11/16/2009, Discovery Bay, Bocas del Toro, Panama
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11/16/2009, Discovery Bay, Bocas del Toro, Panama
Thursday, 12 November. Nosotros barco de velo esta un barco de carga! All the furniture that we ordered in Panama City before returning to the US to close up the house @ Prospect Hill and see family arrived in Bocas today, and our sail boat became a cargo boat! The goods were transported by Wongsa, a local merchant. He had called yesterday to say that they would arrive ~11:00 AM. Of course, the morning dawned with more wind than we have had in a month - 20-25 knots directly from Bocas to our anchorage. We motor sailed into it with no difficulty (1 reef, main only) and arrived in Bocas with time to spare, but finding a place to tie up and load was another story. Wongsa has a dock, but it barely has 4' of water and the sturdy (cement) part is only ~20' long. That would mean dropping an anchor and then backing in to the dock (which means leading with an unprotected rudder should there be anything but sand on the bottom). All this with a cross wind still blowing 20 kts.- not really a great option. We anchored off while I went in to the dinghy to investigate. As I was returning, a guy on a dock a few houses down yelled at me offering his dock. (He spoke no English and my Spanish is improving, but still very rudimentary, but we got the ideas back and forth.) We would still have to back in, leading with the rudder, but I could see it was all clear sand and measured deep enough. Also we would be coming alongside with the dock to leeward. That meant the wind would blow us toward the dock, but it was reasonably protected with tires and we had good fenders, so let's give it a try. I managed to dock her right where I wanted first try and even almost looked like I knew what I was doing!. Once the boat was secured, I told Mr. Wong where we were and he had his truck deliver there. From the truck parked on the street, we had to carry everything through the basement of the building (which apparently was also Hector's workshop and his family's home) out onto the dock and up onto the boat. It actually went pretty smoothly and soon we had a sofa, love seat, sofa bed (futon), dining room table and 4 chairs, coffee table and two end tables, and a wicker set of 4 chairs and table for outside all piled somewhere on the decks of Always & All Ways. It was quite a sight! (No, unfortunately I did not get a pic.) The wind was still blowing and I wanted to sail (downwind this time) but with everything piled everywhere, I didn't dare for fear a line get snagged and a sofa go swimming, so we motored the 3.5 nm back to Discovery Bay where a couple of the workers helped unload our cargo ship and carry everything up to the house. When we have decent internet, I will upload some newer pics as it really is starting to look like a home! Now I start working on the mounts for the solar which is the last project before moving in.
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09/26/2009, Discovery Bay, Bocas del Toro, Panama
Friday, 2 October. My son has been complaining that we do not update the blog frequently enough. I tell him that this is because nothing major is happening. We are close to being ready to move into our house at Discovery Bay, but that has been true for months. We are "closer" now, but that is hard to describe. So, with apologies to The Beatles, here is a "typical" day in our life: I usually awaken for the first time about 5:00 AM. The black has gone out of the sky, but the pre-dawn gray gives no clue as to what the day will be like. This is also a time when we frequently get rain, and so it is this morning. I awaken to flashes of lightening and claps of thunder, not far off, but not on top of us. Since it was very benign appearing when we went to bed last night, I had not put the grounding strap for our antenna's lightening suppressor in the water, so I have to get up and do it now. I also check to make sure that the hose that collects water run-off from the cabin top and directs it to out water tank is connected and I set out buckets to collect rain where it runs off the bimini. Together, these two sources will net us about 30 gallons of water in the next several hours, a good thing since our tanks are almost dry. We used more water than usual lately as we just bought one of the local "plastic" washing machines. These little beauties cost about $100, use 5 gallons per wash (and 5 per rinse) and do a fantastic job of washing. Best of all, it is only 16" wide and weighs about 20 lbs., so it can easily be carried back and forth from the cockpit to one of the un- used cabins between uses. After assuring that all is well, I return to bed to sleep another hour or so. I usually get up somewhere between 6:30 and 7:00 AM. By then the sky has declared itself as either bright and sunny or overcast or maybe cloudy but clearing. This morning it is still raining, but it looks clearer to the NW which is the direction of the prevailing wind. I make coffee using freshly ground locally grown and roasted coffee. Panama doesn't get much press for it, but I think its coffee is every bit as good as Guatemalan. While the coffee is brewing (I admit to using a Cuisinart electrical drip coffee maker despite the electricity it uses), I find the two most ripe oranges and cut and squeeze them for juice. I am still using the little plastic juicer that came with a cook set Kimmy gave us for "Little All Ways" many years ago. It works great and I have never seen one like it for sale. Since it is cool with the rain, I decide to light the oven and make banana bread using some of the 'primitivo' bananas given to us on a stalk by Rollando when he was building our dock (we froze many of them when they all came ripe at once.) This morning we have a ripe pineapple as well so I peel it and cut it in discs. Checking the buckets, I carefully carry them forward and using a funnel, pour them into the water tank. The rain has stopped for now and the water is like glass. We are anchored in coral sand on a shoal about =BD mile from the dock at Discovery Bay. We love coming out here to anchor as it gets us away from the chetras near shore and the water, coral, and fish are so beautiful here. As I peer into the flat clear water, I can see our anchor chain winding back from the bridle and ending with a well dug in anchor that is only a few feet behind the port stern. As usual, we are held in place by the 20 lb. kellet that I made just prior to beginning our adventure nearly a year ago. Back in the cabin, I sit and read over my first cup of coffee while Deb continues to snooze. At 8:00 the Bocas Cruisers' Net comes on VHF 68, and we always tune in to listen. There are usually 10-12 cruisers participating with more just listening in. In addition to a weather report, there are categories for: what's happening in town, who's coming and going (flat stamped mail carriers), boat problems and solutions, buy/trade/sell, and open forum for anything that does not fit in one of the above. It lasts for about 15 minutes, by which time Deb tells me she is ready to get up. As always, I take her freshly squeezed OJ down to the berth so she can have it in bed and we can have a cuddle before getting up. By then the banana bread is done and we have fresh pineapple and banana bread for breakfast. After breakfast, we pick up the anchor and motor in to the dock to tie up for the day. As we approach the dock, Gatito, the cat we rescued from having been painted by one of the workers (We called Shary and on her advice bathed it first in Wesson oil, then in Dawn and since have been feeding him and slowly brushing out his fur.) We were going to call him "periodico" which is Spanish for newspaper since when we first found him, he was, indeed, black and white and red (paint) all over, but the pun doesn't work in Spanish and "Gatito" seems to have stuck. Gatito jumps onto the boat before we are even tied to the dock. He keeps getting braver in his jumps and soon I am sure he will miss and end up in the water. Also waiting are Guapo, Changra, and Galleta, the dogs Deb has been feeding. All in all we are a regular animal rescue league! Once the boat is tied up to the dock, I head for the house to see who is working on what and decide what I am going to do for the day, while Deb finishes picking up from our breakfast and prepares the animals' food. At the house I find that the workers are building the walkway down to the bodega using concrete steps that they cast yesterday and gravel to make a stepped walkway along the back of the house. This will be a major improvement over the mud! I decide to work first on the drawing for the transoms. Above each doorway will be a carved transom about 12" high and 6' or 10' long depending on the room. Today, I am working on the 10' transom that will be over the living room door. It is a depiction of the view from the house and includes palm trees, the mountains and the bay with boat traffic, dolphins, etc. Its partner, over the master bedroom door will be an underwater scene with lobster, coral, fishes, etc. Speaking of lobster, yesterday morning as we were preparing to leave Bocas town, a native approached us in a cayuga and sold us 13 lobsters for $15. (He actually only asked for $14, but I didn't have change.) They were small, but still, you can't beat that price! As noon approaches, Deb makes her way up to the house with the dogs dancing around her as she is carrying their food. They to not share well and she has to quickly place the three bowls down and get each dog eating in one before they start fighting over it. She checks the progress I am making on the design, tends a few of the many plants she has started and then we return to the boat for lunch. After lunch, I decide to work on the shelves I am building for the bathroom (there will also be shelves for the hall closet and each bedroom.) Starting with rough cut robile (which is similar to red oak), I ripped the planks into 1" x 1" pieces on the table saw and today I will cut them to length to make shelves, spacing each of the pieces 1" from the next to create a shelf that is 50% wood and 50% air to insure good circulation. Deb, meanwhile has wandered off into the jungle in search of more orchids and other plants. Today, in addition to the orchids (which she ties with moss onto the outside of an empty coconut to create an "orchid ball"), she found some of her favorite fan palms. In the past, she has brought back peace lilies and wild ginger both of which flourish in the damp of the gullies where she will transplant them. By 4:00 the workers are shutting down the generators and getting ready to quit (a bit of a bone of contention as they are supposed to work until 5:00, but never do.) The place becomes quite and peaceful. And then the green parrots arrive squawking noisily as they fly into the surrounding trees. The oropendula set up an equally loud call and the jungle echoes with the birds. This will last about an hour and just as the chetras are starting to get bad, the birds leave and all is quiet again. The chetras are not too bad at the house where we are up in the air and always have a breeze, but down on the dock they are ferocious and we are glad to put Gatito on the dock (he spends the entire day on the boat, even when we leave to go up to the house) and cast off lines to return to our anchorage. Once anchored, we will go for a swim to cool off and then have cocktails in the cockpit. I have lately become enamored of Mohito's and am gradually learning to make a pretty good one. Deb prefers gin & tonic. After drinks, it is time for showers and supper. Tonight we get surf & turf, not exactly our routine, but we had already set a fillet to marinate and then we got the lobsters, so why not. Add a Caesar salad and a bottle of wine and "life is good." After dinner, I relax in the net forward while Deb cleans up (I cook, she cleans) and then she joins me to relax and watch the stars. Tonight there is a huge halo around the moon that also encompasses one of the planets (not sure which one - I didn't look it up). We're not much for night owls, usually in bed by 9:00, and that's a typical day.
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09/20/2009, Bocas del Toro, Panama
Sunday, 20 September. As many of you know, my two loves (geographically speaking) are mountains and oceans. Well, here we have both. Of course there is ocean. Bocas del Toro is a archipelago with hundreds of islands mostly in protected bays with scattered reefs everywhere. While working on the house, each night we take the boat out ~1/2 mile to the open bay and anchor on a patch of coral reef sand that is only 8-9' deep but surrounded by 40-50'. The water is so clear we can easily seen the starfish and coral fans on the bottom. And then there are the mountains! From our house and from nearly any place in Bocas, we can see the mountains. Actually rows of mountains. Starting with the foothills and then progressing through ranges of increasing height until you reach the continental divide and Volcan Baru, the highest peak in Panama. Often, after a rain, the clouds hang in the valleys between the ranges making the view just spectacular. To be able to see that while sitting on the deck of our house or standing on our boat at anchor getting ready to dive into the clear ocean is just heaven. Hopefully some of you will come visit and share these wonders with us.
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09/02/2009, Discovery Bay, Isla Debora, & Bocas del Toro, Panama
Wednesday, Sept. 2, What is "home"? Lately, I have stopped saying "back home." I say "NH", or "Hancock", or "Prospect Hill", but that is not "home" anymore. It is a house we want desperately to sell and a place we used to live. Last week we finally got a lock on the bodega of our house in Discovery Bay (because I installed it) and so we could off load all the stuff for the house that we had been carrying on the boat for a week or two and so we "got our home back" when the whole boat was again usable. Indeed, this boat has been our "home" since October, and we love it. But as I was carrying things up to the house, I decided we should Christen it by having drinks on the deck, so I took the two cocktail chairs we had bought and put them on the deck and then brought drinks up after the workers had all left. We sat together, Deb & I, in the late afternoon with the parrots squawking as they flew overhead and the oropendula screaming out their strange song, and it began to feel like home. In the tradition of new beginnings, I used a Guinness to toast our new house. Of course, Neptune and Aeolus did not seem appropriate so I invoked Jupiter & Juno to keep our home safe and a place of joy. It felt good and right to sit there and enjoy our sundowners on the deck. We will do it more. Yes, there is lots to be done before we can move in, but it is beginning to feel like ours. This week we also finished the new dock on our island by installing cleats that I had made out of nisporo scraps from the house. And we spent the night tied up to our new dock. We had a small fire on the shore and later had gin & tonics in the cockpit as the sun set. It, too, felt like home. The next day I snorkeled all the way around the island - it is entirely surrounded by coral sand. Not much interesting coral, but if we could figure out a way to 'harvest' some of that sand, we could have a great beach. We have talked with Samuel, the native with whom we have contracted to care for our island and keep it both clean and free of trespassers while we are away, and his cousin Rollando, who built our dock, about working slowly to expand the island by putting in rip-rap and then backfilling and planting palms and such to build up usable land. No rush, just a gradual growth. It is so peaceful here, a great place to escape the world. And so we have three "homes." First and foremost, Always & All Ways is our home. It is so great to be able to move from Discovery Bay to Dark Lands to Bocas town and always have our home with us. We both look forward to the time when to can sail off again to visit new places in our portable home. But Discovery Bay is becoming more and more a home too. As Deb plants trees, bushes, and flowers and I put finishing touches on several aspects, it is becoming our home. We cannot wait until we can move in (though that is probably at least a month off depending mostly on the arrival of the solar panels.) And finally, Isla Debora is home as well. Still mostly a refuge from the rest of the world, it is amazing how much difference the dock has made in how we feel about the island. We hope some of you will come visit our new "homes" sometime soon.
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