Lemon Cays 1

Even though the Lemon Cays were not that far, we again had to zigzag our way around shallow reefs. Sailing in the San Blas feels like doing those maze games I love (with pencil in a book, where you have to find your way).

On our way to the anchorage, it was funny to notice that the kunas take tourists out to wade on the shallow sandbars (by hundreds). We clearly entered a touristic area as we saw lots of watertaxis and sail boats. This were the most boats we had seen in the San Blas. We later heard that most of the sailboats in that area are charter boats that take people around for a couple of days. The ones on the watertaxis are actually day trippers, most of those tourists only stay for one day.

We dropped anchor near Fernando’s boat and (impatient as usual) dad wanted us to go to Fernando’s boat to pick up our spare parts and give him his sextant.

Later we went to the island Yanisaladup. This island also does lodging and has a bar. We walked around and had drinks. As there was no other choice, I had my first taste of Coca Cola. I was not too impressed (I think I prefer sodas).

UNFORGETTABLE WEEKEND

It was decided that on Saturday we would go to the shipwreck at Chicheme (photo mini Titanic). We went in Fernando’s dingy. He made it himself from fibreglass and painted it red, just like his sailing yacht.

It took a while to get there, but when we did, we dropped the anchor and we put on our gear. We went snorkelling around the wreck. On the one side, lots of pieces of boat were lying around, scattered for many meters. You could also clearly see the big roll of anchor chain, which had now become a house for small fish and sea critters. I didn’t bring my camera but I was allowed to use Fernandos GoPro. You could see the inside of the San Blas ferry very clearly, with waves rolling in, and an entire aquarium of fish inside. A fish nursery with lots of small reef fish and snappers. There was a big barracuda around but he didn’t feel like being shot.

When we got bored of snorkelling around, we put on shoes and gloves, swam to the rusty ladder and climbed up the shipwreck. It was difficult because the ship was lying on it’s side on a shallow reef. Once we got on the deck, it was difficult to get around. I crab walked around (Jiu—Jitsu crab walk). Every now and then, someone would let out a snort of laughter.

The view from the ship was like an aerial photo of San Blas (beautiful!). And clearly the perfect day to do this. We even went on to the 2nd floor, the wheelhouse, the lounge, and inside some of the rooms. It felt ssoo weird because the rooms were on the side that is leaning🤣!

Fernando told us the story of the San Blas ferry. It was called out to rescue a boat stuck on the corals but had an engine failure and landed on the corals itself….

To get off the wreck you had to jump into the water. So first my dad went, then me. With dad counting the waves and telling me when to jump. But when I jumped I landed on top of my dad and he lost his shoe (luckily we found it). Whoops!

When we were back in the dingy we didn’t go back to our boats but went to visit another shipwreck on ‘little dog’ island while Fernando got more fuel for his dingy. There were a lot of corals on the wreck (a smaller ferry/ cargo boat) and it was quite shallow. Going from 2m to 5m. When you swim in the shallows you have the reef fish swimming around you.

On Sunday we had a beach BBQ with Fernando, but first he and dad went spearfishing, while me and mom were on the beach. Fernando brought the fish and we brought the extras. It was really nice! We had trigger fish, rainbow runners and an unknown fish, all very yummy, what I wasn’t expecting was that we had some Kunas join us for dinner. Fernando invited River (the manager) and his family. He manages the small bar/ restaurant on Yanisaladup. All in all it was a very nice day and we made some nice pictures.

Snorkelling around Yanisaladup

Apart from school, boat and house chores, we did a lot of snorkelling. At first we were at a spot were Fernando spearfished. Mom and I were staying on the inside of the reef, as dad doesn’t like the idea of us having shark encounters on the ocean side of the reef. I can’t say it was great snorkelling, but we did get to see: an eagle ray, a pufferfish, a ton of normal rays, and a huge school of anchovies.

Then dad discovered this really cool spot. It’s got a lot of sand gullies and coral spots and is quite deep.

Dad’s been trying to catch some fish but hasn’t been successful because of conditions not being right…. So Capo hasn’t had any fresh fish. Funny thing, each time we come back from snorkeling he looks severely disappointed.

Yanisaladup and a mini dup

There is a tiny island that is surrounded by shallows but is really nice for walking and swimming. It’s got soft sand and turkooise water. In the middle of the day, the Kunas drop off the day trippers there for a quick splash before they continue to the next San Blas highlight. We realised quickly that after 15h you’ve got the place to yourself.

Yanisaladup isn’t great for swimming because it is shallow and has lots of seaweed.

We went to Yanis island quite often for different reasons, such as trying to get bread flour (because we nearly ran out and nobody was selling bread), getting litter sand for Capo, going for a walk…