Panama to Colombia by boat

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We got on the boat at 11am with 11 other people. 2 Russians, Igor & Vladimir, 2 Swedes Marcus & Emanuel, 3 English Tom (aka mama bear) Will & Greg, 1 hairy Argentinian, pueblo & then the 5 of us Irish people. Great bunch of people & everyone got on really well together. The Russians & Argentinian dudes had their motorbikes on board also. As it was a 52ft catermaringue, there was loads of space. We met the captain/owner, Fritz, a 50 something year old, heavy Austrian man, with the biggest personality ever, & an even bigger laugh which made us all laugh every time he did. He had 3 crew on board, his girlfriend Tulay, her niece Yeliz, & the deckhand Jose.

Fritz used to be a chef on cruise liners so we were looking forward to the food. He has Jose trained in to do all the cooking now. The food for the 5 days was amazing, everything from spaghetti bolognese, to beef curry to fresh fish & lobster. Every meal was different & every morning we had freshly baked brown bread for breakfast. We got 3 big fresh meals a day and there was always bread if anyone wanted a snack.
Day 1, we sailed from Portobello, after we got our exit stamps, to the San Blas islands, which is ran by the indigenous people of Panama, for hundreds of years. Everyone had to walk bare foot on the boat as flip flops or shoes weren’t allowed. The shower on the boat was a fresh water shower & they were limited to 90 seconds long, 1 each per person per day, after 6pm. It was late when we arrived so everyone was excited about what tomorrow was going to look like. Every time we landed somewhere, Fritz would play a tune on his trumpet.

No one was disappointed, crystal clear still water, amazing reefs & corals, tropical golden sand beaches and almost deserted islands. After breakfast, everyone spent the day in the water swimming, snorkelling and fishing. That evening after dark, we set sail to another island. It only took 2 hours to get there so we decided to have a party on the boat, ipods turned up & the dancing came out. Great night. The next day was more of the same. That night, we lifted anchor & set about the 2 day sail to Cartagena in Colombia. It was perfect sailing along while looking up at the stars. Fritz reckoned he has never seen a sailing so smooth in all his life, hardly a ripple was seen in the water. As we lay on the trampolines on the front of the boat, a fish jumped out of the water & smacked one of the girls in the side of the face. Priceless. During the night sailing, all the lads had to take it in turns to keep watch for an hour. Because of the smooth sea & gentle winds, we landed in the port of Cartagena 8 hours ahead of time. We stayed on the boat & after breakfast, we finished packing. Fritz & girlfriend had gone to get our passports stamped so they could give them back to us that night, and we headed off to our hostel. We were sad to leave the boat, the best 5 days ever, a perfect crew & a perfect gang.

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