World ARC Pacific 2023: Leg 2 - Santa Marta to Panama

Wednesday 1st March, start of Leg 2, saw us leaving Santa Marta, Columbia and making the relatively short passage of 300nm along the northern coast of Columbia and into Panama. After our long and windy passage on Leg 1, we were hoping for a pleasant sail.  Unfortunately, this was not to be. Winds of Force 6 (22 – 27 knots) with gusts of Force 8 (34 – 40 knots) and seas of 3-4m swell meant another bouncy ride for the first day. Then, half way, the winds dropped to Force 3 (7 – 10 knots) which at times meant we needed to motor sail. That’s the way with sailing, either too much wind or not enough!

After a passage of 2½ days, our first port of call in Panama was the San Blas Islands. These are an archipelago of approximately 365 islands spread along the northern coast of Panama. Whilst most of these islands are uninhabited, 49 of them are home to the Kuna people. As we only had a week to explore, we had to choose our destinations carefully. We decided to focus on the less populated western islands.

The San Blas Islands formed the perfect place to catch up with other boats: a few beach BBQs, beers and even a quick game of volley ball.

Our time in the islands was definitely chilled and relaxed – a world away from our time in Santa Marta.

The San Blas Islands and the passage from there to Shelter Bay (approximately 80nm) was ‘independent sailing’. Each of the rally boats made their own itinerary, allowing time to visit as many, or as few places, on route as suited. The next official meeting place was at Shelter Bay Marina, Panama near busy port of Cristobal. After our time in the secluded San Blas Islands, it was strange to sail through the busy port area, keeping watch for large shipping vessels making their way to and from the Panama Canal.

Across the port and through the breakwater, we made  our way into the small Shelter Bay Marina. This was to be our home for 6 days while we prepared to head through the Canal and into the Pacific.

We knew that Panama would be our last chance for a while to have access to larger supermarkets and boat bits, so we used our preparation time wisely.

We investigated some issues with our Satcoms connectivity and took our batteries to be tested. We replenished our stock of dried and tinned goods as we knew that provisioning in the Pacific would be more basic and much more expensive.

Then, finally, there were some preparations needed for our next stop in the Galapagos Islands. The islands have strict rules to protect the environment and this meant that we needed to have the boat fumigated and also a diver to clean the hull.

It was a busy 6 days!!