Legacy Sailing
Photo Gallery 76
 
St. Petersburg, Florida to Colon, Panama
We left St. Pete on February 20th expecting a quick passage to Panama, maybe as short as 8 days. As it turned out the weather had other ideas. One of the longest periods of high seas and strong winds in the southwestern Caribbean had other plans for us.

We ended up diverting for 36 hours to Isla Mujeres, Mexico to get spare fan belts which we needed. From there we headed straight to the the Vivorillos where we sat for 12 days. We made a passage to Isla Providencia where we waited another 5 days before the seas eased enough for us to make the passage to Colon, Panama.
St Pete to Cayos Vivorillos, Honduras
Marshall braces in the cockpit as we depart St. Pete. The weather at this point was actually cool enough that long pants and jackets were called for.
Patrick and Marshall relaxing as the Sunshine Skyway starts to disappear behind us.
Patrick and Marshall on deck dealing reefing the main on the long slog south from Isla Mujeres, Mexico to the Vivorillos.  
 
Cayos Vivorillos, Honduras
Anchored in the lee (mostly) of Grande Cay Vivorillos we spent 12 days waiting for weather that would allow us to head towards Panama. We had a few visitors to the anchorage like these fishermen who unloaded a boat load of traps and stacked them on the island.
Looking back from the islet we nicknamed "Palm Island" towards Grande Cay. We discovered that it was reasonably easy to spot conch in the shallow waters and we collected a few of the largest for dinner.
Patrick and I returned to Palm Island to seek more conch. Unfortunately we hit it at high tide and had to work a lot harder to harvest dinner. Pat brought a mask so was able to float in the current on the reef and watch for conch.
A batch of cracked conch we prepared to share with a sailboat that stopped by the anchorage for two nights.
 
Vivorillos to Isla Providencia, Columbia
As we were leaving the Vivorillos we had several bobbies who would soar close alongside us for long periods.
Marshall catches up on his reading. What dosen't show here is that the motion of the boat was fairly extreme and uncomfortable.
While sailing towards Isla Providencia we were followed and questioned by this USCG cutter. It and a Canadian warship were contacting every vessel in the area and asking identifying questions.  
 
Isla Providencia, Columbia
Isla Providencia on the horizon. The mountainous terrain always makes this a fun landfall.
Patrick works in the lazarette stowing gear that we disrupted getting to the dinghy and kayak parts.
Walking along the malecon on Santa Catalina Island we encountered these retired fishing skiffs.
Marshall and Patrick standing by one of the cannons guarding the harbor entrance along the trail to Morgan's Head.
Morgan's Head. A large lump of rock nearly detached from Santa Catalina that some say bears the skeletal visage of Captain Morgan.
Marshall found the possibility of jumping off Morgan's Head irresistable. Here he climbs up the rough rock from the water.
Reaching the midway ledge Marshall flings himself from Morgan's Head.
After hitting the clear water with a mighty splash Marshall bobs back to the surface.
All along the trail to Morgan's Head the rocks were decorated with these locally made fired tiles that were cemented to rocks.
We took the dinghy back to the sheltered reef along Morgan's Head for a nice snorkeling expedition.
Patrick and Marshall prepare for snorkeling near Morgan's Head.
We rented Motos (motorscooters) so we could tour the island. At the end of a short nature trail Patrick and I found a tower that gave great views including this one of goats on the hillside.
Patrick holds a tiny blossom he discovered on our island tour.
Patrick and Marshall tried out a swing at the beach during our island tour.
Several places along the island highway offered nice views with shaded decks from which to enjoy them. Here we look back towards Southwest Harbor.
Along the eastern side of the island I cam across this building and wall fashioned out of concrete inlaid with hundreds of conch shells.
Providencia has several whimsical concrete structures like this bus shelter in Southwest Harbor. The giant manta ray held up by the reef provides a shaded spot to wait.
Another roadside attraction...this moasaic lizard guards a tree that stands in the middle of an intersection.
My favorite of the roadside concretions is this shelter in the form of an octopus. Note the seats around it formed from the ends of the tentacles.
Near the main town there is a nice boardwalk along the water with this statue of a fisherman and a young girl.
 
Isla Providencia to Colon, Panama
This screen shot from the computer show the large number of moving and anchored ships we had to contend with as we approached Colon, Panama.  
 
 
Updated 3/20/2012