San Blas Islands: days in paradise

May 21, 2017

The ocean here gets up to about 3000 meters deep, but as we approach the Panamanian coast it shallows up. This makes the surface “lumpy” says the captain. It does make the swells a lot more noticeable and the boat is rocking pretty good when we get up this morning. Patrick walks into the cool air on deck just as the sun rises. In front of us are the San Blas Islands, but you cannot really see land, just a carpet of palm trees rising just above the ocean. Climate change and sea level rising is a very real thing if you live here. The Panamanian government believes the islands have about 30 years left and are making plans relocate the Kuna people.

We have to do some maneuvering to get around a large reef that blocks access to the islands, but then enter a large bay surrounded by small islands. The water is calm and very blue. We pull-up to one of the islands and drop anchor; this will be our home for the night. The captain gets on his phone to call a local Kuna man (that’s what the local native tribe is called, they are not from Kuna Idaho!) to order lobster. It will be delivered to our boat later today. We have breakfast and are shuttled in the dinghy to the uninhabited island nearby for some swimming, snorkeling and (for us) staying out of the sun. Our arms and legs have tanned pretty well, but the rest of our bodies are pretty white and ready to sunburn easily. We do take a stroll around the island, and find a good palm tree to laze under. You can call this paradise and it is very beautiful, but we think we would be bored after a couple of days. Good thing we have plenty of books.

After a while Patrick swims back to the boat and Rachel is picked-up a while later. We have another fine lunch, but the food prize for today is the lobsters that are delivered in the afternoon. The captain expertly wrings off the head and the fat tails disappear into the kitchen where our cook cuts off half the shell and serves them cooked in butter and spices. A sumptuous meal!

We stay anchored near the island for the night and have a very pleasant evening talking with fellow passengers and our captain. He has been sailing since he was 16 years old and worked his way up from deckhand on a fishing trawler to the bridge of a cruise ship. Sailing in the Caribbean he saw people living on sailships and decided that was the life for him. It took him one year to design his dream ship and another fifteen to build it and pay for it. The Quest is a two million dollar expedition yacht that also is Goeran’s home. Goeran’s moment of fame was when he was first officer and on the bridge of the Caladonian Star, an expedition cruise ship when it encountered a 100 foot “rogue wave” in the South Atlanic that almost took the ship down. He is featured in a BBC documentary about “rogue waves”. Goeran has interesting plans for future cruises; we’ll have to stay in touch with him for a possible trip through the Northwest Passage in the Arctic Ocean from the Atlantic to the Pacific and then down the Alaska and Canadian “Inland Passage” south.

The second day in the San Blas Islands starts with a good overnight rainstorm. All we notice is somebody scurrying around the deck above us to close the hatches. After breakfast we lift anchor and relocate to another island in the archipelago. It is about two hours sailing and once we leave the protection of our anchorage we get to “enjoy” the ocean swells again. The boat rocks pretty good, but it is light and we can stay on deck to watch the horizon. That helps against sea-sickness. A dark cloud starts to develop to our southeast and just when we reach our intended anchor spot the storm catches us with wind gusts and heavy rain. The spot is protected from the ocean swell by a line of islands, but to our west is a wide expanse of water all the way back to the Panamanian mainland. The captain explains how, if the wind would change direction, swells coming from the west could lift the boat and make the anchor slip. With reefs all around and strong winds that can be dangerous. On average the reefs in the San Blas Islands claim fifteen shipwrecks every year. Our captain does not like the situation with the strengthening storm, he turns the ship around and heads back the way we came to another anchorage he has been before. We have to maneuver slowly between some islands, but then we enter a lagoon, about a kilometer in diameter, surrounded on three sides by islands, and to the east by a long barrier reef on which the swell breaks in high towering water columns.

After dropping anchor we enjoy another fine lunch: Mexican burritos. Rachel is a happy boater. Part of our passengers is dropped off on the nearest island, and then a couple of us join the captain on an “expedition” to a nearby inhabited island to buy some coconuts. Even though most islands are uninhabited, every tree on them belongs to somebody and so do the coconuts on them. You’d be stealing if you just take them. We ride the zodiac to the island and Goeran talks with a dark skinned guy that approaches first. He grabs a long pole and leads us to some nearby palm trees where he knocks a dozen nuts down. It is amazing to see these people live in bamboo huts on a small island less than a meter above sea-level. No electricity, the only water a brackish dug in the middle of the island. Goeran pays about a dollar each and we head back.

Patrick spends some time snorkeling near the island; there is a patch of bright orange coral with an amazing variety of small and larger fish in bright colors. It is nice to swim in the salt water; the buoyancy is such that you can effortlessly float on the surface gazing down through a mask at the fish life below.

Dinner is more seafood appetizers and chicken curry. Afterwards the coconuts are punctured with a power drill and the coconut milk is enhanced with a generous pour of rum. We celebrate the 21st birthday of one of our Danish passengers.

The third and last day in the San Blas Islands. We have slept very well, in the calm lagoon the boat barely rocks and the deck hatches remained open for fresh air. We get porridge for breakfast and then lift anchor to sail to Porvenir where there is an immigration office to get our Panama entry stamps. That turns into a bit of a fiasco, when our captain arrives at 11:30 they have just closed for lunch, and when he returns at 1:00 they are not able to stamp anyone in because “the system is down”…. Whatever that means. It will have to wait until Portobello. Patrick gets a ride to a nearby island-village where Goeran tries to buy some fresh bread, but no luck. Nobody has baked this morning. The people seem very “relaxed”, to the point that they are just hanging out and nobody seems interested in making a dollar by selling some bread. Okay, back to the ship.

We sail back and anchor at one more idyllic island. These islands are more accessible though, and the tourist trade is in full swing. Lots of boats are anchored in a small lagoon, protected by reefs and islands on all sides with only a narrow passage into it. There are at least two sailboat wrecks on the reefs and one large ferry boat that did not make it. We stay outside the reef, a couple go to the island to swim; we stay on board to read our books.

We sight a couple of the San Blas Islands. They are flat, low, and covered in palm trees.

Large sea shells on the beach in San Blas.

The natives selling Cuban rum to the white people. Funny.

We have relatively calm seas. That does not mean you'll stay dry on the front of the boat. Our bikes are wrapped in plastic for a reason.

We visit a small island to buy coconuts.

Haul of coconuts. Every tree and coconut has an owner, to get them you need to go to a settlement and buy them.

Goeran adding some rum to each coconut for the birthday party.

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