March 7, 2009  Project Completed

It's hard to believe that our boat projects are done and we can now begin to seriously think of leaving Cartagena.  It's been a long long journey these last three months, but it has been worth it.  Blow Me Away is looking beautiful, the best she has ever looked.  This past week, Nilson finished up his cabinets in the shop and main salon, they look great.  While Eddie, his assistant, sanded and varnished the new floor, 7 coats in all.

Eder and his muchachos worked hard this week.  The hinges and handles were installed and flush mounted.  Not an easy job to do, but the result looks awesome.  New plates for the electrical outlets and a cutting board that fits on just one side of the sink.  We are very pleased with the finished project.  Both heads received an uplift as well.  New countertops were made and installed.  Amazing how it just dresses it up. And I spent two days cleaning the galley!

Bianney was rehired to make two more stanchions with bases.  The hardrail was a bit too long from the gate forward, making it wobbly,  so we had Bianney install a stanchion in between in order to firm up the rail on each side.

Elvis returned.  The generator has been running hot, so he flushed the system, and cleaned the heat exchanger with muriatic acid.  Now, it runs right at 180 degrees, perfect.

And Renzon finished up the mizzen sail cover so that it fits nicely around the new boom wing. 

Jorge returned once again to finish up his job.  Another layer of Cetol around the companionway, polished the stainless steel, a few places received a touch up with paint, and he cleaned up the overspray.  He has been with us since the beginning, over a year ago.  He's been a hard worker; taking on a huge job and thru it all, he has become a good friend. 

We hired Jose, a mentally challenged young man, to wax and polish the hull, not an easy job to do from the dinghy, but this little guy worked hard and never quit working, only for a lunch break.  So, we hired him for another day, and he waxed and polished the topsides, circling the boat five times. The sun was brutal, but he stayed with it, till we told him he could go home and with a payment of 40,000 pesos and two beers, Jose smiled a huge smile.

We have had workers on our boat everyday for the last three months that it will be weird having the boat all to ourselves!  Actually, it will be awesome to sleep in and relax.  But, reality is, we now have to get the boat ready for sea.  Inside of the boat is the filthiest ever.  With the work completed, my job begins.  Getting rid of the dirt and the dust, washing all the woodwork, cushions, pillows, etc.  And, provisioning!  Time to stock up on food and beer and rum, since we plan on cruising the San Blas for a month.  Jeannie and I make a trip to the Bazurta mercardo to buy vegetables.  It's always an interesting place, lots of stalls, lots of vegetables, fish and fresh meat hanging up on display. 

There was a bit of a celebration onboard, Irene and Andrew celebrated birthdays while we celebrated our boat projects completion.  Tony on s/v Andiamo and his girlfriend Karen joined us as well.  We haven't seen Tony since last year.  It was great fun, great reunion, and we all paid for it the day after.

The only thing that is not working properly is my modem in order to have access to send and receive emails from the boat.  I haven't had any luck in finding out the problem.  It worked fine last time I used it over a year ago, but now when I try to use Airmail, the message comes up on my computer that the modem failed to initialize.  Which means it refuses to communicate with the computer and the single side band radio.  So, upon leaving Cartagena, we will not be able to communicate unless I find internet access and retrieve my messages via hotmail.      

March 10, 2009   Departure from the Dock 

We unplugged the umbilical cord (electrical cord) and untied the dock lines and with the help of Dockmaster John and friends, we made our exit from the marina.  On the way to the anchorage, which isn't far, I noticed that the tachometer wasn't working, so after anchoring Aaron checked out the alternator only to discover it wasn't working.  So after lunch, (lunch was with Irene and Andrew at Rugulas'), we once again employed Creison's services to dismount the old alternator and replace itwith one of our spares.  After which, Aaron ran the alternator to Multi Electronico to have them repair it.  They said it would be ready the next morning.  So, with last minute provisioning done, and Eder, Nilson and Jorge off of our boat, we enjoy the evening onboard. 

March 11, 2009   Bon Voyage Blues

Today we decide to make the big step and leave Cartagena.  We checked out of the country receiving our zarpe from Manfred, our agent, yesterday.  I make another grocery run to Carulla's, check our email, while Aaron takes the dinghy and gets fuel.  At 10 am, we hoist the dinghy and motor, and up anchor.  The winds are suppose to be favorable and the seas have quieted down, so with much anticipation, its off to Baru, where we will join Donna and Cosmos on s/v Koukla.  We met them at Todomar boatyard, where they had their bottom painted back in January.  But, before we make it Bocagrande cut, our GPS fails to receive a signal.  We have another GPS onboard, but this one is the Garmin 3006 which has a chartplotter, making it so much easier to navigate.  So, we decide to turn around and see what the problem is and get it fixed.  We are disappointed that the ball and chain are still attached!  After anchoring, we call Sven, the electronics guru, and he says to unplug, clean and replug the connections.  And he also tells us that our radar is not fixable so we donate the radar and dome.  He will use them as parts.  Aaron does as Sven ordered and Sven's magic worked.  We are back knowing exactly where we are!  It's noon by now, so the decision to rest today and leave tomorrow morning is made.  Gary and Linda on s/v RainbowRider, pick us up in their dinghy, so we don't have to get ours down, and we spend our last evening in Cartagena with good friends, a last happy hour and the traditional Shwarma, a middle eastern rollup, for dinner.

March 12, 2009  Finally the Finale Farewell to Cartagena

We rise early, but Bob and Jeannie, s/v Island Dreamin', are already on their way by 615am.  They are as ready as we are to be going.  We have spent alot of time with them since meeting them at Todomar in December.  Been thru all the ups (very few) and alot of downs together.  But today, is an up day, as we haul anchor.  Gary and Linda, s/v RainbowRider are right behind us as we make our way towards Bocagrande cut.  The winds are calm this morning, as it usually is, as we raise the main and mizzen.

  We motor on thru the cut, it's not very wide, and only about 20 feet deep.  The other cut, Boca Chica, is much larger and deeper and the one that the cruiseships and freighters use.  The seas are larger once thru the cut about 4ft - 6 ft swells, coming out of the NE.  It has been blowing hard this past week, but the last two days the wind has lessened so the seas are not as big.  We turn east and head for the Rosarios.  We call Cosmos and ask him to meet us at the Rosarios so that we can all spend a last evening together before going our separate ways.   We believe that we have indeed finally detached ourselves from the Cartagena ball and chain!  The winds increase a little, so we roll out the jib.  It's only 4 hours to the Rosarios and Koukla is already anchored by the time we arrive.  We decide to anchor by them, which is up thru the cut in between the two islands.  Island Dreamin and RainbowRider anchor in the south anchorage, where s/v Consort with Janet and Duncan onboard.  We all meet up at the bird aviary at 1pm and stroll thru the paths and gaze upon a wonderful collection of exotic birds.  We did this before when we were here back in Dec 2007, but it is definitely worth another look.  Delia and her husband are still the caretakers, and as admission, she asks that we purchase jewelry that she has made.  Us girls, say no problem, and each of us walk away with a beautiful beaded bracelet.

Happy hour is onboard Blow Me Away, no surprise there!  The icemaker is running and the bar is open.  Everyone brings an appetizer and we make toasts to our final farewell to Cartagena and to a smooth crossing on Saturday.

March 13, 2009  Friday the 13th

Sailors are a superstitious lot and us included!  Last time we began a voyage on Friday the 13th was on December 13, 2005.  My brother Biff was visiting us at the time in Madeira Beach, Florida and we were planning on sailing to Ft Meyers.  The weather wasn't fully cooperating, a norther had just blown thru, so the seas were still kicked up a bit.  The winds were 20-25 knots as we ventured out into the Gulf.  As we passed the shipping channel and just south of Egmont Key, Biff was down below in the galley, and Aaron behind the wheel noticed a huge wave approaching out of the corner of his eye and had only the time to say hold on before we were slammed; slapping our sails in the water.  It shook us all up so much so that we decided to head on into Tampa Bay and anchor for the night.  So, with that experience behind us we stay put and will prepare for our crossing tomorrow.  I pressure cook a whole chicken and make a chicken and rice soup and chicken salad for easy meals underway.  Later on, Donna and Cosmos come over and we dinghy over to the resort for a couple of high priced beers and enjoy a swim in the pool.  Donna and Cosmos joined us for dinner, and over a bottle of wine we toast to a safe crossing.  We exchanged waypoints and vow to remain in contact on VHF 68.  Since we don't have radar, it's nice to be with someone who does.  It is not a busy spot of water, no ship traffic, so we really only have to look out for other sailboats and maybe a fishing boat.  Island Dreamin and RainbowRider head to San Bernardo to stage themselves from there to a crossing over to Isla Pinos.

March 14, 2009   Crossing Challenges

We rise at 6 am, and up anchor by 630am.  We follow Koukla out of the channel and hold our breath as we motor over the shallow spots.  The winds are calm as we raise our sails, first the main then the mizzen, as the sun rays peek thru the clouds.  We have approximately 180 miles to get to our destination of Green Island just south of the Eastern Hollandes in the San Blas; figuring that we will average 6 knots, it will take us 30 hours, placing us in there sometime between 1pm and 2pm on Sunday.  At 715am, we experience our first challenge.  Our alternator has quit working again, so before going any further, Aaron replaces it with one of our spares. The engine is hot, so we wait 45 minutes until Aaron can safely work on it.  By 830am, Aaron has finished and we are motorsailing once again. Aaron is feeling a bit queasy after having his head in the engine room.  Koukla was having difficulty raising their sails, so by the time we are ready, so are they.  Our boats are almost the same, Koukla is a 56 ft Morgan Ketch, so we shouldn't have any problems in staying up with one another. The winds are coming out of the southeast and as we motorsail past the last island in the Rosarios chain, the swells become larger, 4ft to 6 ft range out of the northeast.  It is not uncomfortable, but we definitely haven't acquired our sealegs so we are a bit clumsy as we move about and I involuntarily receive a few boat bites (bruises)

.  By noon, the winds are fluky, and the sails begin to slap about.  We pull the jib in and harden up the main and mizzen.  Suddenly, the bilge alarm starts going off and water is backing up into the cockpit.  This is a bit scary and I radio Koukla that we have a problem.  Aaron opens up the engine room door and water is spraying everywhere.  We shut the engine down and Aaron begins looking for the problem.  Cosmos is standing by on the radio and gives us reassurance that we can find the problem and fix it. The water in the cockpit has drained now and after 10 minutes or so, Aaron discovers that the out take hose on the water pump has blown off; the hose clamp fell off.  So, he replaces the clamp, and we cross our fingers as we start the engine.  The hose clamp and hose are holding after several minutes, so we motor on, taking it easy though, holding it to 1600 rpm. 

The chicken and rice soup goes down well and calms our stomachs.  The swells are larger now, 9 feet or so.  We take pictures of Koukla as she rises up on a wave and then is swallowed up in the trough with only her sails showing.  Donna takes pictures of Blow Me Away in these conditions as well.  We surf down the waves reaching speeds of 8 knots. The winds are beginning to shift more to the north northeast as was expected.  At 7 pm, the winds are now 15 to 20 knots out of the north, so we turn the motor off and sail.  Oh, how sweet it is!  Our joy is dampened quickly as the GPS chartplotter decides to quit working.  Not again!  Aaron repeats the procedure of unplugging and then spraying the connections with CRC 56 and replugging it, but that doesn't work.  We do have the other GPS attached to the helm, so we have a backup.  But, we are without our navigational charts, but no problem, we will just follow Koukla into Green Island's anchorage. 

We begin our watches and I am the first to go down below and catch a nap for three hours.  Our propeller does not lock into position, but rather keeps spinning around even when we are sailing.  The noise takes awhile to get used to since our aft cabin is right behind the prop and of course the swells move the boat around, but I do sleep off and on until 10pm when I take over for Aaron.

We continue the three hour watches and make it thru the night without another incident.  In the morning, we discover 15 flying fish on deck! They are not very big, 3-4 inches long, silver in color and have wings.  Some salty sailors, hoary ones, would fry these up and eat them for breakfast.  Not us, we are not that salty or desperate.  We eat bagels instead. 

At noon, we can see land and it is not long after, that our auto pilot fails, so we have to hand steer the rest of the way.  Thank goodness we are close to our destination. We hail Gris Gris, Tom and Julie, on  VHF channel 72 (this is the hailing channel for the San Blas) and find out that they are anchored in the anchorage called the "hot tub".  This begins a handful of friends that call and tell us they are glad we made it, David and Jan on s/v Winterlude, Doug and Mary on s/v Fandango, Reggie and Deb on s/v Runner and Damon and David on s/v Bruadair.  It's great to receive such a welcome.  There are islands with pretty beaches and many many palm trees everywhere we look and it is a beautiful sight. 

As we get closer, we douse the sails and motor on into the anchorage.  Our GPS chartplotter decides to work again so we can see ourselves on the electronic chart and safely miss the reefs and sandbar.  By 2 pm, we are safely tucked in behind Green Island in about 25 feet of clear blue water.  Tristan, on s/v Pangea is here and 3 other boats.  After tidying up the boat, I get the magic bullet out and make pina coladas and we make a toast to finally being here in paradise.

March 17, 2009  Happy Birthday Jessica and Happy St. Patrick's Day!

No green beer here, just some Irish music playing softly.  We have stayed onboard and rested, but yesterday, we worked on the boat fixing the problems we had during our crossing.  Aaron tightened the belt on the alternator and so far that has fixed the problem.  He fixed the autopilot by cleaning the connections in the control unit located on the helm.  And he managed to get the watermaker up and running after it's extended vacation.  That is great news.  Viseta and family, local Kuna Indians who live on Green Island, came out in their ulu and displayed her molas.  I gave each of the three children a bag of crayons, coloring paper and some candy.  And I ended up purchasing  $80 in molas!  Kathleen, a young French girl, rowed over from her boat and introduced herself and asked if we would like to see the jewelry that she and her husband makes from coconut shells, palm tree nuts, and other local wood.  The jewelry is very well done and so creative that I can't resist and purchase two necklaces, earrings, and a ring.

This afternoon, we decide it's time for some fun, so we lower the dinghy, clean the snorkeling gear, ready the spearguns, and take Donna with us over to the reef.   The water is cooler that I expected and wished I had worn my wetsuit, but after swimming and diving underwater, I am loving seeing all the pretty fish and coral.  Aaron is in hunt mode, he only had time to get my speargun set up, so he is trying it out for the first time.  He spots a nice size dog snapper and after waiting patiently for it to come out of its hole, he shoots dead on and spears dinner!  We check out another snorkeling spot where Aaron spears a small yellowtail snapper.   He says that this fish swam by just as he was about to spear a nice size mutton snapper!  At 2 pm, we head back and drop Donna off and show off our catch of the day to Cosmos.  We give the yellowtail snapper to Kathleen and after Aaron filets the dogsnapper (on the new swim platform), he gives the Kuna family the carcass, which will make a great fish soup.  We all meet up on Koukla for happy hour later and end up bringing the snapper filets over and having dinner as well.  Aaron's first catch feeds five people, and is, of course in three words, dee-lish-us.

March 18, 2009  A Birthday Bash

Today is Dianne, on s/v Takes Me Away, birthday and so we plan on moving to the "swimming pool" anchorage to join the festivities.  But, before we do, Venancio, one of the very well known Kuna Indians who sells molas, shows up and of course, we just have to see what he has.  So out come the molas from three 5 gallon buckets and one by one, he explains what the designs mean.  Donna comes over too to take a look and it's so hard to decide on which ones we like best.  After an hour, we make our final decision and purchase more molas.

At 10 am, we secure the dinghy on the davits, and up anchor.  All three of us, Pangea, Koukla and BMA, make our way north.  The wind is blowing 15-20 knots out of the northeast so we raise the main and furl out the jib and motorsail the 4 miles.  The tachometer has quit working which indicates that the alternator is not working.  What a pain, and we have only one more spare.  We need to find where and who can rebuild alternators before we head to Bocas del Toro. Tony on s/v Andiamo, is anchored close to the entrance of the cut and radios us to inform us that during his crossing, he lost his dinghy.  He says it is a long story, so we will hear the details later.  Tom and Julie have moved into the swimming pool and are waiting on us to arrive.  With Tom blowing his conch horn as we approach and Julie up on the bow waving at us, we make our way into the anchorage and set the hook in 10 feet of water, beautiful sand bottom.  As I look around at the reefs, white beaches, palm trees and the turquoise blue water, I realize that I had forgotten just how beautiful it is being here.

Lisa, a master mola maker who is a transvestite, comes by in her ulu, and we invite her onboard to look at her molas.  After a few minutes of talking, she remembers us, and the river trip we made with her, and we end up buying more molas.  I also buy two molas alike and ask if she can make a blouse for me, like last time.  Yes, yes yes she says, in five days she will return.  I ask her if any measurements need to be taken, and she replies, that we are the same size, large! Although I do have more in the frontal area! 

Dianne and her sister, Donna, stop by in their dinghy coming back from snorkeling and tell us that the birthday celebration begins at 430pm.   So after cleaning up the boat a bit, and rest and read, we pack up the cooler, bring an appetizer, and set off for the party.  It's great to see everyone, Jan and David on s/v Winterlude (Jan announced our arrival on the Panama net by telling everyone that they should look out for a new weather phenomenon, called a rum front, thanks to Blow Me Away being back in the area!) Helen and Joe on s/v DejaVu  and catch up on the latest.  It's been 16 months since we were here last.  Dianne is wearing her new palm frond skirt that Debbie made for her. Classy and sassy!   I made jello shots and several other cruisers brought bottles of champagne, so after a bit, we were all feeling no pain!   And what's a birthday party without a pinata!Dianne, blindfolded, did her best in trying to break it, but ended up just shaking out the candy from the top of the pinata, scattering the candy on the ground for the kids (young and old)  to pick up.   Later in the evening, everyone sang along with the guitar and danced the night away.

March 20, 2009   Friday Fish Fry

The winds are calmer today, sun is shining, an excellent day to go spearfishing.  Yesterday, Susanna on s/v NautiBear, conducted a yoga class on Potluck Island.  Seven women showed up with a towel or mat and placing ourselves in the shady spots of a palm tree, Susanna instructed us for the next two hours, stretching every muscle in the body. There are so many different poses, "downward dog" followed by "child pose" are the main ones and ending the session with the "tree pose", being one with a palm tree.   The experience left us all more relaxed. 

At 1100am, after the morning chores and radio net, we dinghy over to the reef and commence to find fish.  I have my own speargun this time, Aaron has his, and as we follow each other thru the reefs, frequently diving down to get a better view,  Aaron within an hour has speared three fish, two snappers and one grouper.  I come away with nada, nothing, zilch, zippo, bummer.  I didn't even shoot my gun!  What is up with that?  But, we do have enough fish and so we invite Tom and Julie on s/v Gris Gris over later for the traditional Friday Fish Fry.  I make up some cole slaw, and with our panko bread crumbs, we dip the fish in egg then a fish batter then the panko and fry up some fresh fish for dinner.  Julie brings over a dish of potatoes and we enjoy an evening onboard under the stars.

March 21, 2009  Growlin at the Generator 

Just to let you know, being in paradise is not always fun.  Somedays are a bit more challenging than others.  Our generator these past few days has been dying after running 20 minutes, then it would run for another 40 minutes, and then quit.  Sometimes it would only run for a few minutes.  This isn't good news for us, since we need the generator to run our refrigeration and to charge our batteries.   Therefore, we rely on our generator alot.  We should have a backup system, and have talked about it, but at this time we do not.  So, what do cruisers do when we have problems?  We enlist help from other cruisers.  Aaron announced on the Panama net, which is a radio net that begins at 830am every morning on the single side band radio and is operated and ran by cruisers in order to facilitate communication and offer help and advice, channel 8107,.  He explained the problem we were having with our generator.  A fellow cruiser on s/v Moondance told us that he had the exact same problem and eventually discovered that it  was a water temperature sensor; and to fix the problem, you have to disconnect the sensor.   Another fellow cruiser, Alan on s/v Honalee, came on the net as well and explained that he had the same generator that we do (Northern Lights 5KW) and he would be glad to come over to our boat and point out where the water temperature sensor is located.  Help is on the way and anchored on the other side of the island, not far away! 

Alan makes his arrival at 1000am, and we introduce ourselves and show him our generator.   He actually has the Northern Lights 8KW, but the parts are in the same places.  In our manual, it shows us having three water temperature sensors.  One runs the gauge, and the other two are shutdown sensors; one located on the block and the other on the manifold.  Aaron disconnected the shutdown sensor on the block and started the generator back up and it has been running great since.  We keep on eye on the temperature gauge, just to make sure.  Life is good again and we begin to make ice.  Alan says that he remembers hearing about  the "ice machine" onboard Blow Me Away from last time we were in the area.  It is noon, and 5 oclock somewhere, and so I  offer him a rum and coke.  We pass the whole afternoon, swapping stories and information over several rum and cokes.

March 23, 2009   Monday Potluck Island Happy Hour

Aaron tackles the alternator problem onboard with Cosmos's help.  They tear apart the two alternators that are bad and hoping to make one good one, but no joy.  We have to get one of them fixed, if not both, before we leave the San Blas and head north to Bocas del Toro.  Also the men took a look at the alternator currently on the engine and tried to figure out why we are having so many alternators go bad so quickly.  The noise suppressor may be the problem so it is now disconnected and we will see if that was the cause.  We had added the noise suppressor before leaving Florida thinking that would help with blocking the engine noise when using the single side band radio.

After the morning session of work onboard, it is time now to go snorkeling.  We dinghy over to the anchorage called "the hot tub" where Koukla and Pangea are anchored.  It is only less than a mile away from where we are anchored.  Cosmos comes with us and we dinghy over to the sand spit of an island and snorkle the reef and the wall.  A wall is when the shallow reef ends and it just  drops off into the deep.  Usually, you will see the bigger fish swimming along the wall.  With my speargun in hand, I am determined to shoot it today and reload the gun myself.  It takes me awhile to get the gun loaded, but I am getting better at it.  I have the Mares 850 Cyrano, which is about 3 feet long, so when loading the spear into the gun, it is a good stretch and I place the butt of the gun on the top of my foot and take a deep breath and pull the spear into the gun all in one motion being careful to keep the gun away from my head.  I get a shot at a dog snapper but no luck, and actually reload the gun and try again before he finally swims deep into a hole no longer giving me the opportunity to have him for dinner.  I keep looking around and spot an ocean trigger and try my best to get close enough to shoot.  It's amazing that the fish know just the right amount of distance to keep in not allowing a shot.  But I try anyway and come away with nothing for the day.  The fish in this area which is called "the Japanese Garden" are very skittish, since many cruisers come snorkeling here.

We head back to our boat and prepare for the traditional Monday evening festivities which is a happy hour get together on Potluck Island beginning at 5pm.  Debbie and Reggie on s/v Runner have been anchored off of Potluck Island for over 8 years now off and on.  Reggie takes care of the island, dinghying ashore every morning, raking the sand, burning the fallen dead palm fronds and has done a marvelous job in maintaining this island.  They started this Monday night ritual years ago and now the cruisers when in the area, gather for this wonderful happy hour in a most beautiful tropical setting.  Everyone brings an appetizer, finger food only, and something to drink and for a couple of hours you are able to meet fellow cruisers, swap books and magazines, and maybe learn something new.  Tonight is a good turnout, approximately 25 people participate and the appetizers range from fish croquets, pate, and spicy baracuda.  There have been rumors that the Kuna Indians are going to build a resort on this island for years now, but this week it seems the rumor is coming true.  Lumber was being brought to the island by Kunas in the hopes of building 7 cabinas,  a restaurant/bar, and a volleyball court.  The times they are a changing.  But, things do progress slowly around here.

Captain Jack and Dennis onboard s/v Fantasy arrive and anchor just in time for happy hour.  We met Dennis in Bocas del Toro almost two years ago, (attended SCUBA classes together), and last saw them in Cartagena before we left.  They are working together on building a marina and mooring facility at Sapzurro, Colombia which is a small small town located at the border of Panama and Colombia on the coast.  Captain Jack just finished sailing around the world these last two years, so he has many a tale to tell.  They invite us over for dinner that evening and continue the happy hour onboard Fantasy.

Tuesday March 24   Reunion with Island Dreamin

We have been in contact by radio with Jeannie and Bob on s/v Island Dreamin and are planning to meet up with them at Green Island later today.   So, we up anchor and head that way. It's only 5 miles, but on the way, the seas between the Eastern Hollandes to Green Island are not protected from any reef, so the swells can be quite large and today is no different. For 45 minutes, we watch the swells coming into our portside and lifting us up and with a good lean to the right bringing us down into a trough, where we wait for the next one.  A few items down below become airborne, one of them being my teapot on the stove which was full of water.  Just another mess to clean up, but luckily it's just water. Jeannie and Bob crossed over from San Bernardo to Isla Pinos with Rainbow Rider a week ago and have been slowly making their way westward.  We set anchor at Green Island along with Koukla, Pangea and Takes Me Away.  We have quite the following!  Island Dreamin and Rainbow Rider arrive about 230pm and with vodka pineapple martinis made and ready, we dinghy over to them and catch up on what has happened since we last saw them in the Rosarios on the 12th.  They waited for a better weather window in San Bernardo for four days and when crossing the swells were only 5 to 6 ft and the winds were lighter.  Island Dreamin is a motorsailer, more emphasis on the motor part, so smoother seas are a much better ride.  Jeannie did find the beach glass treasure trove in Snug Harbor and proudly displayed her bag full of beach glass.  

 Later on that evening, we have been invited to Pangea for dinner.  Tristan has a hunk of meat that needs to be ate, and along with Koukla crew and Dianne on Takes Me Away, we gather onboard for a truly wonderful evening.  Pangea is a CT54, and is the most gorgeous boat down below I have ever seen.  The guacamole appetizer, compliments of Donna, is served on the foredeck underneath the canopy.  Tristan, who is originally from England,  begins barbecuing the meat on the grill located on the aft rail, and dinner is complete with our scalloped potatoes and ending it with brownies and cheesecake, compliments of Dianne.  Coffee and champagne served afterwards.  What class!

March 26, 2009   Off to Ensadup for a Fandango Reunion

Yesterday, we all went snorkeling and I killed my first fish, a nice sized filefish.  Forgot to take a picture of it, but it was good eating.  We invited Jeannie and Bob over for dinner, and sauteed the fish in butter and garlic as an appetizer.  Jeannie gave me a couple of earrings that she made, one matching the necklace of "crazy pearls" we had each bought at BocaGrande in Cartagena.  They plan on moving on towards Bocas Del Toro sooner than we plan too.  So this is one of our last evenings together.  We have been thru much together these last four months and know that we will continue our friendship for many more years to come.

Today, it is off to the small uninhabitated island called Ensadup, where our good friends, Doug and Mary, on s/v Fandango, are anchored.  We met this remarkable couple in Port Royal, Honduras, two years ago when they were caretakers of Casa Gusta and have kept in touch ever since.  Since we last saw them, they gave up their job, bought a sailboat in Los Angeles, and have sailed her down the Pacific coast, thru the Panama Canal and are now here in the San Blas.  Being in their late 60's, we admire their love of life and love of sailing and wanted to share their joy with their grandchildren.

But, before we are able to haul anchor, the vegetable boat arrives.  You don't ever pass up the opportunity to buy fresh vegetables, ever!  There are three guys, Alfredo is the business owner, and in his ulu full of vegetables, eggs, beer and  wine, and sometimes chicken, cruisers are able to purchase items.  This is a service that is provided to cruisers in the area since there are no supermarkets anywhere, only very small tiendas (shops) on a few of the larger islands.  On calm days and when the weather has been good for growing, vegetables are plentiful, in other months, like the rainy season or during the Christmas winds (December thru February) the ulus are not able to make the crossing between islands since the waves are too rough.

The journey over only takes an hour and Island Dreamin and Takes Me Away follow our wake.  We set anchor and immediately are met by Doug and Mary and with hugs and huge smiles on our faces, we sit down in our cockpit and I, of course,  begin to make my famous Bloody Mary's.  Mary remembers these from last time and so the reunion must be complete! Bob, Jeannie and Dianne venture over and the party continues for the next several hours.  A snorkeling trip is a must before the happy hour get together on the island at 5pm and a game of Bocci ball.  Anyone for a nap?

Promptly at 5pm, we dinghy ashore and walk over to the other side where the group has gathered in a small clearing.  With the surf being the only music to our ears, appetizers and a mean game of Bocci ball, the no seeums win and we scatter before dark.  We have dinner aboard Fandango and enjoy a curry meat dish that Mary whips up.  Mary is originally from Canada, but her family moved to South Africa when she was eight years old.  She met Doug there, fell in love, married, had three children, bought a sailboat, and in the 1970's sailed around the world.  Quite a life.  Doug is never without a story and laughs are plenty.  

  March 27th   Another Friday, Another Fish Fry

This anchorage is one of the prettiest but the wind has died, the nights are calm, and the no see ums make their way onboard.  These pesty little creatures love me.  They are called no see ums, because you can't see them but they leave an itchy bite similar to a chigger.  But since it is so calm, it is a great day to go snorkeling again.  We all head to the tiny island just south of the anchorage, and begin the hunt.  Mary has proposed getting together again for happy hour and a fish fry if we are successful.  After an hour or so, I had ventured off toward deeper water, found a wall, and spotted the biggest ocean trigger I have ever seen.  I couldn't get close enough for a shot.  When I returned to the dinghy, I was telling Mary and Aaron about the fish I had seen.  They hadn't seen any.  So, we dinghied over to the area I was snorkeling in and where I had spotted the ocean trigger.  Aaron dove back in and within ten minutes, he had speared the ocean trigger and was yelling for help.  Mary and I hauled in the anchor, started the motor and made our way towards him.  He landed the trigger in the dinghy and went back in to find the snapper I had seen.  Meanwhile, the ocean trigger kept doing a dance every now and then and kept Mary and I on our toes.  After 15 minutes or so, Aaron had no luck finding the snapper, but we definitely had enough fish for everyone.  We decided to meet earlier this time, 330pm, burn some trash, and barbecue the fish.  Aaron cleaned it, then  I made three different foil packets of fish and seasonings, one a mango chipotle sauce, garlic and butter with onions and green peppers, and the other a blackening seasoning.  Everyone else pitched in on a dish and again over another mean game of Bocci ball, we enjoyed a fish dinner, tropical style.

 Right before dinner was served, I spotted a gecko on a piece of wood and he looked just like "O" small and cute, so I caught him and brought him onboard.  We hope to train "0 II" , that is O number two, (we like the name) so the training begins.  I have set out "O" cup, a bottle cap full of rum and coke and set it in a corner of the galley, just like before.  We hope this little guy takes to us like our other gecko.  Time will tell.

March 28th,   Nargana Needs

We heard on the net this morning that Nargana, an island just 5 miles from us, has fuel and gas.  We take a quick look at our fuel level, 40 gallons low, so we decide to top off while it is available. Our fuel tank holds 110 gallons, but we have learned that if fuel is available, you better get it while you can.  It may be a while before it is available again.  Also, we have learned that the Panama Yacht Club in Colon has been shutdown, which is sad news.  Colon is a major provisioning stop this side of the Caribbean, and now that the yacht club is no longer, there is not a place to dinghy ashore safely and reprovision and get fuel.  Shelter Bay Marina is located on the other side of the water, a long haul, and to anchor there, they are now charging $20 a day.  There slip fees and storage fees have been raised as well, rather expensive now.  And fuel is not available in Isla Linton, a island just south of Colon.  We bade farewell to Island Dreamin, Takes Me Away and Fandango and motor to Nargana.  Doug and Mary let us borrow their four jerry jugs, and with our one we have empty, we are able then to get 25 gallons of fuel at one time.

As we anchor in Nargana, we see Bruadair anchored there as well.  We buddy boated with Damon and David on Bruadair for six months back in 2007 and as soon as we set anchor, David is there welcoming us.  Damon is back in the states at this time, but David comes aboard just like old times and we do the catching up thing.  They had new Corian countertops installed and a fancy new arch custom made while they were in Cartagena.  We show David our new galley countertops, finding out we have the same color, good taste! and all the other upgrades as well.   We dinghy into the fuel dock, David volunteers to help, and Paco siphons fuel from 55 gallon drums into our jerry jugs.  It's not like any fuel dock you have ever been too!  You tie up your dinghy, unload your jerry jugs, tote them back aways to the drums, where fuel is siphoned from a hose.  No fuel pumps.  It is the old fashioned way only.  Gas and fuel are the same price per gallon, $3.50 US.  Yes, we are back in a country where US dollars is the main currency.  The sad news is we are no longer millionaires.  There is no ATM available here, but we have come prepared.  We brought a stash of US dollars with us from the states.  Experience does matter!  We make two trips and $140 later, we are fueled up and gassed up.  Dianne on Takes Me Away shows up and decides to get fuel as well. So, we pass her the jerry jugs and with one trip she is good on fuel.  David and Dianne come aboard for happy hour, and later on we dinghy into Nargana to Nally's restaurant, where either chicken or fish is served.  We all four opt for the chicken, we have had our fill of fish.  The restaurant is small, but quaint, walls being made out of bamboo poles, sand floors,  green tablecloths cover the plastic tables, molas decorate the walls along with one stuffed shark.  I love it, we haven't ate dinner out since leaving Cartagena over two weeks ago, and restaurants in Cartagena are modern.  This is island dining at it's best.

March 29th   Outta of Nargana to Salardup

The no see ums and mosquitoes were busy last nite onboard Blow Me Away or else I got bit when we were eating dinner last night on the island.  Most likely both.  My head must have about a dozen bites.  We plan on leaving here as soon as ready.  Fandango has anchored here and so we pick up Mary on our way into town.  Federico shows up in his ulu and takes our trash, $1 a bag. He also has a supply of water so Koukla becomes a customer.  David and us dinghy into town to see what is available.  It is Sunday, so there isn't any fresh bread.  The new bridge connecting the two islands, Corazon de Jesus and Nargana,  is impressive.  It was under construction when we were last, and ferrys had to be used to transport people and supplies between the two.  On Corazon de Jesus there is a small tienda open and sells limited supplies.  We buy a dozen eggs, 20 cents each.  We ask where the bakery is and head that direction, just in case there is fresh bread, you never know.  We find it at the end of the dirt street, and there is Kuna bread, 10 cents a torpedo roll.  We buy 10 pieces and they also have a small tienda and buy four sticks of butter, 50 cents each.  Aaron sees the cans of Campbell's pork and beans and so we buy two, $1.50 each.  Mary and I walk over the bridge while the guys take the dinghy's.  Tienda Eidy has some supplies and fresh veggies but not much.  Federico shows up and invites us over to his home where he has a small tienda.  We check it out and he has a good supply of vegetables, cucumbers, pineapples, tomatoes, and cases of coke.  A case of coke is a must, $18.00! Rum and cokes just got more expensive!  Back onboard, we stow our supplies, take a quick look at Bruadairs new upgrades, and at 130pm, we head to Salardup with Koukla.  It's about 13 miles, a good two hours motoring since there is no wind at all. 

March 30th  Off to Porvenir to Check In

With Cosmos onboard, we motorsail the 10 miles to the small island of Porvenir, where the port captain Alexis and the immigration official Ricardo have their offices.  We arrive at 1130am, and since the anchorage is not the best, I stay onboard while the men see the officials.  (Donna stayed onboard Koukla in Salardup).  The cost for checking in for us was $79.00 US.  Our passports are stamped and visas are good for three months.  Then you can renew your visas for another three months.  After six months, tho, you have to leave the country for three days before returning.  Alot of cruisers go to Sapzurro, Colombia to do this if staying in the area. 

Buying a phone was relatively simple.  On the island closest to Porvenir, Walalwadup, (something like that), a tienda sells phones ranging in price from $22 to $88.  We buy the cheapest and a phone card and now we are back in communication.  We notice that you can buy diesel here for $4 a gallon.

We arrive back to Salardup, and Tristan on s/v Pangea is now anchored here.  We saw him at Porvenir and when we are safely anchored once again, Koukla invites us over for happy hour.  We celebrate being legal once again. 

March 31st  Just One More Day

Happy 5th birthday to our grandaughter Ellie  

Tomorrow we are headed for the island of Carti, where we will set anchor and travel to Panama City.  Aaron needs medical attention.  Upon arriving into the San Blas on the 15th, he was pulling the roller furling line in, and hurt himself.  An inguinal hernia.  So, with the help of Dianne on Takes Me Away, she emailed her sister and friends in Panama City and received medical information on recommended doctors to see.  We do not have phone coverage where we are anchored now, but once we are in Carti we will be able to make some phone calls and line up a doctor's appointment. 

So since this is our last day to snorkel for awhile, we check out the reefs close by.  It is disappointing, there are so few fish, and what fish there are, they are small.  Several Kunas have come by our boat selling lobster and crab, and we have declined buying any since there is a ban on selling any shellfish from March 1st  thru June 1st.  This is the breeding season for these creatures and in order to maintain their population, the females carrying eggs need to carry on the natural course of life. Am I disappointed not to be enjoying crab, you bet I am.