We left Chichime Cays in San Blas on Sunday morning in light airs and started motor-sailing our way to Isla Grande – about half-way to Colón. We wanted to break up the 80 nautical mile trip into two days. We were told by another sailor that Isla Grande was a nice little stop-over on the way. By 2 PM we shut off the engine and were making 6-7 knots sailing in 10-12 knots of wind. It was a very nice sail the rest of the way and we approached the very hilly and rocky coastline near Isla Grande which almost appeared to be enshrouded in mist – it was really thick haze. Even the little islands had enormous height with high rocky hills covered with trees and shrubs.
Isla Grande appears to be a resort island with several hotels and restaurants and access only by water taxi. We dropped our sails on the north side and motored to the southwest anchorage area by the beach. We had a constant flow of water taxis as the sun set, but they mostly stopped coming and going after dark. It was strange seeing so many people and buildings after nearly two weeks in San Blas. But, the real shock was seeing a few cars on shore. We hadn’t seen a car since Cartagena! Many of the water taxi passengers took pictures of Tahina as they went by. We enjoyed the sunset and then prepared a nice meal, watched a movie, and prepared for a pleasant night’s sleep.
The next morning we left around 8 AM and soon had our sail up. As we started to make our way southwest, the wind ended up being mostly aft. The winds were pretty steady at 12-15 knots, so I suggested raising the spinnaker. David and Edel helped out, and we soon had the beautiful sail up. They were really impressed with the beauty of the sail, as well as the pleasant ride. We were soon keeping an eye on ships approaching and leaving Colón and at anchor as we got closer. It was impressive seeing dozens of ships of all sizes plying the waters. This was by far the busiest port I’ve ever seen.
Once we were near the port of Cristobol, we put away the sail and motored into the break-wall entrance and over to Shelter Bay Marina. We arrived by 1 PM and were soon in a slip. We were sad to leave the solitude of San Blas, but it is exciting to be getting on with the next phase of our trip – the Panama Canal!
Here are photos from the trip to Colón:
View full-sized slideshow
You can also view our GPS track of our passage from San Blas to Colón here
. I’ve also updated our map of San Blas with more GPS tracks and island maps.
