{"id":652,"date":"2014-02-08T06:07:39","date_gmt":"2014-02-08T14:07:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/easethemain.com\/?p=652"},"modified":"2014-03-05T15:14:52","modified_gmt":"2014-03-05T23:14:52","slug":"the-san-blas-islands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/easethemain.com\/?p=652","title":{"rendered":"The San Blas Islands"},"content":{"rendered":"

A fellow sailor once told me that cruising plans are \u201cwritten in the sand at low tide.\u201d\u00a0 So very true.\u00a0 We hadn’t planned on staying in the San Blas Islands for as long as we did, but it turned out to be the highlight of our trip so far. \u00a0And the truth is …. two weeks in San Blas is grossly insufficient. \u00a0The surrounding are so relaxing …. \u00a0a couple of month would be ideal. \u00a0But you only have so much time in the Caribbean before hurricane season begins so we had to keep moving.<\/p>\n

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Reef protecting the Islands from the pounding Caribbean Sea.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The San Blas Islands are part of Panama, but are governed by the native Kuna Yala people.\u00a0 This archipelago consists of about 378 islands and cays, of which only 49 are inhabited.\u00a0 Imagine the stereotypical vision you have of the Caribbean: azure seas, puffy white clouds dotting the sky, coconut palm islands with white sand beaches scattered everywhere.\u00a0 Great snorkeling around the reefs, beautiful anchorages and enough wind to keep the mosquitos away.\u00a0 In fact, the wind blows about 20 knots day and night, cooling us down and providing enough amps to charge the boat’s batteries using our wind generators. Even though those winds whip up the seas the islands are nicely protected in calm waters behind the many reefs. \u00a0Plenty of sun to tan these bodies and give us more amps for the batteries via our solar panels. \u00a0We wear our bathing suits all day and sleep without any coverings; the temperature is so comfortable all the time.\u00a0 You anchor in 10 feet of water that is so clear you can see your anchor – which is nice because you can tell how dug in your hook is.<\/span><\/p>\n

You might have noticed amps are kind of important to those who live on a boat. \u00a0We are constantly aware of how many ams we are using and how many we are producing. \u00a0In the world of\u00a0<\/span>finance\u00a0you have cash flow, in the world\u00a0of\u00a0<\/span>sailing\u00a0we have amp flow. \u00a0We strive to be amp flow\u00a0<\/span>positive, which is just as hard as being cash\u00a0flow\u00a0positive. \u00a0 Sailors are the original “green citizens”. \u00a0Long before going green became popular sailors were already doing it. \u00a0Using wind to travel, solar panels, wind generators, and water generator to produce energy. \u00a0Equipment on board is energy efficient (mostly). LED lights are truly gift, given how little amps they draw. \u00a0But I’ve digressed. \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

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Note how the anchor dragged before the hook dug in.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The Swimming Pool.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We were visited by native Kunas who sold us a variety of \u201cmolas\u201d which are part of the traditional costume of Kuna women and are panels sewn together to make designs.\u00a0 We sat in the cockpit with \u201cVenancio\u201d who is a master mola maker, and viewed his excellent handicraft and learned a few words in Kuna including \u201cme see\u201d for housecat and a word for the bracelets we bought from the Kuna which sound curiously similar to \u201cweenie.\u201d This made the bracelets (which are worn on the ankle or wrist) seem more masculine to Dante who now dons one on his ankle.<\/p>\n

\"DSC_0138<\/a>\"DSC_0132<\/a>The islands are still owned by the Kuna Yala peoples who charge a nominal fee for cruising the islands but let you anchor anywhere you want. \u00a0In fact every island, every coconut, every fish is owed by a Kuna family. \u00a0The coconuts are a currency they use to trade with the Colombians for other products – the Colombian border is nearby. \u00a0The Kuna often come by in their dug out canoes, whole families in a boat, selling their molas or other goodies.\u00a0 Vegetable boats laden with tropical fruits and vegetables \u2013 as well as other necessities such as beer – come by making trips to the store unnecessary.<\/p>\n

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There are other boats with kids (thankfully) and Dante has been having playdates every afternoon.\u00a0 It\u00a0<\/span>doesn’t\u00a0matter if\u00a0they speak the same language (which sometimes they\u00a0<\/span>don’t); they immediately start playing together.\u00a0 In the cruising world there is no time for being shy.\u00a0 They realize their time to play may be short and they make the most of it.\u00a0 One day the kids made a sail from a flag, hoisted it on a kayak and \u201cmade passage\u201d to a neighboring island at about 3 knots.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Crew from Safari, Caminante, and Benevento.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Off to pillage!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There are no shops, no tourist traps, not even street lights.\u00a0 The only light to extinguish the night stars is that of the rising moon.\u00a0 It is the paradise of old seldom found in the other parts of the Caribbean. With fresh supplies brought to you, the batteries continually charged up by the wind\/sun, and no need to do laundry other than bathing suits and towels, it makes you wonder why anyone would leave!\u00a0 In fact, we met people who felt exactly that way.\u00a0 Some had stayed 15 years after cruising all around the world.\u00a0 There was no place better\u00a0<\/span>they’d<\/span>\u00a0felt.<\/span><\/p>\n

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For us, one of the main reasons we had such a memorable time is because of the friends we made.\u00a0 Together with our new friends from the sailing vessels of Safari, Three Sheets, Ooroo and Caminante we spent evenings sipping rum with sugar and lime on the beach while the kids played.\u00a0 We had a few epic games of Cranium.\u00a0 We had dinner cooked for us by the two Kuna brothers on \u201cBBQ\u201d Island \u2013 an island smaller than a football field, covered in coconut palm trees and grass.\u00a0 The fish served were freshly caught and cooked over an open flame in an open air thatch hut.\u00a0 Alicides, one of the Kuna brothers, climbed a coconut palm to retrieve a \u201cpipa\u201d (unripe coconut) and we drank its milk from a straw. \u00a0We sunk a few bottles of tequila, smoked a few Cuban cigars, danced around a bonfire under a full moon and then danced more aboard Safari just because we didn’t want the fun to end.<\/span><\/p>\n

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On our passage to Jamaica we were a little depressed because we had to leave our friends and the paradise in which we met. \u00a0Our two weeks in the San Blas are what makes all the hard work worth it. \u00a0Even Jennifer says it was worth sailing through the Papagayos! But life is good and we know new friends and adventures await us.<\/p>\n

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\"DSC_0044\"<\/a>.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A fellow sailor once told me that cruising plans are \u201cwritten in the sand at low tide.\u201d\u00a0 So very true.\u00a0 We hadn’t planned on staying in the San Blas Islands for as long as we did, but it turned out to be the highlight of our trip so far. \u00a0And the truth is …. two […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-652","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sailing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/easethemain.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/652","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/easethemain.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/easethemain.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/easethemain.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/easethemain.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=652"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"http:\/\/easethemain.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/652\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":844,"href":"http:\/\/easethemain.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/652\/revisions\/844"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/easethemain.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/easethemain.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=652"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/easethemain.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}