San Blas Islands

Date: 18th February, 2024

Where am I? 

Latitude: 09°35.2N

Longitude: 078°52.8W

At anchor off Chichime Island, San Blas Islands, Panama.

How is the weather?

It’s been odd weather most of the 10 days we’ve been in the San Blas Islands, with overcast skies in the morning, followed by hot, muggy weather in the afternoons. Winds mostly Force 3 or less and flattish seas.

What am I feeling?

Not so happy that our Panama Canal transit date is now 1st April, a delay of 5 weeks over our target date. This is due to the problems with lack of water in the Canal, leading to reduced throughput for ships of all sizes. The Oyster World Rally fleet is still mostly in Shelter Bay Marina, waiting their turn – so even the big yacht rallies are being delayed considerably. It is frustrating but not much we can do about it. I’m just grateful that my crew is understanding and has been willing to adjust to the new schedule!

What has happened this week?

We’ve spent the week in the San Blas Islands, visiting Banedup, Green Island and Chichime Island following our checking in at Porvenir.

We were a little concerned about the fact that we do not have the required Panama cruising permit which one is supposed to have if sailing in Panamanian waters outside the Canal zones. Strictly speaking, one should sail to Colon first, clear in and obtain the permit there, then sail back east to cruise the San Blas Islands. Our Panama agent, however, solved this problem by applying for the permit online on our behalf. Apparently there is anyway a serious backlog is issuance of the permits. If we are asked to show the permit, we can at least show we have applied and the delay is on the government’s side.

The San Blas are group of small, idyllic, tropical islands a few miles off the Panamanian mainland, inhabited by the Guna Yala people. Remote and beautiful with crystalline white sand and palm trees swaying in the breeze. The only disappointment is the quantity of plastic rubbish evident in most places, most of which is clearly from passing ships.

The last, western vestiges of the mighty Atlantic find their home here, crashing onto the reef half a mile away with muted roar, her last susurrations sibilant upon the white sands of Chichime. Frigate birds, their sharp silhouette like animated origami, wheel and dive overhead as the soft breeze beguiles one into a lazy afternoon. We’ve seen her in all her guises – great dark blue ocean rollers midway between Africa and America, churning black waters in a Force 8 gale and flat calms too – how fitting that as we prepare to pass from one ocean to another, the Atlantic is showing us her best face, inviting us to return ere long.

With the adjustment to our Canal transit date, we have reworked our plans through the rest of February and March. We will head to Portobello tomorrow for a few days, then go into Shelter Bay Marina where we will leave Fujin for a bit to fly to Mexico to meet up with old friends. We will be back aboard well ahead of our transit date to obtain the various certifications we need to enter Galapagos and to do the major provisioning to take us through to the Marquesas Islands – which still seem so impossibly far away!

The delay is unfortunate but at least we will be able to meet up with old friends and see a bit of Mexico, a country I have so far never visited. There is always a silver lining!

Fujin out!