Category Archives: Panama Atlantic

Islands on the Atlantic side of Panama

The Gap, No Name Bar, a Drunken Monkey, and a Man Named Ernie in the Bocas

Red Frog Marina Anchorage at Bastimento was a nice “pit stop” but it was time to move on.  We have “the gap” to go through, a bar with “No Name” to find, a monkey to see, and a man named “Ernie to meet.  The Bocas are full of hidden treasures and all of these needed to be discovered.  Matt woke up early and captured this beautiful sunrise just before we left.

Sunrise on Sugar Shack

Sunrise on Sugar Shack

We met a fellow Texan named Bob who is a single-handler on “Sea Otter.”  He offered to guide us through “the gap” which is a narrow and sometimes very shallow passage from Bastimentos to Laguna Parras (or Dolphin Bay).  This area is not charted very well and you encounter many reefs and shallow spots, so must navigate carefully here.  This photo is courtesy of Eric Bauhaus’s book “The Panama Cruising Guide.”  The Bocas have a lot of mangroves and shallow waters so care has to be taken when moving the boat.

The Gap in the Bocas

The Gap in the Bocas

Sea Otter” has a similar draft to Sugar Shack (1 meter) and Bob had a track from a previous trip through “the gap” so it made perfect sense to follow him.  We both pulled up anchor and began our slow journey, about 3-4 knots under motor.  Twenty minutes into our journey we came across a catamaran from California named “Halcyon” whom we had met in Bocas Town.  Sandy and Brit on “Halcyon” knew Bob on “Sea Otter” as well and asked to join our caravan.  Sweet, a floating train.

As I took the helm, Matt was checking our 3 charts and monitoring the VHF as we chatted with our travel companions.  It was beautiful and peaceful squeezing between the mangroves along this path.  However, it was very uneasy and a little frightening at times, but exciting none the less.  All went well, and we arrived safely.  Total distance was 10.2 miles at an average speed of 4.2.

Image below: upper left shows “Sea Otter” in front of us.  Upper right shows “Halycon” behind us, and lower shows me in deep concentration.

Motoring through the Gap with a caravan.

Motoring through the Gap with a caravan.

Not long after we anchored, our friends on “Wandering Rose” joined us at our peaceful little mangrove inlet.  Although they came in at a different entrance, they were still able to find us.

Porras Lagoon, aka Dolphin Bay

Porras Lagoon, aka Dolphin Bay

Matt and I decided to go exploring in “Sweetie.”  We headed for the small village of Boca Torritos which is located on Isla Christobal.  This town is nestled at the water’s edge in between beautiful trees. Even though there is not much to the town the residents are really friendly!  Closer in we spied what appeared to be a bar, but it was closed.  A really nice woman named “Erica” came out and told us that the owners were fishing but she could serve us beer.

Erica is the owner’s sister-in-law and is building a beautiful house next door to the bar, aptly named “No Name Bar”.  She is from Romania, lived in Canada for 16 years, and is now married to a Panamanian.  Yep, she speaks multiple languages!   Over the course of a few beers she gave us the skinny of where to go on what days to get the most of our experience in this area.

Top image is “No Name Bar” and bottom two are the images of Bocas Torritos.

Bocas Torrito village.

Bocas Torrito village.

The next day was Monday Market Day at a place called “The Drunken Monkey.”  It is “the” place to be at 10:00 on Monday mornings in the Bocas.  We picked up Dave and Mary from “Wandering Rose” and drove “Sweetie” through the mangroves to Isla Cristobal.  Lindsey, the bartender greeted us with a Drunken Monkey sippie cup ($5) which gave you continual refills for $3 of any drink of your choice.

Before we got too far down the monkey path, we headed behind the bar to the market pavilion.  Here, 6 vendors were selling fresh fruits and veggies, fresh meats (seasoned pork chops, ham, salami, bacon), breads, jams, chocolate, and shirts.  We loaded up, stored our goods in the freezer and made our way back to the bar.

Monday Market Days at Drunken Monkey

Monday Market Days at Drunken Monkey

It was a wonderful mix of locals, cruisers, and expats.  The booze were flowing, the conversations were lively, and fun was had by all!

Image: Dave and Matt at top, Jessie (owner), me and Mary.

Drunken Monkey with Jessie in lower left corner.

Drunken Monkey with Jessie in lower left corner.

Good times at the Drunken Monkey

Good times at the Drunken Monkey

The next day was a bit “hard” but we actually managed to be productive and finished up our new gas can cover for “Sweetie.”

This is a lovely anchorage and so very peaceful.  But, we decided to leave “dolphin bay” and head to the next bay called Laguna Palos or the “dark lands”.  A side note, we never saw any dolphins in dolphin bay even though there is a pod of 30 living here, so sad.

Laguna Palos is a short distance away so we motored through the cut between the mainland and Isla Cristoball.  As you motor through the cut, you pass an island with a set of trees that are all the same height.  Which is so unusual to see.  Evidently a large banana company (not Dole) planted all of these trees so that they could use them to make banana crates.  Then the banana market crashed so they had no more use for the trees.

Banana Tree canopy island.

Banana Tree canopy island.

We dropped anchor in the middle of the bay which was surrounded by mangroves on 3 sides and a pretty large mountain on the 4th side.  It is incredibly serene and yet delightful.

Our friends had told us that “Ernie” serves the most amazing fried chicken on Wednesday’s at 1500 so we hopped in Sweetie to find “Los Amigos.”  Ernie used to be a chef at the Hyatt in America and really knows his stuff!  The chicken was incredibly juicy and tender and literally made your mouth water.  So glad we stopped by!

Ernie giving me some lovin.

Ernie giving me some lovin.

The howler monkeys sing to you almost as if they are inviting you to shore.  They seem to be all over the Bocas, but we have yet to actually see one.  You only know they are there because you can hear them.  The next day we decided to anchor off of Tranquillo Place, which is a small island owned by our new friends Judy and Rick.  They had invited us over for happy hour along with Jessie and CJ from the “Drunken Monkey.”  Always fun making new friends!  Judy showed us around her beautiful tropical paradise, introduced us to her two birds, and hosted an awesome happy hour!

Tranquillo Place located near Crawl Cay

Tranquillo Place located near Crawl Cay

Rick and Judy own 2 boats called Chasing Sunsets (a trawler and a monohull).  They have a friend who they rent dock space to for this boat “Navigator.”

Tranquillo Place owned by Rick and Judy

Tranquillo Place owned by Rick and Judy

The next day we went to Bocas Town to meet Wayne.  We also had to provision, get fuel, and say “chow” to “Wandering Rose.

New Places in the Bocas:

  • The Gap
  • Palos Lagoon
  • Porras Lagoon
  • Los Amigos “Ernie’s
  • Drunken Monkey
  • Tranquillo Place
Sugar Shack in Bocas del Toro

Bocas del Toro: The Bastimentos Island

The water in the Bocas are clear, but green.  Not the beautiful blue or turquoise we found in the San Blas Islands.  There also was an unpleasant odor where we were anchored near Bocas Town so we decided to find a new place to drop the hook.  Our friends on “Wandering Rose” headed over to Bastimentos earlier so that is where we decided to go as well.

We stowed all of our tools that were out for various projects, rolled up the rain shades (as it has been raining a lot) and prepped the boat for a short 4-mile motor.  Even though it is not very far to this new island, it is along a path riddled with reefs and mangroves.  We had all of our charts up (GPS, Navionics, and Bauhaus) and made our way safely to a new, more secluded anchorage.

Isla Bastimentos is one of the larger islands in the archipelago and home to the sleepy town of Old Bank, the Salt Creek indigenous community, and the Isla Bastimentos National Marine Park. It is also home to the Red Frog Beach Resort and Marina.  It is said that this island has some of the most stunning beaches of all the Bocas islands.  But they are all on the windward side facing the sea. Which makes for great surfing, but bad swimming.

Getting to the Red Frog Beach Resort and Marina was a short dinghy ride through a mangrove forest that makes you feel a bit like Indiana Jones discovering a hidden village.  We left late in the afternoon and had only planned on staying ashore for a few hours.  Upon arrival, there is a nice little dinghy dock and a resort worker asking for $5 per person to enter their establishment.  What, I have to pay money to spend money at your resort?  Well, ok, since we get wrist bands and can use them over the course of several days.

Red Frog Marina

Red Frog Marina

It is a rather large resort with several beaches, a marina, zip line, small market, and many places to eat.

Red Frog Marina and Resort.

Red Frog Marina and Resort.

Along the way they had these beautiful trees with roots that resembled mangrove roots.  Anyone know the type of tree this is?

Beautiful tree - do you know what it is?

Beautiful tree – do you know what it is?

It was a short 15-minute walk to The Point Beach Restaurant and look out point. The Point Restaurant was really nice and elevated to give you a sweeping view of the beach and ocean.  They served tasty island drinks and food, but it was a bit overpriced (beer was $2.50).

Photo on left was this pretty little palm tree growing out of the rocks.  Photo on right is The Point restaurant and photo below are the crashing waves on the beach.

The Point Beach at Red Frog

The Point Beach at Red Frog

Evidently, they are experiencing harsher weather conditions than normal as the waves were huge.

We worked on a few more projects as the rain stole our days ashore away. Our rain shades were working great but there are two small corners that are exposed.  These two open bimini corners allow the rain to come in and it makes our cockpit all wet.  It was challenging to create a pattern, but Matt was relentless.  We tried and tried and nothing seemed to work so we will have to keep at this project.

The dinghy fuel tank cover was another project Matt made early in his sewing career.  It was fine, but we wanted to add pockets and fix a few things, so we remade it in red.

Fuel Tank Creating a Pattern

Fuel Tank Creating a Pattern

We made two large pockets in the front and back that will fit two sippy cups each.  The flap on the top is where we put gasoline into the tank and the side has slight openings for the straps that lock the tank to the dinghy (see white cable at bottom of image).  Yep, we have to lock the fuel tank to the dinghy to prevent it from walking away.  Completed and on the fuel tank.

Dinghy Fuel Tank Cover

Dinghy Fuel Tank Cover

The wind instruments have been a major pain in our A$$!  We replaced the wind indicator at the top of the mast, but they still are not working properly.  Sometimes they show the wind direction, but no speed, while others they show the speed and no direction.

Matt first went up our 70′ mast to see if the wind instrument was working.  Which did not seem to be the case.  He is working on the windex which is in front of the mast just below the two wind indicators which are a top the mast.

Matt up the top of our 70' mast.

Matt up the top of our 70′ mast.

Before we spend $500 for one instrument (we will need 2), Matt wanted to see if switching them would work.  Nope!  Looks like we will order one replacement to see if it works and if it does, we will order another and replace the port side instrument.

Wind instrument repair?

Wind instrument repair?

PROJECTS WORKED IN BASTIMENTOS:

  • Sewed new dinghy fuel tank cover
  • Worked on wind instruments
    • This is a work in progress, need new instruments which Wayne is bringing
Sugar Shack in Bocas del Toro

Sugar Shack in Bocas del Toro

Archpielago Bocas del Toro

Bocas del Toro: Bocas Town

Matt and I spent 13 days exploring Bocas del Toro before Wayne arrived.  Several people told us that these islands were very touristy and nothing like the San Blas island chain (which we loved).  We typically prefer the isolated, quiet islands, but we thought we’d give them a try.  Our first stop, Bocas Town.

The islands that make up the Archipielago de Bocas del Toro are listed below.  We entered the island chain between Isla Colon and Bastimento, then motored around the bottom of Isla Colon to arrive in Bocas Town, the capital of the Bocas del Toro province.

Archpielago Bocas del Toro

Archpielago Bocas del Toro

Bocas Town has a friendly population of about 8k residents.  The town is divided into 8 avenidas, running east and west starting with Avenida A, then Avenida B, etc… Then the streets running north to south are numbered, Calle 1, Call 2, etc….  It is a very laid back atmosphere, with a lot of tourists and even more backpackers.

Bocas Town map

Bocas Town map

There is one main road were most of the shops and eateries can be found and they are crawling with people milling about.

Typical road in Bocas Town.

Typical road in Bocas Town.

The coasts are peppered with bars and restaurants which makes it fun to explore.  Who has the best wifi and happy hour?  So, far El Pirata has smokin hot wifi, great view, and friendly staff.  Buena Vista also had good internet, food, and friendly staff.

Places to eat and drink line the water's edge.

Places to eat and drink line the water’s edge.

Of course Matt sniffed out a local pub that offered beer on tap – the Bocas Brewery.

Bocas Brewery offering beer on tap.

Bocas Brewery offering beer on tap.

We found the local fire station and they had restored a beautiful American France fire truck that was acquired in 1926.  This truck was made between 1914-1916.  This is a car water bomb, not a tanker, its bronze pump is special to work with sea water. The last time it worked was in 1981.

1900 Fire truck.

1900 Fire truck.

A fun little photo op at La Buga – Matt does have his head inside the dive mask but it is hard to see it – you can only see this arm and hat sticking out the side of the statue.

Surfer and diver at La Buga.

Surfer and diver at La Buga.

Matt took a moment out to rest at Hotel Olas as he had a taxing day walking from bar to bar.

Matt's happy spot at Hotel Olas.

Matt’s happy spot at Hotel Olas.

Another cool map of the Archipielago Bocas del Toro:

Map of Bocas del Toro.

Map of Bocas del Toro.

We took some of the down time (while it rained) to work on more projects.  A few months ago, I replaced the helm seat back covers with a tan sunbrella that did not match the rest of the cockpit sunbrella.  Long story short we ordered 15 yards of the wrong “tan” back in St. Maarten.  We used the majority of this fabric for new rain shades to cover our phifertex sun shades.  Anyway, I had wanted to change them out to blue to match the rest of the boat. Yes, a total frilly, girly thing, I know!

We also needed to do some paperwork with the government of Panama.  You are supposed to get a “zarpe” each time you leave a port in Panama.  Our Zarpe had us going to Linton Bay/Portobello so technically we should have gotten a new Zarpe to San Blas, then another one to Bocas del Toro.  We sort of missed those steps.  So, we went into Port Authority to get a new Zarpe to Panama City so our agent can clear us out of the country once we transit the canal.

The port authority agent was off over the weekend, then they took Monday-Wednesday off for Carnival so we had to wait 5 days before making the visit.  The first man was a little put out that we did not follow the rules and told us we had to go back to Portobello to get a new Zarpe (that is well over 200 miles away) – yikes that sucks!  But he then said that this was not his department and we had to go to another department down the hall.  So, we did.

This lady could not have been nicer!  She was all ready to give us our new Zarpe until we told her we would not be leavinft, drat.  Well that is a Sunday and they are not open and if we came on Saturday it would cost us overtime.  So, we changed our departure date to 2/24 and told her we would see her on 2/23.  Done!

Next, we needed to go to the airport to see an Immigration officer.  We entered the country on a Panamanian Mariners Visa which was good for 90 days.  That visa is set to expire on 6 March, the same day that we will be transiting the canal.  You are only allowed to renew the visa the day before or the day of.  If you come after your expiration date it is $50 per person late fee.

We can’t go the day before as we have guests and are supposed to be staging for the transit.  And we can’t go the day of as we will be in transit.  The immigration offices are in Colon or Panama City which is a taxi ride so it looks like we will have to pay the late fee.  Bummer!g the Bocas until 2/26.  She said we had to come back the day before we left.

It was raining a lot here, so we got productive and started working on multiple projects.

One of Matt’s first sewing projects was a cover for our man overboard horse shoe.  He did a great job considering he had no pattern.  In addition, he made it while at home and the horse shoe was on the boat.  But, it was in grey fabric and needed an update so I replaced it with a red cover.

In the photo below you will see the pattern for the man overboard horse shoe, and the new helm seat rail covers.

Two new projects complete.

Two new projects complete.

The boat came with hoakie screens for the salon hatches but they are difficult to put in and didn’t stay up well.  They are very useful to keep the bugs and no see-ums out of the boat – especially since these two hatches are always open.

Top image is Matt building a new frame for the screens using the pvc we bought for the ceiling.  The bottom image shows the old ugly screens.

Window hatch screens.

Window hatch screens.

New screens complete.  The problem is that the no see-um screens don’t let much air in so now Matt wants to make two more sets with normal screens.

No see-um window screen

No see-um window screen

Projects completed and or 75% done in Bocas Town:

  • Make new helm seat back covers – blue sunbrella, done.
  • Sew new man overboard ring cover – red sunbrella (see note below). done.
  • Build new salon hatch screens (in progress)