Pitufa.at

At the moment the days are just not long enough for all the things we’re trying to do at the same time, so we completely forgot writing on our blogsite. We’re spending most mornings at the “office” (Captain Jack’s Bar where we have i-net) researching all kinds of electronic devices, because we’ll have to replace the GPS and radar that have been dodgy after lightning struck close by. We’re trying to organise all kinds of spare parts for the pacific, additionally I’m working on translations in order to earn some money–during the last three months we spent between 200 and 300 Euros per month (shopless Kuna Yala was kind to our budget ), but the next few months will be pricey again.

Last week we did a “shopping expedition” to the next big supermarket and were completely overwhelmed by the speed of the bus (sometimes going more than 50 km/h…), the masses of people and the range of goods in the Rey supermarket. On Friday we accompanied another yacht as linehandlers through the Panama canal to gain some experience for our own transit in December. The whole procedure is quite complicated and also seems not that well organised, the “advisor” from the canal authorities was 2 hours late, schedules were constantly changed and we ended up going full speed towards the Miraflores locks only to wait there for an hour. The locks themselves were a bit disappointing, we had expected huge chambers, but they’re not bigger than locks on European rivers.

Like always when we’re busy we neglected Pitufa a bit, which is not a good idea in the tropics during the rainy season. During the last week mould started growing everywhere so we declared war on it this morning and wiped all surfaces (panels, lockers inside and outside, ceiling, etc.) with alcohol. We’re really looking forward to the end of the rainy season (officially in December, but we’ll see ).

After 2 months in the San Blas Islands we sailed with a decent wind to mainland Panama. After spending so much time away from civilisation (the last car we saw was in Cartagena…) we’ll have to adjust and then start organising: we have to arrange a transit through the canal, get spare parts, repair things, etc. in order to prepare for the Pacific!

Today, for the first time since we’ve arrived in Panama, we sailed again, i.e., that kind of sailing with sails hoisted and wind to fill them The trip was not very long though, but including the difficulties we had in the morning with our chain fouled at the bottom and the two anchering manoeuvres at Isla Porvenir (the first spot was too tight) it was an exhausting day, only to find that the harbour master has taken the long weekend off. So we did not get our Zarpe–the only reason we came here in the first place

The rain stopped, the sun is out again, and we moved to another anchorage a few miles further to the West. We didn’t like the actual anchorage here since is was filled already with 17 (!) other yachts so we simply dropped anchor south of the bigger island of the Chichime Cays. We don’t like to imagine what it’s like in high season in these popular ancharages. Our place is a bit rolly, so we’ve set a stern anchor as well. In the afternoon we took our dinghy south to Dog Island and snorkeled around the freighter which was wrecked there.

The weather turned beautiful again yesterday. It’s not just back to normal, which used to mean nice, sunny mornings but then rainy and squally afternoons, no, it’s really beautiful now. It seems Hurricane Sandy sucked away all the humid air and disposed of it further north.

After almost a week in Nargana we are now at the outer San Blas Islands again. We wanted to stay around the central part of the Holandes Cays but didn’t fancy the anchorage there–it was just too tight for our taste and also too close to mangroves, which could mean a lot of mosquitoes. So we went further west and have now a lovely spot between the two westernmost islands of the Holandes Cays. Of course we are the only boat here And of course we went swimming and snorkeling again and were lucky to see two huge eagle rays and another curious nurse shark. It’s good to be able to go swimming again. The water at Nargana doesn’t look inviting as it is dirty from the river estuary as well as from the people of Nargana (Kuna villages don’t have any sewer…). The last time we had the pleasure of refreshing ourselves in clear water was far up the Rio Diablo, but there the water was cool, while the surface water of the sea reminds more of a hot spa

After a wonderful week of relaxing and snorkeling at Coco Banderos, we moved to the nearby town of Nargana to buy some fresh veggies, some other groceries and gasoline. And of course, after a really long time, to connect to the internet again (hopefully tomorrow at the school. If the connection is good enough, we’ll upload a new picture gallery.) Nargana is a bigger Kuna town and even has a airport. The Kuna here are less traditional (e.g., they have electricity) as in other villages we have visitted but it’s a nice and neat place.

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Nach einer wundervollen Woche Relaxen und Schnorcheln bei den Coco Banderos sind wir nun zum nahegelegenen Staedtchen Nargana weitergefahren. Wir wollen frisches Gemuese und andere Lebensmittel aufstocken und Benzin besorgen. Und natuerlich wieder einmal ins Internet (hoffentlich morgen bei der Schule. Falls die Verbindung gut genug ist, werden wir neue Fotos hochladen.) Nargana ist ein groesseres Kuna-Staedtchen und hat sogar einen Flughafen. Die Kuna hier leben weniger traditionell (es gibt z.B. Strom) als in anderen Doerfern, die wir besucht haben, aber wir finden es hier nett und freundlich.

Yesterday we finally managed to move to another anchorage. The rainy weather the last few days wasn’t encouraging reef navigation. We are glad we used the sunny spell as we are now anchored in the prettiest place we have been so far here in Kuna Yala. We are the only boat here, swaying gently in a deep blue canal surrounded by 3 little islets and coral reefs that glitter in all shades between turquoise, green and light brown. The snorkeling is wonderful in the clear water, we’ve already taken Leeloo on an excursion to the tiniest island (just a white sandbar with a few palmtrees), but she wasn’t as excited as we are and insisted on returning to Pitufa after a few minutes.

As the canal is rather deep with limited swinging room because of the near reefs we’ve experimented for the first time with a Bahamian mooring: our main anchor and another anchor brought out astern, both chain and line connected on the bow, so that Pitufa can’t swing far, but can always turn her bow into the wind.

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Gestern haben wir’s endlich zum naechsten Ankerplatz geschafft. Das regnerische Wetter in den letzten Tagen war Riffnavigation nicht gerade foerderlich… Wir sind froh, dass wir die Sonnenstrahlen genutzt haben, weil wir jetzt am bis jetzt huebschesten Ort in Kuna Yala ankern. Wir sind das einzige Boot hier, schaukeln friedlich in einem tiefblauen Kanal umgeben von 3 kleinen Inselchen und Korallenriffen, die in allen Nuancen zwischen tuerkis, gruen und hellbraun glitzern. Schnorcheln im klaren Wasser ist super, wir haben Leeloo schon auf einen (M)ausflug zum kleinsten Inselchen mitgenommen (nur eine weisse Sandbank mit wenigen Palmen drauf), aber sie war nicht so begeistert wie wir und wollte schon nach wenigen Minuten wieder zurueck zu Pitufa.

Nachdem der Kanal ziemlich tief ist, aber wegen den umgebenden Riffen wenig Raum zum Schwojen bietet, haben wir mit einer Bahamian Mooring experimentiert: die Ketten von unsem Hauptanker und einem weiteren Anker hinter dem Heck sind an Pitufas Bug verbunden, sodass sie nicht weit schwojt, aber den Bug in den Wind drehen kann.