The night before our scheduled departure we had an orientation meeting to go through some ship ground rules. Captain James (USA) seemed to know what he was talking about and he spoke very highly indeed of chef Sophie (Australia)…expectation levels high.

We were introduced to Coco (a Guna dog who had been stolen by some English girls 3 years previously and had lived on the boat ever since).

We had a brief amount of time to suss out our fellow passengers who were as follows:

⁃ 3 Australian lads on a month long stag do

⁃ 3 additional Australian lads with one accompanied by his American girlfriend

⁃ 3 Dutch sisters

⁃ a German group comprising of a middle aged man and woman, a teenage boy and a slightly older boy

⁃ A Swedish couple

⁃ A German boy

⁃ *We were joined by a German girl on the boat who did not attend the meeting

Excitement was high as we returned to our hostel for our final night sleep in Cartagena and Abi had been somewhat reassured by the confidence of the captain and the seemingly clear weather report!

At 4.30pm the following day we arrived at supermarket a short walk from the marina and stocked up on supplies. While everyone else seemed to plump for vast quantities of alcohol (the Aussies favouring a mountain of ‘club Colombia’ beers) Abi and I decided on coke, Oreos and water.

Shopping trolleys were stacked and supermarket workers paid to join us (to return said trolleys) as we rolled our way down the road and towards the Sovereign Grace…what a sunset by the way!

Unfortunately the next few hours were a little frustrating. An hour or so spent waiting on the harbour for police to conduct thorough bag searches was followed by a couple of hours waiting on the boat ahead of departure.

The boat itself was a real beauty. Spacious enough so that it did not feel cramped with 23 people (And a dog) on board, there were comfortable bean bags, good vantage points, a quiet back social space, a luxurious indoor sofa and 3 excellent bathrooms.

It was much better once we were actually on the boat as we had the opportunity to check out our little cabin:

Abi’s Rating: 8/10 – Too hot and a bit smelly. Food was good, boat was really nice.

Mike’s Rating: 9/10 – Very hot and stuffy and not the most comfortable but we were on a boat so what do you expect. Food was incredible and the boat was delightful.

We were introduced to Deck hand Ore who was in charge of the general running of the boat and who ferried us around the islands in the attached speed dinghy.

We were also treated to a delicious spaghetti bolognese by Sophie which put everyone in a jovial mood. While this was consumed we all slowly got the opportunity to get to know a bit about each other which was a nice introduction.

At about 9pm the motor was switched on and we began to pull out of Cartagena and head for the open seas. The plan was for 36 hours of non stop sailing and although conditions were seemingly good we were in for a rough night!

As this was the first time that Abi and I had been on a boat for any length of time we were both unsure of how we would react. With this in mind we both took sea sickness tablets to preempt any problems.

We managed to get through the night relatively unscathed but I woke up in the morning rather disoriented and sweating profusely. Luckily I made it up to the deck and began to improve with fresh air. Others seemed to not have been so lucky and Sophie reported that a couple of breakfasts had already reappeared.

Capt James had given the food a massive build up and it did not disappoint . If anything the portion sizes might have been too big and unfortunately there were a couple of occasions where some people (Abi and I included) just did not feel up to the food. But we were treated to lasagne, scrambled eggs, fresh fish and (Abi’s favourite) chicken covered nachos. My personal highlight was the lobster which was a first for us both and thoroughly enjoyable!

The first night struggles had been widespread but the majority of the Aussies had decided that the best policy was to go on the attack and drink their way through the day!

They had reached a happy point by the afternoon which coincided with a magical encounter with a host of dolphins who companied us for many miles as they followed the bow of the boat.

Aussie in chief was fellow Liverpool fan Chris (he had a tattoo so might even be more obsessed than me) and he lead the festivities as the sun set. Abi and I would retire to bed before things got overly rowdy but the following morning saw the boat covered in sharpie and Chris furiously scrubbing surfaces and himself!

We had woken up to the sight of three tiny islands…the bumpy crossing was at an end…it was time to relax!

The San Blas Islands is an archipelago of about 365 islands and home to the Guna people.

Some of the locals seemed to be having a party on one of the islands so we instead spent a few hours snorkelling and playing ball games on a tiny sand dune. I saw a sting ray and had a lot of fun diving around after a ball in the crystal clear shallows.

The afternoon was when the Aussies got lairy and tucked into their supply of spirits. They headed off to the island (pirates of the Caribbean theme tune blaring) while the rest of us enjoyed some quiet time on the boat.

Abi and I, as well as our new Swedish friends Joakim and Therese swam over and neatly avoided the escalating rum fest as we headed for the other side of the island!

This was the most raucous night of the lot but I didn’t mind too much as Chris belted out some Liverpool chants…I had to join in too of course!

They was a lot of shouting (one of the Dutch sisters desperate for a lighter – far too much smoking in general if you consider the presence of seemingly clued up millenials) and American girl Jamie took exception to some loud table banging by launching a verbal tirade at the offending Aussies (she wasn’t a shrinking violet herself mind, but was fortunately laid up with a bit of sea sickness so our ears didn’t fall off until late on Day 5).

After the perils of the previous night we were now stationary which meant a much happier sleep. We also opted to sleep with our door open which ensured that we had a welcome amount of air circulating in our little cabin (to be fair we did have a little fan each which was much needed).

The third morning saw us take a short voyage to our favourite island – Robinson’s (named after the resident Guna family).

I took the opportunity to have an early sighted while people were still digesting breakfast. Ore, Coco and I took some food to the Robinson’s and I got some pretty impressive pictures!

Abi was feeling left out so tried to snorkel over…but I was already heading back to the boat to collect a bag for the day!

Not to worry as we spent the next few hours on the idyllic island. We did a little instagram tour before it got too hot!

This was followed by a day of reading, relaxing and cooling off in the divine Caribbean waters…the definition of paradise!

The evening festivities involved freshly caught snapper, rum filled coconuts and marshmallows toasted on the bonfire that was preceded by a sand in eye dominated group game of volleyball! There were also a number of tiny lizards that enjoyed playing in our hair and on our clothes!

We returned to the Grace with full stomachs and smiles on our faces. Time for a quick game of cards before another sedentary night!

Our final full day on the boat took us to immigration island so that we could all stamp ourselves into Panama. It was the most pain free immigration on record (perhaps aided by a donation from the skipper) and you could argue that the guy in the hut has a lot to love about his location on a remote island!

The next hour was a rough crossing to our final island stop and I was very nearly sick (I had not taken a pill for a few days)!

Luckily we reached our destination in the nick of time and I was able to recover as we dropped anchor (again a few others had not been so lucky).

Abi and I climbed up to the crow’s nest to get a birds eye view of our final stop.

Chichime Island was a lot more touristy than the others so the enjoyment factor was not as high. That being said we saw some cool star fish and a walk around to the other side of the island meant that we were treated to one last piece of doozy blue sea.

The last supper of lasagne was served by Sophie as Abi and I hastily stocked up on pills and got ourselves vertical for the final stretch.

We arrived in Puerto Lindo just after midnight but none of us tourists knew that. We all woke up at 7am, refreshed and ready for the bus to Panama City.

What an incredible 5 days that will live long in the memory. An amazing trip made possible by the generosity of our friends and family. We are so grateful and it was the best wedding present!