Sailing: From Rio Chagres to Portobelo-Cruising Panama with Tika

The scattered wreckage of Henry Morgan's pirate fleet lay a stone's throw to port, beneath the waves rippling over the Lajas reef.   Steering clear of the rocks, we sailed under the rusted guns of Fort San Lorenzo, which was captured by Morgan's men in preparation for their bold run up the Rio Chagres, and over a 13 mile trail to sack and burn Old Panama City on the Pacific.  The fort now lies in crumbling ruins, but the rest of the Rio Chagres here looks pretty much as it did in the 17th century when Morgan was the scourge of the Spanish Main.

A map of Panama. You can enlarge any photo by clicking on it.

The ruins of Fort San Lorenzo at the mouth of Rio Chagres.

The mouth of Rio Chagres.

On this day, the mild sea breeze carried Tika ghosting up river under the genoa sail, with only occasional twitters of birdsong to break the silence of this sunny afternoon.  The Rio Chagres is wide and deep, and lies within a large national park. Wildlife is abundant, and the greenery at the mouth of the river started out low, with a riot of large ferns and mangroves overhanging the river.

Heading up river....

.....with a following breeze.

On we went, the river funneling the sea breeze along to follow us around the bends in the river.  The trees grew taller and the terrain hillier as we progressed.  After about seven miles we came to the first major turn, and here we decided to drop anchor.  We were joined by Olgalou, a German-flagged 36'Camper-Nicolson owned by Vasil and Inga, delightful friends of Rolf and Claudia, who are my dear friends and hosts aboard Tika.

Olgalou at anchor.

The heat was oppressive down in my quarter berth, so for almost the entire trip I slept in the cockpit. I was surprised and relieved that I was not bothered by mosquitos or other bitey insects.  At dusk and dawn, I listened to the songs of toucans, parrots, macaws, and the unearthly roaring of howler monkeys. (This video from Youtube lets you hear it).

The water this far up the river is brackish and refreshing for swimming;  shampoo lathered up nicely. We heard of crocodiles and even a shark in these waters, but saw no living sign of them.  In the mornings we would meet up with Vasil and Inga and paddle the dinghies up into little branches of the river to watch nature and enjoy the silence, smells of earth, greenery and flowers , and see what wildlife we would find.  Iridescent blue and gold morpho butterflies fluttered across the river,

A good sized eagle or hawk.  Any guesses as to the species?

My pals Claudia and Rolf

A howler monkey, photo courtesy of Rolf and Claudia

 

We moved the boats up river to just below the massive earthen dam. For the construction of the Panama Canal, Rio Chagres was dammed up to create Gatun Lake, the large meandering lake which forms the middle segment of the canal system.

The Gatun Dam.

Inga and Vasil paddling under a jungle tree in bloom.

There are crocodiles.....!

It was time to head back to Colon and then on to Portobelo.  Colon anchorages are very industrial, except for the Shelter Bay Marina, which is quite a ways from town, grocery stores, etc. Colon is known as a very rough town, with 50% unemployment, and sailors are mugged with regularity.

Tika at anchor off Club Nautico, Colon.

From here we sailed to Portobelo...17 miles with a following wind (as the crow flies), but for us 34 miles of tacking with wind on the nose!  A great day of sailing.  We were closely followed by a beautiful white tropic bird, and a brown booby landed on the lifeline.

Brown boobies are common companions while underway.

Portobelo was once the Spanish stronghold from which the treasure fleets departed for Spain carrying the gold of the Incas and silver from the rich lodes of Potosi.  Now a sleepy backwater of around 5000 residents, it is a good anchorage for waiting for a canal transit or getting groceries after arriving from the wilds of the San Blas islands.  Houses in town are built right against the walls of the ruined Spanish fort, and life goes on at a slow Latin Caribbean pace.  

Sailors come here to stock up on supplies at the Chinese grocery stores, and vendors come from the countryside in trucks to sell produce, announcing themselves with loudspeakers blaring their best sales pitch.

One of the Chinese groceries. Everyone calls them that.

Claudia and Inge and other cruisers buying fresh local produce.
It has never been refrigerated, so it has a longer shelf life on the boat.

I rode this bus into Colon.  Standing room only, music blaring, fun!

Most days we would dinghy into town and go to the Italian bakery for fresh juice drinks, pretty good fresh baked bread (most of the bread here is pretty cottony), and best of all, a good Internet connection.  It is also a great place to watch people.

Those chips didn't last long.

I walked around the small town to do a little exploring. Portobelo's catholic church is the home of the "Black Christ of Portobelo", a statue which has miraculous powers according to true believers. I entered the church, simple by Spanish colonial standards, and sat near the shrine to watch  people. Next to me was another shrine, beneath which lay another statue of Christ laid out in a coffin, His slack eyes sagging open just a slit, plenty of blood...just a little too realistic and gruesome as only Spanish churches can be.  Easter was near, and they were planning a procession of the statue.

The Black Christ of Portobelo

These little firebugs were having such fun
 lighting candles and playing with matches

The colonial-era customs house, the most
prominent building in Portobelo.  It is not in use.

Almost every house has a satellite dish.

The large catholic church. In the foreground is an overgrown wall of the Spanish fort.

There are a lot of colorful, well executed new murals around town.

The Escuelita Ritmo teaches music and drumming, which are
an important part of the Afro-Latin culture of this area. They also have a dinghy
 dock and you can fill all your jerry cans with water for a dollar.

Another new place in town is Casa Congo, with a nice waterfront
 restaurant highlighting local specialties like fish, octopus and tostones in front....

...and an attractive upscale folk-art gallery on the street.  A great addition to Portobelo

A pretty local girl.

 We  joined Inga and Vasil from Olgalou for more excursions paddling the dinghies up the river to see what we could see.  Here it was not jungle, but mostly grazing land. It was an enjoyable way to see the countryside.

Brahma cattle thrive in a tropical environment.

I hiked up a trail to the crumbling Spanish fort overlooking Portobelo... then climbed with Claudia to the fort across the bay, a smaller one built strategically so as to be able to rake enemy ships or pirate vessels with terrible crossfire. Unfortunately, many of the massive fortifications were built after the English navy and pirates decimated the city!

Overlooking Portobelo from the fort ruins.
 "Now she's stuck in Portobelo, 'cause the money all ran out"...Jimmy Buffett

The watch tower across the bay from town.

"The cannons don't thunder, there's nothing to plunder,"    JB

The anchorage and town of Portobelo seen from the fort across the bay.

I had a nice chat with the captain, on the right. Good guy. Claudia tried to fix me up with him!

And at last, back to Casa Vela, the sail loft and sailor's pub where you can dock your dinghy and get a cold beverage...

.... and have a nap if you want.

With gratitude and love to old friends Claudia and Rolf, sailing into the Pacific for the Gambier Islands in Tika.....and new friends Inga and Vasil, bound for the Marquesas aboard Olgalou.   Thank you for your wonderful friendship, laughter and love.

We enjoyed many hours of laughter, conversation, songs from Vasil's his ukelele,
 and great meals together: Rolf's Aldidal (lentil soup with cream and pineapple) and
Inga's Spanish tortilla, and buttery apple tart baked on the alcohol burner!

Aloha, Frangine.