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

Civilization

14 June 2015 | Nargana
Mark
Sunday morning we proceeded to pick up all three anchors. The weather cooperated nicely as we were hanging from our primary. First wee undid the Fortress and i went and pulled it up with the dink. It was pretty well dug in, but an inflatable dink had tremendous buoyancy. Take a good strain on the chain and wait for a wave or two to break it free. Load the anchor and then the chain and then the rode into dink as I return to Always. Then hand up the bitter end to Bryan who tied it off and loaded the rode, the chain, and finally the anchor into the locker so it would be already to deploy in the future. Unfortunately Bryan dropped the anchor on his toe and nearly tore off his big toenail. OUCH! Repeat with the Bruce. (except for the toe part) While we were doing this, Deb picked up the extra 300' of chain we had dumped to empty and clean that locker. Finally we were ready to leave. I took the helm, we weighed the remaining primary anchor and carefully motored out the cut into the open. No problems. Next stop Tigre (~ 1 hr.) I remembered that getting in to anchor at Tigre was a bit tricky. I made it around the point of reef without problem, then almost got caught by the rapidly shoaling area inside the anchorage. I spotted it in time as depth meter went from 50' to 8' and we turned and successfully anchored between that shoal and the shore. It was not the best spot to anchor, but we would only be here a few hours. I stayed on the boat "just to be safe" while Deb took Bryan and Jana in to see Tigre. They bought molas and a phone card and got to see the town which is a quite traditional Kuna (now Guna) village. Then we were off to Nargana. Nargana, connected by a foot bridge to Corizon de Jesus, is one of the LEAST traditional Guna villages. Most houses are concrete instead of thatch, beer abd wine can be bought anywhere, and very few dress in traditional ways. After anchoring, we found a little restaurant for lunch (follow the load music). It was traditional Guna - fish (or conch), rice and lentils. Quite good. Being Sunday, most other things were closed, but we crossed the foot bridge and saw that on Corizon de Jesus they were just completing the third day of a festival. On the stage was this huge construction. It was sort of a blob (maybe heart shaped?) with six arms that undulated out from it. In the center was a very decorated heart Flanking this construction were the pictures of four (?) beauty queens (?). There was a plastic chair decorated with glitter and ribbons which we presume was the throne of the winner. Oh, and walls of amplifiers. In the evening we heard the amplifiers! Lawrence Welk on crack. Of course the restaurant still had its music going too so it was stereo (but different tunes). The there were fireworks. A sky rocket with three flash/bangs. Then another, then another, then nothing. Three rockets? That was it? Well, no. Twenty minutes later they did three more. And later yet another three. At sometime long after we went to bed (?midnight?) they did five or six in a row and were done. Strange display - nothing but flash/bangs and all spread out. At least the music stopped and we could sleep. Today, up the Rio Diablo.
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