After a wonderful whirlwind visit to Nashville and Washington DC to see moms, sister, brothers, nephews, niece, in-laws and long lost friends we've returned to Panama and found the boat safely sitting on its moorings in Panamarina. Meaghan's and Matt's wedding was a great event and congrats to the couple. Thanks to everyone for their hospitality - Gen, Trish, Carol, CVD and Chris for the meals; Derek and Margie for the meals, house and all the running around errands; Matt and Meaghan and their families for the wedding events; Mark and Kathryn for the storage and delivery of all our shipments… and everyone for their hospitality. We're sure we missed someone.
As with every trip stateside, boat parts and items that are difficult or expensive in foreign lands were ordered. Kathryn and Derek were kind enough to be our delivery points and at each place lots of goods were gathered or bought. We told everyone that we brought back a metric ton and a half of boat parts. It seemed close - thank goodness Delta still doesn't charge for overseas bags - we maxed out. Then we got to Panama City and bought even more - hoses, wire, oil, filters, zincs, and most importantly; fish catching devices - a new spear gun, as well as a restock of beer, wine and some tinned goods. Unpacking everything and finding room aboard Astarte for all the bits has been a challenge. We have a long list of projects now to complete with all these new parts. Michael's already completed a few projects - the sink water faucet has been replaced and the mast's roller furler has been cleaned and greased up. But lots more to do.
We had only two days once back on the boat and had to leave the "marina" so we came back to Portobello where we'll do another provisioning run. Unfortunately our timing isn't great - there is a huge festival here - the Christo Negro (Black Christ). It is a pilgrimage to the Black Christ church here in tiny Portobello. They say 30,000 people come for it - and though mostly a religious festival - there is an abundance of eating and drinking and music. It started this Friday and ends next Thursday. The checkpoints on the road have already started which slows traffic to a snail's pace. The roads will close on Wednesday and Thursday as the pedestrians and pilgrims (some on their knees) make their way into the town. We will try to see if we can provision on Monday - but may not have much luck finding any driver wanting to make the run into Colon. If not, we'll wait until the festival is over.
Booths are set up all over town with local fare. We love trying the local delicacies and have already enjoyed one meal on Friday night. Plus the beers at the booths are 60 cents - a new personal best! We've connected with our friends Lelia and Jeff from Ivory Moon here in Portobello - so it's been a fun reunion.
Its rainy season now and the rains seem pretty consistent. We're able to fill our water tanks with rain water and even get some laundry done. It's amazing how musty things get in the tropical rainy time. Drying clothes is the issue. But, we take advantage of every break in the clouds and hang things out.
So, we're ticking off projects and trying to finish up a re-supply of food and then we'll be on our way again.
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