Mark and I arrived safely in Bocas del Toro, Panama on Saturday (Sept 12). It was rather hectic getting settled - clearing customs and immigration, finishing up teaching the owners/students - but on Tuesday we finally got a day to explore. We spend it relaxing on the beach on Isla Bastimento. That's where this picture was taken. On Wednesday we flew to Miami to spend a couple of days taking care of business and picking up supplies for some boat projects. Materials are expensive and hard to get in Grenada. My big purchase was several yards of Sunbrella fabric to make a new awning for the boat. Today (Friday) we're finally heading home to Grenada. Hurray!

The crossing from the BVI to Panama was mostly very pleasant. The weather was nearly perfect. We were visited by dolphins and lots of sea birds. There were just a few things that made the whole trip less than perfect. The head on our side of the catamaran didn't work so we had a bucket for use at night, and on the second day the mainsail split around a 1/4 way from the top. Since there was no spare, that meant we had to motor or motor-sail most of the trip. But it was the increasingly strange behavior of the owners that was the real issue. They turned out to be quite a mean spirited pair, though they hid it well at first. I was very glad to be rid of them.

Bocas del Toro is a cute and funky little tourist town. The locals were terrific. I'd be happy to go back again and take some more time to explore all the little reefs and islands; maybe learn to surf or improve my Spanish. I'd just warn anyone to avoid the hotel "Stay" which is owned by our nasty former employers.

Back in Grenada we'll have to spend some time shifting things around since we're loosing access to some on-shore storage we've been using (the sheds are being torn down). But then we can chill out for while. So far at least, there's been nothing boring about this life. It's been busy, busy, busy.