Calypso's Journal: On the Road Again

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