Tuesday, July 6, 2010

San Blas bound

Leave tonight or in the morning. Pelican will have four in total aboard... Rob, Demis, Julia and myself. We will head for the western end of the San Blas which is where most of the other boats will be.

The business of shuttling backpackers across the ¨gap¨ and also spending a couple of days in the San Blas is quite something... Technically it is illegal to do. Adverts posted on the Club Nautico bulletin board are torn down regularly by the management. Internet forums for backpackers are filled with horror stories. I´ve met quite a few of the full time backpacker skippers and some are real pieces of work. How hard is it to buy the cheapest forty footer in Florida, cross the Caribbean once and start motor sailing back and forth cramming as many bodies as can fit aboard? The egos of some of the skippers are way out of proportion... It is easy to be the big fish if the pond is small enough and most of the backpackers are clueless when it comes to reading boats... I will recoup the exorbitant check in costs and get my fuel paid for so it is all good for me.

I should be in Portobelo or maybe in Carti for a bit. If not, I will head to Bocas del Toro and do another long break.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Hey
My name is Sam.  I am from the US, I speak Spanish and English.  I have been traveling in Colombia for 3 months practicing my Spanish.  I want to gain experience sailing so that I can go on an ocean cruise next year from Panama to India and possibly further, because of this I just want the experience of sailing I am not picky about where we would end up.  My other plans- I want to travel on through the Middle East and learn Arabic, and to France to practice my shoddy French.  I am also applying for medical school in the US.  I would be great to have on board because I am good-hearted, good-humored, I have an irrepressible smile, I am fit and hard-working, I play the guitar, I am never picky about anything, and I am a certified Emergency Medical Technician.  I am not a spectacular chef, but I know my way around the kitchen and cook for myself daily.  I also am not a mechanic but I own and maintain a motorcycle (Kawasaki 550).
Let me know, I'm psyched to hit the water

If youre wondering, I found your post on 7knots but I wasn't sure how to contact you. Oh yeah, right now I'm in Santa Marta and I saw that you are headed to Cartagena, I could get there in a heartbeat, just let me know all the details if you're interested at sgrodman@yahoo.com

Thanks, peace
Sam