San Blas Islands 7 March 2024.
It was another lovely morning when I woke and the water looked very blue and San Blas like. Others woke and David made porridge for us all. It was very hot but we had good shade over the cockpit which is very helpful as the sun is very powerful. After breakfast I made some more bread but this time only using white flour as the combination bread was quite tough bit still edible. It came out well and I think I seem to have got the hang of making it.
I decided that I needed to try and clean the hull a bit as some green slime had started to form. This meant snorkelling with a brush and I did my best to rub the green off. It came off well but I could only get down a few feet. David did one side and I did the other. There will need to be some more cleaning before the Galapagos. The removal of the green attracted lots of small fishes who were obviously enjoying the green particles created. Once we had done as much as we could we rested and chilled and had a light lunch. My shower pump was working which was good and I had a look again at the rudder stock inside and there was still a tiny weep but a lot better than before I just tried to tighten it again and it moved a small a small bit and hopefully that will be enough to stop the weep.
We had a light early lunch and then decided to go and explore the reef which we could see some 100 metres in front of us and it seemed to extend for some way along the edge of the Island. Carolyn decided to stay and read. Joyce, David and I decided to head off in the dinghy and explored and we decided to anchor in a sandy spot at the start of what looked like the reef. I know I said I would not talk about snorkelling again but I must due to what we then saw. This was a long-extended reef and longer than any we have snorkelled on and the array of fish was the best and most extensive we have seen of any of our previous snorkels. I even saw a Lionfish all red and pink with its wings displayed. They can give a nasty sting so I kept out the way. It was an amazing sight and I took quite a lot of GoPro footage which I wish I could show you. We all agreed it was the best so far.
We returned to Stormbird who had a cleaner bottom now but the deck was quite sandy especially towards the back after a number of embarkations and disembarkations from the dinghy. We decided to have a clean-up and got the fire hose out. This lives in the anchor locker and there is a fitting by the mast to which we fit the hose. There is a special fire pump which means we have a high-pressure hose and you can decide whether you have fresh water or salt water. We have it at present on salt water so we do not use up our fresh water. It did not take too long and we washed down the decks getting rid of a lot of sand and weed etc. We also washed the cockpit which gets so much stuff under the grating.
We then had a rewarding drink on the rear deck and watched the sun gradually dip down to the horizon and then beyond. You may recall I talked about fish dancing last night but they were small shoals of tiny fish dancing across the water. Today we had a far more spectacular display as we were seeing lots of larger fish jumping 2-4 feet out of the water in quite a large part of the bay near us. It was quite spectacular and I have not seen this elsewhere with so many large fish jumping. It was as if it was a fish diving competition!! We were very lucky to see this and I think this bay has a lot of fish in it as was evident on the reef.
Once the sun went down I cooked fish in breadcrumbs with ratatouille and butternut squash mash mixed with yam. The plates were emptied so it went down well. We turned on our underwater blue lights on the stern which attach the fish and Joyce and Carolyn enjoyed this. It had been another great day but tomorrow we will move on as our time in San Blas is now limited and there is more to see before we head back to Colon.
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 Tuomoto’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