San Blas Islands 8 March 2024.

It was a little cloudy when I woke but all was quiet and I had a cup of tea before anyone stirred. We had a bacon sandwich for breakfast (except David who had toast) and a good cup of coffee. We decided to move on and it had been a good anchorage. As we took up the anchor I saw fish jumping. This really was a jumping/dancing fish bay.

We headed off west and to what is called Dog Island which is to the west end of Lemon Cays. We had passed it on the east side when we came down before. It is a small Island and popular with tourists who are brought here because there is a wreck of a cargo ship which ran aground on the reef in the 1950’s. Apparently it developed a leak which was not resolvable and so the Captain ran it aground to save the cargo which was rum – yes wondered what happened to it!! I am some 70 plus years too late!!. The wreck lies in about 3-6 metres of water and it is on the west side of Dog Island and in the middle between it and Palm Island.

I had to be careful of the reefs and the shallow patches on the way  when going in with Stormbird but we came in toward the wreck and anchored in about 9 meters of water about 200 yards away. You could see tourist boats bringing people to the Island and there were quite a lot of huts on these Islands and it was more commercial than we were used to. Once anchored we got into the dinghy and headed off to the wreck site which we could see as some of it was sticking out of the water and there was a buoy marking part of it. I said a few days ago that I would not talk about snorkelling again and I was talking to my son Alex and how it may have been boring for readers. He suggested I made things up about sharks etc!! I thought I cannot do this.

What I am about to relate is absolutely true. We anchored the dinghy some 30-40 meters from the wreck so as to be away from the tourist boats which seemed to come in and out in between. I was the first off and headed towards the wreck with my GoPro and the water was very clear and there was quite a lot of coral, sponges and coral trees below us with quite a few fish feeding and swimming around. I approached the wreck and could see the shadow of the wreck from left to right and the bow was clearly cut off. As I approached I stopped in my tracks and saw a large shark (I estimate 2 meters) with a long tail and dorsal fin swimming from my left along the wreck. I had my GoProp on and stopped swimming. It looked menacing but luckily I do not think it saw me. I watched it swim along and it went to the front of the wreck and disappeared around the front. This put me off initially and I started to swim back to the dinghy where I met the others and told them what I had seen. I thought about it and thought it was probably a reef shark and so unlikely to be dangerous. We therefore decided to venture forward again and I am glad we did as the wreck was very interesting and a haven for all sorts of fish. It was a rusting hulk and I guess about 50 meters in length and the lines were clearly visible although you could not really make anything out on deck. The wreck was afresh with fish of different sizes and colours coming out of various holes and apertures. I crept round the front expecting to meet Jaws again but he did not appear again when we were there which was a relief. Why such a shark was there in such shallow water with quite a few people around I do not know. We snorkelled on the wreck for some time and it was quite different from snorkelling on a reef. We returned to Stormbird thinking that was well worth doing and had a light lunch. I had made some bread that morning so we had a warm new loaf for lunch with smoked salmon pate (a tin which my daughter Rosanna had given me and which I had been saving – it was great) and humous etc.  

After lunch we headed off where I planned to spend the night and I had no idea what to expect as it was the Punta San Blas -the mainland which few people visit and the book did not give it any write up. The wind was light 7-9 kts and so we decided to sail and before long we were slowly sailing along about 5-6 kts with main and genoa and it was very peaceful and nice to be sailing again rather than using the engine. We sailed past a number of Islands including Porvenir where we checked in to the San Blas. Eventually we came to the point where we had to turn in between the mainland and a couple of Islands and worked our way through a number of reefs into a bay. On our right were two Gunna villages with bamboo huts with reeds/bamboo leaf roofs and to the Northeast was Porvenir. It was sheltered but had a concrete structure which David thought was part of an old bridge. Why they would build one here I do not know.      

We crept forward and lowered our anchor and it took some time to bite but eventually we were settled. We were in the middle of a Gunna causeway as a succession of dugout canoes headed from the villages to the mainland where we assumed their crops were and we could see various huts on the shore. The pilot book suggested there was fresh water there and this seemed to be confirmed by a number of dugout canoes carrying water containers. A number of canoes had sort of gaff rigged sails and David thought this was a scene from centuries ago as they must have been using this type of transport for centuries. The dugouts were all friendly and waved or said “Olla”. One dugout came up and had a load of fish on board. They looked like King Mackerel and we bought 2 for supper for US$5. Carolyn asked him for onions and tomatoes and coconuts and he paddled off back to the village and when he came back although he had coconuts he did not have onions or tomatoes. He indicated we would have to go to the village for this. He cut two coconuts which Joyce and David had and they were US$1 each – much cheaper than offered in other Islands.  

David and I had a swim and we checked the anchor and we then had a drink on deck watching the array of Gunna craft going about their business. We were the only boat here and I suspect we were a rare visitor and it was a different contrast from our usual palm/sandy islands which we have had for some weeks now.

Joyce and Carolyn cooked the fish which was delicious with mash potato and peas and it was all good. I am writing this in the dark again whilst others are on their phones/ipads and/or reading. It had been a different day and just as enjoyable. We look forward to visiting the Gunna village tomorrow.            

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