With little rest from our night threading our way through lightening, we came towards Bocas del Toro in the daylight hours, racing more storms. As we entered the channel to Almirante Bay, the weather was upon us with blinding rain and winds gusting above 20 knots. Fortunately, we could see the depths were good and the bay was large enough for us to move about while keeping well away from any shoreline, as well as the many small motor launches and boats working the bay despite the weather.
The weather cleared fairly quickly, however, and we were able to drop anchor just off the town. The port captain found us and told us to stay put until he returned with the various officials for our check-in to Panama. However, staying put turned out to be a little harder done than said. Though we had made two attempts to set our anchor, we appeared to be dragging and we were now concerned that there wasn’t good holding for our 30 tons, especially given the winds we’d experienced upon arrival. We radioed Bocas Marina while awaiting the port captain’s return and arranged to come in to the dock once we’d cleared in.
Brooks has become a real master at bringing Llyr into tight docking spaces. From Salem to Bermuda’s customs and fuel docks, to a crazy-tight spot between megayachts in Casa de Campo, DR, to bow-in at Boca Chica, and now a narrow slip in Panama right next to the mangroves: at each site he has deftly maneuvered Llyr into place with nary a bump (this includes the time our motor died as we were coming off the dock in Casa de Campo because our idle was set too low!).
Anyway, we settled in for the weekend at Bocas marina, anticipating Connor’s friend Tess’ arrival one week hence, doing laundry, getting to know Bocas town, and preparing for our trip to Costa Rica. Bocas is a small town experiencing oversized tourism. A popular backpackers’ destination, it is also a big surfing mecca as well. The town seems to be experiencing some growing pains as it makes adjustments to the influx.
By Monday, we’d decided to leave Llyr at the dock for the month of July while we traveled inland. Looking forward to the next steps of the expedition, we were struck by tragic and frightful news. A sailboat at the anchorage just off the marina (where we had tried to drop anchor a few days before) had been boarded by two men in the middle of the night. The couple on board, who are in their sixties, were tied up and the wife was violently assaulted. As the news spread around the community, everyone was horrified by this brutal attack. The expat and cruising communities quickly came together to raise funds for a reward. One man has since been taken into custody and the second man has been identified but is still at large. Aboard Llyr, we moved into a highly defensive and alert mode. It took some time for us to recover our equilibrium and feel that we and Llyr could be relatively safe here.
On a brighter note, we’ve met some great people here in Bocas and had the opportunity to learn a lot, from how to transit the Panama Canal and sail the Pacific, to gaining new tips on boat maintenance. Among this cast of self-sufficient and knowledgeable characters is Chris. Chris sailed here from Mexico aboard a Polynesian outrigger sailing canoe he built himself, known as a Pacific Flying Proa and named Desesperado. It has no bow or stern; rather Chris can “shunt” the sail from end to end so that he does not have to tack. Chris has ideas of traveling all the way to Brazil. It is a beautiful craft and we’ve all enjoyed a turn aboard. More than that, we enjoy Chris’ sharp wit and philosophical musings. Below are some photos of Desesperado.
