03/21/2012, Somewhere in the Caribbean
Tuesday, March 20. Isn't that what the cruise ships say? Well, today really was! It didn't start that way, however. We got up at midnight. I had everything set before we went to bed, jack lines rigged, dinghy secured all lifelines up, etc. I fired up the engines, raised the main and prepared to weigh anchor. Except that there was a HUGE chunk of coral that somehow got wound not only around the chain, but the bridle as well. It measured at least 2' in all directions and the windlass had trouble lifting it. No way we could knock it loose from standing n the tramp and poking it with the boat hook! So, I launched the dinghy, drove it around and in between the hulls to wrestle with the monster. With moderate difficulty I got the briddle unhooked from the chain, unwound from the coral and handed up to Deb. Then I had to lift the chain to try to unwrap it. Fortunately we were in only 18' of water; unfortunately our new 26 lb. kellet was attached beynd where the coral was wrapped so I had to lift 18' of chain and the kellet. Also unfortunately, there was a pretty strong current putting as strain on the chain. Somehow I got enough slack to loop it over the coral and it worked.The monster sprung free and headed for the bottom. I re-stowed the dinghy on its davits, powered forward while Deb raised the rest of the chain and anchor and we were (Finally) off. We motored out around the reef and headed for the Albuquerque Cays. Salida left Bocas about the same time. They were about 12 miles West of us and 4 or 5 North. The day delay to avoid rain cost us about 5 kts of wind but also gave us calmer seas. They were 3'-5', mostly 3' with a rare 10' thrown in to make sure we were paying attention. It was beautifully sunny with wind less than 10 kts. From the NE. We motor sailed most of the day with all sails up making 5-6 kts. By evening the wind picked up and we were able to turn off the engine and just sail which made it quieter for the off watch person to sleep. We truly could not have asked for a more beautiful or fun day at sea.
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03/19/2012, Zapatilla Cay, Panama
Monday, March 19. No rain during night (so maybe we could have left??) Nice morning with even a bit of sun. We did our final Skype calls from Cynde's, showed Colleen and Bob the boat, and left Cynde's about 11:00 AM for the Zapatilla. Nice sail across Dolphin Bay (but no dolphins) averaging 4-5 kts. Shortly after entering Bahia Almirante, it started to rain and the wind dropped and was right on the nose so we dropped sail and motored the rest of the way to Zapatilla. The rain only lasted about ½ hr. and by the time we were anchored, the sun was out. After getting the cockpt all cleaned (the last thing to be cleaned.), I went for a swim while Deb napped. Craig on our “buddy boat” is not feeling well (cough/cold sort of thing) and they may or may not leave with us at midnight, but we are going regardless. We have waited long enough and everything looks good. It would be nice to have the company, but we are going either way. An early supper and then to bed and sleep until midnight. Tomorrow will be 24 hrs at sea. It feels so good to finally be underway.
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03/09/2012, Bocas del Toro, Panama
OK, so we are STILL waiting for a weather window to head North to the Albuquerque Cays and beyond. Who ever heard of two solid weeks of gale force winds and 10+ foot seas in March in this part of the Caribbean?? Anyway, while we are waiting, we are not suffering too much. One of our new pleasures is the "cool pool." This is Panama's answer to New Hampshire's hot tub. (It is entirely my own creation.) As I originally envisioned it, it was a cement structure about 5' x 3' x 4' deep with a seat built into one end. Somehow the project grew and now we have a beautiful tub with a mosaic sun on the floor, a moon on the seat's backrest, and waves along the walls - all in mosaics of tile left over from our and our neighbor's bathrooms and kitchens. The far side of the pool sports and "infinity edge" that overflows into a drain. The pool is filled from overflow water from our rain catchment system. First rain fills the "roof washer" that gets rid of any dirt, etc. on the roof. This requires about 1/8" of rain. After that, the rain fills two 1250 gallon tanks for our domestic water use. After they are full, the overflow goes into our new pool. When it is full, the overflow goes over the infinity edge and into a drain down to a creek below our house. If that sounds like a lot of rain, remember that this is a rain forest. Yesterday we got nearly 3" of rain and the all of the above were filled to overflowing. The constant flow will keep the pool clean without a mechanical pump or filter. (At least that is the plan.) Since the pool is not heated and is on the North side of the house and therefore in the shade, it remains at about the average daily temperature, which right now is about 80*. At the end of the day when we are hot and tired, we retire to the "cool pool". It feels moderately cool as we get in, but not enough to make us want to hesitate - really just the same sort of contrast that a hot tub provides. Sitting in the cool pool and watching the displaced water fall over the infinity edge, we can relax and cool off. Today we got to use it for the first time. IT WORKS! It felt really great. We stayed in for 15' or so and were really refreshed and cooled off to enjoy the evening. So soon we will be leaving on our extended cruise (weather permitting), but in the meantime, all is cool!
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03/01/2012, Bocas del Toro, Panama
This is the status of the "relaxed cruiser": waiting on weather. When we first got back from David, we were actually in the middle of a decent weather window. Winds were mild, if still on the nose, and seas were relatively flat. Silver Seas, one of the boats we were planning on traveling with, chose to go ahead and leave then and had an uneventful, if slow, passage to the Albuquerque Cays. Both Salida and we had some things left undone and by the time we got them done, the window had closed. We have picked up another buddy boat, Sunny Side Up, and they seem even more hesitant about poor weather than we are. In any event, it is not an issue at the moment as most of the Caribbean has gale force winds and 12-14' seas, not the sort of weather one would choose to go out in if one had an option. And, of course, we do have options. So we will wait for the winds to calm down and the seas to lay down (usually a few days after the winds drop) before we go. I get the weather daily vis SSB radio (the same way I send these posts). It looked like we were going to get a window this weekend as the winds were falling and, more importantly, clocking around to the East, creating a more favorable tack for sailing North. Unfortunately, it now looks like the seas are not going to lie down as quickly as hoped and so the window my close before it really even opened. We'll have to wait and see. In the meantime,we continue to enjoy life shoreside. We went to Rana Azul Sunday, had a “grill night” with Paul & Bill and other friends, Frankie & Terry, and continue to do little projects on the boat so everything will be ship shape when we DO get a window. Until then.....
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02/21/2012, Bocas del Toro, Panama
By way of back ground, I should tell you that Bocas del Toro, where we live, is an archipelago entirely dependent on shipments from the mainland for 100% of its meat. produce, fuel, everything. Pretty much anything you can buy in Bocas came by ferry from Almirante. About a year ago, the indigenous people (IP) decided to “strike” by setting up road blocks (trees felled across the road) between Changinola and Almirante and David and Almirante, thus effectively isolating Almirante and therefore Bocas from the rest of the world. Within a very short while there was little to buy in Bocas stores. Restaurants were running out of food and the tourist industry was in an uproar. Sr. Martinelli, the President of Panama, came to Bocas to meet with the IP and hear their concerns. They centered around two issues: mineral and water rights on the Comarca (IP land, like reservations in US). Specifically they were concerned with strip mining on Comarca land and hydro- electric projects which would impact the Comarca. Martinelli promised to address their concerns and the strike was ended. As a result of that meeting, a law was passed that banned strip mining on Comarca land and hydro projects that would adversely affect Comarca land. A final provision of the law, a “cease and desist” for current projects that would have been prohibited under the new law was eliminated prior to passage. Incensed, the IP planned even bigger strikes and disruptions for this year. Two weeks ago they blockaded roads from Changinola to Almirante, David to Almirante, and even David to Panama City. This effectively cut off both Bocas and Panama City from their food supplies. This time Sr. Martinelli refused to meet with the protesters and instead sent ministers to negotiate with them. The strike went on for more than a week and again, stores and restaurants were in dire straights. (We had no real problems as we filled up on fuel at the beginning of the strike and had plenty of food, however provisioning for our up coming cruise was out of the question.) Finally Martinelli order the National Police to open the roads and they did, using rubber bullets and tear gas. A few IP were killed and several IP and police were injured, but the roads were opened. Last Wednesday we decided that it was safe to drive to David to provision. We left early in the morning, taking our boat across Bahia Almirante to the port of Almirante where we left it in the good hands of Sr. Pauli. We then took our friend Cynde's SUV and drove 3 hours across the continental divide to David. We bought ~$1000 of provisions at Price Smart (US Cosco) and drove to Boquete to stay with our friends Dottie & Larry. On Friday, Larry & I went to Boca Chica to work on their boat while Deb & Dottie had a “girls' day”. We accomplished several tasks on the boat and were preparing to return to Boquete when we heard that the IP had closed the Pan Am highway between Boca Chica and David, thus blocking our return home. As we contemplated our situation, the owner of the marina offered to barbecue steaks for us and make salad. We could, of course, sleep on the boat. However, the blockade was supposedly going to last until Tuesday. We had thought this unlikely as it is now Carnival and we figured they would rather party than blockade. As we contemplated our situation, a truck towing a boat arrived and said that the blockade had just broken up and the IP were headed home. We quickly bid Carlos farewell, leaving him with “his steaks and his women”, and headed for Boquete, which we made without incident. Saturday morning there were no reports of blockades so all four of us headed back to Boca Chica to take their boat out for a couple days on the Pacific. We had a great time and when we returned Monday, there was no problem getting home. Today, Mardi Gras and the final day of Carnival, Deb & I left Boquete for David to finish our provisioning and return to Bocas. We were disappointed to find that Do It Center was closed for the holiday, but otherwise we were able to complete our provisioning and headed for Almirante. We were excited to pass a bus coming from Changinola early in our trip. If they got through, there were no blockades! Indeed, that was so and we made it back to Sr. Pauli's without difficulty. We did pass several police check points, but they appeared to be looking only for IP and waved us through as soon as they saw it was only two gringos. Having made it home with all our goodies, we are now nearly ready to leave. We need to buy meat in Bocas and cut it up and freeze it, but otherwise we are ready to go. We will meet Thursday with the other two boats we plan to travel with and discuss weather, route planning, etc. Soon we will be on our way.
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