Commodore
January 14, 2023

Saturday 14 January – Happy to be pulling into to Snug Bay

We left as soon as we were awake, heading out the channel through the gap in the reef, a big easy exit. Matt and Stella had wanted to experience a bit of proper sailing and they were introduced to it pretty quickly. We headed south to go and explore theses islands which are a bit more remote. We were aiming for the island Pinos (called after the Pine trees on it), Rowan had planned another anchorage halfway if the sailing was getting too much. The sea outside was pretty choppy and we were having to sail quite close to the wind. Matt got quieter and quieter, and more subdued, it wasn’t that pleasant sailing so we pulled in half way into Snug Bay. As soon as we were in the channel behind the reef the water was calm. There wasn’t a single boat in the anchorage, so it was easy to get the anchor down, just had to keep an eye out for the coral everywhere.

Leaving Coco Banderos

Choppy waters and cloudy mountains

Calm waters behind the reef, Matt looking out for coral

Dense jungle on the mainland

There were loads of fishermen about in canoes, there is quite a densely populated town called Playa Chico in the distance, which must be where they all live. It wasn’t long before Ari a boatman arrived offering his services as a guide, he had pretty good English so we arranged to meet him in town when it had cooled down a little, to do a walk to a waterfall.

Ari in his boat

After a little siesta, we met him at the town jetty outside the police station. We had to pay some taxes to the Congressa and the police offered to keep an eye on the boat. There were two rather ramshackle boats from Colombia, buying coconuts and selling Colombian goods. The town certainly had a lot more traditional looking buildings than at Nargana. Ari had warned us to wear trainers, I think he was a little surprised we had actually turned up. He had to rush home and get wellies and a panga. The town has a very long bridge from the island to the mainland, built by the Mormon missionaries. We crossed over the bridge and then walked down a runway heading towards the mountains. We were watching school football next to the runway when the coach blew his whistle and everyone stopped play, they all headed to the other side of the field, and Ari took us off the runway. A tiny plane arrived taking the town doc who we had just passed to some place. I had read in the guide book it is best to get a guide to do the walk or you can just follow the main water pipe to the waterfall. Well thank god we had Ari and that he had advised sensible shoes, a lot of the path was thick slippery mud, and Ari did a lot of bush cutting to make things easier for us. We passed quite a few small holdings in the beginning, no accommodation just vegetable/pineapple/banana/coconut plots. Parts were pretty slow going, we had 3 rivers to cross. Ari carried us all over the first one except Rowan, at the second river just Stella and I and the final river just myself. Poor guy! It took us over an hour to get to the rather small waterfall, but it was a very refreshing swim, and a lovely walk in the jungle forest. We got there at 5pm so we only had time for a very quick swim and then needed to get back before it got dark. You will be pleased to know Ari did not have to give anyone a lift over the river on the way back! Disappointingly there was very little birdlife and no sign of animals, but all rather a fascinating experience. We would never have found it without Ari, the guide book is pretty ambitious to suggest just following the water pipe!

Crossing the bridge back into town, we had a scene straight out of the “Book of Mormons’, two youthful looking American male Mormons in their ironed white shirts and ties, chatting up two pretty young local Guna girls.

We passed someone who had been to the bakery with delicious smelling rolls, so Ari dashed into town to buy some for us. Interestingly the police used Ari as a translator to tell us to take their phone number so that if we had any problems we could contact them. The guide book does say that this is the one place things have disappeared off boats. It was just getting dark as we headed back to the boat, luckily I had brought the torch as we had to navigate our way through the coral.

Thank goodness for my garden fairy lights and the anchor light to guide us to the boat Back on board we had our first meal from our Shuttle Thermos pot, a Japanese contraption, that the Kirbys brought out for me. It is a cooking pot that you heat up on the stove and once everything is hot you put it inside an insulating pot and use as a slow cooker. We had put some chicken and veg into it before we set off, returning after four hours to a good meal.