San Blas Islands 28 February 2024.
It was quite windy in the night and I got up to check that we were ok at some point. I met David who had been doing anchor watch for a whole. We were ok but all yachtsmen are nervous when the conditions are fruity. I decided to set an anchor alarm for 50m so that if we moved too far it would set off the alarm. This gives peace of mind and I went back to bed and in reality we had plenty of room as we were anchored well back from other yachts.
The night passed without incident and when we woke it was still quite breezy and cloudy and it remained like this for most of the day. We decided we would stay another day and there were jobs to be done. I cleaned the carpet in my cabin and the front cabin where someone had spilt toothpaste which was odd. Why they did not clean their teeth in the bathroom I do not know. I also wanted to clean the stern of the boat due to stains and grime around the engine exhaust and the generator exhaust. Joyce and Carolyn kindly agreed to do this and did a good job. I decided to clean under the doghouse which had become a bit grey probably from the cooking fumes coming up and it cleaned up well. We kept a load of tins and cleaning fluids etc in some plastic containers in eth lazarette but when comes in they fill up so David kindly agreed to drill some holes in these crates so it can drain next time. We s aw some dolphins come into the anchorage for a short period and then a dub out canoe with Guna Indians came up with lots of fresh tuna. We bought two nice fish which we thought we would cook for supper. Carolyn gutted them and made steaks on the rear deck so that they were prepared.
We had a homemade coleslaw and sweetcorn salad for lunch and enjoyed the break from all the jobs. I then prepared a loaf of bread which has two 45-minute proving’s before it is put in the oven for 45 minutes. It came out beautifully. Once done and whilst it cooled we headed off in the dinghy to the other side of the west Island but the snorkelling was not so good on that side so we came back to our side of the Island where we had snorkelled on the coral the day before. It was just as magical as it had been and probably more so. We all enjoyed it and I saw a ray buried in the sand which perhaps I inadvertently disturbed as it shook off the sand rather sleepily and swam off.
We returned to Stormbird having had a great swim and sorted ourselves out and had a cup of tea. I then prepared the red cabbage for supper following a recipe we have. I then got out the cobb (a sort of barbecue but which uses a stone -which you light to cook) and I prepared the aubergine which I cooked first on the cobb and then I cooked the tuna. It was an enjoyable supper even though I say it myself.
I had got out the solar rechargeable inflatable lanterns (which we had charged in the sun) and which give the cockpit an almost candle like light and we eat and chatted whilst the wind howled around our ears.
It had been another enjoyable day and even though the weather had not been perfect we had had another lovely day in paradise.
The blog will continue as we head off to Panama and beyond.
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