FLEET UPDATE 2022-03-13

March 13, 2022

PANAMA POSSE
FLEET UPDATE

Panama Posse grows to 358 yachts from 25 flag states

1) PANAMA POSSE WELCOMES OUR NEWEST MEMBERS TO THE FLEET

357 SY JOSEPHINE 🇫🇷 Yann – Dufour 39.5′

358 SY KUETTE 🇨🇦 Ilka & Dogan – Alliaura Marine 49.5′

Panama Posse fleet tracking. To be added follow this link >>

2) THE DARIÉN GAP PANAMA 🇵🇦
RE-DISCOVERED BY SY PANIA

The Darién Gap (Tapón del Darién) is a geographic region between the North and South American continents within Central America, consisting of a large watershed, rivermouth, dense forests, and mountains. The gap entails the Pan-American Highway, of which 66 mi between Yaviza, Panama, and Turbo, Colombia, has not been built and as of 2022 there is no active plan to build the missing road.

Droneshot by SY Agape Panama Posse Season 1

February 2022
We cast off from Espiritu Santo in Las Perlas in the late morning with ten knots and high hopes. As we sailed we kept a lookout for whales. Our energy sagged as the wind died in the afternoon and by the time we entered the Gulf of San Miguel we were tired and very happy to turn off the engine. The only good thing about having it on for so long was that we were able to use the watermaker to completely fill our tanks and three Jerry cans along the way.

We knew it would be impossible to make water once we were in the rivers due to the ubiquitous debris.

https://goodnautical.com/gma/panama

We anchored the first evening between Isla Iguana and Isla Iguanita, which Bauhaus himself says “makes a nice starting point for exploring the rivers.” It was a beautiful night with a starry sky and only a little swell. There were seven of us onboard, three couples including us and our three year old son.

In the morning we prepared to head up the Cucunati River on the rising tide. The water turned a rich chocolate brown color that reminded me of Willy Wonka’s Chocolate factory. Dense mangroves lined the river, on the slopes we started to see rainforest trees and in the distance the mountain beckoned. We anchored five miles upriver.

We had read there was a village on this part of the river but only saw a few huts poking their thatched roofs out of the rain forest trees. In the evening we explored the mangroves by dingy and saw a baby Racoon as well as many different kinds of birds including green parrots that flew over our heads and white Ibises combing the muddy shore.

In the morning we woke early and saw two toucans fly over us in the dingy. The tide was low and we had to put off the muddy bottom with the oars a couple times. Strange sounds escaped the mangroves but the foliage was too thick for us to identify their sources.

After breakfast we took up anchor and headed to La Palma, a town of five thousand at the mouth of the Rio Tuira. We had been given the number of Jairo Grajales, a local official in La Palma who was also a member of the Embera tribe. When we arrived I sent him a WhatsApp and he invited us to meet him at this offices. When we arrived he asked if we would like to visit his village of Marea in two days time when he returned for the weekend. We happily agreed.

Leaving his offices we explored La Palma and found a bar on the river that was blaring music so loud we couldn’t hear each other across the table. The beer was good and cold though so we were in jovial spirits when we sat down in a little restaurant down the road for a meal of roast pork, fried fish and patacones.

Getting fuel for the dingy was exciting. Because the tide wasn’t at its peak, the fuel hose had to be lowered down over the side of a balcony to us. The proprietor then poured gasoline into a funnel attached to the hose which flowed down and into our fuel tank.

Our trip Marea started early. We met Jairo and his nephew Gabriel at his offices and rode in a van to the fishing village of Chepigana. There we met one of Jairo’s daughters and her two children who joined us in the lancha that took us up the wide Tuira and down the narrow tributary to Marea. The whole trip took about two and a half hours.

When we arrived we walked up a dirt path, past a blue painted wooden church to the village where we were greeted by all the children. With big grins, they took our hands and led us to the communal meeting place. We passed bare breasted women who smiled down at us from their balconies. Every seemed happy and curious.

We were introduced to the village chief and I presented him with some small gifts we had brought. He welcomed us to his village and told us we would eat lunch with him at the house of his neice. We then went to Jairo’s House where we were introduced to his wife. Jairo was a proud grandfather of 16 grandchildren and they were all there playing quietly on the floor. The eldest girls were especially interested in our women and sat next to us and tried to teach us a card game. We were served lemongrass tea while we watched Jairo’s wife prepare pork belly and fish in the kitchen space. A tame parrot named Cosita watched us suspiciously. She didn’t know what to make of the foreigners in her midst.

We watched as the women prepared the pigment for tattooing. Then all of us had Embera designs painted in our arms. We were told the tattoos would last for 15 days. When they were finished the women poured talcum powder on our arms to dry them and we prepared for a nature walk with some of the young people.

Two young men and a teenage girl named Kasi accompanied us through the farming area and into the deep jungle. Our guides pointed out different kinds of trees useful to the Embera including the very dense cocobolo. In one area being replanted with basalm trees Kasi spotted a baby crocodile. Our guide called to it with a perfect rendition of the little crocodiles squeak. They all seemed just as excited as us to see the creature. Much to our discomfort, Kasi picked it up and held it like a baby, in Embera she pleaded with the others to keep it. Other creatures we saw on the hike included several types of birds and Tamarin monkeys.

When we returned to the village, hungry and tired from our two hour walk, we were served a lunch of homegrown rice, fried fish and grilled plantain. The chief told us how much things had changed since he was a child, how they had sacrificed much of their culture in the quest for education, but how they still tried to keep traditions alive. Surrealy, we discussed the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Finally we were led back to the communal area where the women spread out their crafts. We each bought something trying to be egalitarian in our purchases. I gave the last gifts I had brought to Jairo and his wife and thanked them again for inviting us to the village. Just then, the chief strutted out looking very proud and comfortable in his traditional clothes. I asked if I might take a photo of Jairo and his family and they graciously obliged.

At three thirty Gabriel arrived to bring us back down the river. We made our fairwells and started down the river. We stopped once to clear a path through a pile of wood that had accumulated and formed a dam. From there is was a hard slog against the current back to Chepigana where we waited an hour for the van to pick us up and bring us back to La Palma. It was late and dark by the time we returned. My husband, who had stayed behind on the boat with our young son had been worried enough to alert the military posted at the aeronaval dock. He braved the current in the dark to pick us up and bring us home where we gratefully fell into bed.

We left the next morning at low tide for Rio Sabana and turned into the smaller estuary of Rio Ingelsias. We anchored just past Puerto Quimba, a small but busy port attached to a main road leading to the Pan-American Highway. In the evening, all traffic at the port ceased and it was easy to hear the Howler monkeys and birds all around us. We drifted silently through the mangroves, listening to the parrots squawking their constant couples tiffs. We saw four bats detach themselves from the underside of a tree branch and launch themselves into the night. Surprisingly there were very few mosquitos in the places we went. Still we were aware that malaria was a threat and took the precautions of window screens and bug spray.

The following day most of the crew decided to remain on the boat while Jules, one of the other female crew members, and I set out on an adventure. Our plan was to travel by local bus to Yaviza, the town at the end of the Pan-American Highway and then catch a lancha to El Real, the closest town to the National Park where we hoped to catch sight of a rare Harpie Eagle.

Yaviza is a town and corregimiento in Pinogana District, Darién Province. The town marks the southeastern end of the northern half of the Pan-American Highway, at the north end of the Darién Gap.

The trip to Yaviza was an hours drive with glimpses of picturesque fincas lining the highway. It was Sunday and so the market was in full swing when we arrived in Yaviza around around 10AM. The port was crowded with wooden canoes bringing crops to market and returning home with everything from furniture and clothes to cola and candy. We explored the town and then asked a local woman in our broken Spanish where we would be able to catch a lancha to El Real. She led us directly to a young man named Carlo. She instructed him to take care of us, he accepted with the air of an obedient son.

River obstructions

Carlos led us to a lancha that was filling with people and their accoutrements. We had just sat down when a soldier approached the lancha and asked to see our passports. I explained that we were not carrying them with us. He told us we would have to disembark. At first I was angry, I had been in Panama for three months already. But Jules calmed me down. She pointed out that this area was renowned for illegal border crossings and drug transport. I saw that she had a point and tried to answer the soldiers questions with patience and respect.

No we did not have our passports, we travelled here by bus from Porto Quimba, where the boat was anchored. Port Quimba was on the Rio Ingesias. Our passport was on the boat. No it was no possible to get our passports. No it was not possible for someone to bring our passports.

After a while they settled with a picture of our passports and visa entry page. They explained that normally it was required for all foreigners traveling in the region to carry their passport and check in with local officials wherever they went. Finally we were granted permission to visit El Real but he told us sternly that we were forbidden to visit the mountain. They apologized for holding us up and one soldier was even kind enough to find us another boat, no more lanchas were going to El Real today but he found us a ride with a farmer returning home from market.

We climbed into the boat and resumed our adventure, although it definitely added prestige to our story when we got home that we were able to say we’d been arrested. The boat set off at a pace about half as fast as a lancha. This slow pace suited us quite well as it allowed us to take in the beautiful scenery and the view of the forbidden mountain. Soon it began to rain, then it began to pour. We huddled together under one rain jacket. It rained all the way to El Real, but stopped just as we stepped ashore. We checked in with the military police and walked past the local bar where the lancha drivers were hooping and hollering at us, into town.

El Real was a beautiful little Spanish style village and the capital of the region. Unfortunately, it was not close enough to the mountains for us to see any animals. We walked to the end of town and stared longingly towards the national park. At the end of town was a small hostel where a Kuna man housed tourists who had gained permission to enter the park. His tours were a minimum of three days and rather pricey but offered the unique experience to hike through the untouched nature of the Darien Gap to the Columbian border.

We walked back through town and bought a beer to celebrate the end of our adventure. We drank them in the lancha that took us back to Yaviza. On the way we saw three crocodiles and two tortoises sunning themselves on the side of the river. Our trip home was largely uneventful except we missed the last bus from Meteti and had to finish the trip with a taxi. We felt that the adventure had been the perfect end to our trip to the Darien. We had seen much of rivers and the people who make their homes along their banks. On Monday we set sail again for the Pearl Islands. Along the way we saw whale sharks, dolphins and leaping modular rays, but that is a tale for another time.

We are a live aboard family with a three year old son. We take four crew members at a timewith us on our adventures. To find out more about us and our boat follow us on Facebook, “Sailing Pania,” and feel free to reach out if you want to know more about the Darien!

SY PANIA 🇬🇧 Jelle & Skye – Omega 52′ – Tracking >>

NOTE: Entry in to the 22′ Spirit of Exploration Award

Pania’s track is now accessible in Good Nautical >>

3) SAN BLAS 🇵🇦 URRACA ISLAND, PANAMA

We anchored out and tendered in. 20/pp. She also has casitas and serves food if you want. Reservations are requested.

The location is near the Zapatilla islands and the water is beautiful.

The location is near the Zapatilla islands and the water is beautiful.

During this educational wildlife tour in Bocas del Toro you will get to meet the resident monkeys and learn lots about each of their species. A remote mangrove island…a true monkey paradise!

Meet the Monkeys up close

Totally a fun experience!

For more info https://urracaprivateisland.com/

SY VITESSE 🇺🇸 Jeff, Catherine & Tilly – Lagoon 55′

4) DRAKES BAY 🇨🇷 COSTA RICA

Next to Corcovado National Park across the river Rios Aguijtas

Walk along the coast of the Osa Peninsula in the CORCOVADO NATIONAL PARK, COSTA RICA >>

The Dinghy dock and former Pirate lair hideout at the entrance to Rio Rios Aguijtas and Aguila de Osa Inn – 08° 41.65′ N 083° 40′.625′ W

The definition of Pura Vida – Isla del Caño on the Horizon
One of the renownedsites of the Diquís settlements in COSTA RICA >>

Meeting up with Doug & Mary / MY One Life

The squalls are staring to form in southern Costa Rica – with 2 waterspouts

Horse riding in the jungle

Alison taking a break under the coconut trees on the beach

The Cumulus cloud formations.
Here is a link to all cloud formations and definitions ->

MY RED ROVER 🇺🇸 Kevin & Alison & Jessica – Nordhavn 55′

6) PICTURE OF THE WEEK
🇸🇻EL SALVADOR

Fertile jungle on the base of the volcano Santa Ana

An ominous set of the steps

Santa Ana Volcano viewed from the ocean

On top of the Santa Ana Volcano with view of the crate Lake

Hooray and up she rises …

The daunting El Salvador Bar

MY SEA TRIAL 🇺🇸 David, Toni & Crew – Nordhavn 55′

7) A MOMENT OF ZEN 🇲🇽
RUTA DEL CAFE

Finca Argovia in Chaipas MX dates back to the year 1880, when a Swiss family from the canton “Argau” founded it and gave it the name by which it is known today. Today it is managed by the fourth generation of coffee growers from that same family.

Since its inception, when coffee growers had to live completely autonomously due to communication difficulties with Tapachula (3 days ride to reach the city, now 2 hours by car), so they developed other crops in parallel with the cultivation of coffee for their own consumption.

This diversification has led this farm into a gigantic nursery where 125 species are cultivated, including coffee trees and fruit trees.

8) SEND US YOUR UPDATES, STORIES, PICTURES,SUGGESTIONS, EXPERIENCES >>

Call for Service provider data and fuel price data
If you find and empty marina in the Bahamas let us know !

Every vessel has their own journey and along the way you have encountered service providers – please let us know about what works and what doesn’t we’ll publish this list and facts to the Panama Posse fleet

We all want to know the good the bad and the ugly please provide your feedback on service providers you have used with this simple form – we’ll update the results as soon as we get this data from you – just takes a few seconds and helps the next yacht !-> https://panamaposse.com/service-provider

9) THE BOAT YARD

AVANT 🇵🇦 SHELTER BAY BOATYARD, PANAMA

Huge effort to refit S.V. Avant’s rudder in the new bearings. Maneuvering a 200# +, 8’ long piece back into place with clearances in the thousandths of an inch was difficult and sweaty work.

Big shout out to Bob from Green Flash and Brad from Grinn for coming to our aid!

SY AVANT 🇨🇦 Rob & Debra – Beneteau 43.5′

SECOND WIND ON THE HARD
🇨🇷 COSTA RICA YACHT CLUB

I left Puntarenas last Friday after having Second Wind on the hard for six weeks. I had lots of work done including installation of external chain plates, repainting the entire exterior, redoing all of the external brite work, replacing a few thru hulls and more I could not be happier with the work done by the crew there along with Max Soto, the rigger who did the chain plates plus sum. Miguel (Chaparro) runs the crew in the boat yard. He is diligent and he and his crew are very hard working.

I stayed in the Costa Rica Yacht Club ‘hotel’ for less than $30 per night. Mainor manages the entire operation and is a pleasure to work with. The same for Jocelyn who works as the receptionist and the fuel pump operator. The entire place looks like a place out of the 1950’s and it is. I would go back there in a minute to have more work done…Also a heads up to Alejandro Calvo, a marine electrician, who did some work for me at Marina Papagayo and who steered me to Puntarenas. He does a lot more than electrical work…

Golfo de Nicoya anchorages

SY SECOND WIND 🇺🇸 Chris & Laurin – Tayana 37′

HO’OKIPAS CAPRAILS
DETAILED VARNISHING STEPS
BUENAVENTURA MARINA 🇵🇦 PANAMA

The tropical sun beats up the yacht’s wood and joints.

We like keeping our yacht looking sharp

We have to varnish all the exterior wood every 2 years.
Gotta look good

The last time we varnished was in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico in 2020.

Here’s what we do.

STEP #1 – PREP:

1. Tape Stainless Steel Poles, Plates and Trim

2. Tape outside Hull under caprail edges so sanding doesn’t hurt green gelcoat

3. Tape transom door edges

4. Tape drawers

5. Tape & Hang Flagstaffs tapering down top to bottom

6. Prep Surface with Nails for signboards and/or cabinet doors

7. Sand dry and/or wet starting with #80 and working way up to #150, #220, #320 and #400; Dry sanding tends to “knock down” the ridges better than wet sanding

8. Razor Blade joints clean

9. Tape joints and edges make tape “well” underside of miter joints

STEP #2 – EPOXY (is penetrating and structural laminating):

1. Wipe surfaces with paper towels and alcohol – 2 passes

2. Prep CHIP BRUSH by removing hairs with blue tape, then 1” of acetone in jar

3. Prep plastic mixing container with dry edge blue tape and straight edge mixer

4. Mix Epoxy (read ratio if not mixing with pump!!!), for 2-3 minutes going 20-seconds clockwise direction, then 20 seconds counterclockwise. Repeat for 2-3 mins

5. Chip Brush epoxy into joins, edges, and blemishes nice and light with grain – hit 2 passes within minutes of 1st pass application

6. Make “sample board” to know when dry and ready to knock down

STEP #3 – DE-GLOSSING EPOXY:

1. Dry & Wet Sand Feather Finish with grain and no 45 degrees, no crosscuts, no round overs

2. #80 with block on curtains and boobs

3. #220 dry then #400 wet, then a water wipe

4. Get dust freckles out with razor

5. Final de-gloss of 90-95% of gloss with grain and #600

6. De-Gloss corners – barely touch with wet #600 – #1000

STEP #4 – VARNISH (we try to do this in shade and cooler temps):

1. Remove or Retape metal plates for stanchions and flag staffs to separate epoxy

2. Wipe with water then alcohol

3. Open Varnish can and put nail holes in lid well so excess can drain back into can

4. Condition 1” – 2” brush with blue tape and acetone

5. 1st COAT (varnish mix of 90% with 10% of #216) – cover only 7/8 of cap rail – leave ¼” of underside wood open to soak up curtain and for the last coat;

6. Apply varnish in 12-14” 45-degree strokes into project (new varnish application into old varnish), then 45 degree short strokes on edges, then long sweep

7. 2nd COAT (100% varnish) – Use #220 dry, then wet to feather any ridges or curtains; Water wipe; #400 wet to get out the freckles; Water Wipe; #600 wet to de-gloss – ail for 90-95% de-glossing. Go easy to leave as much new varnish on…no burn through to previous coat; Wipe with Water, Alcohol, Acetone and then Tack Cloth

8. 3rd COAT (100% varnish) – use Bronze Wool to de-gloss. If there are curtains, use sandpaper and small block to remove and level ridges

9. Wipe with Water, Alcohol, Acetone and then Tack Cloth

10. Final coat apply with 1 ½” brush (we were taught to then smooth out brush stroke with a 4” foam brush by Left/Right/Center strokes, but found that it was not an effective technique here in the tropics, so we opted out)

11. Final coat of varnish has tapped edges and just varnish the 1/8 underside that was not previously varnished

12. Cure for 48 hours

13. Use 216 thinner and bronze wool and 3M Perfect It to smooth out final coat after 2-3 days

NOTES:

• After 2-minutes of laying down the varnish, WE DO NOT TRY TO TOUCH UP OR REAPPLY!!! It will “box” up and create a distressed uneven surface! Lay it down and let it ride…

• Varnish has more UV filters than Epoxy

• Get up early, PLAN & WORK the sun & shade to the advantage

• Wind? What wind? Just WET SAND!

• Rain? It takes a week to do right, so time according even if it cuts into the cruising

• Anything that lands in the freshly laid down varnish, LEAVE IT!!! Don’t touch it!! The next day, have it for a snack or toss it.

• Clean Brushes with #216, wrap in paper towel wet with #216, wrap and store in Plastic with date labeled

MY HO’OKIPA 🇺🇸 Lisa & Lucky – Selene 43′

11) DESTINATIONS 🇲🇽 MARINA CHIAPAS

Pathfinder found the welcome to the calm estuary of Marina

A few scary moments with a fire near the marina which was quickly extinguished

SY PATHFINDER 🇺🇸 Jean-Philippe & Nicole – Lagoon 39′

Marina Chiapas sponsors the Panama Posse and has an off season special

12) MEET THE FLEET
BLESSED LIFE

We wanted to mention Bluefield Lagoon at Peninsula Valliente as you head to Bocas Del Toro, as an adventure stop. We had a family of kids 10-19yrs old ask us if we wanted to hike Agua Cascade’s. “Of course!”, since MV Stand Down had already mentioned it. Omg- we took the dinghy up a tiny river, hiked thru the muck, and there it was – the water fall. But I’m not going to give it away…

We paid the kids 10$.

They wanted to come aboard and so they did. They wanted stuff which we gave some of, BUT what they really wanted was pens, pencils, paper and books. The kids dinghy themselves across the bay to the school. We were impressed. So, if you happen to plan this stop then maybe consider those scholastic items. Oh yea and chocolate!

SY BLESSED LIFE 🇺🇸 Bob and Margie – Catalina 42′

13) CODDIWOMPLE’S
ENTRY INTO BIGGEST FISH CAUGHT

And CODDIWOMPLE’s entry into picture of the week

SY CODDIWOMPLE 🇺🇸 Jessica & Bram – Ta Shing 40′

Coddiwomple. (KOD-ee-wom-pul) Verb: -To travel purposefully toward an as-yet-unknown destination. -To travel in a purposeful manner towards a vague destination.

14) AIDS TO NAVIGATION

A HAND DRAWN CRUISERS MAP

Here is Bob’s hand drawn map of Play Cocos and everything you need to know
Stay Tuned for his evergrowing page of resources

https://panamaposse.com/bobs-yacht-resources-northern-costa-rica

Panama Posse’s Website has a link to Playa del Cocos – feel free to comment on this page with your own findings –

https://panamaposse.com/playa-cocos

SY NIRVANA 🇺🇸 Bob & Sherry – Irwin 45′

15) REMINDER 11 WEEKS LEFT TO ENTER AND WIN

PANAMA POSSE 22′ AWARDS

HERE ARE THE CATEGORIES

BIGGEST FISH CAUGHT* ✔

PICTURE OF THE YEAR ✔

PANAMA POSSE YODA OF THE YEAR ✔

SPEEDY AWARD – SEVENSTAR AWARD ✔

THE CAPTAIN RON AWARD ✔

MOST UNWELCOME VISITOR ONBOARD ✔

HIGHEST WIND RECORDED ✔

SPIRIT OF EXPLORATION ✔

GALLEY GOD(ESS) ✔

GOOD SAMARITAN OF THE YEAR ✔

NEWLY ADDED – BOAT YOGA POSE OF THE YEAR ✔

*no bill-fish entries

Every season at the awards ceremony in Panama we give out some valuable liquid prizes and free weeks in marinas to the winners and sometimes even to the runners up , and of course Flor de Caña Rum.

16) PICTURES OF THE WEEK AND FINDINGS

MY SEA TRIAL a coast of Volcanoes

SY BEATA riding on out of El Salvador

SY SECOND WIND estuaries in Puntarenas Costa Rica do have crocodiles

SY SAMADHI V scary looking squall

SY TARA – Double Rainbow over red skies Central Costa Rica

MY DELTA SWIZZLER – this view never gets old in Bocas del Toro

17) ” THE BIRDS OF MARINA CHIAPAS “

A lovely ebook has been made available by the Panama Posse S3 veterans and bird watchers extraordinaire Bill & Lisanne –
Please follow this link to view it https://panamaposse.com/birds-of-chiapas

SY ROCINANTE 🇺🇸 Lisanne & Bill – Pearson 44′

18) PANAMA POSSE
PARTICIPANTS WEBSITES, BLOGS & YOUTUBE CHANNELS

SY PELICAN

SY PELICAN 🇺🇸 Bryan & Anne – Pearson 42′

With over 100 current and past participants website there are links to exciting stories for everyone
https://panamaposse.com/participant-websites