Pearl Diving in Las Perlas

 So it begins… our first leg of sailing in the Pacific Ocean.  We have been waiting for a Northerly to blow and it arrived last night.  There are only so many last minute things one can do and then one has to leave or else one will always find more. 

We are sailing from Panama City to the islands of Las Perlas, where we will wait for another weather window to head to Galapagos.   T R I B E is coasting along at eight knots. The kids are doing school reluctantly and I've just made a breakfast of Raisin Bread and Butter French Toast, sprinkled lavishly with cinnamon and sugar. 

Arriving in Las Perlas.    "The Pearls" have been home to three seasons of the popular CBS television series “Survivor”, with these islands serving as the show’s base of operations and backdrops. 

 The 'Survivor' team is here now filming their next series, I can see why these islands were chosen. The archipelago is a combination of beautiful islands with pristine virgin forest and sandy white beaches. We had such an enjoyable walk through the forest on island of Contadora. 

Exploring the islands in our tenders with Brent and Anna from SY Impi and Johan, Christine and Kim from SY Moana

Chris and the kids metal detecting on the beaches

an old ferry wreck on the beach

Las Perlas is also famous for its saltwater pearls.  The seabed is full of oysters.  The crew of  T R I B E, Impi and Moana went for a dive and had fun finding the oysters, almost like an easter egg hunt, although requiring a knife to dislodge them from the rocks. Between us we dived out 2 buckets and were very hopeful of finding a pearl.

Chris, Christine, Brent and Johan getting the meat out of the oysters and looking for pearls

the oysters..

the meat,

the pearl!

The Smith Family Robinson.
Next we went exploring the forest on the island of Contadora, unbelievably tall trees and dense woodland, very refreshing, I love trees!

Layla filled a bag,picking mangoes to add to our provisioning.

Chris helping Brent load up some diesel from a resort...

Chris still helping Brent...

some surrounding islands

Layla's pic of mom

Sea creatures carved into rocks. Layla

sailing around the archipelago

Skyla at the helm

Rourke dipping his toes in the sea 

sy Moana ahead of us with crew Johan, Christine and Kim

sy Impi with crew Brent and Ana

leave only footprints…

  We sail in two days for Galapagos, it should take us about a week… see you there!