Aruba to San Blas Islands to the Panama Canal

We ended up skipping our stop in Cartegena due to weather and to avoid an early morning arrival into the harbor. Instead we fueled up in Aruba and had a 4 day sail to the San Blas Islands.

We needed to kill some time to allow for safe passage, so we dove on the wreck of the freighter Antilla on the northwest tip of Aruba. My mate Simon Lucas attaches his underwater camera (GoPro) to Jungles boat pole and swims through the wreck. My good friend Demetris would be jealous.

Time to adjust the camera.

Back to the surface.

Now we (Simon) do some fishing. Less than and hour later he had something big on the hook. We were sailing along at 7-8 knots, sails out to each side - wing on wing. Simon asked if I could slow Jungle down. I said sorry mate, the engine is off and I can't turn the boat to drop sails unless you give up that fish. No, no, nooooo, says Simon.

40 minutes later he boats this 90 lb Yellowfin tuna. Biggest catch in my time on Jungle. Simon is stupid happy! Look at that grin.

This is not all the fish. We got something close to 45 fillets out of the fish, now in the freezer. My Jenée will be happy.

Simon may be quite the fisherman, but can he match Barbeque Man!

Me thinks not.

Here is some interesting sea action. You can see the color change in the water. This is the fresh water flow from the Amazon river via the Rio Magdalena in Columbia. The green is fresh, albeit murky and the blue is sea water. We timed it perfectly to hit this in the daylight to keep on watch for floating trees. Cap'n Jimbo rules! I command all the sea!

OK, all better. The next night we catch dolphins playing of the bow. A pretty common sight.

This time, Simon uses the GoPro camera mounted on the boat pole and shoots under water. Cool photo.

Check out Jungle's new main sail.

We make it to the San Blas Islands in time for a toast. Folks, the San Blas is one of the unique places in the world. It's off Panama and you can really only get there by private boat. Look it up on line for the history. I keep thanking our San Diego friends, Les and Charmagne Howe for tuning us into this place.

Cause I'm busy toasting.

Oh yeah, get on with your bad self fisher-MAN!

A beautiful sun sets over the anchorage at Holandes Cay.

Lo and behold, the boat anchored next to us is Kokopelli. These are our friends Liz and Alan that we met 3 years ago on the island of Providencia. It's great running into boating friends down the road - it happens a lot. Liz invited us over for pizza.

Here is Liz on Kokopelli. She is also a dead ringer for my sister Susan.

The next morning is show time as we show our form off Jungle. Here's me.

And here's Simon. Oh, he's a good diver too. Good for him.

We are off for a little reef diving outside the Hollandes Cays.

A couple of days later, we anchor off the island off Myriadup.

Doesn't take Simon long to get wet.

I had to do some engine work, so Simon went diving with Liz and Alan and other boaters on the reef outside the island. Here, he's mounted his camera to Jungles speargun. Cool idea. Looks like the old video game - Doom. That is a red snapper in his sights.

Bingo. red snapper for dinner. Enough with the fish already Simon. Never enough he says. So does Jenée.

The next day Simon takes the dinghy on to the tip of Myriadup to get some photos.

Pretty nice camera and nice shots.

This place is unbelievable.

With the exception of the abandoned dug out canoe, this island is uninhibited. One of 300 like it. There are about 50 islands with local Kuna Indians living in native huts.

Here is a shot through the trees out to Jungle. I happen to be on the ow looking for our boy at the same time.

Another beautiful post card photo.

Hey, Ho. It doesn't get any better than this baby.

Simon spears a Lion Fish - head shot. While these are beautiful looking fish, the are a purge in the Caribbean. They are an Indo-Pacific species that has no predators here and kills off a lot of the local reef fish. Divers are asked to kill them on the spot. One down, too many to go.

Come on now Simon - a shark? Really?! No, not really, he just took the photo.

We sailed overnight from the San Blas Islands to the Shelter Bay Marina in Cristobal and the entrance to the Panama Canal.

Our boat neighbors on Jedi (Star Wars fans) invited us to go on a jungle walk with them. And I mean a real jungle. Jungle meets the jungle. Oh, I kill me again!

Josie from the Nederlands takes Simon and I along. Great tour guide.

This is a US built battery from the first word war (WWI). Circa 1915-1917.

It has big spiders. This baby is as big as my hand.

That green area held the cannons which were changed to the loops in the walls.

The cannons were sighted up and over the trees and angled based on coordinates given by coastal spotters. The Battery is completely hidden from the sea.

My older brother Tom spent many years in Panama with the Army. I wonder if he knows of this place.

A look inside the battery.

And at the officers quarters. The place is for sale by the Panamanian government to possibly be converted into a resort.

Part of the jungle has been cleared away and maintained to look like a golf course.

But there is still plenty of jungle around. Imagine clearing all this out to build the Panama Canal.

Speaking of the canal, here is lock number 5. Doors closed, water filling up un the other side. This is the last lock out to the Caribbean. Jungle came through here 3 years ago.

And here is the water from Gatun Lake is drained out every time a ship comes through. More from Panama later. Adios.

Just a thought as I'm having all this fun. Anyone else miss photos like this?

And this?

I sure do. I love you and miss you dear. It's just not the same without you here. I'm coming home.