Bocas Archipelago - over to Bluefields

After Red Frog we motored a little further down Hospital Bight (so named for the hospital that was there in the early 20th century) to Bahia Honda. Bahia Honda was a relatively tranquil spot for the night. Just the usual noise of children playing and dogs barking as there was a small village nearby.

The next morning we had a look at a tiny marina that we had been able to see from our Red Frog anchorage. As we were to discover there were hundreds of very sheltered spots amongst the mangroves of the archipelago and obviously some people had taken the opportunity to create mini-marinas for people looking to leave their boat in a safe, cheap place. This particular marina was full with about 8 yachts on the dock.

Entering The Gap

From Bahia Honda we motored through a very narrow channel known as The Gap. The channel wasn't very long and was shallow in parts so we had one eye on the depth sounder all the way.

The Gap opened out into a large expanse of mangrove islets that we cautiously motored through, again having to watch the depths closely, as we made our way in a generally south direction. While mostly there is mud on the bottom there are also coral heads, hence the need to move slowly and being alert to changes in the colour of the water indicating a change in depth and possibly coral. Nice to be in a steel boat though!

Mangrove islets south of The Gap

Once out past the mangrove islets, we passed between Isla Bastimentos and Isla Popa and made a change in plan to head for Laguna de Bluefields, another hour and a half or so away, rather than stick to our original plan to stop at Cayos Zapatilla (2 small coral cays known for white sand and snorkelling). We were able to hoist the genoa, although still ran the engine as the wind was light.

We arrived at Bluefields mid-afternoon, having an impromptu race as we entered the Laguna with a kiyuku (local indian canoe) that was sailing along. Ivan did stop the engine to try to make it a more even competition. We set anchor at Punta Allegre once we had established where the coral reef was in order to make sure we weren't in danger of drifting on to it. There was another yacht in the tiny bay, flying a British flag. We didn't waste any time getting into the water to cool off and swam over to introduce ourselves to Frank. Frank has a 44ft Herreshof steel ketch  that he built himself in London 20 or so years ago. He kindly pointed the local man selling crayfish from his kiyuka in our direction that night!



Kiyuka under sail at Bluefields





Dinner!



The next day we began a walk across the tip of the island, through the forest from Punta Allegre village to another village called Cusapin, but gave up after about an hour as we could see the mud was just going to continue, making it very slow going. The locals had warned us it was a 3 hour trip and very muddy!

Punta Allegre village

We stayed 2 nights at Bluefields, enjoying some swimming and watching the locals paddle their kiyukas past us. Sometimes they would have a handful of fruit or vegetables to sell us. Othertimes they would just look at our boat or test out their English on us. Ivan got quite a funny fright once to look up from something he was doing in the cockpit to find two young children peering over the edge of the cockpit from their kiyuka! They are quite silent when they paddle up.

Track to Cusapin

Bocas Archipelago - Red Frog

We have just returned from 10 days touring in Brio around the Bocas del Toro archipelago. I'll keep this post fairly brief as it is late and we are up very early tomorrow morning to go to Colombia (by plane) for a couple of weeks.

We left Marina Carenero on the morning of Wednesday 27 July for a short (motoring) trip to Isla Bastimentos with the intention of stopping near the old town on the island. Before we realised it, we had passed the anchorage so, with an 'oh well' we continued a little further and anchored outside Red Frog Marina. The marina is named after the beach on the island that has lots of little red frogs on it. We went to the beach but didn't even think to look for the frogs while we were there. We had actually seen some when we visited the chocolate farm on Isla Colon so we weren't thinking about looking for more of them. The beach was very nice to walk along and Ivan went for a bit of a body surf in some pretty poor waves in the beach next door.

On Red Frog Beach not looking for frogs

We had only intended to spend one night in the area, however as we needed to communicate with our travel agent about some incorrect ticketing dates he had sent us, we ended up spending a good part of the next day making use of the free internet in the restaurant up the hill to try and sort out the problem. It was a rainy day anyway so  not much chop for sailing and so we spent a second night at anchor there. It was quite a busy little place with Pangas (water taxis) zipping around us and through the mangroves dropping people off at the island.

Bocas del Toro

We loved Providencia so much that we decided not to spoil our impression of Colombian islands by visiting San Andres as we had heard that that island was more populated and touristy than Providencia. So we passed by the lights of San Andreas during our 48 hour sail from Providencia to Bocas del Toro in Panama. We motor sailed most of the way as there was not a lot of wind. The closer we got to the coast, the more frequent the rain squalls seemed to be. The rain didn't bring much wind, but just made for a soggy trip.

Bocas del Toro is an archipelago near the Costa Rican border. We are staying at the Carenero Marina which is on the island of the same name and is a $1 boat taxi ride away from the town of Bocas on Isla Colon. Bocas is something of a backpacker town with a lot of competitively priced hostels, cheap bars and restaurants that sell american style food. It's nice that we are not residing in the middle of all of that, even though I loved that sort of travelling 25 years ago!

We have been taking it very easy since we have been here. Some days we have taken a water taxi across to Bocas to do things in town and other days we have stayed around the marina doing things on the boat and trying to organise the next part of our trip. Yesterday we went on a chocolate tour. This involved catching a water taxi to Almerante and from there we were picked up and taken to a community that grows cacao trees and makes chocolate from the harvested beans. They have recently, under the guidance of a Peace Corps volunteer, started the chocolate tours. It was a fabulous tour with the local guide giving us lots of information about the ecology of the area and their permaculture practices as well as about the chocolate making process. The community run the cacao and tour business as a cooperative. We saw a sloth (very high up in a tree so very hard to make head or tail of), some lovely blue and black frogs and some tiny red frogs.

chocolate tour with Mauricio



House next to the marina



Like many of the places we have visited on this and other trips, one wonders whether the people (including the many ex-pats who build grand houses next to the water) think at all about sea level rise and what on earth our local council regulations would make of some of the structures.



restaurant ripening window



 

Stratocumulus and cirrus clouds...I think

getting a lift to town on the veggie boat

Providencia

Four days and four nights sailing saw us arrive in Providencia early one morning. Like exercise, it was good to stop doing it! We had checked the weather sites before leaving and it looked like we could expect solid wind of about 18kts and seas of 2.5 m for at least for some of the trip. What we actually got was never more than about 12 kts of wind and about 1m seas which made me very happy; although it was uncomfortable at times because it was beam on.  That´s wind and waves on the side of the boat for non-boaters. We both felt sea sick for a good part of the trip but enjoyed eggs and bacon for breakfast when we got in.

Providencia is a small island off the coast of Nicaragua, but is actually Colombian. It is low key, has one road that goes around it and has some nice snorkelling. They say the reef off Providencia is the 3rd largest in the world and as such a lot of people come here for snorkelling and diving. Unfortunately they have a problem with lionfish, an invasive pest that has arrived in recent years, and which is eating the native reef fish.

Brio at anchor in Catalina Harbour

The main town of Providencia is Isabel on Catalina Harbour. Everwhere we go we have an interesting checking in experience with customs, immigration and quarantine and this one proved no different. The agent, Mr Bush, advised us to come to the dinghy dock at 11am. We duly did this and after a while he and about 5 other people showed up, all with clipboards with forms to complete and all seeming to ask us the same questions. It was quite funny to be checking in sitting on some broken milk crates in the shade of a building on the dock, with a barrage of questions being asked.

Main street, Isabel, Providencia

 We spent our 8 days on Providencia snorkelling, looking at some amazing corals and fish, trying out the local restaurants, especially enjoying the very fresh seafood, trying to get internet access and visiting the beaches. We made friends with James and Victoria who were visiting from their home in Germany. With them we climbed to the top of the peak of the island. A local guide showed us the way. We were also accompanied by two dogs all the way to the top. Climbing the peak involved an early start for us as we had to row into Isabel from our mooring to be picked up by a motorcycle taxi at 6.30am. The taxi driver was also our guide and he was right in insisting the early start as it gets very hot by mid-morning. It took us about an hour and a quarter to get to the top and the views were good.

At the peak with Victoria, guide Imacio and James

Leaving Jamaica

After 15 days in Port Antonio, Jamaica we departed to start to make our way south to Providencia. It was a bit tricky to work out the best time to leave to get reasonable weather for the whole trip, but we managed to avoid bad weather as it turned out. First stop was Negril on the western end of Jamaica. We had decided to go there on the good advice of our friend Ed to make use of the shelter of the island from strong winds and from there we could keep an eye out for a good weather window to depart for Providencia. We sailed for 22 hours to get to Negril and then spent 2 nights anchored there in the north of Bloody Bay.

Ivan repairing sail, Negril



Typical Louise pose








Negril was much more touristy than what we were used to in Jamaica. We were anchored not far from a huge, purple resort. We swam into the beach one day and met an English couple who were there on a 2 week holiday and they explained that the resort was part of a chain that has exactly the same buildings and services at various locations around the world. This was the 3rd time they had been to one of these resorts and each time they didn´t leave the actual resort to explore the surrounding towns and culture. Such a different holiday experience to the ones we are usually seeking!

close encounter with a cruise ship on the way to Negril

Week 2 in Jamaica

It's easy to see how people sail into a port and never leave. We are now into our second week at Port Antonio, Jamaica. Richard, our other crew member left us last week. We all agreed it wasn't working out, so it was sad that he didn't get to see through the adventure he was looking for, but, as they say, that's sailing.

We have sorted out the problem with our HF radio, with the help of a local guy, Richard. Seems the antenna connections were so corroded, we couldn't receive anything. Now we can receive and transmit! Our chartplotter started mysteriously playing up a few days ago, but i think we've sorted that out now too - probably a dodgy adapted card that the microSD card sits in. In the meantime......

......we spent a couple of hours one day on a bamboo raft going down the Rio Grande. Our rafting guide, Keith, was very happy for Ivan to 'take the helm' from time to time......

......we went swimming in the Blue Lagoon - made famous by the movie of the same name - with our fellow boaty friends Ed and Martha........the lagoon is nice to swim in because it has a layer of cool freshwater on top and warm saltwater below. This is because it is fed by some freshwater springs. There is one right next to the lagoon where you can rinse the saltwater off after a swim...very civilised!

We've been checking out the sights, sounds and tastes of the town......the market in any place is always a fun experience

Jamaican apples

me holding the freshly baked bread and a breadfruit


.....and Ed, who has made a science of bread-making, showed me his no-knead method of making bread. although it took up a good part of the day because we were fitting a lot of other chores around it, the bread was my best effort yet in the oven. The secret ingredient was the air-conditioning as  without it the cabin would has been tooooo hot to do anything in. We decided to purchase a small air-conditioner that we can use while in port, so we can get a decent night's sleep. It is soooo good.


Happy to be in Jamaica

Day 2 in Jamaica after a 10 day non-stop trip from Florida.

We left Stuart in Florida on 3 June, with Rose and Phil on the dock waving us goodbye and safe travels.
 It was a pleasant couple of hours down the canal to the St Lucie Inlet which was our entree to the ocean. Having heard all sorts of stories about the shifting sands at the inlet and the importance of local knowledge to ensure a safe crossing of the inlet, we found our way easily and were quickly in the deep blue heading south down the coast. Our plan was to stay close to the coast of florida to avoid the strong currents of the Gulf Stream and then cross the Gulf Stream way down south somewhere in order to get across to the Bahamas. Of course we are sailing, so nothing goes according to plan. It all seems long ago now so it's hard to remember the detail, but we didn't end up going to the Bahamas beacause the winds and seas were against us. Instead we kept going south into the sea north of Cuba and then travelled southeast along the coast of Cuba, finally making it to the Windward Passage between Cuba and Haiti and then across to Jamaica. Sounds quick and easy as I write it now, but it was a slog. Even Ivan said it was some of the worst sailing he has experienced.

We seemed to either have wind on the nose or no wind at all. It was pretty tense going through the channel north of Cuba. We spent a lot of time motor sailing there to get us through the channel as quickly as possible as the weather looked like it was going to get stormy. Fortunately there were no storms. We did 2 hour shifts at the helm each night and the self-steering and the chartplotter were good companions here. (Hey Tuckker it's quite fun checking out the size and speed of ships on the AIS as they are bearing down on you!) Some days there was no wind which was very frustrating and some days the wind and current were such that we were nearly going backwards. We spent about 3 days trying to get past Cuba.

the view...mostly

So my introduction to passage sailing was pretty ugly - fear, nerves, anxiety, stress, sleeplessness, salt and sweat saturated clothes and bed, preparing food at a 45 degree angle....oh and i almost forgot the first 2 days of seasickness. But at least it wasn't rough and stormy weather.

Don't look Mum, that's me up the mast



Asymetrical spinnaker



Although we had intended to sail direct to Panama from Florida, by day 9 we were all exhausted and sick of being on a slow boat to nowhere, so Skipper Ivan suggested we pull in at Port Antonio on the north side of Jamaica. It would also be a chance to get some more fuel as we had used us most of what we had by then. It was with great relief that we pulled into the Errol Flynn Marina at Port Antonio at about 8.30am on Monday 13 June.

Waiting for lunch

We have explored the town a little and all had a big sleep last night despite the party raging on the boat alongside us. The people are really friendly and relaxed and the marina is in a lovely spot. The heat is intense, but the marina bar and pool make up for it somewhat. we will spend a few days here doing some minor repairs and hopefully see some sights. Tomorrow Ivan and I are going to go on some sort of rafting trip in the mountains.(Perhaps the holiday is beginning!)