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

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.