Happy Birthdays!

It's that time of year again with a lot of birthday wishes in March. Happy Birthday to my brother and mother, my nephew Dilan, Aunt Lora and cousins Ryan and Christine. And happy birthdays to David and his Aunt Janice. And of course me!

The weather has been great the past few days. Sunny, light breeze and calm waters. Perfect for snorkeling, fishing and just plain relaxing. Surprisingly I've been keeping busy with a lot of projects including replacing rusty hose clamps, fixing the stainless life line, replacing the corroded vent fitting to the holding tank, trouble shooting vhf problems (need a new antenna) and a few other things. I suspect we'll finish up our visit in the San Blas Islands in the next two or three weeks and then slowly make our way to Colon. We're needing to haul out for a survey and a new bottom job which will be done in Colon before heading to Bocas del Toro for the summer.

Nabadup

We left Nalia this morning but the winds and currents were just working against us so we never made it to the Holendae Cayes as we had planned. Instead we're back in Nabadup surrounded by beautiful reefs and islands, so I guess we won't complain. Walt and Ellen on Soltara caught a 25 pound black fin tuna on the way here today, we've been invited to dinner aboard their boat to have some fresh tuna and we're looking forward to it!

Anchored in Nalia

We left the West Lemmon Cayes this morning and sailed to Provineer. The winds were 20 knots and seas behind the islands were only a foot or two. But when we got into the San Blas Channel it was a rough ride beating into the wind and waves, the waves were six to eight feet. We're glad is was a short four mile trip in the channel. Extending out cruising permit with the port captain was easy and uneventful and once done there we sailed a few miles southwest to a small bay along the Panama Coast called Nalia. It's a pretty bay and well protected. Actually, it's too well protected as we're not getting much of a breeze. That makes it feel much hotter and of course we're not generating any electricity with our wind generator.

But our friends on Soltara are here and we plan on a long visit with them today, then tomorrow we may head back to the West Lemmon Cayes or maybe someplace else, where ever there's good snorkeling and wind.

Back in the West Lemmon Cayes

We left the Holendae Cayes this morning and sailed four hours west to the West Lemmon Cayes. The winds were 22 to 25 knots out of the NE and the sky was clear. The seas behind the islands and reefs were very comfortable at two to three feet but in the Holendae Channel and Eden Channel we had seas upwards of seven feet. The nice thing was that the seas were from behind us so it was a comfortable ride. We sailed under mainsail alone and averaged 4.5 knots, not bad. While we were crossing the Holendae Channel a pod of dolphins swam around us and escorted us for about 30 minutes.

The main anchorage, or at least where everyone else likes to anchor, is between the islands of Naguarchirdup and Tiadup. It's a small anchorage and in deep water and can get crowded easily with just four boats. Today there was 9 boats there so we decided to find a place among the eastern most islands in this group. There is a very shallow sand bar that we have to cross, it's about 7 feet deep. I was disappointed to find a sailboat named Moon Dancer anchored right at the exit end of the narrow crossing over the sand bar, why would anyone want to anchor right on top of the only entrance into the other anchorage is beyond me. But we decided to cross anyway and while we would have preferred to stay in the 7' spot we had to alter course in front of Moon Dancer which took us right over 6', which is what we draw. Fortunately we didn't run aground.

Once across the sand bar we were in this tremendously large bay with many islands and twice as many shoals all providing numerous opportunities to find a good anchoring spot. We ended up dropping anchor just on the south side of Iskardup, a beautiful island surrounded by very calm water despite the large swell on the other side of the reef and island in front of us. The water is so clear I can actually see the sand down on the bottom, in 30 feet of water!

Tomorrow we raise anchor and sail to Provineer where we need to renew our cruising permit. Once that is done we plan on returning to the West Lemmon Cayes for another day or two then on to..... where ever we can sail to. We're hoping to meet our friends Walt and Ellen on Soltara today or tomorrow here in the W. Lemmons, we haven't seen them in almost three years.

Stow Aways

For the past eight weeks we've had three little stow aways. They're not on the boat or even in the boat but rather on the bottom of Bruadair. They are Remora's (sharksuckers) and they're attached to the bottom of our boat. One is about 8", another 18" and the largest is about 24". Remora's have a sucking disc on the top of their head, they're the only species of fish to have such a disc. Remoras typically attach themselves to a variety of large marine life including whales, dolphins, turtles sharks and large fish and can reach up to three feet in length. During many of our snorkeling expeditions I've seen remoras as small as two inches attached to smaller fish. Remoras save energy and get a free ride by attaching themselves to their host, they also feed on scraps of food left by their hosts.

But Remoras are also known to attach themselves to boats and ships, as in our case. Our three Remoras have been with us since December and after moving to many different anchorages they continue to remain on our bottom. They must be getting good food scraps from us. When we throw organic trash overboard (eggs, chicken, fish, rice and vegetables) all three swim out in competition for the scraps. Recently we found out our stow aways really like mashed potatoes and asparagus.

The smaller ones have been known to attach themselves to human hosts, the only way to safely remove them is to get out of the water and let them just fall off. I do continue to swim around the boat and clean the bottom once in a while and do so knowing exactly where the Remoras are at all times, I'm not sure I want to know what it feels like to have a remora attached to me.

The wind is finally settling down after having been over 25 knots for the past four days. Today was the first day in four that we got off the boat. With so much wind and wave action the water hasn't been clear until this morning. Tomorrow we head West for the W. Lemon Cayes.

In the Hot Tub

After looking at the weather forecast yesterday we made the decision to relocate to a more protected anchorage. The forecast for the next four days is winds from 25 to 30 knots and while where we were anchored would probably have been fine we decided that moving a mile and a half east to the Hot Tub would provide us a bit better protection should the seas pick up.

The Hot Tub is an area located between Ukupsuit and Kalugirdup in the Eastern Holendae Cayes. The two islands and the barrier reef beyond provide very good protection from any high seas but doesn't shadow us from the winds which we like, it keeps the wind generator turning and the batteries charged up. We dropped our anchor in 17 feet of water and settled back into 7 feet of water. The water is very clear and we can see the sand below us. Our last visit here we had numerous fish under our boat including nurse and black tip sharks, ocean trigger fish, jacks and barracuda. We hope that we'll have the same display of marine life for the next four days before we head to the West Lemon Cayes.

The big one that...

Normally I would now write "that got away" but today is an exception. Since being here in the Central Holendae Cayes every snorkeling expedition has resulted in sighting numerous fish including large snappers in the 10 to 20 pound range. Our experience in the rest of the San Blas Islands is seeing much smaller snappers so I have to say we really like it here.

This morning I left with David and Jan from Winterlude and we dinghied over to the south side of Niakalubirdup to do some snorkeling (we always take our spearguns when snorkel). The snorkeling was good and in the cut on the west side of the island the current was strong, so strong that it was difficult to make head way but we would go up a little bit and slide right on back. While swimming along the back side of the reef where the current was minimal a large cero mackerel swam up to me, right up to me. We like mackerels so I took the shot and brought back to my dinghy a nice four pound cero mackeral.

After a while longer we took off and found another spot long the reef to the north of Ogoppukibdup. David and Jan were the first into the water and I followed a few minutes later. Just when I caught up with David he motioned me to stop then told me there was a large dog snapper just around the next coral head. I proceeded slowly and watched as it swam into it's hole only to swim back out a minute later, look around then swim right back. He did this numerous times so I decided to take up position just above the coral head. When he swam out and turned to look at me I took my shot and landed a very nice and very large 15 pound dog snapper. It was huge! David said that there was no way he would have been able to spear it with his little gun, I use a much larger spear gun.

As I'm writing this my David is filleting the snapper and mackerel which will provide us with a good variety of fish dinners for the rest of the week. Good thing we have a few fish recipe books! We are giving Winterlude half of the snapper, we don't have enough freezer space and besides, David was the one to spot it.

While it may seem cruel to spear fish it is, in my opinion, more a more humane way of catching fish than by line an hook. More often than not a spear gun will kill the fish instantly, catching by a hook does not. We do try to be responsible fishers and catch only what we need and eat all that we catch. I suspect the next couple days will be good snorkeling, without any weapons.

The Water Slide

Shortly after we anchored at Sibadup yesterday Winterlude took David and me to a small place commonly referred to as the Water Slide. It's about 10 minutes by dingy to the east of us and along the West shore of the island Ukupsuit. There's a small cut here that the water funnels through and with a strong current. We beached our dinghies on Ukupsuit then swam north along the mangrove shoreline where the current was minimal. All along the mangroves we saw numerous mangrove snappers, some of them big. Once at the northern most end of the water slide we swam to the center of the cut where the strong current grabbed us and carried us back towards the beach where the dinghies were. It was a great ride and we took it many times enjoying the southern sting rays, spotted eagle rays, nurse sharks, dog and mutton snappers and many other fish that swam beneath us.

Today, with memories of all the snappers I saw at the Water Slide I returned but not with my snorkeling gear, this time I brought my fishing poles and tackle. I anchored in three different places during my four hour stay to give me the opportunity to fish in the deeper center part of the cut as well as both of the shallower sides. The shallower sides wasn't productive but I did catch plenty in the center. First was a schoolmaster (type of snapper). Second and third were 2 pound mutton snappers, fourth was a small and very pretty queen trigger fish but I threw her back, and fifth was a small but decent crevalle jack that put up one tough fight. I had numerous strikes but never did land one of those really large snappers that I saw yesterday. All this was done with cut bait on a single hook. After a few hours I decided to try out some of my lures. While reeling them in fast I watched large jacks chase the lure but none would bite, except for one really large crevalle jack which broke the fishing line but not before breaking my light spinning rod in half.

One the way back to the boat with my five small fish I decided to troll a lure behind me. Strike after strike caused me to stop but nothing was hooking until just before I reached Bruadair, that's when I landed my largest catch of the day, a very nice bar jack.

I dropped the fish off with David who took the task to filet them while I headed back out with my snorkel gear and with David from Winterlude. We snorkeled three different spots where we saw dozens of large southern sting rays buried in the sand, only their eyes were visible. Huge snappers lay on the bottom but the smaller snappers swam in large schools among the reefs. And of course the very large and intimidating barracuda constantly shadowed us watching our every move.

Tomorrow's a whole new day, I think there's some fishing and snorkeling planned if the weather remains as good as it was today.

In the Mine Field

Yesterday we had planned on leaving Nabadup but delayed our departure for a day. Winterlude and us found the most spectacular snorkeling spot that we have seen in all of the San Blas Islands. We dubbed it Disney Land as it felt like we were in a magical place full surrounded by wonderful coral and fish. The coral formations were colorful and statueisc and full of marine life. We saw, and hunted without success, the largest snappers we've ever seen. Easily 15 pounds each. Barracuda from 12 inches to five feet in schools of dozens shadowed us, probably waiting for us to spear a fish that they could rob from us. Schools of large crevalle jacks swam from the deep water into the shallows beneath us as did the permit fish. The trigger fish and jacks evaded us, the sergeant majors, tangs, parrot fish and other colorful reef fish ignored us as they went about their business. It was truly a wonderful place that is now marked on our charts.

Today the weather was great and after spending a great time in Nabadup it was time to move on. We exited through the narrow reef between Cambobia and Nabadup and motor sailed into the wind to the Central Holendae Cayes to an area that Winterlude calls the mine field. It's appropriately named as one would only want to enter with good sunlight so as to see the clusters of shoals and bars, but once through we anchored in 14 feet behind the reef that protects the Holendaes from the ocean swells.

We're anchored just to the NW of Sibadup, another beach lined island full of coconut trees. There are also two islands to the south of us named Niakalubirdup and Ogoppukibdup (can you pronounce them?). To the north of us is the large coral reef and beyond the Caribbean Sea. During our stay here we'll check out the snorkeling, get in some line and fly fishing and do some beach explorations before we make our way East to Provineer to renew our cruising permit, maybe next week.