for many years and is experienced and can assist you with your needs.

 

Illusion was the biggest boat to get launched first, without the input of her owners, I would have still been on land

Uli's boat almost took the new bathroom roof down, that would have been funny :-)

Celebrating the Diablo Festivities, Yogi in the center along with Uli and Toti

People perform in different Diablo costume

The music setup in Nombre De Dios

Diablos signify the Spaniards

Not sure about this one

Diablos whip people as if they were slaves

The Monkey Family at Turtle Cay Marina

The true settlers of Turtle Cay Marina park :-)

I’m floating but nothing is better than being on the hook. At anchor you are within harmony of nature. That’s the real cruising! 

Love from Panama

Living on the Hard

The first steps on a boat that has been sitting for six months could be chocking. Especially when you left your boat in the water and the marina hauled it out as one the first boats ever hauled out. When I returned to the marina, ten days ago, at 9:30pm, I stepped into a flooded cabin. The batteries were dried and shut, as a result, the bilge pump stop working and rainwater down the mast and other leaks flooded the inside of the boat. Luckily, the water was lower than the engine. I was pumping out water and cleaning till early morning hours.

Turtle Cay Boat Yard

The way it seems, Earthling will remain on land for at least 3 more weeks. Turtle Cay Marina has a beautiful boatlift, that is not working, it never has been working in this marina. They must order a crane to come in and put the boats in the water. This is a new marina, remote from anywhere. Closest village is down the curvy dirt road in the rainforest to the main road, and then another ten minutes drive to Nombre De Dios. The first big city, for provisioning and boat parts is Colon. You can take a chicken bus from Nombre De Dios to Colon, but you might sit next to passengers that are holding a chicken on their lap! It makes it all more adventures. Finding boat parts in Panama is not as easy as walking into a major chandlery in the U.S. Even though there are a few chandleries, but if they don’t carry what you looking for, you can’t really order it either! You have to search to find things! That requires going to Panama City, which is 2-3hrs drive from the marina. The best option for me was to rent a car from the airport and gather supplies and do a major provisioning. Otherwise, things would have taken much longer time. I purchased "Petit Trinidad" antifouling paint, but they didn’t have it in red so I had to buy it in black at the highest price ever. After a few days of searching, I found good deals on 4DM batteries, but I still haven’t been able to find fuel filters!

  

Settled Base 

There is a list of projects that I hope to accomplish before start cruising again. 

The list is long and it goes by priority. Before getting launched, everything below has to be done, such as getting the bottom ready for paint. Which includes scraping off the barnacle shells and lightly sand the hull. The keel has to be faired, since we hit reefs in Kuna Yala. A friend of mine lost his boat 3 weeks ago on a reef in San Blas. The Garmin charts are "off" in this area and sailors must keep a careful outlook. In our case we were lucky! Furthermore, two stern through-hulls leak and must be re-caulked. The propeller and shaft have to be cleaned and new zinc put on. Then everything is ready to apply the bottom paint. After that, the top of the hull needs to be polished and waxed. 

Priority number two is to service the engine, which includes changing fuel filters, oil filter, and oil. I must also take apart and clean the starter from rust debris. In addition, the starter solenoid must be replaced since we’ve experienced difficulties starting the engine before. Also, the auto syphon must be inspected since it sprays out too much water.

The next priority is to recaulk the stanchions and shroud fittings, a job that needs four hands! And then there are zillions of other small things to do. This part of "Cruising Life Style" is not as pretty as it looks on the pictures of white sandy beaches with palm trees. But I have to admit, this marina’s location is just like heaven, there are two long beautiful beaches just by here and there are monkey families living up the trees not far from the boat. It’s as isolated as it can get on a deserted Island. 

The tent is setup and utilized as storage area, last time we used it in Barbuda

Love from Turtle Cay Marina in Panama

Kuna Yala

Sailing Ulu by Achutupu

Kuna Yala is the land of Native Kuna Indians, also known as San Blas. This area stretches around 150 miles along the South Eastern side of Panama. Kunas live very original, the most primitive I ever witnessed.  Their homes are made with bamboos from the jungle, majority don't have electricity or running water, and bathrooms are outhouses over water. The men paddle "Ulus" (Dugout canoes) toward the rivers on the main land early in the mornings and return with supplies throughout the day. They get their water from the rivers, vegetables and fruits from the main land in the Darien forest, and meat from the sea. The only signs of modern world are radio antennas, a few outboards, and mobile phones, which is more evident in the northern villages than southern. The first language is kuna and Spanish is widely practiced. There are around 360 islands in San Blas and most are not occupied. Villages are usually located close to the main land and well populated.

Supplies from the forest

Ustupu

Achutupu

Women paddling to the river to get water

Isla Tigre

Typical view of a village with Darien Jungle in the background

A school's bathroom in Ustupu

Homes out of bamboo

Kuna Yala is a woman dominant society. Women make most important decisions, they choose their husbands and manage financials. In Hollandes Cays, a gentleman came over to greet us. First thing he asked was if there was a woman aboard? Yes, and Katherine came out on deck. Thereafter, he talked to Katherine about anchorage fee and handed her a note in english. I'm standing there and watching and this guy doesn't even look at me till he got his $10 and gives a receipt, only then he turned around and started chatting with me.
Women dress in tradition clothing called Mola, which is the primary art Kunas offer.
They are sewn patterns of nature on different colors and layers of fabric. Molas are a famous hand craft of Panama. Some molas are definitely a piece of art and great souvenir and gift for friends and family. Usually Kuna women row up on their ulu to the cruising boats and offer the handcrafted molas for sale.

Estelfina invited us to her house to see her molas

Mola stand

Kunas like to give visitors gifts (Regalo). We have got seafood, fruits, molas as gifts from various locals. However, one experience has been making me a little cautious with taking gifts. In Ustupu, a happy person, Ricardo rowed on his ulu up to Earthling and sold us bananas & mangos. The following day he came by & offered fruits again but we already had some and were not interested. But Ricardo insisted to take some as Regalo because we were amigos. Ok, gracias amigo as I took four mangos. Ricardo said; De nada, Un Balboa($1)! I wasn't going to get into the definition of Regalo with Ricardo with my broken Spanish, so No problema, A dollar for you amigo :-)

Kind giving locals in Isla Tigre

Lobster or Lancoste

Ricardo brought fruits by every day

Kunas are peaceful and in harmony with nature and they would never hurt anyone. They don't lie, cheat, or steal. They are trusting and we never felt it was necessary to lock the boat. The Kunas in the southern islands have had little interaction with outsiders and seldom might not come across as friendly as others. Some individuals from previous generations might not really be excited to directly interact with visitors. And it makes sense, since Kuna Yala has been threaten by outsiders several times in the history. Originally the Spanish tried to rule it and then the Panamanians. Furthermore, people dug for gold in their rivers and the drug trafficking of rootless people have not left a good impression in Kuna's mind. Fortunately the only people that left better imprints are the sailors and cruisers and once they hear you are on a sailboat they soften up. They have been violent twice throughout the history, stood up for their land and fought first with the Spanish a few hundred years ago and second with Panamanians in the mid 1920's. Where they even massacred the interracial Kunas. Their new flag symbolizes both of the fights.

Wichubhuala

 Some villages are like a labrynth, we got lost in Achutupu, Earthling's mast is visible in the middle of the pic, but how do we get there

Ustupu, largest Kuna island

Kunas are known to take care of the nature and maintain it clean. Nowadays one can't go by without noticing plastic, metal cans, and glass floating on the water around villages and stacked up along the shores, a sad scene in paradise. The other day we payed attention to a person that walked up to the sea and threw all the trash in the water (it's common). Many of the trash was food rest and degradable, in addition there were plastic soda bottles and thin cans. It's not really the person's fault, she has been throwing rubbish into the sea for 70 years and it always disappeared but today it doesn't just go away and it could be because of the evil spirit. Could the evil spirit be the corporations that mass produce & export cheap products around the world? That is a political discussion for itself. In a perfect world if we are producing materials that would not disappear in nature, then it's our responsibility to educate our peer. I think most if not all packaging materials should be degradable.
There are many deserted islands in Kuna Yala. Before getting back on the more common cruising route north of Rio Diablo, Katherine and I got to spend an amazing evening totally secluded on Farewell Island. This little island was resided by 100s of palm trees of different sizes. The hammock was set up in between two of the trees on the beach with a Bonfire next to it under the full moon. Every time we set up a fire, our trash gets burned, in addition we try to clean up the surrounding of all plastic materials and burn them as well. In the Farewell island we burned tons of plastic bottles that were floating on the beach and in the water.
Since the first bonfire in Chub Cay, Bahamas, I learned from Ali to have a clean bonfire without leaving any evidence. First dig a deep hole in the sand on the beach, create the fire and when it's over, put it out with water, and then cover it totally with sand without leaving any kind of foot print. That way the nature is back to its original shape and beauty!

Farewell Island

Trash collected on the beach

If you are depended on Internet and planning to cruise the remote islands of Kuna Yala, plan a head for some other solution since it is more or less impossible to find Internet. I must add that all the schools in the populated islands have Internet but it might be difficult to access it at all times. We have gone to schools and tried to use the Internet, sometimes the weather has been cloudy and the solar panels couldn't put out enough energy to turn the modem on, other times there are so many kids with their small laptops that the speed can be slower than dial up, another time we had to go to school director's house and see if he could let us use the Internet, he said in half hour, after half hour we were informed that Internet wasn't working that day.
In Ustupu, you can find wireless Internet by the the airport at the power plant, additionally there is a wireless Panamanian network that occasionally works on a very low speed in some islands like Nargana by Rio Diablo. In other islands like Achitupu there should be Internet at the Hostels but the hostel was closed. The only reliable wifi is on Elephant island in West Lemmon Cays.

This is the path to the electricity plant by the airport in Ustupu, in search for wifi

One rewarding adventure has been rowing up and down the rivers. There are tons of rivers in Kuna Yala. The mouth to most of the rivers is shallow since debris, and tree logs get stock there, making it difficult for dinghies with outboards to enter. Once up the rivers you can find mango trees and load up with mangos. furthermore, the Kunas have their cemeteries on land by the rivers.

Cooling down and towing the dinghy in Rio Diablo

Nargana

 Local teenagers we met on the river

Kuna graves

Large tree trunks in the water, always keep an outlook to avoid them

Earthling cruised in San Blas for five weeks and anchored in seventeen different places from Isla Pinot on the South to Provenir on the North. 

Love from Kuna Yala

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Colombia-Panama Passage

The last overnight passage for this season brought Earthling from Isla Fuerte, Colombia to Isla Pinot, San Blas, Panama. I have to admit it was the least tranquil passage this year. Earthling departed Isla Fuerte with very little winds & waves at 11 in the morning.

We always troll a fishing line during the day. A fish was following and nibbling on the lewer on and off. But this fish was different, it was of a dark color with its top fin sticking out of water. Could it be a shark? After an hour of her following us, suddenly the reel started to spin really fast, 40ft of fishing line went out in no time. The fish jumped up in the air twirling and twisting around and boom snapped a favorite lewer. Indeed, it was a shark and there is no way we would bring a shark aboard. There are many horror stories of people trying to reel in sharks, their meat is delicious but not worth the work for us. Afterward, two more bait were put out, one of which sprayed with WD-40 (WD-40 contains fish oil). Within a short period of time both of the lines got something on them, one snapped off again by another large cold blooded aquatic creature and the one with WD-40 brought in a good size yellow fin Tuna. The tuna was cleaned and we had a few fillets for dinner right before sunset.

Winds started picking up as the sky was turning dark. Not so many boats are encountered in these waters.  However, we saw a large vessel in distance, Colombian Coast Guard. Shortly after we sight them, they contacted us on the VHF radio and asked the normal questions; flag, boat name, number of crew, last port of call, next port of call, nationalities and so forth. They thanked us for the cooperation and we were clear to continue.

The autopilot is steering the boat and unexpectedly starts making some strange sounds and had to be disengaged. Now the boat has to be steered manually overnight. Winds are stronger, we are on the second reef and still doing speeds between 6-7 knots on a beam reach with occasional ten-footers clashing on the starboard side. Katherine is motion sick in these conditions! Around eight o'clock at night, in the middle of nowhere, we realized a boat is trying to catch up to us in a fast speed. All kinds of thoughts are in mind, primarily pirates! As the boat got closer, its blue bright sirens went on! We contacted the coastguard right away and was wondering what their intentions were? It took several slow minutes before we heard back from them; it's an inspection procedure, reduce speed and get ready to be boarded. It's a little scary to have people come aboard your boat under way at night. But we cooperated, furled in the genoa and started the engine. There were five men dressed in uniform on the speed boat. They tried to come to port side and board Earthling, but these waves were not making it possible. After a few attempts, they end up taking pictures of the boat as we tried to have a sense of humor and smile. They informed us that everything is sound and there is no need to come aboard, thanking again for cooperating and noting they are here if we need any assistance.

Attempts were made to fix the autopilot under way but it seemed like the belt inside was broken. I had to be behind helm the entire moon less cloudy night as heat lightnings were striking in the skies over the ocean. The boat was washed over several times as of which once the cockpit got filled with water. While starring at the compass to keep the course on 262, I'm thinking, why in the whole world am I putting my self through this? I can't wait to see the day again and arrive at a new land.
It's 5.15am, we are five miles off Isla Pinot (Tupbak) and it's still dark. After 40 min of drifting with minimum sails, the sky starts to brighten up. We see land, the best sight one can imagine!
And here we are anchored by the Darien tropical rainforest in the land of Kunas. Perhaps this is why you have to go through difficulties in order to get somewhere rewarding, once again we found ourselves in paradise.

The untouched dense green mountains are on one side and the Kuna village on the other side of the anchorage. It looks like nothing has changed here for a long time. These earthlings are the most primitive ever witnessed. Isla Pinot or Tupak is a small Kuna village on a large island. It's significant since it has the highest elevation out of all the islands.

Katherine in front of the Village of Tupak

Earthling anchored between the Darien forest and Tupak

Prudentio brought us Kuna bread

Typiacl Kuna houses

Love from San Blas