Out on the Reef

We recovered from the holidays and hope you all can say the same. All our decorations are put away! We made a trip from the "pool" to Nargana and did laundry up the Rio Diablo. If you have to do laundry by hand - this is the way to do it. Dinghy up the river and enjoy the tadpoles, fish, birds, butterflies and landscape while agitating and rinsing. This time we threw the cleaned clothes on top of bushes to start the drying process. (Got an interesting bug on board from the laundry - it looked like it was a gold bead - but it was a bead that started to move when picked up. It was an all gold beetle of some variety. It was tiny but beautiful and really looked like shiny gold.) We had loads and loads of laundry with guest towels and sheets as well as weeks worth of our clothes. It took most of the day for this project - but it was pleasant. Plus the outboard Yoshi got a fresh water rinse and so did we! No crocodiles or monkey sightings to report.

We went out to dinner in Nargana as well with Jim from "Wonderland" - and by Kuna Yala standards it was a bit pricey - $39 for 8 beers, one lobster dinner, one fish dinner and one octopus dinner.

After our Nargana outing, we headed back to Esnasdup - an island west of Nargana and this time instead of nestling behind the island, we decided to anchor in front of it and behind a giant reef. It is a magnificent view - forwards and backwards. Because it's been relatively calm for a few days, we've been able to swim to the outside of the reef and explore the deeper shelves. A great collection of coral and fish to see. Hawk's been hunting - but no joy for the dinner table (joy for the fish however!)

It's been fun to explore the various reefs around this pretty island. There are six boats here - and on Monday night, one boat invited everyone over for sundowners and snacks. It was a great feast and fun group. We finally got to meet Brian and Debbie on "Uhane". It is a boat we had seen often at the Harborage Marina in St. Petersburg, before we left. As well as a friend of a friend of Richard and Rene! We've also worked on cleaning the hull - a never ending project - but it looks pretty good now.

We'll stay here a few days to clean the dinghy, polish some stainless, get a few boat projects done and hopefully explore more reefs. The Kuna's come by regularly and we splurged on a lobster feast the other night. The boat's oven has been getting a workout as well - Gibson's bread recipe continues to work (thanks Dave); a Dutch whole grain bread was tasty; and, a first batch of English muffins was tested and they are yummy (and you can even make the Astarte version of 'Egg McMuffins'). So lot's going on aboard and we continue to eat well.

Stay warm - we're hearing it's mighty chilly in the states and Canada - even in Florida.

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