Sonny woke up early to mow our grass.....oh, I forgot.  No....he is cleaning our bottom after being in Cartagena for five days.  We do prefer water to lawnmowers.

This afternoon, we were visiting with Glen and Eddie on M/V Tothill.  After we left their boat, we were motoring in our dinghy, when, all of a sudden, it quit.   Sonny immediately started troubleshooting to see what the problem was.  But, nothing would work.

When we got back to the boat, he took the cowling off the engine and the automatic choke (prime starter) fell apart, into his hands.  So, we will have to go into Cartagena to get a new part.

At 5:30 a.m. this morning, the water taxi picked Sonny up at Valentina for the hour ride into Cartagena for $15,000 ml ($7.50 US).   When he arrived, he took a taxi to the Yamaha store to pick up the part.

He was told that the part would cost $1,109.772 ml.  That sure looks like a lot of money.   Well, it is.  In US dollars, it would be about $554.   We decided we could row for a while and consider our options.

Sonny rode back to Cholon with Roberto and Carmen on M/V Manatee and arrived at about 3:30 p.m.

I checked on the internet and found this part in the US for a little over $200.   We may have to order it and ask Rich and Jan on S/V Slip Away to bring it back with them in a few weeks.

We are really OK with our dinghy.   We are anchored near the mainland and can row when we need to go in......or swim in, until we get the motor issue resolved.     Life is good.

It causes us to slow down (can you believe we have to slow down?) 

We can sit in the cockpit and watch our friendly gecko climb up the glass of our dodger to get a drink during a rain shower.

We talked to, and saw Claire and Chase (our grandkids) on Skype tonight.  School has already started in Texas. 

Wilson, a crew member on M/V Tothill, took the pieces of our part and tried to glue it back together.  He will also look while in Cartagena for a used prime starter.

We had planned a dinghy float yesterday, but got rained out, so today we are planning another one.   Except, we do not have a motor.   ; )

Glen and Eddie towed us over to the spot where everyone tied our dinghies together.

Then we all passed around appetizers and floated along while we all visited and enjoyed the peaceful float. 

When we returned to the boat, we called Kylie, our granddaughter, to check on her doctor appointment on her arm.  They took the three pins out today and gave her a new cast.    She read us "The Berenstein's B Book" while we watched on Skype.

I made a pot of beans and worked on some insurance papers.

We had D.J. and Kate from Hello World over this afternoon.   A very interesting couple from Scotland.  He is a professional photographer from Europe, who traveled the world specializing in scenery shots.  Now, Kate is taking a lot of pictures, using a nice Nikon digital camera.

We saw Chase, our grandson, dancing and singing us a song on Skype.

We are still without a working dinghy engine.   We are trying to find the part in the US, but are told they will have to order the part from Japan, which will take 10 days to get to the US.   There is not one in the US?

We are hopeful we can either repair ours or find a used one in Cartagena.  A friend is looking in Cartagena for one now.  So, we will wait a few days to see if he can find one.

The 5 boats in the anchorage all went up to Robert and Carmen's for a potluck dinner.   The food was delicious.   There is such a good group of boats here, it is very enjoyable to spend time together with each other.

Happy Birthday Ashley.....our teenage grand-daughter

She is 13 today

Dave on High Spirits arrived in the anchorage today.   Dave is from Kemah, Texas and we were both at the Kemah Boardwalk Marina before we both left to come cruising.

In this anchorage, we are a minority.  Of the eight boats in the anchorage, there is one from Scotland, two from the Netherlands, one from South Africa, one from Canada, one from the BVI, one from Florida (Robert's shrimp boat), one from Louisiana, and Valentina from the great state (country) of Texas.

At about 7 p.m. the sky started changing, lightning started popping in the distance, and the wind started blowing with gusts up to 30 knots.  We are hoping for rain.  Sonny cleaned the deck and hooked up the hose.  But....no rain.

At 7 a.m. we pulled up the anchor while it was calm and re-anchored.   Since our dinghy motor is still not working, we are anchoring near the shore, so we can row or swim to land.

Glenn, on M/V Tothill, called on the VHF today to let us know that Wilson was unable to locate a used part for our dinghy motor in Cartagena.  So, we got on the internet and ordered the part from the US.  Of course, there is not a Yamaha warehouse in the US with this part, so it has to be ordered from Japan.  

Rich and Jan (S/V Slip Away) are in the States, so we will have it shipped to them and they will graciously bring it with them when they return to Cartagena.

It is just another lesson of taking things for granted.   Can you imagine not having a car for 7 weeks?   Or staying in your house for days at a time, not leaving?  But, on Valentina, it is all good.   We enjoy staying on the boat, even for days at a time.  And, we can swim to shore or row our dinghy.

Robert and Carmen took the Manatee down to the beach today, so we all went down there to join them.

Dave (S/V High Spirits) and Jeff (S/V Stravaig) brought guitars and Sonny took his harmonicas.   It was a fun afternoon.   Then, we all rode the Manatee back to its anchoring spot with dinghies in tow behind.   Then, the music broke out again.   We all stayed until dark before returning to our respective boats.

Another fun day in paradise.

Barneo has finished our fish carved out of ceiba wood.   It is a true piece of art.  We have collected items from various places we have been, and with Cholon being at the top of our list, we wanted something special from this area.   A local man hand carves detailed fish, shells, turtles, and coral out of one piece of wood.   We gave him the dimensions we needed to fit our boat and the type of fish we wanted carved. 

I varnished it this afternoon and we will be ready to hang it soon.

This morning we woke up, rowed to shore in time to meet Robert and Carmen at 7 a.m. to walk 2 miles together.

Then, after we returned to Valentina, we swam around the boat and Sonny cleaned on the bottom.

We glued the pieces to our dinghy motor part again.  Hopefully, it will work temporary until we get our new one from the US.

Then, we drilled holes in our wooden fish aquarium and attached them to the wall.  What do you think?

We are proud of our new addition to Valentina	We have 12 fish, one seahorse, and one turtle swimming in the coral.	Our seahorse, hogfish, and angelfish	Our parrotfish	Our turtle

Reminiscing.....our favorite hogfish catches....see why we had one carved into our aquarium.

We have collected things during our travels from the locals and are so excited to have something from Baru, one of our favorite places to stay.

Some others are:

When we arrived at the Dry Tortugas, we bought this chart.  We use it to update our travels, track hurricanes, and track our friends as they make passages.	This is one of Venancio's molas.  He is a well-known master mola maker in San Blas. I made a cover for our flat screen TV, which we never watch.  Just too many beautiful sunsets.	I also made some pillows for our v-berth out of some molas.

Whoa.......What is that noise I hear?   Sonny has the dinghy motor running!  How exciting!  Our super glue trick worked....so far.   We motored around this afternoon and it just keeps running.  We are so thankful!

The more news we get and the more we talk to friends and family on Skype, we realize the impact the economy has had on everyone.  Times are tough for everyone.   It doesn't matter who or where you are. 

But, I truly believe, that we all can look inward and make some cost-savings adjustments.   We can cut out most of the fluff (OK, I do like a variety of bathing suits) and just get back to the basics and live a simple lifestyle.   It has been so good for Sonny and I.   Health-wise and other-wise.   We have realized that we do not need a lot to survive and be content....we do need each other.

There are no restaurants here.  We cook every meal on the boat.  But, we have to admit, it is a lot more cost effective and healthier.  However....if there happened to be a Wendy's nearby, we would go there!  A cup of hot chili with cheese and onions, a delicious cheeseburger, and a frosty.....sure would hit the spot.   ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥    Honey, do they deliver?           Back to reality.....

We can all get by on less.....and be happy.  What do we really 'need'?  Stuff does not make you happy.   It binds you and controls you. 

Cruising has been a very enriching lifestyle for us.   Our health has greatly improved since we left. 

After making the initial investment to sufficiently equip our boat, we are so thankful to be able to trust God for our rain water, solar and wind power that we can survive in an anchorage....for weeks at a time......for free.   We have now been here, since our quick trip into Cartagena, since August 30th (16 days) on anchor, and are still full charged.  We have not had to start our engine or generator to charge our batteries once.   Our solar panels really do make a difference.   We use our watermaker every three days to maintain close to 1/2 tank (100 gallon tank) of water so if it rains, we can still top our tanks off with rainwater.

With tonight's rain, we are now 4/4 full on water.   When you test the rain water with the water tester, it tests  purer than purchased bottled water.   What a way to go.   (OK, I will stop preaching).

We do live a simple lifestyle....but we have everything we need.  And, are very happy. 

Jeff and Josie came over tonight to watch our DVD of Roy Orbison, "Black and White".  Jeff is a musician and we all enjoyed watching and listening to the oldies. 

Our friends came down for the weekend and made his famous pailla.   Here are some of the steps:

And it was a delicious as it looks.

Senior Efrain is Martha's father.   When Martha told him that he was invited to go sailing with us on Valentina, he booked an airline ticket from Panama to come.

We had a nice, 4 hour sail into Cartagena.  The wind, however, began to clock around on our nose, the closer we got. 

Tootie called at 3, right when we were dropping the anchor.  We picked him up and he came out to Valentina.   He had to make some minor adjustments to our drink and binocular holder.  He got out his hammer and chisel and began working.  He does not use power tools, just a handsaw, chisel, and sandpaper.   He is a real wizard, with quality work.   We were very impressed and happy with the quality of his craftsmanship.

We stayed in the rolly Cartagena anchorage today, as we rushed around to the stores to get our necessary supplies.  But, at 6 p.m., the Swarma restaurant opens, so we stopped by there for a mixto (pork and chicken) swarma.  This is a definite stop for all cruisers coming to Cartagena.   Some come for boatwork....others come for a swarma. 

The wind was on our nose, so we had to motor the whole way.

It is so good to be back at a calm anchorage.

Robert and Carmen invited everyone up to their house this afternoon.  Pieter and Inge (S/V Barnae), Neil and Kathy (S/V Attitude), Gary and Louise (S/V Lulu), and us.  It was a good group and a good time.

Then, Gary and Louise (S/V Lulu),  Neil and Kathy (S/V Attitude) followed us in our dinghies through the mangroves to the village of Baru.

Kathy took some bouncy balls to give the kids and she looked like the Pied Piper.

We arranged for the water taxi to pick us up at Valentina for a ride in to Cartagena.   He picks you up at 5:30 a.m.   It was a pretty calm ride over the waves and we arrived at 6:15 a.m.

Gilberto and Martha picked us up at Carulla grocery store and our Matuti adventure began.

We arrived at Matuti and were greeted by our hosts.

The property of the Matuti finca is absolutely a paradise in the rainforest.   It is all totally natural with every shade of green plant imaginable.  You walk along a path and hear a noise, and it is a natural spring just bubbling up from the ground. 

Over the years, Enrique has developed the land into a church, a botanical garden and a water park for locals to come play.  When we were there, there were 450 people at the park.  It costs $7.750 ml to enter and that includes a day's fun in the water.   There are five swimming pools with slides, a canopy zip line, a huge water slide, a lake with paddle boats, and an area for kids with rope swings and playgrounds.   The water for the pools is totally supplied by the springs.   It is not real fancy, but it sure is fun.

There are also cabanas located in the forest.   We got to stay in one.  

But, when it is dark, it is really dark.  The cabana has a metal roof with an outside shower and bathroom.  A very nice place to relax and enjoy the beauty of nature.  When you awake, you hear the howler monkeys in the trees and the birds singing.  A true natural paradise.

By noon, he was feeling better, so we walked along the trails and swam in the pools.  There were a lot of families  at the park, and everyone was just having a fun time.

Taxis, busses, and motorcycles were everywhere, with horns honking constantly.   After we arrived in Cartagena, we took the water taxi back to the Bay of Cholon.

We arrived at Valentina at 11:00 a.m. and it was so very good to be home.

I was feeling bad today with fever.   We both ached, but it was our bones, not muscles.   Not sure what we got into, bpossibly food, but there were a lot of mosquitoes.   Thankfully, it only lasts one day.   I slept most of the day today and Sonny worked on the watermaker and made a trip into Baru in the dinghy.

This morning I walked with Carmen while Sonny had a local friend polishing our stainless steel on the boat.

Then I sanded and varnished our cockpit table and pieces.   They are beginning to look pretty good.  A few more coats and it will be ready to use.

It was just a beautiful sunset this evening.   Bright orange, red and yellow colors and rays of blue light magnified the sky.   We just continue to be thankful to be able to be here to enjoy this beauty.