MEMORY ROSE

Been thinkin..............

2012-01-21T11:19:00.000-05:00

"Life is too short to wake up in the morning with regrets, so love the people who treat you right, forget about the ones who don't & believe that everything happens for a reason. If you get the chance, take it. If it changes your life, let it."

Projects or Travel?

2012-01-20T10:19:00.000-05:00

... right side of this page for........ PROJECTS OR TRAVEL

... top left of page and choose FOLLOW to be alerted automatically, when we update our posts.

OR.........
... bottom of page ....right side, for OLDER POSTS with page after page for years of info.

Enjoy!

Ulu Sails

2012-01-20T09:43:00.002-05:00

This past winter we were lucky enough to enjoy our 2nd season cruising the San Blas Islands of Panama. It's home to the Kuna Indians who live mostly on small islands just off the mainland, on the Caribbean side the country.
We found them to be lovely people. Last year, we brought some some gifts of fishing gear, mostly packages of hooks and mono filament line. Not much, but it will help the the men supply food for their families.
This year, I'm making some sails for their ulu's(canoes). It was evident that they had a nearly a non existent supply of decent cloth to make their own. Hand sewing pieces of old sails donated by other cruisers, or bed sheets, political posters, food sacks etc. was the method of production.

Really a hodge-podge of materials that could catch the wind.

Before leaving the islands in April, I took many photos of ulus sailing by our boat in various anchorages,

then asked one Kuna friend, Justino of the Robeson island group, to take me around to his islands and help me measure an assortment of the sails they were now using.
Using the photos and measurements and discussions with Justino, we came up with 3 basic sizes used. The middle size was by far the most common, then a few bigger ones for larger ulus. The small ones would not be a part of my efforts this year.

My plan is multifaceted, hoping first to get the Ulu's in the Robeson group of the San Blas Islands, some decent sails. It's like putting a decent engine in their daily transportation-making their travels better, safer and more reliable.
After that, if I can gather support, possibly the materials- donated sail cloth, thread and hand crank sewing machines(I already bought a great old time Singer in perfect condition and opting for a hand crank after market add on) could be delivered to the Kuna's to develop their own micro business.

For now, it's up to me and a small group of good folks, helping out at various stages.

So far, I have been able to procure 167 yards of 4.18 oz. Challenger sail cloth through the assist of Keith, owner of Advanced Sails, St. Petersburg, Florida.
Keith has been a great help and supporter of my endeavor.

Besides ordering and taking shipment of the material, (Keith standing)was instrumental in laying out the design from photos and measurements I had taken while in the San Blas and also cutting and stitching the first sail! He worked, I watched. Needless to say, he gave me a many pointers on how to do this for the rest of the sails. It was soooo easy, watching him and so much different doing it!! Thank you Keith!

One medium size sail cut and ready for stitching!

One Larger sail cut in Gulf Breeze later on....

One sail 'Stitched and ready for shipping!' Yay!!

My old Riccar (Japanese version of a Singer-vintage early 50's-shown above) was tuned up by a local shop but now seems too weak for the job so just drove back to St. Pete from Pensacola, 900 miles round trip) to pick up my Sailrite LSZ-1 Industrial machine-shown below.

A friend Joan's garage in Gulf Breeze, Fl. is our sail loft.

Joan shown above with Venancio, a master mola maker, had been a guest of ours 2 years ago in the San Blas, so knew first hand of the sailing ulu's.

So here in December just before Christmas and well into January, we are producing the first bunch of sails to ship south. We're doing fine, and progress has been slower than originally imagined but in a week, we should be done with the physical part of the manufacturing process. Then comes the shipping/delivery disbursement part.

Lady, our toy rat terrier is miffed, that she has not received full attention but has instead been put on guard duty.

Much of the work has been on the concrete floor, cutting out patterns to be sewn together later. Dorothy came in to help too. I never imagined how long this would take, but boy the hours are flying by! :)

Lady, guarding scrap............

So far, we have cut out 23 mid size sprit main sails and............ 7 larger sails with jibs.

Photo below of Jib pattern. It's small but what they use.

I'm pushing to meet a self imposed deadline but still have to find a way to get these sails to the San Blas Islands pf Panama and then,,,,, to the people of the Robeson group. We just might fly down ourselves and find a way out to their islands.

A friend Dave Barker, who volunteers locally teaching kids about the outdoors, often using his Kayaks (see more at "Navarre Beach Kayaks" ) and also the kind of guy who when going to the beach brings along a big plastic bag to pick up beach plastics/broken glass and other trash, came by several days to help sew up these sails. Dave was a sewing machine tech for Van Hussen shirt company for years, so is a big help here!! :) **also gets my 'good guy' rating!

Dave and I would switch off doing a sail each. This kept things rolling along at a nice pace.

After the sails were sewn, I am adding webbing material to serve as tie points for the 4 corners instead of grommets, as it's stronger, and easy to repair later if necessary without special tools, just needle and thread.

The loop for the tapered end of the Sprit Pole was made larger, and the attachments on the luff, made short.

A few people already have offered to to help, or sponsor a sail or two, so their names will be written along the top of 'their' sail/sails. To produce a sail has cost about $20. The larger sails with their added jibs will run about twice that.)

Any constructive comments, ideas, suggestions or sponsors are welcome to speak up!
Comment below

Favorites

2011-11-27T08:20:00.001-05:00

Waderick Wells, Bahamas has a big hill upon which cruisers often leave a momento to mark their visit.

We found a large driftwood board on the western spit of land around the harbor and used our router to carve our inscriptions into it.

Not sure if the island/park officials change these out every year or so, or if truely...the natural environment/hurricanes remover the majority of them, but this biggy was firmly planted atop the hill.

With fond memories of our visit.

Gulf of Mexico Sailing/October

2011-10-14T14:20:00.000-04:00

IT DOES NOT GET ANY BETTER THAN IN OCTOBER! CLEAR, COOLER AND A WONDERFUL BREEZE.

Hammer Head Shark at our dock!

2011-10-12T11:00:00.000-04:00

Surprise, Surprise....when I looked over and saw a Hammer Head shark about 10' from me, a foot below the surface. It was a juvenile, about 36-40" long, slowly checking out the empty slip next to Memory Rose.
I luckily had my camera near me too, so I was able to grab a few shots of it as it was swimming out to deeper water.

I passed it along to the local TV news channels, 8 and 9 and caught it being aired once per hour. The good reason for this was a few weeks ago, a spear fishing group was attacked by a bull shark in our local waters.

9-11

2011-10-02T08:33:00.000-04:00

Why we cruise

2011-07-01T18:15:00.003-04:00

there is not much to say about pure pleasure. The pleasure of a sunset or a meal or a love or ??? But so often while sitting in my cockpit, relaxing, I look off to the right or left and see the pure pleasure of 'Life' on the water. It's why I cruise.

Ulu's (Part 1): Essentials for Island life are often on the mainland.

2011-06-27T17:07:00.002-04:00

For the inhabitants of the San Blas Islands(otherwise known as Kuna Yala off of Panama's Caribbean coast), the main source of food and water comes from the mainland. Even there, many food items are not grown and have to be bought from local traders working the shoreline in cargo vessels of every size and description including small ulus.

Water is rare on any of the 360 small sandy and often over populated islands so virtually all water has to be brought from far upstream in local rivers on the mainland. This has become a daily chore for men, women and children of the mostly island nation.

We ventured up a few rivers with Justino, our hired Kuna guide and our friend to get a better understanding of their lives. Justino was born on another island a few miles away from Gerti, an island were he lives now. In the Kuna culture when the man marries, he moves in with his wife's family. If it's on a different island, so bit it. His birth family might not see much of him anymore.

The ulu's (Kuna word for a dugout canoes- "Ulu".) that are used for rivers (shown above) are slightly different from those carved for sea duty. I did not know this until Justino pointed it out. The river ulus have a rounded bow and stern under body which allow turns to be made easier.

The ulus used out on the islands (also shown above) have a near plumb bow (that which has a knife like edge near vertical). This sharp narrow entry, acts to cut the waves and to keep the craft moving straight. Sort of the directional stability a keel or rudder might give.

Here, side by side, you can see the Difference between the Sea Ulu on left and the River ulu, on right.

The plumb/sharp bow of a sea ulu, makes it a bit difficult to turn in tight quarters, so the 'sea versions' are rarely used in narrow or curvy streams, but still ok for the wider streams and rivers.

The most common ulu, is the family taxi/the mini-van of western culture and has room for the essentials. For hauling water, they have to be wide enough to hold buckets or other containers. They also have to carry palm fronds for roof repair on their huts, bamboo for walls, larger poles for structural members, etc. Not sure what they used 50 or 100 years ago for water retrieval, but now the plastic vessels common in western culture have become the norm in these islands for many uses.

Seen here, a few larger sea ulus have been beached upstream. Often, the crew is off harvesting other foods, after loading up on water.
The lands near the coast, for up to 10 miles inland have been slashed and burned (in sections) to allow for food production.

Hillsides above in the backround, have recently been burned, so the timber is being harvested slowly by locals. The land close up has been planted and now producing bananas, pinapples and other food items.

Banana, pineapple, yuca, avacado, mango, papaya, potato, limes are the most common crops. There are many others who's names I am not familiar with, that they harvest too. Some for industrial uses, and some as food products. They use much of the grown environment for building purposes, clothing, medicine, tools, and other uses.

Water however, has to be retrieved from way upstream and often only in certain streams. Pollution from villages inland have often ruined the water quality for those downstream or out on the islands. It's a tough life for many. The natural growth of the populace makes resource allocation maybe the next big question to be resolved in their culture.

Once upstream far enough to where the water seems to be clear (?) they carefully scoop up a bit at a time and put into larger containers.

Bananas once harvested, need to have their stalks cut. Then they produce again.

Seeds are also harvested for crops, but big pods like this are from trees. It seems the Kunas have not yet progressed into thoughts of forestry crops. The leaves I'm holding in my left hand, are quite abrasive and are, or at least 'were' used by them as a natural 'sand paper'.

Paddling upstream, we could see bananas, plantains and calabashes growing from nearby.

Thankfully, even though they have been slashing and burning much of their land, some of the Large trees still stand.

However, they DO plant and harvest some large items one would not normally think of! These palms growing on the Right Side of our path are being grown to supply roofing material! Yes, they have found this type of palm works better so they are growing them for this purpose and it takes many years.

These stands of palms, grown in clear cut areas in the jungle are also being protected by a fencing lattice work. It seems some animals like to eat the seed pods that emerge from near the ground. The Kunas are doing their best to protect the seeds it needs for further farming of this necessary crop.

While hiking thru the jungle, Justino found us mangos, avacados and other fruits to snack on. Here, a friend of his was tending to some groves and offered us a very sweet fruit that we did not recognize. IT was delicious!

While leaving the jungle we came across another slash and burn area.

On the way down river/stream, Justino pointed out baskets full of leaves gathered by one of the medicine men of the islands

At the end of the day, back aboard our boat, one of the Ulus from a nearby island stopped to offer us a fish for dinner. I think they wanted $2. which we gladly paid. It's a simple life that ...well, is surprisingly complex.

Isla Mujeres,Mexico to Florida

2011-06-24T17:50:00.000-04:00

Not to belabor a point, but this is the 'track' we took from Isla Mujeres to St. Pete Beach, Florida. We followed a path, I had drawn on paper,based on forcast for the Gulf Stream Loop over the next few days. So, 'attempting' to follow a path within.... and with the best current we could find to take us home, this was our actual path.
It varies of course for every sailor every day.

Kuna Yala...the real (cruising) deal.

2011-06-23T20:06:00.000-04:00

Deck Drains, Water supply

2011-06-17T19:29:00.000-04:00

This 100 degree elbow from Marine East, is made from reinforced nylon. This is what I use on both side decks to begin the draining process from deck to tanks.

I cannot imagine anyone saying you or I, have "Too much fresh water in our tanks". Can YOU?

No, so more is better. Many or most boats are sold today with minimal 'everything' to keep the costs down so they can still sell boats. I cannot blame them...times are tough and the people writing the 'bs ads,' still have mortgages and car payments, kids in school etc.etc. etc.

Fifteen years later, down in Panama last year, I replace both elbows with NEW ones. Ok, they only lasted 15 years or so. sigh.....

I did this many years ago and got to live the life.... by rebuilding the boat of my dreams from a Solid Base.. Save some money and retrofit your boat to have a 'catchment' system to load up your fresh water tank or tanks.

This one idea is significant yet easy to do. Water Storage.

Tankage costs money. Decades of old magazines 'show' methods of draining a 'small' portion of rain water into your tanks or ...buckets with tarps, biminis etc.. Now let's get serious.

Under the deck, I used 'no hubs', a rubber conncector available at most plumbing stores, or Home Depot to connect the deck drain to a PVC plumbing system I built into my boat for many things. In this case, to drain water into my tanks.

"We" have been able to divert, 90% of all water hitting our boat, to drain (after the boat has been washed by 5-10 minutes of rain-to wash off salt etc.) into our Water Tanks. When we feel our boat is clean from a bit of rain, we opt for opening our "System to fill tanks" in only a minute or 2.

AFTER, the water is in our tanks, we use a Home Style Filter System mounted under a cabinet to filter ALL water before it goes anywhere aboard. We 'then' added one more filter of Eqaul size, to filter our drinking water.

Once inside our boat, the water is draining into the PVC plumbing. I can shut off one valve at the bottom, stopping the deck water from draining out near the waterlines thu-hull. Then, opening the above and slightly to the left valve, I divert the water down and to the left...Into my water tank. I have ONE of these systems on each side of my boat. Cost? a few bucks and time to install.

We drink water from the Gods....clean, safe and delicious. Free.

Yes, we have had to PAY for fresh water...........maybe 3 times in 7 years. Total? Maybe $20. or less.

So you want a Watermaker?, Chores, Maintanance issues? Ok. KIS...........

$20 bucks + maybe $200 at most, for original parts.............................vs. ?

Amel Whisker Poles

2011-06-17T17:04:00.001-04:00

I have loved the concept that the Amel genius incorporated into his boats. ONE, of the simple yet so effective ideas incorporated in his boats is a method of making the 'use of a downwind pole' is less strenuous for sailors. This is SO important for us challenged sailors(less crew, less youth, less brain cells...........and of course it works equally as well for the younger 'brighter" sailors! Ok, laugh later....I'm writing now! ;)

A short length of pole from Mast to Shrouds, then with the help of a Support system, a pivoting connection to the Aft lying length of pole that is easily raised by a topping lift, and forward guy...kept in check by a pre-set Aft Guy. I hope I have explained the idea OK.
I will try to build a similar system for my boat out of parts I have already, from used Whisker/Spinnaker poles and other parts I have accumulated...........of course I will need help from a local fabricator.

Friends

2011-06-13T17:46:00.000-04:00

Along "The Way", life gives you the opportunity to meet interesting people. When lucky, the best of the best become 'Friends'. In 2003, we met a couple Annie and Jurgen Hummel, who had bought the same model boat as ours, from another friend, Wilson Baysinger.

" ENCORE "
Yesterday, after 8 years, we got to share company again. They called from out of the blue, said they were in Florida (their boat is located on the Caribbean Islands of St. Martin and they spend time in Europe as well).
Well, we instantly asked them to join us at our condo in St. Pete Beach if they wished and hours later we were sharing stories, a couple of sundowners and dinner at our place! How nice and how unexpected!

In 2003, we shared the mooring field for cruising boats, in the Las Olas area of Ft. Lauderdale. Annie and Jurgen were enjoying sharing the experience with their children Fabian and Mia.

Sorry for the Boat US Towboat, but this is the best shot I have of Encore in the backround taken July 4th.

We were there for the 4th of July celebrations and ended up staying for a few weeks, enjoying the city life aboard our boat.

This photo of the anchorage shows both our boats, "Encore" in front, with maroon colored shear stripe and sail covers and us, "Memory Rose" behind them in all white. A great shot taken from the Las Olas Bridge.

Annie and Jurgen are now heading back to Encore in St. Martin but it was sure nice to have a visit with them.

Indian Proverb

2011-06-12T20:37:00.002-04:00

We don't inherit the earth from our forefathers, we borrow it from our children.

Engine Fuel Filter Removal

2011-06-12T19:57:00.002-04:00

I removed virtually 'everything' in the engine compartment that was not essential. In other words....I left the engine.

Even on the engine, I removed the 2 small OEM Fuel Filters that were mounted just above the Heat Exchanger. I replaced these with a Racor 500 fuel filter that I mounted 'Remotely' in the Aft Head, under our sink. IF I ever have to change this filter, I can do it sitting down cool and comfortable and not in a hot engine room.

Air Filter for Marine Engines

2011-06-12T19:45:00.002-04:00

I opted for an aftermarket concept to upgrade the air filter on our engine. I was 'never' satisfied with the flimsy 1/8" thick foam that was the filter 'wrap' on our Lehman engine so finally..............jumped in to make a 'real' filter.

This took much effort, as I had to make a manifold between the Old intake and the New Filter. I did this with 2 layers of 3/4" plywood/sandwiched in resin/ shaved and sculpted outside but RADICALLY SCULPTED inside to change the "Flow" of air from ROUND(THE FILTER END) TO RECTANGULAR(FOR THE 'MANIFOLD END')
I did this with great care 'truly' sculpting from round to rectangle and then resurfacing the wood with Marine Tex Epoxy putty/sanding again, to make a smooooooth flow. Inside of this...I used a short length of 4" PVC pipe 'epoxied in' with Marine Tex.

No statistical data that I can show for this effort, but for me, it was a good project.

Panama to Mexico........"The Weather and Route Plan"

2011-06-07T14:35:00.003-04:00

As any sailor would do, I searched for any weather and routing information I could find, prior to attempting to sail non-stop from Panama's eastern shores known as the San Blas Islands, or Kuna Yala, to our home of St. Pete Beach, central on the west coast of Florida. Overall, that would be about a 1500 mile trip. A trip that incurred the commonly localized weather of the S.W. Caribbean, then the N.W. Caribbean and then again, the Gulf of Mexico. Each area can have weather patterns that are not always tied to the patterns nearby.

I downloaded 'grib' files from a site called Sailmail.com ( a fee for service radio communication group) and studied them for over a month, to get a feel for the changes that occur throughout this large region of sea and land areas. While prepping the boat in other ways for the passage north, I anxiously awaited an alignment of some kind between these 3 sea areas. I was hoping to find a Weather Window, that would allow us to traverse in a gentle passage. Dorothy really gets nervous when the seas build and let's face it, it is damn tiring to move about the boat, or even to have to constantly hold on or brace yourself, to stay put when the seas build!

Luckily, a pattern emerged that offered hope of an easy passage.

Winds would be light at first with possible rain in the SW Caribbean, but that's not bad.

Then after a day, the winds further north In the NW Caribbean, would subside and turn direction more from the East, to our favor.

Leaving Porvenir, the island of "check out" in the San Blas Island group, we headed 340 degrees NW. We should be able to hold that heading with only minor adjustments to pass well east of the Columbian Islands of San Andreas and Providencia and then pass centered between the reef atols of Quito Sereno and Serana Bank.

Once past these 2 reef systems, a slight jog left then right would align us between Gordo Bank and Torquoise Bank. This would keep us in deep water and away I hope from any fishing activity on the banks as well as pirate activity off Nicaragua.

That worked out well and actually, mid way in the trip, the weather was continuing to chang in favor or our planned route. After the banks,a course change to 319 degrees, had us on a broad reach with gentle winds slightly behind us on our Starboard (right) side. From now on it was a sleigh ride towards Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula and the beautiful island and harbor of Isla Mujeres.

Daily downloads of updated grib files told me that the weather in the Gulf of Mexico was not going to be comfy! Blustery winds often against the current would be producing large square waves and probably in multiple/confused patterns. That is NOT the kind of passages I look for..... I do my best to avoid the stress if I have a choice.

Arrival in Isla was early in the morning. I actually had to keep slowing down, the last 3 days, to make sure I had an early morning entry. I could have pushed and made it in the night before, but never having been in to this this country at night or this particular entry point at night, I took it easy, to await daylight.

Good thing! Our auto pilot was giving me loud nasty noises for the last 2 days and I was not about to hand steer early to attempt repairs....if it broke, I'd hand steer the final approach but let the wind vane take me there. (Just to let you know, it turned out to be a simple fix, but I did have to remove the drive unit and take it apart.) Then, late in the evening prior to arriving in Mexican waters, my computers navigation program locked up. I have back up computers loaded with these programs, so out came another computer and we were fine again, but I ended up loosing all my tracking information for this trip and others. Sigh!

We spent 9 days in Mexico, enjoying Isla Mujeres and traveled inland to the city of Merida and town of Progresso expanding our traveler experiences. A NEW and decent weather window opened so back in Isla Mujeres, we cleared out, removed dock lines, anchored out for the night, then had an early morning departure for Florida.

I had downloaded files that showed the approximate position of the Gulf Stream in the Gulf of Mexico for the next few days and penciled a route plan on a piece of paper using 3 days of data to guestimate the route I should take. If I could somewhat follow the latitude, longditude paths slight curves, I could not only get our forward motion caused by the boats sails and engine thru the water, but the "waters" movement being pushed by the current of the Gulf Stream.

It worked! Fabulous time of 2 days, 16 hours, from anchor up in Mexico, to anchor down in St. Pete. We had times of sloppy seas, no worthwhile wind, then squalls, running between thunder storms to avoid them and at times, needing to spill wind from the sails...... but in the end, it was a great trip!

We sailed, motor sailed and did whatever I deemed safe to get us from point A to point B,,,,,,,,,actually A to B to C. Total sea time from San Blas to St. Pete, was 7 days, 17 hours for about 1500 miles as the crow flies with one stop for weather consideration. Not bad! ;)

Cabbage Key and Friends

2011-06-04T18:28:00.009-04:00

Lovely, when friends remember the little things as well as the big ones. Jack and Nicole Midence(s.v.kittyhawk-csy 44w.o.) thought of us and obviously remembered our conversations, when they visited Cabbage Key, Florida on their trip south from here.

http://www.cabbagekey.com/home/

The restaurant and bar on Cabbage Key is within the old home on top of the Indian mound. I think the builder was Ann Reinhardt...a writer in the 20's. Neat spot and always a good place to drop the hook on a passage south our north if you can.
Inside the bar/restaurant, most people have left a buck or two with their names emblazoned with marker, to later be donated for a local charity.
Jack and Nicole remembered my father John on the bill they put up.

A tip of the Hat from Dorothy and I............and certainly Dad. He loved this place!

Back in the U.S. of A...........................resting. More later! :)

2011-05-16T18:59:00.000-04:00

OK.

Sailed from Eastern Panama's San Blas Islands, to Isla Mujeras, Mexico NON-STOP in 5 days, 1 hour.

Had to slow down to do this early morning entry by maybe 12 hours. I did NOT want to get into Mexico at night.

Next..............we enjoyed Mexico's eastern,Yucatan's Isla Mujeres,central location of Merida and Progresso's coastal city for 8 or 9 days before leaving for the US.

When weather cleared a bit, we left Mexico and sailed/motor sailed or motored to Florida's St. Pete Beach following grib files that were often not too accurate.
Arrived at Midnight........ we dropped anchor in front of our home. PERFECT!

Isla Mujeres Mexico to our dock in St. Pete Beach, 2 days 16 hours. (64 hours)..........we entered Mexico as the 2nd or 3rd boat during the St. Pete to Isla Race seemingly confusing a few "watcher's", but WE were not entered in the race, having left Panama days earlier and NOT from Florida,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,but eastern Panama.

However, Maybe next April we will participate in this race.........maybe. We and Memory Rose are competitive.

Merida, Mexico: The Many Faces Of...............

2011-05-08T09:51:00.001-04:00

CLEARLY..........CORRECT! If you are a gringo down here, TV sucks!

But the nightlife brings out the much of the "SOUL" of the city.

Even those beyond. ;) but...............

Much of the life of the City of Merida revolves around the Old part of the city, the Cathedral and the Central Square.

On the face of the Cathedral, the designs are orrnate, yet quite simple. Restored, but shows many signs of age.

Humor is often seen in their expression of art. And at every turn, there is beauty in the Old, that has been saved or restored.

Cars, and some vehicles like this Coke Truck are often sized properly for a very Old City. Yet full size buses ply the streets.

Food quality has the full range possibilities and life is Good here. Shaved pork smelled delicious.

On de udder hand; if U wanna pis-cin-a pool, they will politely guide you with signage.

...............MORE LATER...............SO COME BACK YA'LL,...........HEAR?

Porvenir/San Blas, Panama to Isla Mujeres, Mexico

2011-05-06T00:01:00.003-04:00

Decided to sail non stop from the San Blas Islands of Panama to St. Pete Beach, Florida.

Grib weather files looked ok. Nothing spectacular and nothing miserable. However after a few days out, I saw from the downloads, that the Gulf of Mexico was still effected by fronts and storms in the U.S. and had winds that were not in our favor. I decided then to stop in Isla Mujeres for a break. Dorothy had never been there before, so it was decided to stop and have some fun.

Isla Mujeres is Colorful

Day One, beat into short seas, gentle but later on, building wind. Main sail and 115% genoa. No mizzen up. 18 hrs. into it though the seas were now 2 meters, wind 20 knots, still close hauled. This was unexpected and did not match Grib weather files. Easily now doing 7.6 over the ground but we were probably getting a half know current boost.

Day 2: lighter conditions, some motorsailing late day. close hauled to broad reach...quite variable.

Day 3: variable, 6 to 18 knots during the 24 hrs. Sun INTENSE! Beam to broad reach.

Day 4:Winds Light to high teens, sailing on broad reach. Now beginning to slow the boat down, so I could get an early morning approach to Mexico and not a night time landfall. Winds were expected to be building, so NOW was the time to reduce speed.

Day 5: Mostly 20-25 knots. Into more of the serious portion of the Gulf Stream/Yucatan channel and seas confused with mostly 2 patterns. Sailed Broad reach to almost downwind/but no pole.....had to play it some times. Twas a great sleigh ride. Auto Pilot did all the work. (Raymarine/below deck/Gyro unit)

Three p.m, engine died due to fuel filter blockage. First Fuel Problem in 24 years!!!!!!! Changed the 2 micron Racor 500 filter to a fresh one and off we went again. purring nicely. Our Double Racor 500 set up seems to have a broken selector valve, so had to change a filter, rather than just turn the handle. No big deal.
Just another item on the list for St. Pete, but for now, it was a quick fix.

Next Problem: Maxsea Navigational program on computer, said it's dongle expired ??? HUH?? just before sunset closing in on Mexican coastline. That computer was now worthless to me. Landfall was expected at sunrise so this was not a fun thing. Could not fix, so opened up my next computer and booted up the navigational program on it. Nice to have backups. .

Basically, went back to paper charts and cruising guide for final hours to assure myself of no further problems.

Could have made "Anchor up to Anchor Down/San Blas Panama to Isla Mujeres, Mexico by nightfall of the 4th day, but I chose daylight entry, so we slowed down often in the final 3 days to position ourselves for a 6-8 a.m landfall. Passed first bouy at 7:30 a.m. so we did good. We, Dorothy and I, were lovin' the speed of the boat on this broad reach. We had waves, some current and well set sails working for us. For the last 2 days, the boat wanted to do 7.8-9.3 knots over the ground. Hated to slow it down, by reducing sail or setting the main Inefficiently, but did,,,,,just to slow down.

Now, been here 2 days in Isla Mujeres but in the morning will be heading off on a bus for Merida and maybe Progresso, over on the Bay of Campeche, to check out future land options.

By the way.... Isla Mujeres is COOL. Twas here 3 times in the mid-late 80's and it has not lost it's flavor! :)

Breakfast was served at a plastic table. Food vendor cooked in a little booth a few feet away, on the corner.

IF it wasn't a street of small shops selling everthing the tourist wants but doesn't need, then it is typical Latin style, quaint and eclectic.

The Marine Environment is much a part of the local architectural features.

A view of the sea is important when living on an island. Local design is often whimsical and artistically done, but never omitting a good view if it is available.

IF not, even the poorest residence seems to have something special, something artistic, or warm and welcoming. IF nothing more, a bit of humor or color makes for a good entrance.

Doors, can be shorter than you would expect..........

Or chairs, masterfully carved from tree roots and well, maybe Oversize!

Either way, the look is Great and the locals friendly. The animals are all a hoot and just seem to be having a great time.

"Star pooch"is actually called "Lucky" by his neighbors, as he gets handouts all day long from passing tourists. He really did have a lovely personality!

"Thankyou" US Military!

2011-05-05T09:20:00.001-04:00

Third Week in March

2011-03-22T21:37:00.001-04:00

We bought our beef in large pieces and I did the final cutting in our own galley. I became the butcher when back on the boat and one particular cut of meat, cut nicely into 20 bacon wrapped Filet Mignons.

All meats and fish were wrapped and vacuum packed in double portions, then frozen in our magnificent 5 cubic foot freezer.

After a tour of Colon, last week, we stopped at a resort and noticed this wonderful 'fat belly' tree.

Dorothy goes out with a couple of gals here early in the A.M. to get great shots in the jungle. (Toucan high up in the canopy)

Spider and Howler monkeys are everywhere. Spiders, like this are mostly seen and Howlers heard.

This 2" fish was floating flat on the top of the water looking at the seafood delights on our dock.

Sloth was as slowly as ever, eating a bud near the top of a tree. " This Buds for you! "

Jimmy Buffet dropped into the Marina..... Truly! His boat Continental Drifter was came into the Shelter Bay Marina and he dropped out of the sky via his seaplane.......... Weird life it is here at the dock! ;)

A short trip to Panama City, Panama allowed us an evening with friends and a wonderful dinner at El Patio.
Outside, the musicians treated the passing pedestrians and stalled traffic. Fun guys!

Not much explaining to do here. This is a tree that does not want you to get up close and personal.

Lybia No Fly Zone Enforcers.

2011-03-22T20:55:00.000-04:00

OK, most of you remember the jokes of Abbot and Costello about baseball and the famous joke, "Who's on FIRST? .....etc. etc.................."

Well, the discussions and arguments going on now, of whether it's the UN or NATO, or just What mix of enforcers and leaders make it happen, echo the comedic banter of yesteryear.

(this is a quote from -----the Guardian 23 March 2011)

One observer of Anglo-American military adventures over the last 20 years tried to make light of the impasse. "It's a bit like a barn dance," the source said of the efforts to decide whether and how NATO would run the operation. "Half of the people can't dance, a couple are drunk and then there's always the characters at the back with their hands up various skirts."

and the music plays on.

New APEX inflatable

2011-03-21T11:09:00.000-04:00

All was well with our Avon 11' air floor inflatable when we cleaned and stored it for a summer sleep while Memory Rose was on the hard. Reinflating it though 10 months after, showed we now have a tiny leak in the air floor and center tube.
Finding good Hypalon Glue here in Panama is a chore and the cost prohibitive. The marine stores stupidly only offer the half pint can and charge an arm and a leg for it. I found the country's supplier of the glue "Repatiptop.com" and arranged for a pick up of a full quart. Our Rub Rail had started to fall off 3 years ago, and since we had no glue, we rolled it up for a "someday project". Now we have glue to put the rub rail back on and fix the floor.

However, I also found a very good price on a new APEX 10' Lite inflatable in Panama City, Panama and decided to prepare for the 'next' 10 years. Will fix and sell the Avon which is still in excellent condition otherwise, having endured sunlight for part of our last 6 years aboard.

Used "Teddy Tours & Deliveries" (cel) 507-6584-3780 [speaks English well, honest and responsible)
tedlystours07@gmail.com

Teddy and his Toyota 14 passenger Van @ Shelter Bay

as he has a 14 passenger van. Boxed up, the inflatable fit inside along with Teddy and 4 slightly scrunched passengers ;)

Gator Bites? Tasty treat or hikers fear!

2011-03-20T12:23:00.002-04:00

SHELTER BAY

I like my alligator snacks called "gator bites" fried in seasoned bread crumbs but anyway the cook likes to make them is really OK with me. Great taste treats! But while walking in the wilds of tropical lands, there is another kind of gator bite and that might put me on the menu.

While returning to Shelter Bay Marina yesterday, with our new APEX inflatable boat (packed inside "Tedly's Tours" large van), we came across a roadside surprise.

You see, quite a number of boaters go for walks around here. Shelter Bay Marina is actually in a National Park. Besides health benefits of the walks, the animals and birds are part of the package. There are howler monkes, spider monkeys, ocelots, katamundi, toucan's, parrots and well, you get the picture.

What we were not ready for, was this 8' crocodile, close to the road on the bank of a canal tributary. He was quite aware and the minute our driver Teddy got out of the van to get a better look, the critter slithered into the water.

A welcomed assist! Panama City, Panama

2011-03-20T12:21:00.001-04:00

Anibal J. Morales....... at your service!
...........and Great Service it was!

We were looking for Abernathy's marine store in a mall here in Panama City, but were unable to locate it. I began looking (profiling) for someone who I thought might speak English as well as Spanish. Here in Panama sometimes you are in a crowd that is very bi-lingual and sometimes not. On Friday we were not having luck.
The problem was we had come to Panama City, Panama to buy a new inflatable boat to replace our Avon brand tender to our Memory Rose mother ship. The deal had been struck in person and confirmed by phone, so we thought, yet the company was either changing the terms, reniging or we just had a major communications error. I felt it was the former, having several Spanish speaking folks in on the discussions. Anyway. I was looking for some directions and asked Anibal, pictured above, if he spoke English? Did he! (My Spanish is still minimal). Retired from the U.S. Army and now living in Panama, he took us under his wing and aggressively tried to help us. Not just directions, but called the store, discussed the deal and bargained for us, eventually even lowering our price. He drove us to the store to make sure all aspects of the sale was correct and to our satisfaction, then drove us to our hotel.
Upon arriving, we invited him in to our hotels restaurant for some relax time and conversation.

Anibal J. Morales (*Primary cell*) 6616-0104
                             (Secondary cell) 6701-8282       email:    panamaparadisetours@yahoo.com
               (fax)       230-4168 email:    distribuidoraanalex@yahoo.com

He spends his retirement quite busy, procuring anything you need quickly and very fairly priced, operating Tours, transporting passengers, providing 'security' for anyone needing such services (last week acting for a movie company filming here in Panama-we did see photos of him with the main actor)
Anibal will basically find anything you need and    bring you to it, or it to you.

I recommend him for your Panama City needs!

Panama Canal Transit as Line Handlers

2011-03-18T15:38:00.000-04:00

We were finishing up preparations for another month or two of cruising the San Blas Islands of Panama with the Kuna Indians. Work was proceeding just fine and over a 2 month process, everything from the bottom of the keel to the top of the mast was checked and prepped. However, a friend on another vessel, Kindred Spirit, asked Dorothy and I, to be 2 of 4 line handlers for their upcoming Panama Canal Transit.

We jumped at the chance. We had done this 'line handler' trip through the canal in 2008 on another friends boat, Soggypaws and it was fun, so why not do it again!

A sure sign of a boat's preparedness for crossing the canal, are many plastic wrapped tires on both sides of the boat. These protect the boat from any mishap between another boat or the sides of the concrete locks.

Someone who works for the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) will act as a 'pilot' to help direct the maneuvers of each boat. In this case we were honored to have Francisco, an easy going, fun gent.

The canal is always in a state of change. Small diesel ferrys, a railroad, Lighthouse and electric power towers show the range of systems constantly in flux or as in the case of the lighthouse, out of date.

The canal is certainly a mix of old and new.
-------OK 'Artists' here's a wonderful light house subject for you to paint!

Cruise Ships, such as 'Silver Whisper' commonly transit the canal.

Passengers were out on their private balconies waving at us! Yup, to them WE were the spectacle! Big and little share the canal every day

There are many miles, that each small vessel will travel alone, but when it's time to go into a lock to be floated UP or DOWN, usually 2 or 3 boats of our size, are tied together so only 4 lines can handle all of them. Two lines for the front and two lines for the sterns of the vessels.

Things can appear congested, but really are not. There is plenty of room even though we have to pass another Cruise Ship 'Coral Princess' and a stationary dredge/digging the canal deeper and wider.

When you get into the locks, in this case needing to go UP, the Canal Employees will throw you a small line with a knotted ball of line on the end (for added weight making the toss easier.)
------ The ball is called a Monkeys Fist.

When you catch it or can grab the line, you tie it to the end of a Large Polyetheline Line(that can float) you have probably 'rented' from an agent...... but now, aboard your boat .....and tied to your bow.
They will pull the heavier(in this case 'blue') line up to the top of the lock and put the loop of it (which you have previously tied in) over a bollard. You then adjust the blue line to center your boat in the lock prior to and during the rising level of water. Then: Up or Down you go!

In this case we were preparing to go Down, not up, but you can see the smaller line tied to the end of a large loop in the Blue line. I was just about to feed the blue line out to the Canal Employee.

And Off it Goes!!!!!!!!!!

Each boat or group of boats will have only 4 lines to adjust their position. Being a Line Handler can and should be fun, but it's not a task to take lightly. It is 'serious' work.

Al and Liz (of S.V. Kokopelli) were our partners aboard. Since we ended up with 2 boats rafted to each other, our boat Kindred Spirit ended up with 2 husband wife teams on one of either line. Nice break!

Note the big crack in the side of one of these locks. When the canal was built, it was built with unreinforced concrete(no rebar) so cracks have occurred.

Islamorada, a very old boat, has been used for many years to take Tourists through the canal on a daily basis.

And when the time comes, one Tour boat will tie off to the side of the lock and another( in this case Islamorada) will tie off to it for "Locking UP, or Locking Down".

'Rail bound' Stainless Steel clad tugs pull the ships through the locks. Notice the ship traveling in the opposite direction from us. The canal is 'usually' 2 way traffic.

After transiting the locks, there is plenty of rest time to enjoy the sights of Ships, Luxury vessels, work boats or just the magnificence of the project. In this case also the "Bridge of the Americas". The canal cut South America from North America................only THIS bridge unites the 2 continents.

Well, off to the side of the canal, high above the trees is a sign reminding all good sailors to relax and have a nice cold Balboa beer once tied up to a mooring ball.

OK, can't argue with that! ;)

Tsunamis, Waves of Destruction

2011-03-13T14:57:00.003-04:00

While searching out articles on tsunami effects on Pacific islands, I came across an exceptionally good article. It is a 'long' article, but really explains much. Click on the link below.

Link to : Waves of Destruction, Discover Magazine

Link to: the Japanese woodblock print, "WAVE" shown above.

Somali Pirates sieze yacht with Americans aboard/ It continues!

2011-02-28T11:24:00.010-05:00

sorry to say, they have been killed!

Piracy seems to be on the increase and sometimes deadly for sailors.

IT CONTINUES:

.....DANISH VESSEL WITH CHILDREN ABOARD, TAKEN HOSTAGE 2 DAYS AFTER SOMALI'S MURDER AMERICANS.

NEWS STORY ON DANISH VESSEL

Rio Dulce, Guatemala. We were just across the river at the time ..................2008
Canadian murdered by locals in Honduras, while at anchor. .............................................. Late 2010
Kidnapping for $........................Guatemala's Lake Isabel...............................Late 2010
Piracy, Puerto Escondido, north coast of Honduras.........................................Late 2010
MISSING YACHT AND OWNER/GUATEMALA'S RIO DULCE ...........vessel located. towed in by Nicaraguan Navy because of total electrical failure. We are glad he is safe.

News from the Rio Dulce online newspaper, RIODULCECHISME, CLICK HERE provides cruisers current info on Piracy and all kinds of good local stuff. However, the news of a Canadian sailor murdered in front of his daughter(crew) aboard their boat, anchored in a bay of Honduras and other such serious crimes should be followed by cruisers anywhere and everywhere, as we sometimes are a small close knit family.

Others have been boarded by pirates in the same country off the NE coast several times this season, possibly near where the latest missing boat has had to pass, out near reefs of Media Luna.

Still more reports filter through the cruising community and I wonder how many are repeats or how many of these NEVER hit the news media.

This month, here in Panama, we have been glued to email reports and online postings from the Panama Guide.com's editor. His persistent assistance in alerting the boating community and authorities of a possible serial killer on the loose in our area. Well, he has culprit has been caught.

JAVIER MARTIN CAUGHT ..........numerous articles Feb.10-19 so far and ongoing!

Now online Reuters news article of a large sailing vessel captured with Americans aboard.

SOMALIA: PIRACY OF SAILBOAT
(click on the links for more info)

It's not important each and every time who is onboard. To me it's important that this is occuring at all. The cruising community is made up of all nationalies, but we often 'pass in the night', moving on without much contact. We need to stay focused on the problems we all face and not just when it's our countryman. Out here, we are all from the same place.

Murder? Double Murder?

2011-02-12T18:50:00.007-05:00

Here in Panama, we are attuned to local news and scuttlebutt. This, once again seems big.

PANAMA GUIDE ARTICLE ON THIS SUBJECT (once here, click on Panama Guide.com for updated info)

It is local in that it seems to be an event within the Cruising Community that we deal with every day.

This is continuously unfolding /several times per day.

THE MAN IN QUESTION!! AUTHORITIES WANT HIM FOR SERIOUS QUESTIONING.

CAPTURED! 15 FEB.2010 in Darien, Panama

The editor of the panama guide was instrumental in helping capture a serial killer from one of our last ports in Panama, so he has the tools to help. as well as understand quickly, what is going on.

4.7 Earthquake last night

2011-02-09T15:51:00.001-05:00

Felt the boat move in an unusual way. thought someone might have pulled on a dock line. Awoke, listened, heard nothing, checked my watch and went back to sleep. Time 1:05 I believe.

Site of Earthquake, here in Panama

This afternoon, a gal aboard a boat on the hard, up in the Work Yard, said she awoke to the boat shaking on it's jack stands. Confirmed it with someone sleeping in the hotel.

I checked out the source online and it seems to have been about 40 miles from here near Linton, Panama, as spot we will anchor near in a few weeks.

All is OK here.

Castillo San Lorenzo /Chagras River/ and S.V. Pogo ll

2011-02-06T20:11:00.008-05:00

The thin strip of land now called Panama was used to transport gold since the days of the earliest explorers. When Spain needed to take it's plunder from the Incas of Peru, they transported the gold by mule from the Pacific side, to the Chagras River, then North actually!...to the Caribbean Sea. From there the Spanish fleet transported the stolen gold to Spain.

Henry Morgan the 'Pirate', was a thinker...and figured out how to simply TAKE the Spanish forts for his own stronghold on the land. Later, the British (also good at warfare) took it from him!
The U.S. fortified this fort and other locations along this coast during WWll. What stands now however, is mostly early British efforts at rebuilding the fort AFTER they blew the S___ out of it!.

IF YOU WERE COMING IN FROM SEA, YOU WOULD BE COMING FROM "BEHIND" THE CAMERA'S RIGHT. YOU WOULD PROCEED TOWARDS THE SANDY BEACH TO THE RIGHT, THE TURN "HARD" TO PORT(TOWARDS DOROTHY. THEN, JUST BEFORE HITTING THE CLIFF A FEW FEET BEHIND DOROTHY, TURN TOWARDS THE BACKROUND, THEN TO STARBOARD SHARPLY....AROUND A (larger than charts showed) SAND SPIT...........THAT IS "NO LONGER THERE!!!" That little sandy beach off to the right is ALL that is left of a long Sand Spit that would have pointed towards Dorothy.

THE POINT I AM MAKING IS THAT: WHEN THE FLOOD GATES OF THE CHAGRAS RIVER WERE OPENED DURING THIS STORM, THE LONG STRAIT PATH OF THE RIVER BEHIND DOROTHY WAS FLOWING AT 12 KNOTS OR SO.........AND WASHED THE SANDSPIT AND EVERYTHING IN IT'S PATH OUT TO SEA.

NOW, BE CAREFUL IF YOU ENTER! OLD CRUISER INFO and CHARTS, ARE 'OUTDATED'. The Chart upload shown above shows the Sand Spit a sailor would have to have maneuvered around ENTERING OR LEAVING the river. It is no longer there, so for safety sake, question this entrance to the extreme!! All OLD data is Obsolete! ALSO NOTE: THE WATER HERE WAS ALWAYS 'SILTY' WHICH RUINED THE READABILITY OF THE DEPTHS and obstructions. I HAD HEAVILY RELIED ON PAST CRUISERS NOTES WHICH ARE NOW, NO LONGER VALID AND THE BOTTOM, CHANNEL AND BARS WILL SHIFT OVER SOME TIME, UNTIL THEY FIND WHAT MIGHT BECOME A NEW 'NORMALCY'.
................................THIS WILL TAKE TIME.

more on CHAGRAS AND POGO/CIELO further below....

We called our driver and friend Roger and arranged for him to drive us out to the Castillo San Lorenzo at the mouth of the Chagras River. He brought his son, and we had a relaxing mid-day.

Most of the fort was in disrepair, but you still got the feeling of it's early importance. If nothing more, it was a spectacular view of the Caribbean Sea and the Chagras River entrance.

Spanish Cannon, by it's marking was the only Spanish gun still here, the rest were unmarked and probably British of later castings.

At the end of last April2010, we took our boat, Memory Rose up the Chagras River and stayed for a few days. We had plans to meet a friend in the San Blas Islands soon, so upped anchor so we could proceed East along the coast.

Before raising anchor, I did not anticipate nor did I read the weather(clouds moving above my masts/and linking those images as astutely as I should have). The 60-90' jungle hid the wind from our level and I was 'sleeping at the wheel'. When I entered the mouth of the river, the weather...... as bad as it Truly was, I came close to the potential loss of our boat and maybe even.........us!

The seas were quite big, the channel going OUT, was an unmarked 90 degree turn towards the cliff of Castillo San Lorenzo, then a sharp left for maybe a hundred yards, (this to get around a sandbar extension of the landmass to the west...., then a sharp right to get pointed out to sea "just" after a coral reef easy seen as waves in any conditions broke on it.

All of this Right/Left/Right was around a bar/ between a cliff, reef and a rocky shoreline.

The breakers were huge and square. In the short time available now seeing this, I had to decide to GO or try to turn around in the bend of the river, I decided to 'go'. Actually, that was because I did not think I would be 'able' to turn the boat around in such tight waters with any degree of confidence and chose to 'power' thru what I sensed was ahead.
I also FAILED to recognize that the 'river' was NOT flowing. The gates had been shut, the water in the river was not moving. I screwed up and find it hard to forgive myself on this one! However, it was once again, a lesson a cruiser will learn and never again forget. Yup, lot's to learn but it's better than bumper to bumper on Friday anywhere!!

I handled the boat as a power boat and pulled it off, but my knees were knocking after and I counted my blessings then, now and until I'm gone. Especially for plenty of power boat experience in rough waters and a powerful engine in our boat.

Sorry to say, about December 10th, here in Panama, there was such bad weather and incredible amounts of rain, that the Panama Canal was closed for the first time in it's history. Shipping actually Stopped! The gates were opened to allow the water from inland to flow out to sea from the Canal locks and the Chagras River. This was a national emergency in Panama.

Sadly, during this storm, a sail boat we knew, formerly Pogo/ now Cielo, was trying to or had actually sheltered in the Chagras river.(conflicting reports...I'm leaning to the right now but 2nd hand info. but all is close enough.) Locally this storm is now being called the 'storm of the century'. Pogo was owned since manufactured by Craig and Sara Owings, friends of ours. They sold Pogo last year and the new owner (Dave), a highly skilled ex charter boat captain from the Virgin Islands, was living aboard in retirement and had been enroute from Bocas del Toro to the canal area. Dave, had owned the boat about 18 months at this point.
The story I heard, was that Pogo,(now Cielo) also had engine problems and were trying to stay anchored in the Chagras River. They did not succeed and were unable to hold anchor in the outflow caused by the opening of the Flood Gates. Their anchoring system did not hold and were 'flushed out' and went aground outside the river in short order. Out of control, the boat became hard aground in the whirlpool event when river outflow and sea met.... and Dave, Martha and Olga, a crew member, later made it to shore on fenders; stranded but lucky to be alive.

Both shots Zoomed in........but close up was 18X. S.V. Pogo (renamed Cielo) beached and stripped.

Cruisers rescued them from the beach, the next day David thought he could salvage the boat and paid local inhabitants to guard it, but now, a month later I can see the boat is stripped and I've just heard, the boat was insured. The thieves seemed to take every metal they could find and probably gutted the interior. From the Castillo, I was able to zoom in on both vessels, but it is clear they are total losses.

Large Fishing vessel was also lost during this STORM, but a few days later.

This fort has seen much destruction and ruin. The area is a Panamanian National Park now and virtually all jungle. Howler monkeys, falcons and maccaws are common in the trees above. Yet there was a sense of much loss of life at this fort. A quiet day, but sad.

Harley's to 300' yachts. It's all in a Sunday.

2011-01-30T15:47:00.002-05:00

A 300' private yacht tried to enter Shelter Bay Marina but chickened out! No surprise, the boat was huge. The captain did the right thing and backed out, anchoring nearby with the 'ships'. Actually, the 'yacht' was larger than some of the ships out there.

A group of riders from somewhere here in Panama, decided to cruise out to the marina for breakfast or brews. Nice line up and all American bikes! No 'rice burners'.

And who wants to work in this heat?

Panama Canal, "Crossroads of the World".

2011-01-28T09:21:00.000-05:00

From Mega Yachts to resurrected 1930 Danish fishing vessels, to private vessels from all over the world, Panama Canal anchorages and marina's on a daily basis, are a nautical photographers dream.

Turbulators, Make it FLOW!

2011-01-27T21:02:00.005-05:00

I built theseTurbulators, in 1994 to smoooooth the flowwwwwwwwwwwww.

They fill the GAP between the Skeg and Rudder to make water flow smoothly and just like aircraft, the biggest difference is in the slowest craft..........not the fastest!

On the Skeg side, I chose to drill and tap the Skeg for Flat Head 1/4" Machine Screws.

as per photos. These still look great and work as planned, after 17 years.

I do believe this makes a difference in the performance of our boat. (we reinstalled these after the first coat of bottom paint and added 3 more coats to cover everything..............."we get 5 years or more out of our bottom jobs."

Launch Day

2011-01-27T11:25:00.001-05:00

After a month of aggressive work, we got a break in the weather and were able to launch Monday morning. Getting the last coats of bottom paint and boot stripe paint on was critical as you cannot paint when there are downpours. The yard's huge fork lift and trailer transports us from the work area to the launch slip.

The sides of the boat were prepped for protection where the lifting straps would ride... with plastic. All worked smoothly.

Down the road we go!

Memory Rose was gently lowered into the water.

The engine started after sleeping for 9 months and we had no problems getting into our assigned slip. Twas a good day.

We then took a long deserved nap. I hardly slept in anticipation during the night preceeding the launch.

Now the Interior!

2011-01-27T11:18:00.000-05:00

After a 9 month layup, the stored items aboard Memory Rose, must be put back in their proper places.

The interior of the boat was FULL. Our bed was covered with our genoa sail, rolled up Avon dingy, Honda generator, oars etc. etc.

The Navigation Station was covered with loads of small stuff and the instruments had to be reinstalled. They were removed and stored in a Faraday box (oven) and anti-static bags to protect from Lightning strikes.

Aft head, lines, dorade boxes, work material for bottom job, tools etc. etc.

Saloone had more sails, running rigging, dorades, etc. etc.

Still further, dehimidifier, pillows, tools, fishing gear.

Saloon table food storage and sorting area. The Port settee had our mainsail over it, but now we replaced the cushions.

V berth, more of everything!

Aft cabin Port side, spinnaker and other light air sails, extra lines, washing machine, tools...etc.

And after an excursion into Colon, more food to be sorted and stored.

Propeller Protector

2011-01-27T10:03:00.002-05:00

Also, in 1994, I added a cable system under my propeller, from the lower tail end of the keel, to the lower tip of the skeg. This protects the propeller from most floating lines, crab and fish trap floats etc.

.........for old photos see this link. Original 1994 Propeller Protection cable

(Photos and description of newest system are below)

Both connectors were made of 3/8" stainless steel. Two, 2" x 3/8" plates were bolted through the keel and bedded with 3M's 5200, with a tang facing aft to connect the cable to.

The skeg stainless bracket was affixed to the back of the skeg by drilling and tapping the skeg for 2" x 3/8" bolts/also bedded in 5200.

Originally I had a H.D. cable with turnbuckle but have now gone to a 'Sacrificial' cable. I thought it better if the cable broke, than the system broke! So far it has held up fine for the last 6 years, so I just replaced the 3/16" cable and clamps.

I use the standard steering cable used for small boats for this application. It's thin cable covered in clear plastic. On the ends, I seal the metal cable with heat shrink used for electrical wiring. This keeps water off of the metal and therefore it does not rust and degrade.

For an adjustment, I make the cable about 4" shorter than needed and then use 1/8" lanyard wrapped numerous times as in a 'truckers hitch', around the aft end of the cable and the bracket on the lower skeg.

IF needed then, I can cut the cable free with a knife or serated blade quickly....no tools.

When done, paint it all and launch.

Oh, also made an additional plate that attaches to the bottom of the skeg bracket that keeps any lines from catching between the skeg and rudder.
Before the Travel Lift places the pick up strap under the boat/through the slot of boats bottom and prop protector, I cover the cable with plastic. Easy to remove with a dive, but protects the anti fouling paint on cable when the yard recovers their lifting strap.

No problems since installed in 1994.

Zinc application for Anchor and Chain

2011-01-27T09:42:00.003-05:00

After 8 years or so of cruising, our new 400' length of galvanized chain is starting to show it's age. Well, only the first hundred feet of it-that is commonly underwater when anchored.

There was only a slight film of rusty discoloration on the anchor and chain, but I thought it was time for some renewal. I had purchased 2 cans of spray Zinc but was surprised how far...it did NOT go.

Lowered the 110 lb. Bruce anchor and 100 ft. of chain onto a makeshift platform. Wire brushed it all, then sprayed the chain starting at the anchor shackles. The spray did not go far..only covering about 50' of chain, using both cans.

Well, something is better than nothing and at least on deck, all looks good!

Gelcoat Blisters... part 2

2011-01-23T17:44:00.096-05:00

Once set up, I took a High Speed Grinder with 40 grit disc to "Seriously Remove the old/failed Gel coat".

Having spent many years doing 'body work, custom paint and custom car fabrication', I can handle this without much trouble other than this work is 'physically hard'. I was a professional and 'very' good then, now I'm just good enough..... but better than I can hire. 'Nuff said!

. For those of you that don't want to try this, Fine!...but it is still GOOD for you to "KNOW" HOW IT IS DONE...or should be done..........................

Grinding Gel Coat down to real resin/fiberglass. BLUE TAPE is 'registration marks' 6" above the Lower Boot Stripe line. this way, when done with work, I can measure back Down 6" and then mark Tape Line for renewing the Boot Stripes bottom line. "hope you get this...it saves tonnes of time".

Ground off ALL of the damaged areas around the water line.

Then, sand with 80 grit to smooth out all rough edges.

Anything that looks white or clear is "original UNSATURATED fiberglass strands in the Mat" (NO RESIN) I removed those many, many spots in the Mat with a quick scuff with a Rotary Rasp on a drill. It is quick work. but leaves you with GOOD material ready to accept a few coats of Clear Epoxy resin as the next barrier coat.

Now, to go further, When you get this far, make sure to add a barrier coat. We gave this naked area 4 coats of West System resin.

Fill the ground out area with West System Epoxy and 407 filler then sand in preparation for Epoxy Barrier coats.

4 coats of clear resin to seal up old fiberglass.

Dorothy keeps up with keeping me stocked with materials and cleaning things between stages. Often SHE is working much harder than I.

Once applied, the West 407 Fairing Compound needs to be sanded, clear coated for a barrier, then the Registration Marks from the Blue Tape Markings need to be dropped to remark the Bottom of the Boot Stripe.

It is difficult and careful work, but once you get the concept....the reapplication of tape lines 'flows'.

On the Post "Gelcoat Blisters, Part 1", this shot showed plenty of blisters. Not Now!

Tape and sand for preparation of Boot Stripe Paint.

Don't forget to get under the keel.. We had scrapes that needed a smoothing out, from our "Rio Dulce Grind"...crossing the rivers bar.

Memory Rose, now 32 years of age, looks better than many almost new boats. Why? Well continual upgrades and attention to detail.. Do it right, don't take shortcuts and the results will not only show but last.

Cock Fighting World Cup

2011-01-10T09:23:00.001-05:00

Sport!!

Gecko Eggs

2011-01-08T15:07:00.002-05:00

Surprise, surprise! When cleaning the interior of our boat stored for 7 months, Dorothy found Gecko (tiny lizzard) eggs.

Gecko's are extremely common down here in southern lattitudes even inside the boat. They come in to eat anything they can but mostly looking for shelter and maybe an ant or small spider. Often we find the dried skeleton of them here or there.........when they run out of food I guess.

However, we have NEVER seen their eggs until now and I doubt many others have. Just a bit bigger than the bubbles in the non-skid rubber like material we use on our shelves. 4 open and one still whole!

Bottom Job -- winter 2010/2011

2011-01-07T22:06:00.000-05:00

After peeling our Gelcoat off the bottom of Memory Rose in 1994, we fair'd the bottom and added 16 coats of Micron 2000 (A barrier coat system to prevent osmosis/Our gel coat had failed.)

We topped off the grey barrier coat with 4 coats of Petit ACP 50 Ablative Paint and got 5 GOOD years of anti fouling service out of it. It still looked great in 2000. We occasionally scrubbed the bottom to clean of the occasional barnacle or slime build up, but overall, the bottom stayed fine.

Mid process of many tasks/rail removal, cap rail, bottom job, change of waterline, chain plates, glassing of hull to deck, addition of opening pilothouse window, bowsprit addition, closure of aft exhaust(went to side exhaust), modification of binnacle, glassing and application of Ceram Coat to interior of both water tanks, making pilothouse window trim rings(and Paint). and total boat fairing and paint.

In 2000, we hauled out to do some major modifications to Memory Rose. Plan was to add new circular external chain plates(2 posts on this site) but ended up removing Teak Cap Rails and glassing the Hull to Deck together/cutting off the original lower rub rail(a foot below the cap rail on sides of boat) and adding a new Teak Rub Rail at upper edge of topsides as a 'True and Complete" protective rail. This work of course then required refairing of the sides of the hull and a total repaint of the vessel.. Tons of work!

Massive 53 week redo of Memory Rose. Everything that could be painted separately first, "was"!

When done, we sanded and prepped well for new bottom paint. We started with ONE coat of Interlux Micron Extra, paint in Red/Brown. (Had one can of new red and one can of 'older' brown can).

[My problem was that the BLACK color we had originally used in 1994, made bottom cleaning difficult. I could not see the boat's surface well enough, while diving under the boat. So I decided to opt for a lighter color.]
So, over the top of this Red/Brown color change signal coat, we applied 5 gallons of GREEN Micron Extra. The thought was, when in the future I saw RED, I would know it was time to repaint.

In 2004, while hauled out in Green Cove Springs, Florida on the St. John's River, we hauled again to repair missing paint around underwater metals. I had had an electrolysis problem/now solved but needed to at least touch up bottom paint.

Electrolysis problem ate paint . Had to do a repair , then opted for a 'repaint' of entire bottom in 2004. Addition of davits and swim platform going on also.

We ended up in the yard for much longer than expected as I stripped/repainted/rewired the Mizzen mast and other projects but also was hampered by 4 Hurricanes that came within 50 miles of us, with winds of 65-75 knots. This would shut down operations four times, for several days at a time.

Here was the 10 panel forecast for HURRICANE JEANE coming at south Florida and running up through it. This was one of 4 Hurricanes to come close enough to the St. John's River in NE Florida in 2004, to have us pack up our gear to a storage facility 20 miles away and prepare for the worst.

The one project that effected Bottom Paint, was my Raising of our waterline through hulls and Boot Stripe.

OEM Through Hulls were below our actual waterline.

So we removed old through hulls; glassed over the area inside and out and then added new through hulls 5" above the original position

Marking for New Waterline

New Waterline
The New Green paint held up well, but the waterline suffered. As we continued to load our boat with so much stuff, the water was often near or at least "wetting" the gelcoat above our Barrier Coat. Wet gel coat on the topsides of these 30 year old boats tends to fail into small blisters just like it does below the waterline. The fiberglass underneath seems to be fine, but the gelcoat blisters just the same as it did on the bottom itself.

This caused a problem when "Scrubbing" that is always necessary to clean the waterline. The scrubbing would remove the soft ablative paint from the top of the tiny blisters just Under our Raised waterline(which had no barrier coat). Of course, this was exactly where New Slime would grow, so NOW, it's time to redo the bottom paint even thought the 98% of the underside was fine.

Now at Shelter Bay at the end of 2010, we are basically stripping much of the Green and Red off and will reapply a new layer of Bottom Paint. We had the boat hauled out in Late April 2010, here at Shelter Bay, Panama to let the boat totally dry out . Now, I am hand scrapping the old Green off.

NOW, it's Christmas 2010: Much of this section 'hand scraped with 3" scraper and aft section of keel shown sanded with 80 grit & Disc-Orbital Sander.

End of the day, Dec. 30th. cleaning up and ready for a hot shower!

Will fix waterline blisters by removing Gel Coat there and repainting Bottom and Boot stripe. Hired a subcontractor (2 Panamanians) to assist me starting Monday morning for some of this tiresome labor. For now, I'm scraping and sanding. Hard, dusty, dirty work!

Ran a hose from my Disc Orbital sander through our mini-shop vacuums hose into a bucket of water and covered the lid with an old T-Shirt. This created a Capture System for much of the bottom paint coming off the hull.

Gelcoat Blisters ..part 1

2011-01-07T21:42:00.004-05:00

When I bought my 1978 CSY in 1991, there were signs of 'tiny' blisters starting in the gelcoat under the bottom paint. The boat was only 13 years old, kept up north and hauled out every winter...minumum "water time".

The surveyor said, (and I paid for the best, not the cheapest) "When the gelcoat fails and then presents tiny cracks in your bottom paint, you have a system failure". I understood clearly and 3 years later, when I hauled the boat for the first time since survey, I had done my research, bought all material and hired the newest technology available to "peel" the gelcoat completely off, below the waterline.

Move now to 2010. We have been cruising for 5 years in warm Caribbean waters fully loaded. Our waterline has raised, due to our " world cruise" inventory aboard. In 2001, I raised the waterline a tad and corrected it for our set in the water. In 2004, I raised our waterline thru hulls 5" to get them above water. Now new tiny blisters are showing up in the few inches of the lower topsides that never had the peel job or underwater Barrier Coating system applied.

You can see the Original Waterline about 1.5" below the present Dark Green Boot Stripe. The tiny blisters continue up and into the Boot Stripe.

What this has caused is the Old/Original?OEM Gelcoat above the wateline to have sat underwater or in anchoring wavelets, for a few years. This area of old gelcoat normally above water, has failed to some degree and now shows small blisters just under and into our Boot Stripe along the Waterline.

The first thing I did was measure UP from the Bottom of the bootstripe 6" and mark that line on a piece of Blue Tape. It's a 'registration mark'. Later, when I'm done grinding and fairing, I can measure Down 6" to find the line I need to replace the Boot Stripes Bottom line.

I saw this coming and prepped by hauling the boat out at Shelter Bay Marina in Panama in early May, 2010. This has allowed the boat to dry out as best it could in a 6-7 month rainy season. At least the bottom did not get overwhelmed with water 'pressure'.

Now dry, I havescraped and sanded off years of bottom paint that seemed soft, and ground off the gelcoat along the waterline. I will now fair this out with West Epoxy and their 407 lite fairing compound and West System Resins. Also, will overcoat all work done with 4 coats of this Epoxy resin as a Barrier Coat.

To satisfy the 'yard', I fabricated a Scoop device to capture some of the dust coming off the grinder. Used a Dust Pan, 1 gal. shop vacuum, some plastic, twigs and tape to build it. Worked fair to good, when I was able to 'direct the dust towards the scoop. I 'ground' and Dorothy held the scoop close to the hull right near the grinder. One hour each side and we were done with this part!

The price for materials down here is high. Getting it in from the US is steep too! 3 Cansisters of West 407 powder,($38 ea.)weighing about 5 lbs. total including shipping box comes out to $50. or $176 total. Really helps if you can bring it with you on the boat or plane.

Close up/Before! You can see the blisters above the old and still good barrier coat job of 1994; and up into the 'raised' Boot Stripe of 2004. This blistered area is 'original gel coat".

Weather has cleared somewhat but cloudy and sprinkles starting again.... Fingers crossed!

10 Jan. Update: for 2 days-----torrential downpours..........slow working or none at all. Rain has been a constant bummer since we got here on Dec. 23rd.

Very Close Up....! Here you can see that our boat had something unusual going on during manufacture! The Dark green gel coat next to the fiberglass mat was the last gel coat sprayed into our hull AFTER several coats of the Cream Color was sprayed into the hull's mold. THIS is where our blistering problem started, between gel coats of the different colors. Will never know sure, but this additional coat of Green between the Cream and the first layers of mat and resin, seems to be an stupid error in production. Forensics and minor surgery required 32 years later.....................

Cream Gelcoat was definitely failed or failing while forced underwater. And....yes, not many owners would document this for the public. I feel the CSY's following this blog or other boats with this common problem should know what is happening.

I show what I have found to be 'wrong' and what I have done to make it right as I trust this kind of information will help others sooner or later.

Chicken Salad and a few beers after showers, made things 'right' again!

White Snapper Dinner

2010-12-27T16:39:00.000-05:00

The restaurant here has a very limited menu, so last night we were surprised to see White Snapper as the special (Only) dinner meal offered. Of course they always have a hamburger on the one page menu, but this was good to see. Not a lot, but tasty!

Out of Storage Christmas Eve

2010-12-26T11:10:00.000-05:00

We had scheduled the transport of Memory Rose from the Storage Yard to the Work Yard on Dec. 24th, the morning after arriving at Shelter Bay. Luckily for all, the skies were clear and working conditions were just fine.

We followed the boat on foot to observe the move. Since then we have had our attempts at cleaning the boat suppressed by thunderstorms and near constant downpours. We did manage to check out the interior and get started at renewing our cruising plans though. Dorothy checked things inside and wiped down some interior surfaces. While we were gone, we ran our dehumidifier to keep moisture at bay inside. Costly at $.41/kwhr. but we did not return to a 'mold farm', as some others did. The interior was clean and dry.

Driving rain this morning but Memory Rose is visible in the Work Yard furthest off and just a bit to the right of center.

I opted to scrub the exterior, starting with the cockpit. Since we had to cross the cockpit first after coming up the ladder astern, it seemed wise to have a clean place to readjust, place bags and tools etc. before going down into the interior of the boat. Next. I cleaned maybe 2/3rds of the exterior of the topsides, pilothouse deck etc.

Some progress made already. Will get my foul weather gear out of the wet locker aboard so I can get back and forth from the boat to the room we have above the marina's restaurant.

Dorothy has been reading a book, decorating a Christmas tree for us and Skypeing her family.

Merry Christmas

2010-12-24T18:02:00.001-05:00

Wishing all a Merry Christmas

and a ...... Wonderful, Happy, Healthy New Year.

Rest stop in Panama City, Panama

2010-12-24T14:36:00.003-05:00

Great flight on Copa airlines from Orlando to Panama City, Panama. Just like the last time, when meals were served, we were handed a cloth napkin with stainless steel fork and knife! Yup! At least this time, we were flying AWAY from the U.S.. The last time, after security,(did I really call them THAT?) Well, the last time we flew Copa, heading 'towards' the United States, we had 129 people with knives on board during lunch.
Does that ever make one think.

Dig in guys! Banana's for everybody!!

Stayed the night at La Estancia Bed and Breakfast up on Ancon Hill. It's the old military area up on a hill overlooking the city and the canal.

View from the balcony of La Estancia towards the Bridge of the Americas in the distance.

Bridge of the Americas was laden with bumper to bumper traffic, due to the only other bridge loosing one of it's lanes to a mudslide last week. Did I mention we are at the end of our 'Rainy Season'? Many roads were damaged by slides and are still closed.

This B&B puts out fruit on a line each day for the local birds and whatever else shows up.

These pretty squirrels loaded up with an ounce or two each on this feeder filled with sugar. Wow, were they a hyper bunch! When they were done the small birds would take their fill.

Had a pleasant drive over to Colon and finally Shelter Bay, where our boat is, the next day. We were lucky to find a nice guy who does this kind of driving for a living. He used to work for the Panama Canal Yacht Club I believe as Dock Master and also accountant, but when the government bulldozed it last June in a true takeover, he became self employed. Roger is his name and a friendly, trustworthy gent he is. Roger also located some last minute items in Panama City, that I needed to procure for our boat.

This morning late, the marina moved our boat out of the Storage Yard to the Work Yard so today we opened her up for some fresh air and began the process of cleaning her up for another season. Hot it is, down here, and sweating I am. We did not work too long before we both agreed to get some lunch.

Back to Panama

2010-12-07T17:58:00.007-05:00

We are migrating from U.S. to Shelter Bay..............NOT THIS ONE!

SHELTER BAY..... ALASKA.

But this one! Will do a bottom job on boat and move on to San Blas or maybe Columbia.

Aerial shot of Shelter Bay Marina. Panama. (our boat is somewhere in the cloud center of photo. This area used to be a Jungle Training Camp for U.S. soldiers. Now it's a money maker for some rich Panamanians.

Panama's marinas around the Canal, have become expensive and limited in number. The Government has shut down two and refused to allow a third, that lost it's infrastructure due to a fire, to rebuild. As such the fees now are as high as they can be pushed. No competition; now it's one big ticket marina at either end of the canal! Research "Pedro Miguel Yacht Club" for more information or click on this link:

http://www.pmbc.ws/

We, will probably move on at the end of the season.

Someday

2010-06-08T15:33:00.008-04:00

"Someday" is NOW.

After always working towards the 'future' I am presently opting to live in the NOW!

It's the Rainy Season in Panama from mid May to mid December, the home now for our boat Memory Rose, we have opted to travel the U.S. roads.

So, until December: Join us on www.memoryoads.blogspot.com

Ulu Launch, Gerti, San Blas Islands / Kuna Yala

2010-06-02T20:37:00.005-04:00

Not everyday, but often, we listened to the morning VHF net.

For those of you who are not mariners, the VHF is a very high frequency radio used for communications between boats for distances up to 20 miles or so. In various locations, especially foreign anchorages, sailors like to stay connected spreading the news, gossip, weather, tips, advice, recipes and schedule of events within it's community of travelers.
One morning I caught a piece of conversation about the upcoming launch of a new ulu (dug out canoe in Kuna language). This would be from the mountainous jungles on the western shores of the San Blas Islands in about a week. I missed most of the conversation for some reason but later on, a local Kuna Indian named Justino(pictured below) was working aboard our boat and mentioned it too.

JUSTINO. EXCELLENT BOAT WORKER, RESIDENT OF GERTI/THE "ROBESONS", AND FRIEND.

I questioned him about it and was quickly struck by the rarity of such an event, his excitement about it and the fact that I was in the neighborhood.
His village, a half days sail west of our location, had cut down an old growth tree up in the jungles of the mainland miles away and was finishing up the rough carving of this tree into a huge canoe or 'ulu'(in Kuna language) for the chief of their village.

It was to be a special ulu; for the chief and special needs of the village! They had turned the rough carving of the tree, over.......... and had almost finished carving out the inside of the tree and thought they would be ready to start to drag it up and down the jungle terrain to a river and then down and out to sea to their island group, the Gerti's, within about a week. It was a huge task to drag a 30' x 3' log out of the jungle by manpower alone especially considering the terrain's ruggedness, altitude, temperatures, humidity. The village however was inviting any sailors interested to come watch.
We sailed Memory Rose west to their island group 2 days early before some heavy rains threatened my plan. We actually ran just a mile or so in front of the heaviest of it and managed to anchor safely while it passed to our south. Arriving early, many of the women and children of the islands, came out in their smaller ulus to try to sell us molas, bananas, avocado's etc.

SMALLER ULUS ARE USED AS WORKING BOATS AND FOR FAMILY TRANSPORT

Of course Dorothy accommodates them and gives granola bars and packets of raisins to the children. Some of the Kuna women take Dorothy's offer to come aboard and sit in our cockpit to do their presentation of their finely sewn mola pieces and stringed beads of their jewelry.
Justino told me their might be 72 men show up for this event and confessed it might take 3 days to get it out to the island. The Kuna's would start at 4 a.m. in total darkness and so would we. I arranged to pick him up at his island in our inflatable boat and also would pick up a cruising friend Jack Midence.
Giving this some thought, I mulled over what might be helpful to them. I decided to bring along 3 snatch blocks I normally keep for heavy weather emergency gear and as much spare line as I thought I might carry without killing myself. That ended up to be 5 sections totaling about 3-350' of 1/2" and 9/16 line.
In darkness, we picked up our friend Jack Midence of Sailing Vessel (s.v.) Kitty Hawk.

Jack and Nicole a few weeks before our Ulu adventure at a local pig roast.

His wife Nicole was pregnant and would remain on their vessel also a CSY 44, to guard the ship.....and read. Jack is excellent at almost everything a guy needs to do out here and did not miss a beat on this adventure. His language and interpersonal skills were as impressive as his physical efforts extended. Aboard our inflatable, he and Justino offered to carry a part of my my load of lines.

WE ARRIVED IN THE RIVER WITH THE FIRST HINT OF LIGHT AND AN HOUR LATER, WERE HIKING STEEP TRAILS IN THE JUNGLE. (Photo by Ivy, SV Ruby Slippers)

Dorothy would take pictures, but also carried my backpack later on when I got seriously involved with the line work. Once we got involved with the ulu, Jack worked the Ulu end of things with lines and blocks, while I took the uphill position.
S.V. Tishababy also brought along a good long length of 1/2" polyester line.

JACK, NICOLE, IVY AND JOHN

John and Ivy of S.V. Ruby Slippers were right in the thick of things too. Ivy as photographer with splendid equipment and John as Sampson. (John's a big guy, in great shape and also with bi-lingual skills) He worked varying positions along one line or another, adapting to the needs he saw and I think was critical in the recognition by the Kuna men of our intent to really make a positive effort for their endeavor. They all seemed to love John. His humor and hard work never ceased and was an excellent representative of the gringo crowds capability.

SLASH AND BURN FIELD UP IN THE MOUNTAINS. THESE AREAS ARE USED FOR BANANA PLANTING AND GOOD FOR ONLY 2, MAYBE 3 YEARS. THIS IS 1.5 HOURS INTO OUR MARCH INLAND to the ULU location.

I found the hike up, to be difficult and soon recognised how fit these Kuna men were. We hiked for over 2 hours at a steady clip. Some men were in their teens, but I bet some were near my age and they were fit and trim. On the trail, they virtually flew past me. Lives of hard work and meager diet kept them light and strong. In my case, abundance of everything in our western lifestyle and very little aerobic exercise in these later years had me sucking wind at the back of the pack. The humidity was extreme.

We really goofed in provisioning. We had brought only 3 bottled waters and 2 Gatorades. They were gone in 3 hours.

EARLY ON, WHEN WE FIRST MET UP WITH THE KUNA GROUP ALREADY AT WORK, NEGOTIATING A 40 DEGREE INCLINE. WE COULD 'HEAR' THEIR RHYTHMIC CHANTS TO COORDINATE THEIR EFFORTS.

When we finally met up with the Ulu, it was already being drug up the side of a hill with about a 45 degree incline in a slice of jungle barely wide enough for a man to walk through.

These men had started at first light an hour ago. However, men on both sides of the 3' wide ulu and maybe 50 in front struggled foot by foot to surmount their challenge. In unison they chanted and struggled, achieving a few feet of success at a time.

I looked downhill to their position a 100' or so and began to think my gear would be useless in such a scene. Shortly however, I noticed that when they arrived at the summit of this steep hill, they would have to turn and fight their way up another difficult grade at a different angle.

"Here" is where I thought I could help. I had brought 3 blocks to get a mechanical advantage of shear pulling power, but here we needed to be able to pull from 2 angles to be able to pull uphill and prohibit the ulu from slipping off into a ravine.

Turns and slopes made progress slow.

WORKING IN ADVANCE OF THE ULU CREW, I WOULD PICK A TREE FOR A GOOD LEAD ANGLE AND TIE OFF A BLOCK QUICKLY, SO THEY COULD GET A LINE THROUGH IT.

The jefe (boss) in charge of the ulu crew was a powerful and larger Kuna, always intent and sporting a mustache.

He belted out orders and cadence to all the men and physically pushed and manhandled the ulu with all his strength, always. I'm not sure I can remember ever seeing a man more aggressively involved in a project and I've been around some tough men in tough situations, but he really impressed me.

Later on, as we became accepted as crew, he was as cheerful as the winner of a major Olympic event. His counterparts were no slackers either...well a couple of the younger ones did not have his work ethic, but they were put up in the very front where their effort was not essential. I was surprised how focused all the men were; always looking in the same direction, listening and working as a team. I was impressed.

The jefe did not initially want our help. Jack spoke fluent Spanish as he was a Honduran of distant European decent, speaking English and Spanish without flaw. He attempted to suggest what the extra lines and blocks could do for them. The jefe and many of his men just laughed at our seemingly light lines and professed their belief that they would break in a minute or two but they did not know the strength of modern synthetic lines; being used to using older, often discarded lines and equipment. They seemed to have no clue of the purpose and effect of our snatch blocks though. Well, after trying things their way, running their 1.25" rough manila rope around a tree uphill to be able to pull the ulu a few feet at a time, the line nearly cut through a soft tree they used as a turning post. The friction of the line and the tremendous loads imposed by this heavy craft, mud, roots and rocks was severe. Jack tried his line of reasoning again and although the jefe did not look happy, he agreed to let Jack try my gear. In a minute, we had something rigged and then 2 lines of men, not one, began to pull the ulu uphill. One line of men pulling upward on the heavy manila rope and an equal group pulling downhill on a length of red polyester running gear. The beauty of the Garhauer snatch block is in many of it's facets, but instantly noted by even the Indians is how much easier it was to pull using a super efficient pulley rather than the endless friction of a quickly eroding tree trunk. With looks of amazement and chuckling at first, they slowly accepted these new tools. They were not 'sold' yet, but they let us continue to lead lines and blocks as 'we' saw fit and then pull on them. 2 shorter lines of men rather than one very long line got us flowing as a more effective team.
The simple truth was that there were so many curves, angles and obstructions they were encountering, that getting ALL men to be able to pull on ONE line was impossible. The men in front were sometimes pulling other men into a gully or into trees. A very long line was impractical. 2, 3 or 4 lines were NOW used to control not only the pull, but to guide or stabilize the ulu on ridges or turns. WALLA! The men were now quickly moving aside as I would run back to Jack to retrieve a line no longer used to an uphill position to be able to reset it in a new location. Not long after, the Indians near the ulu asked to be shown how to open the block so they could run it forward instead of the 'old blanco'....me! We were getting into a rhythm. Every minute or 2 a line with block would be brought forward and I would then move forward and picking out a new set point, would attach it to a tree giving the group a good lead for the next pull.

The chants continued, the smiles and laughter grew and we were now working as a unified group.

THE TOP OF A 'BIG' HILL, WAS A MAJOR EFFORT FOR THE GROUP. WE CERTAINLY WERE GLAD AT THIS POINT TO HAVE HAD THE GARHAUER BLOCKS AND EXTRA LINE. PULLING DOWNHILL WAS MUCH MORE EFFECTIVE THAN PULLING UPHILL.

Several of the cruisers were helping back at the ulu. One gal, a retired hair dresser worked as hard as a longshoreman! She was great and she kept all smiling with her good spirits.

THE GAL IN RED, WAS OFTEN ON THE RED LINE PULLING OR DIRECTLY WORKING THE ULU. SHE PUT IN GREAT EFFORT. HER HUSBAND HAD BROUGHT A LONG LENGTH OF LINE AND HELPED WHENEVER HE COULD.

The heat was brutal up in those jungles as was the humidity. Sailors that got involved with elbow grease were from Jumbi, Ruby Slippers, KittyHawk, Glide, Tishababy and Memory Rose. Hello World photographers and another boat viewed the event with us.

A few of them worked hard assisting the effort at the ulu itself. The rest stood aside mostly and took photos. One female, the professional photographer, claimed injury to her foot or leg and was put Into the ulu and transported most of the way back to the river. The Indians called her "the..........Queen".

From inside the canoe, she was able to get some fine photos and a 'few' were passed on to us and I have labeled them as hers.(Hello World)

Refreshments, sustenance, was had at a rest stop most of the way down the mountain slopes at a predetermined area. Their boost came from jugs of water with azucar(sugar.......much sugar). A few had Kool Aide. No electrolytes, no proteins, carbs,,,,, Lunch? nope- sugar water!!
Only a few minutes later they were rarin' to go again. It seemed only a little while longer and we were at the crossroads near their jungle cemetery and they were jubilant at being near to pull the ulu over a steep bank and down into a shallow river.

That done, they cheered and frolicked for a bit, most of them disappearing down hill again towards their smaller ulu's tied to the streams banks to return to their island.

I was beyond exhaustion as I'm sure some or many were. Really knew I had passed my limits as my thinking was off, balance and certainly strength. Pure and simple dehydration.
Soon Dorothy and I were down to our inflatable Avon dingy and was told one of the other gringo's- John, a strongly built Californian/Hawaiian that really opened the eyes of the Indians with his extraordinary effort physically and with his Spanish speaking abilities and humor, was still upriver. I hopped into my dingy to retrieve or meet him but instead only found one of the Kuna men poling the long ulu downriver with only partial success. I offered to assist him and he quickly smiled and nodded yes. We set up a tow and I towed him down river with my stern first for steerage ability. Worked like a charm!

By late afternoon, I untied the Ulu at the main island of Gerti and soon after, at the stern of Memory Rose, I downed 2 sixteen oz. bottles of Gatorade before I even left the dingy. Aboard only 20 minutes, another 2 bottles of water. By nightfall, a couple of icy cold beers in the cockpit watching the setting sun, then sleep time. I had pushed it too far..............but hope all are well from this experience. It was tough.
Definitely for us, we can add to our list, another "once in a lifetime experience". What a glorious day!

Dolphin Bay

2010-05-24T22:48:00.002-04:00

Needing to get our act together and get underway, prompted me to make a short trip east and stop in Dolphin Bay. It's really a lovely bay, remote enough yet close enough for the first step. We have friends there, Carl and Mary. Stopping by to say hello and see their dream retirement house and property was well worth the visit.

Carl and Mary decided to settle in. They keep their boat anchored out in front of their new property just in case they get the itch, but have had fun...mostly...building a new house on a beautiful hillside on the edge of Dolphin Bay. They hired a local Indian to manage most of the manual planting and landscaping chores and another local to build the house itself, but that still left tons of work for them to do.

While there, we truly enjoyed their company and hospitality........not to mention the view.

Their house was built well up on their hill and it takes strong legs and good lungs to make it there without a pit stop.

Ok, You KNOW what all the names of these, don't you? Right, neither do I! I think I've got this last one though. It's a pinapple.

Along the path and throughout the property is an amazing amount of plants....all of which they have brought to the property. Fruits, vegetables, flowers and plenty of trees to repopulate the hillside.

They want to reconnect some Old Growth jungle on either side of their property. Howler monkeys inhabit the area and they would like to regrow the trees now missing/cut down to allow cattle grazing years ago by a prior indian land owner. This would allow the howler monkeys to move thru the jungle canopy as they should and might help their population spread and mix their genes more easily. Howlers do not often decend to the ground, so this is important to their well being.

Overlooking the bay, they have a wrap around porch with plenty of seating and lounging space.

I'd think that other than sleeping, I'd spend most of my time on this deck if I lived there. Our boat and theirs and a neighbor's, grace the harbor.

A local indian village is close by and they are constantly crossing the bay in cayuco's or ulu's....(dug out canoes).

Often, while they gently paddle along, they tow and jig a hand line for the hope of a fish dinner. This little guy came out and hung around quietly observing. He's the kid who asked for water, that I mentioned in an earlier posting.

While here, we were able to head over to a foodfest...a gathering of local gringos for food and drink that seems to occur regularly.

Owner in the kitchen and helper at the oven. The husband took care of the bar and greetings, as well as serving and busing tables.

This day, the Austrian couple who have built this primitive restaurant on the edge of the jungle, did a fine job on a delicious pork roast with potatoes and veggie. The cold beers , more than a few, hit the spot and with the shade and volunteer musicians offering what only gringos can bring to this part of the world, everyone had a wonderful day.

Did I mention the Crab Races? No guess not.

Well, theres plenty here in this mangrove marsh land.so they are harvested in a few minutes from the grassy area outside the restaruant and when ready, put them/one each/under a styrofoam cup. On command, the cups are lifted and the foot stomping and cheers begin the race! Last one still in, actually wins, or maybe looses and buys the attending house a round of beers.. No that's another place!

Anyway, a good time was had by all. This gathering is a weekly event and some like Andy and his cool little dog, travel from Bocas del Toro, about 15 miles by boat to join in.

Next day, it's fresh squeezed orange juice whenever you want, and in the evening? Well home made pizzas with the works! It's a rough life, but someone has to do it!

Thanks Carl! Thanks Mary! We had a wonderful visit! Wonderful!!

Bocas Marina and Yacht Club, Bocas del Toro, Panama

2010-05-22T22:22:00.000-04:00

We ended up keeping our boat at Bocas Marina, from March 2009 until our departure almost a year later, in February 2010. We personally however, only spent minimal time there. The marina itself is off on a peninsula near town, but the only access is by boat. When we needed groceries or flights or something from a store, we got in our dingy and headed off for the 1/4 mile ride.

The facilities were nice. They really were. Chuck, the manager ran the business very well and one really could not ask for more. The restrooms were white tile from floor to ceiling, with 4 large showers. Always clean.

A well run office with quality staff, always willing to help with whatever your needs might be.

A cantina on the property, run by two south African sailors, was also very well run. Quality food and near cold beverages were available most days. Yes, the cantina was closed for brief periods each week so the owners could have a life. Often though, there were special parties put on to spice things up.

One night they had a group of drummers come over from the town during Mardi Gras.

An anchorage close by to the south, offered the option for cruisers.

They could still pay a $1 a day for internet wifi and use the showers, restaurant etc. Occasionally a ship or other unusual craft would visit or be seen in the bay's deep waters.

Marine tourism is on the rise for sure and this is still a quiet underdeveloped location for anyone wishing such environment.

We enjoyed it! Yes, there's even a traveling massuese, vegetable delivery boat and water taxi to various locations.

Panama's Children

2010-05-21T21:26:00.006-04:00

This young man was helping his father pick coffee beans up in the Boquete Panama highlands. Many of the indigenous Indians move about the country picking crops. While one crop is in season, they will work for a land owner, then move on after the crop is picked. Schooling is not the norm for these kids.

Even those kids that are lucky enough to be able to live in one location all year, they are usually not present in school. The parents have to supply uniforms, books etc. which is a limiting factor in such poor societies. They learn to tend to farm and tend whatever animals they might be lucky enough to have.

Further along the Caribbean coast we came across many kids who would come out to our anchored boat to just look at us, or maybe ask for something. Often it is something as simple as a pencil. Yes, such simple things are desired by these children as there rarely is a small tienda (store) for such things. We usually give them a small box of raisins or a granola bar instead of the cruisers usual candy as we prefer to give something that is tasty, but has some nutritional value. One little boy came out in a dug out canoe one day and just sat looking at our boat; a kind of a blank stare. I could not decipher his thoughts. It is obvious though, that to a child floating out to us in a hollowed out tree must view our craft as probably we might if we saw the spaceship from Close Encounters of the Third Kind hovering over us.

I could not speak his Indian language and he did not understand Spanish or English, so we did a little sign language. I should correct that. When he had seen enough and was ready to paddle back to his village, he asked for what I believe was a pencil I brought one up and some paper, placed both in a Ziploc bag so it might make it to shore without getting soaked. You see these canoes leak and always have water inside. He smiled quietly, examining the bag slowly and intently. He then looked up at me and I think asked for 'agua' (water). I went below and filled a plastic cup with cold water from our galley's refrigerator. He drank it slowly but steadily, still looking up and down, left and right at our boat. He then offered the cup back, but I motioned to keep it. He smiled sweetly, a gentle little boy, and paddled off slowly.

Right On

2010-05-21T20:53:00.001-04:00

Please give me enough troubles, uncertainty, problems, obstacles and STRESS so that I do not become arrogant, proud, and smug in my own abilities, and enough blessings and good times that I realize that someone else is in charge of my life.

Yup, I copied this quote from somewhere on this internet, as it is SO, Right On!

BACK IN TOWN!

2010-05-05T18:26:00.000-04:00

Hello All, We got back in town (US) on Friday and regrouping. Should have text and photos uploaded in a week or so................ As you probably understand, this stuff takes time and thought. Right now.. I'm dealing with 'life'. In a week, I'll be dealing with 'MY' life! so much better....and along with that, more uploads of all kinds.

thanks for staying 'Tuned-In"!

ron

Porvenir, Panama

2010-03-13T09:18:00.000-05:00

Well, we finally made it.

Arrived here at the island of Porvenir to clear into the San Blas Islands, or Kuna Yala. Water is clear, skies are blue, waters calm.

Ahhh, hope this lasts!

No internet here so cannot upload photos until some time later. For now, occasional text.

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Sailing, courage, adventure, wisdom, fear, knowledge.....'balance'.

2010-03-09T16:55:00.001-05:00

Sailing involves the courage to treasure adventure, and the wisdom to fear danger. Knowing where one ends, and the other begins, makes all the difference.

Chagras River, Panama

2010-03-09T16:48:00.003-05:00

Entrance to the Chagras River was gentle. The seas were absolutely calm, the light was good, coming in around 10 a.m.. We were rested and prepared for the maneuvers required, by reading and re-reading all information we had derived from other cruiser's emails or books. The entrance was flawless.

The river itself, was virtually still.

Quiet was the norm as we slowly motored up river from it's entrance. At the 2nd major turn to the left was the first boat we had seen. She was a catamaran owned by a French couple and sitting in a primo spot..

they could see up river one way and down river another...with a small tropical mountain to their side. We, anchored a 1/4 mile downstream from them but still under the afternoon shade of the mountain and withing earshot of the howler and white faced monkeys vocalizations. Did I mention macaws, parrots etc.? Well, they and fish around us kept us amused.

We did run upriver to the dam but the waters just before the dam were not navigable nor did I feel I wanted to sit in the lagoon off to the right.

I opted to turn around and go back to the sounds of nature available here. Photos do not do justice to this 'park'. Sights were wonderful and the sounds of monkeys and birds were better.

We also opted to bring out our new washer and clean some clothes. After doing so and hanging the laundry, dorothy decides to taste the water. Salty!!

Oh well, nice clean salty clothes. They didn't feel too bad, but then they didn't feel too good either. Mind games?

We have re washed them since arriving here at Shelter Bay and now the world is wonderful.

Also; we have become accustomed to living by sun for power needs and rain for water. This has been the norm for 5 years. Here, near the ITZ Inter Tropical Zone, we seem to be in a cloudy overcast environment with rain added to the equation more than normal. "i" don't understand it all, and neither do others, but you gotta go with the flow, so yesterday, I ordered a Honda eu2000i generator to act as our backup power source. IF it gets cloudy and stays that way, I'll crank up the gasoline generatore stored on deck/kept safe and dry in a 22 gallon Rubbermaid/Roughneck container with snap on lid. IT, can produce plenty of current to run our battery charger aboard, while our 12v refer Seafrost system is needing amps. It is a whole lot cheaper to fuel a little bitty Honda generator when needed, rather than a 90 hp diesel/our main propulsion engine. If the Honda quits, I can go back to the Lehman 90, or Solar or Holding Plate System designed for carry over. NOW, I really have backups.. Love it!

The unit is reasonably quiet. No, it's not unnoticeable , it's just reasonably quiet.. Under the loads we should ask of it, it should be quite efficient.

After laundry, we opted to take our dingy

up the Indio river and the other small river that leads into the chagras river a bit further up. They were sometimes shallow, but always, fun to explore.

The birds and vegetation were cool and we saw some fish that would be really nice to view in our frying pan ;) Fun trip.

We got rained on, but the captain is used to that.

The photographer used her umbrella and stayed half dry........

Shelter Bay? Expensive but OK. It would be nice if there was some competition to keep things at its best, but for now and I think for a season or 2, we can handle this.

Might add, coming out of the Chagras River was 'white knuckled'.

Wind up river seemed mild, but I should have paid more attention to the clouds above us scooting past. Down river and outside in the Caribbean sea, the seas were nasty and maybe dangerous. I felt I could deal with it, but others might not feel the same. It's a conditions/boat/skills package..add luck to that! At one point, when I was below, auto pilot on, the boat was tripped by a wave and she fell on her starboard side hard; green water up to her pilothouse windows.

The seas were unusually steep walls, stacked with deep troths. Nice to have a good boat though! We understand the strength of these CSY's and it eased our minds as we pushed onward to the Panama Canal only 7 or so miles upwind.

This ship was heading out of the Canal and you can see by the spray, the strong winds of the day.

Cruisers beware, the Chagras entry/exit can be dangerous. I advise to only attempt it in gentile conditions. Our photos did not do justice to the size of the waves that stopped us in our tracks and swallowed our bow on several occasions. "We", are here telling the tale, but recommend caution for Chagres entrance/exit.

Escudo de Veraguas

2010-03-08T23:05:00.001-05:00

A simple island off the coast of Panama has been reported to us a a beautiful stop over or even a destination in and of itself.

We had planned to stop briefly if weather was not settled or stay for a day or 2 if it was. When we got there, our 'weather window' was short. It appeared to me that something was coming in behind us that I could not read well other than it would bring some kind of unsettled weather. My thoughts were to move on as soon as possible. Passagemaking, as small as it is at times, is dependent on safe crossings that leave you at your destination in Good Light. That is light characteristincs that let you 'read' the waters depths by sunlight. When the sun is high/around noon time, the waters are much easier to read. Same is true if the sun is slightly behind you durning the mid day hours. I wanted to have good light coming up to the shore and reefs at the Chagras River after Escudo. There are no markers, no directors.. just a chart and some cruiser info. Each entrance into this river and departure are on your own.. your the guy and you better make good decisions.

We approached Escudo in great weather and all went well. The island looked pretty and we agreed we would come back and spend a couple of days here snorkleing and exploring.

My choice was to rest for a few hours, while anchored off the shore of Escudo and move on around dinner time.

While I was napping, a couple of fishing boats,

(dug out canoes, with fishermen) came towards our boat... slowly as they had free divers in the water . When one got close, the boss man, in yellow hard hat gruffly told Dorothy in Spanish that he wanted $10 for us to anchor there. We had read and heard that there were a friendly family named Anderson's that were living on the island and this was their livelyhood. OK, we had planned for them and had more than that in a carefully prepped care package of food items for them as well. This fisherman and his 'tone and mannerisms' did not sit well with Dorothy, nor I, now awakended below. I layed there and listened. She told him, the captain was sleeping and we were leaving that evening for San Blas. He continued his demand for $10 but left when Dorothy said 'later, alligator!'

Around 5, I awoke again rested and we pulled anchor and headed for the Chagras River further East, near Colon/Panama Canal. During our passage from BlueFields, I noted a number of big logs, trees and eddy masses of floating jungle debris, so thought it wise to run slow during the night. We spotted 5-10 of these trees and large logs floating during the next 18 hours.

I don't mind following tradition. I don't mind helping a family or a village. I do not like the concept of paying to anchor anywhere, AnyWhere....... El mar is libre...........in my poor Spanish.. The sea is Free!

Fisherman' woman walks dog along beach as she carry's a big machete.

I will not pay a fisherman or another, who wishes to take from me what they have no right to. I will be careful and respectful, but a thief is a thief, if only one or a government small or large.

BlueFields

2010-03-08T22:24:00.001-05:00

Needing to finally get away from the dock, we pushed off in inclement weather, but stayed inside the outer islands to make ground. We headed East towards Bluefields, named after the Dutch pirate Bluevelt, who made this area his home in the 1600's. To get there we had to maneuver thru small islands and reefs that were not visable with the cloudy skies. Darned good that we had Waypoints given to us by another local cruiser that had been verified as accurate. The passage was a tad tricky and I would have been stopped by fear early on as I could not "Read" the water by sight. Without sunlight and only in cloud cover, the water is all the same dark grey. You cannot read into it the colors normal in good sunlight.

CLICK ON ANY PHOTO FOR 'LARGE' DISPLAYS.

Anyway, we got thru it, hard ,rain and, all to BlueFields. Our charting system worked well and we felt confidence using it and my piloting skills. Shortly we were anchored near a little village on the north shore of the lagoon.

40' Log canoe, or cayuga. Longer than their houses, cut from one tree trunk.... now very limited.

Not long after we dropped the hook, a lone gent paddled over to ask for medicine for his rash. I think he had Pitariosis Rosea a fungal infection caused by sweat and sunlight but who knows. We gave him a partial tube of Hydro cortesone cream we had aboard. and he paddled off smiling. He understood our instructions on it's use and once he got the tube, his English improved too! Hmmmm?

There seems to be pattern here,

that as soon as you drop your anchor and every hour of the day, another local cayuga paddles up to ask for something. Mostly they are kids.

A couple 2 or 3 to a boat.

They think we are Santa..........and probably think each cruising boat is the same...........here to drop off candy etc.

However, one guy came up selling fish.

He had ONE nice Grouper type fish, with quarter size scales! Ocho(8) bucks he wanted for it. His little ones were not offered or bargained for. I told him no, cinco(5). He said no Ocho! I went below and brought up 2 nice special circle size 2.0 hooks to add to my $5 offer. His eyes lit up. Yup, these hooks are probably not available here but cost $3 each in the US. So, we made a deal, 5 bucks and 2 hooks.

I thought he needed tools for his trade more than money and I was right....it was not about getting the best of him or his fish, but bargaining in a way the he got what he needed and our gift and we got something back.
I then asked him if he would like the head of the fish? His eyes lit up again (fish heads make great soup) so we did that too, then went below and brought up a cook Walmart $6 Bangladesh cotton T shirt. He was smiling big time after the fish head, but when I said, "mi amigo, por tu" (my friend; for you.) and handed over the shirt, he grinned real wide and paddled off with his bounty still smiling and waving kindly.

The little village was an a sand spit of land just off the shore and it led to a larger village just west. The surrounding area was hilly and covered with virgin forest and or stripped land for cattle grazing.

I actually loved the place except that for a gringo, if we ever felt we needed to get somewhere, it would be hard to do. A half day's hard run across the Canal del Tigre (canal of the tiger!) ferocious? just to get to a little town. This area had no roads coming in at all.

We rested for a day then left early the next morning for Escudo de Veraguas.

Smile

2010-02-25T16:37:00.003-05:00

Life is too short to own an ugly boat.

Camrykaland

2010-02-25T15:16:00.001-05:00

Camrykaland is the dream of a couple, Carl and Mary. They've been cruising for a couple of decades and have decided to plant a few roots. No kidding. What you see behind them has been grown in the past 2 years!

They bought a few acres of land in Dolphin Bay about 10 miles south west and 20 minutes by boat, from the town of Bocas del Toro. The land although waterfront, was used for cattle grazing and much of the lands vegitation had been cleared. Carl and Mary decided to build a home there and replant the hillside to hopefully rebuild a canopy for the howler monkeys and sloths to be able to move through from one property to the next.

Destruction of timber lands for agriculture or cattle ranching, is a major problem for the natural animal inhabitants and so reforestation by gringos and government is a goal now.

While anchored in the bay off their property, we were visited several times by local indians. This one little boy came out twice, usually asking for a quarter or a pen or paper or water.....

He left contented, but sadly, he and others here live a very primitive life that our few interactions can not change quickly enough to solve todays problems.

He was a cute kid and I will think of him.

Bocas anchorage

2010-02-21T12:22:00.001-05:00

Before the sun set, the late afternoon light illuminated the large aluminum ketch Victoria. She is a 'teaching' vessel that takes young men to view better things and grow from the experience. She stops at Bocas often.

Just a little later, the sun set behind clouds west of us and the lighting changed for the rest of the early evening.

Internet will be rare.

2010-02-18T19:14:00.002-05:00

Moving the boat in the morning out to a nearby anchorage. Will miss the 'internet' wifi connection we have enjoyed, but it's time to fuel up and move on. A day or so in the anchorage and we will start meandering around the cruising grounds of Bocas del Toro to check out a few places, specifically Dolphin Bay to the S.E., then move east towards the San Blas Islands.

Will take an inside track to Zapatillos for a day, then a short run to Escudo. Heard there's good snorkling at both. Then we will have to make an overnight passage to the Chagres River so we arrive there in good light. The inlet is not marked and reefs on both sides, so I will need good light for 'eye ball' navigation into the river. This is a river that was dammed up during the building of the Panama Canal.. We heard it's still primal rain forest with Howler monkeys and plenty of birds etc.....a true jungle. If the weather permits, we will stay there for a couple of days soaking up the sounds and sights of the jungle from the cockpit.

Will answer emails whenever we get near civilization again. Might be a week, might be a month. Adios!

Mizzen Magic, by Tor Pinney

2010-02-16T21:30:00.001-05:00

No sense trying to profess the benefits of a Ketch or Mizzen on my own, when Tor Pinney has explained it so well.

read: MIZZEN MAGIC

Washing Machine for cruising

2010-02-11T09:13:00.002-05:00

A decade ago friends of ours Dave and Stacey McCampbell were cruising with a 12v dc washing machine aboard. The idea intrigued me, but our boat preparations were no where near that stage of finality, so did not do 'much' research. I did discover that in the U.S. even 120v. A.C. units were very difficult to get. The benefit of these small washers were the applicability of them to small boat cruising. Small physical dimensions coupled with very low power consumption made these an acceptable or desired inventory item. Twelve volt (12vdc units) would not have to use an inverter, saving on the conversion of electricity. However, since these units draw so little and are used so infrequently, the cost saving realized on purchasing a unit built for the masses (120-v.alternating.current.) vs. a (12v.direct current ) unit, would be paid for, 'up front'.With some ingenuity, a space could be found to secure the beast while underway as well as space to use one while at anchor.

While shopping in Central America we would often see many different brands of these mini-washer/spin dryer double tub units. Ideally, I would love to find a single tub unit with small dimensions, but so far have not.

I have found these units, measuring approximately 32"H x 28"W x 16"D for $140-$180 range. Slightly larger units cost a bit more but the size is not required for a couple aboard to keep up with laundry. The smallest sizes seem perfect though.

Yesterday, in Changuinola, Panama, we passed a dept. store in town that had an advertised special...looked like a clearance sale on a small washing machine. While in the store I checked them out and this was nearly the smallest and price had been dropped from $149 to $109. My brain lit up with activity. Was it worth it, should I try it? Do we have space(NO)? Where could I put it for a "trial'? Well, you know who won, or should I say, you know how long it took me to pay for the thing!!

At $109.99, it was worth a try. We are heading to the San Blas islands for 2 months and it would be a great test of the concept. I won't install the unit anywhere, but keep it secured inside the boat (somewhere), and put it in the cockpit once a week or so to do laundry. If we like the concept I'll install it below decks somewhere or get another but slightly smaller one (probably at $149 or so) to install. This beauty can be resold to another cruiser at a great price.

The power draw in "Washing" cycle is 300 watts (spin cycle 135 watts). This is an easy load on our small but efficient sine wave 1100 watt inverter. The cycle for washing is from 3-15 minutes, so even the longest wash would only consume 75 watts of power, or about 6 amps. I ran it for a test run and found the water got colored with 'dirt' in the first few minutes and didn't get any worse after that so I feel 6 minutes would be fine if Energy Usage was the Concern.... No problem- At 6 minutes divided into 300 watts, 30 would be used! (Less than 2.5 amps/cycle) We ran it for a Wash Cycle and 2 rinse Cycles (3 x 2.5 = 7.5amps.) and 3 Spin cycles of 2 minutes each (so .10 of 135 is 13.5 watts or 2.2 amps.) Our solar system could handle this without a blink and so could our battery system if used at night. Wonderful! Our plan is to wash, and spin electrically for under 10 amps of usage/week or so, then hang dry-- BOTH totally solar funded.

Wonderful! Hmmm. consider 8-10 gallons per load (wash+2 rinse=24-30 gallons). Ideas??

A Trip to Changuinola

2010-02-10T23:31:00.000-05:00

Paperwork issues always confront travelers. Panama offers no exceptions. When arriving by air, we were only allowed this time to procure a 30 day travel visa. When we came in by boat, it was a 6 month visa. The present norm for mariners is a 90 day window. Changing from 30 to 90 and back, now seem to be the norm in Panamanian 'what do we do today guys' way of planning. So, off we went to Changuinola today. The small town/city of 50,000 is maybe 30 miles away from Bocas, but to get there we had to take a 30 minute water taxi @ 40 mph.plus 25 miles south to Almirante, then take a tourista van 40 or miles NW from there.

It was a nice day and we left at 7 a.m. to be sure to be back to our boat in one day. All went well and the Immigration office was actually a fun experience, although we left $70 poorer. We had to fill out forms, get fingerprinted and supply double sets of passport size color photos of each of us. Then after more signing, questioning and a shift to 2 other desks, we got to see the gal who takes your bucks. Cordial but for us, confusing. No matter, we went with the flow and left smiling.

While at the office we ran into another cruising couple, Ron and Carol from the Virgin Islands. We all decided to walk town a bit and see if there was any good shopping to be had.. Americans! What would we do if not to shop? After doing so for maybe an hour, Dorothy and I had bought something each. She, an article of clothing and I, a plastic washing machine for the boat. More on that another time.

We left the small department store which had a surprising variety of 'stuff' and also ..... ONE 'UP' escalator !? (Guess the misplaced the DOWN escalator or it sold to a competitor. Quite thirsty in the late morning heat, we ambled next door to a little eatery. Taking the edge off day with 4 bottles of beverage-- 2 beers a coke and a water, I went over to the manager to pay the tab. He raised 3 fingers. ? I handed him a 10 and got 7 back. Now I've got to ask you, "When was the last time you were anywhere that you could sit in a restaurant and get a couple of beers, a coke and bottled water for 3 bucks total?"

Amazing. 'Local' economy and not much of any outsiders, so they price accordingly.

Made me think of those 7,8 and $10 dollar beers I've had before.. sigh

The washing machine story? Maybe tomorrow ;)

Phonetic Alphabet made simple

2010-02-06T21:38:00.000-05:00

http://captainjpslog.blogspot.com/2010/02/buffs-phonetic-alphabet.html

Prepping for San Blas Islands

2010-02-05T09:06:00.013-05:00

Taking a little bit each day, we are nearing completion of a list of tasks to ready Memory Rose for more sailing adventures.

In 2009, we spent a total of 20 days here in Panama, aboard the boat; 10 upon arrival and 10 in June. The rest of the time, other than the passage from Guatemala to here in Feb. March, was spent in the U.S..

On the trip south from San Andres Island of Columbia, we lost a small part from our main sails Luff Slide system(Tide's Marine). I picked up a replacement in the U.S. from Mack Sails and will install it today.

I decided to change out our stuffing box T-Bolts as they often sit wet, due to the required leakage from the seal. The T-bolt design is much stronger than the normal cheapo's so it's a good place to upgrade for security and I change these out every year or so and always have spares on hand.

The engine has been scrutinized and appears just fine and runs smooth. Yesterday, we opened up the intake strainer and cleaned it and the incoming hose of sea growth.

What is interesting here, is the distance from the external scupper outside the hull, to the strainer inside is about 3 feet. I was surprised for the 4th or 5th time, how far up and into a line these creatures can grow. Beyond the strainer, in the line to the seachest, there were a few very smll barnacles and a touch of slime only. It seems that barnacles, muscles, candy coral and other hard creatures can grow well up an intake line-3 feet at least and some up to 6 feet in. This is a surprise to me because I would have thought the lack of sunlight, stagnant water(the boat has been sitting for months) would have prohibited growth in the first place or killed it after it's start. No such luck. This should be a 'heads up' to mariners not using strainers inside their water intake systems and also for short water intake runs before major equipment, such as the propulsion engine.

We found a small but surprising number of muscles this time, not the usual candy coral and barnacles.

When finished, I added a couple of cups of Clorox bleach to the Strainer then topped off with water. Ran some of this through the Sea Chest and into the lines for heads and Air conditioner. Just long enough to kill any growth in the lines, then flushed with clean seawater.

Also have had to regroup and get computers aboard with updated with the Windows and anti-virus requirements. Time has been spent refreshing my working ability with navigational software and fixing the few glitches I'm finding there with programs in computers and peripheral equipment.

Anyway, all is going well. Had one of the marina's young men dive and clean the bottom of the boat and dove myself to assist and check the condition. Was very surprised to see the anti-fouling paint still doing a good job after 4.5 years. Using Interlux Micron Extra with Biolux).

We ordered 160 portions of meat and fish to be vacuum packed individually and frozen prior to placing it in our freezer. Speaking of, I replace seals on the Freezer lid yesterday. It's nice and 'air tight' now...No Air Leaks. Will go into town later today and tomorrow and start loading up on all the other things we will need for 2-3 months of uninterrupted cruising. Getting close :)

Christian and Shannon "RIP"

2010-02-01T23:27:00.007-05:00

Moved to:

my personal bitching, whining, what's wrong with the rest of this world site

Sail

2010-01-16T11:56:00.003-05:00

Center and backround...the old way. ( Click any photo to enlarge)

Morning in Bocas del Toro

2010-01-15T09:37:00.003-05:00

Keeping a sense of humor................

2010-01-08T18:12:00.003-05:00

Projects or Travel?

2010-01-07T20:12:00.001-05:00

For either, just look to the right side of this page: PROJECTS OR TRAVEL

Be selective and read only what you want to.

OR: Scroll down this page to read our latest posts; page after page after page.

Enjoy!

Back to Bocas

2010-01-06T20:54:00.000-05:00

Wow, what a trip!

We should have returned to Bocas del Toro, Panama on Dec. 8th but I came down with another bout of vertigo. Not sure, but an old concussion might be the root cause of that recuring problem. However, airline travel seemed to only offer middle of the night red-eye flights or very expensive ones for us to rebook our travels. We chose late night.

Rental car from St. Pete to Orlando late afternoon on the 28th of Dec. then airport clearing in for a 9:40 pm departure went fine. The flight from Orlando to Ft. Lauderdale was packed, including sniffling sneezing travelers and whiney or sugared up children. Lauderdale to Panama City, Panama went smoothly but both flights were late to depart but not a problem for us.....we were not going to get 'any' sleep. Baggage was slow to arrive, but eventually we were out the door...the last passengers only to find, no cabs. OK, here comes a pirate cab owner.
We accept his $33. price to drive us to the next airport across town.

Yikes! His car was one dent inside or atop another. The interior looked like a left over from demolition derby. He opened the hood and with a tucked away one liter coke bottle, topped up the radiator, then closed the hood/kind of.

He also drove like he was warming up for the demolition derby and after a near miss, I told him in my satisfactory Spanish, to slow down! He didn't like that but so what.

At Albrook Field, the puddle jumper airstrip, we then waited 3 hours for it to open and get us onto a small 20 passenger plane....with our luggage priced at $.80/lb. over 25 lbs. $40 bucks extra for the 50 lbs.

We arrived fine at Bocas, a 50 minute flight. Then because another plane landed too, we had to wait 50 minutes more for the workers to push our baggage 50 yds. over to us.

Tired of the slowdowns we opted to walk the 7 blocks or so from the airport to the waterfront toting our baggage behind on it's rollers. On the main street/waterfront, I stepped into a Chinese operated hardware store to purchace a phone card for airtime, then stepped aboard a small launch to take us 1/2 mile to our marina and Memory Rose.

No time was wasted. We quickly took the items in the suitcases, which were itemized and packed in large plastic food bags, and passed them aboard and below. The air conditioning was turned on and you know what followed??? about 2 days of catch up sleep.

Refreshed, life is good. Small projects getting done, meals being cooked and eaten, trips to town a fun adventure. We are smiling.

Shore Power connection

2010-01-06T17:17:00.016-05:00

A friends boat was saved by the F.D. the day before my visit. His shore power cord connection at the hull, overheated and ignited. Smoke damage was extensive and physical damage to hull, interior, electronics, etc. was costly and time consuming to deal with.
Another friend lost his Antiqua last year and he believes it was an electrical problem that set her ablaze. We often leave our boat with the air conditioning and other equipment running so electrical connections are extreme concerns to me.

I had replaced shore power cords a number of times over decades of boat ownership or stewardship due to appearances of the end connectors. Only Once however did I ever change the connector at the hull. Why? Hmmm. Not sure, but maybe laziness? Maybe the male Hull connector looked better than the female mate of the power cord? I can't honestly answer, but I had noted after the Antiqua was lost, that my fairly new shore power cords female end(the end that connects to the boat) was blackened somewhat at one contacts opening(the neutral/white wire).

Someone keen on perception once said;

"Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so."
............. That noted, I try harder as time goes on to attempt to lean towards the "unique", rather than the "remarkable". I also write some posts like this so others can too and hopefully it works.

The darkened contact counterclockwise from the physically different Grounding (green wire) connection, was often the overheating culprit on our boat.

I mentioned this on a post to my CSY blogspot at the time, that I was going to purchase and install new parts in June when I returned to our boat in Panama, but we have been delayed returning to Panama for pleasure or projects until now.

While in the U.S. I searched online for the proper connection to replace what CSY had originally installed on our boat. I had actually replaced it once around the mid 90's. It was made by Hubbel and not the more common Marinco brand found in stores today. Prices for the part varied widely from $73. to approx.$200. Same part, just different price.

Yesterday, I installed the new Hubbel male Stainless Steel hull connection and also the shore power female end connection(Marinco). Note the difference. Most retailers today sell only the Marinco shore power cords. Hubbel seems to have been displaced for a decade or two in the boating market. While the Marinco shore power connections FIT, the rubberized ends of the cord are somewhat different.

Just enough to not allow a watertight seal at the the Hubbel S.S. hull fitting. It's a good idea to keep rain and washdown water from intruding into your 30 amp alternating current connection-both for safety and longevity of components.

Why then NOT use a
Marinco connection at the hull as well as the shore power cord? Well, on our boat, the space allowed, inside the boat for the electrical wiring to and from the connection was really tight!

The Black Ring 'should' be able to screw onto the stainless steel threads. The Marinco Boot, does not fit the Hubbel Hull connection for a water tight seal.

The original installation using the Hubbel fitting allowed the wires AND tools necessary to install them to be inserted inline and not from the sides. The 'sides' of the fitting were too close to a bulkhead and panel to insert a screwdriver required for service on the Marinco, so that is why I opted for the Hubbel. The newer replacement Hubbel connection has the wires in the appropriate location, but to loosen or tighten them I must loosen the entire device and work on it outside of our pilothouse. Not perfect, but OK. Outside of the boat, I still do have the potential problem of wetting the connection. This has not been a problem so far and I'm accepting it as my trade off.

Either way, we now have a new hull connection and a new cord connector to attach to it, inplace and functioning. I'm sleeping better.