Happenings in Nargana

From all of us on Bruadair we hope you have a happy New Year.

Not too much has been happening in Nargana since we arrived two weeks ago. David's been holding down the fort, doing some canvas projects and topping off all the fuel tanks. I think he' s been trying to provision as well but there hasn't been to many supplies available.

I'm in Panama City for quick trip to pick up some boat parts like zincs and the such. I'm also taking advantage of getting some provisions at the very nice super markets here, things like granola bars, olives and what have you.

I had planned on returning to Nargana tomorrow then we would sail to some new destinations with Winterlude in the San Blas, places where we haven't yet been. But my planning obviously wasn't too good. I didn't buy a return ticket to Nargana since I didn't know how long it would take to get things done. Well, I went to the domestic airport this morning to buy my return ticket only to be informed that all flights to Nargana are booked for the next two weeks. I was stunned, two weeks to get a return flight, I don't want to be here for two weeks! So I asked about maybe going to another island where I could hire a launcha (private boat) to take me to Nargana. Nope, that didn't work as well. There are no flights for two weeks into the San Blas and there are no roads.

Determined not to stay in Panama City for two more weeks I decided to look into chartering a plane. After talking with the folks at Panama Aircraft Charters I ended up chartering a small plane which will take me to Nargana tomorrow. Sounds expensive, and it was. But in reality it would have cost me just as much to stay in Panama City with hotel and meal costs so I at least I get to go home tomorrow. But it still bites to dish out the money we've worked so hard to save.

David should be pleansantly surprised tomorrow when I get back to the boat. He's been wanting a kayak so I bought a Walker Bay Airis 10 Sport inflatable kayak (this was before I chartered the plane). It's a small but highly recommended kayak and I expect we'll put it to good use. I also picked up a new control box for our autopilot and we should have that installed soon after my return, and of course some new movies on DVD.

Time to pack and get ready to head home to Bruadair.