All the people that was going with the same boat as I had to be at the pier in Portobelo at midday and we would be picked up there by the captain. Since I came the day before had I been watching out for the boat all day at at midday was there no boat in sight. I went over to the pier where everybody going to Colombia had gathered. We were nine backpackers all in all and everybody was wondering where the boat was. Finally did we manage to make a call to the captain and got an explanation. Apperentlly there was some problem with the engine but they where on there way.

So, almost two hours late, was the boat there and we could all get on board. The boat was called Chirisa and was owned by the captain, a Spaniard called Salvador and his Italian girlfriend Daniela. It was a sailboat of 55 feet, had two masts and was built for eight people. Now we where nine passengers, plus the two in the crew so it was a bit crowded. Lucky enough was there room for one or two people to sleep in the kitchen and some people could sleep up on the deck.

The Boat

We got on board and was given a brief explanation of the trip ahead of us. We would stay in the harbour until late at the evening and then set of for the San Blas archipelago where we would stay for two days before crossing the Caribbean to Cartagena. The crossing from San Blas to Cartagena was estimated to take 40 hours of straight sailing. We would be given breakfast, lunch and dinner every day. Water was free all day and there was beer and soft drinks for every meal. On board was also some snorkeling gear for free use in San Blas.

Dinner was served onboard and we all got a chance to introduce ourselves and get to know each other a little bit better. The paople on the boat was, apart from myself: Mark from England, Mike and Tyson from Canada, Paul from the US, Harm from Holland, Julian from Australia and a couple from Belgium: Sebastian and Virginie. It was a good mix of people and most people got along with each other during the trip.

After dinner and a beer or two was it time to start the trip. We sat sail (actually was we using the motor, as we did most of the time) at 10 and sailed out on the open sea. It was windy and the sea was quite rough. None of us backpackers were used to sailing and we went quiet one by one and as we got more and more seasick. Lying down is probably the best method to easy the seasickness so after a while were we all lying down and sleeping, except Salvador, our captain, that steered the boat to San Blas.