Cruising the San Blas Islands
In 1981, when our family was living in the country of Panama, friends invited Dawn and myself to accompany them on a cruise to the San Blas Islands in their 46' trawler. I had served as navigator when we brought the boat, which had been purchased in Miami, back to Panama. Charles and Jean German, the boat owners were friends and members of the Colon Yacht Club. The Yacht Club was planning a group cruise to the San Blas Islands, and we were invited to join in the voyage. The San Blas islands are a remote, semi-autonomous region inhabited by the Guna Indian tribe.
On the scheduled date to leave Colon harbor, the weather was somewhat blustery as our flotilla of yachts left harbor. To get to San Blas, the vessels simply had to follow the Atlantic coast east, but wind and waves made it a bit rougher than usual. That afternoon, we reached a sheltered harbor where everyone anchored for the night. The next morning only two of the vessels, our trawler and a big sportfisherman-type yacht elected to continue on the trip.
The weather was somewhat better, and we cruised past many of the San Blas islands until we came upon a rather idyllic-appearing uninhabited atoll. There was a roughly circular peripheral reef with a small central island enclosed. On the windward side of the reef were the impaled remains of a small merchant freighter. The island itself was a few hundred yards long with vegetation mimicking Gilligan's Island. The sportfisherman stayed in open water, trolling for big fish, while we entered the encompassing reef through an opening on the lee side of things. How absolutely perfect!
We were cruising within the enclosed lagoon, admiring the beautiful sand beaches, when unexpectedly a squall blew in rapidly over the water. Our trawler was caught broadside by the sudden wind and, before we could maneuver, pushed up on the beach. We were firmly grounded! On a remote, uninhabited, island distant from any harbor, and there we were staring at the wreck of a previous vessel only 1/3 miles away. What to do!
Charles German was a retired US Navy diver; one very tough and experienced guy. Jean, Dawn, and I all jumped over the (shore) side of the boat into chest deep water to try to keep the hull from being pushed further into shallower water. Fortunately, it was a sand beach, not hard coral. Charles got on the radio to the sportfisherman and stayed at the controls; they were quickly up on plane and immediately on the way to us. I put on my snorkeling fins and swam out with a mooring line from our boat to the sportfisherman. They attached the line to a solid stern stanchion and cranked up the yacht's big twin engines.
The line tightened like a guitar string; the high-powered engines on the sportfisherman were roaring. And the squall was subsiding! I rejoined Dawn and Jean in the water pushing on the trawler hull. No movement. Charles joined us in the water. We tried rocking the hull in unison.... was that movement we felt? Gradually we could confirm movement, then the hull broke free! Charles scrambled back aboard to the controls. How great was that!
We ended up staying for several days; snorkeling during the day; hiking around our own little perfect island; catching fish for our meals. We ended up snorkeling over the sunken wreckage of another vessel where I was able to dive into the flooded cargo hold full of small fish seeking protection from barracudas lurking outside; flip over on my back and shoot a photo of a thousand sunlit fish swimming above me. Charles used a couple of our bait fish to catch sharks at night. You don't try to unhook large, sharp-toothed sharks. Charles had a "bang stick": basically, a pole with a shotgun shell on the end. The cartridge detonated when you jammed the stick against the big shark's head. Underwater, the concussion was enough to obliterate the head and release the fishhook.
Charles and Jean lived aboard that yacht and took several subsequent cruises during the time we lived there. I worried because drug smuggling was reported with some frequency, including the killing of yachtsmen and theft of their boats. We were invited for a cruise to Cartagena, Columbia, a center for drug trafficking. Was it cowardice or concern for our children that made us decline?
See "A Voyage to Remember" at the following location for a description of the boat trip from Miami to Colon: http://developable-surface-boat-designs.blogspot.com/2013/11/a-voyage-to-remember.html
On the scheduled date to leave Colon harbor, the weather was somewhat blustery as our flotilla of yachts left harbor. To get to San Blas, the vessels simply had to follow the Atlantic coast east, but wind and waves made it a bit rougher than usual. That afternoon, we reached a sheltered harbor where everyone anchored for the night. The next morning only two of the vessels, our trawler and a big sportfisherman-type yacht elected to continue on the trip.
The weather was somewhat better, and we cruised past many of the San Blas islands until we came upon a rather idyllic-appearing uninhabited atoll. There was a roughly circular peripheral reef with a small central island enclosed. On the windward side of the reef were the impaled remains of a small merchant freighter. The island itself was a few hundred yards long with vegetation mimicking Gilligan's Island. The sportfisherman stayed in open water, trolling for big fish, while we entered the encompassing reef through an opening on the lee side of things. How absolutely perfect!
We were cruising within the enclosed lagoon, admiring the beautiful sand beaches, when unexpectedly a squall blew in rapidly over the water. Our trawler was caught broadside by the sudden wind and, before we could maneuver, pushed up on the beach. We were firmly grounded! On a remote, uninhabited, island distant from any harbor, and there we were staring at the wreck of a previous vessel only 1/3 miles away. What to do!
Charles German was a retired US Navy diver; one very tough and experienced guy. Jean, Dawn, and I all jumped over the (shore) side of the boat into chest deep water to try to keep the hull from being pushed further into shallower water. Fortunately, it was a sand beach, not hard coral. Charles got on the radio to the sportfisherman and stayed at the controls; they were quickly up on plane and immediately on the way to us. I put on my snorkeling fins and swam out with a mooring line from our boat to the sportfisherman. They attached the line to a solid stern stanchion and cranked up the yacht's big twin engines.
The line tightened like a guitar string; the high-powered engines on the sportfisherman were roaring. And the squall was subsiding! I rejoined Dawn and Jean in the water pushing on the trawler hull. No movement. Charles joined us in the water. We tried rocking the hull in unison.... was that movement we felt? Gradually we could confirm movement, then the hull broke free! Charles scrambled back aboard to the controls. How great was that!
We ended up staying for several days; snorkeling during the day; hiking around our own little perfect island; catching fish for our meals. We ended up snorkeling over the sunken wreckage of another vessel where I was able to dive into the flooded cargo hold full of small fish seeking protection from barracudas lurking outside; flip over on my back and shoot a photo of a thousand sunlit fish swimming above me. Charles used a couple of our bait fish to catch sharks at night. You don't try to unhook large, sharp-toothed sharks. Charles had a "bang stick": basically, a pole with a shotgun shell on the end. The cartridge detonated when you jammed the stick against the big shark's head. Underwater, the concussion was enough to obliterate the head and release the fishhook.
Charles and Jean lived aboard that yacht and took several subsequent cruises during the time we lived there. I worried because drug smuggling was reported with some frequency, including the killing of yachtsmen and theft of their boats. We were invited for a cruise to Cartagena, Columbia, a center for drug trafficking. Was it cowardice or concern for our children that made us decline?
See "A Voyage to Remember" at the following location for a description of the boat trip from Miami to Colon: http://developable-surface-boat-designs.blogspot.com/2013/11/a-voyage-to-remember.html
posted by Wayne | 8:40 PM
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