We spent a second night anchored in front of Yansaladup in the
\nLimon Cays before moving to our current location yesterday. We
\nare now in the Western Holandes Cays, anchored in front of
\nWaisaladup just east of Acuakargana. There is only one hut on
\neach island. The families care for the coconut trees on the
\nislands, fish, and make molas. They get 10 cents from Columbian
\ntraders for each husked coconut. This is also a very beautiful
\nsetting. There is a bit of a roll as there is no protection
\nfrom the west and south, and less breeze than we would like
\nbecause the high coconut palms shade us from the wind. Our
\nposition is N 9 degrees 35.7 minutes, W 78 degrees 46.4 minutes.<\/p>\n
Friday afternoon, while in anchored at Yansaladup, some
\nfisherman sailed up to us in their ulu. They said that they
\nneeded cooking oil to cook up their catch and would be willing
\nto trade a cup of cooking oil for fish. They had a large pile
\nof different fish in the bottom of the ulu. We had seen them
\nhaul in these fish from nets attached to poles in the water
\nwhere there is a shallow sand bar a few hundred yards away. The
\ndeal was struck and they filleted two fish for us and seemed
\npleased with the cup of sunflower oil. What a nice dinner that
\nmade. As they departed, we marveled at how well these ulus,
\ncarved from a single tree trunk, sailed in any direction.<\/p>\n
The sail out of the Limon Cays on Saturday was trickly as we
\nhad to wind our way through a myriad of reefs and sand bars. We
\ntimed the sail for 10 am when the sun was high but still behind
\nus. Laura stood at the bow as lookout. Once through we had a
\ndelightful sail to the Holandes Cays. The seas were flat as we
\nwere behind the reef, but the wind was strong as these small low
\nislands do little to stop the wind once you are more than 100
\nyards away. We anchored in 45 feet of water but did not dare
\nmove closer to the island given the steep drop off from the
\nbeach and the protuding coral heads just in front of us. After
\na quick lunch, we snorkeled the reef and found it to be one of
\nthe best snorkeling spots that we have every encountered. The
\nwater was very clear and the reef stretched the length of the
\nisland except for a small gap that opened to a white sand beach.
\n There were many fish including some types that we had not seen
\nbefore. We also swam up to the beach and walked the 200 feet to
\nthe other side of the island.<\/p>\n
We snorkeled more of the reef today. This afternoon the
\nGerman boat “Vera”, who we encountered on our passage from
\nBonaire, anchored nearby and we all went to shore to walk the
\ncicumference of the island. Then Laura and I spent some
\ncleaning the underside of the boat before taking the dinghy out
\nto “Vera” for “sundowners.” Britta and Michael and both
\ninteresting people and it was fun to share a bottle of wine and
\nswap sailing stories.<\/p>\n
We may stay here one more day before heading deeper into Kuna
\nYala, although we have not yet picked our next island.<\/p>\n
M.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
We spent a second night anchored in front of Yansaladup in the Limon Cays before moving to our current location yesterday. We are now in the Western Holandes Cays, anchored in front of Waisaladup just east of Acuakargana. There is only one hut on each island. The families care for the coconut trees on the … <\/p>\n