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.