Anchored in the JUNGLE then onwards to PANAMA! - Sailing with Six

We are a family of six who call the ocean our home. We feel incredibly blessed to be doing this life together as a young family. Embracing the ups and downs of what is a life at sea. This is our floating home, Happy Days. And you are invited to follow along as we share this incredible adventure. Have a laugh and be inspired to pursue a life less ordinary. Click the subscribe button to keep up to date as we see where this journey takes us. In the last episode we lost Pa overboard. But after safely retrieving him, we explored more of the Costa Rican coastline and saw some great wildlife. In this episode we are going all the way to Panama, but not before exploring some great spots in Costa Rica. How cool are you guys? This is pretty cool, huh? Hola. Drake Bay is named after Sir Francis Drake, who is said to have used the port in the 16th century. It's very remote and accessed only by plane, boat or four wheel drive. And is a must visit for any vagabond. We had a quick stroll along the foreshore before dark, admiring the lush surrounds. This is a beautiful little dock we've been tied off to. Right here last night, a little spot. So we haven't all been feeling that great the last few days. But we're having a wonderful downwind sail. And we've done some baking already this morning. And now the other guys outside, the boys are playing Legos. And the girls are making some jewellery with Minnie. While I do some editing and Chris and Pa are sailing. So it's a very productive day. Delicious banana cake. Couple of loaves of bread. And in here is a yummy chocolate slice. We've already had a taste test of that one. I've set up my editing station here. She's making, what are you making? Lego dinosaur? Train. Train too? Monster truck. Lovely ladies are making some beautiful earrings. Hello. You guys keeping the boat moving? Yeah, it's a study sail. It is. We're not doing a great deal of sailing. We're just watching. We're 21 knots through minus. We're doing 8, 9. Pretty cool, eh? Yeah, it's very comfortable. Yeah, there you go. So this headland through here is Pavonix. Which I'm sure I've nailed the pronunciation of. Which is the world's longest left hand surf break. It's the first time we're getting eyes on it. Today it is not working at all. Because the wind's coming straight on it. But we're thinking we might be able to get a kite. So we're going to head up the headland a wee bit more. Or into the bay I guess. And see what we learn. But it's cool to get eyes on it. After a session I come in and grab the line with a buoy and clip attached. This runs to a cleat so my kite is attached to the boat. I then clip on just above the chicken loop. Now my kite is secure. I land and then undo and swim back to the boat. We then can either pull the kite in by the front lines. Or leave it out ready for the next session. So we're off again. Ted did make it back to the boat. Oaks is rehydrating after his big session out there. And we are heading further into Golfito. I see something like wildlife on the beach. Something pink. Something grey. Oh it moves fast. Are they coming down to warn us off? Oh no, it's a friendly greeting. This lot have been opening coconuts. Fruit? Or is it fruit? It's a nut. It's a nut, is it? Coconut. It's the female of the species. She's looking up into the forest. Trying to see a bird with red plumage. She's quite excited. Before she pulled up her camera. She spotted these mighty birds. With long tails and beautiful red plumage. Now we're exploring the jungle of Costa Rica. It's pretty incredible, isn't it? It's very still. It's quite humid. But super interesting. You guys doing a good job dodging all those shipwrecks? Yes, there's a couple of them. Interesting place. Very interesting. Because it's kind of an overcast day, it feels kind of strange. It does feel strange. Really strange. I'm sure it'll be interesting to go and explore. Oh, there's Pelican of London. Ah, that one's Pelican of London. It has AIS. Yes. The N. Golfito Bay used to be a bustling port for banana growers. Up until a disease wiped out crops in the 1980s. Now palm oil industry has taken over. And a small flow of tourists visiting for fishing, bird watching or surfing trips. It's our last stop in Costa Rica. And the most yacht friendly stop since Playa Del Coco. Ready? Oh, oh, slide down. Here we are. Third taxi for the day. Yes. We've done Immigration, Bank, Customs. We've got one more to go. Yes. Port Captain. Yes. Getting it done. Campatanilla. So we are officially checked out of Costa Rica. Considerably easier compared to Mexico. So that's a win for Golfito. And we plan to head south to Panama tomorrow, mañana. We are leaving the Banana Bay. You better pull on the main sheet. Time for anchor up. Thank you Banana Bay. You've been very good to us. Massive props to Gabriela, the lovely lady who runs Banana Bay. She runs the show. I dare say she could run the whole town. She's an absolute weapon. Yep. So big props for sure. This leg from Golfito in Costa Rica to Panama City in Panama is about 350 nautical miles, which is three days and two nights or thereabouts. The main trick for this leg is rounding Punta Mala, or in English, bad point. There's current and wind that needs to be taken into consideration as you round this point and ultimately start heading north again towards what is the Caribbean and Panama City. We rounded the point with good conditions and got a wee bit too excited a little bit too early. We're currently off the coast of Panama and you can see this weather system in mind. It might be gaining on us some concern, but it catches up with what it is. It's time. Hey Costa Rica, you're awesome. Beautiful country, beautiful people. Highs and lows of Costa Rica. So I go fast, right? And I'll go in. So that's like zooming in and that's like zooming out. So there's the island. There's the island. And he's just out in front of it. He's that little speck here. Yeah, he's one of those dots. One of those little specks. You're ready for night passage. Sit beside me darling. She might put an audio book in and ignore you. More than likely. We're motor sailing. The wind has died out. We've just come back at five to six knots. But we are pushing three knots plus of current. This is around the canal. We're only about, we're not far off shore. With the idea of trying not to get long lines. Here in Panama they have like disco long lines. At least there's something you can see there. Like the disco. It's like these flashy white things. So we're on high alert for long lines. And having our pants pulled down by the current. So we've just jumped on our shift this morning. After relieving Minnie and Pa. We've done an amazing effort. To get us through the rest of the night. It was an eventful night. With loads of lights. Lots of long lines. And we've made it through the night. Without getting caught up on anything. So that's a huge win. An hour or so before sunset. But it's the right time. Pretty benign at the moment. Which is why the kids are out here. Jumping and mucking around. The rounding of Punta Mala. Actually went quite smoothly. It was the wind against current calculations. As we were heading north straight into the trades. That caught us a wee bit by surprise. It was short. It was sharp. And it was just not where we wanted to be. We are now sails up. Between the corner. And we doubled our speed. That's the wind. We're doing 8 knots. 7.8. To be precise. And that feels way better. We were getting a bit over there. 2 knots. 3 knots. That we were doing earlier. It felt like we were going to break something. The swell was just yuck. We're using the wind instead of bashing straight into it. We're coming into Panama. And you can't really see just yet. Can you hear me? It's windy. Are there lots of boats here? Yes. How many? Count them all. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12. It's over 20. You're running out of fingers and toes. We are completely surrounded. Large ships. Shona's up top. This is us. There's a little catamaran symbol here. It was. This is the Panama Canal. We've got two ships on their way out. And we are wanting to get across here and into where we check into the country. I'm down here actually doing some work. And Shona's doing a phenomenal job of bringing us in. But I can't help but keep an eye on stuff. It's quite cool actually. So do we slow down or do we speed up? Fashion statement. Coming at me. At 7 knots. We're doing about 4 knots. And we're going across the Panama Canal channel at the minute to try and get to... Spot the yellow flag. We are in Flamenco Marina. And they have stuff like coffee. Yeah. And lots of boat shops. So we're excited. When they open we're going to go boat shopping. But we need to keep to a list otherwise things are just going to get crazy. I've got to add something else to the list. We need a new block for the dinghy. We do. But at the moment we are waiting for... And... A measure up for the canal. Yeah. That's it. We have no idea when he's coming. Join us next time as we go through the Panama Canal. And we can't wait to show you. It was super exciting. Subscribe to our Patreon. And show your support. Thanks for watching. See you next time. Catching a ride. Oh I'm just over here and you're ruining the video. The sound on this one will have to be mute and with a voice over.