Bryan
12/02/2009, Colon, Panama

Panama is mostly rainforest (I think) and rainforest is green (who'd 'uv figured). All different shades of green; innumerable textures, densities and heights, always green, however. Then in the midst of the verdant masses a glimpse of blue clear sky flashes near the ground. It appears and disappears in a chaotic pattern like a butterfly with no gyro to stabilize it. A blue morpho butterfly. They are beautiful, nature's animation that Disney could only hope to emulate. They're big, 4 -5 inch wingspan, showy animals, proud of their blueness.

The first, and all subsequent, time you see one is startling. Even when right in front of you, they are there then they're not. Their wing tops are metallic, shiny, showy blue, but the undersides are brown with numerous eyes. They are virtually invisible when sitting on the ground with their wings closed. With their wings open they are a piece of blue sky nestled near your feet. When they are flying the effect makes you smile, blue - gone, blue - gone, blue - gone, each sighting a little off-kilter from the previous. I have an idea why their flight seems different from other butterflies; they have large wings, flap them slower than other bugs and travel further on each flap. It creates a mesmerizing, staccato flight path. Where's it going to show up next?

They're pretty common around here. Every time we go for a walk or take the shuttle to town we see them and are still excited about it. According to the books, morpho butterflies come in blues and greens and can be found from Mexico through Colombia. They're worth a trip by themselves.

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Debbie
11/28/2009, Panama City, Panama

Although I've been gone off the boat for 6 weeks, Bryan hasn't. Therefore, now that I'm back, he decided that he/we needed a break so we took the Panama Canal Train from Colon to Panama City yesterday evening. It heads off through the jungle and rain forest, then across the man-made lake, and finally runs along side the canal and locks just outside Panama City. The trip only takes about an hour. The seats are real cushy, the interior is all polished wood, and has large windows and glass overhead. We spent the night in the city, did some shopping today, road the bus back to Colon this afternoon, then a taxi to the marina. Its pretty cool and makes for a nice short road trip.

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Debbie
11/18/2009, Columbia, Missouri

As some of you know, I've been in Columbia, Missouri, for the last 6 weeks leaving Bryan and the 'buddah' cat, Lil, back on the boat in Shelter Bay Marina, Panama. When I get back, the cat will probably be drinking beer and Bryan will be smoking catnip. Anyway, besides having the lasik surgery, I was visiting my Dad and my brother Bill and family. What a fabulous time! I got to go to a Mizzou (Univ. of Missouri) football game, hung out with Dad at the VFW and played Bingo, saw a couple movies in a real theater, ate a ton of American food, spent a fortune again on stuff to haul back to the boat, AND got to see some absolutely gorgeous fall leaves. (Note: We don't have fall or winter in Panama. We have dry or rainy.) Anyway, I had to share this picture that I took out the window as my Dad was racing down the road. Sorry for the angle.

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Debbie
10/30/2009, St. Petersburg, Florida

While visiting Missouri, I flew down to St. Pete for a couple weeks to see our son Ben, stay with our dear friends Rick and Kristel on Anthem, and visit all of our other loved ones (you know who you are). It just so happened that it was Halloween and never at a loss for a reason to party, the North Dock Yacht Club at the St. Pete Marina outdid themselves. Although most of the party was outside on their newly built patio/deck, we also had lots of music and singing from the locals with Sid and Melissa's Band Hero (At least that's what I think it was called.) From left to right is Kristel singing and playing the tambourine, Sid on guitar, and Melissa on drums. What fun!

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Debbie
10/16/2009, Columbia, Missouri USA

Well, just thought I'd let everyone know that I flew back to the States and had Lasik surgery 3 days ago. It is WONDERFUL! I can really see. It was easy and painless. And, even better, I'll be able to see those channel markers and reefs without glasses sliding down my nose or getting splashed... Yeah!! I also think that I can see a little better at night than with my glasses. Wow! I am sooooo happy. Check y'all later,..... Bye.

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Debbie
09/28/2009, Colon, Panama

We left Bluefield Saturday morning around 11:15 am after it stormed all morning. The trip was really quite pleasant and got some sailing in until the last 20 miles. Just outside Colon, the squally weather hit again and the current had been pushing us the whole way (for a change) and we were going to reach Shelter Bay by about 5 am Sunday morning (yesterday). We definitely don't want to go into a new anchorage or marina in the dark and not in the rain, so we turned around and motored back out for a while. Once it started getting lighter and between squalls, we headed back toward Colon. This was another humbling experience as we motored through the 300-400 ft ships anchored outside waiting to head through the Panama Canal. Some of the ships called Panamax can be up to 1000 ft with less than a foot on each side to get through the Canal. It reminded me of the game 'Battleship' with all the big ships pointing every which way. We jumped in behind one of the big ships heading in the breakwater and into Limon Bay and turned abruptly right toward Shelter Bay Marina as the large ship headed toward the Canal. It started raining again so we made loops inside Limon Bay til it cleared and headed into the marina about 8:30 am. Our friends, Susie and John off of Cabaret, had got us all set up with a slip in the marina and were standing ready with dock lines. Bryan and I both breathed a big sigh once we were docked because we had not been into a marina in a year, but all went well. Bryan and I napped most of the day. Bryan played volleyball with folks in the afternoon, and then there was a big dock party pot-luck last night. That was fun. There are several other boats here with cruisers that we had met elsewhere and met a lot of new folks also. This morning Susie came by to get me to go to the store with her. OK, not what you would think. We donned helmets and backpacks and headed off on her motorcycle to Colon about 20 minutes away. We passed a sloth beside the road, dodged a huge iguana crossing the road, and then drove over a lock in the canal. Wow! We were there and back within 2 hours. Pretty cool, huh?

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