I have to agree that a beautiful fall day back home beats our current weather hands down. It has been raining a lot - most of the morning today. But I look forward to comparing the weather to back home in a month or so. I can guarantee that I will be wearing shorts!

Even though we do not get hurricanes down here, they still have a big impact on the weather. There is a hurricane forming about 250 miles north of us and we are feeling the effects. One good thing about these situation is that they create very favorable weather for making the crossing over to Cartagena. We are thinking that we will try to make the trip over there as soon as we get going and take advantage of one of these weather systems. Later in the year, once the trade winds start to kick in, the trip from Panama to Columbia can be brutal.

And yes, we could make something to cover the hatch so that it can be left open when it rains. Most boats around here have elaborate rain protectors made out of sunbrella that cover large portions of their boat. They also provide shade keeping the boat cooler and lots of them have rain catchers built in so they can also fill their water tanks. If I had a sewing machine, I would probably make one too. But as far as being REAL easy - I don't think so. Getting all the materials as well would be a challenge here. Maybe in Cartagena will look to see if we can make something. We are planning on doing some other work there - particularly new cushions for the salon.

I have beet taking lots of pictures of the different flowers and plants we come across when we go for hikes in the jungle. I am not sure what this was, but I had not seen it before. Kind of like an upside down bird of paradise flower.

We did have a nice surprise yesterday. The marina here has a rate schedule that the longer you stay, the better the rate. Since we have moved back into the water, they have been charging us like we just arrived. This is not what I was told when we arrived in June, but the staff in the front office would not discuss it. Yesterday, the owner was here and I approached him on it and he agreed to give us the better rate. Nice.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of my Canadian readers. Eat lots of good food and spend some time with family and friends.