Our last outing hiking to Upper Sardine Lake, Sierra City, CA.

OK, it should be clear to everyone that we are not in Providencia anymore – we have run into most of our friends, been to several family gatherings including a reunion in Denmark, taken a few trips out of town, been to the dentist and general practitioner for check up’s and dug into work! Actually, today marks the 2-month anniversary of ‘home’.
The final sail from Providencia to Panama ended up being a nice reach for the first 24 hours, then, as we approached the Bocas region, a motorboat ride for the last 12 as the wind went away and got replaced by light rain. We came in around midnight through the now unmarked channel and anchored outside Red Frog Marina at 2 AM.
Then followed the now all so familiar routine of boat put away, this time actually a little easier than the last few times. We decided to leave Tivoli in the water as Red Frog is south of the hurricane zone. According to the harbormaster the most wind they typically get during summer is below 20 knots, mostly a lot less. They do get rain, though, so after stripping sails, packing up the dinghy, shipping off the outboard for service and doing our regular ‘back out of the empty boat with peroxide’ routine we deployed some substantial tarps in hope of keeping things dry. We also put a dehumidifier to work 24/7 and hired a local guy to keep an eye on things.
Red Frog is located on Bastimentos Island. It is an eco resort with monkeys, sloths, and……little red frogs. It is also home to some nice restaurants and a high end, modern marina. We did take advantage of access to the infinity swimming pool a few afternoons as it get’s pretty hot during the pm.
To get from Red Frog to Richmond, CA is pretty easy. You just catch a Panga for the 5NM ride into Bocas Town, once a sprawling banana shipping port. Now it is full of young folks on vacation and ex-pats who has relocated. A quick overnight stay to catch the early morning puddle jumper to Panama City, transfer between airports and then non stop to SFO…….and 36 hours later you are in your own bed.
As seasons go, we liked this one. After the regular fixes of stuff that automatically stops to function the second you leave the boat, we had good fun. A good porting of the season was hanging out with friends, old and new. Some were friends from Richmond YC, now cruising the Caribbean. Others were folks we met 8 years ago hauling out in Trinidad. And some were on their first year, full of enthusiasm and with lots of questons.
The highlight for us was different. It was taking the boat over the course of about 4 weeks downwind to Panama from Antigua, some 1600 NM. Just the two of us, doing cool downwind overnights, waking each other up for the night watch, sharing the sunset, having that cup of coffee as the sun starts over the horizon, trusting each other when sleeping, visiting familiar places along the way and exploring new ones.
The future is uncertain, but next year Tivoli will likely be back in California while we look for the next sunrise.

PS, for a while we failed to upload pictures to the gallery – just did a selection of ones we liked from this season. – Enjoy the blindfold selection!