Cruising With High States

DAY OF THE DEAD----ALL SAINTS DAY CELEBRATION

2012-01-04T12:41:00.000-08:00

OUR TRIP TO SUMPANGO......ONE OF TWO GUATEMALAN KITE FESTIVALS

Situated in the Western Highlands where we previously visited Antigua & Lake Atitlan, the Highlands are the Heartland of the traditional Guatemalan Maya people; so we decided to do another fun excursion with fellow cruisers.Vern & Michelle (S/V Enchantment) organized the trip to Sumpango through "TTA shuttle service". For the return trip from Guate City at a cost of 19.62US per person we would be able to spend the day at the festival.

The van dropped the twelve of us off on the highway where we could easily hike up a path between rows of corn to Sumpango. We passed an assortment of vendors, their grills roasting yellow, blue and black corn;

and hot tortillas.

As we got closer to the top of the hill, we could see hundreds of small kites flown by the locals.

The atmosphere was like a country fair,

Everyone friendly, vendors selling Guatemalan flutes, drums, shawls and Chinese umbrellas.

Even this gentleman with his horse;

for photo shoots.

And then the KITES---------WOW, what an incredible sight---some twenty six feet in diameter.

These kites (Barriletes) are made by different groups/ organizations. A festival committee decides on a theme.

Then each team decides on a design for their kite. Thousands of pieces of coloured tissue paper are cut and glued to make the design. This task can take up to five months.

Once the design is completed layers of tissue are added to the back for additional strength. Bamboo is used for the kite frame.

We watched as one of the larger kites was carefully unrolled.

attached to its frame

then very carefully pulled into position

We then decided to explore the town of Sumpango first arriving at the cemetery. We saw a number of locals flying their kites high above the cemetery as a symbolic link between the livng and the dead.

The cemetery was full of brillant colour.

Beautiful flowers and pine needles decorated the graves.

The Mayan people share a traditional meal called Fiambre picnic style with their loved ones. Fiambre is a mixture of cheese, meat and vegetables cured with vinegar.

Heading further into town the cobblestone streets were brimming with more vendors....

Every minute it was getting more and more difficult to make our way through the streets so we decided it was time to head back to the kite field. Unfortunately the large kites would not be flown until sunset. By four o'clock we all felt it was time to head back to Guate City. It was getting too busy. And, it was a good thing we left when we did. Our half hour ride to Sumpango took us two hours to get back. We ended up detouring through Antigua because the traffic was at a standstill.

ANOTHER EXCURSION; THIS ONE A NECESSITY

2011-09-27T10:05:00.000-07:00

We cannot believe how these past three months have flown by. It’s now time to leave Guatemala as our 90 days are up making it time to renew our Immigration Status. The easiest plan is a simple plan….Head to Copan Ruinas, Honduras.

Because there are six of us in the same situation---well, technically five as Terry (Niki Wiki) just came back from the States but still wants to come along for the fun of it, we’ve rented a van and driver recommended by Marco (Mario’s Marina). At $50US return per person Otilio will take Terry & Jonesy (Niki Wiki), Michelle & Vern (Enchantment) and ourselves to Copan Ruinas and then 72 hours later he will come back and pick us up. Pretty darn good service.

So with an early start we’re on our way for what we think will be a two and a half hour trip which turned out to be 4 hours. With all the recent rains the road was washed out in numerous spots making for quite a long bumpy ride.

Crossing the border at El Florido took approximately 15 minutes total---very easy and straight forward.. What was not easy was paying for our room at Hotel Graditas Maya by Visa. Finding an ATM bank machine that worked also turned into a challenge but finally we found one that worked and were on our way.

The travel guides state modern times have arrived in Copan Ruinas but not without a few glitches. After two days we finally found an internet cafe that actually worked at the Via Via Café and Hostel so we could confirm debit/visa card withdrawals were accurate.

Each evening we enjoyed the view and our Happy Hour up on the roof top patio with our traveling companions.

Copan Ruinas is home to the Honduran Maya Ruins; thought to be the most artistically advanced and elaborate of all the Maya ruins in Central America. It is believed people have lived in the Copan valley since 1200BC.

On the short one kilometre walk

where we were entertained by practicing band students.

The initial entrance fee to the park is $15US per person. We all agreed we’d benefit from an English speaking Tour Guide.

Fidel was our guide. For an additional cost of $23.75US plus tips we hired him for 2 hours. He was so well informed and passionate about the Maya history he ended up spending four hours with us. This pic is of a young thorny Ceiba tree.

The Acropolis is made up of two Plazas, this one being the West Court.

These stelae are dated AD731

Fidel interpreting the glyph.

The Ball Court was rebuilt four times over a 300 year span.The sidewalls resemble macaw heads

The Hieroglyphic Stairway AD 735.

This is the longest known glyphs left by the ancient Maya ruler #15- Smoke Shell. These 63 steps with 2000 hieroglyphics tell the story of the Maya king lineage from YAX-KUK-MO AD 426 to Smoke Shell.

Unfortunately years ago the stairway fell over making it very difficult for the archaeologists to understand the complete story as they were not sure where to re- insert each glyph.

Due to further erosion a huge tarp is now covering the stairway.

Looking down on Temples 11 and 16 in the West Court

Alter Q- has also been deciphered and depicts all 16 members of the Copan Dynasty in chronological order.

What we also learnt was over time temples from previous dynasties were destroyed with the new ruler building his temples on top of previous rulers.

The proof of this is in temples found underground by archaeologists. One such temple is the Rosa Lila Temple (Temple of the Sun). In the Museum of Sculpture we saw the full scale replica. It is amazing as the original temple was found under structure 16 totally in tact.

Looking towards the Royal Residences known as “El Cementerio”. There were over 25 buildings here, built around rectangular patios. Many human skeletons were found here as it was common practice to be buried next to ones home.

After hiking up and down the ruins we were all quite ready for a rest back at the hotel before heading out for a delicious dinner at Carnitas Nia Lola.

where the “Entertainment” was our servers who carried food and drink on top of their heads. What a fun night.

And our 72 hours are up so it's time to head back to Guatemala. Copan Ruinas with its sloping cobblestone streets and colourful adobe buildings was quite enchanting as were the Ruins. Of course it is a tourist stop with lots of souvenir shops but we totally enjoyed ourselves and highly recommend it as a place that should be experienced.

OUR TRIP TO ANTIGUA & LAGO ATITLAN---PART II

2011-09-14T13:45:00.000-07:00

LAGO ATITLAN

Taking a shuttle van from Antigua we passed through very rugged mountainous countryside on our way to Panajachel, Lago Atitlan.

Named one of the most beautiful lakes in the world; Volcanic eruptions over millions of years have formed today’s vast 5125 foot high altitude lake. Lago Atitlan is surrounded by three volcanoes; Volcan Toliman

Volcan Atitlan

and Volcan San Pedro

We took a Launcha over to the south end of the Lake for our two night stay at Posada de Santiago. Lago Atitlan is 12 miles long and 7 ½ miles at it’s widest. This is the heartland of Guatemala’s Maya- 12 different tongues along with Spanish is spoken in these 13 lakeside villages.

Local Maya doing laundry

View from our Hacienda de Miguel Angel

Exploring the town of Santiago

We told the hotel we were interested in touring the lake the next day so he set up a four hour lake tour at a cost of 100Q (13$) per person with “Julio”

We in fact ended up with Manuel and his son Mino who was a delight. These small private boats on the lake are in fact called Tiburoneros….

Mino turned out to be quite the entrepreneur; of course he had a captive audience. How could we resist.

Our first stop was San Pedro La Laguna

where we rented TUK TUK’s for a sight seeing tour.

Took us up to view the “Indian Nose”---a profile of an ancient Maya dignitary.

Very narrow streets

And steep roads.

(Local fishing skiff) Our next stop was San Juan La Laguna. There were so many tourguides wanting our business we decided to not even get out of the Launcha , instead heading directly to San Marcos La Laguna

We passed this incredible piece of Real estate

and this tranquil swimming hole.

We wanted to stop here at Casa de Mundo, Jabalito to have lunch. This hotel was where we originally planned to stay but they were fully booked. The weather had started to deteriorate making docking untenable.

So we decided to stop at Club Ven Aca

Just a bit to the east.

for lunch. Turned out to be a great location and the lunch was delicious.

Looks like we have tuckered out our guides

It was getting real rough out on the lake and late so we asked Manuel to take us back to Santiago. We also asked him to return the next morning as it was time to leave Atitlan for Guate City.

Back at the Hacienda. The grounds are beautiful….Tranquil

The hotel turned out to be a great location to people watch

Locals wearing their ancestral dress

clothing of the Tz’utujil Maya

These Maya live a very traditional lifestyle

And the food at Posada de Santiago was scrumptious.

The next morning we’re on our way but no Mino to-day.Instead his brother was the “1^st Mate”. Carrying Bill's back pack.

And finally we found Pitaya. Pam and I stocked up on this fruit to take back and share with our Rio Dulce friends.

Adios to Atitlan---a place we will love to re-visit

Truly exquisite.

OUR TRIP TO ANTIGUA & LAGO ATITLAN--PART I

2011-09-12T10:05:00.000-07:00

First a bit of general information on GUATEMALA

The National flag; Blue sides depicting the two coasts, one on the Pacific and one on the Caribbean.

In the center; Swords for honour; Laurel for triumph, glory and knowledge; the Quetzal symbolizes freedom; and the Parchment has the date of Independence of Central America, Sept. 15^th, 1821.

Guatemala’s National Tree is the Ceiba Tree---In ancient times this sacred tree was seen as a link to heaven.

The Quetzal not only the National Bird of Guatemala but also is the name of their currency. A “Q” (Quetzal) approximately exchanges at 7.75 Q to 1 US$.

This white orchid- Lycaste-skinneri varalba-(white nun orchid) is the National flower. They are a very rare, endangered orchid found in the Verapaz district.

The population in Guatemala is approximately 16 million people---Forty percent are below the age of 15. Forty-one percent are Maya who live in outlying villages primarily in the Highlands where customs and traditions are the strongest. There are approximately twenty separate Maya languages. One bleak statistic I have read is the average lifespan of the Maya people is 49 years for men and 50 for women.

Peace accords were finally signed in 1996 after 30 years of civil war. There still is considerable unrest with the Maya people using blockades on the major thoroughfares trying to have their voices heard.

Unfortunately there are major problems in Guatemala which include poverty, illiteracy, lack of education, (education is free but books are not; the average student stays is school 4.1 years); and healthcare (Doctors are free but medications are not). In the banks in town I have noticed the local people giving a thumb print as their signature.

Guatemala has thirty six volcanoes; four active. The two visible from Guatemala City are Volcan de Pacaya and Volcan de Fuego. There are also two fault lines that run through the country. The active volcanoes help release tectonic plate pressure therefore causing fewer earth quakes. .

In fact Antigua is nestled between three volcanoes….Volcan de Agua, Volcan Fuego, and Volcan Acatenango . Twenty eight miles from Guate City with a population of 46,000 people we spent a delightful three nights staying at La Casa de los Suenos an old colonial mansion set in the heart of Antigua. Our room had beautiful ornate furniture.

With a beautiful courtyard

We had access to the living room where we enjoyed Happy Hours with Pam and Bill (S/V Pamela Jean), our traveling companions.

Each city in Guaemala has a town square which are full of vendors. This one trying to sell Randy and Bill a flute for 120Q. (15$)

A beautiful young woman.

Arch of Santa Catalina (in background) and Volcan de Agua. This arch was built strictly to provide a hidden passageway for nuns to keep them from public view. The cobblestone streets slant to the center allowing rain run off to stay clear of the buildings.

Nim Pot artisan shop…no haggling over prices here as everything very reasonable. We bought the 120Q flute here for 20Q (3$)

Mercado de Artesanas----Fun colourful market full of textiles, leather goods and jewellery.

We liked this young woman so much we bought a number of textile pieces from her

Ladies selling fruit were constantly laughing.

And in every main square there is a fountain—Las Sirenas

We stopped for lunch at Café Sky where we had an excellent view of Volcan de Agua.

Outside recently restored La Merced. This church was exquisite.

Many call it the wedding cake chruch.

The Catedral Ruins--originally built in 1669. This church survived the 1717 earthquake but was reduced to rubble 56 years later.

Only half of the original building stands today. We did Elizabeth Bell’s (local Historian) morning walking tour.

This is part of what was a 69 foot dome. Ms. Bell explained the plan for the Catedral Ruins is only to stabilize the columns.

One of the tour stops was at Jades, SA where Ms. Bell did a short talk on the history of jade in the area.

Our last tour stop was at Casa Santo Domingo which originally was an old Dominican Monastery. Now a hotel Casa Santo Domingo is filled with beautiful gardens and museums. We were free to walk through all the public spaces.

Then of course it was time for lunch….which was delicious. Good thing we have been doing alot of walking. Beautiful orchids at entrance to the restaurant.

A short taxi ride took us up to Cerro de la Cruz..(Hill of the Cross)

where we had a spectacular view of Antigua and Volcan de Agua

After three fabulous days it's time to head to LAGO ATITLAN….

OUR TRIP TO QUIRIGUA

2011-09-05T09:29:00.000-07:00

One of only three UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Guatemala.

We've been to the Maya Quirigua Ruins. Restoration was conducted by the University of Pennsylvania in the 1930’s. Thatched roof structures have been made to try and protect the stelaes from further deterioration.

In the Gran Plaza Maya this minor site has eleven stelae—fabulous stone carvings in sandstone.

And 300 morphs-sculptures depicting animals.

These stelae and morphs explain much of the history of the maya people. Dating back to AD737 the Maya leader Cauac Sky (Two legged sky) captured and sacrificed Copan’s ruler- Eighteen Rabbit. To celebrate his success he rebuilt and expanded Quirigua , commissioning the carving of the largest stelae, this 25 foot tall stelae which depicts Cauac Sky himself.

A small acropolis to the south---this was used by the rulers as residences.

What we saw here was the project from the last ruler of Quirigua- Jade Heaven who ruled between 800-810AD.

Michelle, Marco and myself.

These stelae were carved back in 653AD with the help of Copans artisans---using beds of brown sandstone brought in from the Rio Motagua. The sandstone was soft when first cut allowing the artisans to create these very detailed carvings, which told a story. Over time the sandstone hardened.

Rio Motagua historically was a crucial trade route as this area held the largest jade deposits in the entire Maya region.

I had no idea there are so many colours of jade.

NEXT TRIP ANTIGUA

PLAYING, TRAVELING, TACKLING TASKS,

2011-09-03T13:47:00.000-07:00

WHAT A BUSY TIME!!! NO WONDER JUNE AND JULY HAVE FLOWN BY.

AND, WHO DID WE LEND OUR DRILL BITS TOO????

We actually do not spend all our time playing even if we try to….Tasks need to be completed…A few at a time…

One recent project was to run hose and electrical wire for our new wash down pump. (This is a system to pull fresh or salt water into a hose, moving the water up to the bow where we have another hose to spray down the anchor chain or clean the deck.) This got Randy checking other tools. He opens his drill bits and found $15US wrapped up in the bits??? We can’t remember who borrowed the bits last but who ever you are THANK YOU. We’ll have Happy Hour on you tonight….As you can see it must have been awhile ago as the bits and money are quite rusty.

Randy also rewired one of our galley lights which turned out not to be an easy task. We did not want to pull the header (ceiling) down so we tried for hours to pull wire through with our “fish tape”. Finally, working together we did it….and I must say after our accomplishment we were still talking to one another..

So of course we have to get back to playing…..Randy plays volleyball from 3 to 4 pm daily while I do water aerobics.

Susie (M/V Cabaret), our social convenor thought it was time to have a volleyball tournament. Picking names out of a hat there were enough players for six teams, 5 aside.

And I must say the tournament was very competitve.

The event took all day stopping long enough to have barbequed hamburgers and Happy Hour Beers.

Randy getting ready to serve.

“Mario’s Champs...Yes, you're right the cruiser's teams all lost to the youngest local team.

Francesca from Casa Guatemala comes twice a week to the Marina selling pork, chicken, produce and dairy products with the proceeds going to the orphanage.

Staff Appreciation Day was another exciting event where Marco supplied the food and the cruisers cooked, served and cleaned up for all the great Marina Staff.

This large pit is where the chickens were cooked.

Susie watching the water boil.

Terry (S/V Sylvester) in foreground with Pam (S/V Pamela Jean) and Susie in background. I kept having to scoot Carmen out of her kitchen. She wasn't used to not being in charge and was always trying to help.

Rand on dish cleanup duty.

Cruiser Miguel giving a short speech in Spanish thanking the employees for all their hard work.

A few of the Mario's Marina staff. Carmen on the left.

On of our dinghy explorations down one of the many river tributaries.

Gorgeous enormous Lily Pads.

One day we went to Morales. Many cruisers come to Morales for medical appointments.

Tuk Tuk’s (local taxiis) are a very inexpensive mode of transportation throughout Guatemala.

Another albeit uncomfortable mode of transportation for the longer rides is in small vans. I think I counted 22 people this time. And of course we are right in the back and there is no "air".

GUATEMALA; Derived from the Aztec name Quauhtlemallan- Land of many trees

2011-08-26T15:16:00.000-07:00

FRONTERAS & Our day trip to FINCA EL PARAISO, lunch in EL ESTOR and a CAYUKO RIVER RIDE

We can not believe we have been in Guatemala already two and a half months. The time has absolutely flown by. We love Guatemala. We have already been on numerous day trips and a couple of week long trips. An incredibly beautiful country with gracious people.
Backing up a bit, when we first arrived at Mario’s Marina friends Karen and Cheryl (Interlude) showed us around the closest town Fronteras. Now to get to Fronteras (some call Fronteras Rio Dulce), the only mode of transport is by dinghy or the marina’s launcha. The dinghy ride is about 10 minutes.

Karen and Cheryl share all the important tips like here----keep well away from trucks transporting cattle as they make quite a mess.

They also show us all their favourite places to shop for fruits, veggies, regular grocery items along with hardware items.

Fronteras is scattered on both sides of the longest bridge in Guatemala.

Fronteras is the transport hub for anyone heading North, South, East, or West. Here, looking eastward.

And here we are looking westward. If one vehicle stops, blocking the road there is nothing but chaos.This narrow "highway" through town comes to a complete stop. Then the horns start blowing.

We are in the Department (like a Province in Canada) of Izabel.

The landscape is lush, the heat and humidity exhausting. We travelled down a tributary and found these amazing water hyacinths.

Bounded by mountains- The Sierra del Merendon (Honduras border), the Sierra del las Minas to the SW and Sierra de Santa Cruz to the North, makes the Rio Dulce a well known hurricane hole. The lake/river is protected by the Bocas del Polochic reserve.

Of course we have to stop for lunch at one of the many good restaurants in the area. There is a morning cruisers net on the VHF that promotes many of the restaurants daily specials.

One of our first priorities is to have Ronny and his apprentice make our dinghy “chaps” which will help protect the dinghy from potential sun damage.

Marco, the Marina Manager took a group of us on our first excursion; to the Finca el Paraiso hot water falls, with a stop for lunch at the town of El Estor and then a last stop for a Cayuko ride up a river.

An inquisitive Mayan child watching us "gringos".

The Finca el Paraiso is a privately owned farm where for 10Q per person ( approximately 1.25US) locals and tourists alike can enjoy the fabulous steaming hot water falls.

The pond itself is very cool and refreshing.

But, the closer we got to the falls the water was boiling.

We could make our way underneath the waterfall to a small shelf in the rock where one could crouch. It was just like being in a sauna.

For an additional 10Q per person Marco asked if we were interested in going on a hike to a river cave to see another water fall. A guide would have to take us....And what a hike/ adventure it was.
Heading down one of the steep, slippery, sharp, rocky hillsides to the river cave. None of us really had appropriate shoes on. My flipflops were so slippery I did most of the hike in bare feet…Really not a good idea.

Francisco our guide.

Marco getting ready to enter the 300 foot long cave with his head lamp.

Inside the cave, we excite the bats. Reaching the end of the tunnel we came to a torrential cascade of water.

Amazing we all still had smiles on our faces after our challenging trek through the jungle.

We of course all had worked up quite the appetites so Marco took us to the town of El Estor where we had a very nice lunch at Restaurante Don Yuyo.

Our last stop was at a River where Marco negotiated a good price with young local boys. The boys paddled us up the river in their cayukos.

The rock formations were beautiful

The river was down so we had to stop before reaching a small village. But we still enjoyed the refreshing water.

A great way to end a fabulous day.

Roatan, Honduras to Rio Dulce, Guatemala

2011-07-31T11:58:00.000-07:00

125MILES TO GO

June 1^st. Checking out at Coxen Hole, Roatan was very straight forward. We were most fortunate both the Port Captain and Immigration Officer were in their respective offices. Often on “Cruise ship days” it is necessary to search for them at either the airport or the cruise ship dock.

June 2^nd. At first light we’re on our way with our buddy boats: Interlude and Niki Wiki.

Our coarse is set at 266*. We’ve got a gentle swell off the starboard stern quarter; wind on our nose----Figures!!! The main is up but---OOPS! the GPS has stopped. Rand reboots and all is well.

Five hours later we have only travelled 21.8 miles but the winds are finally picking up, albeit still on the nose. And the seas; well, they have totally reversed and are on the port bow.

Using our radar we tried and succeeded dodging a number of squalls.

Throughout the night we regularly checked the radar and saw a number of freighters. At one point around midnight we had a freighter anchored on our port side. Then on our starboard it looked like another freighter was anchored? We decided to slow down and sure enough the freighter to our starboard was not anchored but was in fact slowly passing us. Before we knew it we were again in total blackness. This area is where the Canadian cruiser had been murdered last year so we were really on the alert.

After 26 hours we’re almost there. We’re awaiting high tide off the Garifuna town of Livingston. And why are we waiting for high tide??? We need to cross a very shallow sandbar at the mouth (La Buga) of the Rio Dulce. The average depth is 5’8 to 6 feet. High States draws 6 feet so high tide should give us an additional one and a half feet meaning we should have 1.5 feet under the keel. Tight but as friend Jay on Rum Runner would say it's do-able. For boats with a deeper keel there is the option of being “tipped” over while crossing the bar.

Approaching the bar Rand keeps total concentration on the compass.

High States flying the Q flag off Livingston, Guatemala.

Customs and Immigration delegation arriving at Niki Wiki

We had taken Interludes advice and did an on-line pre check in for Guatemala by emailing agent Raul@navieraservamar@gmail.com . He can also be contacted via his website at www.servamar.com .

Within half an hour of anchoring off Livingston Raul along with the Port Captain, Immigration Officer and Health Officer were on High States. Because Raul had all our general information we only needed to hand over the official boat registration, crews list and passports. We were asked the usual questions; do we have fire arms or drugs on board and then they were on their way. We were advised to come ashore in an hour to pick up port clearance documentation and our stamped passports. Excellent quick friendly service.

Rand taking the “Captains” ashore to pick up the documents. Our cost for three months Port/Immigration fees was $160.00 (1200Q)

Lynn stayed on High States for security plus the current was strong, the holding not great.

The town of Livingston is very isolated; accessible only by boat or plane.

Sharing the river with the locals. There are approximately 50 isolated villages in the mountains along the Rio Dulce.

As we begin up the Rio we are impressed with many quaint homes. You can see the rivers current pushing by these mooring balls.

High States rounding one of the hairpin bends in the Rio Gorge. It is recommended for security not to stop overnight at Livingston or on the River. It’s not only narrow with a swift current, approximately one knot; but fishing nets and unlit boat traffic are some of the additional hazards.

The Gorge is amazing. Approximately 6 miles long carved between 300 foot high limestone cliffs covered in dense jungle foliage. We’ve read the first Tarzan movies were made here. The river twists and turns with a number of shallow shoals marked with narrow bamboo stakes. The river depth ranged from 10 to 60 feet.. The native Maya Indians in their dug out unmotorized cayukos hug the shoreline to keep out of the current.

The Gorge opens into El Golfete; a 9 nautical mile long shallow lake full of small tributaries and marshes. We’re on the lookout for the endangered Manatees.

Once across the lake we are back in the river heading for the Marina district. Mario’s is one of the first of at least twelve marinas after leaving El Golfete and will be our home for the next five months.

Celebrating our arrival with our buddy boats at the Cayuko Bar and Restaurant.

Rand coincidentally wearing his Victoria T shirt while trying the cervaza Victoria.

We have made incredible headway (for us) since leaving Bocas del Toro, Panama April 28th. In fact in five weeks we have travelled 830.862 miles (722 nautical miles ) bringing our miles travelled since leaving Florida in 2007 to 6231.47 miles (5415 nautical miles). WOW!!!

Roatan

2011-07-23T10:09:00.000-07:00

The short 34 mile hop to Roatan probably will take us all day with light winds and following seas. The motor sail in fact takes us ten hours. There are numerous potential anchorages along Roatans’ South coast. With all the positive comments we make Old French Harbour our first stop.

The entrance should have been straight forward. Lynn (me) does bow detail, photo in hand. The depth should be 30-40 feet at the entrance, make a starboard turn between two stakes, then work our way around the shallow banks on the port side and voila we will be in the anchorage. As we approach the two stakes the water shallows quickly. I can see coral heads and tell Rand to stop, give us reverse….(does this not sound familiar from our Guanaja anchorage?)

As luck would have it two young local men in a Cayuko motion for us to go around both stakes not between them. As you can imagine our adrenaline is flying.

With apprehension we follow their recommendation hugging the south side of the reef to miss the shallow banks and anchor off Big French Cay with 11.6feet under the keel. The area to our East is a Marine Park. It is absolutely beautiful.

We are anchored off this beautiful private island

which has bronze statues everywhere.

Roatan runs approximately 30 miles NW to SE and is 3 miles wide at its widest. The second largest barrier reef in the world protects and fringes the coastline. The Trade winds can howl here, especially in the winter and then of course hurricanes pose a potential threat from June to October. It’s been recommended to travel between anchorages in the mornings before the strong winds pick up each afternoon.

The English speaking descendants from the English, French & Dutch pirates of the 1600’s still inhabit the Bay Islands. Roatan’s population is approximately 30,000. Its main industries are Fishing and Tourism with regular stops by the Cruise ship lines.
Next morning we dinghy over to the Roatan Yacht Club. General information shared by cruisers states we can probably leave our dinghy here for $1.00 US and walk a block to the grocery store. Unfortunately it’s totally closed. No boats and the gate is locked. To the left is a small dock where Rand first drops me off then he goes back to a small landing area where he has to climb over a cement wall.

Walking up over the hill we find the main road and walk into French Harbour, home to one of the largest fishing/shrimp fleets in the Western Caribbean. There are a number of small Tiendas (stores). We find a sign saying TIGO. Now TIGO is one of Honduras’ phone systems and has been highly recommended to us not only for a SIM card for our phone but for a wifi system. We need to purchase a special USB stick and a separate SIM card. As long as we can get a good phone signal we will be able to get wifi. Well, unfortunately the Tienda has none available at this time. However, the store owner invites us to share a taxi with her daughter that would drop us off at a mall where there is a large TIGO retail outlet. After a side trip to a local school we arrive at the mall only to find everything closed except a grocery store and a couple of restaurants. Thinking it is 10 am we can’t understand why everything is closed. It turns out it is in fact 9am and somewhere along our travels we have gained an hour??

Next day we introduce ourselves to Roy (S/V Avion) asking him questions on this area. He confirms Fantasy Island Resort appreciates cruisers coming ashore; that there is in fact a small marina attached to the Resort with Jim and Norma (S/V Mi-Lady) the Dock masters and they facilitate a morning net on Channel 72. We go ashore to meet Jim and Norma. They explain there is a $6.00 a load laundry service available and that each Saturday morning there is a complimentary van service to the main grocery store. We take advantage of both services. We can also take jerry cans in the van to stock up on diesel and gasoline. The price here for diesel is $4.00 a gallon compared to the $6.00 a gallon in Providencia…so anyone that can wait for fuel…Roatan is much more reasonable.

The SUN Supermarket is FANTASTIC!!! They had excellent quality fruits and vegetables. Many we have not seen in years…A great cracker assortment and we can’t forget wine: Almaden 5 litre boxes for 257.75 Lempira which is equivalent to $12.88 US. Not bad, not bad. A bank machine is conveniently around the corner as is the gas station.

Jim and Norma also explain with the Roatan Yacht Club closed we can leave our dinghy at the fishing fleet dock which is to the right of the Yacht Club. We did this for additional provisioning trips.
We did go to the Fantasy Island Resort a number of times. The food was not great but the people were very friendly always welcoming us. At the resort we saw the endangered Agouti. Cute for a rodent. In 1996 it became endangered due to on going habitat loss.

The resort was almost empty the 10 days we were in the anchorage. It was easy to find quiet secluded spots for our daily baths. We found the snorkelling best between the Fantasy Island Resort and Coco View.

One day we heard the Yacht Club Restaurant was in

fact open. High States in background.

I hiked my way up from the fishing fleet dock and explained to the Restaurant that we wanted to leave the dinghy at their dock, go shop and come back for lunch. They said no problem and sent one of the guards down to unlock the gate for Rand. They explained they had just revamped the restaurant and hotel. It’ll be awhile before the marina is re-opened. We explained how they were loosing business as cruisers would come for meals and suggested possibly installing a bell system down at the dock gate. They thought it was a good idea.

We decide it is time to head around to Sandy Bay, West End Marine Park and wait for a weather window that will take us to the Rio Dulce, Guatemala.
Entering the marine park between two white markers, we had 2.4feet under the keel. We stopped and backed up once as we could see coral heads everywhere.

High States on a mooring ball. There are seven boats in the anchorage which has 20 mooring balls.

We were pleasantly surprised when Terry and Jonesy (S/V Niki Wiki) greet us. They are the park host boat and share the parks rules and regulations.

We really enjoyed this west end area. What a funky town.

This is definitely a tourist stop with many people brought in by bus from cruise ships.

We shop on the quiet days and enjoy a number of restaurants. Unfortunately the only negative aspect is we are both being eaten alive by sand flies and mosquitoes.

The west end is known best for its snorkelling and diving. We saw at least 12 lobster.

Our new friends on Niki Wiki along with our new Canadian friends Karen and Cheryl S/V Interlude IX have invited us to buddy boat with them to Rio Dulce. Tentative date as long as the weather holds will be June 2^nd.

Karen and Cheryl (Interlude IX) forward us a web-site in Livingston so that we can pre- check in with an agent in Livingston before leaving Roatan.

FROM THE HOBBIES TO GUANAJA, (WAH-NAH-HA)

2011-07-08T14:17:00.000-07:00

Bay Islands, Honduras, 170 nautical miles....

Saturday May 14^th. Wanting an early start Rand and I both woke up at 0400hours. (Excited I guess.) Rand made coffee while I stowed the last few things away. I think we are really getting into these long journeys---well, long for us.

By 0605 hours the anchor is up. Tim and Paula (Hooligan) whom we had met in Providencia had shared waypoints with us that would safely take us across the bank. It turned out the waypoints had been given to them by our good friends Kathy and Derek (Idyll Island) who now are in the South Pacific. Cruisers helping cruisers, what can we say.….

We worked our way first to 16 degrees 02.253N; 83 degrees 10.479W.

By 0915 we arrived at waypoint 16 degrees 04.053N; 83degrees 22.663W exciting the reef setting our rhumline to Guanaja. There is absolutely no wind, a gentle northerly swell which means it is time to fish. Within an hour and a half we had two strikes.

Our third hit feels like it's a keeper.

Sure enough it is a 15 to 20 pound King Mackerel.

Sunday May 15th. Finally this morning 0700 hours we've got enough wind to sail.

Five and a half hours later we’re 6 miles off the Sheen Cay Channel entrance of Guanaja. We’re surprised to see a blanket of haze over the Island.

As we work our way in to the recommended Il Bight anchorage Lynn (that’s me) is on the bow. Following our regular routine, every few minutes I ask Rand to confirm the depth that I think I am seeing. Using his fingers one finger per foot we confirm what I think I am seeing is in fact what he sees on the depth sounder.

Approaching Dunbar Rock I start yelling…stop, stop….reverse. reverse…..All I can see is coral heads that look too shallow to cross.

We hail Genesis who we had met in Providencia to ask for their waypoints crossing this reef. They give us three sets of waypoints and sure enough we went right over the reef with a few feet to spare.

After anchoring we dinghy over to Genesis to say Thank You and offer them King Mackerel. Turned out they were also fortunate to catch fish on their way here so declined.

By 1830hours it was too buggy to relax in the cockpit so we closed up the boat and had a movie night.

Monday…So last night was buggy….well, this morning is real buggy… We both have bites and they are ITCHY, ITCHY, ITCHY!!!! The diaper rash cream helps.

One of the reasons for stopping in Guanaja is the quick and easy check in for Honduras. Once the Port Captain arrived at his office check in was quick, easy and no cost. The same with Immigration. We were told we could stay for 60 days.

Guanaja, one of the three major “Bay Islands” is approximately 10 ½ miles long and at its widest point 3 miles with elevations up to 1350 feet. Guanaja is approximately 30 nautical miles off the North coast of Honduras.

The most Hispanic Island, Guanaja is 30% Black. We found the people very friendly. Many spoke English. This is probably due to the Bay Islands being British until 1861. One young man “Jimmy Carter” said he would watch our dinghy. We said Jimmy Carter? He said ”Yup, that’s my name now.” We said okay but still locked the dinghy to the dock. Plus an hour later we saw him at a Tienda buying himself a drink…which means he was not watching the dinghy…Oh well, no tip for him.

The main town Bonacca is in fact not on the main Island of Guanaja but on two small islets to the south of the main island joined by cement boardwalks intersected by canals.

Now we are talking a real small set of Islets…It’s mind boggling that 8,000 of Guanaja’s 10,000 inhabitants live on Bonacca. We were amazed and impressed with its huge shrimping fleet.

There is not room for even one more house..

On our way back to High States we checked out a couple of restaurants finding them both closed. We decide we will leave tomorrow for Roatan.

190nm to CAYOS CAJONES

2011-06-26T09:45:00.000-07:00

To break up our transit to the Bay Islands we decide to stop in the reef ringed cays of Cayos Cajones (The Hobbies).

Thirty two hours after leaving Providencia we are surprized to see what looks like a cay full of buildings? We were told to expect a couple of caretakers on one of the cays and be sure to take cigarettes and Rum as they like to trade for lobster and fish. Unfortunately it's turned out lobster season is closed causing the "buildings" to appear that are in fact stacks of lobster traps.

Time to do the mainsail repair.

Another beautiful sunset.

We did a bit of snorkeling and exploring. After two days we decide we need to carry on to the Bay Islands taking advantage of the settled weather. We would definitely recommend other cruisers stop in the Hobbies and if we make it back this way we'll make sure it is during Lobster season.

OUR STAY AT PROVIDENCIA

2011-06-20T16:26:00.000-07:00

Once we were settled at anchor we hailed Mr. Bush, the mandatory agent to clear Customs and Immigration. He advised us not to go ashore. He stated he would come out to the boat at 1300hours. And come out he did; along with a panga full of people. First, we were seen by a Doctor who asked to see our Immunization Cards. This is a first and thankfully we were given one in Grenada when we had our yellow fever shots. She was concerned we had not had flu shots. She took our pulse and asked if we had any ailments. Next, was a young gentleman from Sanitation who turns on our taps, checked to make sure the toilets worked, checked out our freezer and said we could not leave any garbage on shore. Okay. Immigration was next who took our passports and said we would not get them back until tomorrow evening..1800hours. Lastly, was a woman who we are not sure knew what her responsibility was. She certainly did not seem too interested in being on the boat, but was told to take copies all the copies I had made of our paperwork. Maybe she was in training? Mr. Bush explained that when we go to shore tomorrow evening at we would receive all the paperwork along with the passports. He also told us there is NO CRIME here.

Providencia known as The Pearl of the Caribbean----(we did not find or hear of any pearls---Must be one of the Captain Morgan stories?,) is located 240km East of the Central American coastline. There is a 32km barrier reef on the N, NE, and S. sides of the island. Isla Providencia also includes the renowned Isla Catalina plus a number of Cays. These Islands are in fact part of the San Andres archipelago and belong to Colombia. Daily we saw the army patrolling both Providencia and Catalina as there has been talk that

Nicaragua wants to over take these islands.

Isla Catalina is joined to Isla Providencia by a low floating bridge over the 100 meter artificial channel, dredged in the XVII century by pirates to protect the possible invasion of these islands. The infamous pirate Henry Morgan in fact used Providencia as a base for his raids on the Spanish empire.

The majority of the 5000 people live close to the main town of Isabella. We found the people very friendly and helpful. All the Island’s supplies come from the sister island of San Andres, 72km to the south which explains the expensive and disappointing quality of the fruit and veggies. Actually in general we found the Islands to be expensive. We did however find the Islands incredibly clean. Every few yards there were blue water barrels used as garbage cans.

Our personal priority was to get on the internet to communicate with family and friends to let them know all was well. Randy tried from shore with High States in background. We found one wi-fi business but unfortunately they are not licensed to let us use our own computer.

Needing to purchase diesel we rented this golf cart for 4 hours at a cost of $75.00 US. Ouch!! The fuel ended up being over $6.00 a gallon totalling $181.00 Ouch again!!

But we did enjoy circling the island making a number of stops to take in the beautiful views. We stopped for a cold drink at Manchaneel Bay and then lunch at Don Olivio which was very expensive: 24,000peso or $15.00 for one small fajita with a bit of pork on it and very small portions of salsa, beans and guacamole and two glasses of juice. Thank goodness we shared the meal and were not too hungry.

Here we are sharing the road...Well, it is not like we are in a hurry as it will only take us about an hour to get around the island.

We found Orville at his Bamboo Restaurant over on Santa Catalina very friendly. He was born and raised on Providencia and spoke fluent English. He has a dinghy dock in front of the restaurant.

This is the fabulous walkway along Santa Catalina’s waterfront that takes you to the Fort.

Hiking up and over the hill to Fort Warwick was great exercise.

Corsairs Henry Morgan and Luis Aury constructed the fortifications of Fort Warwick.

Swimming was great in the protected waters of Morgan’s Cove and the snorkelling was pretty good. It was just nice to get into the water after Bocas.

This unique natural sculpture is called Morgan’s Head.

One of the many caves we found. Alas still no treasure to be found. Mind you there are many types of treasures.

We’ve got a weather window to head further north west. We must meet Mr. Bush again to pick up our Zarpe and passports. Again we are told to meet him and the Immigration Officer at 1800hours. There are in fact three boats checking out heading the same general direction. We all get to the shore on time and Mr. Bush is there however we had to wait until 2000 hours before the Immigration Officer showed up with our passports. Now it is really dark and we all need to stow dinghy’s etc. As soon as we have our passports in hand we get back to High States, get the motor off the dinghy, secure the dinghy when we get a call from Hooligan (Tim and Paula) asking if we still have our dinghy in the water. They have also hoisted their dinghy and upon checking their passports they have not been stamped…Another cruiser comes and picks Tim up to get him back to shore while Mr. Bush finds Immigration. Very frustrating needless to say.

ON OUR WAY: SAN ANDRES OR PROVIDENCIA

2011-06-18T08:34:00.000-07:00

After an extra month at Bocas Marina while Randy's injury healed we're ready to head further north. We anchor in Bastimentos Bay "staging" for our trip either to San Andres 200 nautical miles or Providenca approximately 260 nautical miles.

We leave the anchorage by 0715 the next morning. (April 27th). We have light winds and a gentle swell. We decide to fish which usually causes the winds and seas to pick up. Five miles out we get a strike!!! Rats-- wire leader, lure and fish gone.

After two hours of motor sailing we finally have enough wind to actually sail. Unfortunately with the current against us we are traveling at 4 knots.

We knew we were going to be in for a challenge leaving from Bocas to head North. The breeze shifts from the west right onto our nose..You probably know the drill now.. Motor back on, adjust our course and pull in the jib.

1340hours; 161 nautical miles to go and we continue to motor sail 4.6 to 5.1 knots SOG and we've got company and not just this dragonfly but a very large navy patrol plane circles us twice. All we can do is wave.

By 1855 hours we start getting prepared for the evening..the main is reefed, life jackets on, flare gun, ditch bag and harnessses are out.

Throughout the night we check the radar at regular intervals. We've got a sliver of a moon, 15 knots of wind and a choppy sea.

Friday April 28th. By 0700 hours we've got enough wind to shut off the motor in a 6 to 9 foot swell. We're still heading east to try and find the north west current and we're still averaging only 4.5 knots.

1220 hours we are becalmed. Randy is putting 5 more gallons of fuel into High States.

2350 hours and we finally have the current with us.

Sat. April 29th 0600hours. We had a calm fairly clear night. The stars were quite bright.

We see one freighter about ten miles off our port. First boat of any kind we have seen these past two days.

0915hours, finally the motor is off and we are doing 7 knots with San Andres a few miles off on our port. We decide we may as welll take advantage of the wind and seas and head for Providencia.

1300 hours and we are still doing 7 knots; what a great ride. We've still got 35 miles ahead of us just to reach the Southern tip of Providencia. It doesn't look like we are going to make the anchorage before dark. We also were circled again by the navy plane. We wave again and commented to each other it's nice that they know we are out here.

By 1730 we put the motor on to try and give us more speed. We're on the West side of Providencia however the entrance to the anchorage is still 15 miles away.

Sure enough by 1950 we are still a couple of miles from the sea buoy so we decide to anchor on the bank for the night.

Sixty hours since we left Bocas.It really feels good to have the anchor down.

Sunday. Last night was a bit rolly but we've anchored in worse seas. We're ready to enter the harbour and see a large freighter heading for the harbour too, so we decide to let the freighter go first....she's alot bigger than us. We heard the Captain constantly challenging the Port Captain on the harbours depth.

Finally we start working our way into the Santa Catalina anchorage. The entrance is very well marked and we can see if we ever return we can actually enter in the dark, By the time the anchor is down we have 2.7 feet under the keel. We haven't been in shallow water like this in a while.

Randy takes time to lubricate our mast mainsail slides and finds a small tear in the mainsail. I know what my job will be tomorrow.

LAST DAYS IN BOCAS DEL TORO

2011-05-22T09:52:00.000-07:00

WITH A SIDE TRIP TO CHANGUINOLA, But First:

We helped Deb on Sea Cycle celebrate her Birhtday at a fabulous Indian Restaurant called "Om".

We had a "Last Supper" with our dear friends Allayne and Dennis (Audrey Paige). The head to San Blas as we head to the Rio Dulce. We really will miss their great company, senses of humour and story telling.

We won't miss the speeding water taxi's.

We will miss the great sights on our many dinghy rides at sunset.

We did notice many businesses are finding it slow these days especially with so much competition.

Our day excursion to Changuinola with Dennis, Allayne (Adrey Paige) and John and Nancy (Dixsea) was fun.

Changuinola is a 30 minute watertaxi ride from Bocas Town. These water taxiis leave every 30 minutes or sooner if the boat is full. We first arrive at the small Port of Almirante. This port handles the Bocas Fruit Company; corporate partner of Chiquita International Banana Exports. Rusty tinned roofed houses built on stilts sit over Almirante Bay.

It's an easy five minute walk to the bus depot. We turn left outside the watertaxi office building. At the main road turn right and walk a couple of hundred yards and you'll see the smallbus station on the left. (When weleft the water taxi launches we were inundated with taxi drivers wanting us to take their expensive ride to Changuinola; totally unnecessary).

Again we wait in a 30 person well maintained, airconditioned mini bus.When full we're on our way; a very scenic 29km drive up and over the rolling hills at a cost of $1.45 a person.

Changuinola is the Banana City of Bocas del Toro province. It's 50,000 people are a mix of Jamaican,Chinese, Mestizo, Native Indian, Trinadadian, Castillian and Syrian peoples. The town was bustling with many Amacens (General Stores); supermarkets, hardware stores along with Banks. We had fun doing a bit of shopping and stopped for a delicious Chinese meal at La Fortuna.

OUR CONDOLENCES

2011-05-22T08:25:00.000-07:00

February was a sad time for us with the confirmation of our friend, fellow cruiser Don North's murder in San Blas (Kuna Yala). We understand a suspect has been apprehended. The story can be found at www.Panama-Guide.com dated Feb.15th, 2011.

Our sincerest condolences to Don's family, especially his nephew Ezra who he fondly spoke of on a regular basis. We read of rare insidents where cruiser's are at the right place but the wrong time and this is one of those times.

Don be-friended us and many others in the Chichime, San Blas anchorage where he would come to introduce himself and "Kuna" his canine buddy aboard his kayak. We began calling him "Mayor Don" as he regularly checked on all crusiers anchored in the bay. We truly will miss him.

YES, WE ARE QUITE BEHIND BUT;

2011-04-01T11:19:00.000-07:00

HAPPY, HEALTHY 2011 TO EVERYONE.

January has been a busy month here in Bocas del Toro.

Thank goodness we can get to shore to do some hiking as the water is full of jelly fish making it so we can’t get in the water as we like. We spent the month anchored off Red Frog Marina enjoying amazing wildlife like this Sloth.

Spider at the Red Frog Marina office

Another very large insect…

Along with the infamous red frogs. These little guys are no larger than my thumb nail.

Many a night we enjoy a tranquil dinghy drift.

Oops, John (S/V Dixsea) thought we were having engine trouble while on one drift. He and Dixea thought they should rescue us.

Finally a couple of days of sunny weather. Along with Ron and Paula, M/V Dovekie we decide to make reservations for the popular Thai Restaurant which is a short hike up from the town of Bastimentos.

Before long though we were slipping and sliding in the mud and thought to ourselves "Sure hope this is worth the trek"

Well, the lunch was delicious and the scenery tranquil. Then we headed up the narrow path to the organic coffee shop,

called; UP IN THE HILL where we shared decadent chocolate coconut balls.

We participated in a Cruiser Fundraiser at Red Frog Marina for local villagers who were burnt out of their homes. Four homes, three of which were destroyed displaced some 30 to 40 people leaving them with no possessions. The fundraiser organized by a number of long term Red Frog Marina Yachties was a great success. One couple donated their time and rigging experience to any who wanted their rigging checked with the proceeds going to the village.The benefit dinner, along with draws for great prizes, gave the Bahia Rojo village over $2200 in cash along with numerous clothing and household goods donated.

(Allayne & Dennis)

Here Ray of S/V Aventura entertained us with his juggling act. Other cruisers entertained us with their music.

DEC. 18TH--ON OUR WAY TO BOCAS DEL TORO

2010-12-27T08:10:00.000-08:00

Dec. 18th. 0930hours. After 35 days spoiling ourselves at Shelter Bay Marina we’re on our way to Bocas del Toro. We figure the 140mile trip at possibly an average of 5 knots will take us 28.2 hours.

With light winds and very confused seas we’re running with a full main, full jib and 2400 rpm motor.

1420 hours: We check in with John and Nancy (S/V Dixsea) and it’s a real slog for them---averaging 2 knots compared to our 5. The strong current against us is not helping.

1630hours. We’re only 28 miles from the Canal; not making much head way. The positive side is the seas are starting to settle down. Dixsea continues to slog along and have decided they’ll stop along the coast at Euero.

1745 hours.. We’ve double reefed the main for the night. The seas are not so confused; we've got a gentle swell. All our safety gear is top-side. The full moon is making for a gorgeous night.

Sunday 0545hours: Our smiling moon has completely left us in total darkness. The stars are amazing.

We’ve picked up a Feathery Hitch Hiker.

0730hours We’ve got Escudo de Veraguas to our starboard. Our feathery friend is still with us and has jumped into the dinghy. Looks like it is dying. We’ve tried feeding it and giving it fresh water but it is not responding.

We’ve decided with the gentle seas we will keep moving.

We’ve regularly hailed Dixsea with no reply. If John and Nancy did in fact stop at Eureo they’re a good 46 miles behind us.

We continue to motor sail with little wind.

0820hours; Randy has gone below to check the engine as he could hear a change in it’s vibration.. Sure enough he says “Turn off the engine, we’ve got a loose bolt. Try to keep us moving forward.” We’re down to 2.5 knots. Every few minutes I need to adjust our coarse keeping the sails from waffling. I can hear him drilling. We’re travelling anywhere from 1.8 to 4.4 knots. After an hour Rand is back top-side and says it was the alternator bracket bolt. He’s done a makeshift repair and hopes it will hold until we reach Bocas.

1130 We’re still a good 21 miles from the W. corner of Isla Bastimentos. We review our options thinking we will get in too late if we want to go all the way to Bocas Town so we decide a better option would be to stop in the first Bay off Punta Bastimentos.

1715hours. We are anchored at Punta Bastimentos in 30 feet of water after travelling 32 hours; 147 miles.

We have been in contact with Allayne and Dennis (Audrey Paige) who are anchored off Red Frog Marina. After a day or so we will head down to their anchorage using Red Frog’s web-site way points.

It’s great to see Dennis and Allayne again. They invite us along to Red Frog Beach to body surf.

NOW YOU SEE THEM (Rand on the right. Allayne and Dennis in the Blue Rash guards.)

NOW YOU DON’T!!

Sure got thrown around on that one.

Lynn and Allayne after catching a good wave.

We use the water taxi to take us over to the Capital: Bocas Town as we need to check in with customs.

Allayne and Dennis (foreground decided to come along to show us their favorite spots in town.

We’ve also met up with friends Lisbeth and Jann (Nordic Lady). Jann is in the background.

Check in was so simple…..The Port Captain took our Zarpe papers and said ”Have a good time.” WOW!!!

One of the many Hostels. We look forward to spending more time in this funky town.

ONLY WAY HOME: HELICOPTER

2010-12-26T07:23:00.000-08:00

FRIENDS HELPING FRIENDS….that’s what it’s all about.

Fifteen minutes before friends Belinda and Chris, S/V Nahanni, were to leave on their Canal Transit we get a knock on the boat hull….."One of our line handler’s is a no-show---Can you or Randy come along?” Decision: Lynn is to go. Quickly I throw an overnight bag together and we’re on our way.

Now, the rule is a boat must have four line handlers or the transit has to be cancelled and the boat then is charged a cancellation fine. The other handlers are from New Zealand: Shareen and Gerard along with Belinda and I.

We have to wait our turn to enter the lock.

The first set of locks we do a side tie with two power boats. We had to untie and retie at each lock.

Belinda and Chris with the Adviser.

Belinda getting her lines ready for the "Monkey Fist" which is thrown by linehandlers on shore.

The canal flooding to raise us approximtely 28 feet.

Looking back to the Caribbean Sea.

RAIN, RAIN, GO AWAY….
Next morning the adviser was supposed to arrive between 0630 and 0700hours. Showing up at 0730 we were first chased by a squall.; then had a torrential downpour with limited visibility for the majority of the day. The next set of locks we were center tied by ourselves. These three locks went very well. In the last lock we ended up with company, an enormous car transporter behind us.

Belinda and Chris decide to take a mooring ball at Balboa Yacht Club so we can quickly get to shore by water taxi. They pay for us to take a taxi directly from Panama City to the Marina which I personally am very grateful for.

By 1600 hours we are on shore waiting for the taxi. The taxi arrives by 1700 hours. We’re in rush hour traffic; forgot what that was like….slower than slow. After a third toll booth we managed to pick up speed, however, the rain still won’t ease up, the visibility is awful so we travel between sixty and eighty km on a 110km highway. We pass an overturned car in the passing lane; very dangerous with no emergency cones and it’s dark. Two miles later we pass a mud slide. Good thing we’re going slowly. Many people are driving with their emergency lights flashing.

It’s now past 1930hours when finally we reach Colon. It has taken us almost twice as long tonight. As we head for the bridge at the Gatun Locks which will take us home to the Marina we are stopped by an enormous flood. Cars are parked all over. We’re in a small low van and the driver says he can not make it through the flooded area. We sit and wait, but only four wheel drives seem to be making it through all the water. We have no choice but to turn around and the taxi driver says he will take us to Hotel Washington as we will not be able to make it home tonight. Aughhhh.

As our luck would have it tonight the taxi driver took one of the side roads that ended up flooded. He tries to make it through the deep water and sure enough we get stuck and the car stalls. He and Gerard decide to push the car out of the water. As they push backwards I steer. The water is approximately eighteen inches high coming in the front doors. Finally out of the water the vehicle motor is actually flooded, so we sit and wait. The taxi driver calls a friend in Panama City who will come and help him. Not a great plan as we do not want to sit in the vehicle for another two or three hours as we are not in a safe part of the town. Plus it not only is dark but continues to pour with rain. He then calls the police and has no luck getting us help. Finally the car sputters to life and we take a different road to the Hotel.

We had torrential rains all night. We tried calling the Marina to no avail. Gerard calls Stanley, a Marine Agent to see if he can get us a 4X4 to drive us back to the Marina. He said not to day; in fact he has heard the bridge crossing the canal has washed away. Not good news. We ask about a water taxi and again he said the weather is so bad the water taxis will not run. Plus, it is a National Holiday: Mother’s Day. This means of course no one wants to work. Well I must say this Mother only wants to get home!!

Flooded street outside Hotel.

Finally we contact Frank, the Harbour Master at Shelter Bay. He explains there is a man who commutes daily by water from Colon, but unfortuantely he in fact left his boat at Shelter Bay and is stuck in Colon. Also Frank said the Marina bus could not make it to the Marina because the bridge was out. The local news is full of flood stories with the highway to Panama City even closed. There have been many deaths from mud slides. At least we are dry and warm. (I later read in one of the Tourist newspapers that the Canal in fact had been closed for seventeen hours, an unprecedented event in the history of the waterway. This was caused by overflowing banks on Lake Gatun and Lake Alajuela. The waters caused entire island-like patches of earth filled with trash to fall into the Lakes and these “trash islands” caused the canal to close. Panama had 315% more precipitation than expected for this time of the year.)

Next we call the Tourist Police to see what condition the road is in now and unbelievably they have no idea.

Communicating with Rand on a regular basis it sounds like the road may not be open for at least another two days. There are so many conflicting stories. We decide the only possible way home at this point could be a Helicopter. Derek and Cathy (Idyll Island) also have friends stuck in Panama City. I call two Helicopter Companies…One says they have no flights for a week. The next company said they can take us today….YIPEEE!!!

The plan is made: The couple stuck in Panama City go to the Albrook Airport. They will be flown directly to Shelter Bay where the pilot will then come over to Colon and pick us up at the Colon Airport and take us to Shelter Bay. We quickly pack what little luggage we have and check out. As we are checking out we get a call saying the Colon Airport has been closed indefinitely….Oh nooooooo!

Then the woman at the Hotel Desk said she has just approved the Helicopter to land right here at the Hotel. FABULOUS!!!!

Even these huge ships look like they are sinking.

Within ten minutes we are home.

THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME!!!

YES, WE ARE STILL IN PANAMA

2010-12-13T11:42:00.000-08:00

PROHIBITION HITS KUNA YALA;
LOTS OF CHANGES TO IMMIGRATION & CRUISING PERMIT
& STORMY WEATHER IS HERE!!!

Oct 28

In the past few months here in Panama there have been many changes to the Dept. of Immigration & the Department of Ship’s Registration which is where we get our Cruising Permit. Of coarse this has caused some confusion.

We personally now can stay in Panama for a maximum of six months, leave the country and then when we re-enter we receive an additional six months. The “yachts” however can stay for a total of twelve months before having to leave the country at a cost of $180.00 US. We renewed our Cruising permit in Porvenir in August where the Port Captain gave us an expiration date of December 31st 2010. Upon reaching Portobello we were told in fact the new law said the twelve months was in fact for a calendar year so it was recommended we go back to Porvenir and see if the Port Captain could change the date for us.
We needed to stop in Linton on our way back to San Blas to fill our jerry jugs with diesel and gasoline…This of course can only be done by dinghy and the jerry jugs are not light. Diesel is 3.25 a gallon and gas is 3.50 a gallon. The fuel arrives in 45 gallon drums by truck.

After three roily uncomfortable nights we dinghy around the bay with our handheld depth finder to find a calmer anchorage. We decide to move. We’re now in deeper water; 45 feet but with next weeks potential bad weather we are out of the swell.

Arriving in Porvenir the Port Captain was more than willing to change our expiration date at no additional fee. After updating our permit we head for Nalia, a mangrove lined bay where we hope we’ll catch ourselves some rain water. Nalia is off the beaten path; we’re the only boat here. The current is strong turning us 180 degrees. What a no-seeum night. We decide we’ll head out at first light.

We move on to West Hollandaise. The anchorage here is good for one boat and we're it. Rand checks the anchor and decides we are to close to the reef. By 1620hours the wind has changed and is hitting us from the SSW…No protection here. We’ve left the GPS on, and the alarm is set for 20 feet in case we drag. If bad weather comes in the night we’ll head due South, out to sea….

The next morning we have a flat calm but decide not to push our luck. After a nice snorkel we make the short hop to East Hollandaise.

We have met up with friends Allayne and Dennis on Audrey Paige. We have a nice reunion snorkelling. Then Five Islands arrive, on their way to Cartagena. Again the weather deteriorates…What’s new????

We have moved on to Chichime as the weather continues to deteriorate. We’ll be getting 25-35 knot winds due to Hurricane Otto.We regularly check out the weather on www.nhc.noaa.gov/ Presently there is a 20% chance of Tropical Cyclone Formation for us in the next 48 hours.

We truly like Chichime however boats anchoring on top of one another is a challenge. We always try and anchor away from everyone, out as far as possible due to running our Honda Generator. In one week we moved five times.

PROHIBITION HITS SAN BLAS…. Yes, the “Caciques” (high chiefs) that rule Kuna Yala have decided Kuna’s are not to buy or sell beer. Of course we did find beer for sale at Chichime for two dollars a tin; a little steep. Sounds like they buy the beer from the passing Colombian trade boats.

Dec. 13
A storm hits Chichime from Hurricane Otto bringing enormous ten foot seas that crash over the windward side of the islands. You can see on the chart above the enormous reef that gives us much needed protection. There in fact have been 19 named storms to date during this Atlantic hurricane season. In October alone there have been five tropical storms formed and all became hurricanes. This is 40 percent more than the average. Now you know why we have not been able to move very far.

Needing exercise we decide to go over to the Leeward side of Uchutupu Dummat and are amazed at how rough it is. A family’s home is lost as the water erodes the sand from its base.

Finally the weather breaks for a very small window of opportunity and our plan is as soon as the weather is okay to head to Bocas del Toro, but before we do this we want to re-provision for another three to four months. This means heading back to Shelter Bay Marina where provisioning is made so much easier with access to the town of Colon by the free shuttle bus. Of course it is much easier to load the groceries onto the boat from the dock.

0600hours we leave Chichime. Full main and foresail out. We are sailing at five knots due to choppy seas and current. The water is full of debris from the storms. At times we’re down to 2.5 knots so decide to start the motor, using everything we’ve got to get back to Linton before dark. We catch an 8 pound Mackarel. Arriving in Linton we are pleasantly surprised to see Moana I in the anchorage. We give them the Mackeral as we plan to leave tomorrow for Shelter Bay.

Nov. 12th By 0900hours we have the anchor up, main and foresail out. By 1200 hours we are flying…Having one of our best sails in a long time.

Reunion at Shelter Bay. It’s like old home week. It’s the first time we have seen good friends Cathy and Derek (Idyll Island) since a year ago October along with Eileen and Peter (Appleseeds) who went home for the summer.

BUT….IT’S RAINING; IT’S POURING!!!!and we have leaks. Note Rand is still smiling for now.

BACK IN THE LAND OF CONVENIENCE-PART III

2010-09-22T12:35:00.000-07:00

We regularly see Ulu’s like this one, under sail. Today it stopped by selling crab and lobster. Due to the fact we still have not had anyone stop buy selling fruit or veggies we decide we need to go to Nargana, a two hour trip for this much needed fresh produce. The closer we get to Nargana we can not believe all the floating plastic.

It’s SLIM PICKENS at the grocery store I’m afraid. We manage to purchase a dozen eggs for $3., one cabbage, 6 buns, 5 onions and a cucumber for $7. We ran into Frederico whom we had met last spring. Commenting on our disappointment on not finding any fruit he took us to another store where we managed to get 3 tomatoes, a melon and 6 carrots for $6.25. We were also charged the $10.00 tourist fee. Oh Well!!

The next day we went back into town for fuel which was $4.65 a Kuna gallon, which is 3/4 of a gallon, plus we managed to find a few potatoes at $1.00 a pound and beer was 80cents instead of the usual 49 cents.
After two nights we decide to head back to Green Island. Initially we are the only boat. By sunset a few more boats arrive. All in all a quiet anchorage but the water is definitely not as clear as when we were here in the spring. We had heard there was a resident crocodile and sure enough we saw it 500 yards off the stern of the boat. It’s an easy decision not to snorkel this time round.

Back in Chichime we meet Celia and Gene (Last Laugh)

Celia organizes a series of dinghy races with Loic.

12 Year old Loic is very competitive and wins the special trophy.

We’ve gone to Porvenir to check out AND LOOK WHO THE WIND BLEW IN…..
We have not seen Ton and Tonnie (IMSIM) for months. It’s so nice to spend some time with them before they head for Cartagena.

We have unexpected company on board:
First our resident Geiko,

And then as we are pulling up anchor an Ulu approaches us asking for a tow back to Chichime. Grandma (Mootn )and Grandson(Monchot ) join us in the cockpit and the men stay in the Ulu.

We’re back in Portobelo taking advantage of the rain. We were down to our last 30 gallons of water.

We were pleasantly surprised to find a nice reef on the west side of Portobelo Bay.
We will make a point to come back to snorkel.

Portobelo has a new cruisers hang out. “Captain Jack’s” with their resident mascot “Cheeky” has wi-fi available at $2.00 a day plus they make light lunches starting at $2.00. Beer is $1.00 and wine $2.00.
We have tried to do a bit of provisioning by bus from here but have decided we should go into Shelter Bay Marina for a week or two as it is much easier getting supplies onto the boat from a dock.

We also have a few repairs to catch up on so until our next leg of our journey…..Adios amigos…..

BACK IN THE LAND OF CONVENIENCE--PART II

2010-09-20T07:34:00.000-07:00

DESTINATION: KUNA YALA (SAN BLAS), PANAMA

0600hours….July 17th ..HAPPY BIRTHDAY CARLIE!!! And, CONGRATULATIONS to NICOLE & STEVEN who are getting married today.
Pulling up anchor you can imagine our delight when this seahorse had attached itself to our chain. Our destination, Chichime is the first island in the San Blas Islands, approximately a 42 mile trip from Isla Linton.

We've had both fishing lines out since we left Linton. Finally approximately 10 miles off Chichime both lines get a strike at the same time. As we were bringing in the foresail to slow down the boat the hand line snapped loosing one fish and lure but our new rod held up to the challenge.

Twenty minutes later we land a beautiful 15-20 pound Tuna.

1600 hours and we are anchored off Chichime. We’re in 30.2 feet of water using 200 feet of chain.

Chichime is one of our favourite stops made up of two cays, Uchutupu Pipigua and Uchutupu Dummat and one small sandy islet at the anchorage entrance. The anchorage is surrounded by a barrier reef. We barely have our anchor down when the Ulu’s arrive: women selling their molas, the men selling fish, lobster and crab. We tell them not to-day. We’re tired: come back “manana”.

Beachcombing Randy finds this incredible beautiful shell that's still full of life.

Reading "Seashore Life" this creature looks like it is part of the Gastropod family known in general terms as a sea slug and are not often found by shore collectors.

The sandy little island at dusk. The entrance to this anchorage is on the right of the picture. The left side is a nice coral reef.

We decide to move to The Hollandes Cays which is made up of 21 Islands that lay behind a 7 mile long protective barrier reef approximately 8 miles from the mainland. We have not been to this anchorage in the past as we have heard it is very popular and busy, actually noted in our cruising guide as one of the most popular anchorages of all San Blas. This is partly due to BBQ Island being maintained by "Caretaker Reggie" a cruiser who has taken a great interest in keeping the island spotless, prestine. When we arrive we are pleasantly surprizd there are only 12 boats, 9 inhabited.

The reef gives us good protection from the Caribbean seas yet still giving us a nice breeze.

The local Kuna did come out and collect a ten dollar cruising fee. We have since heard that the local Kuna have taken back BBQ Island, not wanting any help to keep it in its prestine condition and are charging an additional fee to step onto the island.

Exploring by dinghy the visibility is such that we could easily see this Ray.

We found off the most S.E. Cay of Tiadup the snorkeling was the best we've seen in quite some time. We also snorkeled off Caobos Cay. Randy saw an 8 foot shark twice so that was a sign to get out of the water.

As more boats arrive we decide to move to a quieter spot off to the SW-Ogoppiriadup---Randy goes to check the anchor---oops another shark.

We are amazed at how dirty and dusty the boat gets out in the middl of no where. Mold is another issue. Weekly we was down the interior walls and ceilings with a mixture of bleach and water.

It sounds like we missed the veggie boat by a day and it won't be back for three weeks. We decide to head back to Green Island. (Part III)

BACK IN THE LAND OF CONVENIENCE; PART I

2010-09-19T07:07:00.000-07:00

"WORLD CUP FEVER IN LINTON"

Sorry for the delay in updating the blog. We have just returned to Shelter Bay Marina to do much needed re-provisioning and with a good wifi connection we can finally update you all on our whereabouts these past months.
Prior to us leaving this marina at the beginning of June we provisioned for what we hope will be three months. We’ll gradually work our way back to San Blas on the Caribbean side of Panama. We’re excited to try out our new fishing rod.

The weather is so mild, the water like glass we decide to pass on Portobelo and head straight to Isla Linton.

We had been asked to deliver a child’s life jacket to Jeannie and Bob on Island Dreamin’. Here we are celebrating Jeannie’s Birthday (far right), Bob to her right and with friends Marie-Elena and Burt off “Not So Interim”.

We like to anchor off the SW corner of Isla Linton where we enjoy privacy and the howler monkeys.

It’s normally a short trip into Hans and Elida’s restaurant/bar/cruiser hang out however today our dinghy motor quit. Of course we need to get in to see THE WORLD CUP series so it takes approximately thirty minutes to row each way. Lord knows we need the exercise. Jeannie and Bob have heard a local taxi driver named Tito repairs small motors so Bob kindly takes Rand into meet Tito. Within a day the “Merc” is returned in good working order.

Daily we see weather systems here in Linton which bring us thunder, lightning, rain and more rain. Thank goodness for the rain as we can keep the water tanks topped up.

Sunsets forever changing are one of our favourite times of the day.

We make a one and a half trip into Colon in an old US school bus like this one for a cost of 2.50 each.

We are getting used to these storms regularly crossing our path.

The water boils around us with hundreds of fish. Randy tries and tries to catch one. No luck at all-it does not seem to matter what lure he uses--they just won't bite!

The WORLD CUP is over making it time to be on our way. Thanks Hans and Elida for your hospitality….A most enjoyable stay in Linton.

SIDE TRIP TO COSTA RICA

2010-05-30T11:33:00.001-07:00

Presently our most important issue is Immigration. Our Immigration Visa's run out on May 23rd.

For weeks we have been researching our options. We have read and verbally been told so many different stories we decided to once more go back to Panama City to the Dept. of Immigration. We find the Tourist Extension Line and have six people in front of us. After waiting over one hour there are still three people in front of us. At this time a man comes by carrying paperwork and at least 10 passports. We have heard their are agents, so we start asking him questions and he tells us number one we are in the wrong line and number two that he can help us once we get a package together with extra pictures of ourselves, copies of passports, copies of cruising permits etc. etc. So we say okay and that we will be back in four days, after the weekend. On the weekend he in fact calls us and says we had better wait as he needs to check and see if there is any other information Immigration will need. Again he phones back on Monday and says we can not get an extension and that we will have to leave the country.

Allayne and Dennis (Audrey Paige) have the same Immigration dilemma as us and have opted to sail down to Colombia..

Adios until we meet up again in San Blas.

We start looking at flights etc. and decide we will go to Panama City one more time, as we need to pick up our new toilet that has just arrived through Pakya. This time when we arrive at Immigration there is no line up and we are invited into the office immediately. The supervisor Rayman Omar is very friendly and speaks fluent English. We explain our situation and he explains, yes in fact we do have to leave the country because Panama and Canada do not have a reciprocal Immigration agreement. He sees we are dissappointed and calls his supervisor. After a lengthy conversation he explains the best they can do is give us a thirty day extension which would mean every thirty days we would have to go back into the office. He says, go to Costa Rica for 48 hours and upon re-entering Panama you will be given a 6 month Immigration Visa....SIX MONTHS...Now that would be perfect especially with hurricane season fast approaching. He explains a new law was passed April 27th changing ones stay from 3 months to 6 months. So back to Shelter Bay, we get organized packing small knapsacks and then we return to Panama City the next morning for a bus ride to San José, Costa Rica.

The Tica Line bus is very clean and has a bathroom. We leave Panama City at 1100hours and will get into San José at approximately 0100hours the next day. Yes, a 15 hour bus ride..We did not have much of a delay at the border. First we had to check out of Panama which included having all the luggage taken off the bus, put on the cement floor in a small room where it is checked by a dog, then checked manually. The luggage then is returned to the bus for an approx. 200 yard stop at the Costa Rica Immigration where again all the luggage is hauled off the bus and checked.

We were served two meals while traveling plus snacks, all included in the $40 ticket price.

We were very impressed that the bus depot in San José actually had rooms for rent at $38, so we decided to take one. It was very clean, included a private bathroom and had a small television. Next morning we went around the corner to a hostel for breakfast. They even let us sign into their wi-fi where we looked for hotel options near the city center. Before leaving the bus depot we thought it would be best to purchase our return tickets. The ticket agent forgot to give us ten dollars of our change. When we went back and questioned him, he did not say sorry, just turned around and got us the money....Most interesting. He in fact gave us our change partly in US funds and partly Colones, their local currency, possibly to confuse us perhaps!

Deciding on Best Western we took a short two dollar cab ride to our destination. What was interesting at Best Western was the young lady quoted us a price. We said we saw on the Internet that it was approximately twenty nine dollars less.... She said the best she could do was give us 10% off but suggested we sit in the lobby and use their computer to register on-line. So of course we did that and it only took half an hour for her to receive the confirmation. It was a nice bonus to be allowed to get into the room immediately even though it was only 11am. A welcome beverage was included in the price, plus breakfast. We booked the room for two nights even though during the second night we would be leaving at 2130hours for the bus depot.

There are many Museums in San José.We chose the Pre-Columbian Gold Museum. We decided to take a taxi...Well, TOURIST BEWARE!!! We knew the taxi`s here use meters. The taxi we got into we asked how much it would be and where was his meter...He said he uses the odometer which he had changed to 0. We were suspicious but stayed in. We knew the Museum was only a few blocks away...Once we arrived at the destination he uncovered his meter which in fact read that we owed him almost 12000 Colones, which is $24US. The fight was on.... Two dollars is all he got....

The architecture is most impressive.

The streets full of people. We decided it was not a good idea to walk around at night.

Being inland it was noticeably cooler.

Before we knew it, it was time to pack up our bags and head for the bus depot. The trip back to Panama was not as quick as we hoped. The bus left at its' 2100 scheduled hour however arriving at the Costa Rica Immigration we had to wait over an hour as their was no one to process our Passports until 6am...Very frustrating. Finally when two people showed up, one did exits and one entrances. Well, the one doing entrances was not busy but unfortunately I guess it was not his responsibilty to help out with the exit line....So again this took about an hour with the odd hold up, where someone was being extensively questioned....not pulled out of the line, but just holding up the line. Aughhhhh

Finally everyone is next sent to the Panama Immigration. We are told we have to buy a ticket back to Costa Rica..After much explanation stating we are not going back to Costa Rica, but to our boat in Panama, showing all the necessary boat papers he finally lets us through. Of course we ask and "We have six months"?? He just looks at me slamming down the passports. We quickly looked to make sure the passports are stamped and we cannot find where my passport stamp is. Randy's is rght where we think it should be, but mine, well, back in the line and for some reason he has stamped it on top of other stamps back five pages??? Our frustrations are not over. Only when everyone on the bus has gone through the Immigration process will they start to take the luggage off the bus. Now Randy and I only have our knapsacks but we are not allowed to clear our baggage until everyone is ready. We are all put back in the small room, and wait, no they will not check luggage yet....they call 12 peoples names and take their passports and start to thoroghly check them out while the rest of us can only wait and watch.....No such thing as clearing the rest of us out of the room which is getting real hot.

Finally we are on our way. We finally arrive back in Panama City close to 1700 hours instead of the 1300 hours so we decided we will spend the night. The next morning we decided to go back to the Immigration Office just to confirm we have the six months. Mr. Omar recognizes us and he gets back on the phone and confirms even though their is no actual date in our passports six months from now we do in fact have the time. Hooray!!!!

If there is a next time however, we have decided we will fly!!

HAUL OUT TIME--TWICE

2010-05-16T13:07:00.000-07:00

It's been two years since our last haul out which was in St. Maarten.

We have decided we will haul out here at Shelter Bay now that our dripless coupling has arrived from Peter & Eileen (Appleseeds) via "Not So Interim". How did this work?---The cruising community at it's best. Peter brought the part from Vancouver to Cartagena, Colombia where unfortunately we had already left for San Blas. Weeks later they arrive in San Blas but we are much further west. We make it up to Shelter Bay and they are still in San Blas, hear their friends on "Not So Interim" are heading for Shelter Bay and ask them to deliver our part.

Needing anti-fouling we make a trip to Panama City. This is where we confirm how well the Panama transit system works. We left Shelter Bay Marina on the 0800 complimentary bus which takes us to the Colon Bus Station where an air conditioned express bus awaits passengers. As soon as the bus is full it leaves. The cost for this two hour journey to Panama City is $2.50 each. Arriving at the Albrook Bus Station we hail a cab to take us to the paint store. We get the 5 gallon can of anti-fouling while the taxi waits; then he takes us back to the Albrook Bus Station where we load our paint into the express bus and again when the bus is full it's off back to Colon. We arrive back in Colon in time for the 1530hours bus ride back to the Marina.

We are pleasantly surprized at how clean the hull looks. The two year old anti-fouling that we put on in St. Maarten still looks pretty good except for the rudder.

We take down the old bimini which has completely rotted through at the seams and put up a make shift awning to give us some protection from the very hot sun. It is not only hot, but there is not even a breeze which of course then brings around the no-seeums primarily at dawn and dusk. They attack us with a vengeance making us retreat inside the boat.

New anti-fouling with a raised water line.

After two weeks of frustration with the sewing machine we finally get it to work well enough to make the new bimini. Between tension problems, wrong size thread for the needle size, the biggest issue was the machine timing which we had never had to repair ourselves before....Needless to say I was a very happy lady once we got it up and running.

Randy however is not happy with our lower rudder bushing and feels we should replace it now so we order a new one from Beneteau. Pakya shipping works very well from the United States. Two weeks later our part arrives in Panama City so back we go to pick it up.

Hauling out again Randy manages to replace the bushing within a day so this time we were able to get back in the water after only one night.

Shelter Bay Marina & Our Panama Canal Transit as Line Handlers

2010-05-10T06:23:00.000-07:00

What a treat being a Shelter Bay Marina. They presently have a monopoly with the Panama Canal Yacht Club being torn down. Anchoring at the area known as the “Flats” is not an option as there is no access to the mainland.

My first task is laundry, which takes all day; yes we had alot of laundry!!! Then a very overdue interior and exterior cleaning is started. We especially are enjoying the wifi connection. Initially sporadic, upgrades are being done and we can actually access wifi on the boat. There is one restaurant with a limited menu where we enjoy meeting up with friends after a busy day for sundowners. There’s also a very large T.V. room where Randy can watch his favourite soccer team. It’s furnished with games tables, chairs, sofa’s and computer stalls making this air conditioned room very inviting.

Shelter Bay Marina is surrounded by Sherman National Park where we regularly enjoy walks. We can hear the cry of the howler monkeys; see the small brown faced monkey, ant eaters, along with gorgeous vibrant turquoise with copper underside butterflies. The park is a bird watchers joy. These leaf cutter ants are amazing. Of course with the heat and humidity we have no-seeums and now a few mosquitoes

Shelter Bay offers a free bus service twice a day into Colon. The 15 mile trip can take anywhere from 30-90 minutes depending on our arrival at the Gatun Lock. If ships are entering or departing all vehicle traffic waits. We usually wear long pants when going into the city blending in with the local conservative Panamanians.

Panama’s legal tender is the U.S. dollar which the locals call Balboa.

The public transit is fabulous. The local converted US school buses are decorated with airbrush pictures of National scenes and heroes. Often our rides are one to two dollars and of course we try and get one with working air conditioning. Before entering a taxi we always ask “How much?” If we do not like the quote we say a kind “Thank you” where on negotiations may ensue. If not we just close the door and wait for the next taxi.

Not as convenient as the bus system once a day a train leaves from Panama City to Colon in the morning, returning late afternoon the same day.

We were pleasantly surprised when Don and Devin arrived on Liquid Courage.

We jumped at the chance when asked to be line handlers on Liquid Courage for their Canal Transit. One of the skipper requirements for transiting the canal, set up by the ACP,(Panama Canal Authority) is the necessity to have four line handlers over and above the skipper.

Devin’s’ girlfriend Jen arrived from Vegas for the transit experience.

Another ACP requirement is having adequate fenders. The recommendation is a fender every 3 to 4 feet on each side of the vessel. As most private vessels do not carry sufficient fenders they rent car tires that have been covered with plastic garbage bags. The walls of the locks are very rough and can cause considerable damage.

Four mooring lines not less than 125 feet long each with a 7/8’’ diameter are also required. These too can be rented. The reason for so many tires and fenders is there are three potential types of lockages for vessels under 125 feet: Center of chamber, sidewall or beside an ACP tugboat.

Leaving the Caribbean small vessel transits usually takes two days with tying to a mooring necessary overnight on Gatun Lake.
Don is given a tentative pilot time of 1615 hours for the scheduled transit which means we will leave Shelter Bay around 1230 hours and head for the “Flats”.

The pilot boat arrives with our Advisor.

For our transit we are tied to one other S/V just before entering the chamber. Together we make a “center chamber lockage” which will keep both boats in the center of the lock away from the potential harmful side walls.

Unfortunately it’s already dark entering the first of the three Gatun Locks. We are positioned behind a large freighter.

Our advisor stays with us until we reach the large mooring balls in Gatun Lake. After a late dinner finishing at 2230 hours we are all so tired we just need to go to bed.

Early next morning (0600hours) a new Advisor arrives and we’re on our way across Gatun Lake. Gatun Lake extends across the isthmus. At the time it was built the Gatun Dam and Lake were the largest built structures in the world. We travel over 20 nm to enter Gaillard Cut. We comment on the water being so dirty. Our advisor explains this has been caused by the expansion of the Canal.

The Canal is very busy. We are told some forty ships transit the canal a day at an average cost of $250,000 each.
Entering Gaillard Cut we are asked to hug the buoy markers to give more room to the enormous freighters through this narrow waterway. Gaillard Cut originally called Culebra (or snake) was carved through the rock and shale of the Continental Divide.

Land markers light up at night for ships to line up with so they can make safe turns through the Cut.

A few freighters throw off such a wake we had our tires torn off our sides.

Devin and Randy retrieving a tire.

We put large loops,approximately two feet in circumference at one end of all the 125 foot lines. As we come up to the locks we are thrown from shore a “monkey fist” which is a long piece of twine rope with a twine ball approximately half the size of a baseball at one end. We attach the monkey fist first through our dock lines and then the ACP line handlers on the lock wall start pulling our lines up securing them to large cleats on the wall.

Once the chamber starts filling with water we slowly take up the slack or in the case of a lock emptying water we slowly let the lines go slack ensuring we keep in the center of the chamber at all times.

Out of the chamber we are on our way to the next lock.

A happy crew, by 1400 hours we are anchored off Playita de Amador, Panama City

A couple more stops before Colon

2010-03-30T12:38:00.000-07:00

Again we must be patient and have to wait an additional day before leaving Porvenir for Isla Linton.

As we head into Isla Linton we are pleasantly surprized to hear IMSIM and TARA hailing us,welcoming us into the anchorage inviting us over for Sundowners.

Shelley and Drew (Rapid Transit) came by offering us fresh Tuna.

The next day Erno shows us the way to Panamarina, through a channel in the mangroves. Finally wifi after almost six weeks. Plus the restaurant was quite nice.

Isla Linton is reknowned for its monkeys. Every afternoon a few come down to a dock waiting for crackers or bananas. We had been told they are very aggressive so we decide to enjoy them while we sit in the dinghy.

We did stop in Portabello before heading to Colon . The country side was beautiful.

Full of history. However, after two nights it was time for us to move on to Colon as we need to haul out High States...So for now Adios to our friends.

San Blas--Part IV

2010-03-22T07:51:00.000-07:00

We're really enjoying the short hops to all these beautiful Islands. Within two hours we've reached Green Island and are anchoring in 27 feet of water when a French boat comes in right beside us; I mean we could almost jump into each others boat….Not impressed. There's lots of spots to choose from and proper etiquette is we were here first so they should move.The next day we in fact move to have some privacy.

After barely having our anchor down a local Kuna arrives with barrels filled with molas. Venancio is a master mola maker and his molas are beautiful---price however is anywhere from $15 to $50 each.

I think Green Island, (Kanlidup) has to be on of our favorite spots to date. It is not only a very picturesque island covered with high coconut palms

but the snorkelling is some of the best since we left Bonaire.

Not so much in having an abundance of beautiful fish,

but the corals and sponges are absolutely gorgeous.

Plus of course it just feels so good to get into refreshing clear clean turquoise water again.

While snorkelling in very shallow water we saw our first shark!!! Approximately five feet long he was “resting” with eyes open under a shallow reef. Sorry, no picture as we not only made a quick exit but decided it was best not to get it excited.

We have been meeting many new cruisers and were surprised meeting Jan and Gordy from Victoria. They spend the winters on their boat Island Dreams. What a small world.

After a few days we decide to head out to West Coco Banderas Cays. Anchoring off uninhabited Orduptarboat we have our own bit of paradise. Well, until 1300hours when a group of six kayaks arrive for a short three hour visit. Orduptarboat is beautiful and offers good protection however very rolly. The snorkelling was good on the reef behind our stern.

Fabulous Ray.

Primarily due to the rolling swell making for an unrestful sleep we decide to go back to Green Island for a couple of days.. Plus the weather again is deteriorating. Does this not look like the West Coast of B.C.? (Well, except for the palm treed island in the foreground.

Prepared for the next rain storm----with our water catcher.

On our way into the Cambombia anchorage High States motor starts overheating. As soon as we anchor Randy looks for our problem. Turns out to be the impeller and water strainer. Luckily we had a spare impeller and Randy repaired the water strainer by “darning” it with my sail thread. We decide one night here is enough and head on to W. Naguargandup Cays where we anchor off Salardup.

”Auto” is on so we can enjoy the scenery from the bow.

At a number of the anchorages ULU's come by selling fruits and vegetables.

Checking in at Porvenir was excellent. No questions about why it took us so long to get here from Cartagena. Secondly,looking at my passport, the Immigration Officer asked how did I check in already. I explained due to a medical emergency I had gone to Panama City a few weeks earlier. No problem he says and re-stamps my passport to match Randy’s and the boats Cruising Permit as he says: WELCOME!!! We now have a three month Immigration stamp and three month Cruising permit.

The winds are really picking up so we move out to Chichime. This is our neighbour.

One of our favourite books Nine Years on the Seven Seas has a chapter on meeting a wonderful man Braulio and his family at Chichime. We are hoping to meet them here and show them their pictures in the book.

Finally we asked a Kuna that came by in one of the ULU’s if they knew the Braulio family….Yes, he states, however they now unfortunately for us live in Carti.

Out exploring we found this boat stuck on one of the reefs.

The following day a storm rolled in bringing 35 knot winds. By midnight we decide we’re too close to the reef on our stern so we moved out 60 feet and reset the anchor. It takes a couple more days for the swells to settle down so we can head back to Porvenir where we must check out before setting off for Colon. Even with San Blas being part of Panama we must check in and out before heading to Colon where we will again have to check in to Panama…

As we’re sitting off Porvenir this cruise ship arrives. It has turned nasty again. One moment we see the ship…

The next it is obliterated----Time for us to catch more water. It will take an extra day before we can head to Isla Linton. We've had to check out of San Blas as technically we will then be out of San Blas (Yala Kuna) and will have to check in to Colon.

San Blas- Part III

2010-03-21T07:37:00.000-07:00

SAN BLAS—PART III
Tara left while I was away so now after two weeks in Ustupu for High States we too are on our way with a small semi-okay weather window travelling with IMSIM. We continue to not have much sunshine. We’ve got a real choppy swell with a lot of vegetative debris in the water---Something??? hit us so now we are both on duty watching the seas for more potential threats.

By 01145 the sea is looking a lot more turquoise but not clear enough for swimming. We decide to stop and anchor off Ailigandi. We say good-bye to IMSIM who have headed further west. There is one other boat here…Andrea &Andreas on board AKKA come by to say hello. They are from Germany. We have seen their boat off and on since Cartagena but had not officially met.

Ailigandi is our first rolly anchorage in quite some time. Going ashore to explore and check in we come across one restaurant. We make plans to meet AKKA for lunch; the menu today is fries, fried chicken and salad. Total cost including drinks 9.50.

This is the first island we have seen Kuna women drinking beer….and not just one.

We met Joseph digging out two canoes. A sign of the times; if we want a picture we have to pay.

We learnt out of a population of 1400 people only 20 actively continue to farm on the main land. The church minister said to AKKA the island is plagued with drugs; an easier way of life for the Kuna to earn a living.

Plus the locals have approximately 500 family members working on the mainland sending back money. To-day we saw a Colombian boat arrive to the dock and then surprisingly did not stop; just turned around and left… We must admit this has not been one of our favorite Islands. That's the beauty of cruising...If we don't feel comfortable we just move on.

Having decided to head for Mono Island we are fortunate to have a long narrow reef on our starboard helping a bit to protect us from the high seas that are hitting us mid-ship and of course the wind is on our nose. We have only a bit of head sail out and the motor is running at 2200rpm….

One and a half hours later we are already anchored with 9.7 feet under the keel two miles SW of Tupile. We had a nice surprise with AKKA arriving shortly after us. It looks like we have a good half knot current running into the anchorage. We are somewhat concerned with two unfriendly signs stuck in one of the reefs. Basically telling us for our visit we must use a Kuna guide and if we disrespect these rules our goods may be confiscated???? This mangrove lined anchorage is not inhabited. Sure enough around 1500 hours an ULU arrives and collects ten dollars from us. We feel there should be no problem staying here now for a couple of days.

Each day we spend time planning potential waypoint co ordinates for stops along our way further west.
One evening we went ashore with Andrea and Andreas to burn garbage. Randy dug a good size hole with our machete.

On our way back to the boats Andrea thought she saw a Caiman so that evening Randy and I sat patiently on the bow of High States watching and waiting. Sure enough we see a long “branch” heading to shore against the current. We can only assume it was a Caiman.

We’ve got a much brighter day today. We decide to wait until 0900hours to let the sun rise higher in the sky for our next journey to either Aridup which is out on a reef or Snug Harbour.

By 1145 we’re off Aridup, a truly beautiful spot if calm conditions. We feel its too rolly so we decide to go into Snug Harbour.. Initially we try one bay that is picture postcard perfect only to find it is too deep.

We move on to a bay to the East, the entrance between two easily visible reefs and anchor in 25.8 feet. Originally I did not want to stop at Snug Harbour as I thought it was going to be so busy. Imagine my surprize to find we are the only boat for a day until AKKA arrives.

An ULU comes by offering lobster so tiny we say “No, come back tomorrow with “Grande” and we will buy”. Later another ULU arrives with lobster and says the other boat will not be by tomorrow as the men are working at the new hotel. This man wants ten dollars for ten lobsters. Again they are way too small. He will also bring us ten loaves of bread tomorrow for one dollar and six mangoes for one dollar. We buy the ten lobsters throwing them back into the sea. We can’t keep doing this as it will cost us a small fortune. Tomorrow we will be stern and just say NO!!! Before this gentleman leaves he asks for a magazine; then a hat; we give him both….Kuna definitely are not shy….

Snug harbour is a gorgeous well protected anchorage. We anchored off Apaidup.
We dinghy down to Playon Chico to ask about burning garbage. The surrounding shoreline water is full of garbage. We were led to the church where the pastor spoke English. In fact he was from California and as luck would have it the Village elders were also here. After a lengthy discussion between the elders we were told we could burn anywhere we pleased.
Here again the children kept asking for their pictures to be taken. Of course we oblige and they excitedly look at themselves. One pulled on my arm..$1.00…I was surprised to say the least and gave a firm NO. Reading the cruising guides we understood the adults do not like their picture taken and that is why unless they ask us to take their picture or we ask first and receive their permission we respect their wishes. But the children; they constantly follow us around asking to have their picture taken so they can see themselves on the screen.

Heading back to High States we came across a Hotel " Sapibenga” perched over the waters edge on the small island of Usoup. We stopped to see if they were open for lunch. They said yes and of course our next question always is: Cuanto cuesta (how much). Lunch is 10.00 each with beer and wine an extra $1.They will serve chicken, beef or fish. We explain $10. is too much, what about $8. Plus AKKA arrived this morning so there may be four customers instead of two. We agree on the $8, confirm with AKKA that they would come along then dinghy back to confirm we will want lunch for four. The setting is absolutely gorgeous, the food okay. The meal even included fresh fruit for desert.

We decided after four days we were ready to move on. Saying adios to AKKA we’re on our way to Nargana. We in fact have worked out three options depending on weather conditions.

Feb. 9 By 0820 we’ve got the jib out with a good breeze. We’re in four to seven foot swells travelling 6-7.4 knots. We’ve had a few squalls along the way and while anchoring at Nargana it is pouring with rain. High States had a good wash through the squalls so we start to collect water. An hour later the two boats in front of us pick up anchors so we move up.

Nargana (Yandup in Kuna) & Corazon de Jesus (Akuanustatupu) are two islands joined by a steel bridge. We did not see many women in traditional dress of molas and their wini beads as the islands have decided on a more Western lifestyle. There now is running water on Nargana so we managed to get 200L for $3.We also bought gasoline at $4.50 a Kuna gallon. The diesel generator plant runs 24 hours a day and is easily heard in the anchorage.

We met Federico who takes garbage for a small donation. He is trying to teach the young Kuna to be more environmentally aware not throwing their garbage in the water. He introduces us to his brother who owns one of the grocery stores. $4 for a litre of wine, not bad, and he had a good assortment of fruits and vegetables.

Then up the Rio Diablo to do laundry, We found the river not nearly as impressive as Sugandi off Ustupu however it was a great spot to do the laundry, literally dragging the sheets behind the dinghy for their rinse. We swam at the local sandbar watching for Caiman.

Entering and leaving Rio Diablo is not only a challenge due to its shallowness but also full of fallen trees. We’ll probably head for Green Island tomorrow, also known as Kanlidup.. Rumour has it, the snorkelling is good.

We met Drew & Shelley (RAPID TRANSIT) from Australia. They graciously went around the anchorage sharing their Macarel.
Pouring rain is beating on us again. No time like the present to collect more water. Within half an hour all the tanks are full again.

One of the many Colombian trading boats.
Unfortunately what fresh fruit and vegetables we do not have much shelf life. On new grapefruit is full of worms...

We managed to trade books with Shelley and Drew before heading into town, one last trip for more fruits and vegetables. Slim-pickens today….Only managed to find watermelon and 2 garlic. By 1045 we’re heading the short few miles to Green Island. See Part IV