Isla Del Rey – South East

Isla San Telmo– 

Entering the bay by the NE of Isla San Telmo is tricky, narrow, and the path is riddled with rocks.  This is best done at low tide and with great visibility.  We tried to anchor north of San Telmo but the easterlies coupled with the SE swell discouraged us from trying that anchorage. 

Morro Cacique– 08*17.87N – 078*53.43W -  This is a delightful spot.  The headland Morro Cacique definitely looks like and Indian Chief with full-feathered headgear.  

The sloping, white sand beach is adequate for drying out (“carenage”).  Snorkeling around the rocky shores proved disappointing: poor visibility and currents soon sent us back to the safety of our big ship.  Even though we expected some protection from the point (Punta Chiquero) and the Morro, we found that the swells entered our anchorage and we ended up rocking quite a bit.  Like Isla San Telmo,  Morro Cacique is probably a better anchorage in the dry season (December-March) when the winds blow out of the north.

Rio Cacique– We still have to visit this anchorage, again best in the dry season.  The cool part about this anchorage is to take the dinghy up the Rio with the flood, and drift back down the river with the ebb.  I’m told that the lagoon is host to fairly large blue crabs that the locals frequently harpoon.  Can’t wait to visit that spot!

La Esmeralda – 08*16.028N – 078*55.201W - In the dry season, we anchored at La Esmeralda.  Don’t expect to find much here, but a fisherman’s village where people are delightful and ready to help.  We arrived at La Esmeralda with guests on board: Ruben Crompton-- the John Deere Service Director who had so valiantly rescued DOMINO in the San Blas Islands when we were hit by lightning – and his family.  

We were greeted by their friend Martin, “El Cojo” and his four sons.  Martin, a grower on the island, took care of us during our stay.  And he’ll take care of you too!  Water, gasoline (no diesel), ice, fresh fruit in season, yucca, and he’ll give you a ride to the top of the hill where the entire village congregates to catch the tenuous Movistar cellular signal (no Digicel signal).  Don’t expect to have a private conversation: this is the gossip spot, where everyone listens to everybody else’s business and soon the entire village knows how the wife is ready to kick the husband out ‘cuz he spent all the money he made selling the fish on booze and girls in the city… and he’s not even home yet.  Guess what the reception committee on the beach is going to look like!

 Agricultor, local go-to man, Martin’s talents go on: fisherman and fishing trip guide.  For the next two days, Martin would take our group on DOMINO’s first bottom-fishing expedition.

But not without witnessing one of the wildest ways the locals have to park their pangas.  With tides in the 15-20’ range, there is not a single dock to tie up and boats must be hauled all the way up the beach every night.  Here’s how it’s done.  The driver guns up the engine and drives full-blast onto the beach, while raising the outboard at the very last second, before turning it off.  Results:  the heavy panga climbs 20 to 30 yards onto the sloping beach with a racket of sputtering engine and leaving deep tracks in the sand.  How long do the impellers run in this town?  I hope the local ferreteriais well stocked.  Of note, all fishermen remove their outboards every night since engine theft is the local plague… of course, it’s all blamed on the Columbian drug trade.  Cruisers are well advised to do the same: raise your dinghy and lock the outboard!

 Punta Cocos– This is the very last anchorage in Las Perlas, tucked inside a land hook that is only opened to the northern wind.  The anchorage is safe, located directly beneath the Coast Guard station.  The small bay is home for the sportsfisher base ship.  Guests arrive by air at the small airfield and are whisked to the southern fishing grounds by high-speed fishing yachts, only to return to the floating base at night. 

 Bottom Fishing - The dry season is not a good time for trawling.  The upwelling of the Humboldt Current cools the water significantly, chasing away the Dorados and Tuna.  Red tide comes up the Bay of Panama and there is no way a fish is going to hang around a toxic red tide.  However, bottom fishing south of Las Perlas is decent in that season, as our catch can attest.  The rocky bottom on the banks directly south of Punta Cocos (5 to 12 miles, 180°) are home to a variety of large fish.  

We’d never bottom-fished before but Martin saw to it that we caught dinner and then some!  He rigged a few hand reels with home-made “arañas,”dropped his to the bottom and started jigging.  It wasn’t long before the fish started biting.  A 24-lb Black Grouper, followed by a 17-lb Greater Amber Jack, four Pompanos, more Black Groupers, a half-dozen Snappers, a total of 19 fish for the day made our delight.  Yes, that was a record fishing day for DOMINO.

But our guests, sadly, had to leave.  Instead of motoring DOMINO all the way back up to Isla Contadora, some 30 miles north, we took advantage of the local trade.  Every morning, a fleet of some six to ten pangas leave La Esmeralda for Panama City, loaded with tons of fish.  Our friends booked a passage ($20/person) and, in the chilly morning hours, boarded one of the low pangas.  

They arrived to the City some three hours later, cold and wet, but carrying some over 100 lbs of fish in their cooler!  Let’s do that again!

Until next fishing trip….

dominomarie