LOG 1

LOG 3

LOG 17

LOG 19

 (Saturday)

Isla Mujeres to Puerto Aventuras

Our departure was poorly planned as it seems I failed to plan for the “Paperwork Cha Cha”.  This is the term used in Capt. Pat and John Rains cruising guide which is my bible for this trip.  We had to get Helena off the crew list and Howard Walter on the crew list.  This was no problem since Helena had an airline ticket but required a trip to Immigration.  They open at 9:00 but didn’t show up till 9:30.  Then to the Port Captain to wait in line to check out (I also discovered I was supposed to go there to check in and didn’t) so he checked us in and out.  1 hour and $98 (weekend rate) later I went back to Immigration, they are two blocks apart, to clear out with everyone’s passport, and then back to the Port Captain with the Immigration papers to get my Zarpa.  Done at 11:30!!!  I said goodbye to Helena who has decided to stay in Mexico and headed back to the boat.  Helena was a real pleasure to have aboard and quite a lady at 20 years old.  She is traveling alone for several months and is having a great time.  She and Scuttlebutt were quite a team together walking the docks, beaches, and downtown. Each time she took her for a walk, she came back with another date for the evening or an offer of a boat trip. The rest of us will miss her too.

Finally by 12:00 we were untied and underway.  The 58.8 mile trip to Puerto Aventuras was uneventful as we hugged the coast to avoid the Gulf Stream current.  We had a beam sea with 2 to 4 ft. waves for part of the trip so it was a bit rolly.  We had a nice view of the hotel skyline as we motored past Cancun You might as well been of the beach in Miami Beach!  Then it got more rural until Playa del Carmen where a small fishing village has gone bigtime with the tourist and real estate business.  The beach was active with tourist stuff from skydiving to windsurfers and beachfront property was developed everywhere.

At 6:30 we finally made the exciting entrance to Puerto Aventuras.  This would be impossible with large seas out of the East.  The channel is narrow and next to a reef on which the waves brake only a few feet from your boat.  It was sporting in the moderate seas we had today.  But, as soon as you proceed  down the channel, you are in a marina cut out of limestone and all I can say is WOW!

Scuttlebutt has died and gone to heaven.  She is allowed to go everywhere and there are several other dogs running around for her to play with.  She is doing great with her “restaurant manners” and loves going out to eat with us.

This is by far the nicest marina I have ever been in.  It puts Atlantis in Nassau to shame.  The grounds are beautiful; there are about a dozen restaurants, many nice shops and stores, and a huge dolphin enclosure. The entire area is just beautifully landscaped in a tropical marine type of motif.   We ate dinner at Richard’s (the owner is a transplant from Chicago) and watched Dolphins jump and play while we ate.  I cannot say enough about this place.  We have decided to stay here another day to check out the entire area and have reserved a rental car to go sightseeing.  By 10:30, after a big dinner and a few Margaritas, we were all exhausted so we went to bed to rest up for tomorrow.

LOG 20

 (Sunday)

Puerto Aventuras

The pickup for the rental car failed to materialize at 8:30 so I took off on foot to find the Budget office.  A lack of local knowledge caused me to walk about 2 miles to a destination ½ mile away.  Anyway, I finally found the Budget office in the Oasis Hotel and they knew nothing of my reservation.  But, “no problema” they had cars.  By 9:30 I was back at the boat with the keys in hand.

We were tied up at “Park Ave” slips at Pt. Aventuras and next to us was the sport fishing fleet.  These folks came from Texas and Florida with all their toys and prepared to fish and party.  They brought canopies, tables, BBQ’s, Deep fryers, chairs, TV’s and had a full camp going on the dock along side their boat.  Apparently the fishing was quite good!

We decided that we were in the mood for Huevos Rancheros for breakfast and set out in search of them.  We found them on the menu at the “Pub” restaurant and found their huevos to be just excellent. We sat around the Dolphin enclosure watching Dolphins play and hearing them spout as we enjoyed or Mexican breakfast. Then we watched the people doing their swim with the Dolphins as they got push rides, dorsal fin tows, and just played with the mammals. It was quite spectacular.

Then it was off to the car and a drive to Playa del Carmen.  We had passed this town on the ocean side and it looked interesting.  It was a fun place but very touristy however on a much lower key than Cancun.  There were numerous small hotels with pretty courtyards and of course venders and shops galore.  We walked along the beach for a while and Scuttlebutt got to play on the water.  We were advised by a local unhappy dog owner that dogs were no longer allowed on the beach and he asked us to sign a petition to reverse the regulation.  We ignored the rule and no one hassled us.   Howard, Scuttlebutt, and I sat down for a cervesa while Madonna wondered around a bit.

We then walked through the streets to look at the shops etc. as we meandered back to the car.  By the time we got there Scuttlebutt was dry so we loaded up to find more excitement.  We drove through many of the back roads of Playa del Carmen and then on to the main highway to look for underground rivers.

We drove South about 20 miles, passing our start point at Pt. Aventuras until we reached Akumal.  Here we found the beach road and wondered back north looking for the underground rivers and a pretty lagoon at Yalku.  We found the place but were a little disappointed and didn’t feel like swimming so we went back to an interesting bar we passed along the way.  This was a find! The Buena Vita bar sat on a low bluff overlooking Halfmoon Bay.  It was a lovely beach setting so we stayed and ordered a round of Margaritas and enjoyed the scenery for about an hour.  The bay was beautiful and Howard picked out a “Mermaid”  (a real “10”) he liked to watch go in and out of the water.

It had been a lovely day and we decided that we couldn’t find a better place to eat dinner than back around the Dolphin enclosure at Pt. Aventuras so we headed back to the boat to relax and clean up for dinner.  Madonna decided to stay on the boat and rest but Howard and I headed out in search of food.  We went back to the “Pub” restaurant and figured that if the rest of their food was as good as their Huevos Rancheros, we couldn’t go wrong.  We were right, we had the flank steak and it was a great meal.

The rest of the crew went to bed but I wasn’t going to let the car go to waste so I decided to take a look at the night life at Playa del Carmen.  Wow! The place comes alive at night as the streets near the beach are blocked of to vehicles and the bars and restaurants turn on their lights and party.  I wondered around with the crowd for about an hour and then went back to the boat and bed.

LOG 21

 (Monday)

Puerto Aventuras to Bahia de la Ascencion

Our original plan was to motor about 100 miles South to the Chinchorro bank but those plans soon went by the wayside.  We got underway at 8:00 to find the winds blowing about 15 Kts. out of the East giving us a 4 ft. beam sea.  This was uncomfortable but as the day wore on the winds and seas continued to build to become very uncomfortable.  For a while we were in 6 to 8 ft seas and taking serious spray on the flybridge.  Add to that a 2 kt. Current against us and it was soon evident we would have to choose a closer destination.

As we plowed through the seas, everything that wasn’t tied down flew around and at one point our wing door blew open as we took a big wave.  It seems that the worker who was supposed to re-bed those screws didn’t do a good job as the door latch piece blew out of the door jam.  A couple of big screws and it was fixed but not before the aft deck took a good dousing of sea water. It’s hard to get good help!

We stayed as close as possible to the shore to minimize the effect of the current and had a good look at the Mayan Ruins at Tulum from the sea.  Finally at 2:00 we turned into Bahia de la Ascencion.  As soon as we put the seas astern, it became quit comfortable and warm. After 3 attempts to get the CQR anchor to set in the lee of the Culebra Cays, I finally gave up and dropped my Fortress anchor.  This did the trick and we finally settled in for the night. I lowered the tender to take SB ashore and we cleaned up the mess on the boat.  By 4:00 we had our “lunch” now converted to dinner of South Holland Fish Soup, garlic bread, rice, and chips with Guacamole. Desert was the delicious Orange cake we bought from a Mexican Vender on the dock at Pt. Aventuras.

The rest of the evening will be spent doing logs, route planning, a few other chores and relaxing.

LOG 22

May 6, 2003 (Tuesday)

Bahia de la Ascencion

I got up early to take Scuttlebutt ashore and found a Cormorant (sea bird) sleeping in the cockpit.  I figured as I went to get aboard the dinghy he would fly away but he didn’t.  Soon I was petting this bird and moving him out of my way.  I took SB ashore and upon my return the bird was still there. Neither my presence of Scuttlebutt’s bothered this bird. He was quite tame and I thought maybe he was sick.  I played with him for a while and finally he decided it was time for breakfast as he jumped into the water and immediately dove for a fish.  I guess he was fine and he never came back.

The increasing winds from the day before continued to increase.  We had about 30 kts. out of the Southeast on occasion and figured that the 8 ft. seas we had on the way in were now 10 ft seas or greater.  Our anchorage in the lee of the Westernmost Culebra Cay was a bit rolly but reasonably secure and my Fortress Anchor has held flawlessly.  Because of the winds we decided to stay put for the day and spent the time working on the boat and relaxing.  Howard and I made jury-rigged repairs to the Bimini top, repaired the starboard side weather curtain, and pretty much repaired all the storm damage. 

In the afternoon, we decided to take a 5 mile adventure run in the dinghy to the settlement (described as a sleepy little fishing village) at Punta Allen. We crossed the bay in a moderate chop and found the town on the ocean side of the cay.  Here we tied up to the rickety municipal pier and explored the town.  We found the Vigia Grande restaurant/bar to be the happening place.  About 10 tourists from Italy were having lunch as part of their tour and were a lively group.  We had cervezas, some fresh coconut, and some chips and salsa.  The salsa was so good we took a quart of it back to the boat.

We continued the exploration and found the Cuzan guest house with its cute thatched roof cabanas on stilts. There little bar looked interesting too but we had already had our drinks and snacks. In about 40 minutes we toured the whole town including the tiny church, police station, the main business district, and all the beach bars.  It was a picturesque little town but I had forgotten my camera L.  We re-boarded the dinghy for the wet 5 mile ride back to the boat.  Howard and Scuttlebutt looked like drowned rats when we made it back.  Howard says, next time he’s driving!

Back at the boat, I cheered Howard up with a pitcher of Margaritas. Howard wanted to learn my secret recipe so he took notes. His comment was that there wasn’t enough tequila in it so I gave him a floater.  That got his attention.  It was now dinner time so Howard BBQ’d lamb chops, Madonna made corn on the cob, salad and garlic bread and soon we had another feast. Desert was Madonna’s delicious oatmeal cookies.

LOG 23

May 7, 2003 (Wednesday)

Bahia de la Ascencion

We got up early with the hopes of leaving but winds of up to 30 kts. quickly changed our mind.  The winds were howling around the boat as we rolled around a little still in the lee of the island.  We could only imagine what the wave heights would be outside the reef, about 5 miles away. With another stationary day, I took advantage of the time to fix the inoperative tachometer (the electrician working on the instrument project had failed to properly secure the instrument panel in the engine room and it fell out in the rough seas.)  I took it apart and found a loose wire that resulted from the panel dropping and it now works!  I also cleaned some sea strainers, stowed the sat tv dish, dried the bilges, and serviced the engines.  I got caught up on the logs and downloaded all my digital pictures into the computer.  Oh yes, I got my printer to work by re-installing the software.

In the afternoon, we had a nice seafood pasta salad lunch and then decided to enjoy a movie. We watched “We Were Soldiers” on DVD.  This helped take care of a few hours of the day waiting for the winds to subside.  I then challenged Howard to a game of Gin Rummy and as the wonderful host that I am, I let him one game out of five.  By 3:00 the winds had died down to about 15 kts so we are hopeful that we will be able to leave in the morning.

Today is Scuttlebutt’s Birthday!!!! She is three. I took a small exploration tour of our sheltering island and found a cove more dog-friendly than the one near the boat Scuttlebutt made her usual beach runs and then joined us for a BBQ’d chicken dinner. It will be an early night to bed and an early morning in hopes of moving on. Progress has been slow so far and I would like to pick up the pace of the trip a little.

LOG 24

May 8, 2003 (Thursday)

Bahia de la Ascencion to Puerto Aventuras

This morning the winds had died down a little, maybe to about 15 kts, so we spent 2 hours securing the boat and getting the anchor up to continue on in what we knew would be uncomfortable conditions. At 8:30 we started across the five mile bay, protected by the reef, and entered the open waters of the Yucatan Channel one more time.  It was soon evident that the seas were still 6 to 8 ft and building with the now increasing wind.  After about 30 minutes of this beating I decided that it was too rough and either we would break something or hurt someone so we turned around.  I apparently did not secure the dinghy properly as it was beginning to move a bit too.  With our stearn to the seas the Knotty Mind liked the ride a lot so after 3 days of sitting in the Bahia de la Ascencion, we rode the following sea and the following current 50 miles back to Puerto Aventuras instead of going back into the bay. 

We covered the 50 miles in about 5 hours with no mishaps and traversed the tricky harbor entrance with waves breaking all around us on the reef.  We discovered we were the first boat to enter the harbor that day and that the entrance had been closed for two days due to high surf.  It was great to be back in this perfectly sheltered marina with all the comforts.  We took on fuel, I used 158 gallons to go nowhere, and settled back into our same seawall spot on “Park Ave”.  After cleaning up the boat, we checked into the marina office which was easy because they just treated it as though we never left, so there was no paperwork required!

Howard and I hit the internet and the phones for about an hour and then I had my long awaited Margarita at Richards.  They had a steak and lobster special for 100 pesos ($10) so we stayed for dinner watching the dolphins play.  Scuttlebutt was back in doggie heaven as she again had the run of the place and other dogs to play with.  After dinner, we went back to the boat and an early sleep.  I was exhausted!

I was a bit discouraged with having to backtrack 50 miles and the failure to move forward with the trip but it looks like several more days before the winds and seas will subside and it is much nicer to wait here than out in the middle of nowhere in a big bay.

LOG 25

May 9, 2003 (Friday)

Puerto Aventuras

Another morning in Paradise but the winds still blow.   This is Howard’s departure day so we had breakfast aboard and he got packed for his departure. We said our goodbyes at the taxi stand as he boarded a taxi to Cancun airport at about 10:30. He will be back in LA tonight.  Madonna took a short ride with him in the cab to the gate of this complex where she went to explore the Pueblo Aventuras, the small Mexican town outside the resort/marina. This is the sort of thing Madonna likes best!

It was time to catch up on laundry so a quick radio call and the marina sent a cart to pick up all our laundry.  We had 3 big bags to send off and it all came back at 5:00 pm all washed, fluffed, folded and smelling nice. All for $30, picked up and delivered.

I had the usual boat chores to do.  We had sprung another leak in a water line at a sink fitting and fortunately Howard had brought me spare parts for this repair.  It was easily fixed.  I then turned my attention to the motorcycle.  I had to replace the clutch handle with a spare I bought in Cancun.  This took some modification of the handle because it didn’t fit right but a little filing and adjusting and it was done too. I then put the bike ashore so I would have wheels.

I walked over to the harbor entrance to check the sea conditions and watched a Mexican Navy patrol boat, about a 26 ft center console boat with twin 200 Mercury Motors, get blown out of the channel by a wave and run up on the reef.  The six sailors on the boat had to hustle to keep from sinking and/or having their boat destroyed on the rocks.  They were in the water, bailing the boat, running lines to the breakwater, and swimming anchors out to deeper water but finally managed to get their boat turned around into the breaking waves and back into the channel.  A fishing boat then towed them into the marina.  It was pretty exciting!

I made a couple of trips to the internet café and got caught up on email.  I watched the dolphins and the manatees play for a while and then took Scuttlebutt for a swim and then gave her a shampoo.  She needed it!  Finally, it was time for cocktails so Scuttlebutt and I walked to the Pub for an “XX” (Cerveza). 

My last adventure of the day was a failed attempt to ride my motorcycle to Playa Del Carmen, about 20 miles away.  About half way there it started raining so I turned around and hustled back to the marina. I stopped at the Omni Hotel next door for a nitecap and met a couple from Indianapolis and talked to them for about an hour.  Then back to the boat, gave SB a quick walk, and bed.

LOG 26

May 10, 2003 (Saturday)

Puerto Aventuras

Another lazy day in Paradise.  I did a long internet session in the morning after Scuttlebutt’s walk and called SB’s vet because she has developed a urinary tract infection.  I needed to find out the right antibiotic to give her.  Amoxicillin it is so now she gets 2 per day for a while.  I checked with the Dockmaster on a NOAA weather site he uses and spent the day making lists of things to do.  Then I didn’t do any of them!

I took the motorcycle and went exploring around the marina a bit.  I discovered a small bed and breakfast called Casa de Agua and the owners gave me a tour.  The place was spectacular. Then Madonna and I took off on the bike on a 30 mile ride to look for “cenotes”, fresh water underground pools sometimes found in caves that abound in the Yucatan Peninsula.  We found a nice one only a couple miles from the marina and have directions to another we can hike to along the beach tomorrow.

We then rode into Pueblo Aventuras and hit the local market and bought tortillas, fresh vegetables and fruit, and an assortment of goodies.  Then we walked across the street to a small family house where they were selling “pollo asada” (BBQ’d chicken) and we bought a whole chicken with salad, frijoles, pasta, salsa and more tortillas all for $5.  We took our feast back to the boat and had a nice dinner with fresh watermelon for desert. I headed out into the Marina for cocktails and met a family from Michigan whom I partied with fro a while and then went back to the boat.  I hooked up the cable tv to the dock and found only 3 channels.  I am south of the Direct TV footprint so no satellite tv for a long time. Now I get CNN and 1 movie channel and 1 sports channel.  I fell asleep watching a movie…….

LOG 27

May 11, 2003 (Sunday)

Puerto Aventuras

The winds are starting to die down a bit and the fishing boats went out in mass for the first time today in a long time.  We are tied up on “Park Ave” where all the sportfishing boats, mostly from Texas, are docked and they have quite a little set up here.  I am hopeful the winds will stay down for a while and we can leave tomorrow or Tuesday.

Today, I fixed the dinghy bilge pump and did my internet thing.  Then I decided to take SB on the beach walk I planned yesterday.   Madonna joined us and we walked about a mile and a half along the beach, first in front of the hotel and then in front of private houses. At the end of that bay we then swam across a small inlet to another small peninsula and then on to another small bay.  After a hike down some dirt roads and narrow trails, we found some nice houses, a small Mayan ruin and a large cenote.  It was an enjoyable exploration hike and of course Scuttlebutt was in and out of the water the whole time.

On the return, a boat gave us a ride across the inlet.  We walked back down the beach and then we stopped at the beach bar at the Omni Hotel and had a couple cervezas sitting in the shade of the palapa and watching the action on the beach.  Scuttlebutt laid in the shade with us in a cute pose with her glass between her legs.  After relaxing for about a half hour, we returned to the boat. 

I took a siesta and then about 6pm, I headed out on the motorcycle to Playa Del Carmen.  Here I snacked at the various venders, looked in the shops, and sampled a couple of the bars.  There was a pretty good crowd of people wondering around and it was a pleasant warm night.  At about 11 pm, I rode the 12 miles back the boat and went to bed.

LOG 28

May 12, 2003 (Monday) and May 13, 2003 (Tuesday)

Puerto Aventuras, Mexico to Caye Caulker, Belize

I made my usual early morning wakeup and took Scuttlebutt for her walk.  This routine consisted of a walk to the inlet to check the sea conditions and the wind each morning.  The winds had died down to below 15 kts. and the seas looked much better so I decided it was time to go.  The departure procedure took quite some time and consisted of loading the motorcycle, re-securing the dinghy, checking email, checking out of the marina, and more. 

We finally left the dock at 12:40 and headed South.  The seas were running 2 to 4 ft. with an occasional 6 footer and were on the beam but compared to previous experience, it was tolerable.  We passed abeam Bahia de la Ascencion at about 6 pm and decided to run through the night as the seas were not too bad and had subsided some.  We had a nice moon and took turns standing watch.  At about 2 am we entered the calm water in the lee of the Chinchorro Bank, one of 3 coral atolls in the Western hemisphere. I tried to approach the reef and anchor in the shallow sandbank but as the GPS said I was on dry land, I was still in 1000 ft. of water.  So, I went as close as I dared in the darkness and then let the boat drift in the calm water and easterly wind for a couple hours while we both slept. (A careful check of the GPS showed us drifting in a safe direction)

At sunup, we approached the reef to see it and then we resumed our voyage for the 46 mile crossing to San Pedro on Ambergris Cay in a 4 to 6 ft. quartering sea. After fighting a 1 to 3 knot Gulf Stream current all the way from Pt. Aventuras, we finally arrived off the San Pedro cut at about 1:00 pm and negotiated the cut into the calm water behind the reef.  This was exciting as we literally surfed through the cut in breaking waves and had to make a hard right turn in the cut to stay in the channel.  Once inside, we found 7 to 10 ft. of turquoise blue water.

We decided to bypass the town of San Pedro and press on another 10 miles to Cay Caulker. This was a smooth run inside the reef.  We anchored in the lee of the island in 10 ft. of water on a sandy bottom.  I immediately, at SB’s insistence, put the tender down and we headed ashore. This is a quiet village with sand streets, few cars, lots of golf carts, and many small shops, restaurants, and dive shops. (San Pedro it seems is a busy tourist trap type town with lots of cars and touristy stuff)  Scuttlebutt went 27 hours without a pit stop and was happy to be ashore.  She parked herself at the first patch of grass for a while. 

Madonna, SB and I explored the town from one end to the other.  It was off season and very quiet but there were several tourists and locals around.  At the North end of town we found the “Lazy Lizard Bar and Grill at the Split”.  This seemed to be the sunset watering hole for most everyone.  It is located at a cut in the island that was formed by Hurricane Hattie in 1961 and turned into a beautiful spot for a bar and a nice place to swim and watch the sunset.  The current rips through there.

Heading back into town, we decided to have dinner at the Paradise restaurant. Scuttlebutt was allowed inside to sit under the table while we ate. I started with a great Margarita and then had a wonderful meal of a whole fried fish in garlic butter while Madonna devoured a delicious garlic chicken.  Bananas fried in rum served with vanilla ice cream topped off the meal. We chatted with a local dive master (and dog lover) and her husband. Madonna inquired about some friends she made here 3 years ago on her previous visit and learned about their departure from the Cay.

Everyone here was very friendly and Scuttlebutt had lots of friendly dogs to play with.  She was happy to be able to run, swim and play after being cooped up on the boat for so long. We continued our exploration of the town after dinner and bought some groceries at the convenience store.  Earlier, we had picked up a case of diet coke at the Cay Caulker Beverage distributor and left it in the dinghy.

By 9 pm we were headed back to the boat to give SB a now much needed bath and rest up after our long leg.  It was a pleasant night in a calm anchorage.

LOG 29

May 14, 2003 (Wednesday)

 Caye Caulker, Belize to Sopodilla Lagoon, Belize

We started the day leisurely by taking Scuttlebutt to town in the dinghy and stopping at the bakery to stock up on bread, sticky buns, hamburger buns and chicken empanadas.  We were set for breakfast and lunch!  We finally got under way at 1030 and motored slowly by Cay Chapel, a classy resort being developed, and through the shallow channels of Porto Stuck and Swallow Cay Bogue to emerge in front of Belize City. 

We passed close ashore the waterfront of Belize City and picked up the Inner Channel heading south.  This is an open area of water about 40 ft. deep that runs along the mainland of Belize but sheltered by the barrier reef and the vast number of cays.  It was a pleasant cruise with 10 kts. of wind out of the east and 1 ft. seas.  Our late departure and slow going in the shallows limited our range for the day so we picked the Sopodilla Lagoon just south of Sittee Point as our overnight anchorage. 

Then I screwed up.  I took the point entering the lagoon too closely to starboard and ran aground.  Not good!  I was able to push the Knotty Mind back into deep water with the tender and we continued into the Lagoon and anchored in 10 ft. of water in what would qualify as a hurricane hole type anchorage. We were sheltered 360 degrees by mangroves and the anchor was buried deeply in soft mud.   I dove on the anchor then checked the prop.  Bad news.  One blade on the port prop was badly bent!  We will have to go slow tomorrow and change a prop when we get to the yards in the Rio Dulce, now 65 miles away.

The good news was that I found that the bottom painters had painted the water intake for the aft generator almost closed.  I cleared it and now the generator is getting enough water for the first time since my haul out.  Win some and lose some.  We took Scuttlebutt about 3 miles south to the nearest beach where she made a quick swim in, did her thing and a quick swim back.  The surf was a little too rough on the beach for me to beach the dinghy.  Good Dog!!  Bad news, the dinghy was having a fuel problem and we barely made it back to the boat. I will troubleshoot this in the morning. I think it is an easy fix.

Now its BBQ’d burgers for dinner and maybe a movie for entertainment.  Tomorrow will be a busy day with things to fix and 65 miles to run to Livingston. 

LOG 30

May 15, 2003 (Thursday)

 Sopodilla Lagoon, Belize to New Haven Lagoon, Belize

The day started well.  We were up and on our way by 8:30 but we had to pretty much run on one engine due to the bent prop.  We got to the Inner Channel and headed south with the wind and the seas behind us doing about 8 knots.  It was a beautiful sunny day but a study of the cruising guide and the charts revealed that if we went all the way to Livingston, we would arrive late in the afternoon and at low tide.  Since there is a shallow sand bar to cross into the Rio Dulce, and the Port Clearance paperwork takes most of a day, it was not a good plan. 

So, with time to burn, we stopped at Placentia Cay, a “must see” according to the cruising guide, to sightsee.  We dropped anchor among the ½ dozen sailboats in the harbor and dinked ashore.  We were greeted by the quarantine inspector who wanted to inspect the boat.  I explained I had a mechanical problem and he allowed us to go to the Moorings Office (they have a big operation here) and inquire about getting a prop change.  We learned that the only facility in Belize to do that was in Belize City so we opted to press ahead where we can get it done in Rio Dulce.

The inspector was waiting when we returned so we took him out to the boat where he checked our food and confiscated some our fresh fruit and vegetables. (probably for his dinner).  He also checked Scuttlebutt’s paperwork very carefully but said she could stay too.  He completed his forms and got his $12.50 fee.  We took him back to shore and then took a 1 hour walk through town, consisting of one main street and one “sidewalk”.  It was a quaint town that suffered a direct hit from a hurricane in 2001 and had not yet totally recovered.  It had some cute shops and restaurants though. The biggest thing happening now was that the Whale Sharks were feeding in the area and everything was about snorkel trips to see the Whale sharks.

After our hour tour, we re-boarded the Knotty Mind and headed further south.  The goal was to position ourselves so we could arrive at Livingston around 9:00 am (high tide).  I initially picked West Snake Cay as an anchorage for ease of entry and exit but when we got there the winds had picked up to 15 to 20 kts out of the northeast.  It was much to rolly so we headed over to the totally protected New Haven Lagoon.  Here we looked for Hard Luck Charlie, mentioned in our 6 year old cruising guide but his hard luck had run out and his place was abandoned. The lagoon was surrounded by mangroves and a few narrow beaches where Charlie had set up his marine railway and built his house out of local materials.  The remains of each were still there. Scuttlebutt appreciated the beaches.

We settled in for a comfortable night and Madonna cooked some of the fish we obtained from the Cuban fisherman while I washed the starboard side of the boat’s hull.  With the new paint, this was easy as the generator soot just washed right off.  After dinner, we had banana cupcakes made from bananas that Madonna had hidden from the quarantine inspector.  The fish and the desert were wonderful.  Tomorrow we will try for an early start so as to make the tide at Livingston.   At about 11:00 pm I went outside to check the anchor and our position before bed.  I noticed it was exceptionally dark outside and then wondered what happened to our almost full moon.  Then, to my surprise, I discovered we were in the midst of an almost full eclipse of the moon!  Wow, that was a big surprise and pretty exciting to see from this very dark vantage point.

LOG 31

May 16, 2003 (Friday)

 New Haven Lagoon, Belize to Livingston, Guatemala and on to Cayo Grande

We were up at the crack of dawn and had the boat ready to go and SB ashore before 7 am.  We followed our GPS trail out of the tricky anchorage in the early morning light and worked our way out to the Inner Channel.  All was going well and we motored along at 8 kts on one engine with a gentle following sea.  It developed into a perfectly beautiful day.  We crossed the Bay of Honduras passing a big freighter and a small sailboat and motored the total of 29 miles in less than four hours arriving at 10:00 am. (1 Hour time zone change)

Arriving at the dreaded Livingston sandbar at high tide made the crossing easy and we never had less than 3 ft. of water under us.  It is wonderful when a plan works!  We anchored in front of the municipal dock and in about 30 minutes the Port Captain and Immigration Officer (a pleasant young lady) boarded us.  The Port Captain is a Guatemalan Naval Lieutenant and was wonderful and informative.  I cannot imagine a more enjoyable check in.  There was no search and very little paperwork.  A check of SB’s papers and she was good to go too.  They took our passports and ships papers and told us to come to their offices to pick up our documents and pay our fees.  There was no problem with the fact that we had one less person (Howard flew home) than on our Zarpa crew list and that we had dispatched to Belize and then never checked in there.  They were happy with my explanation and I was happy to have avoided the time consuming process of checking into and out of Belize.

We got organized and went ashore about 30 minutes after they left.  What a wonderful place!  There were shops, bars and restaurants of all types.  It was very “third world” but had a nice charm to it.  All the people were very friendly and once again Scuttlebutt was a big hit.  We went to the bank to change currency (7.74 to 1) and then picked up our passports and visas.  Then the customs officer found us on the street and guided us to his office.  He wanted to get the paperwork done during the brief moment his electricity was working. He had a computerized system and didn’t want to have to do it manually.  He was wonderful too!  He helped with reservations ahead at a marina where I could get my prop changed and was extremely helpful.  I even invited him to come with us.

We had a 2:00 pm appointment with the Port Captain to get the remainder of our paperwork so we went to the Happy Fish restaurant for lunch.  We tried the local dish, tapado, a rich stew made from fish, crab, shrimp and other seafood, coconut, plantain, banana and spiced with coriander.  It was fabulous! The restaurant was also an Internet Café so we checked our email while there.  After lunch we went to the Port Captain’s office and he had our paperwork ready to go. His office was in a small Naval Detachment compound and it was in a beautiful spot on the hill overlooking the harbor. We had paid a total of $55 US in fees and were good to go for 90 days in Guatemala! Very painless and everyone was just as friendly as can be!

It was time to head up the river and through the 6 mile gorge!  This was spectacular to say the least.  With jungle covered cliffs on both sides the scenery was magnificent and the water was over 60 ft. deep in many places.  Add to it local dugout canoes, high speed water taxis, and an assortment of thatched roof buildings along the shore and it couldn’t have been more picturesque. There were some restaurants/bars along the way, a hot spring, and some tributaries to explore, but this would have to wait.  It was late and we needed to make a safe anchorage.

We anchored for the night at the start of El Golfete on the northeast side of Cayo Grande.  After getting the hook down, we jumped in the tender and found the Biotopo Chocon Machacas.  This is a Manatee and nature preserve which we will visit in the morning.  Then it was back the other way about ½ a mile to the Restaurant Los Palafitos.  The cruising guide said they served cold beer but what does it know?  They serve no alcoholic beverages so we had soft drinks with tortillas and salsa.  It was a beautiful setting and we watched the kids play in the river.  Scuttlebutt was a hit with the little baby.

Then it was back to the boat and an early night as tomorrow we will do some exploration and check into a marina where we can get our prop changed, and can catch up on things.

LOG 32

May 17, 2003 (Saturday)

 Cayo Grande to Mario’s Marina, Rio Dulce, Guatemala

It rained very hard most of the night so the Knotty Mind got a good bath, desalted, and is now living in fresh water.  The morning was clear and dead calm as we woke up to a beautiful panoramic view of jungle all around us.  The first order of business was to return to the Restaurant Los Palafitos where the evening before I had taken pictures of the family there.  I printed them out and they came out quite nice so we dropped them off as a present to the family.

Then we dinked over to the Biotopo Chocon Machacas and walked the nature trail through the jungle.  Scuttlebutt was not allowed inside but the staff at the entrance doggie sat for us.  The half hour hike through the jungle was quite pleasant and besides the sounds of the jungle, the most interesting creature was the leaf cutter ants.  They worked like an army and cut leaves from tries and carried pieces back to their nest.  The pieces they carried were much bigger than they were.

After our nature hike, we returned to the Knotty Mind sitting in her pristine anchorage where I did some clean-up work on the hull and the bottom.  It was great to swim in fresh warm water.  By 12:30, we were ready to motor the remaining 12 miles to Mario’s Marina in Rio Dulce.  I had selected this place because their advertising in Livingston had said they had new satellite internet, phone/fax service, 50 amp / 220 V power and could arrange for anything a boater needed.  I told them about my prop problem on my call from Livingston.  Well, 3 hours after our 2:30 arrival, they were still trying to get the 50 amp power to the boat and it seems the satellite system had not arrived yet.  Steve Pigott, they need you here badly!!!!! 

Oh well, they did have a diver standing by to do my prop but his dive equipment didn’t arrive.  No problem there, if there is anything this boat is ready to do, its dive! I gave him what he needed and the prop change began.  It will continue on into tomorrow it seems and probably on into Monday.  No problem, no hurry, as they say here, this is Guatemala!  We have plenty to do here anyway, lots to see.

The shore power finally got fixed hooked up but after an hour we smoked the box so we had to run our generator for the night.  It took a little more than three hours after I arrived for me to even get off the dock but finally, I explored the Marina and found the restaurant and bar.  Both the owner, Brian, and our next door neighbor Tom, an American named                   living on his sailboat Whisper II,  ho worked hard on the power problem for hours met us in the bar.  I said I’d buy Tom’s dinner if he guided us downtown in the dinghy.  So the three of us piled in and headed for his favorite Chinese restaurant, Dim Sum.  Dinner was great and so was listening to the Rio Dulce stories from Tom who has lived here for several years. He gave us many insights as to what goes on around here.

After dinner we dinked back to the Marina with a brief look at “Backpackers” hostel.  It was quite the happening place with bar and restaurant and a pretty good crowd.  I will return there another night.  It had been a long, hot afternoon so it was time for a good nights sleep.

LOG 33

May 18, 2003 (Sunday)

 Mario’s Marina, Rio Dulce, Guatemala

This was a sort of Lazy Sunday.  I started the day by getting my ship’s log up to date and transferring fuel so I could close out my fuel matrix on the ship’s log.  Calculations now show 865 gallons on board as we start preparations for the next leg of the journey which will take us back down the Rio Dulce and into Honduras.  I spilled a little diesel fuel during my transfer so I did some clean up too.

I spent some time hanging around the marina and talking to some of the cruisers and found out some more info on the routes from here to Panama. Finally, around 12:30 we got organized and took the dinghy to the town to check things out.  We walked the somewhat crowded busy streets of Fronteras for a while looking at the commercial traffic, vendors, open air markets, eco tour offices and cheap hotels. Then we settled into the Rio Bravo Restaurant for a pizza and cevichi lunch.  The lunch was good but the ambiance of looking out over the river from the waterfront restaurant was even better.

After lunch, we took the dinghy for a great circle tour of the Fronteras and Relleno waterfront area including the Castillo San Felipe.  This classic fort was built at the entrance to Lago Izabal in 1652 to protect the Spanish treasure ships from pirate attack. Today it stands as a park and museum. 

After the waterfront tour, we stayed around the marina as it was starting to rain.  It had been a pleasant day and tomorrow will be a busier one with work to do on the boat and many sights still to see.  The progress on the prop change didn’t happen today but hopefully will resume on Monday. We are still having shore power problems as periodically we burn up some wires on the dock and short out the system.  They are used to sailboaters here, not power guzzeling power boats.

Joanne, one of the marina owners, asked us if we would like to go on Tuesday to Finca Paraiso to view the hot spring and waterfall and the Mayan town of _________(name will be supplied later) to donate medical supplies and give first aid to the people there. This should be interesting and a chance for me to apply my EMT skills which I haven’t used in a long time.  So, we will be here until at least Wednesday it seems. It would be very easy just to stay here for a long time! 

The weather pattern here is quite predictable it seems.  Dead calm at dawn and sunset, wind out of the West in the morning, stronger out of the East in the afternoon, and rain most of the night. Temperatures are pretty warm and humid but cools with the rain at night. The area is beautiful.  Tomorrow the Marina office opens at 8:00 am having been closed on Sunday so I will get internet access again and send logs, etc.

LOG 34

May 19, 2003 (Monday)

 Mario’s Marina, Rio Dulce, Guatemala

 I started the day early, the sun rises here about 5:15am, and tackled a few maintenance problems.  About a week ago, my forward generator had leaked coolant into the drop pan and overheated due to the low coolant level.  I decided it was finally cool enough in the engine room to go in and find the leak.  After an hour of running the generator, (with me crammed in behind it) it was still dry as a bone so I have no idea where it was leaking.  So, I just tightened all the clamps and did an oil change to accomplish something. I removed the sound shield and will run without it so I can monitor the generator more closely.  Next, since I was in the oil change mode, I changed the oil on the aft generator too.  It now seems that I have both generators working well. (I don’t know how people can get by with only 1!)

Randy, the mechanic/diver changing the prop had walked by while I was busy in the engine room.  I assumed he would be back soon but when he hadn’t returned by 1 pm. I went looking for him.  He and my next door neighbor Tom don’t get along and somehow on his walk by, he decided that Tom had stolen the job from him and so he had washed his hands of the whole thing.  Tom helps out the marina and was working to fix the constant shore power problems only and Randy only saw what he wanted to see.  I told Randy he was hallucinating so he went to finish the prop removal.  Bad news!  He couldn’t get the prop off!  The key way was bent and he thinks the boat will need a haul out to get it off.  Things don’t happen quickly here but there is a yard with a railway here that can haul the boat.  The guy from the yard was out of town so we will have to wait till tomorrow to talk to him.

Next, I went to the office to connect to the internet and that went great.  As in Isla Mujeres, AOL has dial up numbers for Guatemala and I was able to get a very good connection at about 56k. So, the logs went out and I am well connected while I’m here.

The rest of the day was spent just hanging around the marina talking to the other cruisers, playing with Scuttlebutt, filming the Leaf Cutter ants and relaxing a bit.  The marina puts on a pot luck dinner party in the evening so we brought steaks to BBQ and Madonna made a killer chocolate cake to share.  It was the 24^th anniversary of one couple,  Carl and Mary, on the sailboat Camryka,  so we helped celebrate that and had a pleasant evening.      

LOG 35

May 20, 2003 (Tuesday)

 Mario’s Marina, Rio Dulce, Guatemala

Land trip to Canyon La Bocoron

This was to be a big day!  Madonna and I signed on to go to a remote Mayan village with a team of missionaries to do a medical clinic.  We departed Mario’s Marina at about 8:30 in the marina launch with Joann (one of the marina owners) and Linda (off  S/V Destiny and without her husband Doug) to go to town to meet the rest of the team and pick up the marina van, a 1999 Kia.  We met Karen and Mike, a couple living here and running the clinic in Fronteras.  We then boarded the van and drove to the missionaries home, Bryan and Rochielle, to pick them up and head out to the village.  This made a team of 8 people to treat the population of a small remote village for whatever ails them.  This village usually gets no medical attention and lives very poorly with little or no education.

We arrived the village of La Bocoron at about 10:30 after a trip down dirt roads with one pit stop at Finca Paraiso and immediately started to set up our equipment under a line of Palapas.  We had Bryan, a full fledged Paramedic set up the triage station and then we had a pharmacy station, a vitamin station, and a wash down and wound treatment station.  That was me and Madonna. The rest of the team members were thrilled that we volunteered to “glove up and get dirty” as they put it.  I got to put my long dormant EMT skills to work treating and dressing wounds on both the adults and kids and assisting Madonna with the washing of the infants and kids and treating them for Scabies, Head lice and a variety of other ailments.  After we undressed them and washed them we found a variety of skin problems, infections, injuries, and unfortunately many indications of child abuse. We referred these things back to Bryan for meds and treated what we could.  We had a pretty good assortment of drugs, antibiotics, and first aid equipment, all donated by churches and doctors in the US.

We did all that we could with what we had and treated about 50 patients. It went very smoothly and everyone worked hard and pitched in in all areas. All in all, it was a most rewarding experience and it was great fun to do the EMT thing again.  The village supports itself by the fact that it sits at the base of a beautiful jungle canyon with a stream running through it. The few tourists that get this far out are treated to a wonderful experience. We were given a free boat ride up the canyon as thanks for our efforts.  The canyon was spectacular!  Steep sides, jungle right down to the stream, interesting rock formations and caves on both sides.  The ride was one to remember.

After leaving the La Bocoron, we drove down to the Finca El Paraiso and after a delicious tailgate lunch, we hiked up to the hotspring waterfall at Rio Aguas Caliente.  Here there was a nice pool with a pretty waterfall flowing into it with very hot water from a hot spring above the falls.  It was pretty and quite refreshing.  After this restful stop, we re-boarded the van for the hour long drive back to Fronteras and the boat ride to the marina.  It had been a wonderful day and we had helped a bunch of people and made some new friends. 

If anyone is interested in the hands on activities of these two missionaries, Bryan and Riechelle Buchanny, the can be reached at :  junglemedic@pocketmail.com      They are two wonderful people with whom I hope to stay in contact.  When it comes to helping people and the utilization of donations of money, medicines, etc. they are “where the rubber meets the road” so to speak, as they are the ones in the field “gloving up” and doing the dirty work.  They do a great job and it was an honor to participate with them.

LOG 36

May 21, 2003 (Wednesday) & May22 (Thursday)

 Mario’s Marina, Rio Dulce, Guatemala

Land trip to Guatemala City

The haul out to change my prop is now scheduled for Friday morning so we decided on some more land based trips.  Madonna wanted jungle and ruins so she took off on a 3 day trip to Tikal to see the greatest Mayan ruins in all of Mexico and Central America.  I, on the other hand wanted to see more of the Guatemala of today so I opted to go with Joann on her overnight shopping trip to Guatemala City and the drop off of Major and Rose off the boat “Airborne” in Antigua.

This turned out to be quite a trip.  The drive from Rio Dulce through Guatemala City and on to Antigua was about 5 1/2 hours. The roads were pretty good but lots of trucks to pass on hills We Left at 7:30 and arrived in Antigua about 1:00.  On the way into Guatemala City we had a “ Big Mac Attack so we stopped at McDonalds for a Big Mac, FF & a Coke. Then, on through Guatemala City with a few wrong turns and then off to Antigua.   Antigua is a lovely tourist town with the old Guatemalan motif but lots of fine shops, restaurants, parks, and small intimate hotels beautifully built into the old buildings.  You could wonder the streets for days there and have a great time.  I have put that on my list of places to return to.  In fact, they have live in language schools there and it would be the perfect place to do that.

Joann and I then returned to Guatemala City to shop.  What can I say?  They have every major chain including a Price Mart (Costco), Office Depot, deluxe Supermarkets, and first class malls.  Much of Guatemala City is very upscale.  We shopped all afternoon and attempted to get some items picked up from customs and finally checked into the Los Proceres Hotel at about 8:30.  It was a small clean hotel for about $25.  Then we ate a fabulous dinner at a local Guatemalan restaurant and called it a night about 11:30.

The next day started at 7:30 where we picked up where we left off.  The marina supports a small market and a restaurant so there is always plenty to buy.  By 1:00 we had filled up the van and completed the shopping list.  It was another 4 hour drive, with the 1^st half in heavy truck traffic back to Fronteras where it was “Taco Night” at Mario’s Marina.  I pigged out on tacos and assorted Latin American items.  Then it was to bed for an early night.

All in all, the experience of seeing the Guatemalan countryside and the big city was enlightening.  I had no idea what any of Guatemala looked like and now after driving through 500 kilometers of it, I have a bit of a feel for the country.

LOG 37

May 23, 2003 (Friday)

 Mario’s Marina, Rio Dulce, Guatemala

With Madonna on her trek to Tikal, I had a nice quiet night on board with Scuttlebutt.  I awoke early (sunrise is before 6am here) and started my chores.  I put together a VHS and a CD for Bryan and Riechelle, did logs, internet, and then started on a few boat projects.

The bad news of the morning was that my haul out was rescheduled to Monday morning because of a delay in finishing the boat work in progress.  What else is new?  Yard work that doesn’t get done on time.  Oh well, this is a great place to be stuck.  I hired the local boat cleaning crew ($3.00 per hour) to wash down my boat and clean the stainless.  They created a new problem by ripping a tear in my window cover and pulling out many of the snaps.  This is the “Guatemalan Two Step”, one step forward and two steps back.  Oh well, another problem to work!

By noon I was ready to go exploring but I got into the dinghy and it wouldn’t run on all cylinders so I decided to work the problem.  I tried everything I could do and by 3 pm I gave up and yelled for help.  The local Guatemalan outboard mechanic,              , came to my rescue in 30 minutes and after an hour and ½ of work, including cleaning the carburetors, it seemed to be running great again.  It became apparent that the guy in Key West ripped me off for the carb job he didn’t do.  All this work for about $40.00 including a tip!

By now it was 5 pm. and Madonna was waiting at Rio Bravo (a restaurant in town) to be picked up so I made the test run a trip to town to get her. it ran  just fine so hopefully, tomorrow will be a dinghy exploration day.  I went downtown for a beer and a snack and again enjoyed the cevichi at Rio Bravo.  Town was pretty quiet so I came back about 10:30 and went to bed.

LOG 38

May 24, 2003 (Saturday)

 Mario’s Marina, Rio Dulce, Guatemala

Ronnie the Canvas Man came by in the morning and looked at my window cover and said he could fix it and be done by the afternoon.  Good deal, he took it with him and I hoped for the best.  I did other boat chores, the internet thing, refueled the dinghy, and tinkered around all morning and then by 1:00 I was ready for the day’s adventure.

Madonna and I were going to give the dinghy the ultimate test and take it to explore Lago de Izabal, a 30 mile long and 15 mile wide lake upstream on the Rio Dulce from Fronteras.  We headed out in calm waters past the Castillo San Felipe and explored the South shore of the lake.  It was shallow in spots and they have a problem with weeds growing thickly to the surface so we had to stay away from shore sometimes.

We motored about 18 miles to the town of Mariscos.  Here we found a pleasant waterfront restaurant and decided it was lunch time.  I had a whole fried Marraja, river perch, and it came with a big plate of rice, salad, tortillas, and vegetables. It turned out to be a feast.  I enjoyed laying in the hammock while waiting for the food and playing with their pet Toucan that wanted very badly to bite me.

After Mariscos, we headed out on the glassy calm lake to find Denny’s Beach.  A Cayucos,  canoe like skiff, came by sporting the name Denny’s Beach on the bow, and pointed the way.  Denny’s beach was almost deserted this late in the day but Scuttlebutt was greeted by a Chow dog that liked her a lot.  We walked around a bit and then loaded the dinghy to head back.

The ride back got a bit choppy as the afternoon easterly winds kicked up a bit but we crossed to the North side of the lake and looked at the other shore.  We passed the beautiful La Mansion Resort and Marina which looked beautiful from the water.  Then we headed back to the boat arriving about 5:30 pm.  I was amazed to find that the canvas cover was back on my windshield and the boat was pretty clean and shiny.  I think the marina picked up the bill for the canvas work as they should since it was their workers who damaged it.

It was now Saturday night in Rio Dulce so I headed out to the action.  I took Scuttlebutt and Karen, my neighbor Tom’s Honduran girl worker, with me and we headed to the Backpackers Hotel where there was a big fiesta.  Baloons, disco lights, loud music, the works.  It wasn’t hard to find the place in the darkness. Scuttlebutt was a hit in the bar and made friends with Pedro, a little kitten.  SB had her one cerveza cocktail and I had a few cervezas (about 6) and I started dancing with Karen but soon she wore me out so she took off to dance with all the local guys. As soon as I gave the guys permission to dance with who they thought was my woman, I couldn’t buy another drink.  Cold cervezas kept showing up in my hand. About 10 pm Scuttlebutt had had enough and she walked back to the dinghy and went to sleep.  By midnight I was beat so I told Karen I was leaving.  She said goodnight and I made the mile and a half run back to the marina with just Scuttlebutt.  Karen didn’t get home until late the next afternoon.

LOG 39

May 25, 2003 (Sunday)

 Mario’s Marina, Rio Dulce, Guatemala

I spent the morning recovering from the night before.  Scuttlebutt and I were both hung over and slept until almost noon.  Then, I slowly got moving and I serviced the dinghy for the day’s next adventure.  We headed out about 2 pm and headed up the Rio Cienaga.  This was a narrow tributary to the Rio Dulce and wondered for about 8 miles through jungle, farm lands (fincas) and by some small villages.  It was a beautiful trip.  The river got shallow as we progressed and there were numerous sunken logs to pose as navigational hazards. At one point we thought we could go no further when a cayuca came along and showed us a hidden channel. So we pressed on. But, we made it in to about the end and out and had a delightful scenic ride.

We had dinner plans with Bryan and Riechelle so Madonna, Scuttlebutt and I  motored to Brunos at 5:30 where Bryan picked us up and took us to their home after a short tour of their village.  They have a comfortable place in the beautiful village of Castille San Filepe.  It can sleep up to 18 people when they have medical teams come in to go to the villages. Riechelle prepared a wonderful dinner of Rosemary Chicken with all the trimmings.  Then we listened to missionary stories and showed each other pictures on our computers.  They lead the most interesting life imaginable and can entertain with stories and pictures for hours. The hit of the night was their 3 month old pet parrot.  I was adorable and just loved to cuddle. Scuttlebutt, of course, was a hit with Riechelle.

I gave them a cd with all the pictures I took at La Bocoquron and a couple of prints that I made of my favorites. Also, I gave them a VHS copy of all the video I took that day.  We said goodnight with possible plans for them to visit the boat tomorrow night.

LOG 40

May 26, 2003 (Monday)

 Mario’s Marina, Rio Dulce, Guatemala

Haul Out

This day began at 6:45 with a knocking on the boat.  It was Randy advising us that the haul out was a go and they were ready.  In 15 minutes we had the boat under way and headed to Abel’s Boat Yard.  The 2 mile run was accomplished in about 15 minutes and by 7:15 we were approaching the rail.  The yard had 4 divers in the water and they blocked us up on the rail and after about an hour of working on it and a few problems with one of their rollers, we were high and dry!  Randy and I got a big sledge hammer and in 5 minutes the prop was off and all was going better than expected.  Then, Madonna said “What’s that rubber thing hanging there?”

It turned out to be the inner part of the forward cutlass bearing on the left strut.  Now we needed a cutlass bearing change too!  The yard said “no problem” so we decided to change that too.  Fortunately, Randy was able to complete the job after the yard boys gave up on removing the old bearing.  The new bearing and some zincs had to come from Puerto Barrios, about an hour drive away, and Madonna decided to go along for the ride.  About the time they got back, we were ready to install the new cutlass bearing.  All went together quickly without any further problems and by 5:00 pm we were ready to splash the boat. The yard bill was $556.00 including parts, labor, and a trip to Puerto Barrios and I had no complaint, the service was great and everyone was very nice.

Earlier, Bryan and Riechelle came by to see the boat and stayed around to see the launch.  They brought food for all for a late lunch and were having a party on board while we launched the boat.  The ride down the rail was exciting as they let it slide rather fast. Since Bryan and Riechelle missed their chance to get off, they decided to ride back to Mario’s Marina with us.  We stopped to top off our fuel at the ESSO station and made it back to the marina about 6:30.

It was pot luck dinner night at the Marina.  We weren’t hungry but it was a chance for Bryan and Riechelle to see some old friends.  Finally, about 8:00, I made a dinghy run to take Bryan and Riechelle back to their car and pick up Joann who was returning from a hospital run with one of their employees kids. We got back to the marina just before 9:00 and I was ready for bed!

LOG 41

May 27, 2003 (Tuesday)

 Mario’s Marina, Rio Dulce, Guatemala

This was to be our wrap up day at Ro Dulce and our departure preparation day.  I spent the morning doing email, boat chores, and just wrapping up loose ends.  I found Randy and paid him what I owed him for all the work.  He asked for $175 so I gave him $200 and thanked him for everything.  He was just great.

I took a dinghy ride downtown to check out the marine store, Mar-Marine, and found it to be well stocked except with anything I needed.  So I headed back to the marina again.  Madonna did some baking for the coming voyage and then we went on our one day’s adventure to tour the Castille de San Felipe.  This is a must see for anyone who likes castles or forts.  It has many passages, a dungeon, and very interesting fortifications, and all were in a beautiful setting at the entrance to Lago Izabel. Poor Scuttlebutt had to wait at the entrance because they didn’t allow pets inside.  However, the guards took good care of her and also they walked all the way to the front of the park to get our tickets for us since we had bypassed the park entrance by arriving by dinghy.

We had added to our crew list over the last couple days.  Bryan and Riechelle asked if they could ride with us to Roatan and a young man named Ryan Boyle, who had just sailed in on another boat a few days before, asked if he could ride with us to Boco del Toro.  So now we had a crew of 5.  I had to pick up Bryan and Riechelle in the evening and Ryan at the crack of dawn for our early departure the next morning.

The evening was spent saying goodbye to all our new friends and a little eating and partying. I did our crew list paperwork and put copies of it under the marina office door so they could fax them to customs in the morning in hopes that our Zarpa would be completed before we got to Livingston.  I paid my dockage bill, very reasonable, and by 11:00 we were all in bed.

LOG 42

May 28, 2003 (Wednesday)

 Mario’s Marina, Rio Dulce, Guatemala to Sapodilla Cay, Belize

We got under way at 6:10 am (a new record) after I made a dawn run to Tortugal Marina to pick up Ryan.  The departure was non eventful and we motored back down the Rio Dulce.  The weather was scattered thunder showers and mostly low overcast.  This put the mountain tops in the clouds and the scenery as we motored through the gorge was just spectacular.  We all agreed it was more beautiful than on a sunny day.

We arrived in Livingston at about 9:00 and dropped the hook.  We went ashore and found that Customs had all our paperwork ready to go!  The plan of having the marina send the info worked well.  We then went to the Port Captain’s office and after 15 minutes we were done there too.  Now a stop at immigration and we were cleared out completely.  All together the procedure took about an hour and with a bank stop and a little shopping, we were ashore for about 2 hours.  I have to say that the whole process in Guatemala was a pleasure and everyone was just great, both in and out.

By 11:30 we were again underway with our destination of Sapodilla Cay.  This is a small Cay at the very southern end of Belize and only slightly out of the way on the course to Utilla, Honduras. A pod of dolphins escorted us as we approached the islands.  Then, at about 1630 (1530 Guatemala time) we picked up an available mooring behind Lime Cay and everyone, including Scuttlebutt, went for a swim to the beach.  It was a delightful stop.

We were visited briefly by some locals trying to mooch some alcoholic beverages but we think a not so warm greeting from Scuttlebutt convinced them to just leave us alone.  We gave them some cokes and sent them on their way. Scuttlebutt earned her keep tonight. The weather closed in a bit with thunderstorms as we ate a delicious dinner of meat loaf and vegetables.  Thanks to Madonna’s early preparation we ate quickly and well. The plan is to move on to Utilla, about 80 miles away, early in the morning.

LOG 43

May 29, 2003 (Thursday)

 Sapodilla Cay, Belize to Utila, Honduras

We dropped the mooring on a rainy morning at 7:00 am and proceeded out the Sapodilla Cut.  As we cleared the reef we encountered a gentle 5 ft. easterly swell as we proceeded on a course of 095 degrees toward Utila.  The crazy winds of the Gulf of Honduras soon turned westerly and knocked down the swell and gave us a gentle following sea as we motored along toward Utila, about 80 nautical miles away.

It was a pleasant, peaceful trip with great food provided by the efforts of Madonna and Riechelle.  We had plenty of fresh fruit brought from Rio Dulce.  The rain quit and soon we had sunshine and a beautiful day.  There was little excitement until Ryan came off the bridge and reported a large ocean boil of Tuna off to our port side.  He was here a week ago and knew that this was an indication of Whale Sharks feeding.  So, we turned around and motored the Knotty Mind quietly into the center of the boil. We immediately saw one Whale Shark on either side of the boat.  We stripped off our cloths and donned swimsuits, masks, fins, and snorkels and took off in the dinghy in pursuit of the Whale Sharks.

This was a breathtaking experience.  As we jumped into the water a huge Whale Shark came up to check us out and went almost nose to nose with Bryan.  It was beautiful and so close you could almost touch it.  We followed the boil of fish and saw two more Whale Sharks up very close before we decided to return to the Knotty Mind, now almost a half mile away.  The Whale Sharks are the big thing down here now and people pay many bucks to try to see them and few do.  We were very lucky.

We continued on course and anchored in the Utila Harbor after another dolphin escort into the harbor. Both Bryan and Ryan went diving in to set the anchor in the thick grass on the bottom.  After a few minutes we had the Knotty Mind securely anchored.  It was now time for a shore excursion.  We dinked to the shore and left our dinghy at Coco Loco Bar and Grill.  After a Port Royal beer, we headed off to explore the town.  It didn’t take too long as there is only 1 main road. We returned to Coco Loco for another cerveza before dinner while Bryan contacted his friends on “ Bread of Life” to see if they wanted to join us for dinner.  They had already eaten so the five of us and SB headed out for dinner but not before Bryan had another nose to nose encounter with a flaming fag in the bar,

Soon we settled into the Cross Creek restaurant for dinner. We had both the Tuna and the Snapper and both were excellent.  We stopped for an ice cream on the way back to the boat and it was agreed that we were all tired and ready for bed.  The bar here parties pretty late but even young Ryan was too tired.

LOG 44

Lost at Sea.....  (the log, not Bill)

LOG 45

May 31, 2003 (Saturday)

 Fantasy Island Resort, Roatan, Honduras

We started the day with a quick breakfast and then it was SCUBA time.  Bryan, Ryan, Riechelle and I piled into the dinghy with all our gear and motored the short distance to a nearby dive site.  After donning our equipment, we jumped in for a very pleasant dive on a small wall next to a shallow reef.  About 45 minutes in the water with a run through a small cave and we were back in the dinghy and headed back to the boat.

We then decided to take our rental car and explore the entire island.  First we drove through French Harbor, a port town, then on to Coxen Hole, the other big port town on the Island.  Both provided an interesting look at Honduran life on the island.  Of interest were the Iguana eggs and tails for sale.

The highlight of Bryan’s day was the discovery that they had a Bojangles Chicken place here.  This was the only US fast food on the island and a bit of a mystery as to how a North Carolina (Bryan’s home) franchise just happened to spring up in Roatan.  Anyway, Bryan told us that God had directed us to pig out at Bojangles, so we did!

We continued on to the West End where we had dinner the night before.  The ladies had left some shopping undone!  We drove to the end of the road and then continued out on the beach for a ways.  It was a very pretty setting with a few cruising sailboats anchored in the lagoon. This was a good cruiser’s hangout. We stopped to catch up on our email as Ryan had 4 hours of unused internet time remaining in an internet café.  We walked around the town and had a cerveza at the bar, complete with swings in which to sit and watch the world go by.

Then it was back into the car for a trip to the east end of the island.  We took a scenic loop off the main road that took us through some poor villages along the beach and back into Coxen’s Hole.  Then back on the main road, past Fantasy Island and off to the east end.  The road wondered through the mountains and provided many beautiful vistas. These were good chances to get out and stretch as the five of us plus SB were cramming ourselves into a little Suzuki Samurai. We stopped and looked at a couple big high end real estate developments, one failed, and one still in its early stages.  Then it was on to the port town of Oak Ridge.  This town looked like a New England setting and bordered a natural harbor that was sheltered all around with high terrain.  This looked like a great hurricane hole if a storm was threatening.

It was now getting dark so it was time to head back to the boat.  We turned in our rental car and had a delicious snapper dinner (More Cuban Fish) and then watched movies and looked at pictures.

Note:  Steve has now posted all the logs on the Knotty Mind Website: www.knottymind.com and all can be viewed there so if you would like to pass on that info to friends, then it won’t be necessary to add to the long log list.

LOG 46

June 1, 2003 (Sunday)

 Fantasy Island Resort, Roatan, Honduras

It turns out that Sundays are not a good day to depart Roatan.  Our agent stayed in church until after noon and the fueling facilities are closed.  So, we decided (or it was decided for us) to stay another day.

Today was Bryan’s Birthday so we had a party for him at breakfast.  His birthday “cake” was a piece of leftover Bojangles chicken with a candle on it.  He devoured it while the rest of us had toast, eggs and fruit.  It’s amazing how your values change after being off in the jungles of Guatemala and Belize for a few years.

Today was departure day for Bryan and Rochelle.  They will be headed back to Utila to visit their friends on the sailboat, Bread of Life, for a couple of days and then back to Rio Dulce to continue their missionary work.  My friend Catherine Wall from Miami has already contacted them regarding coming down to help out and maybe some more of you would like to do it.  There house has sleeping facilities for up to 16 people for teams that come to help. If you can’t visit, they could sure use medical supplies and other things for the Myan villages. (junglemedic@pocketmail.com)

We said our goodbyes and Bryan and Riechelle boarded the airport shuttle at about 11:30.  I told them I would certainly be back so they should keep a place available for Scuttlebutt and me.  Ryan and Madonna and I then took the dinghy to do the water tour of French Harbor.  Here they have a large fishing fleet of big steel trawlers that were all in port so we toured around the harbor looking at them and for the fuel dock.  At the far west end, we found the marina at Brick Bay.  This was a nice sheltered marina with good facilities and quite a few boats, mostly cruising sailboats.  I am sure the rates there were much less than at Fantasy Island.

On the way back we stopped at a dock that had lots of people on it.  It turned out to be Arches Iguana Farm where they had hundreds and maybe thousands of Iguanas.  Some were quite large and many were quite tame.  We had fun petting and playing with these prehistoric looking creatures.  At the dock, the original attraction, they had a few Tarpon, Turtles, Lobster, and other varieties of fish in a fenced off area.

On the way back we think we located what we think was the fuel dock, but of course, it was closed.  Back at the boat, Ryan and I decided to do another dive so he scoped out the map at the dive shop and we headed to a site called “Mary’s Place”. After a short search, we found it.  This was a pretty wall dive with lots of fish, colorful coral, and many canyons and caves.

Yesterday, while at the West End, Ryan ran into some friends who invited us to a party tonight.  So, since we were still here, we downloaded the motorcycle and headed out on a dark 17 mile trek to this little tourist village.  We found the party and arrived just in time for dinner! Ryan’s friend, Jennifer from the UK, was house sitting a beautiful little house and the surroundings were very pleasant.  It was fun and we were the only Americans there.  This was the SCUBA diving economy with young folks from all over the world living and working to dive.  They were an interesting and fun group and everyone pitched in with the cooking and the drinking.

After dinner, we stayed for a while and then excused ourselves.  We took a walk through the town again and stopped at the “Fosters”bar.  It was a three story building built over the water.  Here we had a quick drink (water for me, designated driver) and then walked back to the bike.  The 17 mile ride home was dark, slow, but uneventful.  When we got back we filled the water tanks on the Knotty Mind and went to bed.

LOG 47

June 2 and 3, 2003 (Monday and Tuesday)

 Fantasy Island Resort, Roatan, Honduras to Cayos Vivorillo, Honduras

This was not a pleasant two days of boating!  It started ok with a morning of departure preparation that included three trips to the market on the motorcycle, loading the motorcycle, filling water tanks, and checking out of the marina.  The marina was a bit expensive with a $.50 per kilowatt electrical charge $132.00) for electricity.  Our agent, Beatman, showed up at precisely noon with our paperwork but needed some more time to arrange the fuel.  So, by 1245, we left the dock at Fantasy Island and motored into French Harbor to a dock where a fuel truck was waiting.  The on-load of fuel was a bit messy as they had a little trouble controlling the pressure in the hose, but after a bit of playing with it and wiping up spills, we filled up with 210 gallons and we were on our way. I made the mistake of not setting the price in advance for the agent as I figured if he was listed in Rain’s cruising guide he had fair prices.  That won’t happen again as he gouged me a little on the price.  But, I must admit, his service was great and it sure made things easy.

We cleared the harbor at about 3:00 and headed out for what I thought was going to be a smooth ride.  I even decided to tow the tender thinking that the calm weather pattern of the last several days would continue.  Boy, what a mistake! The winds and seas constantly increased and shortly we were looking at about 25 knots and 7 to 9 ft. seas right on the nose. It was a short, steep wind chop and we were taking heavy water over the whole boat. As darkness was setting upon us we had few options as we had no places to go where we could make a safe night approach.  So, we slowed down to minimum steerage speed and just plowed ahead at about 4 knots.  It was a long night and worrying about the tender behind us didn’t help.

With the sunrise came some thunderstorms and some rain but the wind and seas died down a little and we were able to push our forward speed up to 8 knots.  We spent the rest of the day plowing into 4 to 6 ft. wind chop and pounding the hell out of the boat.  A few things broke, like my big tv, the forward window cover, and the attachment for my Fortress anchor, but worst of all were the leaks.  The Knotty Mind does not like to play submarine and with all the water blowing hard onto the boat, we found a series of wet carpets, floors and beds. The tender suffered a loss of a paddle and now has a bit of a steering problem that I will work on later.  It was not a fun 191 nautical miles.

By 7:00 pm we were ready to drop the anchor in the lee of Cayos Vivorillo at the last light of the day.  Then we found out that the windlass wasn’t working, probably due to water on the electrical components.  We manually lowered the anchor and Ryan swam over the anchor with a dive light.  Then, I took Scuttlebutt ashore for a much needed walk after 30+ hours aboard.  She had once again held it that long. At the beach, I anchored the dinghy a few yards off shore and walked to the beach in what I thought would be ankle deep water.  Oops!  Suddenly I was waist deep and assaulting the beech like a Marine.  Oh well, anything for good old SB!

Finally, dinner and a much needed rest for all.  We have a list of repairs, things to dry out and engines and fuel systems to service.  But, this will wait till morning as now we can hardly keep our eyes open after the 2 day and overnight ordeal.

LOG 48

June 4 and 5, 2003 (Wednesday and Thursday)

  Cayos Vivorillo, Honduras to Isla Grande de Maiz , Nicaragua

Cayos Vivorillo is a tiny island about 30 miles off the Northeast Corner of Honduras.  It is frequented by cruisers on routes to and from the Panama Canal as a safe anchorage and rest stop.  There is nothing there except an old, falling apart concrete building on a small island maybe ¼ mile long.  But, the area is protected from the Easterly trade winds by an extensive reef and provides a beautiful anchorage.  Also anchored there were three sail boats and what looked like a big steel fishing boat but was really a Honduras Navy vessel in disguise waiting for some unsuspecting drug runners to drop in.  It was nice to know they were there.

We visited the other boats in the anchorage and shared information with them.  A young Danish couple on a 34 ft. sailboat told us about Isla Grande de Maiz (Big Corn island) and since we didn’t want to venture back out into the open ocean, we decided on the inside route down the Meskito Channel.  We had been warned not to go this way due to extreme pirate activity but I’d rather deal with pirates then the big sea, especially after yesterday.

By 1:30 we had repaired all we could repair and raised the dinghy onboard and secured it. We headed south and hugged the Honduras coast and then the Nicaraguan coast as we transited the ten mile wide Meskito Channel.  I prepared the boat to repel pirates (weapons locked and loaded) as we closely watched our radar for approaching vessels.  We had no problems as we took turns sleeping and standing watch on the 28 hour journey through pirate infested waters.  The seas on this inside passage were far kinder than out in the open sea and we made good time on the 226 mile run to Isle Grande de Maiz but had to transit through many big thunderstorms.

At a distance of 6 or 7 miles out from the island we saw several Nicaraguans in an open Ponga type vessel waving a flag in distress.  This is the primary trick used by pirates to get aboard your vessel.  Prudence said to just keep going, however, with weapons at the ready, we decided to check them out.  It turned out to be a real life or death emergency!  There were about ten people in the disabled boat including several women and small infants.  It was near dark and four of the men in their party had decided to swim the approximately 5 miles to the island for help.  They had been gone for over two hours already! I decided they were four of the dumbest Nicaraguans around and that they were dead.

I put out a May Day call to the island but there was no response. The Navy, it turns out was too busy watching TV to answer. We kept broadcasting the May Day in an attempt to get more boats out to search for the missing swimmers. We took the Ponga in tow and searched for the men on the way to the island. As it turned out, this was not their day to die!  We found the four of them about 2 miles from their starting point, exhausted but ok.  We got them back onto their boat and towed them four miles to the island.  At no time did we let any of them board our boat and they were always watched closely.  I was heavily armed the whole time.

We pulled into the beautiful deep water harbor and dropped our tow and had them drop their anchor.  We had finally reached the navy on the radio and they came out to pick them up.  We found a beautiful concrete commercial dock at the ferry boat pier and tied up the Knotty Mind.  The Navy gunboat, confiscated from Columbian drug runners, came over to us and the Lieutenant boarded us and took our paperwork.  He left one of his men as a guard for our boat and went to check us in and bring us a new Zarpa.  Immigration never showed up.  But we were the “good guys” today and our reception was very friendly.

While we waited for our paperwork to be returned, we played with a spider monkey on the ferry boat, “The Captain D”, moored right behind us and of course Scuttlebutt made good use of the “dry land” (for you “Waterworld” fans).  The crew of the ferry boat gave us a tour and everywhere we turned our reception was warm and friendly. The Lieutenant returned with our new Zarpa so we could make an early morning departure so we were good to go!

This turned out to be a delightful stop.  The Navy Lieutenant left a Marine armed with an AK-47 (a rough looking weapon date stamped 1960) to guard our boat for the entire night at no charge so we could go ashore and explore the island.  We gave him dinner and complete access to out beverage cooler so he was happy.  His name was Armando Jose Hernandez Alvarez and was 26 years old and joined the Nicaraguan Navy on Sept 11, 2001.  His salary was $60.00 per month.  I will give him a month’s salary as a tip for taking good care of the boat while we were gone.  He even closed it up when it started to rain while we were gone. (I can’t even get crew to do that!)

As is often the case, tour guides are not hard to find in these situations.  However, a courteous man named Sergio introduced himself and said for $20 he would take us anywhere we wanted to go and give us a complete tour of the island.  He gave his identification to our Marine to hold and seemed to be ok.  As it turned out, Sergio was an excellent host, took us to a great restaurant, and showed us the whole island. He had been a bartender on a major cruise ship and new how to show tourists a great time. He will even bring us sugar mangos in the morning before we go.  We invited Sergio to have dinner with us at the Picnic Center Restaurant.  This was not like it sounded.  It was an outdoor restaurant with a thatched roof on a beautiful white sand beach on the South side of the island.  We were their only customers and our meals of cervichi, whole fish, and shrimp were wonderful. My whole fish with ginger and coconut milk was the best I’d ever had.

The roads on Isla Grande de Maiz are not paved and since they had had a lot of rain, they were nothing but one mud hole after another.  Sergio navigated through this quagmire as we drove around the entire island. He certainly earned his $20 just on wear and tear on his car alone.  Our tour lasted until 11:00 pm when we returned to the Knotty Mind.  Our Marine was on duty and the boat was just as we left it. We prepared another meal for our Marine guard and then went to bed

LOG 49

June 6 and 7, 2003 (Friday and Saturday)

  Isla Grande de Maiz , Nicaragua to Bocas  del Toro, Panama

The morning was calm and beautiful.  Our Marine guard spent the night on board on the aft deck and we had no problems.  I had neglected to take pictures the night before because I didn’t want to flash the expensive camera so now I made up for lost time.  The biggest attraction was Rosita, the Spider Monkey on the Captain D.  She is just an adorable creature and Ryan fell in love.  We took a bunch of pictures of her and the harbor area and the Knotty Mind with her Marine guard.

By 8:30 we were ready to head out so we said goodbye to our guard and other new friends on the Captain D. Using a big fender, we were able to spring off the big concrete dock and we made a graceful departure in front of many onlookers.  Not many US Yachts visit this place so we were quite the attraction.  Our overall experience at Isla Grande de Maiz was a good one.  This was the closest we had gotten to an area untouched by tourism and unfortunately a poor suffering economy.  However, everyone treated us wonderfully and I would recommend this stop to anyone with all the cautions that go with stops in Nicaragua and cruising the Nicaraguan coast.

The day was beautiful and the seas were calm as we motored southward toward Panama.  We were joined for a while by the biggest pod of dolphins I had ever seen.  We must have had a hundred of them jumping out of the water all around the boat.  It was a glorious sight in the crystal deep blue water.  We picked up the Caribbean Counter Current and had a nice push as we continued along.  We had to slow down so as to not arrive in darkness.  We made 182 miles on 137.7 gallons on this leg with a little help from nature.  Ryan tried his hand at fishing and had a couple of hits but no catches.  The night brought a huge electrical storm.  Ryan and Madonna enjoyed the beauty of it from a distance but on my watch, we had to penetrate the storms themselves.  We got hit pretty hard with some wind and lots of rain but no further damage to the boat.

By 7:00 am we were approaching the Panama coast and the Bocas del Toro Channel.  The beauty of all the dense jungle was magnificent. The approach to the town is a little confusing because there are some missing bouys and the instructions in the cruising guide are a bit confusing.  Anyway, we got a little radio help from the Marina Canenero who actually answered the radio at 7 am!  Finally we wondered in the channel without any ground contact and docked at this little marina.  We had a nice welcoming committee of cruisers and soon we were nicely tied up stern to the dock. Fees here are reasonable at $.35 per ft. (daily rate) and an extra $3.00 per day for electrical (because of air conditioning) and free water.

Mary, the owner, made an 11:00 am appointment for us with the Port Captain and provided a Ponga to take us there.  There we cleared Immigration, Customs, and got our cruising permit.   The customs officer came to the boat and gave us a good search and cleared us in with a request for paperwork for Scuttlebutt and the motorcycle.  By 1:00 we were finished with the Port Clearance procedures and returned to the boat to rest up after our third consecutive overnight journey.

Everyone at the marina was very friendly but it is rainy season here and it is very quiet.  We rested on the boat for the afternoon and I tinkered with a few things.  Internet access here is good, the marina lets me plug in my laptop and AOL has Panama dial up numbers.  Ryan is planning to leave tomorrow so we spent time making a cd with pictures of his segment of the trip for him. 

At about 7 pm, Ryan and I decided to head out to the town to have dinner and check out the Saturday night action.  Dinner was great. I had a whole Snapper with garlic while Ryan had the same but Creole style.  Add a pitcher of Atlas Beer and we were set for food.  We walked around the small town and everyone was friendly but there was no nightlife that we could find.  We caught a water taxi back to the marina and finally went to bed around 11:30.  It had been a long day.

LOG 50

June 8, 2003 (Sunday)

Marina Carenero, Bocas  del Toro, Panama

This is now another recovery and catch-up day. Ryan and I took a water taxi to town early to check on arriving and departing flights.  Ryan is leaving us today and going to visit his father in Panama City and David and June Rosen, my friends from the Bahamas, will be arriving on an afternoon flight.  After our trip to the airport and an hour in an internet café, we returned to the Knotty Mind. Ryan and I started with dinghy repair work and finished oil changes on both engines and one generator.  We spent the rest of morning cleaning and organizing the boat somewhat. 

Then, by 2:00 pm. Madonna and Scuttlebutt joined us in another trip to town and the airport.  As we waited for flights we met some interesting people and Ryan got on the standby list for a full flight to Panama City. All worked well.  Ryan made his flight and the Rosen’s arrived on schedule at 4:00 pm. Scuttlebutt was really excited to see her old friends from Overyonder Cay, her home in the Bahamas. We took the land and water taxi combination back to the marina and got David and June settled in.

June and David relate the following on their trip down:

Our trip down was uneventful, except for the fact that we had to go via Houston, an unnecessary three hours.  Panama is green from the air and punctuated by the red roofs of native villages.  Panama City itself is a modern metropolis that could be anywhere that’s hot.  Very hot!!!!  We stayed at an el cheapo hotel ($27) on the main drag, and went for a late evening walk, where we found a supermarket that had what we couldn’t find in five stops in Miami, a flea comb for Scuttlebutt.  It turned out that she was happy to see it, since she had acquired some fleas.  An hour of grooming upon our arrival (oh, to be a dog), followed by a bath, and hopefully the problem is gone. 

Anyway, the next day we explored a Mercado Artesianas, had a nice lunch at a very fancy hotel (checked out the marina there for Knotty Mind), then on to the airport for the flight for Bocas del Toro, where we were to meet Bill.    It was a nice flight, in 30 passenger prop plane.  There was lots of green jungle, then a rather forbidding coast, with a name that should keep you away- Golfo des Mosquitos. No shelter for 130 miles.  Our first sight walking off the plane in Bocas was Bill taking pictures.  We met Madonna and said hello and goodbye to Ryan.  Scuttie seemed happy to see us.  I think she’s happy to see anybody.   We took a taxi to the village, then hopped on a panga water taxi, and in a few minutes we were aboard the Knotty Mind, which was docked at this funky marina. It’s great to be here!

I took David and June on the marina tour.  As you exit the dock, you find yourself in an Indian village with kids playing and shanty buildings on stilts near the water.  Then you walk 100 meters to the left and you again enter the beautiful, well kept marina grounds with the office and a restaurant (closed for the season).  Here you can play with Henry, the whiteface pickpocket monkey. It seems that the Indians would not sell their land to the marina so the marina had to put the dock where it was because of the depth of the water and the rest of the facilities a ways off on the land they were able to purchase.

As darkness approached, it was dinner time so it was the water taxi again to town for a lovely dinner at the Hotel Bocas del Toro on their patio overlooking the water. The ambiance was fabulous. We watched the local water taxis and cayucas move around the bay as we all chatted and waited for our dinner.  After a round of Gespacho (an unusual cream of Gespacho soup), the local whole fish was the fare except for June who decided on the Calamari.  All was very excellent.   After dinner it was a quick trip back to the boat and bed for our weary travelers.

LOG 51

June 9, 2003 (Monday)

Marina Carenero, Bocas del Toro, Panama

Today was a relaxing day as well.  I did some boat chores like change Racor fuel filters, installed a new dinghy bilge pump, fixed the forward head and then just relaxed a bit.  We did some trip planning and spent time looking at my pictures.

June and Madonna made a grocery run to town.  This was their major activity for the day, a shopping expedition to Bocas town to get fresh fruit and veggies.  They headed left, stopping at two small grocery stores.  The only fresh produce they found was onions.  They were beginning to rethink our diets, when they spotted a truck unloading all sorts of fresh stuff, lettuce, celery, melons, tomatoes, peppers, bananas, plantains, oranges (15 for $1).  They bought armloads of stuff and the whole thing cost only $27. It was impressive!

I hooked up to the internet, sent logs, etc. We talked to the marina owner, Mary, for advice on things to do around here as we decided to stay in this area for a couple days and see the local sights before we move on.  I played with Henry for a while and tried to have him make friends with Scuttlebutt.  They are not quite buddies yet but at least they will get close to each other now.

Some serious rain threatened all day that never seemed to arrive but the skies were black at times.  By late afternoon it was looking beautiful again.  This is the start of the rainy season here so apparently this will be the norm.  Being the clumsy mechanic that I am, I managed to spill a gallon of diesel fuel in the bilge during my Racor change.  The entire boat reeked of diesel so I had an unpleasant cleanup to do.

Before we knew it, it was late afternoon and everyone was pretty well caught up on naps, rest, and maintenance chores.  We took the water taxi to town for a pleasant dinner at the Buena Vista Restaurant (highly recommended in the guide books) and had a nice dinner but we all decided we liked last night’s restaurant better.  We did meet a couple of women from the US who now live here and run a Spa in town.  They had interesting stories and interesting information.

On the way back from dinner, we made arrangements for a tour boat and guide to take us out for the day tomorrow.  So, it was home to the boat and preparation for a full day of fun on the water.

LOG 52

June 10, 2003 (Tuesday)

Marina Carenero, Bocas del Toro, Panama

Our pickup for our day on the water was scheduled for 9:00 am.  So we all got up early and David and June went to work on getting my SSB Radio up and running.  It seems that there was an installation error and all we could hear was someone in the local area.  We tried to listen to the Panama Breakfast Club Net but could only hear Net Control who was here in Bocas and no one else.

We gave up on the radio and prepared for out day’s adventure.  Our tour guide Sebastion showed up around 9:15 and with a brief stop at his office for an ice chest and lifejackets, we were off.  The morning sky was black and rain was falling as we boarded the boat.  After June and Scuttlebutt did their lifejacket drill, Sebastian took us south through the lush tropical islands and mangroves and arrived in Dolphin Bay. As we arrived the skies cleared of rain and although the clouds came and went, the rest of the day was lovely.  Here, on cue, the dolphins came to the boat and played around it.

After watching the dolphins for a while, we motored over to Coral Cay where a cute little restaurant all built on stilts over the water awaited us.  We had a choice of two restaurants, Coral Cay or Crawl Cay and Sebastian hinted the Coral Cay was cheaper and had better food.  The owner was away on the other prettier one and when that happened, the food was not so good. Here, we placed our lunch orders and told them we would be back in about 2 hours to eat.

The next destination was the northern island of the Cayos Zapatillas.  We worked our way through the reef and went ashore on this beautiful jungle island.  Here the jungle goes right up to the beautiful sandy beach.  As we rounded a small point on our circumnavigation of this island we came upon an encampment of marine biologists that were studying and tagging turtles.  Drs. Peter and Ann Meylan from Smithsonian Wildlife Commission and professors at Eckerd College greeted us and shared a lot of information on their work.  It also turned out that the we and the Meylans had  mutual acquaintances in the Bahamas and it was a wonderful encounter.  Sebastian’s father was on the island and we found out that his family settled the island and they had building rights on the island even though it was in a National Park.

We finished our walk around the island and boarded our boat to return to Coral Cay for lunch.  We had a delightful lunch of Red Snapper and Conch and people watched as several tour boats arrived with a very strange assortment of people, some with extensive tattoos and body jewelry.  This restaurant was built out over the water and the now perfectly calm water made for a beautiful setting. Scuttlebutt made friends with all the tourists, especially a group of Japanese girls.

After lunch, we moved out to the middle of the channel and did a bit of snorkeling.  There was nice array of colorful soft corals, sponges of many colors, and a possible sighting of pillar coral.  There was also a fair amount of sea life like small lobster, a spider-like starfish, and sea stars.  The water was refreshing and almost fresh with little salt and after taking Scuttlebutt for a swim, we then re-boarded the boat to head to our next stop.

A half hour run brought us to the Aqua-Lodge at Punta Caracol.  This was a hotel built entirely over the water on stilts. It has 6 suites, a reception deck and a bar/restaurant in an exquisite setting looking out over the bay.  We all decided it was not the kind of place we would go because there really wasn’t much to do there and the rooms were a bit Spartan.

Then we took a short scenic ride back to the marina with a stop at the Bocas Yacht Club and Marina where we looked the boats that were moored there.  Finally, we arrived back at the Knotty Mind at about 5:00 pm to join a dock party in progress.  It was a going away party for the owner, Mary, and it seemed that the few people here on their boats were hearty partiers. June actively joined the party and bonded with the group, many of whom had been here for almost 3 years.  She picked up much useful information.  We have now assigned June the role of tour director for the voyage.

LOG 53

June 11, 2003 (Wednesday)

  Marina Carenero, Bocas del Toro, Panama

Today we all slept in and took it easy.  We spent the morning writing and getting email, working on the SSB radio, playing with Henry, downloading pictures, and getting logs up to date.  By around 12:00 I was ready to launch the dinghy and work on its steering problem.  The launch went well, the leak is apparently fixed, and the bilge pump works.  That’s the good news.  The bad news is that the steering ram is bent and that means it is very difficult to steer.  It is still usable however, so it will have to suffice as parts are at least a week away. 

By 2:30 we were ready for our afternoon trip to town to look for the “Super Gourmet Market” for the third time. We had failed to find it on two previous attempts but this time it was right where it was supposed to be.  Very strange!  We stocked up on a few items and got some more fresh fruit and vegetables.  I made a failed attempt to get paperwork out of customs for the motorcycle.

June and Madonna went to the jail bazaar to buy turtle shell jewelry.  The prisoners here are imprisoned without food, or a bed unless they pay for it, and many do craft work to pay their way. June bought a hair clip, bracelet, and ring for $ 8.00 all of beautiful turtle shell. June said, “This certainly was a first for me- going into a tropical jail to buy jewelry.  The marina manager told us about it.  Madonna and I went in, feeling out of place.  I asked the guards about the “joyaria” As soon as the men saw us, they extended displays of supposedly un-endangered turtle shell bracelets and rings.  Hopefully the carver was the one who got the money.  Oh well!!”

We went back to the boat to relax before dinner and at about 6:00 pm we headed to the Restaurant Utilma Refugio for a very nice dinner right on the water.  Our choices tonight were Filet Mignon, Curry Chicken, Shredded Beef, and Shrimp.  All was excellent.  We then headed back to the boat for an early turn in because we have scheduled an exciting land tour for tomorrow leaving at 6:30 am.

LOG 54

June 12, 2003 (Thursday)

  Marina Carenero, Bocas del Toro, Panama

This was another adventure day.  Judy, our neighbor in the marina on Amazing Grace, suggested that we take the river trip up the Terribe River.  This was not just any trip on a river; it was a trip up rapids in a motorized Panga (canoe). 

The day started early at 6:30 with a trip in our tender to the Bocas Water Tours dock to catch the water taxi to Changuinola.  Ben and Patricia, our guides from their newly formed Chac Moc Luc Tours, joined us at the dock. The boat was initially overloaded so we had to return to the dock once to let off one large person.  Now with only 19 persons aboard, the boat got up on plane with its single Yamaha 175HP working really hard.  We motored across the Bahia Almirante and made a quick stop at Bocas del Drago to drop a passenger. From there on the ride was spectacular.  The water taxi sped along for miles through the narrow canal cut by the banana companies with remarkable lush tree lined banks with flowers, floating water lilies and hyacinth.  It was a gorgeous ride through jungle and coastal lowlands.

About an hour later we arrived at Changuinola where we transferred to a double cab pickup.  Patricia, Scuttlebutt, and I rode on the truck bed while everyone else rode in the cab.  We drove for about a half hour through banana plantations, through the towns of La Silencia and El Empalme to the bank of the Terribe River.  For a while we all had to squeeze into the cab because of a traffic police checkpoint.

Here we boarded our 9 year old Panga.  It leaked about everywhere but it had a new looking 25 HP Yamaha on the back and a couple cut off plastic jars for bailing.  The six of us, Scuttlebutt, and the two man crew headed up the river.  The ride was magnificent.  The jungle came right down to the water in most places and the lush, dense jungle was beautiful.  There was an occasional trickle of a waterfall and of course rocks and small rapids.  The crew alternated between using the engine, poles, and at one point getting out to push in order to work our way up the rapids.  After an exciting, sometimes wet, ride ducking under hanging vines and trees, we reached Pana Jungla, now part of Amistad National Park.

This was Noriega’s jungle training center for his troops which was incorporated into the park in 1999. It was a beautiful jungle setting with the ruins of the jungle training center still there.   We all (including Scuttlebutt) bellied up to Noriega’s bar and had a short lecture from the locals on the history of the area. We observed a green Poison Dart Frog and a Red Frog hopping by our classroom. 

We then took a short trip up stream to a Nasa Indian village and toured the entire town.  This village is not accessible by land, only via the river, but complete with school, clinic, and a soccer field. All sorts of edible things grow everywhere.  At one point our Panga crewman climbed a tree and threw down armloads of grapefruit and everyone munched on Cocoa plant.  This was one of the cleaner villages we have seen.

We then returned to the Pana Jungla and had a lovely lunch of chicken soup and local vegetables and rice.  The weather which had been perfect all morning now turned to rain and more rain.  It was beautiful to watch the rain and low clouds wrap around our jungle covered mountain location and the sound of the rain was soothing.  However, it did cut into our hammock time that was scheduled for after lunch.

About 1:30 it was time to start our return voyage.  The rain had been falling hard for quite some time now and the river was rising and the little waterfalls were now raging torrents of brown muddy water.  It was a wet ride down the river but much faster than the uphill run.  Soon we were back at our start point but we were all soaked.  Poor Scuttlebutt looked like a drowned rat!

Our pickup truck was waiting and we all piled in.  Patricia, Scuttlebutt, and I still occupied the truck bed, even with the rain still falling.  It was another wet ride to a small restaurant where we had some hot coffee and a brief rest out of the rain.  Then it was back aboard the pickup for the half hour drive to Changuinola. At 3:30 we boarded the water taxi for the hour run back to Bocas del Toro.  The rain continued to fall to the side flaps on the water taxi were lowered and the visibility was limited.

Finally, by 5:00 pm the wet and weary group returned to the Knotty Mind.  We took showers, changed into dry clothes, and prepared a delicious steak dinner on the BBQ.  David did a superb job on the steaks while June made a wonderful salad and we had a small feast.  Poor Scuttlebutt was exhausted and crawled under the dinette, not to be seen or heard from for hours. We took time to look at the video we shot during the day and then everyone went to bed.  It had been a great day!

LOG 55

June 13, 2003 (Friday)

  Marina Carenero, Bocas del Toro, Panama to Escudo de Veraguas, Panama

We spent the morning preparing for our departure.  David and I went to the Bocas del Toro Yacht Club to talk to the manager about arrangements in Colon and then went to the Port Captain’s office to arrange for our departure and obtain our Zarpa.  In about 2 hours our chores were done.  We took a walk through the village on Carenero and a trip to the marina office to pay our bill and get one last shot at the internet..  I bought a genuine cayuca wooden paddle off of a local villager to replace the dinghy paddle lost days ago and we were ready to go. June and Madonna walked thru the village towards the north end of the island.   In the midst of lush green jungle, the Indians seem to have no sense of beauty.  They toss garbage everywhere, destroying the environment.  None of us could figure out why.  It would take so little effort to keep things clean.  The beaches were beautiful, and north of town, there were small guest houses, restaurants, and several luxurious new homes built by gringos or wealthy Panamanians. We passed an attractive young topless lady.  Went into an artesanias shop, where there were some lovely fabrics and baskets, but the prices were outrageous.  Obviously this was the high rent district. I picked up a few shells along the way.

We said goodbye to our new friends at the marina and untied our docklines at 12:15.  We slowly motored through the channel and then joined the large ship Boca del Toro channel and motored out into the open sea.  Our destination, the Island of Escudo de Veragaus was 46 miles away and with the help of the Caribbean Counter Current, we covered the distance in less than 5 hours. It was a mostly overcast day with easterly winds of less than 10 knots and a comfortable 5 foot easterly swell.

We dropped anchor with some difficulty of getting our CQR to set in the lee of Escudo de Veraguas and no sooner did we do that then the winds turned around out of the west.  This put us in danger of blowing up onto the beach so we put down the Fortress anchor to cover that possibility.  Now, securely anchored, June, Madonna and I took Scuttlebutt to the beach.  We had a nice beach walk but we had a little fun getting through the small surf in both directions.  Scuttlebutt had fun running on the beach and playing in the small waves. June found two sprouted coconuts and wanted Bill to give them a happy home on Knotty Mind, but Bill wasn’t interested.

We returned back to the boat and Madonna made a dinner of whole fish, salad and rice.  She used a recipe with coconut milk and it was scrumptious.  The westerly wind continued and the anchorage was a bit rolly but it will do for the night.  Tomorrow we will check out the island and its surrounding waters.  

LOG 56

June 14, 2003 (Saturday)

Escudo de Veraguas, Panama

Our anchors held nicely through the night as the wind continued gently out of the west.  We had a leisurely morning tinkering around the boat and having breakfast.  By 10:00 we were ready for our big excursion.  With little more info than one sentence in the cruising guide and June’s observations as they flew over it, we were off in the dinghy to circumnavigate Escudo de Veraguas.

With Scuttlebutt in the bow looking for rocks, we decided on a clockwise adventure.  The beauty of this place turned out to be unbelievable and we all agreed that this was the prettiest island we had ever seen.  The north and east shore was honeycombed with small jungle islands all protected by an out lying reef.  There were channels everywhere and exploring them was really interesting.  Each cove had a more beautiful beach than the previous one and we decided to stop at a few and look for shells.  Of course Scuttlebutt thought this was play time and she had a good run at each beach.

The farther around the island we went, the prettier it got!  We found one beach with a sandy canyon that circumnavigated a small island but was dry due to the low tide.  The jungle was close all around with bird sounds, etc.  It was a wonderful little walk.  June found a few interesting shells and we all just enjoyed the beauty of the place.

We found a dead end in our circumnavigation inside the reef and had to back track a bit to find a break in the reef where we could get outside.  Crossing the surf line was exciting as we took a couple big waves over the bow.  But, we made it through the reef and continued around the island.

On the south shore we found some more beaches with a nice coral reef up close.  Here we could snorkel from the beach in a shallow coral garden.  As we were snorkeling, a local boat came by and went through the reef.  We decided to follow it and found the only village on the island inhabited by 20 people.  The outstanding feature was a big satellite dish hooked up to a phone booth!  It looked really out of place with the native thatched roof huts.  Apparently it was not operational yet but may be soon.

We continued west along the south shore and found more beautiful cliffs with spectacular coves.  The jungle hanging down the cliffs, some small beaches, and clear water with surf from the gentle swells made a picturesque setting.  We regretted through the entire adventure, we had decided to leave our cameras back on the boat.  The area is a photographer’s dream with cliff, arches, white beaches, and jungle.

We returned to the boat about 2:00 pm and rested up after our adventure.  We made a short afternoon foray to take some pictures and then returned to the boat to recover our Fortress anchor and make preparations for departure. The four of us worked as a team to get the anchor aboard and the plan is now to leave at midnight for Rio Chagres. 

A BBQ’d chicken dinner will preceed a little sleep so we can make our midnight departure so as to arrive at Rio Chagres in the morning hours.

LOG 57

June 15, 2003 (Sunday)

  Escudo de Veraguas, Panama to Rio Chagres, Panama

Our midnight departure was delayed slightly by everyone oversleeping.  Somehow, everyone thought someone else was going to set an alarm clock.  So, at 2:00 am we picked up the anchor and headed out.  It was raining lightly as we carefully maneuvered west and south to clear the island and its reefs before heading east.  The departure went smoothly and soon we were on course in gentle seas and riding with the Caribbean Counter Current again.  June and I took the first watch and just as we cleared the cloud cover and rain, with  the full moon now showing brightly in the sky, David showed up for his watch.  He had a glorious cruise with a very gentle easterly swell and a bright partly cloudy sky.

June adds:

“Bill leaves out the bad part.   We had planed to get some sleep before our midnight departure.  Just as we turned out the lights a squall came up, and the boat started to bounce around and make sloshing noises.  I left the aft cabin and decided to try to sleep on deck.  There was a light rain falling.  We had upped the heavy anchor, and just as I was drifting off to sleep, Bill came up and suggested that I stand anchor watch, as the beach was just behind us and there was no margin for error.  So for the next two hours I kept half an eye out.  At 11:00, thinking that Bill had the alarm set, I fell asleep.  At 1:00 am I woke up and roused Bill.  It was still raining and there was lightening around, but the wind was calm.  I stood the first watch with Bill and then went below, but it’s hard to sleep with the noise of the engines only a few feet away.  Anyway, having not slept the night before for the same reason, a squall after dinner, I opted out of the afternoon tour. Hopefully I can get a quickee tomorrow morning.”

At about 7:30 am, David woke me up for my watch.  It was a beautiful day with scattered clouds and gentle deep blue seas.  We motored until 12:30 when we approached the mouth of the Rio Chagres.  Carefully we worked our way through the reefs and into this beautiful jungle lined river with the mouth protected by an old Spanish fort.  The water in the river was 35 to 55 feet deep and we worked our way up about 4 miles where we dropped our anchor surrounded by jungle on all sides.

I took Scuttlebutt on an urgent run to a little sandbar island and then returned for lunch.  It was time to relax a little before exploring the rest of the way up the river in the dinghy. At 4:30 pm. David, Madonna, and I headed out to explore the river upstream of our anchorage.  First stop was to view a Two-toed Sloth hanging in a tree just upstream from the boat.  Then we motored up to the base of the dam and tied up to the small dock located there.  There were a few families having picnics there and we watched the Howler Monkeys play in the tree.  We walked up to the top of the dam and were treated to a wonderful view of Gatun Lake and the Gatun Lock.  There were a couple of large freighters on the lake apparently having just locked up.

We then returned to the boat checking on our Sloth along the way.  He was busy hanging in the tree scratching.  Dinner was a scrumptious meatloaf prepared by Madonna with a nice salad and jellied cabbage (doesn’t sound so great but June loved it and it was really good). A look outside was exciting.  The river was dead calm with the sounds of the jungle all around.  There wasn’t a cloud in the sky and the stars were out in force.  We decided to top off the evening with a movie before bed. Tomorrow it is off to the dreaded city of Colon!

LOG 58

June 16, 2003 (Monday)

Rio Chagres, Panama to Panama Canal YC, Colon

We had a slow relaxing morning in the dead calm jungle setting anchored in the Rio Chagres.  It was another beautiful day and with only about 15 miles to our next dock in Colon there was no hurry to get moving.  I tackled a few more boat chores that had been piling up, this time going after a few of the leaks.  Madonna started baking cookies and we all just took it easy. 

At about 11:00 David and June took the dinghy up river to the dam so June could see what she missed yesterday.  They took Scuttlebutt with them and she found a nice mud hole to swim in after her bath the night before.  They saw the monkeys and hiked up the earthen dam to view the lake.

After their return and a chance to cool off, we all decided to take the dinghy on a down river tour and explore the Rio Indio, a small tributary to the Chagres.  On our way, we stopped at the S/V LULU, hailing from New Rochelle, NY to discover just how small the world really is.  On board were Gary Strutin and Louis Wollman, a couple who were close acquaintances of the group that the Rosen’s socialized with years ago when they lived in New York.

After a half hour visit, we continued our exploration journey up the little side river.  Here the jungle really closed in around us as we saw a Blue Morpho butterfly, monkeys, and Jesus Christ Lizards that literally walk on the water. The vegetation was breathtaking as the river got too shallow to continue a couple of miles from the Chagres. We tried to obtain a few samples of some unknown fruit hanging over the water but only succeeded in filling the boat with leaves and ants.  Turning off the motor let the sounds of the jungle close in on us as we watched for wildlife.

Finally we returned to the Knotty Mind and at 2:00 we pulled up the anchor and headed down the river.  We waved goodbye to LULU and took pictures as we passed them.  Our trip down the river was uneventful and we passed back under the fort at the entrance.  Back in deep water, we turned right and headed to Colon.  As we approached this famous port, there were several large freighters all around.  Some were at anchor and some were under way.  A call to Cristobal Control and we were in the system for arrival.

For a while, I thought I was attempting to land a plane at Ohare, Chicago.  The radio was going 90 mph with water traffic control when we switched to channel 12 but it finally settled down and except for one large container ship which we passed head on, we encountered no traffic.

We found our way to the Panama Canal Yacht Club and after idling around for a half hour, we finally were able to get 20 feet of dock for our 57 ft. boat.  We couldn’t hook up to shore power because they had a strange plug and no adapters so we had to run the generator all night.  The rest of the evening was spent getting settled in and meeting the people around the dock.  There is no end to those who want to be helpful and those who want to make some money off you.  We finally made it to the bar in time for happy hour and had a nice sizzling steak dinner at the Yacht club restaurant.

June’s comments:

Today we had two interesting coincidences. On the  Rio Chagres we were passing a sailboat, and I noticed it had a hailing port of New Rochelle on its transom.  Twenty five years ago we kept our boat there.  We pulled alongside, and I asked them where they kept the boat.  It was the same marina, and they remembered who we were, and had good friends in common.  What a small world. Then upon arrival at the Yacht Club, I was walking down the dock and heard someone say “June”. It turned out to be a couple off a boat that we had met on Cat Island two months ago.  We had asked them at the time where they were headed.  They said Panama, and I mentioned that we’d be there in June.  Maybe we’ll meet they said, but I REALLY DIDN’T THINK SO.  However, there they were. They were able to pass on all sorts of helpful information for future travels. 

LOG 59

June 17, 2003 (Tuesday)

Panama Canal YC, Colon, Panama

We had decided to use Peter Stevens as our Canal Agent.  We met him the night before at dinner and he said he would take care of everything.  He has done so. He cleared us in with the Port Captain and Immigration and the Canal Authority showed up in the morning to measure the boat so we were registered with the Canal and good to go through. He said he would arrange the line handlers and the lines for us when we were ready to transit. Peter gave us a cell phone to use while we are here so we had a phone and a way for him to contact us.  His driver, Robert, was available throughout the day for advice and transportation. The rest of the day was real busy.  We did several loads of laundry and then made a provisioning run to the Super 99 Mercado.  I arranged for a mechanic to try to fix the steering on the dinghy. 

On my rough passage through Honduras, my chart book for the Panama Canal to California got wet and was destroyed.  On the morning cruisers net we heard a vessel willing to sell their West Coast charts so we contacted them to make a deal.  The vessel turned out to be Kevalli, a beautiful 70 Ft. Delta Expedition Yacht.  David, June and I took the dinghy out to the “Flats” where they were anchored and met Bob and Lydia Cronin.  After spending an enjoyable hour visiting them and their family on their yacht, we decided to “buddy boat” with them to the San Blass Islands.  We will meet up with them off Portobello tomorrow on the way to Isla Grande. Most importantly, they had the exact chartbook that got destroyed and a lot of other literature that will come in handy on my upcoming Pacific journeys.

The dinghy project went 50% well.  We had no spare parts for the repair but the highly acclaimed Abraham Vargas, the mechanic, improved the situation somewhat so we could at least steer it without getting a sore arm. We spent some time trying to arrange a good price on some fuel but failed to make any great deal.  So, we missed an opportunity to go to the fuel dock and will have to delay our departure somewhat in the morning to take on fuel. David and I made an internet café run to check email and send logs.

We didn’t get back from the internet café until almost 8:30 so the June and Madonna were starving.  We went into the PCYC for dinner and did a repeat performance of last night’s sizzling steaks.  All then turned in except me.  I went out with our driver, Robert, and toured the town.  We drove to the areas biggest resort hotel, Melia Panama Canal, and looked around, then to the almost 150 year old Washington Hotel, downtown.  It was a bit run down but it has a casino so I played a few hands of blackjack.

The tour continued by the 138 year old church, the only surviving building of a 1940’s fire, and then through the main streets of Colon.  It was a pretty rough downtown area.  We stopped in two bars for $3.00 beers and watched the “chica” action for a while and then headed back to the marina.  By midnight I was exhausted and in bed.

June’s report:

Today was a typical day in port for me.  It started off at 7:30 in the laundry room.  Since the boat had 5 loads and there was only one dryer, it was a full day project, punctuated by an interesting trip to the supermarket.  Colon town has seen better days.  People were out in the streets demonstrating against the government over unemployment and a delayed government sponsored paint job (much needed I must add). The market had everything we needed except bananas, so our drivers  (there were 5 of us including Lydia from Kavalli stopped at a street market where we found all sorts of interesting looking fruit. Knotty Mind is now well stocked for our trip to the San Blas Islands, where nothing other than molas is available.

LOG 60

June 18, 2003 (Wednesday)

Panama Canal YC, Colon to Isla Grande, Panama

Our early planned departure was blown out of the water by our need for fuel and fuel docks that didn’t open until 9:30.  Additionally, the pumps were so slow that it took over a half hour to pump 163 gallons!  Even though we moved the boat to the dock early, there was no speeding up the process.  While this delay was in progress, we also had a delay getting visas for Madonna and me.  It seems that Immigration couldn’t understand why two of the people on the crew list, the Rosens, had visas and two did not.  The fact that they flew into Panama and didn’t arrive on the boat was incomprehensible.  Finally, Madonna worked her way through it with them. 

So, with all the delays, we finally left the fuel dock at 11:00 am with all our chores complete.  We got permission from Cristobal Control to enter the fairway and we headed out of the harbor.  We had a pleasant 4 hour run to Isla Grande. Covering the 29 miles in four hours gave us a fuel burn of less than 20 gallons.  The next fuel stop will be in Panama City so we must conserve for a few days. The Panama coastline was spectacular as we passed the mountainous jungle coast.  We skipped Portobello, a popular stop as we planned to make that our last stop on the way back.

We joined our “Buddy Boat” Kevalli in the anchorage and we all met on the beach to play.  June and Lydia bought some local coral jewelry and Scuttlebutt met their dog Jake, a Standard Poodle, about the same age.  They romped on the beach until they were both tired.  The Knotty Mind crew decided to take a scenic run around the area and managed to run seriously aground next to a beautiful private island.  It took some careful maneuvering to get clear of the coral reef on which we planted ourselves.

Upon our return we assisted the Kevalli group in getting back to their boat as all they had put in the water was a kayak. There were four people and a dog all trying to make it back to their boat on the kayak and they were a funny sight.   Lydia dropped her bag of gifts so we had an underwater search party in an attempt to find it.  As of our departure from the area as sunset approached, the search was continuing.  We will look some more in the morning.

We decided to dine aboard so we BBQ’d skirt steaks we bought in Colon.  They were a bit tough but very tasty.  After a nice dinner it was again time to retire for the evening.

June’s comments:

The anchorage at Isla Grande was the most secure one we’ve had since we joined Knotty Mind. Tucked in behind a sand bar, we are between the isle and the mainland, only ½ mile away. It would be good in any weather, and the view is lovely.  To the west is a beautiful private island. It’s round, and high, shaped like half a tennis ball, and covered with tall palm trees. Oh, if only we could have that on Overyonder Cay.  The entire isle was green and there seemed to be an enclosure with a zoo. We could see animals roaming around. It’s protected from the likes of us by a shallow coral reef, the one we came to grief upon mentioned above.  There is a large main house high on the hill, and several smaller ones, as if owned by one family.  I can’t figure out how they get here since no roads are visible.  There is a small attractive village on the shore, so there must be some egress.  I walked on the sand bar and picked up some shells.

LOG 61

June 19, 2003 (Thursday)

Isla Grande, Panama to Cayos Chichime, San Blas I.

The day got off to a hectic start after we talked to the Kevalli crew and learned that they were ready to go at about 8:30.  They had been calling us on the VHF radio but our volume was down on our radio so we didn’t talk to them until we took the dinghy over to their boat.  So, we hurried back to the boat, pulled up the anchor, and followed Kevalli for about 6 hours to Cayos Chichime.  The seas were relatively smooth and the winds blew about 10 kts. out of the ESE.  There was a little rain now and then but after we arrived at the anchorage it turned sunny and warm.  All things considered, the weather was very comfortable.

It was now 2:30 and we were now in the famous San Blas Islands and it was just beautiful.  Palm covered islands with white sandy beaches and Kuna Indians in their cayucas selling their Molas (a multi-layered cut and embroidered fabric).  What a sight as we dropped anchor between two beautiful islands in 40 ft. of water.  My windlass is starting to give a bit of trouble and I hope it continues to work with a little coaxing.  I dropped a tool overboard as we were putting down the anchor and had to don SCUBA gear to go find it.  We put out two anchors as there is a tropical wave approaching and we may see some gusty winds from a different direction while we are here and we are close to the beach.

We spent the rest of the afternoon buying Molas from the Indians in the cayucas, and playing in the water.  Scuttlebutt and Jake were left alone on a small island with a few palms to play “Robinson Caruso” dogs and the rest of us snorkeled and went swimming in the clear warm water.  We found a volley ball net on the small island and they had a volleyball aboard Kevalli.  So, I paired up with a local Indian boy and played David and Bob in a couple two-man volleyball games.  My Indian partner turned out to be a ringer and played great volleyball so we won both games.

I took David and June back to the Knotty Mind and returned to the beach for an hour or so to snorkel and let Scuttlebutt play with Jake.  The little village where we found the volleyball court had a little pet monkey that Scuttlebutt was pretty interested in but the monkey wanted nothing to do with her. After running the Kevalli crew back to their boat,  I finally returned to the Knotty Mind and we settled in for a delicious chicken dinner and an early evening after a long fun day.

LOG 62

June 20, 2003 (Friday)

Cayos Chichime, San Blas Islands

We have found a wonderful paradise so why move?  Our anchorage is well protected and we have made friends with the local Kuna Indians.  This is an idyllic spot with small tropical islands with palm trees, sandy beaches, almost perfect.  So we stayed here for another day and played.

The dawn brought a spectacular shot of Kevalli, a beautiful 70 ft. Delta Expedition Yacht, against the tropical island with the bright sun lighting up the port side.  I took a few pictures and got one that would make a brochure cover shot.  I printed it out and gave it to Bob as a gift later in the day.

I did some boat chores in the morning including a generator oil change and a good cleanup of Scuttlebutt hair while David, June, Scuttlebutt, and Madonna went on a snorkeling and reef walking expedition.

In the afternoon, we joined our now good friends on Kevalli and with the help of a local guide, George, we took a two mile trip in the dinghies to Dog Island. The ride was fun as we ran both dinghies in close formation through the crystal blue glassy water.  This was even a prettier place with a pleasant snorkel on a wreck of a Columbian small freighter just off the beach and a very pretty reef on the other side of the island. Scuttlebutt and Jake seemed to know that this was a “dog” island as they romped all over the place. Dog Island was small, you could walk all the way around it in less than 10 minutes, and had a Kuna family living on it selling the usual Molas, etc.  I made friends with a little baby parrot and had fun letting Allison, Bob and Lydia’s daughter, walk around with it on her shoulder.  They charged $1.00 per person for using their island and it was well worth it. We didn’t have any money with us.  But that was no problem, they were happy to paddle the 2 miles over to our boat in their cayuca to collect the toll and the payment for a $5.00 Mola that Madonna purchased.

On our way back we found some local fishermen with some decent size lobster.  Unfortunately, now the San Blas Islands have very few lobster as they have been fished out.  I bought 3 for dinner.  The fisherman tried to pull a sneaky on me by substituting a tiny lobster for one of the 3 larger ones I wanted, but I caught him and swapped it back.  He had hidden under the seat of his cayuca!  No stupid “Gringo” here!  We then returned to the Knotty Mind to prepare a surf and turf dinner. I gave Kevin, Bob and Lydia’s son, a lesson on cleaning lobster.

I wondered over to Kevalli and then Lydia, Allison, and I went ashore to shop.  It turned into an interesting photo session with the Kuna family and Allison who they had fun with dressing up as a Kuna for pictures. The Kuna Indians dress up in a very colorful garb as they try to sell their wares.   After our wonderful surf and turf dinner, served on the aft deck in a cool easterly breeze, David June, and I went back to Kevalli to print pictures as gifts to take to the family in the morning. Some of the pictures turned out great after we finally found out how to properly load the photo paper in the printer. The Kuna’s will be thrilled with their family photos. We spent about an hour and a half playing with the high tech toys and then finally returned to the Knotty Mind at 11:00 pm after a long and wonderful day.

When you look at the chart, it appears as though there are large islands.  What there actually is, are small islets, surrounded by large areas of reef and sand bank.. Allison and I, accompanied by Scuttlebutt, explored one of these.  The water was 6 inches deep, with lots of turtle grass.  Allison had her kayak which she pulled behind her, and onto which we piled sand dollars and sea biscuits.  I have never seen so many biscuits.  We walked almost to the edge of the dropoff.  The water got deeper, and there were patches of coral. We then decided to get on the kayak, but first had to do something about all the shells.  Allisan commented that this was only our first San Blas Island, so we dropped many of them overboard, and got on the kayak.  This was a very small kayak, barely big enough for the two of us.  Then we realized that it was too far for Scuttlebutt, so we had to get her on also, without spilling us or the rest of our shells.  That was not easy. We must have made a funny sight, but we made it back to Knotty Mind.  Allison is a delightful 12 year old, obviously used to spending time with adults.

We learned from the net that a boat had been boarded in the anchorage where we had been two nights before.  Several guys asked for money and gear, but did nothing when told no. However, the radio net suggested that cruisers keep their radios on at night, in case anyone needed help. Even paradise is not perfect.

LOG 63

June 21, 2003 (Saturday)

Cayos Chichime, San Blas Islands to Carti Islands, San Blas Islands

We finally decided to leave paradise as we followed Kevalli out of our wonderful anchorage.  They delivered the pictures we printed the night before and it turned out to be a well received treat for the Kuna family.  George, our “tour guide” boarded Kevalli to show us the way to his village in the Carti Islands.  The ride was delightful as we had a very slight following sea and in about an hour and a half we were anchoring off of Yantupu Island.  The bottom here was hard and rocky and we had a difficult time getting our anchor to set in the gentle easterly wind.  Finally with enough chain out, we seemed to stay in one place.

The Kevalli crew decided to take up George’s offer of a trip inland to a remote Kuna Village.  George said it was a short cayuca ride to the mouth of the river and then a 45 minute walk through the jungle to the village.  Off we went, Bob, Lydia, Allison, Kevin, Scuttlebutt, and I.  David, June, and Madonna opted to skip the jungle hike.  The “short” cayuca ride turned out to be over an hour but was pleasant as we crossed the bay and headed up the river and through a jungle canopied canal.  We reached the end of the canal and it was time to hike.  The trail was a bit muddy and it was hot and steamy as we hiked through the jungle for about 15 minutes.  The trail opened onto a large open plain over a mile long which turned out to be an abandoned runway.  Here we cooked in the hot sun as we hiked the length of it.  We welcomed the return of the muddy trail and the jungle canopy where it was much cooler.  We forded a couple streams on some interesting bridges and hiked for another 20 minutes.  All tolled, we had already been hiking an hour from the boat.  We asked George “are we there yet?” and to our surprise he said ”we have come only 25 minutes and we have about 35 to go”.  George does not wear a watch!  It was getting later in the day and storm clouds were threatening.  There was some discussion about horses for the return trip but George was not sure they would be available.

At this point Lydia took control and said, “we are going back.”  We aborted the trek to the village and hiked 50 minutes back to the boat.  We had not taken enough water and were not wearing the proper clothing and shoes for this kind of hike.  We had expected to be swimming in a clear river.  Then it was the hour plus cayuca ride back to the boats and we were told we only had one hour to get ready for our trip into the village for Kuna dancing and dinner.  We would never have been back before dark if we had gone all the way to the village.

At this point things got interesting.  A squall hit with some brisk winds from the Southwest, (our unprotected side) and both boats started to drag anchor.  Kevalli was only 50 ft. from hitting the dock as they raised their anchor and got under way. They tried to re-anchor but it wouldn’t hold. We raised our anchor and headed out to deep water so we could make a new plan.  We picked a bay on the mainland, only about a mile and a half away and headed to it. Kevalli followed us there and it turned out to be a wonderful anchorage, protected through 270 degrees, with good holding.  We anchored there in smooth water and relaxed. It was also nice because we were no longer besieged by Kuna cayucas trying to sell us everything they made.  We had been surrounded since our arrival early in the day at Yantupu.

George followed us over, the tenacious guy that he is, and we resurrected the plan for the evening.  Kevin stayed with the boats and the rest of us got in the big cayuca for a 2 mile ride back to the Carti Islands for our tour, our dancing and dinner.

The tour was of Yantupu, population approximately 700.  This was George’s village and he was very anxious to take us there.  We went ashore and saw the Mormon Church and met the missionaries, young Mormon boys sent there for several weeks at a time to help the villagers. The island was very small and the people lived very closely together in huts with thatched roofs. We wondered through the rather clean and neat village and visited with the friendly Indians.  It was all smiles and a cheerful welcome.  We found the town dock and the freight boat was in.  I was hungry and hadn’t eaten for a while so I decided to buy a sweetbread for $.40.  Bob picked up on the idea and bought all they had on the boat and gave them out to the hundreds of kids that suddenly appeared from everywhere.  We were a big hit!  George then took us to his house and introduced us to his family.

Then we loaded on to the cayuca again and motored to the larger island of Sugtupu, population approximately 2000.  This too was a small island and very compact.  Here we learned that the 1 year old brother of the dance leader had just died so there could be no dance.  They were in mourning.  We walked through the village and ended up at the Catholic Church where they had dinner planned.  Here we met the Priest, Father Benicio, who was our host for dinner.  He told us a lot about the Kuna Culture and served us a delicious meal of lobster, fish, garlic potatoes, ice cold beer, chocolate cake, and jello.

After a pleasant dinner, learning a lot about the Kuna lifestyle, we reboarded the cayuca for our tide back to the boats.  George, was highly intoxicated and couldn’t make the trip so we dropped him off at Yantupu.  Then our cayuca driver headed back to our boats.  He only forgot one thing, gasoline!  We ran out in the middle of the bay but managed to barely get the motor running by tilting the gas tank to get the last drop out.  We had to paddle only the last 50 ft.  Bob gave him some gas so he could make it back after dropping us off on the Knotty Mind.

June’s comments:

Right from the beginning I didn’t care for George.  David and I opted out on the hike.  As a consequence, we were deluged by Kuna women selling molas.  I am happy to buy, and like to spread the largesse around; however, this was the most aggressive group that I had met.  They were tugging at me, and there must have been ten of them on board.  After I made my decision, they tried to take one of my purchases back, and one elderly lady yelled at me.  It was not pleasant.  Then we couldn’t get rid of them. We went below, and finally they got the hint and departed.  We had a lazy day on board, taking a trip around the islands, which were packed with huts and didn’t look very clean.  Around five, the gang returned, just in time as a squall hit, and both boats dragged.  I don’t know what we would have done by ourselves.  As it was, neither of us could reset our anchor, so we motored to a more protected spot 2 miles away.  George found us there, and sent a cayuca out for us.  The dinner ashore turned out to be much nicer than expected.  Getting back to the boats was an adventure!

LOG 64

June 22, 2003 (Sunday)

Carti Islands, San Blas Islands to East Holandes Cays, San Blas I.

Our hastily picked anchorage worked out exceedingly well.  We had a peaceful night and had gentle southerly winds throughout the night.  In the morning Scuttlebutt got me up early for an urgent beach run so we went ashore at 6:00 am.  It turned out that we were anchored right off the local airport and the people were showing up for the morning flight as I approached.  It was very interesting.  The station agent hoisted a white flag as a signal for the plane to land and pick up passengers.  It was due in at 6:30 but it turned out to be an hour late.

I returned to the boat and got caught up on doggie maintenance.  Scuttlebutt got a shampoo, an ear cleaning, a teeth cleaning, and a toe nail clipping with the help of Allison from Kevalli.

By about 9:30 we were ready to pick up anchor and head for the Eastern Holandes Cays, about 18 miles away.  After our experience with the crowded Carti Islands and their hords of Kunas in their cayucas selling Molas, we were ready for the uninhabited Holandes.  As we passed by the Carti islands we were approached by a boat that asked us to stop.  They tried to talk to me but I referred them to Kevalli where Lydia spoke fluent Spanish.  As it turned out they were trying to collect a bogus $150 per boat fee.  Lydia told them to get lost and we motored on.  After this unpleasant encounter and our inept tour guide George, we would not recommend the Carti Islands to any other boaters.

The remainder of the two hour ride was very pleasant and we motored side by side taking pictures of each other’s boat.  As we approached the anchorage, I led Kevalli in and watched the depth for them.  He draws 10 feet and needs to put out lots of anchor rode for his 140 ton vessel.  The anchorage was beautiful but by nightfall we had nine other boats in the anchorage with us.  The holding was excellent and the protection was 360 degrees so we were happy, especially with the news that we had a couple of  tropical waves approaching.

The rest of the day was spent playing in the water and just relaxing in our beautiful setting.  I helped Bob work on a generator problem and then took Jake and Scuttlebutt for dinghy rides around the anchorage and met many of the other cruisers. June and I took Scuttlebutt to the beach and walked completely around this small palm covered island.   It was a pleasant, relaxing afternoon and a welcome change from the somewhat hectic pace we had at the Carti Islands. We found out that the nickname for this anchorage is “the swimming pool” and it is aptly named.

We made a nice chicken dinner and settled in for a movie, “About Schmidt” with jack Nicholson.  Then, it was a very peaceful night’s sleep in our dead calm anchorage.

June’s comments: 

The Carti Islands really left a bad taste in my mouth.  After all we had spent there ($500 between the two boats) it really annoyed me that a group of men tried to rip us off for $300 in bogus fees.  Luckily, Lydia was able to tell them off in Spanish. Apparently, when she gets angry in Spanish, being raised in Puerto Rico, she can be quite a handful.

The Hollandes Cays are beautiful.  They are surrounded by a gigantic reef, with waves breaking.  Inside the reef there are numerous small palm clad islets and the anchorage has a soft sand bottom full of sea biscuits. We hope to enjoy three days here. Late in the afternoon a cayuca approached with two men selling molas.  I wasn’t interested, until I realized that one was Venecio Restrepas, one of the best mola makers in the San Blas and recommended by many cruisers.  Their coming here saved us a trip to their island.I bought two, and so did Lydia.  The workmanship was definitely superior. No more molas now!      

LOG 65

June 23, 2003 (Monday)

East Holandes Cays, San Blas I. (The Swimming Pool)

We are anchored just north of Banedup Cay and west of a little island we named “PotluckCay” (because cruisers have a pot luck dinner on Friday nights) and it seems that there is never even a ripple in the water here.  All the boats are pointing in different directions as we drift around our anchors.  The boat never rocks and it feels like we are in a sheltered marina.

This was a lazy day.  I ran the watermaker and topped off our water tanks and then went over to Kevalli to visit.  They had checked out Scuttlebutt’s pearly white teeth and then pointed out that Jake (their Standard Poodle) had grungy teeth with lots of tartar.  So, I took the scraper over and Bob, Lydia, Allison and I did a team attack in Jake’s teeth as I taught them how to clean them.  He was a good patient and now he too has a pretty smile.

David, June, and Madonna took a short excursion to the reef in the dinghy and then we decided to relax in the early afternoon with a little card game.  In the Bahamas, we had a weekly card game of “Oh Shit“so we taught Madonna the game and played for about an hour. Beginner’s luck, Madonna beat us all.

I had promised Allison and her new friend Darcy, a 14 year old girl off of the sailing vessel Starship, I would pull them behind the dinghy on a knee board and a surfboard.  With Jake and Scuttlebutt as observers we goofed off making circles around Kevalli while Bob ran the video camera.  We tried to get Scuttlebutt up on the surfboard with Darcy but Scuttlebutt was not to be a “Surfer Dog” as she kept falling off.

 A couple of Kuna fishermen came by in their cayuka to trade a large crab for 2 cokes.  It seemed like a good deal so I made the swap.  Then I noticed the four nice size lobster in the cayuka.  I bargained for three of these as well.  We weren’t exactly sure how to cook the crab since it barely fit in our largest pot so June got on the radio and asked for advice.  Soon our big crab was boiling in sea water!  We will have crab salad tomorrow and Surf and Turf for June’s birthday on the 27^th.

We were invited for dinner on board Kevalli so June and Madonna prepared a few dishes to take with us and at 7:00 pm we boarded our dinghy for the ride over.  It was a perfectly wonderful evening as we remarked about the coincidence of finding two boats running the same schedule that cruise at the same speed, both having a large dog, that were such a good match for “buddy boating”.  Kevin and I figured out how to transfer video from one digital camera directly to another so I gave them a lot of video of our latest activities.  By 11:00 pm we were all tired and ready for bed so we motored back to the Knotty Mind and went to sleep.

June’s comments:

Today was my best shelling day. Madonna, Lydia and I were dropped off on a little cay with a sand bank.  Immediately we were besieged by sand flies.  To get away from them we walked out into deeper water. Looking down, I spotted a large shell.  I’ve never seen one like it, and have no idea what it is.  Identification will have to wait until I get home. After lunch, David and I snorkeled over to the grassy bank near the boat, where we found more of the flat sea biscuits.  I stopped to adjust my mask, and right beneath me was a gorgeous Triton’s Trumpet.  I knew that they were around because the locals were selling them, but I thought they were in very deep water.  This guy was sitting in five feet. Bill is starting to complain about all my junk.  That’s the risk you run when you invite a beachcomber on board!

LOG 66

June 24, 2003 (Tuesday)

East Holandes Cays, San Blas I. (The Swimming Pool)

We spent another entire day in this lovely place.  It is peaceful and there are no Kuna cayucas approaching you every minute to sell you something.  We joined up with the Kevalli crew and brought Darcy along with us from Starship and went on a snorkeling expedition.  We found two wonderful reefs and spent several hours out on the water taking in the underwater sights of the Holandes Cays. A Nurse Shark, a very large Barracuda, and lots of pretty coral and tropical fish were the highlights of the adventure.  David and I tried to swim through the surf line of the reef but were turned back by the zero visibility caused by bubbles in the surf and the close proximity of sharp coral. 

After returning to the anchorage we discussed moving to the Lemon Cays to get closer to Portobello, our next destination.  But, we all got a bit lazy and decided to stay put and enjoy the perfect weather and the quiet anchorage.  I took the time to wash the starboard hull and with June’s help we got all the generator soot off the hull and made it look white again.

We invited the Kevalli crew over for a pot luck dinner and cards and had a pleasant evening teaching them “Oh Shit” and eating great food.  We BBQ’d hamburgers and veggiburgers, made a fresh salad and Lydia brought a wonderful ravioli. By 10:30 pm we were all very tired and since we had decided on a 7:00 am departure in the morning, it was time to make it an early evening.

June’s comments:

Darcy’s suggestion to go to the outer reefs was a great idea.  It was the clearest water we had seen in Panama.  Most of the gang headed toward the surf line, but I wanted to look for shells.  What I found instead was the largest barracuda I had ever seen.  He was bigger than me, and swam alongside, not letting me get away from him.  By the time I got back to the dinghy, I was quite tired.  But the beauty of the area made it worth it!

LOG 67

June 25, 2003 (Wednesday)

East Holandes Cays, San Blas I. (The Swimming Pool) to Portobello, Panama

It was time to leave our favorite anchorage and start heading for the Canal.  A tropical wave was forecast for Thursday so we decided to move close to Colon today.  At 7:00 am we pulled the anchor and led Kevalli out of the anchorage.  We passed the Lemon Cays and the Chichime Cays where we anchored before and then ran into a line of severe thunderstorms.  We had heavy rain, some wind, lightening, and thunder for about an hour after which the skies stayed gray but the wind and seas were pleasant.  My repairs on leaks were tested and I did well on 2 out of 3.  I still have to find one.

The remainder of the 8 ½ hour trip was without incident and we followed Kevalli into the harbor at Portobello at about 3:30.  This is a beautiful wide upon bay with high terrain all around and totally protected except from the west.  There are old forts and fortifications around the bay and since this is the rainiest part of Panama, the hills are extremely green and lush. We anchored in 30 ft. of water and then took the dinghy to the town to explore a little and compared to the San Blas Islands, we were back in civilization.  There were cars, phones, a small market, restaurants, everything.  We walked around for an hour and then returned to the boat.  I played water taxi and took the Kevalli group ashore and they stayed there and had dinner. We had taken fish out of the freezer so we ate aboard.  Our dinner was Cuban fish and a big crab for which I had bartered two cokes with a Kuna fisherman.

The cell phone Peter gave us is back in operation and we checked with him regarding our Canal Transit.  He said the 28^th still looked good so we expect to make our crossing on Saturday.  If the plan holds, our pilot will board early in the morning and it should take about 8 hours to transit the Canal.  There is a website with a web camera on one of the locks so everyone can watch us go through. Here is the address:     http://www.pancanal.com/eng/index.htm/.

Also, when we get part way through the transit, I will call Steve and give as good an ETA as possible for the lock and he can send that as an email as well.  It should be late Saturday afternoon but I will keep everyone updated.

Also, I am sorry about the delay in getting these latest logs out.  There have been no internet connections available since leaving Colon.  The library here in Portobello said I could hook up my laptop to their phone line tomorrow and get online so I will get caught up.

LOG 68

June 26, 2003 (Thursday)

  Portobello, Panama

It was a cloudy morning as we awoke below the Spanish fortifications of Portobello.  This had been the center of commerce of Panama in the 1600’s and 1700’s and had an amazing history with background of famous explorers, pirates, admirals, and plunderers from Columbus to Sir Francis Drake who died here.  The city had been attacked and destroyed repeatedly in its days of glory in fights between the Spanish, British and French and many Pirates.

In the morning we divided into two groups.  One group (David, June, Allison, Bob, and Lydia) took the dinghy and went snorkeling while Kevin, Madonna, and I headed to town to use the internet connections at the library.  The electrical power had been out in the town for 2 hours so only I could connect with my laptop.  So, a backlog of logs got sent out. 

Then the surprise of the day happened.  As I was walking into the library I passed a woman that I recognized but couldn’t place immediately.  She said “Bill!” and it turned out to be an old friend from the Bahamas who had lived on Norman’s Cay in the Exumas.  Three years ago, Michelle and Ralph (OkFineRight) suddenly sold their house on Normans Cay and moved to Panama.  They left no forwarding address and I never thought I would see them again. They had been customers of mine in my flying business between Florida and the Bahamas.  Well, here they were in Portobello and we were invited to their house for cocktails at 3 pm. It was amazing how many people we have just run into down here.

Kevalli left us this afternoon and headed for Colon.  We will rejoin them tomorrow in the “Flats” in Colon harbor but we decided to spend another night here in beautiful Portobello.

It was raining hard as we left the boat to go meet Michelle and Ralph.  Michelle picked us up in their Daewoo mini-minivan and drove us about a mile to their hilltop, jungle home.  It was spectacular!  We had to climb 122 steps to the top of a hill about 157 feet above sea level.  Here they had built a gorgeous house on a small piece of land that they had just flattened.  They had a million dollar view of Portobello Bay and lush surroundings complete with many Mango and Banana trees.  The rain stopped and we had a wonderful afternoon with much to talk about as we sat on their front porch! Michelle, Ralph, David, June and I had many mutual friends and acquaintances over the years and Ralph and Michelle had lots to catch up on in news from the Bahamas and stories to tell of their new adventures in Panama.

We returned to the boat just at sunset and decided to skip dinner since we had been snacking at our friend’s house.  I took Scuttlebutt ashore and made a couple phone calls and we called it an early night.  It was a bit rolly in the anchorage that night as a small swell rolled in but not accompanied by any wind.  Therefore the boat stayed sideways to the small waves and rocked us to sleep.   

June’s comments:

Bill’s “small swell” was almost enough to roll us out of bed, accompanied by loud thumps when the water hit the hull.  Luckily it settled down by 10 p.m.  It had been a lovely day. Our dinghy exploration took us first to a breaking reef.  Bob checked it out and found the coral mostly dead, so we went over to Drake Island, where Sir Francis was supposedly buried at sea. Actually this honor is also claimed by another island, Isla Grande, 10 miles away. Whatever, it was pleasant snorkeling, but still, nothing like the Bahamas. We then went into a small bay, fringed by jungle.  If you like green, this is the place. The book said that Portobello is the rainiest place on this rainy coast. The hills surrounding the bay are covered with green vegetation. Our afternoon visit to Michelle and Ralph was a treat.  What a small world!!

LOG 69

June 27, 2003 (Friday)

  Portobello, Panama to Colon, Panama

We departed Portobello in our usual leisurely manner at about 9:30.  I motored very slowly for the three hour trip because I had to make water and once inside the Colon harbor the water would be too dirty to do so.  So, it took us three hours to cover the 21.5 miles to the anchorage at area “F” in Colon Harbor. The weather was nice as we had following seas and gentle winds.

Peter Stevens, our agent, advised us that our Panama Canal transit was scheduled for early the following morning as we had requested.  The pilot would board us in area F at 4:15 am we were told.  So, we had a busy afternoon. I had to pick up our Canal transit lines (Four 125 ft. 7/8 in lines). We had to do some provisioning and of course June and Lydia wanted to go shopping in the “Free Zone”.  I needed an internet café and since today was June’s birthday, I needed a card.  I took a taxi down town and found a good internet café.  Then I went walking around downtown Colon (a no-no in all the guides) looking for a card. I failed and walked down some streets that I shouldn’t have.  But, I made it back ok.

At our last visit to Colon I met a German girl, Yvonne, who said she wanted to make the canal transit with us. She called and I told her when to meet us.  I found her waiting for us when I returned to the marina.  She joined our group for the rest of the evening.

We decided to celebrate June’s birthday at the Melia Resort restaurant.  The crew from Kevalli joined us and the nine of us had an extremely nice birthday dinner for June right down to the cake with her name on it.  I gave June a birthday card, actually a post card from the Canal, telling her I would take her to an exotic place for her birthday.  It was the best I could do after my failed attempt to buy a card in downtown Colon.  Lydia did much better.  She found cards in the grocery store and a beautiful handmade basket in a gift shop.  It was the perfect gift as June loves baskets.

While in the Bocas del Toro airport a couple weeks ago, I met a young lady, Sarah Wolf, who was teaching at the university in Panama City.  I had been in touch with her via email and she wanted to join us for the canal transit too.  She showed up and brought her two Panamanian girlfriends, Denisse and Adi.  They were sisters, spoke very little English but were very nice. They were waiting for as we returned from dinner.

We now had to bed down 8 people on the Knotty Mind for the night.  No problem, I slept in the girl’s dorm and everything was ok.  It would be a short night and we didn’t get to sleep till midnight.

June’s comments:

Another wonderful day which ended with a delightful birthday party.  I even allowed myself a slice of birthday cake (res leches) ultra delicioso!  Lydia bought me a beautiful basket, made by the Darien Indians, and Allison added a carved cowrie shell. 

LOG 70

June 28, 2003 (Saturday)

Panama Canal Transit, Colon to Balboa

The day began at 3:00 am.  The boat had to be prepared for the Canal Transit by 4:30 when our pilot was scheduled to arrive.  I took Scuttlebutt to shore for a quick pee and poop and then upon return we hoisted the dinghy aboard.  Kevin from Kevalli decided to make the trip so I had picked him up on the way back from shore.  With the dingy up, we had to blow up my big fenders and get our rented transit lines and fenders positioned around the boat. Bob came over in his tender to say a final goodbye and pick up a couple of fuel tanks I no longer needed.  At exactly 4:30, the pilot arrived and ten minutes later with our chores complete, we pulled up the anchor and headed for the Gatun Locks.

We approached the locks at dawn, a spectacular sight, and learned we would be tied to a tug as we locked through.  This is by far the easiest way to do it so we were very pleased.  The kicker was that we would have a 40 ft. sailboat rafted to us.  No problem. It was about 5:30 am and in the dawn light we entered the lock and eased up next to the tug and secured bow, stern and spring lines.  My pilot would not let me do anything wrong. Next the sailboat eased up next to us and we secured him tightly to our port side.  That was it, up we went.  There was some turbulence as the lock filled and even more as the freighter ahead powered up to exit the lock but everything was set up right and there were no problems.  Scuttlebutt watched the whole affair from the bow.  This was her 167^th lock, having been a veteran of the Great Circle Trip in the summer of 2000, so she was a pro.

We repeated the up-locking process two more times with the sailboat on our hip through the whole process as we proceeded through the three chambers of the Gatun Locks.  At the top we found ourselves on beautiful Gatun Lake by 7:15 am.  The early morning sun just added to the magnificent beauty.  We separated from the sailboat and motored for 2 ½ hours to the Pedro Miguel Locks.  It was about 21 miles and we passed the town of Gamboa along the way. The day was sunny and hot and the lake waters were glassy.  The girls sunned themselves on the bow and everyone consumed drinks, snacks, and Madonna’s baked goodies along the way. June took the helm and could not be pried away from the thrill of running the boat through the Panama Canal. 

With 10 people aboard, we had a nice transit party.  The group consisted of David and June, Madonna, Kevin from Kevalli, Sarah and her two friends Adi and Denisse, Yvonne, the pilot, and me. Every one pitched in to help and the whole transit went very smoothly.  Upon reaching the Pedro Miguel locks we were told we would have to wait for the sailboat to catch up to us.  If I had known this earlier I could have gone much slower and saved about 20 gallons of diesel.  Anyway, I elected to tie to an empty dock near the lock and we took Scuttlebutt ashore for a visit to the nicely cut grass at the Canal maintenance office.  Then we settled into the air conditioned interior of the boat for a game of hearts to wait the hour for the sailboat.

At about 11:30 our sailboat arrived and we learned we would go through the lock “nested”.  That meant we would raft together and remain in the center of the chamber, held there by our transit lines which would be attached to ballards on the lock wall and then worked by our crew as the boat locked down.  Because we were a larger boat, we had to work three lines and the sailboat only had to work one.  We now were getting quite friendly with our sailboat crew and learned that it was an interesting group.  The captain was David Wilson, the author of the book “Transiting the Panama Canal in a Small Vessel” and his crew consisted of the US Naval Attache to Panama, the husband of the US Ambassador to Panama, and the former US Ambassador to Iceland.  It was a pleasure to lock through with them and they were a very competent crew.

The lock personnel retrieved the transit lines from us by the use of a light line and a “Monkey Fist”, a weighted ball that they throw from the wall to the boat.  It hits with a good clunk and you have to keep you eyes open on deck.  But, the lock personnel are pros and we had no trouble getting our lines to them. In the San Miguel Lock we “nested” together first and then motored into the lock.  We moved to the front of the lock and then a large freighter pulled in behind us, an awesome sight!  But it worked.  Down we went and out on to Lake Miraflores.  We remained nested for the short run to the Miraflores Locks and at about 1:00 pm we started through the last pair of locks.  All together there are six locks so now Scuttlebutt is a veteran of 172 locks!  Saying goodbye to our lock partners, we separated from the sailboat and motored out into Balboa Harbor and under the Bridge of the Americas.  Here it is traditional to throw a nickel in the water for luck so we all made the toss.

As we exited the shelter of Balboa, we were greeted to the Pacific Ocean by 25 to 30 knots of wind.  The chop was uncomfortable but the sheltering islands kept it from being too rough. The pilot boat came along side and picked up our pilot and did so skillfully in the high wind and chop. We found our way to the Flamenco Yacht Club and tied up on pier 3.  We learned that they had not yet installed their electrical lines so there was no shore power available at our dock.  I was a bit disappointed but we had no other option at the moment so we settled in with the generator running.  Our extra crew disembarked and everyone headed to where ever they headed to.  David, June, Madonna and I decided we needed a drink and a nap so we found the nearest bar, had a drink, and returned to the boat for a nap.  It had been a very long and exhausting day but it was quite a thrill to have transited the famous Panama Canal.

Around 8:30 pm, David June and I awoke from our naps to go to dinner.  We were surprised to find that our floating dock had dropped about 15 ft. as the tides here run 15 to 18 ft.  We walked up the now steep ramp to the shore and ate a nice dinner at the Cuban Restaurant in the Flaminco Island complex, immediately behind the marina.  Then it was back to the boat and a good night’s sleep.

June’s comments:

Today was truly a memorable day.  It was even more exciting since I just finished  reading  David McCullough’s “Path Between the Seas” .  I felt I was part of history.  To go from the Atlantic to the Pacific in just 42 miles is amazing, although the 30,000 workers who perished to make it possible might not have looked at it that way! We and our sailboat companions were the only two yachts to transit this day. The 30 others were all large cargo vessels.  It was interesting to watch the way they did it:  A railway ran along both sides of the locks, and small locomotives pulled the ships into the locks.  Madonna told us that when she went thru the canal on a sailboat, one of the cables slipped, and the ship in front of them rammed into them.  Everything ran smoothly for us.  Another coincidence- the Icelandic Ambassador knew my father’s friend who had worked in the Canal Zone.  We went through the day running on adrenaline. Our first sight of the Pacific, under the Bridge of the Americas, was accompanied by 25 knot winds, sending salt spray all over “knotty Mind”.  A thunder storm later on gave us a free washdown. 

LOG 71

June 29, 2003 (Sunday)

Flamenco Marina, Balboa, Panama

Today we recovered from our canal transit and did a little sight seeing.  Sarah came by the boat at about 10:30 am and we started hunting for breakfast.  All the restaurants in the Flamenco complex were closed so we headed downtown to look for food and do some tourist stuff.  Sarah directed our cab to take us to the Casco Viejo and the monument to Ferdinand de Lessups where we still couldn’t find a restaurant but we got plenty of information on the French attempts to build the canal.  Sarah talked to the local police and they sent a bicycle team out to search for an open restaurant for us.  The results were phenomenal. The bicycle cops got us a table reserved at the La Mostoza restaurant where we had one of our most fabulous meals of the trip.  We just told the waiter to bring us a selection items from the long list of appetizers and the meal turned out to be a real taste treat, including some exotic deserts. 

After what turned out to be lunch we took a cab to another tourist attraction, the Mi Pueblito. Here we walked around and looked at the re-created villages depicting Panamanian Culture and history. The three different cultures, the Afro-Caribbean, the Spanish, and the Kuna Yala Indians all were represented here. It was a well done exhibit and quite interesting. Here we had more opportunities to shop for molas and I, committing a very big faux pas, laid down in the hammock reserved only for the chiefs.

We then returned to the boat to relax for a while.  I decided to go to the Balboa Yacht Club to check out their happy hour and their facilities.  I have been very disappointed with the Flamenco marina and plan to move ASAP.  I am paying $1.50 /ft. to run my generator on the dock and none of the facilities they have in their information sheet exist yet. The Balboa Yacht Club was fun.  They have a pool, a fun bar and there is a lot of activity there. There will be lots of grass for Scuttlebutt and it is very doggie friendly. However, there are no docks, it has only moorings that are somewhat exposed. They have a shore boat that shuttles you to and from your boat 24 hours a day.  No matter, I will move there tomorrow.

I returned to the boat about 7:00 pm and then David, June and I headed downtown by taxi to go look around.  We stumbled into the highly recommended “El Gaucho Steak House” so we decided to have dinner even though we had previously decided not to.  It turned out to be a treat as their meat was “out of this world”, quoting June, and so we had another great meal.  Oh well, it’s vacation, right?

After that, it was straight back to the boat, a nice walk for Scuttlebutt, and bed. David and June settled into their cabin with a movie and I went to sleep.

June writes:

Our morning tour took us to the most interesting section of Panama City.  Parts of it were bombed out in the U.S. invasion, others looked like Colon- seedy and peeling, yet others were beautifully restored, charming  old Spanish style, with carved wooden balconies overlooking the streets.  Our lunch that was supposed to have been breakfast turned out to be the best meal of the trip- a memorable selection of delicious appetizers, followed by forbidden desserts.  I enjoyed Mi Pueblito, particularly the room containing antique Spanish lace gowns, lovingly hand-stitched by abuelas (grandmothers).   Of course, there were opportunities to buy handicrafts, including “vegetable ivory” carved into a lizard, and more molas.  Back at the boat, we rested up for our evening excursion.  The cab dropped us at restaurant row, where we had quite a choice, and after ambling around, we spotted “ El Gaucho” which the locals on our nested sailboat in the locks recommended. It turned out to be a great choice.  Back at the boat by 11, we started to watch a movie “Summer Lovers”, but got bored and went to sleep.

LOG 72

June 30, 2003 (Monday)

Flamenco Marina, to Balboa Yacht Club, Balboa, Panama

We spent the morning getting more and more frustrated with the Flamenco Marina.  They never got a spot on the dock for me where I could get power and just about every facility they advertised didn’t exist yet.  They weren’t real friendly or helpful with our questions either.  Finally I had enough.  I went over to the office to use the phone for my computer and paid my bill.  That was a joke too. We hadn’t been there 48 hours yet and the dockmaster tried to charge me for 3 days (the day I arrived, yesterday, and today).  I rudely pointed out the “error” in his math and paid for two days.  He even wanted to charge us for putting our trash ashore and water.  I laughed, paid only for my TWO nights and left.  We couldn’t get out of there quick enough. I would recommend that all cruisers stay away from that place!

At about noon we just up and left.  We motored the 3.9 miles back to the Balboa Yacht Club and picked up a mooring.  Here we got a friendly greeting and even though we are not on a dock, everyone except Scuttlebutt is much happier.

We then got organized for our afternoon adventure.  We had to go to a travel agency and pick up David and June’s amended tickets to Miami.  Then, of course there was the internet thing, and what would a day be like without shopping for molas?  June did some last minute gift shopping.  Madonna and I were worried about Yvonne and I was unable to reach her by phone.  So, we had the taxi driver take us to the Voyager Hostel where she was staying and after a bit of a search we finally found her.  She was still pretty sick with a urinary tract infection that was quite serious and she finally went to the hospital and got treated.  She is now on a heavy dose of antibiotics but she is still running high fever.

With all our shore plans completed, we returned to the boat at about 4 pm and I took Scuttlebutt for a long walk.  There is a huge parkway and grassy area that runs south from the Yacht Club and you can walk pleasantly for miles.  After our hour walk, I stopped at the Yacht Club bar for a happy hour drink and then took the water taxi back to the boat about 6 pm. 

We decided it would be appropriate to eat Panamanian Food for dinner so we picked out the El Trapiche restaurant.  As we looked for a taxi the Commodore of the Yacht Club offered to give us a ride to the restaurant.  He recommended another place owned by the same person, the Tinajas Restaurant.  As it turned out, it was a lovely restaurant but the food was ok but not great. It had a great ambiance but was definitely touristy.  However the “typical” Panamanian dishes were interesting.

After dinner we took a taxi to the Intercontinental Hotel.  My friend, Don Walter, a Delta Airlines pilot, flew in and had a layover in Panama City and Delta, taking good care of their pilots, put them up at the Intercontinental.  We went up to the”Sparkles” bar on the 5^th floor and had some coffee drinks and talked for a while.  David, June and Madonna left about 11:00 pm and Don and I stayed up for about another hour and talked.  About midnight, I grabbed a cab and went back to the boat and quickly fell asleep.

June’s Comments:

This is my last “log comments”, as David and I fly out to Miami tomorrow.  What a wonderful three weeks we’ve had.  I’m not counting last night, when we got back to the boat, with the generator turned off, and hence no air conditioning.  Bill returned an hour later and found us dozing (in the hot cabin) and didn’t want t o disturb us, and we thought he was sleeping and didn’t want to wake him, thus we tried to sleep on the aft deck.  It doesn’t pay to be polite!!  Seriously, it was a memorable experience, from Bocas del Toro, to the San Blas Islands, and then culminating in the passage through the Panama Canal.  We wish Bill fair (or no) winds, and fun times on the rest of his voyage, and will look forward to receiving his logs. 

LOG 73

July 1, 2003 (Tuesday)

Balboa Yacht Club, Balboa, Panama

This is the departure day for my entire crew.  David and June depart at 7 pm for Miami and Madonna will be leaving the boat as well on her way back to Montana.  All three spent the day packing and running last minute errands to travel agencies and, of course, last minute shopping. We hired one of the local taxi drivers, Luis Enrique, to shuttle us around and that worked well and relatively inexpensively.

We took time out for lunch at the Marbella Restaurant and had a delicious and big lunch.  Then it was more errands, a stop at the internet café, more shopping, and back to the boat for final packing.  By 4:30 pm. everyone was loaded in their taxis and Scuttlebutt and I were alone in Panama!  Scuttlebutt was very depressed to have all her friends leave and I was a little lonely at first but it was great to relax and just take it easy by myself for a while. 

The problem now will be to find crew for the rest of the trip.  Anybody interested in coming down, let me know.

LOG 74

July 2, 2003 (Wednesday)

Balboa Yacht Club, Balboa, Panama

This is my first day alone on the boat for over 2 ½ months.  It was quite pleasant.  I got up early and had a long list of things to do.  I organized piles of laundry, cleaned staterooms, cleaned the galley, defrosted the fridge, and worked pretty hard all day on my long list of chores.  The mechanic came to repair the steering on the dinghy so I had to stay there until he was done for the day.

Finally, about 3 pm, I told him to come back tomorrow to finish because I had a plan.  I had made reservations for Scuttlebutt and me to check into a hotel for a couple days to get a bit of a rest from the boat.  It started pouring rain but I moved my laundry, trash, and luggage for SB and Me off the boat and into (not the trash) Luis Enrique’s cab. SB and I looked like two drowned rats as we arrived at the Torres de Alba Hotel in downtown Panama City.  Luis was nice enough to put up with a soaking wet dog and soaking wet person in his cab!

The hotel had been recommended to me by another cruiser, Ruck on “Siren’s Song” as a nice place that takes dogs at a reasonable price.  SB and I have hit the jackpot here!  We have a large, comfortable, three room suite,  complete with our own washer/dryer, full kitchen, and cable TV. Most importantly, it has a phone line to which I can hook up my laptop and direct connect to AOL.  This is wonderful.  The location is perfect as well.  I am right across the street from the Hotel Panama and the biggest casino in Panama and one block from Via Espana, the main downtown street.  The area is loaded with restaurants and it is a pleasant place to walk around with lots of grassy spots for SB.  This will be a nice R&R from boat life for a few days.

SB and I took an exploration walk and we stumbled upon the El Trapiche restaurant, a place David and June and I had been looking for. I had a delicious Panamanian dinner while poor SB just drooled and then finished the walk and returned to the room.  I left SB in the room with her dinner and walked over to the Casino to try my luck.  After a couple hours, I didn’t win anything but my losses were only a couple dollars.  I was up most of the time and there were some interesting players at my table.

By 10:00 pm I was exhausted so I headed back across the street to my hotel, took SB for a quick walk and fell asleep in front of the TV.

LOG 75

July 3, 2003 (Thursday)

Balboa Yacht Club (BYC), Balboa, Panama

I got up early and after a long walk with SB through the nearby University of Panama where she was a big hit with all the female students, I returned to the room to catch up on email, etc.  I had made arrangements with Luis to pick me up at 10 am.  He was on time and we set out on the days errands.  On the way to the boat we stopped so I could get a haircut and then we picked up my stacks of laundry.  Then it was off to the BYC and the boat.

I loaded all the laundry and SB on the water taxi and we went out to the Knotty Mind.  The mechanic was already working on the dinghy steering problem so I continued my chores for a couple hours.  More cleaning, a generator oil change, putting away the laundry, and general boat work in prep for next leg of voyage.  There is plenty to do. It seems that the list keeps growing as I work and find more things needing attention.

As I was working in the engine room, I heard a loud bang and lots of voices yelling.  I hurried topside to see what happened and discovered that the BYC staff was towing a sailboat and lost it and it drifted into the bow of the Knotty Mind with the wind and strong current.  A quick survey showed that the stainless steel was bent and broken in the bow in front of the anchor rollers.  I was really pissed off as this was a custom piece made for the boat but the manager of the BYC said they would remove the piece and repair it tomorrow.  The quality of the work remains to be seen and it is a bit of a big job.

The dinghy mechanic said he would be finished at 3pm so I set up Luis to pick me up at three.  The steering now seems ok and $400.00 later I seemed to have recovered from my rough ride through the Honduras waters with the dinghy in tow.  Now it was time for some doggie maintenance.  Luis drove me to a vet the Peter Stevens knew and SB got her anal glands squeezed and a little general maintenance like toe nails etc.  We got some more drugs prescribed for her recurring urinary tract infection (she gets these on long passages when she won’t pee) and she checked out ok otherwise.  She is doing quite well and as usual she was a great patient.  Then it was back to the hotel around 5:45 after a quick stop at a pet store.

Yvonne called and said she was feeling better so she came over to visit.  The hostel where she was staying was only two blocks away so she dropped by at about 6:30 and we went across the street to a nice Pasta restaurant for dinner.  The rain was again falling so a short walk to dinner was in order.  We talked about the voyage, both ahead and behind, and she indicated she would still like to go and that she will be healthy in a day or two.  She is supposed to get checked at the hospital tomorrow for her urinary tract infection so we will see how she does.  I may have one crewmember!   After a couple cerveza's and some Linguini with clam sauce, I was ready to hit then casino again.  I hoped Yvonne would bring me luck but this was not to be the case.  The casino was hot so I got frustrated quickly and we left before the damages were extensive.

We returned to the room to get Scuttlebutt and then SB and I walked Yvonne home and continued our walk for about a half hour before returning to the room and going to bed.

LOG 76

July 4 thru July 6, 2003 (Friday - Sunday)

Balboa Yacht Club (BYC), Balboa, Panama

Friday was spent doing more errands and working on the crew problem.  I printed a flyer and put copies in on the bulletin boards where people look for crew positions.  Yvonne decided that she would definitely make the trip so now I can continue but a couple more people would be better.  I have to wait a couple days for her to complete her recovery but that is ok because now I have to wait to get my bow pulpit fixed. Living in my 3 room suite with my computer hooked up is getting addicting.  It has been a welcome break from the boat, especially because I am on a mooring and it is inconvenient to go ashore frequently. 

At about noon, Yvonne and I went out to the boat.  I have made Luis Enriques my permanent driver and he shows up everywhere I need him.  He tolerates Scuttlebutt even with her dirty paws so he is the best! The repair work scheduled for Friday morning never happened.  I was then told that the technician came to look at the job and that he would be there at 1:00 pm Saturday to do the repair.  So, I did some more boat chores, ran the generator to charge the batteries, and hung out at the BYC bar for a while. I spent the rest of the day looking around downtown Panama City, doing some shopping for incidentals and just relaxing.  I had made no special plans for the 4^th of July.

I went back to the hotel about 6 pm to relax for a while and Yvonne went back to the Voyager Hostel.  After an hour rest, I walked down to a little Chinese restaurant for dinner.  The place was a “hole in the wall” type restaurant but it was recommended by Ruck who has not missed on a recommendation yet.  The food was great. The plan then was to meet Don, my Delta pilot buddy, again at the Intercontinental Hotel at 9:45.  Delta was again on time and this time I had made arrangements to have David in Miami Fed Ex Don my mail.  So Don and I had a pleasant beer, discussed the future voyage and I left with an armload of mail.

Saturday morning was like Christmas in my hotel room.  However the “presents” were mostly bills.  I took care of all via my electronic banking (greatest invention for those who travel) and got caught up on all my “snail mail”. A couple of problems with my California Tax return and a filing for my Partnership in Nevada had to be handled via the post office but Yvonne was nice enough to stop there and pick up stamps and envelopes on her way over.

By noon, we were again off to the boat to meet the workmen coming to fix the bow pulpit.  At about 2 pm, the water taxi came by to ask why we hadn’t moved the boat to the work dock yet.  The answer was, “no one told us to.”  So we dropped the mooring and moved over to the work dock.  A crew was there to fix the bow Stainless Steel piece that was bent but their plan was flawed.  They were planning to use a thin piece of Stainless Steel tubing to replace a piece of ½ in. Stainless Steel rod.  I didn’t accept the idea so after a lot of “jabbering around” they agreed to do the job right.  Now they said they would be back on Monday afternoon at 4:30 to complete the work.  We’ll see how that works out but I was hoping to sail out of here on Tuesday morning.

After putting the boat back on the mooring, I called Ruck and we made arrangements to meet him to discuss the route up the coast.  He had come the other way so he had a lot of good information on our future voyage.  Yvonne and I took a taxi to Flamenco Marina and had a late lunch at the Crepe Restaurant. Then Ruck picked us up and took us out to his boat.  We spent a couple pleasant hours aboard Siren’s Song reviewing charts and talking about cruising stuff. Scuttlebutt quickly made herself at home on Ruck’s boat and other cruisers came by to chat.

Then it was back to BYC to secure the boat and back to the hotel to relax.  Yvonne went to her Hostel and decided to wonder around.  I walked to the Supermarket and bought a few incidentals and then crossed the street and walked through the Miramar Hotel Panama.  It is a very nice hotel wit lots of history.  After looking around the lobby for a while my wondering led to the casino.  I planted myself at the Black Jack table for a while and won $200.00.  This made up for my small losses on the last visit and then some so I was a happy camper.  I looked at my watch and was surprised to see it was 2:30 am so I walked across the street to my hotel and went to bed. 

I decided to move back aboard the boat on Sunday so I packed up Scuttlebutt’s and my stuff (SB has more stuff to travel with than I do) and checked out of the Hotel at about 9:30.  Yvonne helped me load everything into Luis’s taxi and we headed to the boat to put everything aboard.  The plan was to take the ferry to Toboga Island for the day but it was not to happen.  After hurrying to the ferry dock, we discovered that there was no room on the return run from the island so we couldn’t go. 

Our backup plan was to have Luis drive us to Gamboa.  Here we visited the 5 star Gamboa Rainforest Resort.  The view from the lobby was unbelievable.  It looked out over a river basin and on over the rainforest beyond.  We walked around the hotel and then drove around as much of the area as possible before leaving.  We stopped at the restaurant on the water which is famous for feeding Crocodiles from the deck of the restaurant but the crocks were having a siesta.  We took a pleasant half hour hike in the rainforest and returned to Luis’s taxi with 8 muddy feet.  A brief clean up and we were on our way to the Gamboa Boat Club at the Pedro Miguel Locks.

I met with the manager, a pleasant Scot, somewhat marooned there, and he told me the story of the club.  It is dying a slow death because the Panama Canal Authority wants their land and they are literally strangling the place.  They no longer allow boats to stop there during their Canal transit without a $450 penalty and if you want to get to or from either ocean to or from the boat club you must pay for a full Canal transit.  That would be $850.00 + for the Knotty Mind.  As the boats in there slowly depart, no new ones replace them and therefore the slow death.  It is a pity because it is a great place and has been a “Gringo Haven” in Panama and was built by the Canal folks when we had it.

Yvonne and I then returned to BYC and hit the bar.  This is the social gathering point for a great many foreigners, both cruisers and others.  Here I met a retired Army Lt. Colonel who was an Army Aviator back near my days of doing the same thing.  We had a real interesting chat. He is trying to put together a large medical helicopter service for Panama and other parts of Central America.  This is an interesting project.

My notice on the bulletin board worked.  A young German couple came up to our table looking for me and said they were interested in joining the crew.  After interviewing them, Yvonne and I had mixed emotions about taking them along.  They didn’t seem to be a very fun or interesting couple and talking to them was difficult.  We will decide tomorrow whether to take them or not.

Yvonne headed off to her Hostel about 7:00 pm and I headed back to the boat about 8:30.  I have a new maintenance problem in that my aft generator is over heating and I will troubleshoot the problem tomorrow.  Oh well, cruising life never gets dull. I was asleep by 9:00 pm. 

LOG 77

July 7, 2003 (Monday)

Balboa Yacht Club (BYC), Balboa, Panama

I awoke early and by 8:00 am I had finished the previous 3 day log and numerous boat chores.  It was time to tackle the generator.  After about 2 hours of troubleshooting, I was nowhere.  The generator is losing coolant and overheating and it is not an external leak.  There is no coolant in the oil and the heat exchanger is very new.  So, I was stumped.  I called my agent, Peter Stevens, and he said he would have a mechanic call me.  So I continued with the day.

Yvonne, Scuttlebutt, and I loaded in Luis’ cab and did a 3 hour run.  We started at the YMCA to check availability of a laptop hookup to internet, then to Yvonne’s hostel to get some stuff she forgot.  From the hostel we dropped off her film to be put on cd and then we went to the hospital so Yvonne could get a follow-up check on her illness.  She had taken the full course of antibiotics and is feeling fine but needed to be sure she killed the bug.  Then we made a provisioning run to Price/Costco and loaded up with bulk items.  On the way back to the boat we stopped at a marine chart store to see if there were any books or charts in stock we might need but didn’t already have.  I found a tide table for the West Coast and that was all. Peter’s mechanic called while we were driving around and said he would come to the boat and check out our problem in the morning.  At least things are getting done and I might someday get out of Panama.

We returned to the boat and stored our provisions.  By the time we finished, it was almost 4:00 pm and time to move the boat over to the work dock for the marina to fix our bow pulpit.  It started raining, not an infrequent thing here this time of year, and no one showed up at 4:30 as promised.  I decided to wait until 6:00 pm before going to dinner.  At 6:00 pm I gave up on them and secured the boat with extra lines and fenders because I was pissed off and was planning to leave the boat on the work dock over night.  This is a no-no here but I was going to do it anyway.

Finally, as we were leaving the boat at 6:30 pm, the work crew arrived.  We went up to the bar because I could not stand to watch them welding on my custom stainless steel bow pulpit.  However, by 7:30, the job was almost done and it looked like it would be ok.  Yvonne and I left and went to Flamenco to meet Ruck and return his cruising info and then have dinner.  We ate at the Restaurant Mundo Aquatico and while the food was mediocre, the highlight of the meal was a family of raccoons that came up to our table to mooch food.  They were cute and made dinner entertaining.  

We then went back to the boat and checked out the final work on the bow pulpit.  It wasn’t perfect but it was as good as can be expected here and it will work.  We took Scuttlebutt for her evening walk and went to bed, spending the night on the work dock.  I only hope the generator problem goes away somehow tomorrow.

Log 78

Missing....

Log 79

Missing....

LOG 80

July 11 and 12, 2003 (Friday & Saturday)

Flamenco Y/C Balboa, Panama to Bahia Honda, Panama

I awoke at 6:30 am and prepped the boat for departure.  I secured the dinghy on the boat deck, topped off our water, and stored all loose gear.  Scuttlebutt got her final walk of the morning and I collected a urine sample and some poop to use on my new dog training attempt.  Since our trip up the Pacific will involve some long passages, I am going to try to get Scuttlebutt to P & P on a piece of Astroturf provided by Lydia on Kevalli.  We’ll see how that goes.

Peter Stevens was late and didn’t arrive until after 9:00 am.  The morning got hectic as we had to move the Knotty Mind out of the way of a small ferry that used the fuel dock to offload and board passengers.  Finally, with Zarpa and ship’s papers and passports in hand, we left the dock at about 9:30.

The first 90 miles was a southbound leg across Panama Bay.  It was uneventful except for a couple of big thunderstorms that chased us but never quite caught up to us.  It was close but all we got was a little wind and some choppy seas for a while. We had a following current all day which helped with fuel economy. It was after dark when we rounded Punta Mala and entered the mighty open Pacific Ocean.  Here the chop disappeared and we were greeted with gentle swells.  The storm clouds disappeared and the full moon was up so it developed into a beautiful night with almost no wind.  We motored along at 8 knots to time are arrival at Bahia Honda for midday and to conserve fuel.  First there was a 60 mile leg to Pt. Naranjas.  Now it was dawn and we made another right turn northwest up the Panama coast for another 45 miles to Bahia Honda.  As we motored up the coast we were escorted by several large pods of dolphin, all playing in our bow wave and our wake. I had given Yvonne her first bit of training on navigation and bridge procedures and she was able to stand watches ok so we took turns sleeping through the night.

As noon approached we were treated to another line of thunderstorms but thanks to the radar we were able to avoid the majority of them and get only about 30 minutes of moderate rain.  We came out of the rain about 9 miles from the entrance to Bahia Honda to the beautiful sight of the jungle coastline at Punta Jabali on the right and the jungle covered mountain on Isla de Canal de Afuera on our left.  By 12:30, we were entering the lovely Bahia Honda and looking for some shallow water in which to anchor.

We anchored in 25 ft. of water at the north end of the bay, exactly where Panama Cruising Guide recommended and settled in to relax a bit after our 27 hour run.  First priority was to take SB ashore.  The Astroturf had been a total failure so far as she wouldn’t even walk on it.  I will keep trying. We took the dinghy down and went to the little stone dock a mere 50 yds. from the boat.  We were greeted by the local caretaker who let SB “use the facilities” on this private beach.  The local caretaker couple were very nice but spoke no English.

After SB’s quick shore adventure near the boat, we decided to go visit the village on Isla Bahia Honda.  Here we were greeted by a group of friendly school kids who gave us the grand tour of the island.  The tour included a house that had a pet monkey, a house with a parrot, their school, and a general walk through of this village of 800 people. Everyone was very friendly and the local fishermen promised to stop by the boat in the morning with some lobster they would like to sell.  There were a lot of dogs on the island and Scuttlebutt had plenty of adventures meeting them and walking among the numerous chickens all over the place.  She behaved quite well and was well liked by all the kids.  Even though they have many dogs on the island, they don’t get to see a Golden Retriever too often so as usual she was a big hit.  There was one bad dog fight while we were there and I kept SB well away from it.

The village tour was fun and Yvonne’s Spanish came in real handy.  The kids were great and we hope to go back in the morning and take them something and take some pictures. (I forgot my camera)

We returned to the boat about 4:30, took a nap, and then had a surf and turf dinner to celebrate getting back under way.  I attempted to take SB ashore at about 10:00 pm but we failed in the attempt as the tide had gone out and we ran into a mud bank trying to get to the dock.  SB wouldn’t jump off the boat so we returned to the boat with her legs crossed.  This was no easy task as the motor wouldn’t start and I had to paddle back to the boat.  Good thing I had my “cayuca” paddle on board.  As I write this log, it is 11:00 pm and I will sign off and get a good night’s sleep in this beautiful pond-like anchorage before we head out again tomorrow.

Yvonne’s comments:

First of all I want to say “Thanks” to Captain Bill giving me the opportunity to be a Crew Member on his Yacht – or should I rather thank Scuttlebutt first for “picking me up” at the Yacht Club in Colon ??!!

I am very excited to continue my travels on board and by sea. With this new adventure I feel like somebody that has never seen snow before is going on its first ski trip!!!

My first couple hours on board started with a 27 hour overnight passage.

After a 20 minute. lecture on GPS / Radar and how to drive a boat I had my first night watch as well as Bill’s trust driving the boat - all by myself through pitch darkness not being able to see a thing but what’s happening on the monitor – and I have to say I am pretty proud of myself!!

Our morning was enlightened by Dolphins playing in the waves, sunshine and a good cup of coffee. After our “private tour” through the village of Bahia Honda I enjoyed my first swim in the water together with Scuttlebutt and soon after delicious dinner I fell dead a sleep.

LOG 81

July 13, 2003 (Sunday)

Bahia Honda, Panama to Isla Cavada, Islas Secas, Panama

After our overnight run, the previous 2 days, we decided to take it easy and rest up.  We had a leisurely morning on the boat occupied with such things as swimming and taking SB ashore to P & P and play in the mud.  It was low tide and she romped in the mud mixed with sand on the beach.  I solved the dinghy start problem.  It turned out to be a bad battery switch so I bypassed it and it worked just fine.  Not so lucky with the inverter though.  I had smelled a burnt wire smell back at Flamenco and I couldn’t find the culprit.  Now I found it, the inverter is smoked. Oh well, that’s why we have so many redundant systems.  It will just mean more generator hours.  I have not been plugged into shore power for over a month now and I hope that I will again get the opportunity tomorrow in Golfito.

At about 10:00 a local old man, his name is Domingo, came up to the boat in his cayuca to bring us fresh vegetables.  We bartered a package of 6 rolls of toilet paper, a bar of soap, ½ bag of cookies and a can of tomatoes for a bunch of fresh spinach, some green beans, an armload of limes and a few green tomatoes.  It was a great deal for both of us.

At 11:15 we pulled up anchor and headed out.  We had a short 36 mile run to the Islas Secas, where we anchored in the lee of Isla Cavada.  Our route took us right by the beautiful Las Islas de Contreras and we passed La Bruja, a rock that spouts like a whale, at first thinking that it was a whale. All this lies in the Golfo de Chiriqui, an area teaming with fish and wildlife.  A problem is the vast amount of debris floating in the bay.  Part of the trip was like running through a mine field of logs, boxes, you name it.  Some of it would be very damaging to running gear if we hit it.

At Isla Cavada there were two other sailboats, both long term and both on moorings that they had put down.  Our anchoring was a bit tricky as there are numerous reefs and shallows around and we had to plan on a 10 ft. drop in the tide.  Finally we got set but it was not a good long term situation. We wouldn’t be there long anyway.

We jumped into the dinghy, which we had towed from Bahia Honda, and took SB to the beach and explored the Isla Cavada.  It is a private island but we were welcomed ashore and SB was greeted by two mutt dogs.  The island is being developed into a resort where the guests will stay in fancy tent-like buildings and be able to dive the area and go spear fishing for very large fish.  It is a very pretty place with jungle covered islands and clear water. 

We visited the people on the two sailboats and learned a lot about the area.  Then we returned to the Knotty Mind for an early dinner and bed. I put the tender up so we would be ready to go as our plan was to leave just after midnight so as to arrive in Golfito in the early afternoon and ride the incoming tide up the bay. Hopefully we will be on a dock at the Banana Bay marina tomorrow night.

Yvonne’s comments:

Sleeping in felt great even though SB decided that 7 a.m. is long enough and its now time to go ashore!! After my morning dip in the water I was ready to go again, cruising more miles up the Ocean.

LOG 82

July 14, 2003 (Monday)

Isla Cavada, Islas Secas, Panama to Banana Bay Marina, Golfito, Costa Rica

My 12:00 am departure got delayed a little due to over sleeping.  At 1:00 am Yvonne woke me up and by 1:15 we were pulling up the anchor.  It was just starting to rain and as we left the island the rain began to pour. I had planned on a bright moonlit night but instead it was a little tricky navigating in the reduced visibility to maneuver between a couple islands of the Isla Secas and out to the open water. But the GPS/Chartplotter and the radar did the trick and soon we were in open water but in the middle of intense thunderstorms.  I motored for almost 3 hours in driving rain and an electrical storm not to be believed.  There was cloud to ground lightening all around the boat and the thunder was deafening.  At times the lightening was so close you could feel your hair stand on end and tingle. To complicate matters, there were fishing boats out there to be avoided and the radar was useless due to all the rain. I could only occasionally see their lights and sometimes their entire boats in the lightening flashes. I worked the radar to try to find a way out of the storm but unlike in a plane at 200 knots, it’s hard to get out of harms way at 8 knots in a boat.  After 3 hours of this, I determined that the storm was not that big, it was just moving at the same speed and direction as I was.  I was wet, cold, and getting real tired of this routine and the radar showed a bleak picture ahead.  I decided to stop the boat, light up the boat as best I could, and go below and let the storm blow away.  I went below and found Yvonne and Scuttlebutt curled up on the couch with each other. I layed down with them and after a 45 minute nap, the storm was gone and I was dry and warm. I went back out on deck and the sun was rising and it looked to be a beautiful day.  It was pretty dumb to ride along under the same thunderstorm for about 3 hours but in the black of night it is a little difficult to figure out what’s happening.

The daylight brought a nice sunny day and a beautiful cruise through the remainder of  Golfo de Chiriqui, around Punta Burica, and up into the Golfo Dulce.  The delays due to the late departure and the “heaving to” for weather were now a concern for the tidal current and the business hours of the Port Captain. (The overtime charges are a bit steep).  We picked up a bit of following current in the Golfo Dulce from the last of the incoming tide and it was looking good until we ran into a Costa Rican Coast Guard Cutter.  This 105 foot donation of a retired U.S.C.G. Cutter decided to make a routine boarding on us.  We were the only boat around for many miles and I’m sure he was just looking for something to do. They lowered their inflatable and speeded over to the Knotty Mind

The boarding party was very polite and happy with my paperwork, first aid kit, fire extinguishers, and the like after they got by ferocious Scuttlebutt who greeted them at the swim platform. We gave them all sodas and the whole event only took about 45 minutes thanks to Peter Stevens who had given us many extra copies of all documents so they could take a set with them instead of having to write everything down while they were aboard.  It was much nicer than any USCG boarding I have encountered and they were kind of a fun bunch with a good sense of humor.

We were again on our way but I had lost my downhill current and we were 8 miles from Golfito and it was after 3PM.  I called Banana Bay Marina on the radio and they took care of everything.  They moved a boat so I could get a slip and took care of Port Clearance.  Upon our 4:15 pm arrival they had a crew on the dock to help us get in, tie up and hook up.  It was very nice to be in a full service marina again.  This was the first time the Knotty Mind has been plugged into shore power since Bocas del Toro.  We even have cable TV! Scuttlebutt immediately headed for the nearest grass and I headed to the bar for a cold beer.  We were greeted by the owner, Peter, and made very welcome. Yvonne and I were both very tired but we took time to check email and have a couple drinks before bed. We talked to the people around the marina a bit to get the lay of the land and then off to an early sleep. We will get caught up on sleep tonight and get organized tomorrow for things to do.

Yvonne’s comments:

Spooky!! – driving through black darkness, surrounded by lightening bolts striking the water, pouring rain and thunder claps so loud I hardly could hear my own voice. Lightening sometimes was that close it was too bright to look at and we could feel the electricity in the air – Thinking about us driving in the middle of the ocean, surrounded by nothing but water and a heavy thunder storm in the middle of nowhere – I felt my time has come. Scary!!!

Bill sent me back to sleep and without any hesitation I accepted.

Next morning was a beautiful clear and sunny day. Again I could enjoy the time on the bridge watching Dolphins while working on my tan.

Banana Bay Marina seems a nice place with very friendly people. I like the fact to be able to just walk Scuttlebutt of the boat and not to be bothered about water taxis or taking the dinghy for a P&P walk!!

LOG 83

July 15, 2003 (Tuesday)

Banana Bay Marina, Golfito, Costa Rica

This was a rest and recovery day.  We slept in and it was wonderful to be in a secure marina with shore power, etc.  At 9:30, Yvonne and I accompanied Christian, the marina office guy, to the Customs office to get our “Temporary Import Permit”.  This went off almost flawlessly except they needed a translated copy of my “Permission Letter” so we would have to bring that to them later.

The Customs office is located at the Duty Free Zone so we took a look around.  When the banana industry left Golfito, the Costa Rican government established the only duty free zone in Costa Rica here to support the dying economy.  People come here from all around the country to shop.  To do so you must apply for a free permit to shop and wait at least until the next day to do your shopping. Pretty clever!   Therefore people must hang around and spend money at the local hotels, bars, restaurants, etc.

Returning to the boat we started a much needed clean up.  Yvonne vacuumed the entire inside and we gathered our laundry to turn in to the marina drop off service.  Scuttlebutt’s dog hair was starting to take over.  Yvonne cleaned the galley and soon the Knotty Mind was looking good again on the inside.

Christian then had our letter translated so we returned to the customs office to drop off the document.  Since we were there and there was a very short line, we decided to apply for our shopping permit for the Duty Free Zone.  This took only a few minutes and then we headed back to the marina.  Christian drove us around in the marina’s Ford Windstar van and showed us the points of interest as we passed through town. They included but not limited to the best ice cream parlor in town and the American Bar.

Everyone at Banana Bay goes out of their way to accommodate your every need.  Bruce runs a “tight ship” here and he is to be congratulated.  The staff is wonderful.  I wanted to hook up my laptop so they hooked up a special phone line in the restaurant for me. It was a pain in the ass job for them but they did it with a smile.  I then spent an hour on AOL sending logs, emails, and downloading all of David Rosen’s pictures.  Perhaps David will send them to Steve and he can put them in the website.

This place is very expensive but worth it.  Ralf, the Swiss “Jack of all Trades” bartender/chef never stops in the bar where he remembers your drink preferences and creates little complimentary snacks for the guests.  I even ran into him at the American Bar “Latitude 8” later this evening and he ordered my beer for me from the bartender without my asking.

Yvonne and I then took Scuttlebutt on a walking tour of the town.  Golfito is a pleasant, relatively clean town with many small “tiendas” and services.  Almost everyone we passed greeted us with a pleasant smile and a “hola, buenos, buenos dias,” in Spanish.  We stopped in two of the local Supermercados and bought some fruit and veggies and soap.  On the return walk it started to rain, a daily event here this time of year, so up went the umbrella and we hiked back.  Scuttlebutt looked like a drowned rat on our arrival at the marina but we were pretty dry.

We stayed around the boat and the marina the rest of the day and relaxed, checked email and talked to the other people here.  That evening, Yvonne turned in early and I walked downtown for dinner.  I had a craving for Gallo Pinto (beans and rice Costa Rican style) so I found a small restaurant and had dinner for less than $3.00.  Then I stopped in Lattitude 8 for a beer and watched the All Star Baseball game on TV.  I checked out a couple other bars on the way back and finally made it back to the boat around midnight.

Yvonne’s comments:

Here we are in Golfito, life is good – despite all the bad rumors about this town – I like it, It is a friendly, small place, with lots of street dogs, street sellers, small and basic places to go and eat, sleep and “hang out” - just the way I like the villages in Central America.

I enjoyed our vacation day of doing nothing but relaxing.

LOG 84

July 16, 2003 (Wednesday)

Banana Bay Marina, Golfito, Costa Rica

I put Yvonne in charge of planning a fun day for us.  After our morning boat chores such as laundry sorting and generator oil changes were completed, we were ready for our day’s adventure. Yvonne planned a trip to the “Cataratas Avellan”. This is a waterfall in the jungle on land either owned or somehow access controlled by the Avellan Family.  The plan: $2.00 taxi ride to other end of town, 30 minute hike to Avellan house which served as a trailhead to the falls, and a 10 minute hike to the falls. The return was to be the reverse.

The first problem was that we couldn’t find a taxi to take Scuttlebutt.  However, a man I’d met from the new Sportfishing Marina/Club next door from Banana Bay came a long and gave us a ride right to the where the road ended and the jungle started (this was a point a couple miles beyond where the taxi would have dropped us off).  He was very helpful and gave us hiking directions for the 1 hour hike to the Avellan house. The hike was hilly along a road through the jungle with a few streams and small waterfalls.  Of course it started to rain heavily and 45 minutes into the walk our palm leaf umbrellas had failed to keep us dry.  Scuttlebutt of course was having the time of her life running around in the cool rain and sitting in mud puddles.  One hour and 15 minutes of hiking and we arrived at the blue Avellan house looking like 3 drowned rats and a little cold.

Elizabeth Avellan met us at the door and immediately made us some hot coffee.  We rested and warmed up on their front porch and enjoyed a warm welcome.  The rain stopped after we arrived (naturally) and after a 45 minute rest, Antonio Marenco led us on the trail to the falls.  This was really a fun hike.  We forded streams, crossed a rickety wood suspension bridge, hiked through mud, and followed Antonio through the rain forest. Scuttlebutt had a little problem getting by 3 cows that had planted themselves on the trail but finally decided to walk by them with a little encouragement. After a spectacular 20 minute hike, we emerged at the base of a nice waterfall with a deep pool under it.  Yvonne couldn’t resist the chance to get a shower so she undressed and braved the cool water and air temperature to jump into the water and swim under the falls. Scuttlebutt, of course, went with her. I took pictures but stayed dry.

The hike back to the house was just as nice as we took a slightly different route.  Scuttlebutt was the happiest I had seen her in days as she ran around in the jungle and chased everything that moved and jumped into every mud hole.  We emerged from the jungle back at the house and washed the mud off ourselves and SB.  Now came the problem of getting backto the marina!  Elizabeth said that her brother, Ariel, would be there at 3:00 pm in his Jeep Cherokee and that he could give us a ride to Banana Bay.  They didn’t have to offer twice!  We sat around and talked, got more coffee, shared our cookies, and made friends with the Avellan family.  We met Elizabeth’s mother, Giramena, and had a pleasant afternoon on their front porch.  A little before 3:00 pm the Ariel showed up and we were on our way back to the marina, four wheeling down the muddy, pot holed, rut filled road to Golfito.  Soon we were back at the marina and heading for the boat.  I had taken a couple nice family photos which I will print out and leave at the marina for the Ariel to pick up and take back to his mother and sister.

The next order of business was a bath for Scuttlebutt and showers for us.  I’m not sure how much Scuttlebutt enjoyed her bath but my hot shower was the best in a long time.  It had been a long, wet, and a bit cool afternoon.

The dinner plan was a trip to Mike’s Restaurant, a highly recommended spot about 2 mile out of town.  At 6:00 pm we left the marina, got a taxi and said take us to Mike’s.  The taxi stopped about 2 miles down the road in front of a dingy little bar with no restaurant in sight.  I asked three times, “Is this Mike’s Restaurant” and the driver said “si”, took our 500 Collones ($1.25) and left.  We walked into bar, decorated in “license plate antique” and asked again if this was Mike’s Restaurant.  The lady behind the bar said “si” and guided us back through a little dingy hallway to a beautiful little restaurant overlooking a rushing stream. What a pleasant surprise. This lady turned out to be Mike’s wife and she served us a delicious meal of Rabolo (Snook) and Hungarian Stuffed Peppers, all prepared by Mike himself, back in the kitchen.  We were visited by their two little 3 month old boxer pups during dinner and had a delightful time.  Due to the rain, we were their only customers so we got the best service. After dinner we talked to Mike and looked at his license plate collection.  It turns out that Yvonne also collects license plates, so Mike made her a present of a Costa Rican plate for her collection.

We headed back to the boat, took SB for a walk, and turned in after a long but wonderful day.

Yvonne’s comments:

One shot one kill – and the first car we tried to hitchhike with (taxis are not too dog friendly around here!!) gave us a lift all the way out to beginning of our jungle walk saving us about 30 minutes of boring walk through town.

I don’t know who of the three of us enjoyed our muddy, slippery, river crossing waterfall walk the most – Scuttlebutt, running around like crazy, swimming in the mud holes and chasing every butterfly and noisy creature in the woods after she over came her fear of cows!! – Bill, and his Digital camera, or myself having a swim in the waterfalls!

I also enjoyed practicing my Spanish with hospitable Mena and Elisabeth while waiting on our ride back to town and our well earned dinner at “Mike’s”.

It was a great, beautiful day with lots of surprises – and best off all another license plate I can treasure in my collection.

LOG 85

July 17, 2003 (Thursday)

Banana Bay Marina, Golfito, Costa Rica

This was the day before our departure so I had to arrange for our Zarpa and Immigration clearance.  I decided to do an International clearance to El Salvador to avoid paperwork headaches down the line.  I gave Christian the paperwork and the marina takes care of all Port Clearance and Immigration, for a price, but well worth it.  With this done and a couple phone calls to Los Suenos and Flamengo for some trip planning, Yvonne and I headed to the duty free zone to shop. Yvonne bought a MP3 player and I bought a new toaster for the boat. Prices were pretty good for almost everything and most goods were name brands. Chrtistian came with us to use some of our allotment to buy birthday presents for Bruce, the marina owner.

Tonight was to be a combined going away party and birthday party for Bruce.  He was leaving with his partner to go cruise the San Blas Islands so I gave him a chart briefing on our trip.  I took SB for a walk and hit the local ice cream parlor and tried to relax for a while. This was just an odds and ends type of day until 5:30 when the party started.

This was the Golfito event of the night! People came from all around for the party.  Ralf prepared a bunch of great food, including some great smoked marlin, and there were two huge birthday cakes.  It was a great party and a great sendoff for their trip. Then it was early to bed with the intentions of an early departure in the morning,

Yvonne’s comments:

I sacrificed myself at the Duty Free Zone and finally after 3 years of travel I bought an MP3 player.  Now, I can listen to some music! My overnight shifts will now be attended by Latin Music – let’s rock the boat!

Other than spending money we didn’t do too much today and I enjoyed another beautiful sunny day at the Marina Banana Bay.

LOG 86

July 18, 2003 (Friday)

Banana Bay Marina, Golfito, Costa Rica to Bahia Drake, Costa Rica

Once again my early departure was blown.  I had some important calls to make to the US and last night the phones were down for international calls.  They were still down in the morning so I tried to handle all my details via email.  AOL’s local number worked well but it took a bunch of time with online banking and email to straighten out a few items.  Finally, I paid my marina bill, and at 11:45 we were under way.

We motored out the Golfo Dulce but because of the late departure I missed my “tide ride” with the outgoing current.  We turned the corner at Cabo Matapolo and were treated to spectacular coastal scenes as the jungle cliffs of the Osa Peninsula met the sea.  There was one particular waterfall falling into the ocean that was beautiful.  The weather was perfect and it was a sunny day with a good 10 knot breeze.  The Oso Pensinsula is home to the Corcovado National Park and the waterside view of the park was breathtaking.

Because we were circling around a peninsula I had misjudged the distance to Bahia Drake ( pron. Dra-hay).  What I thought was a 40 mile trip turned out to be a 60 mile trip.  Therefore, our arrival was right at sunset. It was beautiful as we had dolphins escorting us right into the anchorage and the sky was bright red.  It is not a great time to anchor but fortunately I got the anchor to set on the first try and we even had time for a sunset photo or two as this was a really nice one.

Then I had to put the dingy down so SB could go ashore.  It was dark by the time that was done and there was no moon.  With flashlight in hand, I headed for the beach of a bay I knew nothing about.  As I approached the beach, suddenly we were surfing.  There was a bit of a surge in the bay and the next thing I knew we were high and dry on the sand.  Scuttlebutt did her thing while I struggled in each succeeding wave to get the dinghy back in the water and headed to sea.  The tide was falling and with a 9 ft. tide this was not a good situation.  Finally, after getting soaked in the dark, I had the boat floating and Scuttlebutt was a good dog and came right on cue.  We jumped in and headed back to the Knotty Mind. The only casualty was my cayuca paddle from Bocas del Toro.  I broke it in two trying to push off the beach.

After I gave SB a quick wash-down and took a quick shower, Yvonne and I watched my last video tape of all our crazy jungle antics and the canal passage.  Then it was time for bed.

Yvonne’s comments:

Yeah – back on the water. I enjoyed another sunbathing ride on the ocean with Dolphins, Islands, rocks and waterfalls all around us.

The sunset at Bahia Drake was spectacular and I hope my pictures will turn out as nice.

Looking forward to going on shore tomorrow at this well recommended place, Bahia Drake. I went to bed with my MP3….…a n d Scuttlebutt !!!

LOG 87

July 19, 2003 (Saturday) Midnight to 5:00 pm

Bahia Drake, Costa Rica

We woke up around 8:00 am and after Yvonne’s coffee and my breakfast, we took SB ashore to explore Bahia Drake.  We found a lagoon created by the outflow of a jungle stream and in the lagoon were two floating docks.  I would never have found these in the dark last night.  We tied up the dinghy and started walking the jungle trails, complete with a cool suspension wood bridge, and found the Drake Bay Resort Wilderness Camp.  This was a beautiful place with well manicured grounds, a saltwater pool and rustic bungalows and buildings.  It was fabulous and for $65.00 per person per day, you could stay there and enjoy untold jungle beauty complete with squirrel monkeys that live there. Check them out at www.drakebay.com.  It is a cool place.

We then walked back the other way and walked about a mile and a half around the bay.  Hidden in the jungle were small hotels, tiendas, bars, and houses. Some of these places were quite spectacular.  The bay was very beautiful but quiet as it was low season.  We ran into a Kiwi who had been there for 3 years and was managing one of the hotels. I asked him what to do on our one day at Bahia Drake.  He told us of a small lagoon about 3 kilometers back down the coast that had mooring buoys and a trailhead  leading to the “Rio Claro” where we would find a man living in a tent and willing to rent us a cayuca with which to paddle up the river to a nice waterfall. We went back to the boat after 3 ½ hours ashore with the intent of making the afternoon adventure the search for the Rio Claro.

About 1:00 pm we headed out on the trek.  The 3 km. by dinghy was more like 6 km. but we found the lagoon that he was talking about.  The entrance was a bit tricky as we had to ride the surf into the protected lagoon but soon we were tied to a mooring and walking in the neck deep water to the beach.  The hike was about 30 minutes through a jungle trail that went along the beach.  The trail provided great views of the rocky shoreline and monkeys and Maccaw Parrots leaped around in the trees.  Scuttlebutt liked the hundreds of Jesus Christ lizards that she made walk on water every chance she got.  We found the tent in the jungle and the canoe rental guy who rented us a canoe for about $5.00. We then paddled up the Rio Claro.  A short distance up the river, we beached our canoe and hiked up a rocky trail to a nice waterfall. It was a great spot surrounded by jungle.  I was able to swim up to it and then get behind the falls which was really fun.  We then canoed and hiked back to the beach where we left the dinghy and explored the wilderness camp located there.

The tide had come in a bit so we had to swim out to the dinghy.  We made the run back to the boat and prepared to depart.  Here we had a problem.  The steel cable of the davit had jumped the wheel at the end of the davit and jammed.  Apparently it had been this way for a while and now the davit was totally disabled and the dinghy was down.  This is good for Scuttlebutt but means I have to tow the dinghy until I can get this fixed.  In rough weather this is a big problem.  Anyway, we rigged to tow it and prepared the Knotty Mind for departure.  The plan was a 5 pm departure with an overnight run to Los Suenos, about 80 miles away.

Yvonne’s comments:

Today was Bill’s turn to organize our day trip. And so I enjoyed a wonderful day in the jungle exploring various places, rivers and waterfalls spending lots of hours on shore –

I think we did the best we could to get the most possible of a one day stay in

Bahia Drake - I can see why cruisers get stuck here and recommended us this wonderful little place in the middle of Costa Rica’s jungle.

I took my chance to swim in the Pacific and enjoyed my dip swimming with Scuttlebutt and lots of fish before entering a marina tomorrow.

On our dinghy ride back from the waterfall I saw this huge, gigantic turtle sticking its head out of the water – Great – I love turtles and for me this was a spectacular sight and encounter.

LOG 88

July 19, 2003 (Saturday) 5:00pm thru July 20, 2003 (Sunday)

Bahia Drake, Costa Rica to Los Suenos, Costa Rica

At 5:15 pm we hauled up the anchor and headed out into the sunset.  Our plan was to arrive in Los Suenos about 9:00 am so we motored at a slow and fuel efficient 6 knots through the night.  It was mostly a wonderful cruise.  The wind and seas were very calm but we did run across a few rainstorms along the way.  Except for a little rain, the night was a good as it can get.

As the sun rose, we approached Punta Judas and we followed the shore line to Bahia Herradura.  Here we entered the bay and contacted Los Suenos marina on the radio.  They were ready for us and in a short time we were tied to their new floating docks. This is an 1100 acre marina and resort complex but I don’t find it very boater friendly.  It is for the extremely wealthy sport fish crowd and there is not much easy access for the cruiser.  It was a hot day and by the time we were hooked up and settled in I was hot and sweaty.  I was ready for a shower before going to the office to check in.

I needed phone and internet connections and the marina staff was not very helpful. In fact, the attitude here is not very friendly.  We will cut our stay short and leave this unfriendly expensive place.  Yvonne and I took Scuttlebutt and my laptop downtown to the city of Jaco (pron. “Haco”), an 8 mile taxi ride, in search of an internet café.  We found Mexican Joe’s Internet Café where I found that I could hook up to their LAN with a good connection to AOL and make inexpensive long distance phone calls. Unfortunately this is Sunday so I couldn’t get much done and I will have to return tomorrow to work my banking problem.

The three of us walked around the town and had a delicious seafood lunch at the El Hicaco Restaurant.  We continued our hike and explored the many shops and tour operators, and stopped for some cool refreshment.  It is a hot day!  About 4:00 pm we returned to the boat to relax and nap in the air conditioned comfort.

After cooling off for an hour, I knew that if I went to sleep I would be out for the night.  I got up and changed a bulb in my port navigation light and cleaned up the boat a bit.  Yvonne and Scuttlebutt were out cold so I decided to return to Jaco by myself to see the night life.  It was a Sunday night but the bars were busy and the street had a lot of foot and vehicle traffic.  I had a couple cold beers in a couple bars, tried the Casino (Only 3 players in the whole place), had dinner for $2.00 in a fast food chicken place (very good), had my ice cream desert, and returned to the boat around midnight, very tired.  It was a fun evening and the local population was very friendly.

Note: Steve has now set up a guestbook on the website   www.knottymind.com and you can leave comments there for us to read and also, they can be read by everyone who accesses the site.

Yvonne’s comments:

Today I have my one week anniversary as Captain Bill’s mate and I still enjoy and love every minute of it.

This time our overnight drive was much more pleasant. I could enjoy my shifts with a clear blue night, lots of stars, calm sea and my MP3!!

The Marina I don’t like at all and for that I’d rather be back in Golfito – But Jaco caught me by surprise as a pleasant surf town with friendly people and all the facilities a heart requires. Back at the boat I just wanted to rest – but I guess that was a mistake -I was out like a light and next thing I knew I woke up and the boat was empty. No party for me tonight!!

LOG 89

  July 21, 2003 (Monday)

Los Suenos , Costa Rica to Bahia Ballena , Costa Rica

I awoke late, about 8:00 am , after my night on the town.  I had spent the majority of the night in the “Beatle Bar” listening to Beatle music and watching sports on the several TV’s.  This was a fun bar and also had many good looking “chicas”. Now it was back to work.  First I had to fix a navigation light that went out the night before. Fortunately it was only the bulb but that is not an easy bulb to change so it took about an hour to do it.  Then I attacked the davit to see if I could make it serviceable.  No way!  The cable is shot so I am stuck with the dinghy down until I can get a new one.  Plans are in the mill to have one flown into El Salvedore but I will have to cross the Gulf of Papagayo towing the dinghy. We’ll just have to wait for very settled weather.

Next chore was to take my laptop downtown to the internet café, Mexican Joe’.  The treat of the day was that my laptop could connect to AOL through their LAN so I had a high speed internet connection for my laptop.  Wow, the things that excite us these days!!  I was able to check the weather, check the guestbook (thanks to those who made comments, it is great to hear from you all), and of course, do the email thing.  Then I got on the phone with Bank of America to straighten out my online banking which the bank had mistakenly shut down.  This was not an easy process from a little town in Costa Rica via an internet phone hookup!  The good news was that you could dial direct to US 800 numbers.  The bad news was that the touchtone selection of options didn’t work well and I got cut off a couple times.  Each time I got cutoff, I had to dial in again and start over with the touchtone thing and with a new customer service rep.  About an hour later, I finally got the right person on the phone and hopefully they will have my problem worked out in a day or two.

We grabbed a quick brunch downtown and headed back to the marina.  I checked out and moved the Knotty Mind to the fuel dock to take on some fuel.  The departure went smoothly, they are not friendly here but they are efficient, and at 1:30 we were on our way again.  We crossed the 20 mile wide Gulfo de Nicoya and entered Bahia Ballena.  The crossing was a bit rolly as we had the seas on our port beam but it was only for a couple hours.  We had interesting expectations of this stop.  One cruising guide described it to be poor stop but Rains described it to be nice with new mooring and dock facilities.  The Kevalli crew stopped here and said it was one of their best stops so we had to check it out.  They strongly recommended the Quads and the canopy tour.

First, neither the moorings for yachts, or the floating dock for dinghies existed.  We anchored in 20 ft. of water off the fishing pier in very good holding and then took the dinghy to the pier.  With almost 10 ft. tides, this is a tricky operation.  The pier is uniquely designed to allow access at all tide levels and there are dozen’s of mooring balls with lines attached to the dock to use to hold off your dinghy.  Maneuvering around the lines and moorings and getting set up right on the dock was interesting but it worked.

After SB’s walk, we went to the Bahia Ballena Yacht Club.  This was a cute bar/ restaurant run by the Heart (inverters) family.  The daughter, Eden, now runs the place and she was a wonderful host.  We ate marlin carpaccio, served as guinea pigs for Eden ’s first attempt at Chinese eggrolls, and drank “Rock Ice” beer.  We met some of the ex-pat locals, mostly working in Costa Rica illegally and got the lay of the land.  Craig, a Canadian young man and Eden ’s friend and bartender/helper, remembered Kevalli and set us up on the same program for the Quad and Canopy tour for the next afternoon.  By 8:00 it was time to try and find our way back to the boat in the dark.

It had been a pleasant evening so we decided to continue the fun with some Margaritas on board and a movie.  The film of the evening was “Summer Lovers” and I was able to stay awake for most of it.

Yvonne’s comments:

My stomach wasn’t too sea-proofed today but luckily we didn’t have to travel too far. Today and I managed to keep my delicious “omlett con queso” inside.

Once at the Bay I felt it was rather convenient to just jump into the dinghy and take off – and due to non-existent dinghy docks at the Yacht Club I got more experience on “what boating is like”!!! Even though Bill and I were the only guests at the Restaurant and they played country music! I had a really good time there talking to long term traveler Craig while enjoying Eden ’s raw fish dish and of course not to forget about Bill’s wonderful Margarita back at the boat.

Click here for logs 90 and above