Five Islands

Who: Ralph & Karen
Port: Calgary, Alberta, Canada
13 May 2011 | Calgary, Canada
29 March 2011 | Cusco, Peru
16 March 2011 | La Paz, Bolivia
14 March 2011 | Puno, Peru
10 March 2011 | Ariquipa, Peru
07 March 2011 | Nazca Peru
01 March 2011 | Lima Peru
23 February 2011 | Panamarina, Panama
19 February 2011 | Miradup, San Blas, Panama
16 February 2011 | Miradup, San Blas, Panama
13 February 2011 | Rio Sidra & Canbombia, San Blas, Panama
11 February 2011 | Salardup, San Blas, Panama
08 February 2011 | Nargana, San Blas, Panama
04 February 2011 | Nargana, San Blas, Panama
02 February 2011 | Hot tub, Holandes Islands, San Blas, Panama
01 February 2011 | Robeson Islands, San Blas, Panama
01 February 2011 | Robeson Islands, San Blas, Panama
30 January 2011 | Salardup, San Blas, Panama
30 January 2011 | Salardup, San Blas, Panama
28 January 2011 | Salardup, San Blas, Panama

Last day in the water

20 June 2010 | Shelter Bay, Panama
Ralph
Happy fathers day to my dad and all the fathers out there reading this.

I think we are just about ready to be hauled out tomorrow. We are doing the last few items on the list and some of them we can only do just before we get hauled out. We have had mold and mildew problems all season and want to give the inside of the boat a treatment of vinegar just before we leave the boat. Hopefully the dehumidifier will do a good job and keep the problem at bay. We think we have all of the leaks into the boat sealed up. It RAINED all day yesterday and we did not have any leaks. We have been checking the weather back home and I feel bad for all of farmers back on the prairies.

Five Islands will be hauled out of the water sometime tomorrow morning and put on the hard here at Shelter Bay Marina. They have a very secure dry storage yard, so things should be fine while we are gone for a couple of months. They have rooms here to rent, so we will stay in one of those tomorrow and then head to Panama City for a couple of days before flying home on Thursday.

We have heard different reports about the need to have a Visa to be in the country. Our passport has been stamped, so we are legal, but there could be a problem when we go to leave, causing a delay and possibly missing your flight. So on Friday, we took the bus into Colon which dropped us off at the immigration office. Colon is notorious for being a bad place. There are cops and security guys all over the place with machine guns, shotguns etc. The city looks kind of like a war zone and in very rough shape. When I spoke to the lady at the immigration office, she said I needed a photocopy of a couple of pages in our passports and sent me across the street to get them. This is while she is leaning against a photocopier! But we managed to get the visa's and made it back to the supermarket without getting mugged, so a successful trip.

We got some bad news yesterday about some cruising friends we made in the Bahamas and we will be pulling for them to get past their problems.

I kind of have mixed feelings about leaving the boat. Glad to be going home, but will miss the freedom of cruising. And Five Islands does much better when she is being used instead of sitting around. Hopefully we have given here enough attention to last the couple of months we will be gone.
Comments
Vessel Name: Five Islands
Vessel Make/Model: Lagoon 37' TPI
Hailing Port: Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Crew: Ralph & Karen
About: Married 26 years and looking for new adventures to share. Wanting to learn more about the world and about ourselves.
Extra: Five Islands is named after a small island located in the Winnipeg River where many memories were made. We view our boat as the opportunity see amazing places that will create quality memories like the ones made at Five Islands.

Five Islands

Who: Ralph & Karen
Port: Calgary, Alberta, Canada