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June, 2007

Headed for Panama

 Valentina under sail
6/1   Today is June 1st, the first day of another hurricane season.    We are currently in San Andres, a Colombian island, on our way to Bocus del Toro, Panama, where we will stay for this season.

Map of San Andres (Colombia) to Bocus del Toro (Panama)  

      

"Honey, I could live here!"

  We have enjoyed the island and the people are very nice, friendly, and, contrary to what we would think, this Colombian island is very safe for cruisers and the locals are glad to have you here.

       Kay and Karyn on the beach.              David, Hugh, and Sonny on the beach.                        Mike and Karyn on Valentina
6/2 Tonight, we had Mike and Karyn (S/V Suenos) and Hugh, David, and Bruce (S/V Bear Necessities) over  for dinner.  We prepared conch fritters and hogfish for the guys.  Tonight was David and Bruce's last night before heading back to the states.

We had lessons on conch horn blowing.....and the harbor was alive with the deep, long sound from the horns.

Hugh really is a musician.....can you hear the conch horn? David was able to blow it his first try. Captain Bruce also blew the conch horn.
6/6 We talked to Chris, our weather guru this morning on the SSB, to get a weather report to head from San Andres to Bocus del Toro, Panama.    Looks like we will stay here until at least the weekend.   So, today, we will go to the internet cafe to download the website and then get our propane bottle re-filled for our stove.

 
6/7

Happy Birthday Taylor, with Kodi and Riley, and one in the oven.Happy 32nd Birthday Taylor......

May it be your best!

 
6/8 We are sitting between three tropical waves.......one comes through every three days.  But, it looks like Monday, Tuesday will be a good day to head out.   So, along with S/V Suenos, S/V Bear Necessities, and S/V Max, we will be leaving San Andres, hopefully, on Monday evening at 5 p.m., headed for our final stop of this season, Bocus del Toro, Panama.
Children here are very neat, very happy, and very friendly. Not one has tried to sell anything to us, like most islands. Big leaf ivy growing up the trees on this vacant lot. Playing chess on the sidewalks of San Andres.
School Children Sonny in front of tree with ivy growing wild Life at a slower pace

Tonight, Hugh on S/V Bear Necessities invited several to his boat for an appreciation dinner for George and Cecilia of Totino's Marina, who have been an invaluable assistance to all of us cruisers in San Andres.

Jeremy and Crystal, a young couple cruising. He is 31 and from Whiteboro, TX she is 25 and from Albuquerque. Mary and Cecilia Cecilia, George and Sonny on Bear Necessities
Jeremy and Crystal (S/V Max) Mary (S/V Back Stage Pass) and Cecilia Cecilia, George, and Sonny
6/10

This morning, Sonny and I, Mike and Karyn, and Crystal met Cecilia at the dock at 10 a.m. and took a van to her church.   She, her mom, and her sister attend Immanuel Baptist Church and Cecilia was going to take the day off, after she arranged the morning tours to depart the dock at 10 a.m.    She works 7 days a week without a day off, so this was a treat for all of us.

Her church is very big, with two levels.   The lower lever is for the Spanish speaking congregation and the upper level was for the English speaking congregation.   It was Children's Day today, so the children, all dressed alike, sang songs and participated in the service.

The choir director also had the congregation sing Deep and Wide, and In Right-Out Right with all the motions, then silent on one of the words.   It was entertaining watching the adults participating.

We also got to meet Cecilia's mother and sister.     We rode the crowded church bus back to the marina, then went out to lunch.

 
With Cecilia, completing the cards for church Filling out the Visitor Cards

 

 Bob M. works at the marina assisting tours to the other islands for snorkeling Sonny, Bob M. and Kay
Mike and Karyn are all dressed up and ready to go. Mike and Karyn, ready for church

 

George has been a great help to anything we need on the island. A good friend to cruisers in San Andres. Mike, our friend Captain George of the Fiesta Party Boat, and Sonny

 
Here, they fry the whole fish and you eat one side, then turn the fish over to eat the other side. Mike and Karyn eating whole fish

Sonny eating fish....his favorite Sonny eating lobster, conch, crab and shrimp

6/11 We departed from San Andres this afternoon at about 4:30  p.m. to head to Bocus del Toro.   It is 190 miles, so if we average 5 knots, that would be 38 hours.   We would arrive on Wednesday morning.    Customs and immigration request you arrive early in the morning to accommodate their schedules, so we are doing two over-nighters and one day to arrive early morning.

There was no wind, so we motored most of the way to Bocas del Toro.  We were able to sail for a few hours a couple of times, without the engine, but mostly motored.

It was awesome to sail at night and see the "Southern Cross" constellation in front of you.   Such a peaceful sight.

Hugh, of S/V Bear Necessities, was traveling along with us.   He is single-handed on the trip from San Andres to Bocas.

Along the way, we spotted three pilot whales swimming around the boat.  But, we did not see any dolphin on this trip.

There were squalls all around us, but we kept watching on the radar and dodged them all.   Right before we arrived at Bocus, we had a sprinkle, but not enough to wash the boat off.

It was a very good, calm, uneventful crossing.
6/13
Upon arriving at Bocas, coming down the channel

 

 Bocas Marina, a place where old friends re-unite.
View of the anchorage from our marina The dingy dock, when we go to Bocas town

We had to slow down to arrive by day break, so we arrived in the channel as the sun was coming up.   Gary, our friend on a fellow Tayana 37, S/V Bold Venture, came out to meet us in his dinghy to guide us into the anchorage.

We anchored at 8:10 a.m. and customs and immigration were at our boats, almost immediately.

Our location is:    N 09 19.757    W 82 15.335

We are at Bocus Marina for three months enjoying the air conditioning and facilities.

Since leaving Kemah in December of 2005, we have traveled  3,738 miles on Valentina.    Just a beginning.....

God's beauty abounds everywhere.
6/15
Some of the businesses along the waterfront. Very nice town. I could live here......oh, we are!   OK......Holcim friends, I got excited. This was the first time I have seen anything with Holcim on it since we left Texas. It was a bag of cement in the entrance to a Chinese restaurant we ate at today. I know the hostess thought I was really crazy, taking a picture of an old bag of cement.
     
  We went into town today to purchase a phone.   Unfortunately, every country has its own phone you buy, for $20, so, at the moment, we are collecting phones from each country.   Most people collect t-shirst or glasses, we collect cell phones.......But, it is nice, in case of emergency or check on the kids and grandkids.

Bocus del Toro is a very nice place, a place of a lot of reunions.   We have reunited with the following friends:

Blow Me Away, Kaija's Song,  Lone Star Love, Queen Mary,  Akka, Kristiana, Ishmael, Blue Print, Bear Necessities, Suenos, Island Time, Bruadair, Angel Heart, Namaste, Bold Venture, Adagio, and Max

Bruno, Sophie, Estelle and Marjorie when we met them in Key WestBut, one of the nicest reunions was to find Bruno, Sophie, Estelle and Marjorie.   We met this wonderful family when we were in Key West, and they watched our boat while we returned to Texas for Sonny's mom's illness for a couple of months.   Bruno is the chef and manager of the restaurant here at the marina and we get frequent visits from Marjorie and Estelle on the boat.  Before we left them in Key West, the girls colored us a picture for Grandpa and Grandma. Estelle and Marjorie now.... They are from France and could hardly speak English when we met them.   Now, they have grown and speak English well and are learning Spanish in school.

  The girls together.....oops, one boy on the right side.  

There are several young girls in the marina, and every night they capture and sell geckos or rocks to us.

We like this place!Sonny and Hugh with Bruno the chef.....ribs tonight....delicious.
6/17 Well, this morning, we have some bad news for you.

When we woke up, we were going to jump in our dinghy early to help guide our friends on Suenos into the shallow areas of the marina, when, to our surprise, our dinghy was not there.

  Our dinghy we were so proud of......

 

  
The police took us in their launcha to the police station to fill out the paperwork. We were told to have two witnesses with us, who knew we had the dinghy. So, Sandy and Cheri on S/V Namaste went with us on the adventure. Here we are at the police station giving the report. The lady on the right was a great assistance to us, she spoke English and interpreted for us through the paperwork. Then, they transported us to another police station to complete another report.

So, we spent all day until 2 p.m. with the local police answering questions, and giving them photos, receipts, etc. of our dinghy, hopefully to be recovered, but realistically, we know the chances are slim.   But, we have hope.

And, we waited....

We will keep you posted.

                

We still love it here and think it is a beautiful place and everyday is a new adventure.

 
6/22 We have said many, many times, in the cruising life....friends become family.  We have experienced this again.  Mike and Karyn, our close friends on S/V Suenos are going back to the states for a visit, so everyone jumped in to help them get the boat prepared and chance for a party.    Here are some of our friends......I mean family.

Time to put the sail cover on the the awning.  Sonny, Bob, and Hugh helped Mike prepare the boat.

Gary, S/V Kaija Song, with Mike Sonny and Mike Aaron and Lyla, S/V Blow Me Away
     
Bob and Peggy, S/V Adagio with Mike and Karyn Mike and Karyn with Damon and David, S/V Bruadair Hugh, S/V Bear Necessities with Mike

 
Mike and Kay Jeff and Susan, S/V Walden Karyn talking to sailors at dinner

 
Karyn talking to marina neighbors, Jack and Jo on S/V Mystic Adventure S/V Sea Adler was a buddy boat of Suenos, with Tony, S/V Andiamo Four guys talking sail-talk

We are so thankful for this lifestyle and the friends you meet along the way.
6/24 Speaking of friends along the way.......our good friends, Any and Robert, from Argentina aboard S/V Deux Pieds arrived in Bocas del Toro today.  Such a good reunion!

Roberto and Any arrived from San Andres this morning.

We are busy today getting the boat secure before our trip back to the States.   We are going to spend a couple of days in Panama City for some boat shopping and tour the Panama Canal.
6/25 We arose early.....4:30 a.m. to lightning and rain.  Not a good sign for packing up to head to Panama City.   In the dark and rain, Javier, from the marina, took  us and Hugh, and all of our luggage in his launcha from the marina to Bocas town to catch a water taxi.

Then we went in the water taxi for a 30 minute ride in the rain over to the mainland, to the town of  Almirante.  We then got a taxi to the bus station, then we rode the bus 10 hours to Panama City.  The hotel had a taxi for us at the huge bus station.   Panama City has one bus station for all of the busses and it was like an airport, super nice and new.   We arrived at the hotel at about 6 p.m.    The ride on the bus was long, but it was such a nice view, it was good.
6/27 We walked around town.....
Beautiful building in this large city. We bought this mola shirt for Sonny from this lady in the shop We are so excited.....this Kuna Indian lady is going to make us a mola with Valentina's name in it.
A stained glass in the catholic church Inside the beautiful church Outside of the church

 

 

Panama Canal Day !                 Neither of us ever dreamed we would be here.....it is great!

Miraflores Locks....great museum and visitor center. You are just feet from the ships transiting down the canal.

 A ship was exiting upon our arrival. We watched this ship, Mandarin, go through the locks.

 
Atlas III going through the Miraflores Locks These hydraulic gates open and close the raise or lower the water level. Sonny and Hugh watching the ships.

 
There are two canals they can go through at the same time. Mandarin is leaving the locks. Hugh, Kay, and Sonny at the Panama Canal.

It was overwhelmingly awesome.  The canal is such a huge endeavor created years ago.  We watched the ship Mandarin transit through and also the Atlas III.

Click to see a "live web cam" view of the canal

Canal.....Did you Knows....

  • During fiscal year 2006, 14,194 transits and $1.02 billion in toll payments.
  • The lowest toll for transiting the Canal was paid by Richard Halliburton, who paid 36 cents to swim across the Canal from August 14 to August 23, 1928.
  • It requires about 8 to 10 hours for an average ship to transit the Canal.
6/30 We are back in Texas for Gentry and Jennifer's wedding on 7/7/07.

Currently, we are experiencing culture shock to be back and see all of the stuff.   We are used to the tienda's and stores having a few selections of shampoo to choose from, and here there  is a whole aisle of just shampoo.  We could spend all day in Wal-Mart just looking.   We are cheap entertainment these days.

We will be in Texas until July 18th then we will head back to Valentina at Bocas Marina in Panama.
   
 

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"The single commandment of anchoring is "thou shall create scope".

   Reese Palley