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6) ISLA COIBA 🇵🇦 A GEM IN WESTERN PANAMA
DELIGHT IN THIS TREASURE
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The pristing water surrounding Isla Coiba National Park
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SY EVER AFTER shares:
Andy
and I just left Coiba Island. Spent 4 days there. Worth every penny.
First anchorage we’ve paid for since Carayes, Mx. Clear water,
isolated,peaceful, beautiful sea life.
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Season 6 Posse boat SV LADY SLIPPER on Anchor at Isla Coiba
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07° 26.2716' N 081°43.5533' W
location of hotsprings on the island of Coiba
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September 2023 SY SALACIA & SY JUBEL scoped out the hot springs
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Sitting by the Isla Coiba Hot Springs.
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SY EVER AFTER 🇺🇸 Andrew & Laura - Jeanneau 44′
SY JUBEL 🇨🇦 Leah & Kyle - Gulfstar 44'
SY SALACIA Peter and Donna – Santa Cruz 50’
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Thank you for Sharing your Adventures on the water !
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7) SHARING YOUR ADVENTURES
is the heart and soul of the Panama Posse
Please
share pictures of your adventures, your award entries/nominations, your
breathtaking sunsets, and picturesque anchorages on our group
communications platform for others to enjoy in real time and/or email
Maurisa at editor@panamaposse.com
to share in the upcoming newsletter. Maurisa is a sailor among
us. She is part of the Ocean Posse crew and enjoys writing fun and
helpful updates to the Panama Posse.
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One of the few docks in Golfo de Nicoya 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
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8) POSSE PERK:
SUNSETS OVER THE OCEAN
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SY COURAGE enjoys this sunset while underway from Panama to Florida
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SY COURAGE 🇺🇸 John & Kristine – Tartan 4100
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9) OASIS MARINAS
AT FERNANDINA HARBOR MARINA 🇺🇸
SPONSORS THE PANAMA POSSE
30° 40.3067 ‘ N 081° 27.95’W
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We are pleased to sponsor the Panama Posse and offer
10 % discount off our docking rate
5 cent x gallon discount on fuel
Please
let the Posse know that dockage reservations may be made directly
through our website, or by giving us a call at (904) 310-3300 and
choosing the reservation line.
In
addition if you join Marina Life Cruising Club there are hundreds of
participating marinas all over the country where boater’s can receive
additional discounts
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Taylor Fitzsimmons | General Manager
Phone: (904)310-3300
Email: fernandinaharbor@oasismarinas.com
Hail on VHF 16
Fernandina Harbor Marina | 3 S. Front Street | Fernandina Beach, FL 32034
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Oasis Marinas at Fernandina Harbor is your gateway to Amelia Island’s rich history and attractions.
Amelia
Island is part of the Sea Islands chain of barrier islands, on
Florida’s Atlantic coast. It has a history of Spanish, French, British
and American rule. Today it’s a popular destination known for its luxury
resorts, golf courses an sandy beaches.
Conveniently
located on the Intracoastal Waterway Fernandina Harbor Marina has the
services and amenities you need when traveling the ICW.
AMENITIES
- 4,000 ft of alongside dockage
- Mooring balls on site
- Deep water, roughly 25ft
- Laundry
- Bait & Tackle
- Restaurant on-site
- Floating concrete docks
- Boaters Lounge with Television
- WiFi Internet Access
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10) LAND TRIP NORTHERN 🇨🇷 COSTA RICA
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A
week ago, we rented a car and went on a tour of northern Costa Rica. We
visited three main areas: Monteverde and the Cloud Forest there, the
Arenal region with the Lake and Volcano Arenal, and Rincon de la Vieja
park. Each was different, and we enjoyed them all.
A few general observations:
Driving
- we rented a car through Marina Papagayo, which was very convenient.
The car got delivered to the marina. We asked for a 4x4 and got an
upgrade to a bigger car, which proved to be very useful. The roads in
Costa Rica are of very varied quality. The main roads are good (CR1, for
example), but any side roads, especially in the mountains, can be
anything - pavement with holes, no pavement, huge potholes, gravel,
partially washed-out roads, anything goes. Some roads are pretty steep,
especially between Lake Arenal and Rincon. Assume a max of 30mph as a
traveling speed. We were told to use the Waze App for navigation, which
worked better than Google Maps.
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Weather - the
amazing thing about Costa Rica is that you can drive for 1-2 hours and
be in a different climate zone. The climate does not change here
seasonally. Instead, it changes with elevation. Monteverde area was the
coolest, with average daily temp in the 70s (20s C) and nights cooler.
It was very windy, and mostly cloudy, with some rain. Around Arenal, it
was cloudy and rainy as well, but we also got some sunny days, and the
temperatures were a bit higher but still manageable. It was more humid
there as well. Rincon de la Vieja was the warmest, in the high 80s (30s
C), but dry and windy, and with cooler nights.
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Sightseeing - everywhere
you go in Costa Rica, you have to pay a fee to see anything. There are
entrance fees even to the smallest waterfalls. Just be prepared for
that. When visiting rainforests or cloud forests, we think having a
guide is best. Otherwise, it is hard to find all the birds and animals.
Sometimes, they are close, but often, they hide high in the trees. The
guides know where to look and have scopes to help us see the animals.
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Places we visited:
Monteverde - We
stayed in Santa Elena town, which was a great base for us. It is a
small town, but it has a lot of restaurants and a proper grocery store.
We stayed at Silvios' AirBnB (Opas and Omas houses), which was in the
middle of the town but very private, quiet, and on a huge property. We
could walk to town for coffee, dinner, etc. From there, we had a
15-minute drive to the main attractions - all the Cloud Forest reserves
(there are multiple). We took a guided hike through Monteverde Cloud
Forest with Michael (WhatsApp +506 8814 4988), and really enjoyed
it.
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He
was there just with us and found all sorts of animals and birds,
including the Resplendid Quetzal. We also visited the Orchid Garden - a
small place but very enjoyable. Tons of flowers and very passionate
guides walking you through. We took a hike in Children's Eternal Forest,
more for the hike; it was nice and different from Cloud Forest. We also
did a Night Tour with Kinkajou Tours - not recommended. It was
hilarious, but we did not see much. Better take Michael for a night
walk, but it will cost more.
For
food in Santa Elena, I recommend Open Kitchen and a pizza place next to
Tico y Rico. If you like beer, that area has a lot of local brewers.
And Zuccaro Coffee for great coffee.
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Arenal -
we drove from Santa Elena around Lake Arenal. Incredible scenic drive
and lots of places to stop for lunch around the lake, with great views.
We stayed in La Fortuna, at La Fortuna Lodge hotel. It was a clean hotel
with good staff. Breakfast was included, although it was bare. From La
Fortuna, we took hikes at Arenal Volcano National Park, first through
the main volcano trails, where we saw no volcano because it was cloudy.
Still, we saw a lot of birds (tucans!) and a nice forest. Then we went
to the peninsula area, where we hiked to the shore of Arenal Lake, and
from there, we saw the volcano as the clouds just cleared out. Never
give up :smile:
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After the hikes, we soaked in the Arenal River at Choyin Rio Termal (https://maps.app.goo.gl/jRXM3sVr8kd6DdJ46).
This place we highly recommend. It is new, it just opened 2 months ago
and has not yet been discovered. It is across the street from the
well-known Tabacon resort. At Choyin, you get to use the same river, and
they provide super nice restrooms, showers, lockers, and a thermal pool
if you get tired of sitting in the river. There is an onsite restaurant
that has very tasty meals. It is 1/3 the price of Tabacon.
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We
did more tours in this area, but the best was Sloth Territory, which
Larry and Beth from s/v Pause recommended. We saw many sloths, some very
close, and also frogs, lizards, and birds.
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Rincon
de la Vieja - we started and ended our trip in that park. It is a good
place to visit on a day trip from Marina Papagayo, as it is only a 1-1.5
h drive from here. Our first stop was La Leona waterfall (https://maps.app.goo.gl/CEfMaWMSL3cjbnMq7),
booked through Trip Advisor. It was a fantastic hike and a
waterfall—really good on a hot day! There are sections where you have to
go through deep water, but there are ropes to hold on to, and they
provide life jackets. The waterfall was amazing.
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On
the way back, we rented an Airbnb on a farm near Rincon, around the San
Jorge area. It was very peaceful. We spent a day at Rio Negro Hot
Springs, where you can soak in spring water pools of varying
temperatures (some were too hot for us) and get a mud bath/spa as well.
You can cool off in the Rio Negro's cool waters. Then we hiked to
multiple Rio Negro waterfalls, where we swam as well. There is a small
resort next to it, Hacienda Guachipelin, where we had lunch. Overall,
this was a super relaxing day and a good wrap-up of our trip.
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QUE VENDRA 🇺🇸 Olena and Maciek - Outbound 46′
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11) BYE BYE 🇲🇽 MEXICO
EXIT CHIAPAS
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Sunrise from the Tehuantepec over Chiapas, Mexico
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All vessels are inspected upon entering and exiting the Port of Chiapas.
Everyone’s
very tired but happy to be here! And we got to meet the cute
inspection dog. He really is as clumsy as described. Did not like our
steps 😝 They brought the dog up to our boat. It walked up the stairs,
into the back and immediately turned around and walked back down the
stairs
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SY TIAMAT 🇺🇸 Stephanie & Owen – Fountaine Pajot 44’
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12) NAVAL SAILDRONE 🛰️ SPOTTED
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SY FRENCH KISSING LIFE spots a USV: well equipped yet not your typical marina neighbor.
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Saildrone Explorer Technical specifications:
- Length: 7m
- Height: 5m
- Draft: 2m
- Propulsion: wind (Saildrone wing)
- Average speed: 3 knots
- Endurance 12+ months
- Range: unlimited
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SY FRENCH KISSING LIFE 🇺🇸 Tess&John – Bavaria 45’
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13) GOOD NAUTICAL: PAPANOA 🇲🇽 MEXICO
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Papanoa is north of Acapulco, Mexico.
Dropped it in 30’ over sand bottom at 17’ 16.070 N 101’ 3.356 W.
Fairly rolly but totally tolerable.
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MY TIDINGS OF JOY Dawn departure from Papanoa
MV TIDINGS OF JOY 🇺🇸 Jeff & Joy DeFever 52′
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14) MARINA PUESTA DEL SOL 🇳🇮 NICARAGUA
SPONSORS THE PANAMA POSSE
12º 37.2833' N 087º 20.5' W
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With pleasure we are happy to announce the Sponsorship of the Panama Posse
This new season the Panama Posse will have:
20% discount on docks.
welcome national beer and Access to beach and pool facilities.
We will manage sponsorship of bottles of Ron, if we succeed, I will notify you.
We are an official port of entry and will arrange for authorities to check you in / out
Regards,
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Juanita
CONTACT:
E-mail: administracion@marinaps.com
E-mail: info@marinaps.com – Web: www.marinapuestadelsol.com
Tel: + (505) 8880-0013 + (505) 8880-0019 and + (505) 8883-0781
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- All prices are effective from Dec 1st 2020 to April 30th 2021
- All prices are subject to change without notice at sole discretion of MPS.
- Prices are in American dollars and do not include tax (I.V.A @ 15%)
RATES < 30 days 30 – 90 days 90 days+
- First two days 1.25 1.25 1.25
- 3-30 Days
- < 36′ 0.75 0.60 0.45
- < 60 ‘ 0.80 0.65 0.50
- 60 ‘ + 1.00 0.80 0.60
MARINA SERVICES
- POWER ( not full time ) 0.45 per KWh
- TRANSPORT 12.00 pp 5 p min
- WIFI 2.0 x day x device
- WATER .04 x liter
- BOTTOM CLEANING 1.00 x foot
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Jeff's view from his slip
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MY SUNDOWNER 🇺🇸 Jeffrey & Lynn - Californian 50'
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15) POSSE SPONSOR:
SHARK SHAFT DOES IT'S JOB
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Cruising vessels travelling north or south along the Panama Posse route will be hard pressed not to come in contact with a long line. SY TIAMAT installed a Shark Shaft befor heading south and recently reported:
We
cut a line somewhere between Barra and Papanoa, probably at night.
Shaft shark did its job, I removed the remnants (A few meters of wrapped
up line) from the shaft by hand
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Ahoy Panama Posse
For an order thru your Panama Posse group we can offer your group a special discount of below trade –
30% off the List pricing plus shipping.
Cheers,
Geoff Prior
AB Marine
Ph: 401.847.7960
Cell: 401.578.3447
Skype: geoffprior
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130 + LONGLINE REPORTS - POWER THROUGH THEM WITH THE SHAFT SHARK
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16) MEET THE FLEET
🚢
MV TIDINGS OF JOY
Jeff & Joy
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We
both grew up with boats then shortly after meeting in 1999 we
discovered our common love for them. Living in San Diego we did
typical land lubber things - worked, exercised, spent time with friends
and family.
What's on your bucket list for this Season ?
Transit the Panama Canal
After
transiting the Canal we plan to cruise the entire Caribbean up to the
east coast of the United States then cruise north and then head to
Europe either on our own bottom or by shipping the boat.
2016-present:
Own, operate and live aboard a 52’ Defever trawler.
2016-17 My life partner (Joy Dornick) and I took our Defever on the Great Loop,
a circumnavigation around the eastern 1/3 of the United States. With
side trips to the Bahamas and in the Long Island Sound to Nantucket this
14 month trip was over 8000 miles. We cruised lakes, rivers, canals,
three of the Great Lakes, 100’s of locks, the Gulf Coast and Atlantic
coast ICW, twice crossed the Gulf Stream and many open ocean passages.
Since
shipping the DeFever from Florida to Ensenada in late 2017 we have
cruised all around Southern California including circumnavigating
Catalina Island on a trip which lasted a month and included 20 nights at
anchor and a 550 mile trip last summer from San Diego to Santa Barbara
with stays in the Channel Islands, Catalina and several other ports as
well.
June 2020-November 2020
Joy Dornick and I cruised up the west coast from San Diego to the Puget
Sound with no additional crew. Upon arriving we cruised the San Juan
Island and the Upper, Central and Lower Puget Sound extensively. We
continued to live aboard in Seattle for the Winter.
April 2021-November 2021
Joy Dornick and I cruised, with no additional crew, from Seattle to
Alaska where we cruised extensively in Southeast Alaska for 4 months. We
returned to the Puget Sound September 2021. This trip was well over
2000 miles. We continued to cruise the north, south and central Puget
Sound until November 1 when we docked at our winter slip at Elliott Bay
Marina in Seattle for the winter.
April 2022-September 2022 Joy
Dornick and I cruised, with no additional crew, from Seattle to The
Broughtons, British Columbia. After cruising all around southern British
Columbia until July we cruised down the west coast to San Diego, CA.
November 2022-June 2023 Joy
Dornick and I cruised, with no additional crew, from San Diego, down
the coast of Baja California to Cabo San Lucas, then up into the north
end of the Sea of Cortez. From there we cruised down the mainland side
of the Sea to Puerto Vallarta where we will be until November 2023. To
date Joy and I have cruised the Tidings of Joy over 23,000 nautical
miles.
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MY TIDINGS OF JOY 🇺🇸 Jeff & Joy - DeFever 52′
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Panama Posse Fleet Tracking courtesy of Predict Wind
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17) FESTIVAL DEL CRISTO NEGRO
PORTOBELLO 🇵🇦 PANAMA
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Portobelo is renowned throughout The Black Christ is bathed in legend, some of which describe it being marooned in Portobelo by sailors while en route to Colombia.
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Another legend says that on October 21, 1821
the residents of Portobelo prayed to the Black Christ to be spared from
a cholera epidemic that was sweeping Panama—and they were spared.
The
Festival del Cristo Negro which takes place on October 21. During this
festival, thousands of Panamanians travel to Portobelo and head to the
Church of San Felipe, which houses the life-size wooden sculpture of the
Black Christ.
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Festival de Diablos y Congos
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It’s
a festival of celebration and rebellion: Every year in February, the
port city of Portobelo, Panama holds the “Festival de Diablos y Congos.”
It’s a unique local take on the widespread Carnival tradition, a
five-day party with no shortage of loudspeakers, dancing — and devils
wielding whips.
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The
Casa de la Cultura Congo is an open public space that hosts workshops
and the creation of arts and crafts. Focusing on Congo art, the mission
of the Casa de la Cultura Congo is to exalt and express the importance
of the colonial Latin and African legacy in Portobelo, by bringing those
traditions to life through different creative expressions.
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19) MUST SEE:
REVILLAGIGEDO ISLANDS | SOCORRO ISLAND 🇲🇽
MEXICO PACIFIC
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REVILLAGIGEDO ISLANDS 🇲🇽
are an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean, approximately 235 nm SSW of
the tip of the Baja California peninsula and 300 nm WSW of Cape
Corrientes off Mexico’s Pacific Coast. The islands are
administered by Colima state, Mexico. Covering an area of 320 square
miles. The archipelago consists of numerous volcanic islands.
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Soccoro Island
The
largest, Socorro, which rises to an elevation of 3,707 feet (1,130 m).
Soccoro Island is 24 miles (39 km) long and 9 miles (14 km) wide.
San Benedicto, 40 miles (64 km) north of Socorro, and Clarión, 250 miles
(400 km) west of Socorro, are the two other large islands; small
islands include Roca Partida, 60 miles (100 km) west of Socorro, and
Roca Oneal, just off the northwestern coast of Socorro.
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In
1957 an outpost was established on long-uninhabited Socorro, and trees
were planted for timber and fruit. The expedition found about 8,000
sheep on the island, the residue of a temporary Australian settlement of
the mid-1800s. The Revillagigedo Islands are rich in sulfur, fish, and
guano.
In
July 2016, the Revillagigedo Archipelago was inscribed as a UNESCO
World Heritage Site, and in November 2017 they were declared to be a
marine reserve and a national park of Mexico. Some of the volcanoes are
active, with the last eruption of Volcán Bárcena in 1953, and Socorro in
1993. A small military airstrip exists on Socorro.
No
evidence of human habitation on any of the islands exists before their
discovery by Spanish explorers. Hernando de Grijalva and his crew
discovered an uninhabited island on 19 December 1533, and named it Santo
Tomás (Socorro Island) and on 28 December they discovered Isla de los
Inocentes (San Benedicto) which owed its name to having been found on
the day of the Holy Innocents.
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These
islands offer divers reliable encounters with giant manta rays, whale
sharks, dolphins, humpback whales, tuna, pelagic fish and many other
shark species.
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A divers paradise: swimming with hammerhead sharks.
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The
Revillagigedo Islands are home to many endemic plant and animal
species, and are sometimes called Mexico’s “little Hawaii”. They are
recognized as a distinct terrestrial eco region, part of the Neotropical
realm.
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Socorro
is the most diverse in flora, fauna, and topography. The Mexican
Government established the islands as a Biosphere Reserve on June 4,
1994. Oceanographic Magazine stated in 2020 that, “Its remoteness,
protection and peculiar oceanography makes it one of the most bio
diverse and exciting marine destinations on earth.”
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2024-05-05
