Boat Chores and Provisioning

Can't believe that we've only been gone a couple of months and we're back here with chores and provisioning to do again. Hmmm ... might have been all that time we spent snorkelling in the San Blas doing very little on the boat. My friend Brigitte always told me that if you were going to spend the money on staying in a marina, then you really had to be productive to make it worthwhile. I hate that that's still in my head 8 years later!!!!

A successful docking (although I was a little worried since we were in the first slip that I've only seen catamarans in!) and the first people to greet us were Deb and Mark on Sea Cycle. So good to see them again. Then, Lynn and Randy on High States wandered over. Old home week! Bob and Sue on Sunrise were doing a dock walk and stopped by and invited us over for Thanksgiving dinner. We had met them this summer in the San Blas. For a change, the marina is full of returning Canadians and very few Americans. Shaun and his girls were having Thanksgiving dinner at Kelly's house, so we got to Skype them and see all those wonderful little faces. Wish the other two would download Skype so that we could see all the grandkids (yes, that means Tania and MA!)

Had an amazing dinner aboard Sunrise with Bob and Sue, Buddy and Lorraine (Black Dog), Lee (Serenity) and Steve (Better Days). Luckily those 35 Morgans are very spacious. Turkey, dressing, potatoes, cranberries, salad, appetizers and dessert (I made cherry cheesecake tarts). Everything was delicious and we had a great evening.

Bob carving the turkey
Dennis and Lee

Sue, Lorraine and Buddy

Spent a little longer in the marina than we wanted to because Roger wasn't available to run us around Panama City until the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. Took the bus into Panama City with Deb from Sea Cycle and had a very successful day of shopping at Abernathys, Price Smart and Riba Smith. The first is a marine/fishing store, Price Smart is a Costco type store, and Riba Smith a wonderful grocery store that stocks all kinds of US stuff. Since Deb and Dennis are the ones who do the fishing and the sewing, they did a lot of serious shopping and consulting while I just meandered. Hit a few hardware stores, material stores and others along the way before Roger dropped us off at the marina around 7:30 that night. It would have been sooner except for the fact that we were stuck for almost an hour waiting for the locks to clear before we could proceed across the bridge. Frustrating. And poor Roger had to not only turn around and drive that hour drive back to Panama City, he then returned first thing in the morning!

Spent Wednesday putting everything away and doing laundry, hoping to leave the marina Thursday morning. By the time we were ready to leave the wind had picked up and basically pinned us to the dock. We had planned on returning to the Rio Chagres, but Sunrise told us to be careful because, depending on the swell, the entrance could be dangerous. We hadn't thought of that since we were there in calm conditions last time. Decided to hike up to the fort, which marks the entrance to the Chagres, and check things out. After all, it was only 9 kilometres. Really, I think it was just 'a little' more than that. Luckily it was all paved road, and 2 hours later we were checking out the area. Saw a couple of tourist buses headed up and back, thinking, darn, missed a ride back down! Decided that while the anchorage looked good, there were some pretty big swells and, with reefs and sandbars all over the entrance, it wasn't going to happen. Saw a couple of buses at the Fort, but we had no money with us. Turned out it was a school outing, and the kids were having a great time playing Red Rover in the rain.

Waved to the bus drivers on our long hike back down, hoping to make it before dark. Oooooh, scary things come out in the dark here! About 20 minutes into our walk, now raining heavier, the first bus came back down, honking his horn, lights flashing (you've seen these buses on earlier blogs, they are so cool) and told us to get on, he'd take us to the bottom. Thank you, thank you to the bus named The Whip from the Sabanitas area. These kids are amazing - the bus is going full speed down this hill, around corners, while we hang on for dear life - and they're all in the back seeing who can dance the best. I'm sure that every muscle we have will ache tomorrow. Lynn and Randy were in the hot tub (well, semi-warm tub), so we went back to the boat, got drinks, and joined them in the rain.

It's been a busy time, but also a lot of fun in the marina. Peter and Eileen on Appleseeds are back as well as Brian and Sue on Darramy. Darramy shared their experiences in the Bocas, gave us some tips, and we'll meet them up there around Xmas time to hear more of their wonderful summertime experiences. Machu Pichu, Chile and a cruise to the Antarctic!

So, we're off to Naranjo Abajo tomorrow! ~~~_/)~~~

On The Way To Shelter Bay ... Again!

Checked out in Porvenir with the Port Captain, and where the Congresso actually does now check your boat name to make sure you've paid the requisite fees. Luckily, we were still within our month time limit, so there were no extra fees there. Dennis headed over to Wichuhuala to pick up diesel for Infinity while I got us ready to head back to the East Lemmons. Chichime was way too crowded. A Kuna family paddled up -- please, no more molas! Instead, they had something new. A couple of calabash bowls that were painted like a traditional mola and one with a crab. Very interesting and, of course, I had to buy one. Actually sailed most of the way back to the East Lemmons. dropped off the diesel to Infinity, and got ready to leave early Thursday morning.

Up and underway just after 6:30 in the morning. All sails up, with the motor going to charge batteries and help fight that current. And then ..... all of a sudden ..... the hit of all hits!! The line is screaming, the reel is actually smoking, and Dennis is yelling at me to take in the other lines and head towards the fish, whatever it is, as it's already taken out 400 yards of line. I look behind, as he's going forward, and OMG!!!!!!!!! it's a huge blue marlin. A couple of years ago, off of Curacao, with John and Brigitte on board, we hooked a white marlin. That was a baby compared to this. I brought in the other lines, went below to get the camera and his fighting belt, then had to steer towards the fish. Wouldn't you know it, the battery was dying on the camera. Back down once again to get the other camera, only to see that it doesn't have much battery life either. Guess it didn't really matter in the end -- I have many talents, but steering the boat in seas, under full sail to follow the fish, and taking photos was quite a challenge. Got a photo of a really big splash and hope this video shows some of it. (Well, tried many times and for some reason I'm just not able to download the video). After 40 minutes, with Dennis drenched in sweat and blisters on his hands, we actually had the fish up to the side of the boat where we could cut the line below the leader, about 3 feet from the fish's mouth. If we had something to tag it with, it would be considered a tag, we were that close. It was longer than our 9' dinghy from eye to tail. Thrill of a lifetime for Dennis, but we did lose the lure -- darn!!

Next to the boat and the splash

Okay, all back together again, heading to Isla Grande. Five miles from Isla Grande we hooked a pretty good size Wahoo which, unfortunately, spat the hook out when it got up to the boat :(

Had a nice night in Isla Grande, up the next day to Portabello, and then on to Shelter Bay. Enjoyed our time in Portabello, catching up with Dick and Moira on Equinox and Tom and Rose on Sojourn. On to Shelter Bay where we were met at the dock by Mark and Deb on Sea Cycle, and then Randy and Lynn on High States stopped by. Boat projects and shopping are in our future! ~~~_/)~~~

Back in the San Blas

Well, I've been a little slow getting out a new blog, but snorkelling every day keeps us busy! We left Isla Grande and arrived in Chichime late afternoon. Had a few hits on the line, but the only thing we managed to catch was the other fishing line, so that mess took Dennis awhile to untangle. Headed over to Porvenir to check in, but the Port Captain was away for a few days, so that will have to wait until we're ready. Motorsailed down to the East Lemmons to keep Gretchen on Infinity company until Frank got back from Hawaii. Dennis made his first fish kill with the new speargun -- about a 10 lb. dog snapper. Wonderful eating! Went over to Infinity to sail with Gretchen and Loki (the best boat dog) to pick Frank up in Carti. One of the pangas ended up dropping him off at the boat just off the West Lemmons, so we sailed outside the reef on the way back to the East Lemmons. Just outside the anchorage we brought in a huge blackfin tuna. They gave us a 1/4 of the fish, which was enough for 4 meals for us, and then had us over for dinner for more. Love tuna and Infinity!



The bad thing is, they've now outlawed the Kunas from selling alcohol in the San Blas, which is making for very creative ways to get your alcohol in. We were going to make a run up to Portabello and back to restock, but Lynn and Randy on High States were heading back to Shelter Bay to leave the boat and head to Costa Rica for their immigration time, so sold us all their excess! My excuse for not doing the same is that they have a bigger boat, therefore, more room. Works for me.

We stopped at the Central Hollandes and enjoyed the anchorage there, off snorkelling to the reef with Infinity. Beautiful! Very cave like and tons of fish ... and a couple of sharks. Then back to the BBQ Island area, over to the Cocos, and our favourite spot, Nabadup. Got lumpy with a west wind blowing in, so we motored over to the Mangles River and dropped the hook. Much, much better. Plus, it was a short dinghy ride up the river to do laundry. The rain actually stopped long enough to dry the laundry. Saw 3 pretty good sized crocs (and those aren't the shoes!) up the river. Made doing laundry challenging. Wash clothes, look out for crocs! Finally met up with Pam and Richard on Tisha Baby and spent a happy hour over on their boat. They have a guest coming in to Panama City, so I lent her my Price Smart card. When she came back she brought me a bottle of wine -- not expected but so, so appreciated!


Decided to head back to Green Island and met up with Frank and Gretchen again. Some great walks around Ogopsibudup and spear fishing to die for! So far this year we've done well between ourselves and Infinity. Well, okay, they're getting most of them! They're young, they can dive deeper and for longer periods of time. Dennis says that unless it's in less than 15 feet of water, he's not shooting!


We've decided to spend Christmas up in the Bocas del Toro area, so we're heading back to Shelter Bay to provision (much easier from the dock than the dinghy) and see Sea Cycle, who should be in the water by the time we get there. Hopefully High States will be ready to go when we are. If not, there's quite a few people we'll be meeting up there :)

~~~_/)~~~

In Portabello

Well, it's been awhile, so time to get to another blog. As I said, pulled into Portabello in the rain, got a good hook and relaxed. When we were here in July there was a new youth hostel just getting started called Captain Jack. It's run by Jack and Dennis. They've done a great job. Painted the building, happy hour every night, wifi available, meals, laundry and trips into Colon and Panama City. All the prices are reasonable and they're making Portabello a place you want to be. On the weekends there's music and street vendors set up and the food you can buy is amazing! Bought the most delicious roasted chicken with plantains for $6. Enough for 2 meals!

Jack in the back, with Dennis, his wife Negrita and baby Jacqueline

I finally got my new phone hooked up to the internet and it works fantastic. Well, it did until I decided to go with the shorter cord, put the phone in the same place, and watched it drop right on the internet connection and break off. So, fantastic for 2 days! Can't live without it now, so I was heading into Panama City by myself to meet up with Roger and pick up a new phone. Randy on High States came over in the dinghy and said that Lynn would go with me if I wanted. Ooooh, yes, a girls day out! Took the bus from Portabello to downtown Colon to pick up the Panama City bus, had coffee, wandered around Albrook Mall and then Roger picked us up to take us to Eldorado Mall where they have the store that sells the unlocked Nokia phones. He then dropped us back at Albrook Mall, where we wandered around the shops, had lunch, and then headed back. Had a great day! Got off the bus at Sabanitas to catch the bus back to Portabello and saved ourselves an hour by not heading all the way back to Colon. Randy was already up at Captain Jack's, so we called Dennis on the radio to meet us up there. Just after we got up there, the sky opened up. Dennis was a tad wet by the time he got there. Fantastic lightening display -- scary!

Lots of socializing done in Portabello. Went up for happy hour a few times, and then on a Sunday they have Mexican Train dominoes and a potluck. Well, neither Dennis or I have the attention span for an afternoon of dominoes, so we just went for the potluck.

John (Dixie) Lynn and Randy (High States) and Jeannie (Island Dreamin')

The swell got kind of challenging at times in the anchorage. We were lucky to be tucked in enough to be out of the roll, but just getting into the dock was scary at times. Our last day there we couldn't tie up at the music school because of the swell (the water was over the dock), so headed into the town dock. Not really fond of that because if you lock up, you're locking up to a tire they can cut away. Just headed in to pick up some more wine, eggs, a case of beer for Infinity and some great french bread.

Back to the boat, prepared to leave. Quite the swell leaving and not real fun, but made it down to Isla Grande in a couple of hours. Tucked in, anchored, went for a swim and out the next morning for Chichime. ~~~_/)~~~