While anchored in Benao, we decided to make a provisioning run into the closest town, Pedasi. There was a bus that ran two times a day and while we were waiting for the bus to arrive, we got lucky.
Because Ken, a retired AF pilot, stopped to offer us a ride to town. Benao is a surfer beach and Ken had to go into Pedasi to rent a surfboard. We were delighted to take him up on his offer. Turns out, he also had to get some beer, so he not only took us to town, he took us back, too. He, his wife, and surfer son then came out to the boat for a tour and a cocktail and a good time was had by all. We sure had the luck of the Irish while in Benao! It was hard to leave, but we had another good weather report and were heading past the notorious Punta Mala (Bad Point) so decided we had to leave when conditions were agreeable. As it turns out, the seas were big and confused and the wind was up to 30 knots so we had another long day of bashing and bumping as we headed toward the Las Perlas Islands. Even Ralph had a hard time keeping upright throughout the day. In addition, on this leg of the trip, we had to pass the shipping lanes which lead to the Panama Canal so we were on the lookout for freighter traffic. Interestingly, we did not see any freighters that day. We were to discover that the current worldwide recession is felt in Panamaa with reduced traffic through the Canal. But, first we arrived at San Jose Island - a beautiful, privately owned island with a first class fishing resort located on its shores. We enjoyed a night there and the next day, April 22, enjoyed a cruise through more of the Las Perlas chain and ended up at Contadora Island. Contadora was recently featured in the Survivor series and was the site of the Contadora Peace Process.
At Contadora, we met up with Lost Elvis. We had last seen Randy and his crew in Golfito. He left Golfito after we did and came straight to the Los Perlas chain. He had experienced the same rough seas and high winds. So, we were all in a celebratory mood as we enjoyed the views of the nude beach, swam, and relaxed in a quiet anchorage just a half a day away from Panama City. The water was 85 degrees and it felt cold!
Randy picked us up in his dinghy and we met up with his friends and crew who came in another dinghy. We walked to Restaurant Romantico which was a couple beaches up from ours. It was not serving dinner til later in the evening, so after a beer there, we walked across the island to Punta Galleon Resort where we had dinner. We were not finished eating til well after dark and had quite an interesting walk back on the unlit, unpaved roads and rocky beach to the dinghys. But, we made it!
While anchored in Benao, we decided to make a provisioning run into the closest town, Pedasi. There was a bus that ran two times a day and while we were waiting for the bus to arrive, we got lucky.
Because Ken, a retired AF pilot, stopped to offer us a ride to town. Benao is a surfer beach and Ken had to go into Pedasi to rent a surfboard. We were delighted to take him up on his offer. Turns out, he also had to get some beer, so he not only took us to town, he took us back, too. He, his wife, and surfer son then came out to the boat for a tour and a cocktail and a good time was had by all. We sure had the luck of the Irish while in Benao! It was hard to leave, but we had another good weather report and were heading past the notorious Punta Mala (Bad Point) so decided we had to leave when conditions were agreeable. As it turns out, the seas were big and confused and the wind was up to 30 knots so we had another long day of bashing and bumping as we headed toward the Las Perlas Islands. Even Ralph had a hard time keeping upright throughout the day. In addition, on this leg of the trip, we had to pass the shipping lanes which lead to the Panama Canal so we were on the lookout for freighter traffic. Interestingly, we did not see any freighters that day. We were to discover that the current worldwide recession is felt in Panamaa with reduced traffic through the Canal. But, first we arrived at San Jose Island - a beautiful, privately owned island with a first class fishing resort located on its shores. We enjoyed a night there and the next day, April 22, enjoyed a cruise through more of the Las Perlas chain and ended up at Contadora Island. Contadora was recently featured in the Survivor series and was the site of the Contadora Peace Process.
At Contadora, we met up with Lost Elvis. We had last seen Randy and his crew in Golfito. He left Golfito after we did and came straight to the Los Perlas chain. He had experienced the same rough seas and high winds. So, we were all in a celebratory mood as we enjoyed the views of the nude beach, swam, and relaxed in a quiet anchorage just a half a day away from Panama City. The water was 85 degrees and it felt cold!
Randy picked us up in his dinghy and we met up with his friends and crew who came in another dinghy. We walked to Restaurant Romantico which was a couple beaches up from ours. It was not serving dinner til later in the evening, so after a beer there, we walked across the island to Punta Galleon Resort where we had dinner. We were not finished eating til well after dark and had quite an interesting walk back on the unlit, unpaved roads and rocky beach to the dinghys. But, we made it!
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