Caretta: Stopover in the San Blas

Who:                          Marie, Michel and Timothée

Where:                        The San Blas Islands, Panama

Multihull:                   Eclipse 472

Blog:                          www.michelfischbach.wixsite.com/catamarancaretta 

A few days before our return to France we realized that all of our catamaran’s electrics were down! We quickly worked out the problem. During our absence the boat must have been struck by lightning. Three repeaters had been destroyed and we later discovered that the anemometer and the AIS had also been affected. We therefore had to wait for the necessary spare parts to be delivered. However, we made use of this time: we refitted the lazy bag and the mainsail which had been serviced at Panamarina, carried out various repairs and refilled the diving bottle which had been used up when we cleaned the hull. We met a “backpacker” called Enora who was looking for a boat to get her to Columbia. She came on board for two weeks. Then we met up with the boats of two friends who also had children, which was a bonus for Timothée. The village of Mamitupu is very pretty and almost completely made up of small square houses with palm roofs. We tried to forget about the waterfront which was full of plastic and all sorts of other rubbish. We handed out five drinking water filters as the locals drink the water from the river and it isn’t always safe. The babies and children often have diarrhea and clean water is also needed by the health center. We then headed further south to drop Enora off at the Columbian border in the village of Puerto Perme (Anachucuna). It was a superb anchorage that was completely sheltered from the wind. Our new crew member left us to take a “lancha” as far as Puerto Obaldia from where she would carry on backpacking in Columbia. Guess what happened next? Our troubles continued when the main halyard broke twice, and we still don’t know why!