My Last Circumnavigation Passage: 5 Days on a BackPacker Boat

The last passage on my cirumnavigation was on a backpacker boat with 11 other people, including crew. It was a great experience and i’m glad I did it. Here are some notes I took while on board.

Last night was the first night on the catamaran. I am in the nose of the airplane, you could say, or in this case, the nose of the catamaran. It’s a small nook at the front of the cone of the boat and I get into the room through a hatch above the room. I could also get in through the room just behind it, but then I would be climbing over someone else’s bed. I enjoyed sleeping up there. It was nice and private. And there was a tiny little fan that I ran all night that didn’t sound tiny. In fact, it sounded like it was on an airplane that was getting ready to take off. But it kept a nice breeze on me all night, which is one thing I require when it’s warm. So, I slept pretty well. I woke up just after dawn and eventually decided to crawl out of my hole.

The captain and crew are really great. None of them speak much english so it’s sometimes a challenge to communicate, but they like me and they call me captain. I told them that I had a yachtmaster certificate and they immediately started calling me captain or Capi. The actual captain, Luis, is a really nice guy and has taken to me like we have been best friends for years, which I enjoy. I just wish I spoke better spanish. We get our points across most of the time, but sometimes I have no clue what he’s saying and just nod my head like I do. I know this is a little disengenuous, but there are only so many times you can have him stop and tell you again and again and again.

As is customary on a boat, everything feels damp. My clothes, my bag, my computer, my phone, but it’s just something you get used to. A normal of sailing life. I have often opened my big bag of clothes and found everything musty and sometimes moldy inside. Nothing a good washing can’t take care of for the most part. Like I said, it’s something you get used to. I’ll probably end up throwing out all my clothes when I get back. Next time i’m not bringing any cotton with me, but synthetics. They stay dry and dry quicker than cotton does when they do get wet.

We ended up visiting a bunch of different “islas” on our five day journey to Puerto Lindo. All of them fun to visit and snorkel nearby. The trip was great. Lots of great sailing, and lots of great company. 6 of the 9 were from Holland and the other couple was from Switzerland. I ended up playing a lot of guitar on this trip and broke three strings. Luckily I had some backups, but in the end had to use a very thick string for the B string which made playing quite challenging. But all the passengers were good sports and really enjoyed singing along. A fun group, for sure.

We arrived this morning in Puerto Lindo and took a van to Panama City where I’m scheduled to stay for at least the next 4 days. Playing it by ear here. Trying to figure out how to end this three year voyage. I’m sure I’ll figure out what’s next by the end of the week.

Here are some pics from the journey. Thanks for following along on the adventure.  Please subscribe for updates!  WordPress does update my Living Large by Living Little, Facebook page, so you can either like it to get updates, or subscribe by email at the link below, or you can follow me at the following places: LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram.

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