s/v Always & All Ways

22 April 2022 | Bocas del Toro
12 March 2020
08 April 2018 | Escudo de Veraguas
06 April 2018 | Narranja Abajo
04 April 2018 | Shelter Bay Marina
02 April 2018 | Shelter Bay Marina
30 March 2018 | Shelter Bay Marina
26 March 2018 | Shelter Bay Marina
23 March 2018 | Shelter Bay Marina
22 March 2018 | Shelter Bay Marina
21 March 2018 | Rio Chagres
20 March 2018 | Rio Chagres
19 March 2018 | Rio Chagres
18 March 2018 | Punta Limon
17 March 2018 | Euero, on the Mosquito coast of Panama
16 March 2018 | Escuda de Veraguas
15 March 2018 | Escuda de Veraguas
14 March 2018 | Escuda de Veraguas
13 March 2018 | Escuda de Veraguas
12 March 2018 | Zapatilla Cays

Pleasures of the Harbor.

14 March 2011 | San Blas Islands, Panama
Mark
We are learning the advantages of anchoring in a location with many other boats (I count 26 at the moment). Yesterday we rediscovered the pleasure of meeting and chatting with other cruisers, and of course used the internet. Early this morning the same Kuna fisherman who had the big grouper yesterday (someone else had bought the whole thing), showed up with several nice sized bonito - tuna. I took the largest one and he fileted it for me before selling it to me for $10. I might have gotten it a bit cheaper if I had bargained more, but he obviously is not getting rich off this so who cares. There was enough meat for probably 3 dinners for the two of us. After he left, I skinned the filets and packaged some to freeze and some for tonight. (and the little pieces that were torn off in the process of skinning for right now!) This afternoon, the “Veggie Boat” arrived. A large ulu pulled up with every imaginable sort of fruit and veggie. We bought a dozen oranges, 30 limes, a large cantaloup, a large papaya, 4 eggplant, 2# of green pepper, a nice large head of lettuce (impossible to get in the tiendas down here), 2 avocados, and a bunch of bananas for $26 “delivered”. It would have been a lot to carry from a tienda to the dinghy to the boat had we bought them on another island, and undoubtedly would not have been as good and would have cost more. Fresh fish and great fruits and veggies delivered to your boat. Sure makes provisioning easy. There was no gasoline on the island, but when I asked, they assured me they would get some for me “manana.” We'll be here a few days so hopefully we can get some before we leave. The dinghy tank is ¾ full, but the 5 gallon jerry can is empty. Today we also did some exploring by dinghy. The anchorage is a large “lake” surrounded by reefs and many islands, some inhabited, some un-. We took the dink and visited several of the un-. We walked the beaches, found shells, and continue to be amazed at the persistence of plastic. It washes up on the shore everywhere. I guess it is a sign of the times that water bottles out number soda or beer bottles at least 4:1 now. There's a PhD thesis: Global Society as Discovered by the Trash that Washes up on Tropical Beaches.” At least the research part would be fun. One island had a very strange structure that we couldn't figure out. Maybe I can ask at the bar tomorrow. There was a very nice dock that even had the superstructure for a roof (but no roof), but it ended in the oddest unfinished construction: an eight sided concrete something. The sides were decidedly not equal, but seemed to be almost random length and each angle had a spoke going in to the center. All the pieces were about 8” square and varied 8-15' long. There were concrete pilings, but everything was supported by cut mangrove sticks that had obviously been used as support when the concrete was poured. It now appears to have been abandoned. The really odd thing is that there is a somewhat similar construction – an eight sided non-octagon at the airstrip on Corizon de Jesus. It too is of concrete construction, and is abandoned half built, but it is on land, not over water. Strange.
Comments
Vessel Name: Always & All Ways
Vessel Make/Model: Fountaine-Pajot Belize 43
Hailing Port: Hancock, NH, USA
Crew: Mark & Deb Parker
About: Mark, an ER doc, retired 10/08 to become a sea gypsy. Deb, an educator, has been retired since 5/07 and was equally anxious to leave the cold of New England far behind
Extra: We now have a hurricane season home in Bocas del Toro, Panama. We still plan on spending many months cruising every year.
Always & All Ways's Photos - Main
In the Spring of 2016, we sailed from Bocas del Toro, Panama, to Cuba and back with stops at the Albuquerque Cays, Providencia, and the Cayman Islands. We cruised the South coast of Cuba some and then left the boat for some inland excursions.
20 Photos
Created 8 March 2018
Cruise of Albuquerque Cays and Providencia, Columbia
19 Photos
Created 12 June 2013
Pictures from our 2012 cruise from Bocas del Toro, Panama, to the Bay Islands of Honduras and back. Posted each time we have internet
2 Photos | 7 Sub-Albums
Created 28 March 2012
Pictures of our home at Discovery Bay, Isla Solarte, Bocas del Toro, Panama. More (older) can be found in Discovery Bay album.
49 Photos | 1 Sub-Album
Created 5 August 2010
Pictures of our recent trip to the San Blas Islands of Panama with friends Ron & Cynde
58 Photos | 3 Sub-Albums
Created 29 April 2010
Pics from the month we spent at some of the out of the way places in the Bahamas, May 2009.
39 Photos
Created 22 June 2009
Birds, animals, etc. that we have seen along the way
14 Photos
Created 11 April 2009
Pictures of some of the improvements we have made over the past few months
37 Photos
Created 11 April 2009
Pictures from Rio Dulce
20 Photos
Created 11 April 2009
Pictures from our travels
29 Photos
Created 11 April 2009