San Blas 2

Still having fun in the sun in the south! Not travelling too far these days Have been to the West Lemons, that is where these abandoned dogs are. The boaters are feeding them and bringing them fresh water. Their owner, an old man, died and the gossip is that the Kunas think his spirit is in the dogs so they plan on letting them starve! Different world! Breaks my heart sometimes! Had a pot luck supper in the Eastern Holandes and now we are in Coco Banderos. Had a fabulous supper aboard Blue Sky, Debbie and Breeze hosted a party for 12! Great food, company, stories! Love getting together with other boaters! Going snorkelling with Respite , Gloria and Mike later today. Both these couples have been live boards and hanging out in the San Blas for years! Randy and I saw 2 rays swimming together yesterday when we were out. How very beautiful! Just magical the flow and grace of these beautiful beings! Randy and I are working on Spanish and as Kimba shows it is exhausting at times! Baby it is hot here! Just standing here in the galley with 2 fans going I am dripping sweat! And I don’t sweat! Have been in the ocean once already, but I am sure the water temp is 90 plus..

Last night Randy and I were lying on the bow before bedtime watching the stars and we heard a splash! Angel went for a midnight swim! Randy jumped up swung over the rails, held on to the rail, picked Angel up and swung her into the boat and pulled himself out of the water, not getting the waist band of his shorts wet, or spilling his beer that he was still holding onto! Impressive! I do have a jock for a Captain. All those chin ups are paying off! This is not the first time Angel has gone for a swim but at night it is particularly dangerous with predators about - sharks and crocodiles may like the occasional kitty for supper! One of the other times she went in we had just anchored: that’s when we unleash them to let them walk about the boat freely. Splash, in the ICW and there was a 3 knot current and she was swimming her little heart out, but loosing ground fast! We had a flutter board that we had taught them to swim to earlier in the trip but I couldn’t get it too her. Our dingy was on the front of the big boat and it usually takes 15 minutes or so to get it off. I was getting ready to jump in and low and behold Angel and the flutter board connected and she was now surfing away from us! We threw the dinging in, put the motor on as the current was too strong for Randy to row back to the boat without it and he went to rescue her. Meanwhile Prima Donna, a beautiful trawler anchored behind us about 300 feet, looked out and thought a bird was surfing towards them. They investigated and pulled a wet cat out and saved her for us!!! This was so traumatic for me I couldn’t write about it until now. Another time, we wanted to give the cats play time as we had been gone much of the day and they were locked below. We couldn’t find Angel, but Kimba was at the back of the boat meowing, so Tom, one of the crew looked out and sure enough Angel was swimming. Tom pulled her out and saved the day! She had been in the water a long 5 - 10 minutes we figure and she was shaking! I love my cats but they have been the biggest trauma for us on this trip! The number of times I look for them, worry about them is too many to count. They hide in the boom, under the sails, and in other places when they are hot or afraid. Another concern is in the Bahamas there is a type of flea that our medicine doesn’t work on and many an animal have died other sailors tell us! Here, in the San Blas there are many sand fleas we are afraid to take the cats to shore because the fleas are terrible here, they itch like crazy for days! Not as bad as Bahamian ones though Jaime! Any way, have to go play in the sun - till later --- Dawn

09 30 7N
87 37 1W

Update
Not much internet here for us so haven’t posted yet. We are continuing to play in the water and go to different islands. Went to Nargana yesterday where bought fuel from Pocco. They have different type gas stations here! Toured the town, bought a few things then had a nice lunch at the local restaurant. Randy gave his left over chicken to a very hungry cat! Last night had another supper over to Respite. They have been great friends and supper swimmers and we will miss them. They are going state side for the summer. Many people spend their winters here and go home for the rainy season. We haven’t had much rain yet. Last night though spent and hour or so with our water catcher and trying to fill the water tanks as they are getting low. It is quite the process! The rain started an hour after bedtime so we wake up from a dead sleep to catch the precious water! Our catcher needs continual attendance to catch the water. As well, we cleaned the decks and have the water flow into the inlet valve! In addition we have pails under the cockpit awning on both sides with different techniques to catch the rain. In drenching rain, flashes of lightning like I have never seen, both of us running around in the buff tending to things, it is quite the site! But our water tanks are looking better today! Have to go snorkelling, till later!! Dawn and Randy