BACK IN THE LAND OF CONVENIENCE-PART III

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

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

"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.