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May 1, 2007

Today is our grandson Hunter's #8 birthday,  Happy birthday, Hollywood!

We are enroute to Bocas del Toro, Panama today along with our good friends Kaija and Gary on Kaija's Song.  We upped anchor at 645 am and began our journey weaving thru the many coral heads as we made our way towards the cut thru the reef and into the Caribbean ocean blue.  It was a beautiful day and as we threw our sails up the sun greeted us with its morning rays.  We had  175 miles, 30 hrs, to our destination of Bocas del Toro and with a ENE breeze of 15-20knots, we were delightfully sailing along at a brisk  6 knots.

Kaija's Song is a 50' Bennetau, a lighter displacement and a sloop rig, which in time they slipped away from us effortlessly.  Blow Me Away is a medium displacement, 50' ketch rig, and we sail 6 - 7 knots in a good 20 knot wind.  Gary and Kaija graciously slowed down and kept with us as we made our way to our final destination. 

On May 2nd, around Noon time, we made our way into the channel towards Bocas del Toro.  It had rained on us earlier, and to our dismay found out that the fabric waterprotector that we had sprayed on our bimini in the Albuquerque Cays, was not the right 303.  We had used the blue label bottle and should of used the green label bottle.  For those of you who know, and for those of you who don't know, BEWARE! We were sopping wet in our foul weather jackets and none too happy.

As we made our way closer to the anchorage, we hailed our friends on Bruadair, Damon and David, and Damon came out to greet us in his dinghy and helped us avoid the reefs as we motored thru the anchorage.  We set anchor at 1:15pm, cleaned up the boat, made ourselves presentable after an overnight passage.  We diligently hailed the Port Captain and made our  presence known per the rules, with quarantine flag hoisted, and at 3 pm , the officials arrived.  Three men and two women dressed in heels (high heels, at least 3") made their way onto our boat.  Much paperwork flew thruout the cockpit, trash was surveyed, the refrigerator and freezer were looked at, and all in all, it was painless.  The person in charge of the trash though, told us to take our garbage, which consisted of 3 small plastic empty coke bottles (could be evidence of some rum and cokes before officials came onboard), into the marina, and have it burned, all at a cost of $1.00 US.  Okey dokey, no problema.  We were given tourist visas of 90 days, and a cruising permit of 90 days, both can be renewed for another 90 days for a total cost of $150.00. 

May 4, 2007

We tuned into the Northwest Caribbean net this morning to get an update on friends whereabouts, and heard about our good friends Gunnar and Grethe, on Sailabout, who had crossed thru the Panama Canal at the end of March and were actually making their  crossing from the Galapagos towards the Marquesas, and 700 miles into the journey of 2500 miles, that they had called in a Mayday earlier this morning. We met this unique couple in Guanaja, back in February, while waiting for the weather window to head south.  We spent many happy hours getting to know one another, snorkeling, hiking and our favorite "the ultimate bike tour of Providencia".

 We sat by our Single Side Band Radio all day and listened into the communication between Gunnar and the U. S. Coastguard, on the emergency channel of 14300, and found out the reason for the mayday was a busted forestay, which severed their dolphin striker which in turn broke the anchor loose and in heavy seas knocked a hole in their bow which allowed water in and they  currently had 3 ft of water in their cabin.  Not a good situation. Our hearts poured out to them and thankfully a freighter was able to change course, and rescued them after many hours at sea.   Although it was a Norwegian flagged ship,( they are both native Norwegians), all the crew were Chinese and headed around the Cape to the port of Panaqua, Brazil: 3 weeks out.  So thankful to hear that they were both okay, it was hard to hear that their vessel Sailabout, was sinking into the deep blue.  Their sabbatical dream of sailing from the Rio Dulce to Australia had come to an upbrupt end.  But,with their spirit and never failing optimism,and  making the best of their situation, they enjoyed Brazil and altered course.  Flying back to Florida, and meeting family there before returning to Norway.

May 7, 2007

Bummer of a day, my computer will not turn on, which means I cannot update the website.  I cannot access winlink, our SSB email, the computer has died and along with it a piece of me. How I hate being so tied to electronics.  But, when it works well, communication is a good thing.  So, we are in search of a new computer. 

May 8, 2007  Today is My Birthday!  I get Special Favors, Oh Yeah!

Bocas del Toro, does a nice job in promoting their restaurant/bars with a T shirt one can buy for $20, that lists all the bars (27 in all) on the back each giving a free drink to those who wear the T shirt into their establishment.  Can you say "Pub Crawl"? And what a great way to celebrate my birthday.  (Being a former particpant in the Waldo Pub Crawl back in Kansas City, I know that the number of bars you arrive to decrease as the day progresses.)

The day began with a wonderful delicious breakfast onboard, Kaija's Song, with Eggs Benedict and Mimosas (Champagne and orange juice.)   Oh Yeah!  Gosh, I don't know what I did for this kind of treatment, but I was truly grateful and enjoyed both bottles of champagne and savored the dish of eggs benedict.  Such a treat!  After that, we were ready to take on the town.  With our merrily band of birthday celebrators, we made our way to four different bars before calling it a day, and had dinner at my favorite restaurant, "The LemonGrass, a Thai restaurant.  It was a very memorable day and so thankful to have such great friends to share my "especial" day with.

May 11, 2007

We advertised on the boater's cruisers net that broadcasts every Mon-Fri morning at 8am on VHF 68 that we are needing to buy a computer and lo and behold a fellow cruiser just happens to have one they don't need.  They say timing is everything and I say that computer is mine!

  It's a Compaq, same as our old one, but much newer with the new Vista software.  Now the process of getting used to it begins.

May 13, 2007 Happy Birthday Rosemary, (Aaron's Mom).

We are heading out to explore the rest of the bay with fellow cruisers, Bruadair (Damon and David) and Kaija's Song, (Kaija and Gary).  We motor 45 minutes to a secluded anchorage, surrounded by mangroves, and dropped anchor.  Taking the dinghy ashore, walking across the island over to the other shore,  we discover  Red Frog Beach a beautiful oasis, where the elusive Red Frog resides and we so happened to catch a glimpse of the tiny amphibian close to a coconut tree along the shoreline.  This frog is poisonous and the size of your thumbnail, and you hear him croak before you see him.  He is a protected species and rightly so.

At the Flip Flop bar, we find out that the turtles are coming into the beach and laying their eggs, so we all decide that we must see this. (Aaron and I saw this spectacular sight in Costa Rica some 17 years ago on our honeymoon and it is a must see)  These turtles, we understand, are the loggerheads and come in at high tide to make a nest which is a hole they dig about 2 ft down in the sand using their back flippers, and lay their eggs (about golf ball size). Then they cover up the hole and return to the sea.  The whole process takes about 45 minutes. At midnite, we all cram into one dinghy and make our way to the beach where we walk and walk and walk and walk some more and wait and wait for 3 hrs but nothing happens. Bummer.  We try again the next nite, but no luck.  Frogs yes, turtles, no.

In the next several days, we make our way across the bay, towards another inlet, called Dolphin Bay, where, yes, dolphins do greet you as you enter their territory.  We anchor in the northern most point, close to where we hear the Cerutti Chocolate Factory is located.  After a fresh dip in the cool waters, we chance to meet Mary and Carl, on  s/v Kamrika, who are building a house here.  They are full of info on the area and happily agree to call Doug and Linda who own the chocolate factory to set up a tour for the next day.

Doug and Linda are originally from San Diego and bought this tropical haven 11 years ago.  At the time of purchase, it had cocoa trees growing on it and it used to be a farm years ago.  So, being industrious and ambitious, they set out to make the place a productive plantation once again.  And they have succeeded.  Doug and Linda, who are in their 60's but still have a youthful spirit alive, gave us a walking tour of their place educating us along the way of the various different tropical plants that grow and the process of how cocoa is produced.  I asked Linda, how she acquired her green thumb, and she replied, oh it's nothing, you just plant a root in the ground and it just grows!  We are in the tropics where anything can grow.

Amongst the discarded cocoa husks, we spotted an iridescent green frog with black spots hopping along.  Linda remarked that they are native to this area.  He is bigger by twice the size of the red frog.  We told Linda and Doug that we had seen the red frog earlier and Doug said that their is a yellow frog more inland on the mainland.  Well, I am getting one red and one green frog for our boat to indicate port and starboard and the yellow one for the stern light.

Doug showed us his factory, a one person operation.  Simplifying the process here it goes:  After fermenting the cocoa beans, and  drying them in the sun for 4-5 days, he puts them in his makeshift roaster, an old propane tank and a motorized crank and heats the beans up then crushes them and pours the liquified chocolate into molds and refrigerates them.  He sells his homegrown chocolate to only one restaurant, a high end place,  in Panama City, then also to those who take the time to come by for a tour.  It was a highlight of our time here in the Bocas area and enjoyed tasting real chocolate..

May 19, 2007

Upped anchor and motored across Dolphin Bay to a very small town, called Bocas Torritos, where we met Ciprano and his wife, Santos, who own the only restaurant/bar in town.  Also the only tienda. (small store)  We stayed for dinner, the menu consisting of either fish or chicken with rice and beans and salad.

The next day, we motored to another anchorage called, Cayos Gallego only 3 miles away.  There we dropped anchor in the middle of circle of mangroves.  So secluded, no tourist boats whizzing by, no houses, no body around, just us three boats quietly sitting at anchor.  This is what I enjoy most, is the out and away places where no body or bodies are around.  I paddled aroud the mangroves in my kayak enjoying the peace and quiet and slipped overboard with my mask and starred in wonder at the life below me.  So many starfish all layed out before me and small tropical fish coming close to me in curiosity.

May 24, 2007

Back at Bocas del Toro anchorage and only to discover that we are all out of propane, both tanks.  We left one tank 10 days ago to be refilled with the marina, but they wait until they have at least 5 tanks before sending them over to Almirante.  And to our dismay, it was still sitting there in the office.  So, we took both tanks to the hardware store in town, where the tanks will be shipped out on the ferry going to Almirante and return on Friday hopefully.  It's not that bad doing without propane on our boat.  We have a toaster oven and a microwave and the generator is working so all is good. Oh, and we do have a nice grill on the stern rail!

May 29, 2007  Happy Birthday Jason

The girls, Kaija, Judy (Lonestar Love) , and David (Bruadair) and me, venture out and take the water taxi to the town of Changinola, a city across the bay on the mainland of Panama.  We are in search of items not found in the Bocas area and hear that we may have success here.  The taxi takes about an hour skipping across the bay and into the manmade channel thru the banana groves.  It is a jungle paradise.  We are greeted by  very young boys who ask for money as we exit the taxi.  I am prepared and give them candy instead which seems a happy medium for both of us. A taxi called a collectivo, which is a van that can take many passengers, agrees to take us into the city for $2 each.  Once in the city, my goal is to find info on the bus terminal that has a scheduled run to San Jose, Costa Rica.  Luckily, the bus terminal is close to our drop off and I find a man who speaks English and tells me that the bus leaves everyday at 10am and charges $10 per person.  Great since we are planning on taking the bus to San Jose next month to catch a flight out to the states.  As we walk along the main street, it is not that big of a city, we check out the hardware stores, grocery stores, appliance stores, and have fun just browsing.  We spend all day there, having lunch at a great place called the Chiquita Banana.  One of the waiters, escorts us into the air conditioned room, where we savor a plate of chicken and rice and beans and salad.    This is the typical plate found in this region of Central America.  But it is always cheap and delicious.

We catch the 5 pm taxi home, but the water has become very choppy due to the wind picking up and our trip home is a back breaking, booby bouncing, kidney jarring ride.  I have a terrible headache when I arrived.  But am happy that I found paper plates!