Panama is a beautiful country. We were welcomed by a group of ~20 dolphins after we crossed into waters off the Panama coast. They hung out swimming and playing with the bow of the boat. Lovely animals. We headed for Jicaron which is an unihabited island off of Isla de Coiba. Isla de Coiba either presently has or used to have a penal colony on it. My guide books say they intended to shut it down in 1995 but that it has been delayed and the last Lonely Planet said it was still open. Our cruiser’s guidebook advised us not to pick up anyone floating around on a raft should we happen upon such a sight. Thankfully the water between Coiba and Jicaron has a very strong current, Alex couldn’t even swim to the front of the boat from the back, so finding escapees wasn’t really our concern. On Jicaron we had our own private beaches, black volcanic sand and white coral sand mixed together and sometimes separate. It was fabulous exploring these beaches crawling with hermit crabs, ours the only footprints. We finally heard howler monkeys, but have yet to see any. Saw some monkey tracks on the beach as well as iguana tracks-- the iguana’s were larger. We then sailed down the coast to the gulf of Panama and we’d always been warned about Punta Mala (Bad Point) due to the strong winds that hang around the point. There had been strong wind warnings (we finally have our SSB radio working thank goodness) so we’d tuck in every night into a nearby anchorage as we made our way down. We met up with some other cruiser friends and they informed us it had been blowing like stink for the past three days so we chose wisely. When we finally got to Punta Mala, it was fine, and we happily sailed on our way. Later that night however, while well into the gulf of Panama we were hit with a 2.5-3 knot current against us, and 3-5 foot waves barely spaced apart. The result of these conditions was us bobbing up and down and only managing an average of 1 knot forward with the sail raised and the motor running. We made 10 miles in 12 hours. We finally had to head out away from our destination to average 2.5 knots so we could at least make some headway. Eventually we got to 3 knots and then eventually up to 4 and heading in the right direction. Alex doesn’t ever want to talk about that leg of the trip again, so don’t ask him! Getting into the anchorage here by the canal was also pretty stressful, lots of tankers to watch out for and at night it’s hard to distinguish different lights from landmarks, land and boats. Poor Alex almost got run down by a tanker that had been stationary and then suddenly decided to move right towards us. But after all that we actually made it!
Photos: Alex getting a coconut, Alex cutting a fishing line off a boobie's leg, a grasshopper on my toe, private beaches #1 and #2
