17th April We took a 5 day sailing trip from Cartagena to Panama on a boat called Sacanagem. We were told to meet at the marina in Cartagena at 11 in the morning. We were 13 in number plus the Captain, Frederico. There were a number of formalities to do. We had lunch, did some shopping at a local supermarket and waited, and waited. Eventually the Port Authorities gave us permission to set sail. By now it was 18:50. As darkness fell we made our way out of the port towards a red lit buoy. We were told for the first couple of hours the sea would be rough. Our boat was 14m long so would soak up much of the movement of the waves. We left the bay in high spirits. Within thirty minutes three people had been sick. The waves tossed us up, down and rolled mercilessly for hours on end. Slight relief could be gained by lying on your back which switched off your balance sensors. We were lucky in that we had been allocated a cabin. Five of our crew mates tried to sleep on the deck and were awoken with waves crashing around them.

18th April The following morning we awoke bleary eyed in the middle of a confused Caribbean. The swell, wind and current were at odds with one another which made for a nauseous trip. Little was said in the day other than an occasional ‘excuse me’ as one by one we knelt at the back of the boat at what became known as ‘the altar’, to puke. Patrice made sure everyone knew that she had not been sick despite others doing so five times. Thankfully with a sail we were making around 6 knots and were told the sail time to the San Blas islands would be around 30 hours rather than the average 36. The day passed slowly. Some saw dolphins playing around the boat, others groaned below deck. Darkness again fell. We had a late dinner and went to bed.

19th April At 2am we were awoken by Captain Frederico. All hands were needed to navigate past a reef into the bay. Some were on reef lookout while I was depth monitor using the sonar equipment. We were cheered by other boats in the bay as together we accomplished the impossible, a bay entry at night. The still waters of the bay was such a welcome relief and we all slept well. Morning came and we saw we were surrounded by 5 beautiful palm tree islands with white sandy beaches. We all soon jumped in the water and explored using snorkels.With her bottom facing skywards for much of the day Patrice got an impressive ‘snorkel bum’ sun burn. Towards the end of the afternoon we met on the nearest beach and collected wood. In the evening we had a beach BBQ and were introduced to the Dutch game of Vampire!!!!

20th April We awoke, tired from the previous evening. Patrice had an impressive sunburnt bottom from snorkelling. We had breakfast and set sail for Checheme which took around three hours. Upon arrival we had lunch and most of the passengers jumped ship for some more snorkelling. In the evening Frederico offered to make another beach fire. Most were tired and unenthusiastic. We all went to bed by 10pm.

21st April After an early morning snorkel we again set sail. This time only an hour away was the small village Carti. We anchored and wandered the village for an hour or so. I wasn’t that impressed. In the evening we drank much and had a boat party.

22nd April An early start and a quick boat ride to the mainland 10 minutes away. Our trip was over. A well recommended trip.