Living the life in San Blas

We left Shelter Bay Marina a week ago, and headed NE, our destination was San Blas but we stopped for the night in Portobello, an interesting settlement, steeped in history. The little harbor area is well tucked away from the open ocean but the swell overnight had things flying off the counters periodically. From there, it was another 5 hours to San Blas. Frank chose East Holandes as our first stop. We found a safe anchoring spot with no trouble. There are a few sail boats anchored in The Swimming Pool and boats are coming and going almost every day. After we had settled in and launched the dinghy, we started to explore. We stopped at the largest of the islands and met Ibin. Ibin is a Kuna who left the islands to become a chef in Panama City. He met the owner of a mega yacht who offered him a job on board. Ibin then ended up in French Polynesia where he spent a couple of years but family and local commitments saw him return to San Blas where he has set up a restaurant on the beach. He has plans to build his own Bora Bora, starting with 3 honeymoon suites. He has lofty ambitions and I have no doubt he will fulfill them. He is already growing all his own Papaya, squash, plantains and other vegetables. We had a great meal there. Well worth a visit.

Every now and then one of the Kuna will arrive at the boat in a cayuco selling fish or lobster at a very good price so we have saved them the trouble of circulating to every boat, and bought all the lobsters to enjoy at a later date. A few of them were small so we threw them back in the water.

We have been to a few snorkel spots, most notably the sand bar which is surrounded by coral. When looking down into the water it appears to be crystal clear. Not so much once we jump in with masks on, it is always a bit milky but still beautiful to snorkel around. There is an abundance of coral and relative to Bocas del Toro, not much dead coral. I am a bit disappointed in the fish life tho, nothing special to see, no rays, no trigger fish, no lobster, just the usual most common reef fish. I did see an octopus in his den and set the GoPro up to try and get him to come out but the camera fell over and when I went to sort it out, I noticed it was not working. RIP GoPro. Honestly, the camera takes very nice footage underwater and above but I have had such problems with it I am kinda glad it’s RIP coz at least now I know for a fact I am not going to have any footage as opposed to always hoping the GoPro is behaving. I just don’t know of any viable alternatives. The DJI Action does not get very good reviews.

Today the wind is blowing 15 to 20 so it is a boat work day. I have been cleaning showers and heads (toilets) and now I am waiting for the generator to come on so I can do laundry. Proof that boat life is not all fun and games.