Weigh anchor and hoist the mizzen! Stahlratte Journey

Thursday Dec 5, 2013
We met at the Panama House at 7:30am.  There were 19 bikes!  We headed out.  Finally we had an edge on the crazy traffic.  There was enough of us we could make the rules, red lights, lines of traffic and toll booths were not a problem.

It was a roller coaster ride of a road to Carti to the dock.  Road conditions were wet and a couple guys slid out.  Nothing to serious and everyone made it to the docks.

 Unloading gear on the pier.  So many bikes, so much stuff. 

We removed one pannier each, first time on the trip. 

With full sails...

 

Trevors bike was the first bike loaded.  Good to start with a nice light 650 before trying a huge 1200 BMW GS.

A few precarious moments.

Soon we had everyone loaded, we motored about one km out to some small islands were we were to spend the night. The islands are populated by the Kuna people, indigenous people of Panama and Columbia living in the lightly populated darian region. The Kuna's are known for creating brightly colored textile art.  Many boats take tourists out the the islands.  However, were were going to spend a night in a homestay.  Very authentic and part of the adventure according to Captain Ludwig. 

 The primitive island only a few inches above sea level.  Not sure what they do in a hurricane.

The house that we stayed in. 

We guessed that most of the items inside the house had washed ashore.

A few washed up boards make a perfect table.

Yum!

Unfortunately, we didn't get much sleep due to it raining... wind and rain pretty much blew right through our hut.  It was Kyle's first time sleeping in a Hammock.

Back on the boat for a few hours tomorrow.