Unfortunately our time in the Perlas is coming to an end, we really liked this archipelago. We’ve returned to the northern island of Contadora to clean the barnacles off the hull and to wait for favourable winds to sail back to Panama City.
Our Books
Order our books at Amazon
2013
29
Jan
2013
28
Jan
Exploring Espiritu Santo
We enjoyed the last few days in the calm anchorage behind the little island Espiritu Santo. We circumnavigated the island by dinghy, beached it on a powdersugar-white beach on the eastside and walked out to a little islet that is connected with the island during low tide. Due to the enormous tidal range (at spring tide like now it’s more than 4 metres) the landscapes… Continue reading »
2013
26
Jan
Isla Espiritu Santo
We’re now anchored in a very calm spot between Isla del Rey and tiny Isla Espiritu Santo. A dolphin accompanied us all the way into the bay, this morning a few hundred cormorants flew by and apparently there’s a trail leading over Espiritu Santo and it’s possible to take the dinghy up a river on Rey. It looks like an interesting place and we’ll start… Continue reading »
2013
24
Jan
Village La Ensenada
Today we took the dinghy to explore the huge bay and the channel between Isla Canas and Isla del Rey and then beached in front of the small nearby village, La Ensenada, which turned out to be much nicer than the last one. We bought a few things from the tiny shop, found people willing to sell some veggies from their gardens and purchased a… Continue reading »
2013
22
Jan
Morro Cambombia
After getting some work done in the calm bay of Rio Cacique we moved a few miles up on the coast of Isla del Rey to an anchorage of the southern side of Isla Cana (just offshore Isla del Rey). This area is beautiful in a slightly threatening way: we moved in very carefully at high tide admiring the green islets around the anchorage, but… Continue reading »
2013
19
Jan
Bahia San Telmo
Our visit to the village Esmeralda this morning was rather disappointing. We got the promised fruit and found the shops, but there were dishevelled roosters in front of every house (cock fights are the favourite pasttime…), starving skeletal dogs and when we followed some tracks out of the village each one terminated in a rubbish dump… In the afternoon we sailed 2 miles up to… Continue reading »
2013
17
Jan
Esmeralda on Isla del Rey
Today we had a gentle sail from our favorite place the Isletas del Platanal south around Isla del Rey into the Bahia San Telmo. We are anchored off the small fishing village Esmeralda. A friendly local in a canoe welcomed us and offered fruits. He claimed the village has 5 supermarkets . We will check tomorrow morning for ourselves.
2013
14
Jan
Encounters
The day before yesterday we sailed Pitufa back south. Again we got the timing wrong and had a strong current against us, the combination with about 15 to 20 knots of wind with us the resulted in steep, short waves that made the ride quite uncomfortable. Nevertheless it was an exciting trip: we saw a small whale (we think a pilot whale), a school of… Continue reading »
2013
12
Jan
New photos: Panama City and Las Perlas
We just uploaded another photo gallery:
2013
11
Jan
Stingray ballet
In the bay south of Contadora where we’re anchored now we get daily entertainment: in the mornings and in the afternoons big schools of stingrays (medium sized devil rays) round up shoals of small fish and then a special spectacle starts: first the tips of their wings are visible on the surface, then the water seems to boil when the small fish are herded to… Continue reading »
2013
10
Jan
Back on our own again
Yesterday Roswitha left us again, she took the ferry from Contadora back to Panama City (quite an adventerous device, ferry guests have to wade into the sea, climb on a boat which then takes them out to the ferry ) and is now sitting on the plane to New York, then on to Frankfurt and then follows yet another flight to Salzburg… We had a… Continue reading »
2013
09
Jan
Article in January’s issue of All-At-Sea Caribbean
Our article on the Cape Verdes was published in the current issue of All-At-Sea Caribbean and can be downloaded for free at allatsea.net. Birgit Hackl: Cape Verdes — Republica De Cabo Verde, All At Sea Caribbean, January 2013, p. 46–48. Free download from allatsea.net.
2013
07
Jan
Pitufa’s perfect little paradise
We spent a rolly and uncomfortable night south of Isla Viveros, so first thing in the morning we lifted the anchor to find a better spot. We had noticed a group of tiny islands just south of the anchorage mentioned in the guide book, so we motored there, searched very carefully around (it’s not a recommended anchorage and the charts are only sketchy) and anchored… Continue reading »
2013
06
Jan
Tidal adventures around Casaya and island exploration on Viveros
Yesterday we decided to do some “animation” for Roswitha (Christian’s sister) and persuaded Sue and Andy (Spruce) to take the dinghies around the island for a Picknick and some snorkeling. A simple enough plan, but in tidal waters nothing’s that simple. The beach where we decided to have our Picknick on turned quite rocky as the tide receded and we had to splash quite a… Continue reading »
2013
04
Jan
Finally a calm and quiet anchorage
This morning we sailed a few miles further south and are now anchored off Isla Casaya. It’s a pretty anchorage with little islands and islets all around us, it almost looks like a lake and the sea’s completely calm. When we arrived we were the only boat here, now our friends on Spruce have arrived as well–unfortunately we both didn’t manage to catch a fish,… Continue reading »