Friday, January 15, 2010

Cruising Fashion

The cruising lifestyle is filled with individuals who are - well, individualistic. They sail their own direction, dance to their own music and live a free-spirited life. So when it comes to fashion aboard, there really should not be "fashions do's" and "fashion don'ts". It would be contrary to the lifestyle. BUT. . . there are some things that are just plain wrong.

Let's start with men's "banana hammocks" - those are the t-back swimsuits that put a string up the butt crack and has a tiny pouch in front for the man's "john henry." Why are the men who strut around in these suits, the ones who simply should not. Are there no mirrors on those boats? Today, an older gent on a boat filled with backpackers, had on an orange BH. If that wasn't enough to turn heads, he added a bright pink big hat so you would surely take a gander. Now it was something we just didn't need to see in this paradise of Chichime. He had a big gut and not the most attractive buns for showing off. But there he was, proudly strutting his stuff. The other week, another gent on a French catamaran had on a bright red BH - and again, not the body to go with it! I want to know why the really good looking guy in the East Holandes, that did yoga on his foredeck and was an expert kite-surfer - why didn't he wear one instead of the baggy shorts he wore. Nature is all out of balance here.

I'm certain Michael will point out some equally off kilter female fashion faux pas. There are certainly women wearing string bikinis who should put on some additional clothes.

We moved from the East Lemmons to Porvenir where we got our "zarpe" to clear out of this district. We'll be leaving on Monday or Tuesday to head towards Linton and Colon - which is a different "port" district. It's an excuse to get more money from the boaters. Our zarpe cost $12.70. When we get to Colon we'll have to clear in there and pay more money. Panama is turning out to be quite expensive for all the clearing in fees, Kuna fees and clearing out fees for the various districts. The Bahamas holds the record for $300 for 6 months - but we're guessing Panama will come close to that.

From Porvenir we dinghied over to Wichibwala in the hopes of finding some Kuna bread (no luck), but we were able to get some flour - so I'll continue to try to perfect my bread baking. I'm gonna attempt hamburger buns next!

From there we got back to the boat and then headed to Chichime - a new island for us. We are anchored here with about 12 other boats. The anchorage is between two small islands and behind a large reef. The waves are crashing over the reef as it's still quite windy - but it's a beautiful place. We'll probably get a snorkel in tomorrow and then get the boat ready for the all day trip towards Isla Linton.

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