More in Ailigandi

Well, the seas outside the reef are still pretty large so we're spending another day or two in Ailigandi. Our next leg is 10 miles on the outside of the reef to take us to San Ignacio and since we're not in any hurry we'll continue to wait here until the seas lay down and according to the forecast that should be in the next day or two.

We went ashore again today with Mike and Sue and tried a new restaurant for lunch. A plate with fried chicken, lots of rice and lentils, a green salad and plantains with an ice cold soda cost us about $4 each. It was a lot of food and very good. Afterwards we took another leisurely stroll around the village greeted of course by more kids. Many of the kids had face paint on in celebration of Halloween. We visited the one church on the island today too and had a very warm welcome. The church is three years old but is undergoing a lot of repairs to the stone and mortar two story building. Everyday at 3pm is bible school for the children which we were extended an invitation to see. But of more interest to us is the invitation we got for tomorrow evening to watch the choir practice for Sunday's service. The hymns are written in the Kuna language but we didn't understand if they would be singing in Spanish or Kuna. If we're around tomorrow then I sure hope we can take the opportunity to go ashore and watch the choir practice.

Other than that there hasn't been much rain here but unfortunately there is a lot of no seeums, very small but irritating biting insects. Lots of bug spray and insect coils seems to fend most of them off but not all. Because of the no seeums we're really hoping the seas will be calm enough to continue on to our next destination.

Ailigandi, a river tour and a trip ashore

Yesterday afternoon soon after setting anchor off the village of Ailigandi Mike and Sue bought some lobsters and a large crab. They invited us over last night for an excellent happy hour and fresh crab cakes that were almost as good as mom used to make. David fried up some yuka root that was also pretty good. While we were at Infini last night another dugout came by and we bought three lobsters for $5, they were still very much alive and kicking.

This morning we all took a dingy trip of the river, Rio Nabsadi, for quite a few miles. Much of the river was lined with ancient mango trees and lots of large coconut trees. We also went by a traditional Kuna cemetery in which the graves were lined along the river under thatched roofs. It actually looked like a village with hammocks and chairs under each roof and signs bearing the name and dates of the deceased. It was quite beautiful. At one grave we met a young Kuna couple who was tending to the grave making sure the grass was cut and dirt swept of debri around the grave. We also met many men paddling their dugouts up and down the river coming and going to their respective farm plots.

After our river tour we went a shore to the village of Ailigandi where we had lunch at one of the local restaurants. For $3.50 each we enjoyed a large and delicious serving of fish, rice, lentils, tomatoe and cucumber salad and coleslaw and an ice cold soda. Mike had chicken and said it was pretty good too. After lunch we took a walk around the village meeting many friendly people and looking at the various molas and other trinkets that were offered for sale. It's amazing that three villages within 30 miles of each other can be so different.

Ailigandi is a more modern village. While the older Kuna women wear traditional clothes the younger people wear jeans and shirts. Many of the men also wear long pants and dress shirts. The school here consists of two large two story buildings, the largest school we've seen in all of the San Blas. There's also a rather large medical clinic with inpatient care, one of the more sophisticated in the San Blas. The village is exceptionally clean with no trash seen while walking. Half of the homes here are of traditional style built with bamboo while others are concrete, wood or a combination of materials. Some of the homes are actually quite fancy in styling. Numerous tiendas abound filled with rice, sugar, cereal, spam and even peanut butter but hard to find was eggs and non-existent was veggies. The police man and police women that are stationed here are very friendly and inquisitive asking many questions. So far it's been a fun visit while we wait for the seas outside the reef to settle down for our next leg, possibly Sunday or Monday.

Ailigandi

We've been waiting for a couple days now to leave Mamitupu for either Achutupu or Tupile (San Ignacio) but the weather was to overcast with lots of periodic squalls. This morning though we took a chance and left after the morning rain with the intent of heading to San Ignacio however with the heavy offshore swells which were much to uncomfortable we diverted to the small but heavily populated island of Ailigandi. We just arrived a few minutes ago and will stay until the offshore swells subside to a more comfortable level. As we explore this island later we'll of course have more to report.

Dinner with Pablo

We never made it on the river tour yesterday afternoon as Pablo had a lot of work to do but we did go ashore with Mike and Sue at 530pm to have dinner with Pablo. We went to his piece of property on the island where he built a few simple cabanas, a kitchen and a social area. While his wife and sister prepared a traditional Kuna dinner we sat with Pablo in the open breeze under the palm trees learning more about the Kuna way of life on Mamitupu. Some of the things we learned are;

Most people marry in their mid 20s though the younger generation is starting to marry in their early 20s.
When married the husband moves into the wife's house, sometimes with her family.
The largest family on the island has 13 children but six to eight is not uncommon.
Most people on the island practice the traditional Kuna religion while some of the younger adults go to a Christian church.
Kuna Indians only began wearing clothes 150 years ago, Mamitupu was the last to give in to wearing clothes.
Kuna's must get permission from the village chief to leave the island as well as to return to the island.
Mamitupu has a curfew, children must be in by 7pm, women by 10pm and men by 11pm.
The day for Kuna's start at 5am.
The calendar is new to the Kuna way of life, Pablo remembers as a child when there were no months or days of the week.
There is no electricity on the island though one family has two solar panels and a tv. There are a lot of LED flashlights here.
A lot of the young adults who go to Panama City return with portable radios and watches, items considered to Western for a proper Kuna way of life.
Crocodiles on the mainland are not considered dangerous but the snakes are, killing in less than a minute with a single bite.
A traditional Kuna dinner is fish and bananas and sometimes rice. Chicken is considered too expensive. Pigs are killed and eaten only during a festival.
Each family own's their own plot of farm on the mainland.
Kunas believe their sole comes from gold, thus the elaborate gold jewelry that is worn

After many questions both to and from Pablo we were served dinner. A large plate of coconut rice with chicken cooked with tomatoes, onion, cabbage and carrots was presented to us, it was a lot of food. Because Pablo's generator was not working we ate with a couple lanterns on the table. Pablo ate with us while his wife and sister ate in the kitchen, but they did join us after dinner at the table for more questions and answers. No where else have we felt so welcome with genuine interest about us. They asked about our families (surprised that our parents would only have a few kids instead of more), where we have traveled and more. But the big questions was when would we return, and would we please return. I have no doubt that we'll return to Mamitupu and hope that it will be sooner than later.

This morning we had plans to travel onward to Achutupu but at 230am squalls bringing heavy rain and lightening came and remained until mid morning. The water quickly went from clear blue to dark brown due the runoff coming out of the nearby river. We'll wait tomorrow to move on and hope that the water clears up by then.

The Congresso Meeting

(Correction: the congresso meeting is held every saturday night from 5pm to 10pm, not every night as stated in the previous post).

While David went to Infini yesterday evening to help Sue make dinner I went with Mike to the village so we could attend the congresso meeting of which we were invited. Having arrived early we took a leisurely stroll around the village walking the narrow dirt pathways between all the huts. With everything looking the same it was hard not to get lost. We were again greeted by friendly children and adults. Many men and women came to their door to stop and greet us and for some small talk. Kuna is the official language but many of the inhabitants speak Spanish and a handful English. One gentleman was proud to show off his pig, one of the largest I've ever seen. We ran into Pablo's mother and sisters again and were invited in to sit and talk for a while. We also met the administrator of the school and learned that 11 teachers taught 243 students.

We met Pablo at his house then continued to the large congresso hut where the men sat. The first order of business was roll call. Pablo explained that the congresso was mandatory for every male 18 years and older. If one missed the meeting he was punished by having to sit two days in the congresso hut which of course takes away from his work and ability to support his family. In the center of the hut the Sahila laid in his hammock, hands behind his head and his hat on his chest. The secratary sat at a small desk to the side of the Sahila. Once roll call was completed the Sahila stood and put on his hat then spoke of a new community project. After he spoke he again laid in his hammock with his hands behind his head and hat on his chest. One by one members of the community stepped forward to 'loudly' protest. Other items were discussed and rules challenged and the Sahila criticized for his poor performance. We only stayed for an hour and even if Pablo didn't translate for us it was easy to see that many of the comments were very emotional and critical of the Sahila.

After our hour of watching Mike and I returned to Infini where Sue and David prepared an excellent spaghetti dinner, bread and green beans. The company and discussions were good too. Today we may take a river trip and/or have dinner ashore but those plans haven't been committed to yet. The day is still early so I suspect some fishing and snorkeling may be in the plans.

Mamitupu

Yesterday morning we left Isla Pinos and had an almost perfect three hour sail to the island of Mamitupu. The sky was partly cloudy, the winds 10 knots off the beam and following seas of a couple feet nicely spaced out. And to top it off we had a favorable current which allowed us to average 6 knots. A perfect day for moving.

We arrived at the island of Mamitupu in the early afternoon and dodged many coral heads before entering the anchorage right off the sw end of the island. As we were setting our anchor some of the dugouts coming back from the farms on the mainland stopped by. A couple offered to sell fresh limes and bananas but most just wanted to say hi and chat for a while. After our anchor was set more dugouts came out just to say hi and ask where we were from, everyone that visited had big broad smiles and friendly waves. And just a bit before sunset we watched in amazement as young boys did something we had never seen at any other place in the San Blas. We're anchored a hundred yards from a very shallow reef which has small breaking waves, these young boys in their dugouts waited just in front of the reef for right wave just like an experienced surfer. When the perfect wave came these boys paddled hard to catch it and quickly surfed across the reef yelling and laughing. It truly was a spectacular sight.

Early this morning the Kuna men rowed out in numerous dugouts the short distance to the mainland where they used long nets to catch some fish. I motored out there to watch an hour later when the nets were in they had everything from sardines, mackeral and little barracudas to larger tarpon.

Today David and I along with Mike and Sue went ashore and walked a short distance to the 100 year old village. We were greeted by children of all ages running out to us giving us hand shakes and high fives while many of the ladies and men also welcomed us. Outside the congresso, the official hut where the Sahila (chief) conducts business and has evening meetings we met Pablo Perez. Pablo moved to England in the early 80s and married an English lady but some time ago he returned to the village on Mamitupu with his wife. Unfortunately his wife, an outsider, was not welcome by the village. Today she returns once a year for a visit with her husband. Pablo took us into the congresso hut where we met the Sahila and paid our respects. We were asked to sit while Pablo translated all the curious questions that the Sahila had for us. We were informed that tonight, as with every night, the congresso meeting would begin at 5pm and go on to about 10pm. During these meetings disputes are settled, rules discussed and/or changed and folklore tales are chanted which are passed from generation to generation. The Sahila invited us to tonight's meeting which of course we will attend. Fortunately we don't have to stay the entire five hours, we'll probably stay for one. We do though have to find some appropriate clothes in our locker as it was suggested that long pants and a collared shirt should be worn. After our meeting with the Sahila we went to Pablo's home consisting of three huts where we met his Kuna wife along with some of his children and grandchildren. His wife offered us a glass of fermented corn juice and chocolate, it tasted like hot chocolate but only cold. After meeting his family Pablo spent the rest of the morning showing us around the village of 1200 people where we saw the large school, a medical clinic and a few tiendas. Along the way we met his mother and sister and so many more villagers who were just so friendly and eager to meet us.

Our last stop was where we beached the dingies at the SW corner of the island, just under the water tower. The two towers are supplied fresh water from the mountains on the mainland via a large pvc pipe. Because the water tanks were full and since we had paid our $5 visitor's tax we were told that we could help ourselves to the fresh water. While we didn't want any for drinking we did take 10 gallons so we could do laundry later in the day. Next to the water tanks was a new 'resort' built by Pablo for tourists who can fly into the nearby airport on the mainland. It consisted of a kitchen, eating area, beach, turtle pen and a few cabanas. Pablo informed us that we were welcome to bring our meals ashore and eat under the large palapa if we wanted. After our tour we offered Pablo a small tip but he refused saying he was glad to have visitors and a tip was not necessary.

I'm amazed that while Isla Pinos is only 18 miles away these two villages are so different. While both are very traditional the people of Mamitupu seem to be much more friendly and curious towards visitors. Both places are worthy of a visit but I would have no problem spending more time here.

A visit ashore

Two days ago I went with Bob and Sue (s/v Sunrise) to visit the small village of Pino. After tying the dingy up at the public dock we were requested to go to the congresso hut where we met and paid our respects to the Sahila (village chief). After exchanging greetings we were allowed to walk around the small settlement of 200 people. The homes are traditional and made of bamboo stalks with thatched roofs. Only four concrete buildings exist here, they consisted of the church, the school, a tienda and the school teacher's house. As Pino doesn't get many visitors our presence surprised many of the Kuna residents who apparently wear very little on a daily basis. The young children thought nothing of their nakedness but many of the Kuna women while they had a wrap around their waste had to scramble quickly to put on a top. Many settled on just a bra while others put on their traditional mola blouses.

Everyone in the village was friendly. There is no running water to the homes but a collection tank sits atop the hill with a pvc pipe to a communal spigot run to the edge of the village. There is no electricity either. We were asked if one of us cruisers could fix a gas lantern, unfortunately none of us had those skills. We were also asked if we had medical experience as there was an infant badly infected with scabies. Again, we had no experience nor any medicine to help. It was painfully obvious that the whole village was infected with scabies to one degree or another. On our way back to the public dock the village secretary asked if we had a copier to make copies of their official receipts and papers. I agreed to make 20 copies of one document while Bob made some of another. Our last stop was at the tienda near the dock where we had cold sodas for 45 cents a piece. While there is no electricity here the tienda stocked ice cold beer and sodas with the use of a propane refrigerator and freezer.

Yesterday David and I returned to Pino with Mike and Sue (s/v Infini). It was their first trip to the village so I gave them a quick 10 minute tour. We placed our order for 20 pieces of bread each which we returned to pick up later in the afternoon. The Kuna bread is absolutely delicious. It's about the size of a hot dog bun and only 10 cents each here. Yesterday we also purchased three lobsters and one crab for around $7. Mike and Sue are coming over this afternoon to enjoy David's wonderful crab bisque while we talk about our next destination.

Today we went snorkeling half way around the island. The coral formations and colors were good but there seemed to be a lack of fish. We only saw small amounts of reef fish, a couple large barracudas and even two groupers. We suspect that we'll raise anchor tomorrow and head on up the island chain. Ustupu isn't that far away and is the largest village in all of the San Blas. It has a population of 8000 people and that does not count all the children. We have decided though not to visit Ustupu for a variety of reasons, the big one being the issue of the theft of items from boats at night by three boys known to be trouble makers. So we're considering Mamitupu which we haven't heard too much about but is only 20 miles from here. The challenge will be that there is a lack of detailed charts for this area and there are numerous corals and shoals along the way. I suspect we'll go slow and take our time. But maybe after this evening's discussion we might find a different spot. Don't forget to check out our current location by clicking on the google earth map to the left of thispost. We'll update it at every new anchorage.

Isla Pinos

The island where we are currently anchored is known in cruising guides and on nautical charts as Isla Pinos but the Kuna name is Tupak which means whale. Isla Pinos is the tallest island in the San Blas with an elevation of 450 feet, most of the other islands we've visited on our previous trip had an elevation of 1 to 4 feet. Because of it's high elevation Isla Pinos is easily seen from a distance making it a popular landfall for hundreds of years for both sailors and pirates. This part of the San Blas Islands is rarely traveled by cruisers, we were told that so far this year Isla Pinos has had about 10 visiting sailboats. Aside from us and Infini another sailboat pulled in right after us, Bob and Sue on Sunrise. We met them earlier this year at the Panama Canal Yacht Club in Colon. Being on the road less traveled the villages here are much more traditional than what we have seen in the Western San Blas Islands. Isla Pinos is only a quarter of a mile from mainland Panama giving us a beautiful view of the coastline's mountainous terrain.

We're anchored in a small cove on the West side of Isla Pinos in front of a beautiful sandy beach lined with palm trees, behind them the dense jungle climbing to the 450' elevation where a radio tower stands. The water is exceptionally clear with great views of what lays beneath us. I took a dingy ride this afternoon around the south side of the island and was amazed at the coral formations which were clearly visible from the surface down to 30 plus feet, I'm definitely headed back here tomorrow for some snorkeling! Sue and Mike have been busy patching a tear in their mainsail today and while David tries to get some rest I have plans to head into the village of Pinos later this afternoon. This morning we watched as the men paddled away from the village in their dugouts, some going to the mainland to tend to the fields while others paddled out to fish and get lobster. We had a few stop by and ask if we wanted fish or lobster or crab to which the answer quickly came 'Yes'. While the day isn't over yet we haven't seen any crustaceans but did buy a nice 5 pound dog tooth snapper for $3. Unfortunately David, the expert at filleting fish, wasn't in the mood to deal with fish so I was stuck with the job.

Tomorrow we plan to hike up to the hill top and hope to see some of the howler monkeys and parrots that we heard early this morning. I still want to go snorkeling tomorrow despite the rumors of a very large crocodile that lives here on the island, obviously displaced from the mainland where crocodiles are common place, hopefully I can convince some of the other more tastey, I mean friendly cruisers to go with me.

The Trip from Colombia to the San Blas Islands

We had planned on leaving Bahia de Cholon Colombia yesterday morning at 6am but as we sat in the cockpit we were concerned about the weather. Across the horizon were dark thunder clouds rumbling a low growl and lots of lightening. All this was of course SW of us, the direction we needed to go. After some discussions with Mike and Sue on Infini we opted to wait an hour to see if the weather would pass. Again at 7am we talked with Infini and agreed to wait another hour as my radar was still showing squalls in the direction we needed to go. Finally at 8am the radar showed the squalls past our intended route so along with Infini we raised anchor and sails and headed out of Bahia de Cholon. Once past the Rosario Islands our destination laid 140 miles ahead on a course of 242 degrees. We were disappointed that the forecast NE winds, which would have been perfect for sailing, turned out to be SW winds. But it wasn't all that bad.

With our mainsail, genoa and staysail up we began sailing towards the San Blas Islands. Of course it couldn't be a perfect sail as the forecast favorable currents ended up being unfavorable counter currents. So we motor sailed the entire trip to ensure we would arrive before daylight (too dangerous to enter an area with uncharted shoals and corals at night). David and I agree that overall this was a very uneventful crossing for us. We had very comfortable seas of mostly one foot and occasionally two to three feet. Winds were never over 12 knots. The night sky was filled with stars and the moon behind us for half the night. Late yesterday afternoon we had a large pod of dolphins playing all around us, the little ones taking turns playing in our bow wake. At 3am we started spotting squalls on our radar of which some were very large. Fortunately only slight course corrections were needed to avoid them. And at 6am this morning we spotted a few waterspouts, nothing new for us now. They were a good distance off but very easy to identify with the dark tail spinning out of the clouds to the water below.

At 2pm today we arrived safely at Isla Pinos anchoring in 7 feet of absolutely clear water. In the waters surrounding Bruadair we can see sand and turtle grass, yellow tail snappers, blue runners and some of the largest jelly fish I've personally ever seen. A short distance to the NW of where we're anchored is the larger of the two villages on this island. Senior Martinez rowed out to our boat shortly after we anchored and collected the $8 anchoring/visitor's fee and provided us with a receipt, good for 30 days. We're taking the rest of the day off today to rest, swim and take in our new surroundings. We expect to stay here at Isla Pinos for at least a few days before moving on to the next destination, still to be determined. More about Isla Pinos soon.

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San Blas Islands !!

We just arrived less than 30 minutes ago to Isla Pinos, a small island in the Eastern chain of the San Blas Islands off the coast of Panama. What a great feeling to be back. Our trip took 30 hours and covered 148 nautical miles. We're getting the boat secured and getting some rest. An update to our crossing will follow in a day or two.

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Moving on to new adventures

First let me apologize to Mike and Sue on Infiny, I mispelled their boat name in the previous post. We spent three days in Cartagena getting our zarpe for the San Blas Islands, topping up with fuel, provisioning and visiting with friends. David did a great job on provisioning buying so much to make sure we'll eat good for the next three months. Lots of canned goods, staples such as rice, pasta, lentils and flour, meats and cheeses and some veggies. In the San Blas there are some small tiendas which stock only the most basic items and since we don't expect to see a nice grocery store for at least three months we needed to make sure we got everything we needed in Cartagena. We did about three trips to the grocery store every day and now our boat is so heavy it sits a little lower in the water. While we didn't need any more fuel we decided to go ahead and top off since fuel costs here are about $1.25/gallon cheaper here than in Panama.

Yesterday we returned to Baru and started getting the boat ready for our 30 hour passage to Isla Pinos. David and I spent an hour cleaning the bottom of Bruadair scraping some barnacles from the hull, changing zincs and cleaning the propeller. Then we moved on to making everything on deck was secure including tying down our jerry cans of fuel, stowing fenders and misc other gear. I checked the cockpit locker one more time to make sure nothing would shift and fall into our steering gear while David boiled a dozen eggs, most of which were used to make an egg salad sandwich spread for while we're underway. Ending the day we went over to Queen Mary where music was played (Gene on bass, Brenda on keyboard and Sonny on harmonica). Everyone joined in on the singing. I spent most of my time laying up on deck staring up at the stars and planets. Jupiter and Venus were clearly visible as was the milky way and various constellations. It's amazing how many stars fill the sky when you have no big city lights interfering with visibility.

Today David and I continue to get things ready for our offshore trip tomorrow. We've pulled up more weather and it looks like winds will be light and seas flat. We may have to motor a lot but will try to get in as much sailing as possible. The forecast suggests winds from the North all day tomorrow with flat seas but starting Monday winds shift to the South with seas building for the rest of the week. So our choices are to go tomorrow while things are calm or wait a week or more until the southerly winds shift back to the north, that could be a week or two or three so we've opted to go now.

We're really looking forward to getting back to the San Blas Islands where lobster, crab and fish can all be had at inexpensive prices and are readily available. We are also looking forward to the friendly Kuna people, clear waters perfect for snorkeling and some fishing. Lots of exploring to be done in the San Blas. Isla Pinos, our destination, is at the eastern end of the San Blas Island chain and from there we'll slowly make our way among the many islands to the more often traveled western islands. For now we'll be sure to keep posting updates to our adventures and whereabouts but until we can get to an internet connection at the end of the year we won't be able post any photos. Well, back to work, more to be done!

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Change of Plans

We returned to Cartagena a few days ago and won't get into the details but we obtained our zarpe (clearance papers) for leaving Colombia. We'll be heading back to the San Blas Islands shortly for the remainder of the year. We have planned on returning with Valentina who wants to sail back to the Holendae Cayes and now have an invitation to sail back with Infamy to Isla Pinos in the Eastern San Blas Islands. We're really leaning towards Isla Pinos as that would give us a great opportunity to travel the route less traveled and see more of the traditional Kuna villages. If we end up going with Infamy we'll be leaving on Sunday so look for an update here mid week to see if we in fact made the passage. The trip is 150 miles and we expect it to take from 27 to 32 hours. Right now I have to get back to checking weather and cleaning the bottom of the hull while David finishes securing gear on deck.

Relaxing in Cholon

We're still enjoying ourselves in Cholon, a very quiet and relaxing anchorage just south of the busy city of Cartagena. We continue to indulge ourselves with pot luck dinners a couple times every week up at Robert and Carmens house and take occasional trips to the friendly and laid back town of Baru. Baru is a very poor town with almost no industry to employ people. The few small stores there meet our grocery needs, there's a public trash dump where we can dispose of our weekly garbage. As poor as everyone is in Baru the people remain very friendly and helpful.

The sunsets here have been spectacular almost every night and some of the photos can now be seen in our photo gallery by clicking the photo to the left of the page. Another sailboat came into the anchorage yesterday, Queen Mary with Brenda and Gene aboard. That makes three boats in the anchorage now and another is expected later today. I suspect that with new people here we'll have to get together for yet another pot luck!