Wednesday September 12, 2007
The 30 hour crossing from Cartagena back to San Blas was forecast to have ten foot waves and plenty of wind. We prepared for weather as we left the waters of Cartagena. I gave Sergio some preventative Dramamine for motion sickness and stowed while Jeremy strapped on the scuba gear and scraped Max's propellor. It was covered in growth from weeks of exposure to the filthy city water. When we got under way again Max was was going 25% faster than before!
As evening came we waited in anticipation for the weather that was supposed to come, but it never did. Instead we had a much more friendly visitor. A beautiful gray seagull-sized bird began to curiously circle the boat. It was especiallyinterested in Sergio who was standing on the cabin top, and after circling very close a few times, landed right on Sergio's shoulder! Even when he yelled out in alarm and moved around, sure that it was going to peck his eyes out with it's long sharpbeak, it stayed perched. After a few moments it took flight again and landed on our spinnaker sail covor which was fluffed uplike a big soft nest. It stayed there all night and hung out much of the next day after Jeremy fed it one of the sardines that had jumped on the boat in the night.
The seas remained calm for most of the next day and we all spent it lounging around the boat, watching our fishing rod hopefully. Sometime in the late afternoon I was taking a nap below when I heard Sergio shout "Pescado! Pescado!". I hopped up onto the fishing platform as the line was rapidly whizzing out behind us and picked up the rod. The moment I did so the huge fish decided to stop messing around and took off towards the bottom of the sea, snapping the line in an instant and taking with it our last lure which we had just purchased in Cartagena. To add insult to injury we had canned tuna fish for lunch.
Later in the afternoon a strong squall hit and repeatedly blew sea water over Max's bow and washed it off again with heavy rain. It only lasted an hour or so, and then left, taking all of the wind with it and leaving us with smooth seas for the rest of the crossing.
As the sun began to set we were visited by another feathered friend. A lovely little fly catcher bird hovered briefly around the fishing platform where Jeremy was standing before landing right on his shoulder! Jeremy perched it on his finger and handed it to me, the tiny bird snuggling my shirt. Then a few more came and as Jeremy and I stood on the platform and held out our hands they lighted right on our index fingers! Two took flight again and found perches around the boat, but the first one stayed and kept me company, sleeping in my hands as I kept watch. Within a few hours we were entering the waters of San Blas. It was a new moon, and though we had waypoints programmed into the GPS from our previous visit, it was quite nerve wrecking sailing between reefs and around coral heads without any kind of visual in the suffocating darkness. We decided to play it safe and anchor on a nearby flat rather than to get closer to any of the reef- lined islands. Once the anchor was set we had a stout anchedram (In case I haven't mentioned this important piece of information before, an Anchedram is the norwegan sailor's tradition of having a stiff drink upon setting anchor after a passage) of rum with which we toasted to Sergio's first crossing, said goodnight to our little birdie friend, and went to bed.
Back to San Blas and the Beautiful Rio Chagres
Friday September 14, 2007
It was so nice to be back in the clear San Blas waters yet again. We spent much of our few weeks here swimming and visiting Kuna villages in between fishing and studying spanish. When we had parted with Travis and Joanne in Cartagena they gave us several bags of t-shirts, ball caps, kitchen and fishing supplies etc. that they had collected over the last couple of years in hopes of trading with the Kunas. Since they never got the chance they passed it on to us to try our luck. I've had a great time trading and bargaining with the Kunas. It has been a great opportunity to get to know them better while practicing my spanish. They run a hard bargain, but so far we have traded for plenty of lobster and fish and even a few molas!
Sergio has been a nice addition to our little family. Our spanish is definately improving and he is a good cook as well. He has a recipe for this awesome chilean omelette that we are stealing for sure! He also makes a mean fish stew and has introduced us to some exotic new fruits. Jeremy is also happy to have a new chess opponent. They play several games over coffee every morning- Sergio has even beat him once or twice!
Friday October 12, 2007
Well, it is time to reprovision once again. This means making the 10 hour crossing back to Colon. We stock up, say farewell to Sergio and wish him good luck on his way to the U.S.. Then I get a real treat- we are going back to the Rio Chagres with the sloths, monkeys and crocodiles! When we arrive there are many more boats here than before, about seven. As we pass them on our way up the river we see that one of them is our friends Sonny and Kay on Valentina! We haven't seen them since we were in Bocas Del Toro months ago! They came over once we were anchored and we all dinghied down one of the smaller river branches to a beautiful waterfall with a deep pool at the bottom. The water is incredibly cool and refreshing and we end up swimming and diving from the top of the fall all afternoon! That evening we went to another boat called Queen Mary and watched the sun set while we listened to Brenda play a key board and sing while her husband Gene played base guitar and Sonny was on the harmonica! It was a great time!
Our second day in Chagres we went back to the falls, of course. Then in the evening everyone in the area (eight boats) gathered near the top of the river in our dinghies and tied them all together in a circle. Then we all drank wine and passed around appetizers as we floated for hours down the river watching the animals emerge as the sun went down. The conversation was great as everyone has come here from a different route and has had different experiences and stories to tell. It was a truely unique experience and we werehappy to be in the company of such fun and interesting (not to mention creative!) people! As we passed Max on the river Jeremy took the opportunity to jump on deck with the camera, climb up onto the boom and capture the perfect moment! The photo turned out great, accept for the fact that Jeremy is not in the picture... Well, the days pass by quickly here in Rio Chagres. We have had a fantastic time waking up with the monkeys and birds calling from the trees in the mornings. Of course we head to the falls every afternoon in the heat of the day before "floating" in the evenings. So far I have only seen crocodile eyes glowing red around the boat when I shine the flash light out on the water at night, but two other boats have seen some big ones up close- a 12 and a 15 footer! Needless to say, we do not swim in the river!!
It really has been all fun and games, until yesterday. Jeremy and I took a long walk up to one of the marinas to buy a used battery charger. We parked the dinghy at a little dock at the begining of the jungle trail that we have hiked many times before without any problems as very few people are on this river. Well, the walk ended up being a lot longer than we had anticipated, and when we finally arrived back at the little dock, exhausted, our 6 horse Johnson outboard was gone! It was a big blow, but we were lucky to be surrounded by nice people who gave us a tow back to Max after searching the surrounding jungle a bit to make sure it wasn't stashed somewhere. We were too spent to "float" that evening, but the party came by our boat and offered us some fresh fish and snacks insisting that we shouldn't have to cook after the day we had! The next day Sonny on Valentina even insisted on giving it another go with searching the area again. We went out, hacking at the vines with our machetes. No luck, but we were lucky enough to have a family of howler monkeys in the trees all around us and some on the ground cheering us on with their loud howls! It is also lucky that we were prepared enough to have a back up outboard, so even though it really sucks, it is not the end of the world, right?
Well, from here we may head back to the San Blas for a couple more weeks to be sure that hurricane season is pretty much finished before we put ourselves back in the middle of the Carribean again. I should have the opportunity to check in again in a few weeks, most likely from the Columbian island of Providencia.
Hope all is well with all of our friends and family! We miss and love you lots!
- Jeremy, Crystal and Max
It was so nice to be back in the clear San Blas waters yet again. We spent much of our few weeks here swimming and visiting Kuna villages in between fishing and studying spanish. When we had parted with Travis and Joanne in Cartagena they gave us several bags of t-shirts, ball caps, kitchen and fishing supplies etc. that they had collected over the last couple of years in hopes of trading with the Kunas. Since they never got the chance they passed it on to us to try our luck. I've had a great time trading and bargaining with the Kunas. It has been a great opportunity to get to know them better while practicing my spanish. They run a hard bargain, but so far we have traded for plenty of lobster and fish and even a few molas!
Sergio has been a nice addition to our little family. Our spanish is definately improving and he is a good cook as well. He has a recipe for this awesome chilean omelette that we are stealing for sure! He also makes a mean fish stew and has introduced us to some exotic new fruits. Jeremy is also happy to have a new chess opponent. They play several games over coffee every morning- Sergio has even beat him once or twice!
Friday October 12, 2007
Well, it is time to reprovision once again. This means making the 10 hour crossing back to Colon. We stock up, say farewell to Sergio and wish him good luck on his way to the U.S.. Then I get a real treat- we are going back to the Rio Chagres with the sloths, monkeys and crocodiles! When we arrive there are many more boats here than before, about seven. As we pass them on our way up the river we see that one of them is our friends Sonny and Kay on Valentina! We haven't seen them since we were in Bocas Del Toro months ago! They came over once we were anchored and we all dinghied down one of the smaller river branches to a beautiful waterfall with a deep pool at the bottom. The water is incredibly cool and refreshing and we end up swimming and diving from the top of the fall all afternoon! That evening we went to another boat called Queen Mary and watched the sun set while we listened to Brenda play a key board and sing while her husband Gene played base guitar and Sonny was on the harmonica! It was a great time!
Our second day in Chagres we went back to the falls, of course. Then in the evening everyone in the area (eight boats) gathered near the top of the river in our dinghies and tied them all together in a circle. Then we all drank wine and passed around appetizers as we floated for hours down the river watching the animals emerge as the sun went down. The conversation was great as everyone has come here from a different route and has had different experiences and stories to tell. It was a truely unique experience and we werehappy to be in the company of such fun and interesting (not to mention creative!) people! As we passed Max on the river Jeremy took the opportunity to jump on deck with the camera, climb up onto the boom and capture the perfect moment! The photo turned out great, accept for the fact that Jeremy is not in the picture... Well, the days pass by quickly here in Rio Chagres. We have had a fantastic time waking up with the monkeys and birds calling from the trees in the mornings. Of course we head to the falls every afternoon in the heat of the day before "floating" in the evenings. So far I have only seen crocodile eyes glowing red around the boat when I shine the flash light out on the water at night, but two other boats have seen some big ones up close- a 12 and a 15 footer! Needless to say, we do not swim in the river!!
It really has been all fun and games, until yesterday. Jeremy and I took a long walk up to one of the marinas to buy a used battery charger. We parked the dinghy at a little dock at the begining of the jungle trail that we have hiked many times before without any problems as very few people are on this river. Well, the walk ended up being a lot longer than we had anticipated, and when we finally arrived back at the little dock, exhausted, our 6 horse Johnson outboard was gone! It was a big blow, but we were lucky to be surrounded by nice people who gave us a tow back to Max after searching the surrounding jungle a bit to make sure it wasn't stashed somewhere. We were too spent to "float" that evening, but the party came by our boat and offered us some fresh fish and snacks insisting that we shouldn't have to cook after the day we had! The next day Sonny on Valentina even insisted on giving it another go with searching the area again. We went out, hacking at the vines with our machetes. No luck, but we were lucky enough to have a family of howler monkeys in the trees all around us and some on the ground cheering us on with their loud howls! It is also lucky that we were prepared enough to have a back up outboard, so even though it really sucks, it is not the end of the world, right?
Well, from here we may head back to the San Blas for a couple more weeks to be sure that hurricane season is pretty much finished before we put ourselves back in the middle of the Carribean again. I should have the opportunity to check in again in a few weeks, most likely from the Columbian island of Providencia.
Hope all is well with all of our friends and family! We miss and love you lots!
- Jeremy, Crystal and Max
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