Providencia to Tha Bay Islands

The passage to Roatan has been more comfortable than recent trips, and for that we are grateful. The previous seas were square, confused, and turbulent. Many waves plowed over the dodger and dumped running water through the cockpit, which translated into many bruises and falling objects (mainly Helen). This trip however we were able to make water, hang laundry, fish to no avail, and sun bathe on the foredeck. In the first 24 hours we cover 181 miles of sea without motor power-which is a new speed record for us. On day two the winds died down to the low teens and we meandered along at 5 to 6 knots through the day and night. We sailed using the spinnaker pole to push our jib out and gain a bit more speed.
Currently we have the moon light to guide us, stars popping out from behind clouds that are moving with a cold front, and calm swells that allow the boat to sway in a fairly smooth left to right pattern. The need for long pants and a jacket made us scramble through stored clothes. We may need more of them when this cold front finally arrives in full force this weekend-the thought of needing to put on shoes to keep warm makes us grab for the coffee liqueur bottle and check its level for future reference.
Our first stop in Honduras will be Guanaja, famous for "No See-Ums", an easy, cheap, and painless check in, and a cruiser hang out called Manatee Bar and Restaurant where cruisers from around the area come together to swap books, and feed each others need for new conversationalists and entertaining stories of passages and places.

----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com

Providencia, Columbia

OK we thought today was Saturday, and kept thinking tomorrow was Sunday, and we honestly have no idea or need for the numerical date. So we check the computer for affirmation. Nope, we created an extra day this week by now realizing tomorrow is the real Saturday. Hey though in our defense, we always knew this was still January and not yet February!
Today we walked out to the fort and cannons, around Morgan's Head on Santa Catalina, and up and down the edge of the small island. Saturday, we will be renting scooters, touring Providencia island, and going out for lunch at a roadside restaurant with a couple on a one year hiatus from Massachusetts (she is a meteorologist professor from Rutledge University who is an expert on arctic climate research and global warming impact studies) and their two barely teenager kids...fun, fun, fun. Sunday we will snorkel, swim, dinghy around the bay and look for Captain Morgan's famous treasure cave. Out there is a great reef with hundreds of fish--this is a preserve site so the fish are abundant.
Next Thursday or Friday the weather will allow us to go to Honduras and meet our other friends. In Honduras the diving is suppose to be clear 100 feet deep, warm, and some of the best in the world. We think we will be there for all of February through April. Utila is one of the islands, has a night life, and is a preferred spot for young people looking to dive. Roatan has Fantasy Island and great snorkeling; French Harbor is a must see spot as well. In mid to late April, we will be taking the boat out of the water for a survey before heading back to Panama in early May. Early May we will go to Bocas Del Toro, the European hippy hangout, put the boat up, and then head for Texas and Arizona. However, we are cruisers who have trouble keeping track of the day as well as the week so we may actually do something totally different than our current plans that are obviously written in shifting sand. Life is good and we are still having fun in the sun.

----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com

Northbound to Roatan

It is midnight and we are trekking at 6-7 knots over 3-8 foot rolling seas. Earlier the seas were 7-14 feet and that gave us quite a crack the whip/toss and drop ride for about 10 hours. Since the moon has set, the stars are our only companion out here 150 miles off the shores of Costa Rica. With no interference from other lights, the stars are bright and clear. Orion's Belt is prominent in the sky as is many planets and satellites. It is still warm enough to be in shorts and barefooted and my watch has started. Our AIS, ship identification program, shows no traffic, our maps show depths of 3-4 thousands of feet, and we have seen only one other large ship out here since leaving San Blas this morning. There was a suspicious "other boat," not lit, and traveling in the shadow of the large boat earlier that we noticed. All is good.
P.S. Another companion turned up-phosphorous looking like fireflies, as densely packed and bright as the Milky Way. They dot the surface of the waves that break upon our hull. Like tiny dancing fairies, they shimmer and disappear from sight as we sail north through the moonless night.

San Blas Islands, last visit for this year…
We waved goodbye to the San Blas Islands on January 18th and must say they should be counted as one of the Wonders of the World. These island number in the hundreds, and the Indians that live out there are gentle, soft spoken, and mild mannered in most cases. They show entrepreneurial skills and a strong work ethic. We spent one week off an island and watched a house being raised in the tradition of barn building in the states. For two or three days the man of the hut worked hard chopping and cutting wood each afternoon. A launched arrived one morning with a work crew of men who hopped out and began to raise timbers for a roof, laced rope into a lattice on the roof braces, and then wove palm fronds into a roof. At the end of the day the building was half done. Every week, every anchorage had a launch make the trip to bring fresh vegetables, eggs, meat, fish, beer, and of course the hand made molas that these islands are famous for creating.
The anchorages are getting crowded now with people from the Arc Rally and from all over Europe who are getting ready to cross over into the Pacific and head further west. Most of the anchorages that had seen 3-5 boats are now 15-30 boat crowded. The flags are mostly Italian, French, and German, but other European countries are in there as well.

----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com

Leaving Linton for the second time

Leaving Isla Linton

After three weeks anchored behind Isla Linton we are ready to leave. I got my rebuilt autopilot back a few days ago and everything is working great again. We have had a great time here seemingly busy doing something everyday. Thanks to Owen and Betty on Hiatus, we were able to make several trips into Colon without have to take the two and one half hour bus ride. We did take the bus a couple of times and it makes a long day. These really are the only mode of transportation for most Panamanians and the buses will haul anything. The last bus we rode had a full size mattress in the back with everyone's groceries piled in the last three seats. We are glad to be back to depending on the boat instead of the local busses.
We had a great New Years on our boat with a couple of other boats, Nim Tai, Hiatus, And Renegade came over for pizza and New Year's. We actually found ourselves awake and still partying at midnight. That was a first for us in a long time. We also enjoyed a few great meals at the local cruisers restaurant and the French Restaurant in the next bay. At the local restaurant you bring your dingy right up to the break water, stern tie off on a buoy, and nose tie to a line. From there you can either grab a swing tire or rope then pull yourself out of your dingy about 5 ft from where you sit to eat. They serve Great Columbian food. Hans, the owner is from Holland, and his wife, the cook, is from Columbia, his 18yr old daughter is studying Law in Cartagena, and his math whiz 11 yr old son helps with the bills and serving meals. It is a real family enterprise.
Our plan was to leave for Providencia, Columbia on Sunday with a very short weather window. Sunday we woke up and decided instead to go to San Blas and make sure the autopilot work first. The weather window was only two 1/2 days long with a very cold, cold front moving in behind it. Temperatures in the LOW 70's, winds to 30 knots, and a lots of rain didn't really sound like fun. So here we are, back in the San Blas Islands where it is 82 to 90 every day with snorkeling and 40ft visibility just waiting to be enjoyed. Providencia can wait.
Our trip down from Linton was great. We had steady 15 knots of wind with a little lumpy 5 to 7 ft seas. It actually was the calmest we have seen so far. We had a great 9 hr sail only using the engine to leave and enter the anchorage. That is why we own sailboats! We used less than a gallon of gas!

Later we will describe our La La life in Kuna Yala…

----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com

Riding the Christmas Winds

Riding the Christmas Winds of the Western Caribbean
The weather changed, giving us a window of opportunity to go as planned to San Andres and Providencia for Christmas, so we left the San Blas islands and forged north. Twelve hours into our 48 hour trip we lost our auto steering and had to steer by hand in 6-10 foot seas that were steep and square with 4-5 seconds apart swells-trashy waters! We were about 55 miles from land and with the help of the wind made it back in 6.5 hours-a record for our boat! We dropped anchor in Linton, famous for a great French restaurant, and slept. A few days later Dave made a two day trip to Panama City to turn in the auto pilot to have it rebuilt. Having now been here for a week we are part of the "family". We ate a 3 hour meal at the French restaurant on Wednesday, and Helen played dominos with the ladies on Thursday. We went to Colon on Friday for groceries, and Owen (on Hiatus) drives boaters to the local pizza parlor on Sundays. The last couple of nights we have been able to sit in our cockpit and been entertained by a number of fire fly type beetles. We have not seen these before down here, and have not seen fire flies since our trip to the Midwest twenty years ago. It has been fun to have them flying around our cockpit; our little Christmas lights.
So for now, we are sitting here in Linton, waiting for our part to arrive from Texas. If it arrives, and we get the auto pilot installed, we then have to wait for a weather window so we can head north…but the radio net this morning reported the temperature in Belize is a chilling 60 degrees, not much incentive to head north in a hurry.
In the meantime we have become a part of the social circle here and invited to attend the four holiday gatherings organized by locals and cruisers. We will be cheering and sharing times with these new friends and thinking of all the wonderful past times with our old friends and family.
After the holidays we will go back to our routine of wait and play, not a bad life after all!

----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com

San Blas Islands...a world without electricity

San Blas Islands...a world without electricity
We spent late November and early December in the lowest latitudes we will see for a long time. The San Blas islands, off the coast of Panama, are a slice of life backwards and forwards. The islands and atolls are mostly uninhabited, and if they are inhabited the huts are what you see on Survivor, the series. In fact the islands are pretty much what you see on the series as well. There are no stores, no roads, and the altitude on these islands is 2-4 feet. Global warming will be taking them away in a short amount of time.
When we arrived to our first inhabited island we were greeted by 2 young men in a hand made wooden canoe called an ulu. They asked for food, and milk, and magazines. After getting a bit from us they pulled out their cell phones, called their wives and wanted us to talk to the wife and kids. Who would of thought we would get cell service out here when we didn't get it in parts of Arizona or Texas? The Indians were hopeful we could also charge their phones for them because there is no electricity out here. Their payment was a promise of fish, lobster, or crab.
In the islands known as the East Lemons we met people who have stayed there for 3 years. Quite a few of the cruisers spend 8 months or more in these islands with a trip to Cartagena, Columbia to meet cruising permit requirements. You can dive off the back of your boat and snorkel in 82-85 degree water with 20 foot visibility. As we were dropping our anchor 2 men in a canoe tried to sell us fish, I waved them off so we could concentrate on setting the anchor and not drifting into one of the 30 boats in this small space. During our week there four of the local mola makers arrived. We bought the beautiful reversed embroidery (that they are famous for making) featuring traditional designs and scenes from their daily Indian lifestyle. Other enterprising locals showed up in bigger wooden boats offering produce and beer, handcrafts, fish, turtles, conch shells, and some even offer to work on your boat for a full day at the cost of $20.00 plus a meal. Our boat is now waxed, polished, and shiny. The man and son who did it worked from 8 AM until 5PM. Over lunch he explained that his new born child needed a towel and that he would have to paddle many miles to the mainland to find a store that sold towels, but that this was so important in their culture that he would make the trip and give up three days of work. At the end of the day, I presented him with a towel and his wages. The look of sincere, deep appreciation and gratitude was unmistakable. He teared up and thanked us for our kindness…
The next island we went to an atoll called the Swimming Pool because of its color and shape. The seas changes from a pale green, to turquoise, and deep blue. There are at least 9 reefs and 8 islands in this atoll. Within its boundary is an area called the Hot Tub which has a rock face that plunges down 70 feet and is home to more coral, sea creatures, and fish than we had yet to experience. I felt like I was in a Jacques Cousteau film and scenes from the Abyss flashed in my mind. Daily we dove off the boat and snorkeled, went on dinghy rides and saw two kinds of sharks not far from our boat, sea horses, conch shells, and all matter of native fish as well as some new species to the area, the dangerous Lion fish are now cruising these waters. What we haven't seen are many dolphins, whales or turtles. However, with the full moon a turtle arrived on one of the islands, dug holes, and laid her eggs. We covered them so the birds and local natives would not harvest them. We stayed long enough to have two Monday get togethers, take yoga lessons, play bocci ball, and meet a bunch of cruisers. Being a sailboat we follow the winds and wait for the right wind to blow our way...

----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com

Rio Chagres

I ended up spending the whole two and a half weeks in the Chagres while waiting for Helen to fly back. It was having such a wonderful experience I just couldn't leave. I anchored in 4 different locations on the river and each had its own unique feeling. My first anchorage was closest to the dam that forms Lake Gatun which is the main part of the Panama Canal. It was an easy
anchorage and I was treated to my first sighting of toucans since being in Panama. I saw a few monkeys and a tarpon(fish) that was as big as my kayak. It came up right along side my kayak while I drifted down the river watching the wildlife. It was long and slender, but felt the size of a dolphin as it surfaced next to me. I stayed there 4 days and then decided to go down stream to explore another area. I anchored off the mouth of an inlet and was able to explore it using the kayak as well. I saw a few crocs, parrots, an anteater, and sloths but no new toucans. This jungle river was a true jungle cruise, unlike many I have taken before in Costa Rica and Mexico. Once I made it back to the boat I was sitting in the cockpit and noticed a couple of toucans about 50 yds away. I watched them when two more came into view. It was quite a treat to be able to watch that many. Over the next couple of days I was treated to many more wildlife adventures as I explored the many inlets. I was able to see all three different types of toucans and I have good pictures of two types. A new group of toucans were about 50 ft from the boat eating berries off a bush right next to me. On one of the afternoons when I was again just sitting on the boat I saw a Howler monkey on a limb over the water. I watched him scurry out to the end of the limb and then retreat back to the main trunk. He went back and forth for over 45 minutes. I was down below when I heard a splash. I went up and discovered that the little monkey had jumped into the river and was swimming across. The howlers on both sides were going crazy. I have no idea what would motivate a monkey to swim across a swift river with crocs about. He made it in about 20 minutes, must have been love!

My last anchorage was down stream towards the mouth. I wanted to go ashore and explore the fort so being closer was a little better since the dingy had been acting up. The trail from the landing was a nice 1.5km walk up hill to actually get to the fort itself. I again saw two types of monkeys and many birds. The fort has a history going back to construction in 1597. It was taken over and destroyed three times. The fort was used to both protect the river of gold, and to plunder it depending on who had control. They said it was the richest river in the world for the amount of treasure that was moved down the river and later sent out on ships. It was very well fortified but still taken after very bloody attacks. I took many pictures of the remaining cannons.
The next morning I woke up to the dam dumping copious amounts of water with a 5.5knt current. I didn't dare get off the boat for the whole day. I spent the day watching the anchor chain stretch to its limits. The next day when I left it was back to normal. Thanks to the sea gods.


My time in the Rio Chagres was absolutely magical. I am hoping to take Helen back there, but the amount of rain that has dumped worries me that there will be another water release right when I am trying to enter the reef and sand bar tricky and narrow entrance.

Life is good. Helen is back on the boat, and we are ready to take off on our next adventure. Next we are headed to the island group called San Blas. 300 islands, 39 inhabited, and life there is the same as it has been for over 800 years. We will be greeted by Indians in dug out canoes selling fruits and vegetables, fish, lobster, conch, and hand made molas(reversed embroderied rectangles). They take American dollars, there are no gas stations, no banks, and no worries.