Re-united with “Vanilla”
28 January 2011 | Lemmon Cays, Isla Oeste Limon, San Blas, Panama
Later today (I'm writing this as I drink my morning coffee), I hope to be sitting in a very shack like Kuna bar where I hear there is an internet connection for $3 US/hour. I will have to take pictures and post them later (if the signal is strong enough). I can't even begin to imagine what to expect. Anyway, as you read this post, I hope to have updated the blog to January 10th, when we left Cartagena, so you'll have to scroll back to that date for all the details.
Yesterday we sailed from the Coco Bandero Cays, where we have been anchored since arriving on the 16th of January, to West Lemmon Cays. There is a Panama Connection Ham Net (8107 - 08:30) that we only just discovered three days ago, and I put out the word that "LIon's Paw" was looking for a boat named "Vanilla" and if anyone in the San Blas knew of their where-a-bouts. That day there was no response for "Vanilla" but we did hear from "Osprey". We haven't seen them since leaving the Dominican Republic. We called each other on the VHF 72 and chatted. It was great to hear from Wendy and we hope to catch up with all their news someday soon.
The following day, there was "traffic" for "Lion's Paw". Someone on the net told us that they had seen "Vanilla" in the East Lemons and Sylvain and Lise were heading to the West Lemons today. A huge grin spread across my face and I turned to Steve and asked; "Can we go?" It took us about a half 'n hour to ready the boat and we were off (not including the time for Steve to jump start the engine. For some reason our start battery -that stands alone- was drained??@#... Later!).
When we arrived, Sylvain came out in his dinghy to guide us into the anchorage. Even though the sun was up and behind for an easier attempt, it was clear that it was a very 'thin' and narrow entrance that required dodging around anchored boats and reefs and we welcomed his help. Our 3rd addition 'The Panama Cruising Guide' by Eric Bauhaus, did not have this anchorage as detailed as in the 4th Edition, so my advice is to buy the latest edition for this sort of area. The edition we have is one that I bought Steve for a Christmas gifts while we were still in the dreaming stage.
That evening we gathered for one drink (it's the San Blas and you can't just go to the liquor store to buy more when it's gone) and appetizers. We had so much to talk about. Six months have passed since they left Grenada (just before Carnival), and what dominated the conversation...fish stories! It was just like we'd seen them yesterday. Lise looked as beautiful as always and Sylvain, well, he teased me about being homeless and both Sylvain and Steve bantered back and forth like old friends, as usual.. Oh, how we've missed him. Tomorrow we will spend the whole day together.