People & Country

Guna Yala

Guna Yala

San Blas – The Mystical Paradise of the Guna

From Providencia, we’re cruising 270 nautical miles to San Blas, Panama. The archipelago consists of over 350 islands and islets and is governed by the indigenous Guna people, who call it Guna Yala. We clear into Panama on the main island, El Porvenir, and pay our contribution to the autonomous Guna authority. Porvenir is tiny, with little more than an airstrip and a few houses. While clearing in, one officer is mowing the grass while the other stamps our passports. Here, everyone does a bit of everything.

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Charming cocaine island

Charming cocaine island

On the nautical chart, you’ll only see Providencia if you zoom in very closely; that’s how tiny and charming the cocaine island is. Although Providencia belongs to Colombia, it’s much closer to Nicaragua. Here, traditions are upheld, and mass tourism is nonexistent. In 2020, a hurricane nearly devastated the island’s infrastructure, yet the islanders didn’t complain; instead, they considered the hurricane a blessing.

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Mystery Mexico

Mystery Mexico

After more than three days of crossing, exhausted and satisfied, we drop anchor in the bay on the northwest side of Isla Mujeres. The anchorage is calm with a light breeze. Here we want to clear in to continue sailing south in Mexico later. We go ashore and first of all have dinner in a marina. The island is a tourist hell, but after Cuba Mexico seems to us like a gourmet temple: guacamole and tacos, fresh fruit juices and juicy meat.

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Cuba’s wild south coast

Cuba’s wild south coast

As we approach Cuba on an early morning in May, after three days and three nights on the open sea, we immediately realize that everything is different here. In the bay off Santiago de Cuba, on the eastern edge of the big island, men drift across the water on truck tubes, a paddle in one hand and a fishing line in the other. The sailing itself should also be somewhat unusual here in Cuba.

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Paradise found and lost

Paradise found and lost

Our journey from Antigua via Barbuda to St. Maarten.

On the morning of January 21, we leave Montserrat and set course for the neighboring island of Antigua. The distance to Jolly Harbor would be 22 nautical miles by direct route, but we have to tack upwind and that takes time. The waves are high and the ride is rough. We have one reef in the mainsail and initially one in the genua. Mabul rides the waves up and down so that the seawater flows over the bow and deck into the cockpit and from there back into the sea.

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Martinique: Bonjour la France!

Martinique: Bonjour la France!

Martinique surprises us. Not because the island offers special nature experiences or a particularly interesting history, but because it is a kind of mini-Southern France in the Caribbean. Already on the first evening, after we wearily anchored in Sainte Anne on November 25 and cleaned up the boat, we make a short shore leave. Behind the dinghy dock of Sainte Anne is a small park, behind it a church, in between a post office, a few restaurants and a Carrefour Express.

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Bequia – Island of boat builders and whalers

Bequia – Island of boat builders and whalers

Bequia’s Admirality Bay has been considered one of the safest and quietest natural harbors in the Caribbean for centuries. The water is calm and clear, the green forested hills surround the bay in a safe embrace and fine sandy beach wraps around the turquoise waters like a belt. No wonder pirates and pop stars alike have chosen this bay to anchor their ships and we don’t want to leave either.

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