Boatwork in Exotic Places

After our time in busy Cartagena, the quiet and solitude of Kuna Yala was most welcome. We sailed 100 nautical miles without seeing another cruiser. Although it was incredible to have our pick of beautiful deserted islands near which to anchor almost every day we also had to use caution. With the exception of the Kuna we were truly on our own here. We were on constant lookout for the plenty of uncharted reefs that could have punctured the hull and stopped us in our tracks. Not too mention our first exposure to the sort of jungle wildlife not found anywhere else. Pumas, wild boar, snakes, monkeys, and crocodiles were all to be watched out for. The one crocodile we did spot from our dinghy was at least ten feet long and ruled out any plans we had to snorkel in that anchorage!

We spent weeks swimming, snorkelling, exploring the isolated villages and watching the strs at night. One night in particular felt like we were anchored directly under the milky way - with zero light pollution in the jungle the stars felt like they were right on top of us! Since our outboard was acting up we also spent our fair share of time paddling our dinghy around - thank god for Arkin's hand carved paddle! When we grew tired of paddling one of us would hop in and push the boat along.

Aside from being off the beaten track the lack of other gringos was also because it was still the end of rainy season. You could set your watch to the dark black afternoon clouds that formed over the mountains and dropped a couple of hours worth of rain (and usually thunder and lightning as well) on the islands. Although we had a few intense squalls, we did not encounter the feared Chocosana, the sudden intense storms with tropical storm force winds.

 

As we worked our way west at a leisurely pace, the traditional villages gave way to larger, more westernized settlements. At Nargana, there were hostels, small shops, and a cell tower (but no SIM cards available for purchase). There was also a bakery and a place to buy fresh fruit and veg and it couldn't have come soon enough! At the Hollandes and Lemon Cays we found the couple dozen other cruisers at anchor and we sadly realized that the short break we enjoyed from the rest of the world was drawing to a close…. or was it?

Anchored amongst the backpackers - sailboats from Panama to Cartagena are one of the most popular ways for those backpacking Central and South America to cross the Darien Gap - at Chichime, we discovered a steady leak coming from our engine’s seawater pump. We had encountered this problem before, almost two years ago while motoring through the “Dismal Swamp” in North Carolina. Since we were such newbies at the time, another cruiser kindly helped us rebuild the pump, but now we felt confident we could do it ourselves, in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by coral reef. It was a close call when we damaged the threads on the pump shaft (maybe bashing it with a hammer was not the best way of removing the old bearings) but sweet relief when we found a spare shaft buried deep in a drawer. We would be able to leave Kuna Yala after all.