9d35N - 78d40W
Air Temperature 89d - Water Temperature 83d - Humidity 84%
Eastern Holandes Cays, San Blas Islands

We decided to spend a minimum of three months in the San Blas Islands, and were warned by other cruisers to provision heavily in Panama City as not much is available in the islands. Preparing 90 meals a month, plus entertaining, steadily depleted our supplies. We did find an entrepreneurial Kuna man named Fredrico living in Nargana who has set himself up as a "Yacht Services" company. He escorted us around his village, disposed of our trash, helped us to buy vegetables at his brother's small store, and delivered cases of beer, cola, gasoline and diesel to our boat. Fredrico introduced us to the local restaurant, "Nalli's", where we enjoyed a few meals. The menu was the same for every entrée. . .rice, beans, plantains, and cucumber or carrot salad. The choices were for fish, octopus, lobster, conch, or chicken. Regardless of your main course, the bill was $3.00 per person.

Another choice for re-supplying is to fly to Panama City from the islands. There is one flight per day from Nargana departing the island at 6:30am and arriving in Panama City 45 minutes later. The return flight is also early in the morning, so one must spend the night in the city. The cost is $30 each way. Several other islands have flights depending on demand. If someone wants to fly out, a white flag is hoisted up a 60-foot bamboo pole, and that signals the pilot to land and pick up a passenger.

Doug made the trip into Panama City two times. When we passed through the Panama Canal in January we checked out of the country and were issued a "Zarpe" for Limerence to go on to Colombia. All zarpes permit stopping in "puntos intermedios" along the way. Because our visas for Panama had expired, Doug was detained upon landing in Panama City and ushered downtown by immigration. He was issued an extension to his visa after being photographed and fingerprinted. He paid a $50 fine. He was only delayed an hour or so, and then spent the rest of the day running errands. He visited the bank, post office, five marine stores, an internet café, a computer store, the Pedro Miguel Boat Club to get our forwarded mail, and finally the grocery store. The next morning he was at the airport at 5:00 am to check in for his flight back to the islands. He paid $50 to transport 200 pounds of supplies packed in cardboard boxes. Doug did this Panama City exercise one more time, six weeks later. He was again detained by immigration. . .déjà vu! Our friend Erwin from the boat Dutchess tagged along on this trip and his excellent Spanish helped Doug talk his way out of detention.

Our days in the islands fell into a rhythm . . . just like a day in civilization! We had begun tracking the weather every day for the Pacific and Caribbean in early fall, and soon Doug was providing a five-minute report to our fellow cruisers on the morning SSB radio net. Up at 7am, Doug would turn on the ham radio and download several weather reports issued by the National Weather Service in Miami. He would write up his report while I made breakfast, and then deliver it at 8:30 am on the Panama Connection Net. At least sixty boats tuned in everyday to listen to the weather, check in with their positions, and connect with other friends. The net ran for about 45 minutes daily. We enjoyed providing the weather report for the convenience of the cruisers.

After the net, we would do e-mails, bake bread or muffins, and wash some laundry in a bucket. Daily boat chores included charging the batteries, operating the watermaker, servicing the wind generator, changing the engine oil, and monitoring the refrigeration. The list is long. We also worked to keep the boat clean - inside and outside. In high heat, salt water and humidity, all our jobs were challenging!

We often visited with our cruiser friends during the day. We usually were anchored in proximity to ten other boats. The neighborhood was constantly changing as people moved from anchorage to anchorage. A new cruising boat instantly became our "new best friends"!

We snorkeled for hours every afternoon. The sea life on the coral reefs is the most stunning part of the San Blas Islands. The rainbow colors of coral, gorgonians, sea fans, and grasses are thrilling. We often swam with eagle rays, stingrays, schools of blue tang, and hundreds of different exotic reef fish. It was like our private aquarium! We commonly saw nurse sharks and barracuda that gave us concern, but they never seemed interested in us. Snorkeling became the highlight of every day. We adopted a small blue and yellow damselfish called a Beaugregory, and made an aquarium for him out of a plastic flour container. We needed to dive everyday to capture tiny shrimp larvae to feed our fish! The "fish food" larvae swarm in dark reef holes in shallow water. We made a net out of panty hose to capture food for our little fish and also changed his seawater twice a day.

Limerence became a small ZOO with our little pet damselfish, and two geckos. Our gecko, "Pepe", hitched a ride with us in Panama, and we later picked up "Junior" in the San Blas. When " Pepe" was first spotted in January, we tried to exterminate him with RAID. Our cruising friends enlightened us to the fact that geckos are highly prized as "house cleaners" and we must treat our little pet with more respect. We decided to keep him and we see him often in the evenings inside Limerence hunting down fruit flies. When we sailed on to Colombia, our fish was given to a friend in the San Blas Islands. The geckos got to stay aboard.

We became acquainted with hundreds of other cruisers in the San Blas. We met a good percentage of cruising families. Most of them were home-schooling their children, which generally worked out fine. The most successful incorporated the geography, history, and biology of each country they cruised. We were amazed at the energy required by the parents to manage the kids! Every cruiser we met had knowledge or experience to share with others. Some are especially computer-literate, others are great mechanics, many had charts and information about cruising in other countries, and all were friendly and eager to share. On this website in the Photo Section, we have created a "friends page" where you can met our cruiser pals.

At our favorite crystal clear anchorage in the Holandes Cays called "The Swimming Pool", we joined in a party every Monday night on the beach. Each cruiser would bring an appetizer to share and we would party until dark, and then build a huge bonfire. We burned paper trash and the party became known as the "Burn". Interacting and learning from other cruisers from all over the world, is one of the most fun and stimulating parts of cruising.

By the end of May, we were ready to move on and leave the islands. We were sad to say "goodbye" to our familiar dive spots and stunning clear water, but ready for the conveniences of a city. We waited for the full moon of May, and the wind shift to the west, to make the 200 mile run to Cartagena, Colombia. Everyone "gulps" when we say we are going to Colombia, but our cruising friends assure us we will love it. We flew over to Cartagena for Thanksgiving and decided we wanted to sail Limerence there in the spring.

Fair winds friends,
Doug and Judy

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