Sea Monsters & Our First Sailboat Scuba Dive

A few months ago, we were really itching to get to Panama. We were knee deep in boat projects, covered in sika, yet dreaming of jungles. We traveled North America full time for almost seven years and no doubt discovered a deep love for our home country. But we’re long overdue for a culture shock.

The Bahamas are some of the dreamiest waters in the world and will be tough to top but the culture felt very close to home.

Enter Panama…it’s a whole new world!  Wandering around Bocas Del Toro we discovered plants and trees we had never seen before, fruits we’ve never tasted and a style of living we haven’t experienced. And we haven’t even scratched the surface of this country yet.

Now, we’re on our way to Isla Bastimentos which we’re told is wildly different from Bocas Town. A more relaxed atmosphere with dramatic rain forest landscapes and filled with the native tribes.

We’ve got two big items on the agenda. One is to break in our new scuba gear and two is to celebrate a birthday.

That little glimpse of the native Ngabe village of Quebrada Sal (Salt Creek) at the end was just that…a glimpse. Stay tuned because we can’t wait to show you more of the island and what we find on our jungle adventure!

Aquatic Life

It’s the rainy season here so the water visibility isn’t going to be great and it takes some getting used to after the crystal clear waters of the Bahamas.  The green murky waters don’t hold us back though because the aquatic life is drastically different and filled with intricate details.  For our first dive from the boat, it was a great success.  It was just the soft start we needed to get back in the groove of being able to breathe underwater.  Now we can start to stretch our aquatic fins and explore a little further.

Snorkel/Dive Gear

• Aqua Lung Dive Computer/Regulator Set: http://amzn.to/2uxDyDn
• Nikki
  • Hammerhead Free-Dive Mask With Camera Mount http://amzn.to/2d5C6SB
  • Hammerhead Free-Dive J Snorkel: http://amzn.to/2cjh3dV
  • Nikki’s Sporasub Freediving Fins:  http://amzn.to/2kIYmlf
• Jason
  • Atomic Mask:  http://amzn.to/2uuqsZf
  • Omer Snorkel: http://amzn.to/2uxCjEb
  • Omer Freediving Fins:  http://amzn.to/2kIhljK

• Spearfishing:
  • Hawaiian Sling Spear: http://amzn.to/2hIBfHb
  • Cut Resistant Gloves: http://amzn.to/2uxZWfM

Sailing Report

To see our full map with interactive pins, click here: gonewiththewynns.com/map

• Dates: August 7-9, 2017
• Nautical Miles Sailed: 16.8
• Anchorage: Playa Azul, a calm and quiet place to drop the hook.  The anchorage can be found easily on Active Captain.
• Cell & WiFi: We had no cell phone service here.  We used our Iridium Go to stay connected and check weather.
  With our WiFi Ranger we were able to tap into the resorts signal, but it was barely fast enough to check email and social media.

Gear Used In This Video

• Deck Folding Lounge Chairs – Our new Sport-a-Seat chairs are far superior to anything else we’ve had in the past.  These guys don’t mess around.  They’ve offered up a $10 discount and free shipping if you use discount code “WYNNS”:  http://bit.ly/2wRGo90
• Hiking/Water Adventure Shoes: http://bit.ly/2uZs620
• Quatix 5 Watches: Garmin Wearables
• Chartplotter: Garmin 7612xsv Multi-touch
• iPad Mount at Helm: http://amzn.to/2fT84PG
• iPad Pro http://amzn.to/2d9Oopf
  • Sailing Apps Used:
  • iNavx: http://bit.ly/2vGgC51
  • Garmin Bluecharts with Active Captain:  http://bit.ly/2tgnRmA
  • Iridium Go and Predict Wind for weather and communications: bit.ly/PredictWindIridium
• Waterproof & floating phone case/handbag: gonewiththewynns.com/product/productugo-waterproof-pack
• Mantus Anchor:  https://www.gonewiththewynns.com/product/mantus-anchor

Cameras Used to Capture This Video

• Main Camera – Sony A7ii:  http://bit.ly/a7rii-sony
  • Sony Zoom Mic: https://www.gonewiththewynns.com/product/sony-gun-zoom-microphone-black
  • Sony 24 – 70mm f4 lens: http://bit.ly/2470-zeiss
• Sony rx100 with underwater housing: http://amzn.to/2xG43rn
• Iphone using OlloClip filmers kit: http://bit.ly/2xYErGv 
• All of our up to date photo and editing gear:  gonewiththewynns.com/best-travel-camera-video-photography

The Crew

Dale and Justin are our first Patreon’s aboard from our recent Crew Call.  If you want to wish Justin a belated happy birthday, you can find him here:

• YouTube (their video submission) – youtube.com/channel/UC5JTLYjTrJC5TJl9_KJPD4g
• Instagram – instagram.com/djsdives/
• Twitter – twitter.com/DjsDives

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