Easter at San Andres

Five Islands
John & Sue
Sat 30 Mar 2013 20:12
We have walked around town a bit looking for parts for the outboard fuel line. It's a vibrant community and everyone is happy to offer a smile or a hello. We were impressed with the cleanliness compared to Panama, although the tourist strip at the front is better maintained than the streets back a bit. We leave our rubbish on the footpath late in the afternoon and it is collected over night. They recycle cans and plastic bottles. We found a quaint little restaurant not for from NeNe's Marina (where leave our dinghy for $2/day) called Laka Laka. We had fish and conch balls for lunch the other day, even though they don't open for lunch. Lovely people. The jet ski's, launches and party boats continue to move all around us. There is constant music and engine noise but we are getting used to it. The 'Pirate Ship' even circles around us so we can wave to the tourists. We went for a snorkel and found sand, a small amount of sea grass, no fish but thousands of sea urchins and 3 live conch. There were conch shells everywhere, most of which had been opened by humans. We were told that there was no fishing allowed in the harbour, but this apparently doesn't apply to the locals gathering conch. There are 2 other yachts and a motor boat anchored here with us so we had them all over for Happy Hour drinks yesterday. There were Bob & Elaine (USA) off Mar Azul (motorboat), Andy (Swedish) & Claudia (Columbian) off S/V Spray and Rene (French) off S/V Passim. Everyone spoke English so it was nice to here their stories and their plans. We will all be here for awhile for either weather or mechanical issues. The wind is due to increase again tonight and stay around 20 knots for a few days, so when it settles we will hire a golf cart and do a tour of the Island.
A very still day at the anchorage at Isla Linton Panama
This is a type of jellyfish and i think a Man Of War. The air sack is purple with a bright pink ridge. The long tentacles are a deep purple/blue.
Hans and Adeena of Casa X, our favourite restaurant/bar. Help yourself beer $1.10 and wine $2/glass. Meals $8.
The morning we left Isla Linton for San Andres. Not a puff of wind and no swell. The wind came up about 2 hrs out.
The chart plotter shows one of the shipping channels we crossed on our way.
Sunset at sea with a few minor squalls around.
Coming into San Andres. The water was crystal clear and that amazing blue.
This fishing boat was stuck on the sand bar at the edge of the entrance channel. There are a number of shipwrecks on the surrounding barrier reef.
The harbour varies from 0.5 to around 6 metres deep. We wound our way around to the northern most anchorage.