12/1
It is December, 2007, two years since we left Kemah, Texas on our sailboat to live our dream of cruising the Caribbean.   It has been a wonderful two years that we treasure dearly and look forward to many more.
Our lives have been deeply enriched and entwined with the many locals in each country we visit and so many close friends we have met on other boats.  We have been touched and changed forever.
We are currently in the boat yard in Cartagena, Colombia getting a new bottom job.  These are the stages of our progress in 7 days.   Lots of work!

Original	1st Sanding	2nd Sanding to Gel coat

  
Primer Coats                                      Final Coats

We will be ready to get back in the water on Monday morning.....if the travel lift is repaired.  But, there is always.....manaña

12/2
It is manaña and they are testing the lift.   It appears to be working.  They lifted a powerboat from the water first.   We were thankful, we did not want Valentina to be the guinea pig.  But, we were next, and all went well, and we are now back in the water with a new bottom.
S/V Queen Mary was next, and they had no problems.

Now, we get to go back to the anchorage with a breeze down the hatches, sleep in our own beds, and have a dinghy again to run around.  Life is good.

12/3
Happy 9th Birthday to our grand-daughter, Claire in Waxahachie, Texas



12/4
We are waiting on a weather window to head back to San Blas, Panama, but the seas have been 10' and higher recently.   We talked to Chris, our weather service we subscribe to on the SSB radio, and he said the wind and seas were calming down this week, and Thursday and Friday would be a good time before the seas start rebuilding on Saturday to 9'.   So, we are getting it in gear to get ready to leave.
We need to:  take our clothes in to get washed at the marina, go to the grocery store to reprovision for at least a month, refuel the boat on diesel, and clean Valentina and the dinghy from the dusty shipyard.
My new camera I purchased in May is not downloading the pictures, so we will have to get another one.

12/5
Today will be our last day to have access to internet for a while.  San Blas is very remote with no electricity on most islands, so we will update the web when we can get to an internet cafe along the way.
We will always update our position on the homepage of our website through the SSB on "Where is Valentina" at the top right corner.  You can track us as we travel through Panama.
We will continue to communicate with our winlink email address and will check hotmail when we get to internet.

We wish you and your family the best holiday season and will keep in touch.

12/6
We (Valentina and Queen Mary) pulled up our anchors this morning at 3 a.m. and maneuvered our way out the Cartagena channel in the dark.   We are thankful for our track coming in, due to so many lights, it is difficult to distinguish channel lights from city lights and parked barges with land.  Eclipse, with Dave, Yoli and Steve will be leaving at noon today.
We are headed for the swimming pool in San Blas, about 200 miles.   We have 8-12 knots of wind with 2-4' seas.   A nice crossing, but we know the winds and seas are supposed to kick up, so we are trying to get in before they do.
We made good time and sailed on a beam reach most of the way, with following seas.  Valentina's nice, newly painted bottom was a plus.  She scooted through the water rather nicely.
As the afternoon progressed, the winds did get to 18-22 knots consistently and the seas kicked up, but we sailed right through.

12-7
After an all-nighter, we arrived at the swimming pool at 10:30 a.m. just in time for a squall to come through.   We waited in deeper water for it to pass before meandering through the coral to get to the hot tub area.
We both have to admit, the all-nighters are just not fun.  But, it is a way to get from one paradise to another.  And, after dropping the anchor in a calm anchorage, you are just "so glad to be here".

12-8
Sure enough, the winds are still piping, but we are safely tucked in behind the beautiful islands covered with palm trees and behind the reef, so although it is blowing 24 knots, we are calm on Valentina and getting rested up.

12-9
Kay rested on the boat today while Sonny went with Dave, Yoli, and Steve Schlosser snorkeling.   They saw a huge sting ray while snorkeling.  It is still windy, so the water is not very clear now.   But, still just awesome.  All the  different shades of blue and depths of water can be seen from our cockpit in the hot tub anchorage.  I think it is a postcard.

12-10
Today marks two years since we left Kemah, Texas on Valentina.  We can say, it has been a wonderful two years and Valentina has safely carried us over 4,400 miles on our journey.  We are blessed, as our love for each other and cruising just continues to grow.

12/13
After the morning radio nets, we headed for Porvenier, a 3 hour sail, to check into San Blas.  While leaving, an ulu rowed up to Valentina holding us a huge hogfish for sale.   We could not resist.  We purchased the hogfish with two lobsters for $12.  A feast!   We then motor sailed over to Chichime, an hour away for our anchorage and meet up with Dave and Yoli on Eclipse.
Our ridged boom vang today leaked oil out the bottom and our boom came down on our boom gallows and bimini.  After contacting Pro-Furl, they said it would have to be replaced for a price of $1200 - $1500.  Ouch.  We will be depending on our boom topping lift for a while.

12/14
We are the netcontrollers for the Panama Connection net on Fridays, so this morning after the net, we went to shore to explore.

12/15
The morning began early by being awaken hearing a "May Day" call on the VHF radio at about 5 a.m.   Breeze, on S/V Blue Sky, was assisting S/V Aquilla with a May Day call.  Aquilla had run aground on a reef and was sinking between Portobello and Linton (about 3 miles from where we were anchored) with Breeze's wife, Debbie, on board.
The three people on board abandoned ship, made it safely to land, and were rescued about four hours later by the Panamanian Coast Guard.  S/V Aquilla was not so fortunate, she sank with only her sails and mast showing.    The cruising family rallied around to assist as needed and able as our hearts are broken for the loss of the yacht, but thankful for the three lives that were saved.

On a brighter note........
Happy 29th Birthday to our youngest son, Gentry.
  We wish you the best year of your life.




We have just fallen in love with the Kuna Indian families here on Chichime in the San Blas.  Our favorite part of cruising has been meeting the locals and experiencing their lifestyles, but here, they have stolen our hearts.

Redelina holding her daughter on Valentina	Typical Kuna dress, with molas in blouse
	Kay trading fingernail polish for beads	Sonny holding Greselda's parrot with Yami watching

Their lives are so modest and simple, but their hearts are so big and their smiles are just captivating.   We hand out candy to the children (and adults) as we go ashore or they come out to Valentina and we have given them dishes, lotions, fingernail polish, lipstick, hats, and food.  Anything is appreciated.

Brodolie, a small boy 12 years old, from a family we gave dishes to, came up to Sonny and handed him two arrows he had carved and painted as a regalo (gift).   We have them hanging on our wall on Valentina.

The guidebooks all say, "Do not take photos of the Kuna's without asking and you will probably have to pay them a fee for taking their pictures", but, when you befriend them, they love (and ask) you to take their pictures so they can see it on your display on your camera.   They will all gather around the small camera, just to see their photo.   They love it when we print out pictures and give to them.

It is an orchestrated event when a new "yachtie" comes into the anchorage.  Before you get the anchor set, you are greeted with several ulus surrounding your boat wanting to sell their molas, crab, fish, or lobster to you.                                                                                                                                  My Christmas anklet

When you see a new sailboat arriving, you can watch on the shore where the four different groups of Kuna Indians in Chichime, who live on the four corners of the island, start gathering their buckets of molas, older women covering their heads with the head-dress, the small children running out to jump in the ulu, and all the families slowly start rowing out to the boat.





12/16
Today we decided to travel to Rio Sidra to check out the airport, town, and anchorage.   That is where our daughter, Gina, and her family will be flying into from Panama City on the 23rd at 6:30 a.m.
We waved "good-bye" to our Kuna friends on Chichime island and made the two hour trip to Rio Sidra.  We anchored near the island that was completely covered with thatched roof huts and we greeted by teenagers in ulus wanting to sell their molas.   We did not like the looks of this place at all.  We decided to drop the dinghy and go check out the airport where the kids are flying into and go to another island for the evening.
We dinghied down to the airstrip, a semi-paved runway, not very long and ends at the sea's edge.   Off the airstrip, there are two docks.  One is a dock over the water leading to an outhouse and the other dock is where you tie your dinghy, to with probably a 6'x6' room (the airline terminal).  Yikes! Our kids are flying into here?  What kind of parents are we?  Sorry, but I did not take pictures of this memory.




We went back to Valentina and immediately put the dinghy up, pulled up anchor (along with Eclipse) and headed to a nearby island while we had good light.

It is the difference in night and day.   We are one hour away (in our boat weaving around the reefs and coral), but as the crow flies, only two miles from Rio Sidra.







We are at Gunboat Island, and it looks like the Windows screensaver.   There is a hut on it, for the Kuna family to live in, but  no one lives there now.   They row over to meet you, but presently are working and living on a nearby island.


It is just beautiful here.


12/18
This morning, after the morning nets, we pulled up anchors (S/V Valentina and S/V Eclipse) and headed to the East Lemon Cays.   We had been here over a month ago, and it was such a good feeling, when we went to the small island to buy fresh bread when all of the children immediately recognized us.






One little girl, probably 12 months old, held her fingers up to her eyes like a camera, just grinning, when she saw us.   Her mother said, "She remembers you taking her picture!"    Reality is.....she probably remembers us from the candy.....but, the main thing is....she remembered us.  It makes you feel good to bring some sunshine into their lives.

Another neat story.....Breeze (S/V Blue Sky) is anchored in the East Lemons, where we are.   Breeze's wife, Debbie, (who was aboard S/V Aquilla when it went down a few days ago on a reef), hitched a ride aboard Kira, a German boat to the East Lemon Cays.  After three long days, she finally was able to make her way back to reunite with her husband.   On their radio check in, Breeze told her to look for the boat with all of the Christmas lights on......and S/V Blue Sky was lit up like a Christmas tree.   A very special time and thankful reunion!

12/19
Life is so good, we have so much to be thankful for.   This Christmas season has taught us so much to be thankful for.



12/22
Today we received an email from Air Panama confirming the kids' tickets to Porvenir rather than Rio Sidra.   We were very thankful.  Porvenir is a much nicer island to fly into rather than Rio Sidra.
We pulled up our anchor as soon as the rain stopped at about 12:30 p.m. and motored over to Porvenir to be ready in the morning when the kids fly from Panama City.

We are excited to have them on board this Christmas season.
12/23
Finally.....we can see the plane in the distance, and it is landing.   We see familiar faces looking out the window.   Our kids made it!   We are so excited to have them here for Christmas and New Years.   And, yes, even since July, our grandchildren have grown.
After eating breakfast, we motored over to the East Lemons, where we plan to spend Christmas.   The bread maker said on his island on Christmas Day, there would be a fiesta with Christmas dinner for $3 per person with fish or lobster for dinner, games, music, and fun.   So we made our reservations for seven and planning on spending Christmas with the Kuna Indians on the island.
Kalei, Ashley, and Kawika arrived with pencils, magazines, books for children, fingernail polish and toys for the Kuna Indian children.   What fun!
12/24
Christmas Eve!
We are in the East Lemons on San Blas, and I doubt we will see a white Christmas.   The Christmas winds have kicked in, and it blows 20-30 knots from the east consistently.
The kids have played in the water at the beach, been buried in the sand, up to their heads only, had crab races, bowled with coconuts, and run around the whole island in the sand (it is probably a football field size).
We went to Gene and Brenda's tonight aboard Queen Mary to play music.   They have their son, Brad and his wife Jennifer, and Drexel down for the holidays.  We have sure enjoyed them.


12/25
A Christmas Card for you from Sonny, Kay and Valentina......with a star for the top of your tree.

May the true spirit of Christmas live in our hearts and minds
throughout the coming year.


It's Christmas Day in the Caribbean.  No snow, only beautiful islands, palm trees, coconuts, star fish in the water, beaches, sand, and some of our family and friends on this windy day.



       
Sonny went over to the bread maker's island early this morning to confirm again, the plans for Christmas dinner.   The daughter said, in Spanish,  because of the wind, they were not able to get the fish and lobster, so her father had gone to a nearby island to get chicken.   So we all were a little sad, but it is the experience and memory that we are after, so "pollo" is good.   It will begin at 3:00.

We went to the beach for another dose of sand and playing and then went to the boat to get cleaned up for our Christmas Dinner.
We went to the island at 3 p.m. ready for the fiesta.  The daughter met us at the dock and said, "No tango comeda (We have no food), so we went ahead and got out of the dingy and went in to talk to some of the other cruisers who also made reservations.   We had decided to go to our boats and prepare a potluck and go to Queen Mary (they are the biggest boat) for our Christmas dinner.
Then, the father arrived in his small boat, loaded with all kinds of food for their very small tienda, but....no chicken.   He said, no problem, we have fish and we will feed you Christmas dinner for $3.
So, we all stayed.
He brought out our dinner, and we all ate it.   It was, we think, either canned sardines over rice or some of the dried fish over rice.   It was not like any Christmas dinner we had ever had, but it was a great memory and makes us thankful this Christmas season for so much.  Life really is good.

We returned to Valentina for pecan pie.

12/26
Today, Queen Mary's family and Valentina's family went in our dinghies to the small island with only one palm tree and a sandy beach for family pictures.    Brad, Jennifer, and Drexel (Queen Mary) will fly out in the morning, so in spite of the wind and rough water, we all made it safely to the island.    Just a little wet for photos.

This island looked much better from afar, but we all wanted family pictures on it.   Tiny with one lonely palm tree on a windy day.



Then, we dinghied over to another very small island for fun in the water and beach.   It was just beautiful.   It is a picture postcard.  There was only one other couple on the whole island and they were Wiley, Texas, near Dallas.   Of course, the Kuna lady was there to sell her molas.
After our field trips, the kids and the guys went to the island nearby to fish and snorkel while Gina and Kay washed clothes.   It is a sight to see the sailboat at anchor with clothes flying from one end to the other.   With seven people on board, we have a lot of clothes.   Our watermaker is running pretty consistently.

And, the guys caught enough fish for our dinner.  We sure are having fun and enjoying our kids and grandkids!

12/27
This morning, we were planning to head to Chichime for a few days, but, Gene on Queen Mary called on their way back from Porvenir, and said there were already 11 boats in Chichime, so we will stay here today.
The kids and guys went snorkeling this morning while Gina and Kay worked on pictures, websites, chatting, and laptops.
Some locals came by today to sell us lobster.  We bought 7 lobsters for $3.  David bought an octopus for $1.




12/28
This morning, Sonny and Kawika went with Gene of Queen Mary to the bread island to get 30 loaves of Kuna bread for $3.  Kuna Bread is like a long, skinny hot dog bun with pointy ends.   But, good.  We are thankful to have fresh bread.
It rained on and off all day.
Sonny and Kay took the grandkids to the island to play to let mom and dad have a break on the boat.   We had crab races. walk the log contests, and foot races.  Grandpa even won one foot race.

We had fun watching the pelicans fly around in circles, then dive bomb down quickly to get their dinner.
Some locals came by again with more lobster, so Kalei, Ashley and Kay prepared lobster for dinner tonight.   David had marinated the octopus, so they tried that.   Lobster and octopus.....with Kuna bread.

12/29
We decided to move to a new island today, so when we heard the sound of the conch horn, we knew the bread was ready on bread island, so David went over in the dinghy to get a new supply of Kuna bread.
We left the East Lemons at 11:30 a.m. and headed over to Banerdup.  David and Kawika went with Dave and Yoli on Eclipse, and Queen Mary left earlier so they could stop by the Hollandaise islands to pick up their dive tank they loaned out and all meet at Banerdup.
This is a very protected anchorage, surrounded by islands with palm and coconut trees.
We all went to Queen Mary's for a music night.

12/30
Sonny and David took the kids to the beach today while Kay washed clothes.

In San Blas, it is prohibited to fish with a spear gun, but you can line fish.  Sonny and David returned in the dinghy with a 4' nurse shark David caught and probably 15 small fish.   It took a while to clean the shark.   We soaked it in salt water, cut it in small pieces and fried it and it was very tasty.

12/31
Today is my (54th) birthday and I am so thankful to be able to celebrate it with my husband, our daughter, Gina, son-in-law David, and our grandchildren, Kalei, Ashley, and Kawika on board Valentina.
Gene and Brenda came over at about 9:30 a.m. and said they were going to play in the water and invited David and I to go snorkeling.  So we did.
Tonight, we were invited to Gene and Brenda's for a surprise birthday celebration along with Dave and Yoli on Eclipse.  Brenda had made a cake, and coconut rice pudding, and we feasted on fried grouper, rice and cole slaw.   It was delicious and a great celebration.
It is great to be with family and friends to celebrate New Year's and my birthday.






We wish you a very Happy New Year and may 2008 be the best year of your life.












Life is Short.......Enjoy Every Day.

Your friends on Valentina

Rio Chagres, Panama

9/12007
We are currently back in Bocas Yacht Marina for a few more weeks, attempting to get projects done before we head back out to anchor in nearby beautiful coves.   It gets so hot in the marina, that we must get our work done in the morning before the afternoon sun and heat.  There are also no-see-ums (chitras) in the marina.   We have discovered a soap you can lather up with that repels the no-see-ums, so we use it religiously.   But, you can tell immediately when the soap wears off.  Attack!   Or, just wear long sleeves and pants.
9/2
Sonny changed the oil in our new dinghy motor and Kay varnished the last coat on the combing in the cockpit early in the morning.

During the afternoon, we stayed down below, turned on the a/c and watched movies and kept up with Hurricane Felix.  Too hot outside.
9/3
This morning, after pancakes and juice, we headed out to change the grease in the lower unit on the dinghy motor while it was still up on the davits.  Very tricky task.......we had both screws out, and Sonny began filling the grease in the lower screw, and then asked me to quickly replace the screw when it was full, as to not loose any grease.    OK....sounds easy.....I was ready and waiting when he pulled the grease container away, it hit my hand, which, in turn, the small gray screw with the washer went tumbling into the water,  and appeared to be in slow motion.  Ut-Oh!   So, Sonny donned his swimming suit and snorkel and fins, and, after a few tries, retrieved the screw.  Then, mission accomplished.
Kay began repainting Valentina's name on the side of the boat.   This has not been a good day.  While in the dinghy with the green paint, little rolling waves, and trying to hold on.......and paint, I spilled the green paint in our new dinghy.   Thank goodness for paint thinner!   All is well.



We are thankfully safe and sound in Bocas del Toro as Hurricane Felix pounds his way 350 miles north of us through some of our most favorite spots.  It has been hot here with a little rain.
9/5
The power was off at the marina this morning, so we went to town to get new boards to replace our existing ones that we secure our jerry cans on deck.   When we got back to the boat at 11:10 a.m., there was a note in our cockpit.  It was from Marjorie and Estelle.
Today was the day they wanted us to go to their school at noon for the raffle drawing for the tickets we purchased from them.  So, we went back to town to their school.  The children are all obedient, very pleasant, and loved to have their picture taken, then look at it on the display afterwards.



We first met Estelle and Marjorie in Key West, and they could not speak English as they just arrived from France.   Today, they both speak French, English, and now Spanish.

9/6
It is oil changing time on the generator.
Sonny has to get down in the small lazarette to do this project.

 9/7
Today, we changed the oil in the engine, now all systems should be ready to anchor out and enjoy our time on anchor.
We also started making new racks to hold our jerry cans for fuel on the deck.   We drilled the holes and started putting the varnish on.   It is so humid here, it is taking two days for the varnish to dry.


9/8
Play Day!                              
We went with Roberto and Any, S/V Deux Pieds in our dinghies to Red Frog Beach to play for the day.
It was a good break from our projects.








9/9
Happy 11th Birthday today to our grand-daughter, Ashley.



9/10
Today is Greg on Lone Star Love's Birthday.  So, we are getting everyone together tonight at the restaurant after Bruno's meatloaf dinner for birthday cake.   I also made him a pecan pie.

9/12
Today was our 30 day immigration re-check to take the exciting 45 minute water taxi ride to Changuinola.   We left at 6:45 a.m. from our dock and by 9 o'clock,  we had already taken our 5 mariner's passports to Bonita to be updated for 30 more days and in a restaurant for breakfast.  Panamanian officials are implementing new procedures, and each month, although it is different, are perfecting the system slowly but surely.

Along the road on the way to immigration is a banana plantation for Chiquita banana.  There is a conveyor belt that carries the bananas to the factory, where they are washed and boxed.  Ready to ship out.

When we were waiting for the water taxi to take us back to Bocas, Sonny began asking the locals for some bananas.  The plantation is only one block away from the dock.   At first, they began saying, "No, no....but, then, before we knew it, we had purchased two boxes for $5 each.   Beautiful bananas, you cannot buy any good ones here because they are all shipped to the States.  Our only problem will be.....they will all ripen at the same time!  Looks like banana pudding, banana bread, cereal with bananas, banana drinks, etc.
We gave one box to Lone Star Love and Adagio to share and gave away bunches of our other box.  So, we will not have quite so many.

9/13
Today is moving day.....we will be leaving the marina in the morning to anchor out and explore the islands in the Bocas area.

Since there was no wind, we motored the 2 hour trip over to Dolphin Bay.  We anchored in Boca Torritos and it is so nice and quiet.   It is so good to be out again.   It is taking us a while to get back in the groove of life on the hook, as it has been three months in the marina.  We like it out here.
We will not have access to the internet, so we will update the website as we come into civilization every few weeks.
We will also check our hotmail email account when we come to shore.
You can email us on our boat address at winlink.   If you want our winlink address, just send us an email and we will include you in our white list for winlink.
We will keep our position report updated on the home page, "Where is Valentina" while we are out. Thanks!   See you soon!
9/14
We were awaken this morning by the sound of dolphins swimming around the boat and coming up for air.  We both jumped out of bed to go see them.   Being on anchor is such a joy.   Every day is filled with sunrises, sunsets, moon watching, stars, dolphins swimming nearby, and just enjoying God's beauty in a simplified lifestyle.  We sure do like it.
It rained all morning, so early this afternoon, we put the dinghy down and went exploring.  It was awesome.
We were going down between islands in our dinghy when we saw all of these people on their dock, outside, waving at us to come their direction.
So, we did.....we met them and talked to them for a while.   The father works at a finka (farm) near our boat.  All of these are his children.  The young lady on the right has twins, probably 8 months old.   The board at the door to their house in the picture, keeps the babies inside.   Nice family....nice people.  The boys had made a boat to play with, which is floating in the water.

 The country is so beautiful here.

Beautiful country.   Mountains, green, green forests, palm trees, The beauty of this photo explains it all.......tranquility.    

Tonight, we, along with Bruadair and Lone Star Love went ashore to a local restaurant.  Santos, the cook, was teaching us how to make coconut beans and rice.

David was writing down the instructions while I took pictures and Santos' nephew translated.

9/15
This morning, we all pulled up our anchors and headed a couple of miles away to a place called the "Dark Land".  It is absolutely the most beautiful anchorage we have been in yet.   Again, we have to say, "It cannot get any better than this......and it continually does.   Just Beautiful.


Upon our arrival to this remote place, we were met by young boys, Louis and Kennedy in their cayucas.   They held on to the side of the boat and asked for clothes, scissors to cut their hair, magazines, books, pens, paper, candy, money to buy a soda, and fish hooks.   They are very poor Indians and have very little.....with very large families. '
  


We also met Raul, of Jamaican descent.  He owns 27 acres and a very small tienda.   He showed Greg, Sonny and I around his Finca.
We walked up hills and could see the islands all around us.
He grows plantains, bananas, ginger, tomatoes, and local squash.  Raul also showed us in his very nice home, with no front door and chickens and a turkey running wild throughout.
           
Another calm, beautiful anchorage.
9/17
We dinghied around today exploring the nearby islands.   We met several gringos who have chosen to leave the states and build their retirement homes here.   It entails an enormous amount of work and patience.  Not something we want to tackle.
We love learning the schedules of the locals, when the father rows by on his way to work, the mother taking her children in their nice, clean uniforms to school, and returning with them in the afternoon, and the men  and boys out trying to catch fish for their dinner.




On their way to school, the primary grades wear white shirts and dark blue pants and the secondary children wear light blue shirts with dark blue pants/skirts.

Did I mention....it is beautiful?                              
9/18
Today, we pulled up anchor and motored a few miles away to Camryka Land.  Mary and Carl on S/V Camryka purchased property in this bay and are in the process of building a new house.



David and Linda Serruti are also in the cove. They are the owners of Green Acres, a beautiful finca where they harvest cocoa.
We purchased a pound of cocoa from them for $8 that they had grown and harvested.  Anxious to make some no-bake cookies with it.   They have a beautiful property that is manicured and their daily hard work and love shows.

  
We anchored back in behind Bocas Marina after topping our diesel tank at the marina.  We went into town and went to the Port Captain's office to get our zarpe to leave Bocas for Colon.   We will leave in the morning with Queen Mary for the Rio Chagres.   It is 130 miles and ~24 hour trip.   You have a 2 knot current pushing you, so it is a good overnight trip.
9/19
We pulled up anchors on Queen Mary and Valentina at 8:45 a.m. and waved goodbye to our friends on Lone Star Love.   It was a dreary, rainy morning, but after we got out of the channel of Bocas the sun began to peek out of the clouds and the skies began to clear.   A good day for a crossing.   The seas are calm, the wind is calm, and we are calm.....no, we are excited.   We snagged a mackerel as we were coming out of the channel at Bocas so we cleaned him and put him in the fridge for later.
9/20
As the sun came up this morning, we could see the mainland of Panama.        

Then, we could see all of these ships in a straight line.   They were waiting their turn to go through the Canal.

We followed our waypoints and Queen Mary into the Rio Chagres River, which is the dam that supplies the water for the Panama Canal.

We meandered up the river passing S/V Kristiana, S/V Dragonet, S/V Barefoot, S/V She Wolf, and S/V Adagio.  We went to the next bend in the river and dropped anchors.   The howler monkeys were not happy with our selection.   They loudly let us know of their displeasure.  We are anchored near the shore line, which is a canopy of huge trees and thick forest.   The river is fresh water, but there are crocodiles who reside here.  Sonny continually jumps in the cool water, but I encourage him to "get out quick!".
We continually say, "It just does not get any better than this.....and then it does".   This is just awesome.   Each place is totally different with its own personality and culture.  We love it!   Life is so good to us.   We are thankful.

Today at five o'clock, five of the boats anchored in the area, met upstream with our drinks and snacks and tied our dinghies together and floated down the river like ants on a log.   It was just awesome.   I think this could be habit-forming though.  But....that is OK.  

9/21
Exploring day in the dinghy.    Here in the Rio Chagres, there are all kinds of little rivers feeding into the big river, so we take our dinghy and go into the openings.   Some are maybe 10' wide, most have tree branches and vines hanging down you have to dodge and go under.   We came to a tree that had fallen across the river and......we went under it......barely.

If the tide came up while we were on the other side, we may have had a problem getting back under.    It was fun.

 9/22
Another exploring day.   We went with Gene and Brenda up the river a couple of miles to the dam.
The Rio Chagres River was dammed in 1910 to create the Gatun Lake and supplies the water for the locks of the Panama Canal.   The river is 6 miles long and is a beautiful tropical river, a magical and mystical place, surrounded by virgin rainforest.   We have seen parrots, monkeys, a crocodile, and toucans.   I think we are in the middle of the zoo.

We tied the dinghies to the small dock and walked the trail up to the dam about 1/2 mile away.  We could see the ships going through the Gatun Locks.  It was awesome.   On our return, we explored the small inlet rivers.   Gene told Sonny there was a sunken cayuca up further ahead, so we went to check it out.   Of course, Sonny said, our grandkids would have a time with this when they arrive in December, so the bailing began.   Gene and Sonny bailed the water out of the cayuca and we tied a line to it and towed it home.   There are holes in the wood where the local had poked pieces of material to keep the water out.   It was no longer working.  The water pours in.  But, nothing that a bunch of 5200 could not fix.  Hopefully.....

After we got it to the boat, Sonny jumped in it and began rowing around.    He would have to pump out the water often.   He went over to Gene and Brenda, who were in their dinghy, and they pumped a while, then on to Steve and Mary and they pumped a while.   It is nice having pump out stations so nearby.
Tonight was music night on Queen Mary.   It was good to be back with them singing and playing.  Ten people were in the cockpit, Adagio, Barefoot, She Wolf, Valentina, and Queen Mary.

Happy Birthday, Madonna, our daughter-in law.    
and Ken Kruse, of Bear Necessity.




9/23
Another exploring day.....we took off in our dinghies and headed up river to the mouth of the Rio Chagres to Fort San Lorenzo high atop of the hill.  We parked our dinghies and walked about a mile to the Fort.  What a view!  You can see up the river and the Caribbean.

Then, we went to the swimming pool.   Well, it is really not a swimming pool, but there is a beautiful water fall that drops 10' into a pool of water, which runs down to another pool and another.   We took snacks and played in the cold, refreshing water and enjoyed the day.



  We explored the creeks along the way back.   We spotted a sloth today.   Not close enough to see if he had two or three toes though.
Gotta run.....it is five o'clock and time to float down the river.

9/25
It is time to wash clothes.   We loaded up our clothes, soap, and scrub board in the dinghy and headed to the fresh water waterfall and pools to wash our clothes in the fresh water.   It was cool sitting in the water and washing our clothes until the storm came by.  We had all of our clothes all soaped up when the water in the stream coming down the waterfall began getting muddy and coming faster and faster.    We got our clothes back in the dinghy and waited for the storm to pass overhead.   Then, we went back to our boats and rinsed the clothes in the river and hung them out to dry on the lines on the boat.

Happy Birthday David, our son-in-law.  

9/26
Today's field trip was to dinghy up to the Gatun Dam and walk to the Gatun Locks of the Panama Canal.   It was so massive and awesome.

From where you stand in the visitor's center, you are probably 25' from the ships that pass through the canal.
 

9/27    
We moved around to Colon, where the ships enter the Panama Canal from the Atlantic side.  We are anchored less than one mile of the channel where the ships pass.   It is hard to sleep from watching all of the activities and excitement all around you.  We will go back to the quiet Rio Chagres River in a few days.
9/30
We are provisioned and updated the website, so we will head back to the Rio Chagres River for another week or more.