Surf and Turf

David and made two trips into town today to get a bunch of groceries, the lockers on the boat were getting pretty empty. One of our major stops was a grocery store called Isla Colon. Small but it had most of what we wanted and the best part is we didn't have to carry a bunch of stuff around with us, they delivered at no extra cost to the marina. Our jackpot stop though was at Tutty's. She had a freezer full of fresh tuna loins and mahi mahi of which we bought some of both. Tutty was out of shrimp which we needed to do some Dragon Rolls but I guess we'll have to settle for spicy tuna rolls instead. She also had a really nice selection of beef and pork, the huge surprise however was her selection of lamb. And lots of it. So we bought some lamb chops, I have a feeling they're getting cooked up tonight. If they're good we'll have to go back and get some more. She had ground lamb, leg of lamb, chops and ribs. I love lamb and it will be a nice change from our regular pork dishes.

It's been raining for the past few days making it hard to do much of anything. Right now the wind is howling through the rigging and the sky is turning dark. That's okay, the weather here changes every hour so who knows, maybe sunshine later today.

Dinner with Salty Dog

John and Alina from Salty Dog are currently running the restaurant and bar here in Bocas Yacht Club. Since they close up on Mondays we invited them over to Bruadair for dinner and wine. I actually cooked dinner tonight, the main course anyway, David cooked the rice and chopped onions for me, so really it was a team effort. I made what I would have called keema, a spicy Indian dish with ground beef. Since John and Alina are vegetarian I omitted the beef and added more potatoes. It was really really good, especially served over rice. I also made raita, an Indian yogurt salad with spices, cucumber, onion and tomatoes. Also very good. With full bellies we talked for a good while before John and Alina had to leave, hope we can do it again soon!

Dinner and rain

I was going to go out with some guys at sunrise this morning to do some offshore fishing but I'm glad I slept in, it's been raining all day. The good news is our water tanks are now full. It's been over a year now since we ran a water hose from the dock to put water in our tanks, the rain has been frequent enough to top off our tanks at just the right time. When there was a break in the rain we went to Bocas with Carl and Iris for dinner. Chinese food hit the spot perfect but as it had been a year since I ate in town I was blown away at how the prices had just gone through the roof. We used to get a decent lunch with drinks for less than five bucks but now that Bocas is a hot spot for tourism everything here has gone up in price, now lunches are $10 if not more. Fortunately there are some side street places that serve the locals at a more affordable price, so that usually where we go. We got back to the marina just in time, rain started again but now there is lightening and thunder. Hope it passes quickly. We bought a nice bottle of wine when we were in town, might have to have that tomorrow if there's a sunset to watch.

A Day Late and a Dollar Short

Literally, I was a day late and a dollar short. I found out today that someone just sold their huge powerboat for one dollar. It's not a mega yacht but it's still a nice boat. I could have sold it for $10 easy, that would have been a much better return than I'm getting from my bank. Oh well, I guess that's why we don't buy lottery tickets....

Happy Hour and a Sunset

David and I went up to the cantina here in the marina yesterday evening so as to enjoy a glass of wine and watch the sunset. As it turned out Rick and Cat joined us so we stayed longer than anticipated. And then Fred and Robin joined us and before we knew it the sun had set, empty glasses were replaced and finally everyone decided it was much too late to cook dinner so we ate at the cantina. David had grilled shrimp over Asian rice noodles and I had seared tuna over the same. The company and conversations were great and before we knew it it was after 9pm. Rick and Cat are leaving tomorrow for Buffalo New York and will return at the end of the year. Fred and Robin will be leaving in a few days for Mendocino where they live when not sailing and will also be returning at the end of the year. We'll be waiting!

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A Perfect Life

A bottle of cab
on a sandy beach
a stunning sunset
to end the day
Howler monkeys quiet
Colorful parrots screaming
Sharing memories
Sharing dreams
With the love of my life
A perfect Life

So many birthdays

Lots of birthday wishes for this month that I know I'll forget a lot of people. Happy birthday to my brother, my mother, all my cousins, nephews, nieces, aunts and uncles. And just to make sure I have my bases covered happy birthday to my friends that have one this month as well!!

Wrapping it up

I'm just about done with my extended visit here in the states and will be heading back to the boat in Bocas del Toro. David is down there right now keeping things in tip top shape. He said there's a storm brewing, all the dock lines have been checked and gear secured. My last two stops are coming up, first with my grandmother and then with my cousin in Idaho. I'll store our new to us car there before flying south. Not much else to report really. This past year has been a bit crazy but we expect to be back out on the water gunkholing and cruising soon.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving Day to all our family and friends.

This sure has been an unusual year for us, normally at this time of year we would be anchored in a peaceful anchorage enjoying the sunshine and beaches. But not this year. David is now back on Bruadair and is making sure the boat is in tip top shape and well taken care of. He's been exceptionally kind to me in the past 12 months in letting me pursue my dreams to travel to India, help my cousin out on his ranch and to allow me some off boat time so that I can check a few things off my bucket list. Maybe I'm having my midlife crisis but surely I'm too young for that.

This year David will be spending the holiday with Bryan and Debbie in the marina and I'll be spending the day with my cousins. While I had expected to be back on the boat by now a few things came up so I'll be returning in about six weeks. Myabe...

Happy Thanksgiving Day to all of you, and thank you for being patient for our posts.

Up in Idaho

David and I are up in Idaho visiting relatives on the their ranch. Saw bears, moose, elk and lots of deer. It's cold up here, woke up yesterday and it was 33 degrees. Good thing there's a lot of firewood stacked up. We're headed back to the boat soon where we need to figure out what our future plans are. We're looking forward to leaving the marina soon and getting back to anchor, just not sure where to head to this season. One thing is for sure though, it won't be this cold down in Panama!

Still Missing Ashley

Ashley passed away nine days ago and we're still missing her very much. After 19.5 years not only was she a big part of our family she was also a great companion and friend. With help from those at the Bocas Yacht Club we were able to get Ashley's body to Panama City where she is being cremated today, her ashes will be returned to the boat on Wednesday. So many thanks go out to all our friends and to the strangers that have helped us in this difficult time. David and I continue to miss our baby girl dearly and it will be very difficult to return to the boat knowing that Ashley will not be there to greet us.

Ashley March 20 1993 - September 22 2012

 Our precious baby girl Ashley passed away today, we feel so blessed to have had her in our lives for the past 19.5 years. We feel guilty for not being there by her side when she passed but hope she knows that we love her so very much and will miss her deeply.

Farewell to Harry

It's with sadness that we bid farewell to our boating friend Harry who passed away this morning. We wish him fair winds on his new adventures. He'll be greatly missed.

Big Storm in Bocas

David just sent me an email from Bocas about a big storm that blew through yesterday evening, here's what he had to say;

We just had the WORST STORM I have ever seen here! And the fact that there was a waterspout outside the anchorage should have been the indication that there was more to come! It lasted about 30 minutes and was between here and the half way point to dolphin bay. was really cool. this was at 1730 this evening.

All HECK broke loose at 1815! first it started raining...harder than I think that I have ever seen here. We went around to drop all the panels. No sooner did we get them down the wind started! OMG! I was gale force! Nita was scared to death and she has lived here all her life.The entire place was soaked! There was lightening like you would not believe. Then to top it, started blowing even harder! I really thought that the waterspout was coming ashore. The hutch with the glass doors....it is no more. IT blew over and shattered on the freezer in front of it and 65% of every thing in it was shattered too.  The BBQ out back blew over, all the tables and chairs were flying across the place. The baskets with the onions and everything else on that ledge were flying into the back. It was pretty freaking scary.

Then I looked out an saw a dinghy...and attached to the dinghy was a boat! The small sailboat on the mooring was literally ten feet from the dinghy dock. We could not hear the radio, but someone said that a boat was coming in to the marina. So Dana, Jay, Ray and Mark all showed up. The call was for the one dragging.

The surge was fierce! Three foot waves washing into the place! I really thought that the Dr;s boat and Stess were going to break their lines and take out. I was worried about our boat but was really scared to try and leave for fear that I would have been blown off the dock! The surge got so bad that the main water pipe snapped in half...twice! Snapped right at the valve. It was between the cantina and the beginning to Chucks dock. So there is no water now. It is okay, because, yes, our tanks are full! And all is fine here. Once back at the boat I was able to wash all the glass off of me.

It is going to take hours to get the cantina cleaned up tomorrow. There is glass and pottery everywhere!

Photos from a week at the beach

Today is the last day at the beach here in Gulf Shores Alabama. Here are a few photos from the week.

Parasailing in Gulf Shores Alabama

Okay, so I didn't go parasailing, but I took my nephew Mason who went with his friend Chandler. They had a great time sailing at 600 feet. The last couple days on the beach has been wonderful with really calm seas. Yesterday I went and bought a complete snorkeling set for Mason and myself. I taught him how to snorkel and we spent quite a few hours in the water. We saw a remora (shark sucker), one cobia, lots of jacks, a huge Crevalle Jack, a crab eating a sand dollar, hard head catfish, mullet, bone fish, electric rays, southern sting rays, lots of little jelly fish and even a large Man of War jelly fish. It was an awesome day in the water.

Today the surf continued to build so we didn't go in the water. Instead I played with my neice and nephew Emma and Tucker for a while, went on a long walk and ate lots of food including great pork chops cooked by Mason. Tomorrow Mason and I plan on heading into town, not sure what we'll do but we need to find something to occupy our time with.

Glad I came to Gulf Shores with Suzanne and her family.

Gulf Shores Alabama

I took a road trip a few days ago from Austin to Mobile Alabama. Spent the night there, had one of the best pizzas I've had in a long time and then took off for Gulf Shores Alabama where I'm staying on the beach for the week. Today I saw a nice Lesser Electric Ray, whitings, a hard head catfish and even some jelly fish.

David and Iris made 60 samosas (Indian snack) at the marina's restaurant and served them at the cruiser's pot luck. They were a hit but that's always the case with whatever David makes. It was a good turnout today at the pot luck. Ashley has now, after 8 years of cruising, finally developed an appetite for raw fish. Right now she likes tuna but we'll have to experiment and see if she likes anything else.

Texas

David's holding down the fort in Bocas and I'm now back in Texas for a short spell. Today I went to lunch with David's sister, Suzanne, and her eldest son Mason. We met their friends Chandler and Austin. Had a pretty good lunch. Most of the day today was a lazy day including a well needed long afternoon nap. I got some boat parts ordered today, some that will fit in my suit case are coming to me and the stuff that is too large is headed to Rockport Texas where it will make it's way by sea back to Panama.

Six Weeks

Has it really been six weeks since the last update? I recall when we updated our blog every other day but this past year  we sure haven't updated much. We pulled into a marina 11 months ago and when we're in a marina there really isn't much happening, not much to report.

During the past year I made two trips to India, the first time for three months. Had a great time. David has been on the boat and had a trip to Texas to see his family, his first trip back to the states in 7 years.

Bruadair is still looking as good as ever though she's not at anchor where we would rather be. Life at anchor seems more peaceful with the wind blowing on the nose and the gentle rocking of the boat. Ashley loves to be at anchor as she can run in and out and all around as she likes. In the marina we keep the boat closed up, the last thing we want is for her to wander off into the jungle, or to where ever.

Ashley has been making it well known that she doesn't like being locked up. Our normally quiet cat has a feror0cious voice. She cries all day long and kicks at the door until we let her out on one of her supervised outings. Many a morning she'll sit on David's chest at four in the morning, looking down at his face screaming until he gets up to let her out. When I say screaming I really mean screaming, you can her her from out on the dock. People must thing we're torturing out cat but little do the realize she's torturing us.

David spent a week working up at the bar and restaurant in the marina. Our friends Carl and Iris who run the place had to go to another city for a week for medical reasons so David jumped in and ran the place while they were gone. From six in the morning to as late at eleven at night.

David's also been taking good care of Bruadair and making sure things are taken care of. Right now it's raining hard in Panama, had six inches the other day. It will remain like this for the rest of the year. Once rainy season is over and all our maintenance is done we'll leave the marina and get back to cruising, probably at then end of the year.

What happens if you dont' move

Here's a photo of our prop taken a while back. This is what happens if you sit in one place too long, the barnacles start to take hold. In Roatan Honduras it was oysters that moved in while in cartagena it was mussels. Normally if we move around at least once a week we don't have this problem but in this case we had be in the same anchorage for four weeks.

Hold my breath and going down with a scraper isn't easy to do so we have a hookah system of sorts. We have a dive tank up on deck, a 50' hose and a dive regulator (all courtesy of Judy and Bob from Amazing Grace). This allows me to go down for a long period of time and do a proper scraping and to check the bottom of the boat periodically. In reality I only have to do this once or twice a year.

A week of reunions

This has been a pretty busy week full of reunions resulting in a lot of eating out and socializing. Mike and Gloria from Respite showed up, we haven't seen them for about two years. They were anchored out and yesterday the finally came into the marina. Of course a couple lunches together to catch up on news was required.

Lee and Pachi from Garabato also showed up this week, they're from Cartagena Colombia. Pachi used to be the commodore at the yacht club where we used to stay when we visited Cartagena. It's been two years since we've seen them as well, and catching up was nice. They are only here in Bocas del Toro for four days, then they'll sail north to Isla de San Andreas.

Dave and Britta from Adam Kara also arrived, I think it's been 18 months since we last saw them. They too came into the marina yesterday.

Carl and Iris have been managing the bar and restaurant here in the marina for quite a while but had been out at anchor, until yesterday when they came into the marina. So now there is still a lot of catching up to do, stories to tell and meals to be eaten. Should be a pretty fun, and busy, upcoming week.

Happy Memorial Day

and thank you to all of those that have served in our armed forces.

Simrad - quick and efficient

I recently sent my Simrad NSE-8 navigation unit back to Simrad for warranty work. The rotary control knob was sticking a bit. In less than 10 days they returned the unit back to me with paperwork stating the part had been replaced. That was really quick, I'm impressed. I'll even be more impressed when I get it back in the boat, installed and checked out. Except that could be a while. Something came up and I'll be off the boat until December so I'll take it back with me then. My expectation of course is that it'll work just fine.

Friday night party

Last night up at the cantina there was a really good going away part for Ansa. Ansa is one of the yacht club owners and she's headed back to South Africa where she's from. She has another venture starting there, an eco lodge of sorts. The cantina was packed and there was a ton of food. Ansa is a super sweet lady and we'll surely miss her, but we do wish her well on her new venture. I think Ansa said she'll be back to the yacht club at the end of the year or early next year.

Because there was so much food there happened to be a lot of left overs. So David brought back a lot of salad, rice and chicken gravy. Not having to cook for a couple days is a treat that David really deserves.

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More grocery stores in Bocas

When we first came to Bocas four years ago there were only a few grocery stores including one specialty store. When we returned this time last year there were at least three times as many grocery stores (and three times as many hardware stores) and a one or two more specialty grocery stores catering to the ever growing expat population here. Today David went into town with Iris (s/v Breast Fed) and found two more. These to grocery stores were located way outside of town past the hospital and cemetery. They ended up bringing a taxi back. I haven't yet heard if these are the same as what's in town or if they have anything different.

There's also a new small retail store that everyone calls wal-mart. It has everything that you can't find at the other stores in town including a lot of stuff you just can't imagine ever existed. Clothes, household, hardware, just a little bit of everything. And it's always busy.

The streets in Bocas have been fairly void of human traffic for about a month now. It's low season and many businesses have closed for the next two or three months. For some there isn't enough business to stay running and for others it's a great time to take off for a vacation of their own.

In the next month the marina and anchorage should start filling up, it will be that time of year when boats start coming from the north to escape hurricane season.

Sushi

We went into Bocas town tonight with Chuck and Ann (s/v Mirage) and Jay and Dannica (s/v Alkihest) to a restaurant called Raw. It's a sushi place, dinner was expensive but the food really was good. Especially the ceviche. The weather has really been nice this past week with very little rain, lots of sunshine and a nice gentle breeze. Late last week we hired Carlos to wash and wax the boat. She sure looks good right now.

Back on the boat

So........ I guess you can say I've been slacking this year on updating this blog. Many of you have written asking what the heck is going on with us and we sincerely apologize for the lack of updates. In years past by this time of year I've had over a hundred posts yet this post is only our second for 2012. So what's been going on?

We put in at the Bocas Yacht Club last September and since then David and I have been off the boat at various times, we've been making trips back to the states to see family and taking care of those things that have to be done as we get older, like physicals and the such. There's also been a little bit of land travel too. Nothing really to write about, nothing exciting at all.

David had a great visit with my mother and then with his family for a couple of months. David helped his brother in law with the room addition to their house, and he bonded really well his nephews and niece. I was jealous about David and Mason's 'guys night out' to the frozen yogurt place. Nothing like that here in Bocas del Toro.

Ashley turned 19 years old (92 in cat years). And she's really not showing her age. She's still very active.

Now David and I back on the boat with a list of things that we need to do. Mostly it's catching up on boat maintenance. The rest of the year is unplanned at the moment. While there really isn't anything too exciting to write about while we're in the marina I'll try my best to at least come up with something more frequently. Thanks for all the kind emails and reminders,

the crew

Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays and Merry Chritmas to all.

David is still on Bruadair in Bocas del Toro, he'll be attending the Christmas pot luck at the marina's restaurant and I'll be spending the day with a few relatives. It's been raining a lot in Panama but then it is that season. Hopefully it'll dry up for a day so the potluck is more comfortable.

A log awaited update

So I guess it's been a while since our last update. To be honest there hasn't been much to write about. I haven't been on the boat for a couple months but David is still on Bruadair which is still in the Bocas Yacht Club in Bocas del Toro, Panama. It is the rainy season so it's been raining some. David has become good friends with Charlie who is on a boat across the dock from Bruadair. David's been busy collecting and sorting his extensive book collection on his Kindle. I recently spent a few weeks with my mother and fell in love with her Ipad. I can't justify needing an Ipad or tablet on my boat, but I've never needed to justify any of my electronic toys in the past so who knows, maybe I'll get a new toy. Actually, if I do, it won't be an Ipad but a tablet that supports sim cards and 3g so I can get internet on it. But David and I have been discussing replacing all the standing rigging on our boat, that's all the wires that hold up the mast. Standing rigging usually needs to be replaced every 10 years, we're do. It's expensive though so we might put it off another year, we've spent enough money this year and last years to putting a few things off for a year to recuperate might be necessary.

A couple of months ago I sent in our autopilot for warranty replacement, the new one is being shipped out soon with a new software update that won't be released until early next year. I have no idea what the update does but I hope to find out.

Currently our plan is to leave the yacht club on March 3rd. We'll go out to the anchorage for a couple of weeks and hire a local boy to wash and wax the boat while we test all the systems to make sure everything is in good order. Then we'll either sail north to Isla Providencia or east to the San Blas Islands.

Ashley has been doing really good. She's getting old though at 18.5 years old, so she's sleeping a lot lately. I'm sure I would do the same if I was pretty old too (not quite there yet).

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More painting

It's been raining a lot in Bocas recently but it hasn't been too bad. Our friends Richard and Pam on Tisha Baby left Bocas and just arrived in Colon, they're getting ready to transit the Panama Canal and will be in the Pacific soon. Mike and Barbara on Astarte will be heading to Colon soon too, for the same reason. Seems like a lot of our friends are headed that way. Not us though, still hanging in Bocas.

The headliner (ceiling) in Bruadair is wood and was painted white when she was built but after 26 years it's fair to say that it's in need of repainting. David's been working hard doing all the painting but it's not going as easily as he would have hoped. We both thought one coat would work but it appears that it's needing three. David has a lot done and now we're thinking that we should have gone with a semi-gloss or glossy paint to facilitate easier cleaning, looks like David might be starting over.

We have no plans what we're going to do next year. Going through the canal with our friends is tempting but we're not ready, or rather Bruadair isn't ready. We need to re-rig the boat, buy a life raft and get a light air sail. And then there's the fact that we really like this side of Panama and Colombia. So right now it's hard to say what we'll do next year. We'll figure it out then and in the mean time we'll enjoy Bocas.