On the Road Again - At Last!

Our initial plans were to visit Bocas del Toro for about a month. But, you know the expression: “the best laid plans of mice and men………” yup, six months later, we have only just pulled up the hook and headed on out!

Believe us, there was no idle time spent in Bocas. We’d arrived with a myriad of problems with more and more cropping up on a daily basis. In our last entry, Paul alluded to some of these problems and those were just for starters!

Any dark cloud has a silver lining. Our delayed departure gave me a wonderful opportunity to take a quick trip back to Oakville, Canada to see my Mom, sister and her family. To my dying day, I will owe much to my sister and her husband for chauffeuring me from pillar to post each and every day in my attempts to find various parts and spares to bring back and get various repairs done. I left with a tiny sports bag weighing only a few pounds and returned with a huge, full-to-the-brim hockey bag plus a sewing machine, all weighing in at 90 pounds!

It was wonderful to see family and friends again and only wish Paul could have made the trip with me but the job list remained long and we can’t leave Calypso unattended at anchor. Anyway, I think he relished the opportunity to leave all his tools and stuff lying around without me complaining. While back in Canada, I was very blessed with a few friends and family (thanks so much) who went out of their way to visit me as, this time, I didn’t have my own transport to flit around - always so great to catch up with everyone even if some were only by phone.

During our time in the Bocas area, we were able to take in a few more islands and bays for a change of scenery. Each trip was marred by various boat problems but Paul needed a break from the constant mechanics so we went off to ‘play’ elsewhere, meeting up with friends, exploring and just generally socialising. We met our first kinkajou, a strange little animal with a monkey-like prehensile tail and a weaselly face. He moved far too fast to take a decent photo. He’d been found with severe burns and brought back to health by an American couple living on a near-by island and became quite a pet but they have since released him back into the rainforests. It seemed somewhat obvious that he needed a lady friend.

Speaking of rainforests, we were saddened to hear the constant sounds of chainsaws while visiting Cauchero, an area on the mainland but inaccessible by road. It is surrounded by lush forests but the sounds of the howler monkeys and toucans were almost drowned out by the incessant hum of chainsaws. Panama has such wonderful rainforests which are highly protected so one has to wonder what was going on around Cauchero.

The good news is, all but a frustrating alternator problem has now been fixed. We hung on awaiting the arrival of a spare alternator, but as it didn’t arrive and we were anxious to get going, we have friends bringing it down to us later. Naturally, the current one which had been behaving so well of late, decided to fail just as we were heading into the breakwater of Colon. Tests have shown nothing wrong with either it or the regulator but we are stuck until Paul can work out why the alarm goes off incessantly and, more pressing, why it’s not charging the batteries.

Stuck means being anchored back in Puerto Lindo where our favourite pet sloths live which gives us a briefopportunity to get hugs from them again. Oh how I missed them.

Lucy, Bamboozle, meets my baby

We’ve also just learned that our cruising friends aboard Bamboozle are on their way here. Jamie and Lucy are a great couple who left Cape Town on the same race as ourselves back in 2004, at that stage aboard Savoir Vivre which they have since sold. We met up with them a year later in Grenada to celebrate our first anniversary but they moved on a lot quicker than us. They’d already reached New Zealand! They are now following their previous path and, it looks as though we’ll manage to touch sides once again. (they've arrived -fabulous reunion!)

Upon leaving Bocas del Toro, we had a wonderful sail down to Rio Chagres, a magical river leading up to the Panama Canal dam wall. This entire region is a well protected reserve surrounded by virgin rainforest. Here, fortunately, no chainsaws broke the sounds of nature. We sat in the cockpit enjoying the sounds of howler monkeys, toucans, parrots, kingfishers and a myriad of other delightful noises with white-faced monkeys peering out at us from the tree tops. We had anchored only a couple of miles upstream but took the dinghy right up to the dam and ventured down a few of the side streams. It reminded us of our memorable trip down the Orinoco River a few years back. Time there was far too short and we will have to try to return before transiting the canal.

For those of you who have followed our incredibly frustrating saga of trying to get legal residence here in Panama, you’ll be happy to know it’s over! At long last, we are now officially allowed to live here and can come and go without all the exasperations of the past. It was a very long procedure primarily due to Paul’s South African passport but also, I guess, because we didn’t quite fit the ‘mold’. Without our friends, the Steenkamps, and our attorney, we may well be struggling still. We’ve even gone one step further and are now the proud owners of Panamian driver’s licenses.

Our little ‘casita’ is coming along brilliantly and we are hoping we’ll manage to find tenants upon completion. As we are so far away, our friends send us weekly progress photos but we are dying to see things first hand. With luck, once we’re back around the Colon area, we’ll be able to take a trip in that direction.

Calypso is sporting beautiful new cockpit cushions which, I’m sorry to admit, were not entirely sewn by me. I tried and tried, cursed and swore but just couldn’t get my #*@&$% sewing machine to work properly. Literally dozens of frustrating hours and a bushel load of broken needles later, I finally had to admit defeat. Enter Frankie, a wonderful lady with the patience of Job, great sewing skills and a sewing machine that worked and, voila, we now have new cushions! Hence the reason for the new machine brought back from Canada. I now have the onerous task of creating new, desperately needed, awnings for Calypso which should keep me out of mischief for quite a while. Paul wouldn’t let me throw the old one overboard as an additional anchor but maybe one day when he’s not looking………. Actually, one man’s hell is another man’s joy and there is a very happy cruiser back in Bocas.

We did, however, dispose of our microwave – we’d never used it for anything other than to store the GPS’s during a lightning storm anyway and it was taking up valuable space. During my absence, Paul created a wonderful cupboard in its place which now stores my larger pots/colanders etc. Someone not living on a boat would not quite have the same appreciation for a tiny space the size of a large shoebox but, believe me, I’m very excited.

We’re heading on back to the San Blas islands for one final visit. Our plans still remain to travel west shortly and the time to cross the Pacific is best in about March. Prior to that, we must haul out somewhere and repaint Calypso’s bottom, a task in dire need.

Until next time, best wishes to all of you and don’t forget, we love to hear your news too!

PHOTO GALLERY:

Ladies "Hat"Lunch in Bocas

OAKVILLE SCENES

OakvilleYacht SquadronMy Sister Pat at the Helm of Gladiator

My Mom, Sister & MeLong-time School Friend, Sue Night Visitor
Autumn's Coming, the Leaves are ChangingNephew Andrew, his Fiance & My Sister

My FamilyMeeting Up With Bamboozle (Lucy & Paul)Jamie & I

Broken in Bocas

As the major events of the last few months have primarily involved Paul’s time, expertise, muscles and frustrations (and the not so occasional profanity), it is he who will start this edition of our blog . His input is shown in green.

Finally, after seemingly months living on dry land at Puerto Lindo, Calypso elected to sail for waters bluer in the guise of Bocas del Toro in western Panama up near the Costa Rican border. In the company of Stuart and Shelia on Imagine, we set a date and on the appointed day hauled up the mud encrusted anchor.

Stuart and Shelia were a little more seamanlike in removing foul smelling mud from the chain but so anxious to get her teak decks wet once more, Calypso pulled out of the anchorage and motored out the channel past the hazardous Lavanderia reef. Barely 10 minutes has passed when a dreaded noise emerged from the engine control panel; we are overheating Maureen yelled. Probably a plastic bag over the water intake I replied. Ease down the throttle and give her a pulse of reverse to clear it I suggested.

When this failed to help, we returned to the anchorage and investigated the water intake by diving under water. It was completely clean. Never having had a serious problem with our trusty 50 hp engine, I confidently told Maureen it was nothing more than a faulty cap on the heat exchanger so I cut a rubber washer to provide a better seal and we raised the anchor again. Predictably, the overheating warning screamed once again. Not to be denied our trip, with a pleasant favourable breeze, we carried on west for Bocas under sail.

About half way, we heard a noise similar to one we had experienced three months earlier while in the San Blas and, just like our former experience, the noise was a spring breaking in our feathering propeller. This only prevents the propeller from feathering when not in use so did not present an immediate problem.

Within sight of our destination Maureen reported an autopilot malfunction but this simply obliged us to hand steer so, again, was of no great import. As we approached the anchorage we saw Imagine and tried to raise Stuart and Sheila only to discover our VHF radio had decided to call it a day and refused to transmit an audible signal. And then to complete our incidental problems, our water pressure system ceased to function normally.

Re-seating Calypso's portlights

In Bocas we discovered what incessant rain means and regrettably that 11 out of our 13 port lights were leaking into clothing and food storage areas. We thought it couldn’t get much worse but were sadly mistaken. At the start to tackling the engine overheating problem, I manually switched on our automatic bilge pump as, yup, the auto feature had also failed. I noticed a rapidly growing trickle of water returning to the bilge. Upon examination, we discovered our bilge outlet pipe had split at the 90 degree bend it takes immediately prior to discharging into the sea. The downside of this was the returning stream of diesel-impregnated sea water had now soaked our dried goods bulk storage rendering most of the contents as unusable.

To complete the list of repairs needed, our aft heads started leaking and the replacement bilge hose necessitated carpentry alterations to a drawer system.

Thus entered a period aboard Calypso that so aptly proves the definition of cruising: “conducting boat repairs in exotic ports.”

View of Bocas Town from the Anchorage

Needless to say, our time in Bocas has been fruitfully spent as it’s a good place to receive items from far and wide. Spare prop springs were sent from New Zealand, bits & bobs for the engine from the States, a new rudder reference unit for the auto pilot from Panama City and we are now awaiting a new radio and other items to be shipped. Our engine is back in shape running smoothly and coolly, our auto pilot is back on duty and our prop is feathering. The port lights have all been removed, cleaned up and reseated and, thankfully, are no longer leaking. And just because there was so much time during all this activity, we’ve sanded and varnished all the woodwork (including, Bronte please note, all the hatch lifter upper thingamabobs) in the cockpit which is now waiting for new fabric to arrive so we can be even busier making new covers for the cushions.

Stuart & Shelia 'Imagine"

Cruisers are a wonderful bunch of folk who are willing to pass on advice and help whenever it 's needed and there was no end of help from our friend Stuart who literally couldn’t sleep at night until he’d helped resolve the overheating problem. Thanks a mil. Stuart.

Tranquil Dolphin Bay

Despite all of this, we still managed to get around to some of the nearby bays and islands. Bocas del Toro is an archipelago of very different islands compared to those of the San Blas region. It lies up in the northwestern corner of Panama, about 30 miles from the Costa Rican border and is fast becoming Panama’s main tourist destination. Our cruising guide tells us that Christopher Columbus discovered this area on his fourth and final voyage and was awed by its natural beauty. It was later populated by a vast array of immigrants, mainly coloured slaves from the US, Providencia and San Andrés who intermarried with the native Indians. The indigenous people have their own language but there is a surprising amount of English spoken here, no doubt due to the many tourists visiting the area.

The nearby mountainous mainland is heavily covered with rmagnificent rain forest and vast banana groves on the flatter regions near the coast. From there, million of tons of bananas are exported annually, primarily the Chiquita brand which I remember from my childhood in Canada.

The little town of Bocas is really quite charming in a somewhat dilapidated way. There are dozens of interesting little shops and restaurants, many built on stilts out into the water. The nearby islands offer few beaches compared to the San Blas but here, any and all water sports are allowed. Generally, we are told, snorkeling and diving is very good but, right now, they have experienced so much rain that the waters are not clear enough to see much of anything.

A 'walking' palm tree

We have visited a few other bays nearby, wandered around the beautiful gardens created by an English/NZ couple, toured the home of an American couple who grow and produce their own wonderful chocolate, tasted great flavours in a chili cooking competition and even attended a concert in the jungle. Those of us in the open anchorage were invited to take our boats around to a party for the opening of a new marina which is possibly the best built marina we’ve ever seen. It was a great party, a fabulous weekend and the development has one of the best beaches we’ve seen to date. Bocas is a popular spot for retiring ex-pats who all seem quite passionate about their chosen country and lifestyle.

Sad farewell to a good friend

And, there just had to be a sad note to all of this fun. We've had to say a fond farewell to our ever-trusty genoa. How she got us this far is quite beyond the imaginations of most of the critical eyes who have seen her (some have been downright rude) but she did. Unfortunately, there’s a limit to everything and we had to finally admit, the time had come. She was lowered for the last time, folded up and is ready to be given to any of the passing locals in their cayucos who may make some use of what remains. Sniff.

PHOTO GALLERY:

'Downtown' Bocas

Starfish Beach

Bird Island

Typical Local Home

Looking out on Dolphin Bay

Flame Ginger

Cocao Tree

Tiny Black & Green Dart Frog

Red Frog Beach

Scenes from the Botanical Gardens:

The 'Local'

Isla Bastimentos

Built on stilts