East Coast Fall Colors.....Look Out Here We Come!!!!: Portabello and San Blas Islands

The next stop was Portabello. We had fun going ashore and enjoying the local ambiance and the history of Portabello. It was originally founded in 1597 by a Spanish explorer and was an important silver-exporting port. It has a long history of attacks as in 1668 by Captain Morgan but is now just a sleepy city with a population of fewer than 3,000. We were there during “Carnival” so we saw lots of interesting fun people while we were there.

It was time for Peter to head back to Panama to fly home so he took one of Portabello’s

colorful “Devil Buses”.

Next stop was the anchorage at Linton. Shortly after arriving Joan and Ted from M/V Pancheta arrived and we all head over to Panamarina for their famous “oso buso” only to find out due to the Carnival holiday their

restaurant was closed that day so we headed back to the boats and made a reservation at a lovely little French restaurant called Caballo Loco (Crazy Horse). Since we didn’t have land transportation the owner, a lovely little French woman, picked us up in her van and took us to the restaurant. The food was wonderful and we had a fun time.

Alan, Mac, Ginger, Ted, Joan

Then it was off to the San Blas. What a beautiful place…..it really does look like all the pictures you have seen of a lovely little white beach island, with one or two palm trees and beautiful turquoise water. We had a limited time there but enjoyed what else, a cruiser party the first night we anchored in the East Lemons, fresh lobster, snorkeling, and of course, shopping for “molas” with the local Kuna Indians.

Of course we had to have an "04 Reunion Jam Session" on Effie.............

Back row: Ralph, Jan, Stan, Cheryl, Alan ............ Front row: Rich, Lynn, and Mac

Then it was all too soon but time for Ginger to fly back home. She took a local flight from Isla Porvenir to Panama “You go girlfriend…..not sure I would get on that plane!”

The weather looked good so it was time for Effie to head back to Panamarina so we could fly home and be with family. (Just before we went through the Panama Canal we found out a family member, Mac’s sister, has pancreatic cancer.) While we were getting Effie settled guess who shows up? None other than S/V Lost Elvis, Randy and Thea, and S/V Sunbow, Sharon and John…..so of course we had to go out to dinner. We had such a good time there before we headed back to the little French Restaurant, Caballo Loco.

Pictured L to R:
Randy, Thea, Alan, Mac, John, Sharon

Then it was time to head to Shelter Cove marina in Colon with Randy and Thea on their boat Lost Elvis. We had a good sail with them into the marina and had an extra day to spend with them enjoying playing guitar, swimming, and enjoying the grounds around the marina.