Luka and the swell from hell

I had decided some time ago that if Andrea wouldn’t hike through the lawless Darien Gap with me, then we would do one of the backpacker sailing trips taking in the San Blas islands en route. The Darien Gap pretty much begins where the Panamerican highway ends in southern Panama, and onwards to civilization in Colombia you have to pass through some of the most dangerous jungle territory on the planet with FARC guerillas, drug smugglers and many other shady entrepreneurs who class life as cheap! I must admit it would be one hell of an adventure to make it through, and may even top the machete wielding, man-eating natives from my Papua climbing expedition!

Anyway, we researched the numerous sailing boat operators who ply this route, most making the crossing in five days including three days chilling out in the San Blas islands with the native Kuna Indians. We initially decided to go with Ave Maria, a 50 foot sailing boat captained by an Australian with many years on these waters. Our fifty percent deposit of $550 was sent through Western Union to Cartagena and a departure date of November 29th was confirmed – there was no turning back now and both of us hoped that our sea legs would hold out. Two days prior to departure we received an email saying that the boat had a mechanical on its way to Portobelo, a small village close to Colon on the Caribbean coast, asking if we could depart a week later. After shuffling our schedule around, we agreed and spent the extra time between Santa Catalina and Panama City. Just prior to departure I dropped the captain an email making sure everything was good and once again we found out that there would be more delays due to acquiring the necessary parts – gotta love Central America. It was now a mad rush to find a new boat departing in the next couple of days to save us re-organizing our upcoming travel plans, again.

It was now Tuesday and we still hoped to leave by Friday, giving us very limited options – some of the boats had crap reviews and one, Luka, was sailing the next day giving us little time to get a refund on the apartment, travel to Portobelo, and eat all the food we had stocked up in the fridge! After a few hours of sending emails, we were confirmed on Luka with eleven other travelers – we had managed to get a refund on our accommodation, Andrea got the required vacation, the food was all cooked and chopped, and we were catching the 6.10am bus the following morning to get us into Portobelo around 9am. We had to have our passports in the hands of Bea, the boat owner, before noon for immigration purposes and that gave us the rest of the day to meet our shipmates at Captain Jack’s hostel, the meeting place for sailing trip departures out of Portobelo. Whilst Andrea worked, my role was to buy alcohol and snacks, the only things not included in the trip, even though this could end up being a complete waste of money due to what we had heard of the sea conditions this time of year – I was especially not looking forward to five days of puking!

Departure
After hanging around Captain Jack’s all day we finally got to jump on the boat’s dinghy to make the short trip to S/Y Luka and meet with the Panamanian captain and first mate – for this trip Bea, the owner, would not be traveling with us which actually made our lives far better, but we didn’t know that yet! Our shoes were taken from us and we had everything we needed in our small day packs because the remainder of everyone’s luggage would be stashed away. It was so damn hot that surviving with shorts and a couple of t-shirts was easy. With the boat rules, safety briefing and sick-bag issue complete we were left to settle in to our very cramped cabins – we had an upper double bunk at the very front of the boat in a cabin shared by two others, Gabrielle from Canada and Adam from the US. If we sat up in bed we smacked our head on the deck of the boat, if we spread our legs out then we touched feet with Adam in the single bunk next to us, and if we weren’t in direct line of the six inch fans, then we died of the overwhelming heat. Fun times!

Our game plan was to try to be asleep before we left the calmness of the harbor and headed out into open water which we had already been told by another sailor would probably be the worst part of the five days. It must have been around midnight when I remember the boat starting to get tossed around, although it took a further two hours for me to hold on to that day’s breakfast, lunch and dinner, and the single beer I chugged upon getting to the boat! It was the hell I hoped would not happen. For the next four to five hours, I added to the sick-bag which I was determined to fill. Andrea was loving every minute of me lying next to her coughing and spluttering the night away. She also got to remove the bag which I lovingly left on the bed for her whilst I chowed down breakfast some hours later! Needless to say, she was not happy with me!

It was a real blessing to hear the engine go quiet and for the rock of the boat to subside, allowing me to finally move from my grave. Fortunately for me, Andrea and most of the other passengers, the messy part was now over and the rest was plain sailing – However, I did leave Andrea alone and slept on the deck for the next four nights as being at the front of a boat with a pretty big swell was not my idea of fun anymore.

San Blas Islands
After ten hours at sea it was amazing to find how things had changed and for the next three days we had picture perfect islands and multicolored waters to contend with. The thirteen passengers from seven different countries now got to chill out, swim to the islands and have fun – fortunately everyone was friendly and had a great time together, which was a blessing in such confined spaces. It would have been a long 6 days under different circumstances.

The San Blas Islands of Panama are an archipelago comprising of approximately 365 islands, of which only around fifty are inhabited. They are home to the Kuna Indians and a part of the Guna Yala district, an indigenous province with different political and administrative organization than the rest of Panama. We chilled out on a handful of the islands and soon realized that life here would have sent us stir crazy, with some of the inhabited islands being less than a five minute walk around and others having only a single palm tree!

Our days now involved lots of reading, diving from the boat, cards and beach barbecues, a life not so easily adopted to for a very active couple. It was tough but we did manage to change our ways and became accustomed to an island hopping, sailing lifestyle, albeit only for these few days. Our excellent two person crew, Ulyses and Jose, would shuttle us back and forth to the islands if we didn’t feel like fighting the strong currents, and prepared the best lunches and dinners, with the latter consisting of freshly caught fish and lobster cooked on open fires on the islands. Life was treating us very well, even though these good times were really only a countdown to the two day open sea crossing to Cartagena, renowned for being especially rough during December and January!

Crossing to Cartagena
Our third day on the islands was coming to an end, and with our 5 o’clock departure looming the seas outside of the islands natural reef did not look inviting – the horizon was certainly not a straight line! Captain Ulyses was not the least bit concerned but had provided us with various scenarios and timeframes, including mentioning that if Bea, the boats owner, was captain she would take the direct route across to Cartagena, slowly navigating the swell the entire time.

We left at 5pm and expected anywhere from a 28 to 50 hour crossing time. As soon as we began maneuvering through the somewhat narrow channel into the open seas it seemed like the latter would be closer – the boat was being tossed around like it was in a toddler’s bathtub and it really made us feel minuscule, even in this tiny bit of Caribbean sea. There were five of us sitting on the front deck with the front of the boat almost going under with every swell, followed by what felt like us capsizing every time we turned sideways to a wave – the conversation came to a stop, especially when one of the guys who still happened to be standing missed being thrown overboard by a whisker. It was too nerve racking to even debate being seasick!

With darkness falling we still saw the walls of water all around us but any concerns had almost diminished, that is until both crew members kept vanishing to the engine room with torches, leaving no one watching the swell that sent the boat diving to and fro. At times we felt like we were crewmen on the “Andrea Gail” from The Perfect Storm. Most of us were lying all over the deck for the first few hours, slowing heading to cabins as the night went on – I, on the other hand, stayed on deck until an hour before daybreak after spending numerous hours being covered in spray and switching between the hard deck and a hammock.

Daybreak bought with it slowly subsiding seas and an overwhelming desire to eat – not sure that anyone attempted to consume dinner the previous night so breakfast was high on our agenda. We also found out that the direct route to Cartagena was not going to happen due to unfavorable conditions, and that we would be spending the night anchored at Isla Fuerte, around seventy miles from Cartagena. The day dragged on, spent hanging about on deck, dolphin spotting, which we saw on numerous occasions, and watching movies, until some 25 hours after departure we finally dropped anchor for a welcome calm nights sleep.

Over the course of our final day we passed by Isla Rosario and other islands hugging the Colombian coastline, before finally sailing past 18th century batteries that once protected the Spanish controlled city, and through the shipping channel leading to the small marina in Cartagena’s harbor. Including the unexpected overnight stop the crossing took 48 hours, considerably longer than expected and after the initial sea onslaught, mostly calmer than expected.

It was great to end the five days of sailing with an amazing sunset and city view. All that remained now was a very brief dingy ride to terra firma and a solid nights sleep.

We found Luka to be a safe, stable boat, although a little cramped when fully loaded, and couldn’t have asked more of our crew, who prepared great food, were always smiling and fortunately knew how to control a boat in rough seas. Oh, they also allowed us to sleep on deck which was a saviour!