This afternoon we went into town here at Nargana. We were delighted to find fresh food. Apparently its hit or miss here - depending on when the last delivery to the island came in. But there was an abundance of everything - and super fresh. We bought a whole chicken for Melissa to put in the ove…
Blog posts : "2014 Canal and Caribbean"
Use your own judgement
This morning we left Gunboat Key. Melissa is having trouble with the anchor winch because the "up" button keeps sticking. She was pounding on it madly trying to get the winch to stop pulling after the anchor was all the way up, but it just kept pulling. So despite Dave's admonishments not to do i…
Mike and Holly take off
This morning at 6:30am we watched as Neko took Holly and Mike to the airport.
Their plane was supposed to take off at 6:50am, but the plane wasn’t on the ground till almost 8am.
After that we went over to the nearest island with a small store and stocked up on wine, beer, and hot dogs. Hot …
Great Day for a Sail
Today we left the “swimming pool” and headed back to Isla Porvenir because Mike and Holly have a flight out tomorrow back to Panama City. The trip was about 4 hours and was some of the best sailing we’ve had. It was calm seas but the wind was blowing 15 to 20 knots on our beam, so we were on a rea…
Everyone on deck!
Early this morning the wind started to blow and it poured rain. Melissa awoke in the dark and realized we had left all the portals open. Ooops. Then at 6am Dave awakens, and shortly thereafter wakes Melissa up, saying "The boat in front of us is dragging. If they drag across our anchor and pull …
The Swimming Pool
This morning we headed over to Dog Island to snorkel. The island was a bit of a zoo with pangas delivering tons of tourists because it is the weekend. There is a ship here that was beached and then sank. So you can snorkel the wreck. It is now covered in coral and colorful fish. It was probably…
East Lemon Cays
This morning we went the 5 miles over to the East Lemon Cays. There are a ton of boats anchored here as there is a big area between the islands where its easy to anchor protected behind the reefs.
It wasn't 10 minutes after anchoring that the first vendor showed up. Vanancio Restrepo a master mo…
Isla Porvenir
This morning the alarm went off at 6am. Plan was to get up and get moving early. Alas the rain had other ideas. We lay in bed with the handheld (pretty sure everyone else was doing the same) and agreed to take a "rain delay". We ended up leaving closer to 9am when the rain had stopped. Pete on …
Rain, rain, go away...
So the rainy season here is supposed to be over. Apparently someone forgot to tell the weather god that because it has been raining for two days here in the marina. 3.5 inches today. We haven't even needed to take on water from the marina because our tanks stay full from the deck collection syste…
Wear and Tear
We were supper happy to pull into Turtle Cay Marina yesterday to wait out the high seas and winds. Alas its another marina with a lot of surge - where the boat moves around even when tied to the dock due to the water going up and down as waves pump through the marina. The waves are knocked down su…
Turtle Cay Marina
This morning Neko headed out, hoping to make it to the San Blas Islands. After yesterday's failure to launch due to heavy seas, R&R and Apsaras eagerly awaited their report of how bad the seas were before bothering to pull up anchor. Neko reported it was "better than yesterday" but still 8 to 10 f…
Failure to Launch
This morning we headed out, planning to make the 40 mile run to the San Blas Islands. Apsaras was in the lead. After carefully negotiating the reefs between the islands, we poked our nose out into the Atlantic. It wasn't pretty. 8 to 10 foot waves on an 8 second period. That means big steep wav…
Isla Linton
Today we hung out in Isla Linton.
Photo courtesy Neko
We headed into town in search of breakfast. After a quick tour of the bay, we headed to what looked like a pier. Unfortunately, both sides were very shallow. On one side it was obvious there were rocks sticking up. But on the other side …
Playa Blanca
As everyone was dying for a swim in the warm clear waters of the Caribbean, we headed to Playa Blanca where everyone could jump in.
The anchorage at Playa Blanca was swelly and rolly, so we headed over to Isla Linton to anchor for the night. Then it was time for happy hour on Neko's trampoline.…
Thanksgiving on Neko
Mary on Neko baked a turkey breast, and made mashed potatoes. Rose on R&R Kedger made a turkey breast, ham, and stuffing. Rob made some deviled eggs. Patty made a big salad. Holly made green beans and rum punch. Melissa baked two pies - pumpkin and apple/cherry, and we brought out some good win…
Portobelo
This morning we departed for Portobelo with Neko and R&R Kedger. Following R&R out, we got our first look at the narrow channel that we had come into in the dark after the canal crossing. The picture doesn't do it justice, but there is a breakwater on the left and crashing waves on the right.
Provisioning Day
For the past three days we've just been hanging out at the marina. Melissa has read a couple of books, while Dave finished fixing the air conditioner and gave the boat a much needed bath.
We decided to hang here till Neko was ready to roll with us and R&R Kedger. Neko was having some work don…
Goodbye Jim and Margaret
First thing this morning, we headed up to the restaurant for breakfast. We had arranged for Luis the taxi driver to come pick Jim and Margaret up at 9am this morning and take them to the airport. He showed up at 8:30 at the restaurant so we wouldn't stress about whether he was going to show up. H…
Recoup Day
We had completely underestimated how exhausted everyone would be from the Canal Crossing yesterday. So we decided to just hang out at the marina today. Melissa reviewed and culled through the over 800 pictures the gang took yesterday and prepped 50 of them for the blog post. It took her 7 hours t…
The Panama Canal
Today was the big day. There were a few tense moments, but we made it intact and without so much as a scratch through the Panama Canal. But this gig is not for the inexperienced. The Ballard Lock in Seattle is 80 feet wide x 825 feet long x 22 feet deep. The largest Panama Canal lock is 110 feet…