On our way back to Panamarina

We left the Holandes Cays in search for internet connection since we were not able to communicate with our relatives since days. We sailed towards Cayo Bandero, another beautiful group of islands south east of the Holandes. Not finding signal, we continued going southeast toward Green Island, where we found a little paradise in front of the islet of Waisaladup. We found out later that Waisaladup is a day stop for tourists coming from the mainland by speed boat.

Waisaladup

Waisaladup

Utu (canoe) at Waisaladup

Utu (canoe) at Waisaladup

 

We were not alone, other boats were at the anchor taking advantage of the place. Among them we met a couple, a Canadian guy and an Italian woman, David and Daniela. We went together to make provisioning in Nargana (a populated island close by) by dinghy. They told us a little bit of their life story; they met in Tortola, BVIs, where she was working in a restaurant and he was chartering boats. After the passage of hurricane Irma that devastated the area, they decided to leave Tortola and to come to the San Blas in search for fortune.

Sailboats in Green Island

We decided to go back to the Holandes for a couple of days, visiting BBQ island before starting our trip back to Panamarina.

Leaving the Holandes Cays

Leaving the Holandes Cays

On December 10th we stopped in Nuinudup for the night and the day after, despite the nasty weather, we sailed 45 miles toward east and got by 5.00 pm to Isla Grande. We were afraid to enter Panamarina due to the fringing waves, so the day after we waited until 2pm, than we decided to cross the couple of miles that separated us from the marina entrance to find out it was not that bad!

From-Isla-Grande-to-Panamarina.jpg

From Isla Grande to Panamarina

As soon as we got to the mooring we met Mirko, our friend and mechanic from Rome who has his boat, Nikke, moored in the same marina. He spends the Christmas vacations sailing in the area. Actually he was the one who first mentioned this archipelago as a “place that you cannot miss”.

We spent a couple of days in Panamarina before heading to the airport in Panama on the 14th. Our flight back to Italy had a connection in Miami where we spent the day doing shopping (marine stuff, of course!) having a noticeable lunch (since a few months…) in a great place close to Fort Lauderdale. The terrible traffic prevent us to get to Miami Beach, but we got close by…

Miami.jpg

Miami

We will be back on January 15th, after a month spent celebrating Christmas and New Year’s Eve with parents and friends, jeopardizing completely our simple diet!

Holandes Cays
Back to Panama

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