"Yesterday is a cancelled check; tomorrow is a promissory note; today is all the cash you have. - so spend it wisely."                   Kay Lyons
 

And Yet Again, Panama

2009 found me working once again in the Virgin Islands, this time as a captain of a charter catamaran. The season was rather slow, so I did not have as much money as I had hoped, and the stock market robbed me of a good bit of my savings like nearly everyone else. So, when there were no more charters on the boat, I flew back to Panama and Fellow Traveler with several possibilities for my future.

I spent 3 weeks getting Fellow Traveler cleaned up, launched, and running properly and finally left the boatyard heading for the San Blas Islands. One of my ideas was to stay in Panama and try to earn a living here. I considered starting a business in partnership with some Kuna friends, but I have heard too many stories of outsiders starting businesses in Kuna territory and then being told to leave. Besides, I only have a tourist visa. So, in the end, I have dropped this idea. But, not before having some fun times visiting people in the San Blas.

One nice thing about this trip is that some of the women of the village feel much more comfortable visiting the boat, allowing me to get to know them better.  You will see more pics of them than in the past due to this.

During my first visit this year to Mormake Tupu, I learned that one of the old men of the village was dying. As expected, he died later that day. I offered to use my dinghy to transport people over to the cemetery, and the offer was accepted. The picture to the left shows us heading up the river. Cemeteries of the Kuna are almost always located along the shores of the river that each town is built near. The towns are typically on an island not too far offshore, and are typically way too crowded with houses to have room for a cemetery. Besides, in the Golfo de San Blas, the islands the towns are on are little more than sand.

The day of the burial was very rainy, making the trip rather wet. When we arrived people where finishing up the grave. I observed no rituals, but perhaps they happened earlier, or after we left. Most people seemed to use the occasion to visit their families graves and do some maintenance on them. I saw two young friends of mine building a new roof over a relative's grave: most Kuna graves have a low roof built over them and the grave is decorated with household items associated with the deceased: a cup or bowl he used, for example. Most people were smiling and laughing. No one was "boo-hoo-hooing". 

My friend Olo came along with us, and it was interesting watching him here on the mainland. He was very animated as he showed me various plants growing in peoples gardens. He has offered in the past to take me up the river to explore in the mountains a bit...an offer I took him up on later this year. In the past, Olo was not overly interested in taking pictures with my camera. He was happy to have a few pictures of his family "out there" somewhere in the world. In fact, he told me a relative had seen a picture of him with his wife and children on the internet.... Of course, it was on this website they saw it. Anyway, once on the mainland, the naturalist in Olo came out and he was taking pictures left and right: of the river, plants, and animals, including this picture of an ulu (canoe) filled with fruit and yucca.

Several Weeks later found me in Nargana, the town where many of the kids from Mormake Tupu and other villages go to high school. But, while there, the teacher at the school quit, so classes were temporarily cancelled. Each day I had a bunch of teens hanging out on my boat watching DVD's and otherwise being teens. I figured we could have more fun than that, so I suggested we all go the next day to one of the beautiful islands a few miles out from the town to swim and play. We spent the day swinging on the halyards to drop into the water, paddling the inflatable kayak, snorkeling, and otherwise just being kids. And me, the biggest kid of all! I do not know when I have had so much fun! The best cure for getting old is to hang out with a bunch of kids (may not work with American kids, though, as they are often more boring than geezers!) Below are some photos of the day, and others that have followed. Scroll across the pic for info on who and where it is. Click on them to enlarge them. Peter Pan has nothing on me!

Pacific in '09...or Not?

I had pondered a summer departure for the South Pacific as far Bora Bora, then sailing North to Hawaii, but in the end, this just did not work out. And it turns out to be a good think I stayed in the Caribbean as once again my mother began rapidly declining in health. Now, 1 month later, she has died. While I was not needed by her side, at least I could check in regularly with my brother to make sure that her needs were being met in her last days. The last month she was not very lucid I gather, but during her more alert times was asking regularly about "the baby": my nephew's wife was expecting her first child, my mother's first Great grandchild. The baby took his time , but in early Sept. he arrived into the world. Not long after they visited my mother, and report that she perked up as soon as she saw the baby, and was alert enough to hold it for a bit. A few days later she died. So, we think she was waiting to have one glimpse of the next generation before moving on. I already miss her, and no doubt always will.

 I soon returned to the San Blas, this time to relax and enjoy the islands and my friends among the Kuna. I quickly volunteered to spend one day a week at the middle  school in Nargana  helping teach English. Through this I met Ivan, a Kuna from Panama City who teaches English in the middle school. I am learning a lot about the culture from talking with him, and he enjoys the chance to practice his English.

I am somewhat amazed at how quickly things are changing in this paradise. The number of boats staying in the San Blas area permanently or long-term has easily doubled in a year! Now, even in the "slow" season of July through October some of the more popular anchorages have a steady 10 or 20 boats in them. There are still plenty of places one can anchor surrounded by paradise and be alone.... but I doubt that will last.

The amount of tourism is increasing as well.  The one road that accesses the area has been greatly improved and is now providing a steady flow of tourists from Panama City into the area. Even little Mormake Tupu has regular groups of tourists, both Panamanian and others, coming in to spend a weekend in the village.

While in Nargana I got an opportunity to become reaquainted with Pablo and his family. Pablo is the name of the guy I met while drinking chicha on my first visit to Mormake Tupu. He, as many do, has moved his family to Nargana while his older kids attend high school there. We talked a good bit at times. He has lived and worked outside Kuna Yala in the past so has a bit more "worldly" view of things. For example, he at one point got permission in Nargana to use some empty land to build a chicken coop and started raising chickens. He was providing some chicken for the schools, selling some to others, including the cruisers, at 2/3rds the price it normally costs in the San Blas while still making a little money for his efforts. But, in typical Kuna fashion, others were resentful of his success and he lost permission to use the land. So, once again, the Kuna are dependent upon frozen chickens brought in by outsiders at a higher price. Go figure.

It turns out that Pablo and his family own a very nice and rather large island. We discussed ideas to utilize it. He has been thinking of starting a small hotel: what most Kuna who own an island are thinking of. I suggested something a bit more involved: starting a dive resort. Currently diving is forbidden in the San Blas by the Kuna Congresso out of fear that it would be utilized to deplete fish and lobster populations. I suggested that he look into modifying the rule to allow diving only with approved dive operations, such as Dominica does (I am loath to suggest this restricition, but it is better than no diving at all!). The advantage of a dive resort is A: it distinguishes it from the other small Kuna resorts. B: Divers are not adverse to travel to some pretty remote areas to find great diving. C: while there are some people who seek to vacation in a paradise where there is nothing but palms and sand, the reality is most want more to do. Diving provides that extra activity. And the area around Pablo's island is surrounded by massive amounts of untapped diving potential.

Of course, within five minutes of discussing this island and ways to use it for tourism, Pablo asked me for two dollars so he could buy bread for his family! And this brings up some interesting issues. I am seen as a rich gringo because I live in a yacht (in their eyes...they do not realize that my "luxury yacht" is 30 years old and costs about 25% of what a house in my country does). They are poor Kuna, living slightly above a subsistence level. I am rich because I have a boat stocked with lots of exotic foods (beef, olive oil, cheap cookies, brownie mix). They are poor because they only eat rice, fish, crab, and yucca that they harvest or catch each day (except for the rice, of course). I do not think they believe me when I tell them I would trade my yacht for their island any day they want to! Part of my evolving view of the Kuna is getting past seeing them as "poor". Yes, they are cash-poor. And this does, indeed impact them a little: mostly in access to education for one's children. It is a fact of life in Panama that the "free" government schools are not free. But, beyond that, I have realized that the Kuna are rich: they own one of the most beautiful and unspoiled areas in the Caribbean!

I have spent a lot of time trying to figure out ways to help the "poor" Kuna. But not anymore. Mostly now, I do what I do because I enjoy it (teaching kids English) and just encourage any Kuna I talk  with to think "eco-tourism" and stop throwing plastic into the sea. And, whenever possible, I go play with the kids and become the Lost Boy I am at heart.

As mentioned above, the women of the Mormake Tupu have spent a bit more time visiting aboard Fellow Traveler. At one point there was quite the "family reunion" as various cousins of my friends the Martinez's were visiting from Panama City. All posed for pics. One cousin who lives in their family compound is Luceira, in the picture on the left in traditional dress. You can also see more pics of her in the FRIENDS page and TRAVELS '08.  She was one of the few girls who would visit regularly in the past. The past year, however, has been quite eventful for her. Sometime between my visit  last September and this year she reached puberty, a major event in a Kuna girl's life. In typical fashion, there was a chicha festival to celebrate her coming of age and her hair was cut in the short style worn by Kuna women. She also began wearing traditional Kuna dress, at least whenever I saw her.

Traditionally,  the chicha festival means a girl is eligble for marriage, although most girls these days wait at least a few years. But, in one of my visits to Nargana, Ida and his family told me Luceira had gotten married. At 13. Her husband is 18 and from Rio Sidra, the next island over. As the Kuna are martrilocal, her husband has moved into Luceira's home and is now another breadwinner for the extended family.

I was wondering if Ida was the next one to get married, as he had a fan in Marisela (you see pictures of her in the photo gallery above). Usually he would tell me that she was just a friend, although it was no secret that she wanted to marry him. He at one point told me they were thinking of getting married and going to Panama City to live...which I thought would make him miserable, as he is not a city person. But, he reconsidered and decided he did not want to marry yet, and when he did, he wanted to marry in his village so he can be close to his family.

November

2010 started with fireworks over the historic city of Cartagena, Colombia on my second visit there. My four weeks here were not spent enjoying the sites, though. I worked every day on various projects on Fellow Traveler  The biggest change is in my cabin: the old, absurd U-shaped bunk that is a remnant of her charter past is gone. This was designed to allow the bunk to work as either two singles or an athwartship double, but failed in making either very comfortable. It required half a dozen sheets to make it up completely, and took up a huge amount of space. I now have a bunk that is the standard US length and in between a queen and a king in width. I also have much more storage space than previously. The cabin has a much more "finished" look with each side lined with cabinets. And for some extra pizzazz, the cabinet doors are the ideal size to mount and display my collection of molas. Click here to visit my page on the AFT CABIN REFIT.

The other big project was to replace the fabric dodger, which was close to giving up the ghost, with a hard dodger. I have seen very few hard dodgers that I feel are attractive or appropriate for the lines of the boat they are mounted on. Most fit one of two categories: Snoopy's dog house or WWII Gun Turrent. Of the few I have seen that I liked, about 1/2 turned out to be inspired by the article I wrote 10 years ago for Cruising World magazine on how to build a curved hard dodger. I was pleased and flattered that my article inspired others. My newest dodger looks very much like the first one I built, but took a few different twists to get there. If you are interested in how I built it, visit my MOLDING A HARD DODGER page.

Goodbye to the San Blas

The second day of the New Year I was under sail, heading for the San Blas. Fellow Traveler, eager to show she was up for some good sailing this year, put in her best day ever for me: 156 miles in the first 24 hours out from Cartagena. It took six years, but I finally beat my best day ever in Lobo. The San Blas are as magical as ever, enchanting me for my final month amongst their beautiful islands, water, and people. Most of the month was spent continuing work on Fellow Traveler in preparation for the Pacific, and just catching up with deterioration from being stored in the tropics for an extended period.  However, I also found time to snorkel, hunt fish, and visit my friends in Mormake Tupu. My last night in the village Danilo Martinez visited with some friends: he is the father of the family I have become close friends with. In one of those deja vu moments, when getting ready  to leave, he discovered his dugout had slipped loose and disappeared into the moonless night! Olo was aboard, and he and I shared some laughs as it was two years ago, when I first was getting to know people in the village, when his ulu disappeared. He, Ida, and I went searching for it in the dark, and only found it after sunrise the next day. But, that night we three forged a friendship that is still strong. It was only appropriate that, once again, I set out in the dark in search of a canoe. As the pic above shows, there is not much in the way of color to make them very visible. The following day I was off to Colon to prepare to transit the canal and make final preparations for the Pacific. My frequent crew, Ida,  accompanied me to earn some money working on the boat .

Usually, in my travels, after a few weeks in an area I am ready to set out and see new places. Once before I was in a place I found very difficult to leave: Horta, in the Azores. But, with summer winding down and more and more of my new friends sailing off to various destinations, I realized it was time to move on. Two years ago, leaving the San Blas to transit the canal was once the hardest departure of my sailing life... and destiny prevented me from making it final. I have had two years now to return numerous times to the San Blas and Mormake Tupu. I have been here long enough that, when sailing into the anchorage behind this tiny island, I hear the children of the village singing out "Douglas, Douglas". I have never seen a kid here past about 4 years old crying. They have almost no toys, no TV, no computers...yet they never seem bored and never seem to frown. I have seen them spend many happy hours flying a kite made out of a sheet of notebook paper and their father's fishing hand line. I do not believe in reincarnation, but should I be wrong on this one, I would be very happy to come back as a Kuna kid. Or maybe I am already there....

So, in the past two years I have been able to spend 6 months in the San Blas. Yet still, I find it very difficult to leave. It is only the hope of finding other places like this that keeps me sailing.

Panama Canal

The San Blas is my favorite place I have visited so far. But, once beyond them, PANAMA SUCKS! Now, I am sure there are some great places, such as Boca del Toro, the Pacific Coast near Costa Rica, and the Perlas Islands out in the Pacific. But, in the middle of it all is the Panama Canal. And they hate yachts! They wish we would all go away. And they are taking measures to drive us away! First, they did away with the Pedro Miguel Yacht Club that was located in the middle of the canal. This was considered the best place to haul your boat to work or store it long term. But, the new Canal organization decided it was a nuisance, and took their land, despite the fact that the treaty Panama and the US signed said the yacht clubs in the canal zone would exist in perpetuity. OK, so no place to store your boat anymore that was friendly (Shelter Bay Marina began with an act of thievery and has continued this tradition ever since). In Colon, you could anchor in "the Flats", the designated small-boat anchorage and dinghy into the Panama Canal Yacht Club right in Colon. It was easy to arrange a canal transit or get provisions or materials needed for your boat. There was a fuel and water dock, and the marina for those who wanted to use it. Then, a year ago, the canal (again, in violation of their treaty) came in with bulldozers with no warning and razed this Yacht Club. They needed more space to stack containers! Really, container storage takes priority over an urban, non-profit yacht club which provided services to yachtsmen around the world? So, today I caught a ride into Colon to begin the paperwork for my canal transit . I was told I should not be in their office until I was already anchored in "the Flats" (or being abused by Shelter Bay Marina). So, I came into Colon with the boat....except once here I was told I could not anchor in the flats anymore, it was for "ships". It is not nearly big enough for a ship, although smaller commercial vessels do use it. They always shared it with the yachts, but I guess they need more space. There was one anchored here today. So, instead, the yachts have to anchor just behind the flats. Some yachts use to prefer to anchor there as it is shallower, but the canal would make them move into the designated anchorage. Now, it is the opposite. Ah, beauracracy! So, having never anchored behind the flats, I am, at dusk, figuring out where to anchor when, passing a boat at anchor, he yells at me to turn as it shallows fast!. I put the wheel hard over and watched my depth finder go from 20 to 9 feet in only my turning radius! Whew, close! Damn them and their changing regs!

Beyond the canal, the procedures required of Customs, Immigration, and the Port Captains in Panama have got to be some of the craziest in the world. The biggest problem is that each office around the country seems to follow different rules than the others. For example, when clearing in at most offices, Immigration stamps your passport and tells you that is good for 3 months. But, when checking out of Balboa, they say "No, you should have gotten a Visa", and charge you more money.

Basically, Panama is desperately trying to act like a first world country, but clearly is firmly mired in the "Turd World". It is absolutely the dirtiest country I have ever been in, with the roadways, waterways, and shoreline littered with garbage. The utter lack of environmental concern is appalling. Shelter Bay is charging yachts US prices, or higher, for marina and haulouts, but do not come even close to the type of service one expects from even a basic marina in the states. They are paying their staff Panamanian wages (about $10-15 a day), so the high rates are not benefiting the employees. In typical Panamanian style, the marina is reasonably nice, but is sited in the remains of a former US military base that has been gutted and trashed by the Panamanians, so the surroundings are hardly "scenic". The fees for the marinas in Panama City are even higher!

Panama, like several other Latin American Countries (Ecuador, Venezuela) see yachts as little more than a revenue stream, both for the treasury and for the pockets of the officials.  It seems everywhere you go in this country some official or quasi-official has his hand out. This "Fee-itis" is beginning to creep into the Eastern Caribbean as well. So far, I believe, it is has not affected the South Pacific (although Micronesia seems to have an advanced case of it).

So, outside the San Blas, based on the attitude of the Canal, Customs, and Immigration, I would say Panama is my least favorite country. I think it is obvious I am not a flag-waving jingoistic American. But I think we should take the canal back immediately!  Since that is not likely to happen, I think I will just get out of here as soon as possible. I need to spend about a week here in Colon as I get ready to go through the canal. Then, about two weeks on the other side provisioning and preparing for the Pacific, and I am on to other countries.