Bocas del Toro July 5-13, 2009—Rio Cricamola

Bocas del Toro July 5-13, 2009—Steve’s visit

Sunday July 4th our son Steve flew in to Panama City on American Airlines, stayed overnight at the Milan Hotel, boarded the Regional flight to Bocas and arrived in Bocas at 8:00AM. We were so excited to see him as we hadn’t seen him in the year since we started our cruising.

We started a whirlwind of activities that didn’t stop until he flew back to Panama on July 12th . (Unfortunately, when Steve arrived in Panama his flight was cancelled or changed and he didn’t get to leave Panama as planned!)

First was a big welcome breakfast at Lily’s Café as the airlines gave him nothing. Then off to Sea Star with the bags with Steve driving a dinghy for the first time in years. We happily climbed on to Sea Star where we chatted, perused our “boat gifts”, boat filters, zincs, and repaired binoculars, and he got reacquainted with his cat Maggie, who now lives on the boat. We went out for a walk around Bocas Town, down the two main streets and into a drugstore where Dan took our newly acquired World unlocked phone and set up the calling process. Wow! A cheap, working phone- it had been about six months since we could use our cell phones and the Sat phone was very costly so used in emergency or at least urgency.

Steve wanted to get going on his vacation right away and took a surfing lesson off Isla Bastimentos. He was able to stand on the board by the end of the lesson, and felt he knew the technique and all he needed was practice. He was so excited when he returned and it was so hot he jumped into the water-with his sunglasses on. Whoops, gone! Our group of Tregoning, Windsond and Sea Star went to supper at Lemon Grass and back to the boats.

Situated in the aft cabin he proceeded to become ill. High fever just came on suddenly and he suffered from a 24 hour flu, we found out in 24 hours when he was better. Meanwhile we sailed out of the Bocas anchorage, deciding on a snorkeling trip to Crawl Cay about 10 miles away. Off in the distance we could see the famous Zapatilla Cays. We again wiggled into an anchorage which was 40 feet deep and deployed the anchor. Steve dove on it and told us we were holding pretty well-in coral.

Despite the less than perfect water clarity, we had an interesting shallow snorkel where brittle stars in many colors coiled around various shapes and colors of sponges; barrel, tube and reaching sponges, saw lots of reef fish of various sizes and beautiful colored coral structures, spending hours in the water. Later we circled Deer Island, in a mangrove river by dinghy, ate a wonderful fish dinner at a restaurant at Crawl Cay and decided to head for Bluefields and Rio Cricimola for Steve’s adventure.

From Crawl Cay we sailed on to Laguna De Bluefield, where Guaymi (Ngobe) indigenous people live on the edges of the water seemingly on little money and subsistence fishing. When entering the anchorage at Punta Allegre the friendly people came out to talk and greet us in their family Cayucos.

After two nights we moved on to Laguna De Chiriqui and the mighty Cricamola River. In Irish Bay where we anchored in a protected mangrove cove, the water was brown with run-off from the many rivers and we plogged up our watermaker (temporarily) and actually had to use bug spray to repel the no-see-ums as the anchorage was dead calm. It made us wonder how the natives could stand to be there all the time, despite the prolific wildlife and fish.

We had to use the dinghy motors on full throttle to move up the Rio Cricamola , and what a grand vista with mountains in the background, tall Kapok trees and foliage, banana plantations and indigenous villages one, two and three along the muddy banks of the swiftly downstream moving river. We had a great trip looking for birds, visiting with the villagers at village one and purchasing the woven carrying bags the people are famous for making. I’ll let the pictures tell the story!

From Laguna Chiriqui we gave it our best shot to sail or motor sail the 35 miles back to Bocas taking the Split Hill and Sumwood Channels between Chiriqui and Almirante. That was an adventure in navigation! The ferryboats take the channel regularly, but it is not well marked. We knew it would be the shortest way and should have plenty of depth if we could find the channel.

Our choice of path was somewhat complicated by Windsong’s mechanical issues. At the end of our trip to the Dark Lands, Jamie’s main shaft had broken off, dropping his propeller somewhere in the Bocas anchorage. He was totally motor-less and showed his sailing skills as he tacked his way back to Bocas with his dinghy strapped closely to his hull providing some propulsion but sucking up his gas.

The day was overcast and the water a dark blue so visibility as regards the shoals and shallows was impossible even when perched on the boom. Lucky for us Steve was aboard the boat as he and I spent hours in the dinghy using the portable depth finder sending the path to Dan who drove the boat with a few quick reverses needed as we measured the water -from 19 feet to 5 feet in the space of a boat length. Tregoning and Windsong relied on our information to safely negotiate the tricky channel through the mangroves and out into the bay.

Sea Star, using motor as required, arrived back in Bocas first and provided the only dinghy with gas to go for Pizza as Tregoning, followed by Windsong in the dark, arrived safely back at the anchorage.

The next morning we had a goodbye breakfast together and Steve was on his way home to Greenfield, MA and his plumbing job. We were sad to see him go. There was so much more to explore in the Bocas area. No wonder so many cruisers have purchased property in the area and moved to Bocas permanently.

Here are 100 pics:

Steve's adventure

Bocas del Toro Tierra Oscura (the Dark Land). Laguna Palos July 1-4, 2009

Bocas del Toro Tierra Oscura (the Dark Land). Laguna Palos July 1-4, 2009

We were having a great time in Bocas Town but exploration is the name of the occupation of cruising. Dan was reading the guidebooks and decided that we should check out a new area, Laguna Palos, in preparation for possible adventure when our son would visit. Tregoning and Windsong were game to go also, and another Island Packet couple, Valma and Ed on Navy Blue, and so we set off on the short trip, about nine miles from the anchorage-but really into another world.

Our course was west to Juan Point, then following the west coast of Isla Cristobal in Bahia Almirante until we came to the three unnamed mangrove islets that are the markers to turn into Laguna Palos. On the way through Almirante, our slowly moving sailboats were approached by men in Cayucos who sold us large lobsters! We had just passed a school on our starboard and saw the children in their white shirts and black pants or skirts paddling their Cayucos all around us when we saw the entrance. They stayed right at the sides of the boats, trying to hang on, while we tried to anchor. To actually enter the anchorage, the best information we had is the guidebook -The Panama Guide- by the Zydlers, but at times the uncolored sketch charts are difficult to interpret. Additionally we used a Raymarine chart plotter and paper charts and as all the material warns- we inched our way in slowly and kept a sharp lookout for coral, shoal areas and an eye on the depth until we anchored close to the shore in front of a native house in the magnificent lagoon.

It had rained as we approached but the clouds had cleared and we were taken by the beauty of the place called Tierra Oscura, meaning The Dark Land. Now to explore and bird watch. The Zygler guide showed a trail to the top of a mountain and we were all game for that. Dan and I grabbed binoculars and dressed for a walk and skirted the edge of the mangrove lagoon seeking birds and a place to tie the dinghy and go ashore. To our disappointment, at regular intervals around the lagoon, we saw hand-lettered signs that read “privada propiedad”, so we kept circling the edge in the dinghy. Quite suddenly but very slowly an old man in a cayuco approached us and asked us in English where we were from and was very friendly. As we talked I said we were looking for a path up the mountain, but all the signs said the property was private, so we were not going ashore.

Well- we had met Valentino Reade Smith, a man who could trace his ancestry back to the time of the slaves and who was now an owner of the entire property his grandfather had acquired, who, with his brothers was farming, fishing and raising high quality cattle. He was happy to bring us ashore and guide us around his property, machete in hand and wearing rubber boots, saying the signs were hanging just because all the others have them and they don’t mean a thing to him. Walk! Enjoy! He said there were many bird varieties available and as Dan and I, and by now the other boaters, tried to keep up with this spry older man we were told about the various species of lime tree he grew, fruits, banana and taro plants, cocoa and cacao, breadfruits--- and the stories he recounted of the older days, his grandfather and father and their folk wisdom were fascinating! He sure had us looking DOWN when he recounted the many varieties of snake he had witnessed on the property as well as animals and birds.

He told us there were Tommygoths, vipers, coral snakes, Fer de Lance and other snakes. They had bit and killed cattle! He told us how his grandfather knew that the worst time to be bitten was three days before and after a full moon as snakes have greatest venom then. He told us there were once very large sharks in the laguna and attacks on swimmers regular, but no more. He said his new neighbors, the Indians, kill anything and there are fewer animals; monkeys, iguana, caiman and fish. But he was born on the property and, although he goes to Bocas regularly, he wants to die there. His children live in towns around or far away. From what he said they have varied occupations but have been well educated and a few are scientists and professors.

We walked the mountain trail from his property one day, and the property the next morning. The hike up the slippery trail was somewhat difficult. As you tried to follow the path used regularly by the locals, quiet men in rubber boots carrying machete came up quickly behind you and passed with a quiet, Buenos dias. The foliage was thick and at places we saw leaf cutter ants and army ants about their business. I did not climb to the top. The path was getting steeper, the trail muddy and the time was late, I thought, for the return trip, then at one rock I needed to cross was a huge-HUGE buzzing bee and I didn’t want to go on. I turned back where Dan and Randall were walking more slowly birdwatching, and watched Randall trying to descend the path wearing flip-flops!

Laguna Palos was an adventure and a very special spot. Valentino felt the birding wasn’t that great on the morning he guided us but we saw Red-fronted Parrots, and a Lineated Woodpecker and many others such as Toucans and Oropendulas. Valentino is one of a kind! We thanked him for his friendship by brownies and a book and prints of a few pictures and made our way back to Bocas anchorage by the Saturday, July 4th cruiser potluck organized by Suzy and John on the trawler, Cabaret, held at the Calipso Cantina.

Here are 28 pics:

Tierra Oscura walks

Bocas del Toro, Panama June 19- July 1, 2009

Bocas del Toro, Panama June 19- July 1, 2009
All too soon Sea Star and the others left Little Corn Island. In the morning when the wind was just right as forecast, 15 knots, we were merrily sailing along toward Panama. At exactly 12:00PM the wind switched by 60 degrees and then straight on the nose, then shortly after that the wind simply fell out and died. We needed to arrive in Bocas in the daylight and so on went the engines and we motored on the first three foot swell, then calm sea trying to maintain our 5.5-6 knots per hour to arrive with the light needed to enter a new harbor.

Dan had decided on the Bocas del Drago Channel entrance and we made good time but impatiently watched the depth finder to note we were in very deep water and off soundings. When we were closer to the channel we could just pick out the expected landmarks- a flat rock called , a pinnacle rock and a small rock island. These landmarks brought us to the clear channel and the red and green channel markers towards Isla Colon and Bocas del Toro.

We were going to have to share the channel with a large cargo ship that was steaming in at about 18knots. Dan called him on the VHF and confirmed that we would be staying to the left of the channel and the ship moved closer and closer. Just as the huge ship neared the channel curve and narrows, he did a U turn! We figured out by listening to his communication that he was awaiting a pilot boat to guide him in and he had been told to stop. The fast change of direction certainly surprised us, but all was well as the pilot met the ship and they passed us inside the channel but leaving no wake to speak of.

Ahead of us on Isla Colon we saw a few homes and the raised stilted buildings of Bocas del Toro where, after we turned in, we could also see the masts and boats at Bocas Marina and in the anchorage near the marina where we were heading.
By now we had put up our yellow “Q” flag to notify the Port Captain that we were entering the country of Panama.

We were safely anchored and of course exhausted but the officials needed to board us. It was relatively painless but more expensive than written in our guidebooks. Four officials arrived at Sea Star by launch , two men and two women. The quarantine officer checked that we were not from an area of the new flu such as Mexico, and asked us about our health. He took Maggie’s papers, $15.00 for her permit, there was a boat inspection-but no one entered the cabin, an agricultural inspection-but no trash or food was checked, and immigration gave us a 30 day visa for the country that could be extended to 60 days. The Port Captain checked in the boat by length and then the group left with our passports and $123.00US.

Later in the day we were to pick up the passports from the Port Captain where we paid $69.00 more for the cruising permit, $20.00 for something else important. The following day we walked across town to the airport and met with the “migration” officer with some stamps purchased at The National Bank for $15.00 per person so another $30.00 for us. Our receipts in some cases did not match the amounts paid to the officials. The story was we would receive the receipts when we went into the office, but in two cases that did not occur. Our poor Spanish may have been the cause of our not questioning the prices.

Anyway, entry completed and prices forgotten for the moment, we walked and explored Bocas Town, finding Lily’s and Pirates to tie the dinghy and looking for the groceries, hardware stores and shops that make Bocas a pleasant place to anchor and a base from which to locate anything you might need from David or Panama City. I unfortunately had lost my new tooth repair done in San Andres and I found a local dentist in Bocas, Dr. Wong, who spent quite a bit of time and effort refilling my tooth.

Our first meal out was Happy Hour and Pizza at Wari Wari,an open air restaurant with black and white décor reminiscent of totem poles and the popular red, green and yellow trim of the Jamaican rasta- on bamboo. Very interesting. Another day we ate breakfast at famous Lily’s, home of the “Killin’ me Man” hot sauce, a wonderful fruit salad to start and eggs, toast and great Panamanian coffee. Then it was a wonderful restaurant blitz..Pirate’s has great international style foods, Lemon Grass for Thai food and the Calypso Cantina Restaurant and Bar at Bocas Marina serves excellent food. It’s a very popular place with cruisers to play volleyball and relax out of the sun each day. We had a blast playing Trivia there one Thursday night and a cruiser planned a Fourth of July party there with a potluck supper and lots of fun with forced activities like Limbo and Girls Sing.

Here are some Bocas Town pics

Bocas town

One really interesting visit we had was to the Smithsonian Research Center. To get there we took a taxi out of town to Sandfly beach where the Center has special tours a few days a week. Our guide, an ex-pat living in Bocas and two native young scientists walked us around the grounds. The three toed tree sloths were close up and personal, yet wild. The guide discovered them hanging over the road when we had all begun to leave and called us back to see them.

Below is a little movie of moving mother and baby sloths.

Here are pics of the Smithsonian Research Center in Bocas

Bocas del Toro OL

There are cruiser nets that include Bocas. A VHF net on channel 68 at 8:00 daily and the Southwest Caribbean Net on SSB at 8:15AM. A problem we are having is we can no longer receive the weather reports from Chris Parker whom we relied on father north. While we are here in Bocas Dan has done the research and ordering of a new battery bank for Sea Star, a major purchase, but we can’t seem to keep a charge in the current AGM three year old batteries, so we must replace the seven of them together. At least everyone says, “anything you want you can get in Panama City.” He’s ordering the batteries through an agent and from Miami. Someday they will arrive by ship.

More to come on Bocas as we explore and travel. We are expecting a visit from our son from the States on July 5, so I’m sure we will do some fun things to write about!