Passage notes: Tour of Islas Secas, Panama

Log book

• Port of departure: Isla Cavada, Islas Secas, Panama
• Departure date and time: Sunday, February 2, 2014 at 11:00am
• Port of arrival: No Name Island, Islas Secas, Panama
• Arrival date and time: Wednesday, February 5, 2014 at 5:00pm
• Total travel time: 9 hours (7 hours in motion)
• Miles traveled: 15.5nm
• Engine hours: 1216.6 begin – 1216.6 end – 0.0 hours
• Fuel consumption: 32.7 begin – 32.7 end – 0.0 gallons used
• Fuel economy: ∞ mpg
• Tides and currents: Low tide at around 2pm – high tide at around 8pm. Next day, low tide at 3pm – high tide at 9pm. *
• Weather: The week long forecast showed light but regular thermals, with winds from the E/SE in the early morning, W/SW during the late morning and afternoon, shifting to winds from the N/NE after sunset.

Lots and lots of lessons to be learned. Cruising without a motor is a remarkably different experience that requires a totally new mindset. Do you want to squeeze into that cute, tiny little bay? You probably shouldn’t. Are you two miles away from your destination going a whopping 1 knot and getting anxious to just be there already? Tough luck. Do you want to do everything that your buddy boat with a motor is doing? Shrug it off. Is the wind dying before you can get through that harrowing channel or scope out a great spot to drop your anchor? It will make you all the more grateful when that hook hits bottom and all the more cautious next time you try something similar. Cruising without a motor necessitates that you to be better than you are – more alert, more cautious, more patient.

For the record, we don’t plan to cruise without a motor indefinitely, but we’re also not going to immediately change course. We can still cruise and enjoy Western Panama without a motor, though the prop job has floated to the top of our boat list and will remain the most pressing project. I don’t think either one of us would be ready to do a really long passage (in the thousands of miles) without a functional motor for at least back up. While we know that it is in the realm of the possible and that many people have done it before, I’m not sure that we’re entirely comfortable with being just a sailboat (yet) and we don’t really have aspirations to follow in the footsteps of such legends as the Pardey’s.

We sailed off the hook in a S/SE breeze late in the morning, intent upon checking out the large Southwest island in Islas Secas. We heard rumor that there was great snorkeling to be had along the rocky shores and we’re all about the snorkeling these days.

SV Vagabundo fell in line behind us as we tacked between the small group of islands, skating around rocky headlands and reefs. The water was deep on the south side of the SW island, too deep to anchor. Amongst the steep cliffs we spotted a tight little bay that could offer full protection from the N/NE winds, but limited protection from the S/SW swell. A small fishing boat tucked into the bay waved at us with a red t-shirt, I waved back with a red towel. Were they warning us? In need of help?

Vagabundo, with the aid of its motor, agreed to go scope out the bay, let us know the depth and point out any potential hazards. After a positive report, we followed them in under sail, dropped our anchor and found ourselves a little too close for comfort to Vagabundo and the rocks the flanked us. In order to keep from playing bumper boats we both set out to sink in some stern anchors. A quick snorkeling recon trip revealed that the bay was FULL of coral. Fortunately our heavy Bruce anchor had found a patch of sand, but it was difficult to find more sand for our stern anchors.

It turns out the fisherman were not in any trouble, nor were they warning us of any dangers, they were just being friendly and saying hello (“solo saluditos”) the only way you can from a three quarters of a mile away. They generously gave us a pargo rojo (red snapper) for dinner, and we scrounged around in our cupboards for some cookies, bread and milk that we offered in exchange.

Following lunch and a quick snorkeling tour we collectively decided that this anchorage was a little too dicey to comfortably stay the night (especially sans motor). We rigged a bridle to our boat and Vagabundo towed us out of the narrow entrance, since there wasn’t sufficient wind to sail out. One of the many benefits of buddy boating.

After shaking us free, Vagabundo zipped around the island, just a couple miles to the north, and let us know, before an hour was up, that they had successfully buried the hook. That same hour found us zigzagging in light winds against a current, making backwards progress. We hailed Vagabundo on the radio – “don’t wait up for us, we’re going to be out late tonight.” It took us over three hours to go the three miles around the SW corner of the island. We spent much of that time lauding ourselves for the patience we have acquired over the last year of sailing – it’s a necessity these days.

There’s more to this story, but I’m going to call it here. Every day, lessons learned. Except I will go on to say that when we arrived, Colin and Jesse on Vagabundo had already filleted and cooked the snapper, serving it up with a delicious cabbage and citrus salad. Dinner on the table when you pull into port? Another clear benefit of buddy boating.