San Jose, las perlas

San Jose delivered as per rumour and had a great array of wildlife and a stunningly placed hotel where we landed the tender for lunch. I'll let the pictures explain

More pearl islands

We have been through most of the las perlas now. Yesterday took us sailing past Isla Chapera where the tv series Survivor was filmed, then beyond through some tiny cuts past Isla del rey where we anchored for the night. A trigger fish was caught by tosh on a hand line in the space of about 5 minutes. There are a lot of fish here and pelicans to catch them too! The next morning we left, through out the fishing line and 20 minutes later there was a spotted barracuda biting the end, which was eaten later this evening. We are now anchored by the small village on Isla pedro Gonzales. It is a very basic place with a lot of dogs and chickens roaming the narrow poured concrete streets between very plain and uniform buildings. We will be off again in the morning to anchor off San Jose where there is a rumour of a hotel and restaurant.

Las perlas

Yesterday we arrived at las perlas, a group of islands off the pacific coast of panama. We anchored behind Isla contadora and jumped in for a swim before realising there is a lot of current here and it is very hard to get back to the boat so instead tosh and myself did the big boy thing and went for a wakeboard through the anchorage only to come back covered in tiny jellyfish stings. Even though not the biggest island in the group, Isla contadora is the most populated and is covered in large, grand houses, restaurants and shops. We will be making tracks later this morning to discover some more islands

It's been a little while

Since my last post I've been fairly busy and also out of range of phones and Internet for some time. A lot has happened, we've finished cruising in the Caribbean which was a fantastic and fun place to be. I've refreshed my scuba skills for what is to come ahead of us. We spent some time in Bonaire and curaçao. Both of which have some of the worlds best diving and snorkelling. From there it was the San blas islands which are truly fantastic, unspoilt and dotted around, most with no inhabitants at all. This is where I spotted my first shark of the trip at about 8 foot and I think a nurse shark. The San blas was great whilst it lasted but we had to head to shelter bay marina in panama for a couple of reasons. First to be measured for the canal transit and second so I could take the journey by taxi to Panama City to collect my girlfriend Alice from the airport after over 3 months of being apart. It was fantastical to have Alice on board and for her to meet Chris and Denise who own proteus and for Alice to see what I get up to. This included tosh and myself having to conduct a head gasket change which it turns out is no small task on a big six cylinder marinized engine in a relatively small space. this went on all through the night but we got the job done and all seems well now. Then there was the canal transit which was a great experience and huge mix of scenery. I have now witnessed my first crocodile of the trip in the canal. Onwards from the canal locks and we are in la playita, Panama City. It is a mad, crazy, historic and modern mix of culture and architecture. I thoroughly recommend it for any open minded traveller. Through all of this my main BIG news is my engagement to Alice that happened on valentines day. She said yes and is now back in England feeling a lot happier about our situation apart. Next stop is the Isla perlas about 30 miles away en route to the Galapagos. Internet may be a bit shady from here in but I'll atempt to stay blogging, thanks

Christmas and new year

Not much to report lately. Since completing the Atlantic rally and heading to nelsons dockyard, Antigua we have been mainly working on fixing, maintaining and making the boat silky smooth. Chris and Denise who own proteus have now joined us and we are all sat at anchor off the island of Montserrat. We can't venture too far as we need to return to Antigua to collect our chart plotter next Thursday which was removed for repair then make our way towards panama to get measured and checked out for the canal passage. It has been an interesting time having Christmas in the sun and a BBQ on the beach in English harbour but I miss my family and friends dearly. All of the festive period was concluded with a huge party in the dockyard with a dJ and fireworks

The locals

Whilst at sea it is common to encounter a bit of wildlife and bump into the locals but what we saw a few days back is something else that we first noticed as it swam 10 foot from our starboard beam. There were pictures taken but no chance to get any video footage. 2 days later and I had invented a crude way to use the GoPro underwater when the perfect opportunity arose to try it out. I'm fairly sure after talking to people and friends on the pontoons in st lucia that no one else has got anything as rare as this to show

In st lucia hungover

We are now in Rodney bay, st lucia after a very eventful and fast crossing. We arrived in less than 14 days after rocketing across the Atlantic.  We have encountered squalls, huge frontal depressions, no wind, big seas, choppy seas, a massive wave over the transom flooding the cockpit, broken sails, broken generator, broken electronics but now all back and working beautifully. We have caught tuna and dorado, seen lots of dolphins and some whales too, had a midway swim and an excellent trip that the boat has given us and looked after us fantastically. Until next time I'll let my video do the business