Las Perlas Islands -27 March 2024.

When we woke, we were facing the opposite direction and this is a further reminder of the tides in the Pacific which are in the region of 4-5 metres and so every 6 hours the tide changes and we therefore we change direction at anchor with the tide.

We had a reasonable breakfast and decided to go ashore and explore. We had thought about swimming, but we had a seen a number of jelly fish. We saw a small plane almost come into the sea as it turned round on the runway which we could barely see through the trees. We got the dinghy down from the davits and before long we were headed for the beach to land and to explore the Isla Contadora.

There was a little bit of a swell, but we landed on the beach and pulled the dinghy well up the beach. The beach was quite attractive and it had a number of private and attractive villas on the shore with lovely flowers including bougainvillea around them. We had been advised by the yacht near us as to where to go ashore and where to access the interior of the Island. This was beside a Hotel called Mare Oro (Golden Sea). We asked for the directions for the mini market which was on the other side of the Island.

The Island is relatively small and my guess is about a mile long and 750 metres deep. As I have said before it is the most developed of all the Islands and is a weekend holiday destination for the Panamanian rich. As we walked across the Island this bore out. It was quite arid along the road and we saw the largest bamboo plants I have ever seen. There was a lot of building work going on and what seemed to be a lot of luxury villas being built which seemed to be very large and had lovely sea views.

It is quite clear that there are few cars on the Island and most use golf carts to get around. We walked on through the building works and sea views and came to the other side of the Island which had a super-market and we bought a whole load of eggs as our original eggs had gone off. This shop was right by the end of the runway and we saw a small plane come very low with feet from the trees either side. We then looked up in the sky and saw a whole load of shy divers who had opened their parachutes and were gliding down to the beach or what we assumed was an open area.

We had a drink at the local bar and saw a few more planes land. We then walked back via a different road back to the other side of the Island and back to the Hotel Mare Oro. We looked at the menu and thought it would be good to have lunch here. We then went back to Stormbird, grabbed our swimming gear and headed back to the beach where we pulled up the dinghy again and then  we all went for a swim.

The water was very refreshing and I had my mask and snorkel and  there were some amazing fish under the water and near the beach. There were some quite large bule and orange fish and dark brown and brown and white. There were also some silver and yellow fish. After our swim we changed and went for lunch at the Mare Oro. We had a nice table with a nice breeze coming over us. We all had fish of some sort which was great and we enjoyed the moment.

After lunch we returned to Stormbird and decided to move on to a new anchorage (only about 2.5-3 nm away) as we had now seen the Island and the wind and waves had got up. We had also seen a number of tree trunks or part of the drift past. We upped the anchor and motored off toward the next set of Islands. We had to watch out for wood debris and saw a number of tree trunks or logs on the way.

We were going to an anchorage between Isla Chapera and Mogo Mogo and we came round Chapera and saw a number of boats anchored. We found a spot and anchored. The wind was quite strong and we watched a lot of birdlife from the deck. There were a lot of Pelicans diving in to eat fish and we also saw Oyster Catchers. There were quite a lot of fish in the water but there was also quite a current from the tide which made swimming difficult.

We enjoyed a drink on the rear deck and then Charles cooked a kedgeree supper which was great.

It had been a great day, but it was good to have moved on. The Islands we were now between were pretty and one of them was the Island they used for the Survivor Series on TV.

Opportunity for any Readers/Sailors.

In late May 2024 we shall be in the Marquesas in French Polynesia, and we will then move through to the Tuamotu’s before getting to Tahiti about the end of July 2024. There may be some space on Stormbird during this period should any sailor/reader be interested in joining for this period or part of it in what must be one of the most distant and beautiful places in the world. If there is any interest do email me at  hine.nick9@gmail.com  

The blog will continue as we head off to Panama and beyond.

If you have any comments or suggestions about the blog do email me on hine.nick9@gmail.com  I can only upload one picture a day and visit our website www.stormbirdgoesglobal.co.uk