We left Isla Grande at around 5am headed for the famous Comarca de Kuna Yala (The San Blas Islands). The moment we we left the protection of the island we were greeted by large rollers, and they continued to shake Max like a salt shaker for the entire 8 hour crossing. It was a tricky entrance to Kuna Yala (SanBlas) and Max had to squeeze in between two reefs with an 8 foot following sea. It was a bit of a rollercoaster, but we were glad to do it and be back in the lee of an island once again. The calm did not last long however, and within 30 minutes a 45mph squall hit. It was a bit unnerving because there were so many exposed reefs around, but we were already quite prepared, as we have been since the surprise squall in Mexico and our valuable WWFD lesson. It only lasted 45 minutes or so and though a boat in sight did drag it's anchor, it was nowhere near us. Once we cleared in and payed all of our dues to the Kunas we motored to the nearest island chain and dropped anchor at the island of Chichime. Within minutes after we arrived several ulus (dug out canoes) were pushed from shore and heading our way. One arrived at Max's cockpit and before I knew it the woman and two younger girls were unloading heaps of hand made crafts onto the cockpit rail. The woman was dressed in full Kuna garb which is strikingly colorful and consists of a "mola" blouse, "sabburet" skirt, headdress, "wini" rings of beads on the arms and completely covering the calves of the legs, and lots of large hand-made goldjewelry. This is worn by all of the women while the men and children wear western clothes. So, among the crafts were lots of bright multi-colored molas (Designs intricately made by sewing and cutting different layers of colorful cloth; the women wear blouses made of these), wini bracelettes, wood carvings, beaded necklaces, & cloth headbands. It was a bit overwhelming, but after looking over more than twenty designs I chose my first mola: an eagle carrying a man in the sky. I was quite happy with it and even happier because now I could go swimming. But more ulus were waiting for their turn and it is true that they would rather you look through all of their beautiful crafts and buy none than to just turn them away. So after a couple more visits I climbed up onto our stern rail and made a leap into the cool turquoise water. We swam over to Calico Jack where they broke out the pool noodles and there we stayed, drinking rum and cokes and relaxing in the water all afternoon. Later on a couple of larger ulus came by with men selling their fresh catch of the day. We picked out a few lobster tails and a huge king crab for a total of $8. Shortly after that another even larger ulu showed up full to the brim with fruits and veggies. Joanne and I swam over and poked our heads up over the rail, picking out the freshest tomatos and lettuce, oranges and pineapples, potatoes and onions. Trust me, it's the only way to shop! We all went over to Max where Jeremy made a huge crab boil with grilled lobster tails on the side! It was by far one of the best meals of the trip so far, and probably one of the least expensive!
July 31- August 23th,2007
We spent most of the rest of our time in San Blas mainly snorkeling, Island hopping, and eating seafood. We explored several island chains including the Chichime Cays, Lemon Cays, Holandes Cays, Coco Bandero Cays, and the village on Rio Sidra. This may seem like a lot, but it is a very small percentage considering that the Kuna Yala archipelago contains over 340 islands! Most of these are deserted with soft white sand beaches and coconut palms and surrounded by translucent waters. The Coco Bandero Cays were probably our favorite. One of the anchorages we chose was swimming distance to a stunning little island which we had all to ourselves. It was surrounded by an expansive live reef whose mountainous corals took my breath away. We enjoyed walking around collecting some of the plentiful sand dollars and sea urchine shells, but snorkeling was by far the best. We spent several days here and never saw another sailboat nearby. Our other anchorage in Coco Bandero was equally as beautiful but chosen more because of the several boats anchored there. We met some great couples, notably on "Calypso" (Paul from South Africa and Maureen from Canada) and the catamaran "Lioness" (Terry from Austraila and Marjetta from Finland). There was also a schooner anchored there that was loaded with backpackers from all over the world who were making their passage from Columbia to Panama (it is nearly impossible to cross by land). We all dinghied or swam into the small central island and cooked BBQ over and open fire.We had a great time and it was nice to have other boats around for a couple of days. One of my favorite parts about cruising these islands is that from day to day you can choose to be in a large eclectic social gathering or all by yourself in a quiet, serene anchorage.
Another notable area we visited was the Kuna village on Rio Sidra. We went there to find Lisa, a local transvestite (this is openly accepted in Kuna culture) and "master mola maker". We had hired her to make a custom mola for our boat after having seen her work in Chichime. When we arrived by dinghy a group of little boys was at the dock, most of them playing naked and saying the only word they knew in english: "Spiderman!". The whole group led us to Lisa's hut, excited by the strange visitors. The village was picturesque and clean, packed with traditional huts that are made out of entirely organic materials. The floors are slightly elevated with compacted sand, while the walls are made of cane. The roof is a real piece of art, made froma special kind of palm leaf found only in the jungle; the whole thing has not one nail or fastner, everything being held together by thick vines and most withstanding the fiercest San Blas rain and winds for up to fifteen years! Inside the traditional hutsthere is no furniture, only hammocks. After seeing Lisa we walked around and found fresh coconut bread and only a few fresh groceries.The children were very friendly and curious, but the women, the heads of the households, were much more stand-offish; unless of course you are buying their hand made necklaces and braceletes or molas- of which we left with plenty. We anchored here for a few days until Lisa had finished our beautiful "Max Mola". Before we left we were invited to the village "chicha" festival in four days time, where the entire town gets together and becomes hopelessly drunk on chicha; an intoxicating drink brewed from sugarcane and other special ingredients. We had hoped that we would be lucky enough to recieve such an invitation and experience this "traditional" practice, but at this point our visa is almost expired and we are on our way to Columbia the next day. We say our "thank you's" and "goodbyes"- especially to Lisa who did a great job on our "Max mola" (it is of a scene from the children's book "Where the Wild Things Are", after the main character of which we named our boat) and were on our way.
