Cousin Kelly came to visit us on Reach in one of our all-time favorite cruising grounds in the San Blas. She loves to travel and take-in new experiences and that’s a good thing, since it takes an intrepid traveler to make the effort to get to this remote destination. Kelly also had plenty of extra motivation in escaping multiple feet of snow and ongoing blizzards in her residence of Massachusetts.
We could tell Kelly is comfortable with travel and she adapted with grace to everything we threw at her… snorkeling for the first time, eating the fresh catch from the sea and taking to a wee bit o’rum in the evenings. She got an immersion in the full cruising experience, including a viewing of “Captain Ron” after a homemade pizza night.
If anything’s gonna happen… it’s gonna happen out there!!
Travel time ~
The trek to the islands is an adventure in itself, traveling by air, land & sea! Kelly was lucky enough to have a direct flight from Boston to Panama City, making the bold move to come out 3 days early to miss the next scheduled blizzard - good plan! The next morning she traveled on the “Kuna road” that brings people by jeep into the Kuna Yala frontier - the sole overland route into this place through a pristine jungle.
Reaching the island chain, Kelly took a launcha (water taxi) directly to Reach.
This can be a wet and bumpy ride in windy season, but you can’t beat the home-delivery service.
The travel back to the city at the end of Kelly’s trip was just as much of an adventure.
After a quaint “check-in” and baggage weighing process, a [typical] 3 hr delay and one false start, she finally was allowed to board a teeny, tiny Air Panama plane that just fit the 4 people (including pilot) and their luggage!!
Boat time ~
Once onboard, Kelly had the starboard hull all to herself with queen berth & head. Learning all of the sailing lingo, she watched us raise the main & jib, set the anchor and hook the bridle.
We had some beautiful calm weather for the beginning of the week that required a little help from our diesel engines to move around, but made for perfect anchorages!
Later in the week the winds picked up for some brisk sailing.
Beach time ~
The San Blas archipelago has over 350 islands & islets… plenty of pretty beaches to explore and find a few shells.
Jungle time ~
Since Kelly came early it gave us a few extra days to take her on an inland river trip complete with plenty of cool bird sightings. Mark was a good tour guide!
Shopping time ~
No trip to Kuna Yala would be complete without buying a mola or four from the indians. Decisions… decisions…!
Fish time ~
On Kelly’s first afternoon several Kuna lobstermen stopped by to sell their catch. We were game and bought 4 personal-sized lobsters for dinner on the grill that night. Mark came through with my grouper order at the next anchorage, so fish fingers it was for dinner!
A few days later he caught his largest permit yet (20 lbs), enough meat for several boats to enjoy.
Nap time ~
It’s exhausting living on a boat! A post-lunch power nap is de riguer on Reach to rest up for all of the afternoon and evening fun.
Play time ~
Afternoons are for swimming. Kelly was new to snorkeling but was very comfortable in the water.
On our first trip in the shallows we were surrounded by a dense school of baitfish!
Over the next few days the water remained crystal clear.
We shared the underwater camera taking turns admiring colorful fish, cool reef critters and all of the shapes and patterns of coral gardens.
Cocktail time ~
‘Nuff said…
Provisioning time ~
The day before Kelly arrived, we were lucky enough to come across a veggie boat for fresh supplies… it had been a while and we were out of produce - score!!
Before she left, Kelly joined us for a trip into the island villages of Nargana and Corazon de Jesus. We took a walk around “town” and replenished with more fresh fruits & veggies as well as fuel while we where there.
Social time ~
Cruising is a very social way of life. It’s a state-of-being where you can easily make fast friendships that last a lifetime. Kelly fit right in!!
She is a bit of a social butterfly herself and made friends in the City that we ran into out in the anchorages.
Good excuse to get together for cocktails!
During Kelly’s stay, we had plenty of visitors stop by to say hello, check out our boat and/or share stories about cruising grounds.
It’s really a small world so we expect to see these nice folks out there somewhere in the future!!
