After our summer in the US we were happy to get back to the boat in Panama. We allowed a month for prepping the boat to get underway.  We did cleaning, and some repairs. Our fresh water pumps seemed to have given up on their vital work. I rejuvenated the flush mechanisms on both heads. We had new grates made for the showers. Dell technicians even came to the boat to install a new mother board in this computer. As they say, cruising is fixing boats in foreign places.

Our time at Vista Mar was not all work and no play. We went to a fundraiser to help an ex pat raise some money for medical bills,  and we were invited to a dinner at Sam’s house. Sam is a retired real estate entrepreneur and an amazing Harmonica player.

We had errands to run and rented a car for a week. Driving in Panama city during rush hour with Monsoon rains was a bit of an adventure. Turns out Panamanians don’t actually stop at stop signs and they honk if you do. A lot of cars on the road with rear end damage.

While we had the car, we took the opportunity to explore, taking a drive to nearby El Valle de Anton. There we visited the church and a museum.  Had lunch at a restaurant where Lisa ordered the Sancocho. This is a classic Panamanian soup made with Chicken and Yucca, served with a scoop of rice. Delicious.

On the way we stopped to take a picture and while we stopped, we were greeted by a man who spoke English and had just walked down from the farm. He was carrying an old wooden box filled with an assortment of fresh vegetables that he was talking to his mother. A snap shot from a simpler life.

Finally the day came to cast off the lines from Vista Mar. Footloose seemed happy to be out of there. I know we were. First stop was an anchorage at Otoque where we stayed for two nights enjoying a rest from the boat work at Vista Mar.

Then we went to Isla Taborcillo.  Taborcillo is also called John Wayne Island. This island was given to John Wayne for his work as an envoy to Panama when the Canal was turned over to the Panamanians. John Wayne was a Republican, but disagreed with his party, believing that the Panama Canal should be turned over to the Panamanians. A time when people were true to their beliefs rather than toeing the party line. Since John Wayne’s death in 1979 the island has been sold and is now owned by a German entrepreneur who tried to make a Hollywood destination resort out of the place. It has been vacant for ten years and much of the memorabilia is fading back into the jungle. A small museum with artifacts from John Wayne has a hole in the roof allowing the remaining artifacts to slowly disappear in a haze of dampness and mildew. A chapel named St John’s has a marker for John Wayne, but he is actually buried in Newport Beach.

Our friends Celia and Art were coming to meet us and Rogelio, our Canal Agent agreed to bring them from the airport to the Playita anchorage. So our next stop was Playita. We had a nice sail from Taborcillo, and spent the last hour and half weaving through the anchored freighters and across the canal traffic lane to our new resting place. A fascinating place to anchor with all the ships of the world passing through. Lying under the Flamenco station with lots of wakes in the anchorage, it was still quite pleasant.

During our stay at Playita, we did provisioning and visited the Museum of Biodiversity on the Amador Causeway near our anchorage.  An interesting graphic at the museum shows herds of animals crossing the isthmus when it was formed intermixing the species found on the previously isolated North and South Americas.

The canal authority came aboard to verify our dimensions. Canal transit fees are based on the size of the vessel. Some of the largest pay 1.2 million dollars for one transit, and do it every 2 weeks. We paid about $500.  Richard Halliburton was the lightest “ship” ever to transit the canal and paid $0.36 to swim through in 1928.

Celia and Art operate Searcher Sportfishing in San Diego. Art has been Captain of Searcher for 35 years ( they do whale trips to Baja and pelagic bird watching too). They arrived on November 12 and the fun began in earnest.

The next day, jet lag or not, we were off to the Perlas Islands where the Spanish killed the natives and brought in slaves from Africa to harvest the great pearl beds. Many of the slaves descendants still live in the islands today.

Our first stop, Isla Contadora (the Counting Island), was where the Spanish counted the pearls before shipping them to Spain. The island has large homes including one where the exiled Shah of Iran lived.

We stayed in a delightful anchorage enjoying the stand-up paddle boards and great snorkeling.

The Perlas Islands gave us beautiful jungle covered islands with white sand beaches. Excellent fishing.  Lots of snorkeling and Sup Boarding.  Celia and Art added greatly to our experience by giving us their knowledge of birds and fishing. We had conversations about boat management, politics, religion, all with great food.

One of the highlights for me was our visit to Isla Telmo. The current was pretty swift so we did not stay over night, but the snorkeling was great,  and the beach has the wreck of the Submarine explorer.  Built in 1865 it is one of only 5 submarines known to exist before 1870. The bottom of the submarine had hatches that would open allowing workers to harvest pearls.  A visit to the island should include a long walk on the beach.  Beautiful

Submarine Explorer

Snorkeling

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Great Food

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What to do when that bunch of bananas you bought from the guy in the Panga that seemed would stay green forever suddenly decide to ripen all at once.

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Of Course There Were Sunsets

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And Water Toys

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Another highlight of our trip was a dingy trip up the Rio Moskito…. That is how we think it is spelled. No mosquitoes while we were there.

We only fish for food. But there were a lot of fish, and if you wanted to, you could stuff the freezer.

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After 12 days in the Islands, we planned to visit Isla Taboga and then return to the Playita anchorage to get our extra rented mooring balls and the four 120 foot dock lines necessary for a Canal Transit.

On the way to Taboga, we were visited by a pod of Pseudo Killer whales. These 20 foot long animals played with the bow wave and wake created by Footloose. We were all excited, but Art was most happy with the sighting. In 35 years of natural history tours, he has only seen this species 3 times. They are more common south of Mexico, Art’s stomping grounds.

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Our trip to Taboga was ill fated as the anchorage was full of empty mooring balls and the conditions were pretty windy and choppy we continued on to the Playita anchorage. A couple days later, however, we took a ferry from Playita and got to see Taboga Island anyway. The sleepy little town features Iglesia San Pedro, the second oldest church in the western hemisphere.

We were told that Taboga had quite a scene as visitors come from the City of Panama for the weekend, but a local told us that what actually happens is that people pack a lunch and go to the beach at Taboga enjoying the water and views of Panama City, but most go home at night. We were there on a Monday and the streets had a few dogs and cats and the occasional small vehicle just able to squeeze through the narrow streets.

At Taboga we saw Sea Shepherd a boat belonging to a controversial whale protection organization. They are known to interfere with Japanese whaling ships, but on this day they were educating the local school kids about the negative influence of plastics, particularly straws on sea turtles.

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A recurring theme of our journey is the amount of trash, particularly plastics that we see. On Footloose, we are trying to limit our plastic consumption but it seems almost impossible. Silicone ziplocks seem good but what happens when the seam breaks or…. bees wax covers for bowls work for the potluck but not everything. Reusable grocery bags have certainly helped but for obvious economic reasons many things are packaged in or made out of plastic. It seems almost insurmountable. 10 miles out of Chiapas Mexico I remember seeing plastic every hundred feet or so in the ocean 10 miles off shore. A coke bottle here, a flip flop there, everywhere you look, plastic waste. And the canal authority, for example, insists that you provide bottled water for the transit crew. Very difficult.

I think a lot of the problem comes when first world products, like sodas in plastic bottles, wind up in 3rd world places with bad waste disposal. Everything winds up in the river or is burned. The Perlas are quite remote with few inhabitants, so where is the garbage coming from? Perhaps the mouth of the Darien river 30 miles away where indigenous people live in small villages on its banks. Yet, a villager can be in Panama city in a few hours by Panga and ferry. We actually saw a new refrigerator in a box going home in the bow of a small panga. Waste management lags development.

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Back at Playita we celebrated Thanksgiving with a trip to Casco Viejo, the old town in Panama City. We visited old churches, enjoyed lunch out and splurged on Panama Hats…. Sold and made famous in Panama, actually made in Ecuador.

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We felt better about the transit after watching ships and yachts locking in and out at the Miraflores Visitor Center. In our next post, we take Footloose through the locks to the Caribbean. Coming Soon!