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December 17, 2017
Day 36 [Mon 12/18/17] - Portobelo, Colon, Panama to Chichime Island, San Blas Islands
Day 36 [Mon 12/18/17] - Portobelo, Colon, Panama to Chichime Island, San Blas Islands.
Just so we're clear....tomorrow (Mon 12/18/17), if all goes as planned, I will load my motorcycle onto the "San Blas Cat" catamaran, and sail through the San Blas Islands to Colombia. If this works out, then I will not be on my motorcycle for 4 days, but will instead, be sailing on a catamaran through the San Blas Islands, on my way to Colombia. These islands are sovereign, meaning that they're not part of Panama or Colombia. They're independent.
I'm not clear if I will have cell coverage during this time or not. But there's zero chance that I've crashed my motorcycle and died, because I won't be on it. I should leave the dock in Portobelo, Panama tomorrow (Monday) morning at 10:00 a.m., if all goes as planned. [I am currently in Portobelo, so this is like a 1 minute ride for me, going only about 1/4 of a mile from the hostel to the dock.]
If I have cell coverage, then I will post updates as we sail for 4 days to Colombia. If I don't have cell coverage, then I won't post for 4 days or so, but I should re-enter civilization on Thursday, if my understanding of the voyage is correct.
Buen Viaje!
Update 1: Here is where they describe the route we take:
DEPARTURE PANAMA: every MONDAY PORTOBELO Public Dock- on side of the fortress ruins at village entrence 10.00 am arrives at PTO. OBALDIA/ SAPZURRO on the 4th day then from there: 1 hour boatride for $10.- to CAPURGANA (Immigration Colombia) 2 hours ferryride $30.- to Colombia (public bus available from there)
Update 2:
Monday December 18, 2017
We go down to the dock to prepare to set sail from Portobelo, Panama on the San Blas Cat.
There are three other motorcycles that will also load onto the boat. 2 of them are from Vancouver, British Colombia and are riding on KTM 1190's. The other guy they met along the way and is on a smaller bike, also a KTM. (KTM = Keep Throwing Money or Keep Tightening Me).
In the town of Portobelo, someone points out that one of the trucks has a swastika on the license plate. Apparently, this is the flag of the natives that live along the coast, and also in the San Blas Islands. So, these sovereign people live, not just on the islands, but also on a stretch of land that follows the coast of Panama on the Carribbean side.
I roll my bike down the pier first, wanting to be the first one to load up, for some reason. I was thinking that I'd be the first one on the boat, and get to choose my sleeping quarters and have pick of the litter.
But instead, they loaded the people on first, so I had to hurry to get in line to board the boat, but then the captain (Fritz) went around and assigned the sleeping quarters, more or less, based on height. We need a tall guy over here, and a short guy over here.
So I was assigned a bunk that basically is in the front, starboard side of the boat. Inside of the pontoon, if you will. So I set down my gear, and now we go back out to deal with the motorcycles.
When they loaded the bikes, I was sure that they would use a crane, and that the bikes would be stowed safely below deck. Instead, they just used a wooden plank to roll the bikes aboard the catamaran, and then tied them off to the railings. Now, I begin to understand why someone told me to buy a tarp, and some tape, and to spray the bike down with WD-40, and then wrap the bike in the tarp and tape it all up. Becuase it's going to be exposed to a lot of salt water in the next 4 days. Got it.
They have a large table that everyone can pretty much sit around on the top, back side of the boat. And everyone sort of congregated around this. But some went up to the front, and laid down on the tarpaulins up at the front, suspended over the water. This seemed like a good idea, as we left port, but then, the seas got rougher, and the water would splash up through this tarp from this and drench anyone laying on them.
The seas were rough, and the winds were from the East. So, instead of tacking, we just motored east all day using the engines. Because the seas were so rough, many people were seasick, and puking over the sides of the boat.
I never get seasick, but going down below, where I had no horizon or orientation, made me feel very ill, and several times, I thought that I would be sick, but never did get sick.
So, basically we stayed above deck for hours as we sailed.
Once it got dark, then we sort of lost our horizon, which we'd been focused on all day to keep from getting ill. In the night, we had to focus on the stars.
We left Portobelo at about 12:30 p.m., and we got to Chichime Island (the point where we anchored) and spent the night at about 12:40 a.m. So we sailed for roughly 12 hours.
Posted by Rob Kiser on December 17, 2017 at 7:01 PM
Comments
¡Que tengas buen viaje!
Posted by: MGB on December 18, 2017 at 6:41 AM
Muchas gracias, amigo.
Posted by: Rob Kiser 
on December 22, 2017 at 12:12 PM