The Log of S/V Astarte

One. Two. Three.

2012-02-07T09:58:00.001-05:00

Three years and counting. On February 6, 2009, Astarte left the dock in St. Petersburg, Florida and we began a wonderful adventure. The years have been spent exploring wonderful countries, hundreds of interesting and beautiful islands – many multiple times – and meeting interesting people on shore and from other boats.

Exploring the various islands by foot or dinghy , we've found wonderful out of the way places. We've hiked some wonderful hillsides and up various rivers and waterfalls. We have a great appreciation for life under the water as well – constantly learning about new sea critters and fish. We have tried interesting new foods – especially some fruits and vegetables. .We've learned some Spanish – enough for shopping and basic communication and wish we had become even more fluent. We've traded in various currencies and bought products and services from many interesting people and places.

Highlights over the last three years are hard to select – recent ones always seem to be what we remember best. Transiting the Panama Canal is certainly on top of the list – it was exciting to do the big canal on our own boat. Other memorable moments and times include: the bat cave in Bocas; the out islands of Venezuela; Cartagena and Providencia parades; river and waterfall hikes in Guadeloupe and Guanaja; the finca walk and fruit collection in Bocas; climbs to the highest points of the Saints and Providencia; the lovely and remote islands of Kuna Yala; the historic walking tour and pub crawl in Bonaire; the lionfish hunts; the Roatan Marine park; ziplining; quiet sunsets on Astarte when we have the whole island to ourselves; fun nights with friends, food and drink on our boat , at a friend's boat or at social events...and so many more.

Lightning, thunderstorms, squalls, heavy wind, blistering hot and calm days and water spouts have been experienced along with gorgeous cloud-free, sunny days or cool trade winds blowing away the heat. We've enjoyed beautiful six day sails and been becalmed with no wind. We've relaxed in flat anchorages and suffered sleepless nights in rolly bouncy places.

We've been scared at night by huge Colombian Navy ships stalking us in the dark and we were welcomed aboard a Panamanian Navy vessel for a tour. We've had small repairs to make along the way and larger projects like a new arch, haul-out or shaft replacement to tackle. Heads have clogged; propane has run out at inopportune times; and things just seem to go "on strike" when you least need it or expect it. But you cope and figure out how to work around a system or fix it in exotic locations. (I (Barbara) am really grateful to my husband Michael for being so capable in this department!)

Every guest visit remains a high point in our travels. We just said adios to frequent visitors Dave and Lorna who got their fourth stamp on the Astarte Guest card having made the trek to see us in Turks & Caicos, San Blas, Roatan and here on the Pacific side of Panama. Kathryn and Mark have two stamps for trips to San Blas and Honduras (Roatan and Guanaja). Frank was the tallest man in the vans in Grenada and a hit at "Fisherman's Friday." Tom came to see us in the Bocas heat and super squall and was forced to pack in a new sail for Astarte. Jim made the journey to Honduras for the no-fish tournament between Roatan and Guanaja (but lots of sharks, snakes and lionfish). Lloyd and Margaret got the Kuna Yala experience and we even got Lloyd to admit snorkeling is almost as good as sailing. Richard and Rene experienced Kuna Yala's land adventure as well as the islands – above ground and underwater. We do love our guests and the special times we have when they come aboard. .

And then there are boat friends – people you connect with when your paths cross. People we probably never would have had the honor of meeting and who's company we've enjoyed or continue to enjoy. There are way too many of these to mention – most we still stay in touch with and hear about their new travel adventures – and some who are helping prep us for our next steps. They are the real treasures of this kind of travel and we are so thankful that we've been honored to know them.

And as we clearly know, this trip wouldn't happen without the family and friends we have to support our efforts. Whether handling our mail, bills and taxes or ordering us parts and pieces or keeping us posted on what's happening with other family and friends or just being there to visit when we land back in the states...providing us places to stay and lots of treats. We love hearing from folks who just take the time to send us a quick e-mail or comment on the web entries. It's nice to know someone's reading his thing!

After almost three years in the Caribbean Sea, we've crossed over via a successful and fun Panama Canal transit and are now in the Pacific Ocean. We've recently taken a break from prepping for the next big adventure with a trip to the Las Perlas islands with Dave and Lorna. Massive provisioning is the next step as we prepare for longer ocean crossings than we've ever done.

Three years and counting – and the bigger and more challenging adventure is certainly ahead of us. Thank you all for being part of it. We hope you are enjoying the ride as much as we are!

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Visiting Pedro

2012-02-05T09:31:00.000-05:00

We departed the island of San Jose after one night and had a nice sail to Pedro Gonzales – another lovely island with sandy beaches, interesting rock islands and not many boats. We anchored near one sailboat along a sandy beach. Michael and Lorna started work on making a new dinghy cover. They had an assembly line of sorts going making a pattern off the old cover and cutting and sewing the new pieces. Dave and Barbara decided to swim to the beach. The water was very murky and it was hard to see anything until you got very shallow and could see some fish amongst the rocks.

That evening, the wind came up quite strong and we got a big swell so we moved the boat closer to the other shoreline for some protection. It wasn't a very comfortable night with the wind hooting and the waves crashing against the hull.

The next day, the water was still very murky, so after some sewing by the dinghy cover team, we all headed on a dinghy exploration. We went to a little island with a cross on it and some steps carved into the rock. Don't know if its a grave (perhaps Pedro Gonzales for whom the island is named?) or just a monument. But we climbed up to it and enjoyed a nice view. Then we dinghied to the beach and walked the long beach collecting some very pretty shells and rocks. Lorna will have new things to put in or near her backyard ponds.

After a more pleasant night at anchor, we left for a new location. We headed to Mogo Mogo. We settled in the cut between Isla Chapera and Mogo Mogo along another beautiful sandy beach. No fish caught on the trip – but we tried. We snorkeled that afternoon in a great spot – the visibility was much improved. Saw all kinds of interesting fish, eels and rays. Very cool. Lorna unfortunately got wrapped with a jelly fish and felt some stings – bummer. Thank goodness for meat tenderizer!

This seems to be a hot spot for local "party" boats. Three came in after we anchored. Lots of music but luckily no jet skis. They left before sunset and we had the place to ourselves again. It's Saturday so we'll see what happens today. Though when we awoke, there are two large Panama Navy ships anchored behind us and lots of launch trips to shore filled with naval personnel. It looks like a military base at the far end of this island (last night we thought it was a home -but upon further binocular observation – we think its a military base.) The ships out here helped give us a clue!
We'll snorkel today for sure – its a sunny lovely morning. Could be a hot one. Last night in the Perlas with our guests – and then back to Panama City.

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Do You Know the Way to San Jose?

2012-02-01T18:38:00.000-05:00

What an adventure these last few days with Dave and Lorna! We've seen whales, rays, thousands of fish and even caught several. We've dined on grilled fish, tuna kabobs, tuna hors d'oeuvres and "Fish Mediterranean" The fridge and refrigerator are so full we can hardly make ice!

We stayed in Isla Contradora in Las Perlas Islands for a few days. We hiked the island the first day here and it was a lovely island. There is a small (very small) airport on it and lots of beautiful beaches. We stopped in both of the small stores on the island and even dined out on a great chicken and rice lunch. Because of the big tides here we had to leave our dinghy way up on the beach and we were grateful that we had four people to carry it back to the water, which was much further than when we left!

The next day we put on our wet suits and went snorkeling. The water is much chillier than in the Caribbean. We went to a few places but between the surge and visibility, they weren't great. But we got in the water and did some exploring. There were lots of fish and things seem less colorful in the Pacific but everything is larger. That afternoon, we swam off Astarte and saw literally thousands of fish of all types. Huge schools of various jacks, snappers and bait fish. We spotted giant trumpet fish – the largest we've ever seen and Michael even caught on camera a "smiling" large moray eel. It was an incredible sight – all those fish in one area.

On Tuesday morning we left to head to a different island. We settled on San Jose, a private island that some friends were anchored at and said was quite lovely. We had a wonderful downwind sail - and of course, the fish lines out. Unfortunately, we had a fish line tango...the two lines twisted and rolled together – costing us a lot of line that had to be cut. We'll have to re-figure out where to put the pole holder. But we still did manage to catch a nice size tuna-type fish (identification pending the expert marine scientists in the family). Dave managed to bring it in, land it and clean it. We ate it that night "Mediterranean" style – and it was very tasty. We had so much fish with some leftover tuna and this large fish, we invited our friends Sunny and Blake to dinner with us.

On the sail over we saw a pod of whales in the distance. They looked like they were humpbacks – but a bit too far to be sure. But we saw them spouting and some humps. Always fun. And we've also seen many, many rays. There are these small rays that jump put of the water like jumping beans and flap away as they jump about ten feet out of the water. There are whole schools of these jumping rays and they are pretty funny to watch. We also see schools of rays swimming near the boat. In fact, as we came in to anchor, Barbara saw a school of them and thought we were about to hit rocks -until all the rocks moved when we got really close.

Dave, Lorna and Michael did do some dinghy exploring of the island in the afternoon. Barbara stayed behind to do some tidying and baking. Getting on the beach was too challenging with the huge surge – so they explored some caves and area rocks and enjoyed the sights. It is a very pretty island though a deep anchorage (more than 40 feet).

It was a fun evening with friends and stories...and a late night for the crew of Astarte. Our guests have less than a week left and we still have so much to do and see.

For the banana – fish catching study...we had no bananas on board and caught one fish.

Can't believe its already February.

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Fish On. Fish On. Fish On.

2012-01-29T09:35:00.000-05:00

Yippee., whoopee, yahoo ..for a lot of reasons.
Reason #1 – Lorna and Dave arrived safely to Panama and they get their fourth stamp on their frequent Astarte visitor card. It is great to have them aboard. They started on their very early flight from chilly Cleveland through the Miami airport and into Tocumen International in Panama City. They were loaded down with all kind of parts and stuff for Astarte...and had no problems. It's been like Christmas on Astarte with stove parts, head parts, caulks (West Marine did make good on their replacement), pumps, batteries, dive booties .and the list continues. Each night they have gifted us with something else. Of course the first night was pounds and pounds of Gibson chocolates. T-shirts the next night. It's been great having them here and the week's just started.

Reason #2 - We got out of Panama City. After a month at anchor in Las Brisas...we pulled up the anchor (boy was our new chain a mess with growth, barnacles and mud).and got out on Saturday. Dave and Lorna arrived on Thursday and we went to the airport to meet them We took local transportation there which was a fun adventure on the 25 cent bus – that took an hour and a half. But we saw lots of the city. We cabbed back with all their bags, which took lests than 30 minutes. On Friday, we hired a cab to take us on a last minute grocery shopping trek to get the fresh fruit, veggies and bread (and scotch for Dave). Then bright and early on Saturday morning, we left the anchorage for the Las Perlas Islands. This is a long string of islands that are about 35 miles away from Panama City. For those reality TV series fans - "Survivor" Panama was shot on this group of islands.

Reason #3 – We sailed. We had an absolutely fabulous, sunny day with a steady wind 12-18 knots from off our side – so we could reach and we were moving. It was a great sail.

Reason #4– We caught fish. Not one. Not two – but three fish! We put our brand new fish line (Dave and Lorna brought) on the reel and put it to the test. We also had our trusty old "yoyo" - and both lines got wet. We tried several different lures through the morning. Then, we had a major sail issue. Our mainsail jammed in the mast furler big time. It somehow got twisted inside and the huge crease in it wouldn't allow it to be pulled in or out. So lots of pulling, twisting, winching and bad language later – we managed to at least get the sail down. But, by this point, we had forgotten about the two trailing fish lines...and yes, they managed to get twisted together and then wrapped on the prop (luckily it wasn't turning – we were actually sailing!). So once the sail was down – before we could start the motor to deal with it further, we (meaning Michael) had to go overboard and untangle the mess. He did after several attempts. We had a good swell going so it couldn't have been much fun. But he did it. Then he got the sail off, and he and Dave got it back on the furler and back up. Finally we were sailing again under full main and genoa and moving. Good fish catching speed. Both lines were put back in the water and off we went again after an hour delay. Lures were changed and Barbara (who loves "spoons") put on her favorite spoon lure on the yoyo. Yup, a hit. A lovely "blackie" - a black finned tuna. Just as Michael is cleaning that one – another hit – this time Lorna pulls in a small, but very edible mahi. Yum. Then dave puts a spoon on the reel. A hit. He pulls in what looks like another tuna but it shakes off the hook. Then another hit on the yoyo – another blackie. We call it a day. Lots of fish to clean and then eat and there isn't much room in a fully provisioned fridge and freezer.

That night we dine on a fish medly – simply grilled with a little lime and pepper. Grilled Black Fin tuna and Grilled Mahi. Too bad we only had a boxed wine to go with it! But it was a feast.

So we are anchored at Isla Contradora. We'll probably stay here at least for today and explore the island and do some snorkeling.

Lots of reasons to be happy... oh by the way(Dave and Jamie), we did have bananas on board when we caught the three fish.

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Shopping Panama City

2012-01-23T19:15:00.001-05:00

Let's start by saying, "we hate to shop." Neither of us enjoy going to malls. We much prefer the rustic, local veggie markets or fish markets to air-conditioned mega-malls. But, we needed some stuff before we head across the Pacific. Over the last week, we've been shopping...and spending.

On Thursday, we did some provisioning for our guests arrival. We took the local 25 cent bus to "Transmistica" where we'd hit 'Mega Depot," "Abernathy's" and "Riba Smith." Mega Depot is a sort of Sam's Club or Costco, but you don't have to be a member. They have the best prices on beer, wine and liquor as well as cases of items like tinned vegetables, meats and dry goods. We burnt through about 3 boat units here. Michael walked to Abernathy's, the local chandler, for some parts to install the new solar panel. Then Tony, a local cab driver, picked us and our cases of stuff up. Barbara got dropped off at a grocery store, Riba Smith, for grocery shopping and Michael and Tony headed off for multiple stops. Besides oil and fuel filters, the big search was for some aluminum bars to mount the solar panels. This required a pretty intensive search with many stops at machine shops, metal dealers and finally a window and door manufacturing company where they hit the jackpot. The day ended at El Tapiz, a fabric store where some sunbrella, vinyl and texteline was purchased to remake the dinghy cover (get ready Lorna!)

It was an 8 boat unit day! Ouch. And a very wet dinghy ride back to Astarte with all the stuff.

On Saturday, we went via local bus, to Albrook Mall. Now this is one huge mall. And on Saturday, it seems to be the place everyone goes. Families, teens, singles are here to ride the rides in the mall and shop. It is a huge mall with every conceivable store – two huge hardware stores, about eight large department stores, shoes stores galore, furniture stores, drug stores, clothing stores for men, women and children, wedding shops, a giant grocery plus a food court with at least 50 options, a movie theater, carousels, trains and rides and lots of banks, western unions and loan places. Our list included new water shoes for Michael, bed sheets, frying pans, bed pillow, paper, pens, reading glasses (for gifts), butane, mineral spirits, acetone, dremel bit, 2-gallon jug, leather anchor gloves, copies of passports, visa photos, etc. The list was long and varied But this was the place.

We started early and it was a non-stop trek. We crossed a lot off the list and spent a bundle (at least 5 boat units). We ended the shopping day with a treat – ice cream. We cabbed back with all our goodies – not wanting to fight our way onto the crowded local buses.

Sunday, we are putting things away and Michael is installing the new solar panel so that Dave and Lorna will have a place to sleep in the V-berth!

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Jesus and the Guardian Angel

2012-01-17T09:02:00.000-05:00

It's been really windy here in the Las Brisas anchorage in Panama City. The wind yesterday was coming out of the northeast and that meant a lot of fetch and pretty good waves as well. We had delivered our dinghy to the repair shop yesterday morning (Monday) to get some "professional" patches put on – trying to make the 11 year old inflatable last longer. So that meant we were without a dinghy all day (or two or three). So we were stuck on board working on more projects.

Our friends Sunny and Blake on "Slow Mocean" went into town (after he kindly helped us bring our dinghy to shore). In the afternoon the boats were really pitching in the seas and the wind was a steady 20 knots pulling at their anchor rodes. The anchorage has a bit of everything – sailboats of all sizes and in all conditions, big work boats, derelict rusted heaps, fancy yachts – everything from 20 feet in length to probably 500 feet. One of the 70 foot or so local fishing boats "Jesus" decided to go for a walkabout. It was dragging through the anchorage at a pretty good speed. It just missed the sailboat "Aspara" – and kept on moving. The next victim in its path looked like it would be the catamaran "Slow Mocean" with nobody on board. Because we were without transport – we flagged down Matt on "Superted" who was out to try to help. He picked up Michael who went to"Slow Mocean" to "stand-by. We called Blake and Sunny(by cell phone) to find out if there were any secrets to start their engine and to let them know what was going on. That's always a bad call to get.

Meanwhile, Barbara called the dragging boat (Matt got the phone number) and in her Spanish tried to communicate that the boat was dragging. It seemed to work. Meanwhile, "Jesus" had seemed to grab again and had stopped moving. In about 20 minutes, a grey tug/pilot boat, aptly named "Angel Guardian", came along side "Jesus" and tied up to her. Someone jumped aboard and pulled up the anchor. The two boats were really crashing into each other in the waves, but they did manage to haul up the anchor and then tow "Jesus" further out. They dropped the anchor and it dragged again. After a few tries, it seemed to hold and "Jesus" held his ground through the night...when it calmed substantially.

The dinghy repairs will be ready tomorrow (Wednesday) so we'll head in to pick it up in the morning. Hopefully it will last a few more seasons. That will be another thing off the list. Next project: installing the solar panel – which means shopping for aluminum bars and a few connectors.

It's always an adventure on Astarte – whether in the anchorage or finding parts or making repairs. Everyday – it's something!

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Shopping. Spending. Installing.

2012-01-13T16:08:00.000-05:00

Astarte is getting so many new things – she should be one happy boat. And we are spending boat units like a couple of drunken sailors!

We already have the new Tohatsu outboard, Jenny-San and she's working great. We're still on the "break-in period" with extra oil in the fuel. Michael can't go as fast as he'd like until we burn through this tank. So that big project is checked off the list.

Yesterday, after many, many, many phone calls we bought another solar panel (140 watts-Chinese made). The process was actually kinda funny. We started looking for panels when we were in Bocas del Toro. Michael called probably everybody in Panama that sells them to get prices. These ranged from around $400 to $800 for one panel between 90 and 190 watts. We just missed a shipment of a bunch of panels to the Bocas area from the states at what seemed like a really good price. But, that's how it goes – timing is everything. After much searching on the radio nets, internet and by phone we found a company called Panasolar that had the best price. But the panel had to be picked up from the free zone in Colon. Something that is quite difficult to do and can add quite a bit of cost. After talking to Sergio (A Russian living in Panama for about two years) we arranged to get a 140 watt panel for $390. He called us yesterday morning and said he had to be in Amador (the area where we are anchored) so he'd come by with the panel. We agreed to meet him at the public dock. He brought two panels and as we were looking at them, the Aduana (customs) men came by and wanted to see a receipt from Sergio. After much discussion (sometimes a bit heated) Sergio had to pack up the panels and leave. We then met him across the road behind a restaurant and made the deal. We exchanged cash and felt like we were doing something illegal (which we weren't) – but it seemed bizarre. We got a receipt and hoped we could get back to the public dock without any additional hassle from the customs agents.

We also purchased a new head (toilet) the day before and it would be delivered to the local chandlery on Thursday. It was near where we did the solar panel deal – so Michael walked down to pick that up while Barbara stayed with the solar panel. We lucked out when a van offered to drive us across the road with the panel and toilet to the dock. We got by the customs agent without any questions and quickly off-loaded the panel to the dinghy as well as the head.

Today, Friday is head installation day! (Friday the 13th – should we do it?) Getting the old, leaky one out wasn't too bad. Unfortunately neither the "out " hose or the screw holes from the old head, match the new one. So it's turned into a huge project.

Michael's been tackling projects non-stop. He re-sealed a leaky port and unfortunately the "Boat Life" caulk he bought while in St. Petersburg in September was bad. All three different tubes had gotten hard – so he was only able to squeeze about half a tube out of each – barely enough to get the job done. Hopefully the port light won't leak – we'll see when we get some heavy rain.

But, KUDOS to WEST MARINE. After a few e-mails back and forth about the caulk, they stood by their product and have sent three new tubes of the to Dave's address to deliver to us when he visits. They were incredibly fast with a reply to our e-mail and responsive by doing the right thing. They have our loyalty still. We were impressed.

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Vacation Time

2012-01-09T19:26:00.000-05:00

Can' t take that much needed vacation? The mean boss won't let you have time off or are you simply a workaholic who is keen to move up in the world? Tired of being cold and tired this winter? Have we got an idea for you!!!

You can take a "Virtual Vacation" aboard S/V Astarte. Cruise the Pacific aboard a Moody 422. Cross the equator. See the Galapagos and the French Polynesian islands. No packing. No TSA hassles. No need to lose those winter pounds. You don't have to learn Spanish or French. No need to get the passport updated. Virtual Vacations does it all for you. Yes, you can come along for just a small percentage of what South Pacific vacation would cost you. You'll get photos to show all your friends and colleagues...and you'll get adventure stories to tell at dinner parties. You'll be on everyone's invitation list!

For costs and more details contact us!

(Hey we have to payoff all those boat units somehow!!)

Enjoy the full moon – howl if you want.

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Boat Units

2012-01-08T08:57:00.001-05:00

There is the US economy. There is the European economy. There is the world economy. And, there is the Astarte economy. Every economy is based on a unit of currency whether a dollar, a euro or gold. On Astarte, we call them "boat units.(BUs)"
When we look at what something will cost, we decide how many "boat units" it will be. A boat unit is roughly equivalent to $100 US dollars. (On some boats it could be equivalent to $1000 or $10- size usually matters in this case!) As we are getting ready for our sail across the Pacific, we are spending many boat units (so you'll see a jump in the international economic outlook.) But what's on our list? Here's the current shopping list for SV Astarte.
1 – Dinghy Outboard and spare parts
for that outboard. (We bought a
Tohatsu 9.8 HP along with a spare
propeller, carb rebuild kit, two impellers, fuel line
fitting, ten spark plugs
and 2-stroke oil)                                                        20 BU
1 – New Head (toilet) for aft (to match forward head) 3 BU
2 – Rebuild kits for toilets                                            1 BU
1 – Foot pump for galley                                             1 BU
1 – Set of sheets (that would line) for the new drifter   2 BU
1 – Lifting tackle line for outboard                             .50 BU
New foam for outdoor cushions                                  1 BU
Fabric to repair dinghy cover                                    .50 BU
Dinghy repair                                                            3 BU
Fishing line, hooks, swivels, etc.                                   1 BU
Batteries (AA, AAA, button)                                   .25 BU
Spotlight                                                                 .25 BU
Various plumbing fittings/spares                               .50 BU
Stove repair parts (We'll see if Force 10 helps us!)     1.5 BU
Various fuel filters, greases oil etc.                              3 BU
Bed sheets, new pillows                                             .5 BU
2 - New frying pans                                                .25 BU
New lock for new outboard (to be machined)              .5 BU

Total estimated BUs                                              39.75BU(ouch!)
Everyday the list seems to grow as something breaks or we think of something that will be hard to get "out there." Of course the list above doesn't include the paper goods, toiletries, beer and food stores we'll need to cover us for about a year. Panama is much cheaper to get these things than the South Pacific islands – so we will load up here. That list will be posted in mid-February.
And of course there are also the things like teeth cleaning which we did the other day (1 BU). Barbara has to start churning out some articles to get published so we can pay the bills. Carol – you better be ready for one big Visa bill!
Perhaps we need to start the Astarte Pacific Passage Pledge Drive?
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Prepping for the Pacific Passage

2012-01-07T08:54:00.000-05:00

Sitting at anchor in Las Brisas off Panama City, we are busy checking items off lists we have compiled over the last few months. How do you get yourselves and a boat ready for months at sea as well as months in islands with few, no, or very expensive supplies? Plus, we've been on the boat, for almost three years now – and unfortunately things are starting to wear out or break. And, we've been using up spares and parts and supplies.

So we start with lists – lots and lots of lists. We read a lot and ask tons of questions to other boaters who've "been there." Lots of our friends who have already made the crossing have sent us their personal "cruising guides" (thanks Otto and Lilli, Chrissy and Dave, Mike and Karen, Jack, Tom and Liz) which have been most helpful with info like - "buy lots of toiletries before you leave Panama they are incredibly hard to find or expensive in the South Pacific."

Everyday we are crossing items off the list as we find them or order them. We have been gifted with a visit by our good friends Lorna and Dave in late January – so they will end up hauling a bag filled with parts and items that we can get more cheaply or more easily in the States. It will be great seeing them and they are saving lots of time by allowing us to go online and order stuff to be sent to them. Plus, because they are coming – it gives us some deadlines to get projects completed so that we can spend time with them visiting the western islands of Panama and the Las Perlas islands.

The new outboard "Jenny-san" is aboard and we have to make new locks for it – the old ones don't quite fit (bummer). Plus, we have to strengthen the wood mount it sits on to make it a tad thicker for the different size screws. Michael's already greased it all up. We have to try to disguise it a bit as well, so it doesn't look quite so new and "tempting" to the less than honest folks. Next is to get an estimate for getting the dinghy "leaks" repaired.

Besides "stuff" we need to get, we are also taking care of things like getting to a dentist for teeth cleaning. Luckily we did our doctors appointments in the states last August. We went to the Clinica Dental de Balboa yesterday and had teeth cleanings and X-rays. No cavities – so that's something off the list. It was $110 for the two of us to get a good cleaning and full set of X-rays and exam. We also get to take our X-rays with us so we have on board.

Over the next few days, we'll share the rest of the "list..."

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Crew-member Replacement

2012-01-06T07:38:00.000-05:00

Sayonara Yoshi. Welcome Genny-san.

Our Yamaha 8 hp outboard, lovingly called Yoshi, has given up his urge to be a fully functioning crew-member aboard Astarte. He's been a problem child ever since we got him – probably a Friday built engine. It was also one of the Yamaha's built in France with french parts. At the beginning, while still under warranty, he had a serious carburetor issue and we fought problems – especially in the Turks and Caicos. In Puerto Rico, we finally thought we solved the issue when Yamaha finally gave in and sent us a new carburetor after six hours with a mechanic. More recently, the flywheel would seize up after it would sit unused for a few days. Plus, it would only running on one cylinder. Michael spent hours and hours working on the outboard and it now was barely getting us to shore. No chance of simply doing dinghy exploring – it was merely transportation (and that was sometimes iffy.)

So, thanks to generous Christmas gifts from our moms (Gen and Trish), we decided to get a new outboard. We shopped around here in Panama City – looking at a variety of brands. Thanks to cruiser web sites and talking to lots of boaters – we narrowed it to another Yamaha or a Tohatsu. We would have gotten another 8 hp Yamaha like the one we had (though with the issues we had we wondered if that was the right idea) because we did have lots of spare parts for it – a propeller. carb bits, hoses and the shop manual. But unfortunately, Yamaha does different models for the states and other areas. All that is available here is the 8 horsepower Enduro engine which is totally different so none of the parts would work. When we called Yamaha US, we also learned they don't carry Enduro parts in the states, so when we went back – the engine couldn't be serviced. Plus, Yamaha frankly has been pretty difficult to deal with here and in the states. And, we had lots of issues with Yoshi. On the other hand, the Tohatsu dealer here, was very helpful. We priced both and negotiated with both and ended up spending many boat units (a boat unit is $100 US). We are the proud owners of a 9.8 Tohatsu outboard. We will welcome it as a crew member today (Friday) and name it Genny-san after Barbara's mom.

With the outboard, we bought several spares to take us across the Pacific and into remote islands. The extra 1.8 horses, should actually get us on a plane. Now we have to keep the dinghy afloat and repair some leaks so the outboard has something to move.

So see ya Yoshi – you were a good crew-member at times. Genny-san, welcome aboard.

Today, we head to a dentist for a check up and teeth cleaning. We're checking things off the list before we depart.

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New Year. New Ocean. Cheers!

2012-01-01T12:02:00.003-05:00

We got a lovely literary gift from frequent boat guest Kathryn Sobocinski upon our arrival to the Pacific and thought we'd share it with everyone:
A haiku for you:
A new blue ocean.
The biggest, deepest of them.
Happy exploring.
Happy 2012 everyone.
We are still amazed that we are here at anchor on the Pacific side of Panama. We continue to look at each other and say - "we did it!" It was quite an adventure and a special and sincere thanks to everyone who sent us so many warm wishes. We also got to see a few frame grabs of us going through the locks so thanks Margie, Anna and Ian and Tom H.
Astarte is getting back to her cruising mode – tires and the four 150 foot coils of line are off the boat. Anchors, fenders, lifesling, grill and dinghy back in place. Forward head is now repaired and now back to being a hanging locker/laundry room/storage unit. V-berth is back to being a garage / attic. And we're making our way through the leftover food that our capable crew didn't knosh.
We're getting used to the 16 foot tidal change and constant wind. New scenery is being enjoyed – a wonderful skyline filled with many, many varied shaped and sized skyscrapers, a strange looking building that is the bio-museum, fireworks at night (for our arrival perhaps??), and a varied fleet of boats at anchor - from colorful cruising sailboats of all sizes and from different countries to 600 foot ships, tugs, barges and work boats.
The anchorage, thanks to wind and tides, is a bit rolly – but the wind generator is certainly doing its job and the batteries are happy.
New Year's Eve was quite wild here. It was non-stop fireworks along the entire city. Some started as early as 10 pm and went non-stop until 0100 (1 am). It was incredible – everywhere you looked there were fireworks lighting up the clear sky. Even from the top of some of the skyscrapers they were blasting off – making the buildings look like 100 story roman candles. Way cool.
We are still pinching ourselves that we made it. Another checkmark on the old "bucket list."
Happy New Year to all – we'll raise a glass of bubbly to all our loyal readers.
NEW PHOTOS AS WELL – THE TRANSIT CROSSING AND CHRISTMAS.
PLUS: There is a new photo feature. If you haven't discovered it yet, click on some of the photos of the canal crossing and you will see a map on the right of the screen. You can see a map or a google earth satellite picture.
Enjoy.
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PACIFIC

2011-12-30T11:42:00.000-05:00

We made it! Three locks up. Through Gatun Lake. Three locks down. We are now safely anchored in the Pacific Ocean with the huge Panama City skyline as our backdrop (actually as our front facing scenery with the sun rising behind it).
We had a great crew – special thanks to Markus of "Namani" (and to Nana and Nicholas for lending him to us), and Sue and Lenny from Windancer (who trekked from Portobello to make the transit). They will always be part of the Astarte "crew" for their help through the Canal. Everyone got along great – and were helpful and put up with "cozy" accommodations. We enjoyed sharing this magnificent experience with them.
MacNell (not quite sure of the spelling) was our going up (three Gatun Locks) Advisor and Ricardo was our "Canal Advisor" for the transit across Gatun Lake and through the three down locks at Pedro Miguel and Miraflores. We were lucky as they were great. We were particularly thrilled to have Ricardo – because as fate would have it – he was also the Advisor on "Anthem" the boat we line-handled for in February 2010. Amazing. That was incredible as was he. He is so calm and interesting and filled with information about the canal, Panama and the various boats, tugs, dredges etc. we went past. Plus, he's just really a great guy and was fun to have as part of our crew.
A a great big thanks to all who tried to watch us going through the locks on the internet. Sorry that you wasted so much time staring at the internet – and that the Gatun Locks internet wasn't working properly. Plus, as you'll read, our scheduled time wasn't exactly "on time." Thanks for all the nice notes and congratulations as well – we appreciate knowing we have lots of support and love to keep us afloat.
So let's go back to the departure and fill you in on one of the great adventures of our life – bringing our own boat through the canal.
Erick Galvez was our agent from Centenario Consultant Agency and we can HIGHLY recommend him to anyone choosing an agent. He was efficient, always did what he said he would and on time. His line and tire fenders were in great shape and delivered (and picked-up) on time and as promised.
On Tuesday, December 27 we cleared out of Colon for Balboa with the Port Captain. Erick delivered the lines and tires on time and they got tied on. Barbara did the provisioning run for feeding the crew and advisors. And we cleaned Astarte top to bottom inside for guests.
On Wednesday, a little last minute cleaning and our "crew" arrived. Lenny and Sue came over from Portobello and Markus from a few slips away. The snafu started when the fuel barge pulled out – we were planning on topping off diesel. Thanks to Des and Carol from "Island Fling" for selling us some gasoline; and Markus and Nana from Namani for letting us buy some diesel from them to top the tanks. We would have made it – but its nice to have every possible thing covered "just in case." We loaded the fuel and got lines organized, a crew photo and then pulled away from the dock to head to "the flats" to anchor and await our time and advisor. We jogged through massive ships and dropped the hook and waited. We got notice that our advisor would arrive at 1830 (6:30 pm). So we decided to have our big meal mid day and enjoyed a lovely dinner together...unfortunately no wine.
At about 1840 the advisor arrived. It looked like we would be going through with one big sports fishing motor boat and a catamaran. The cat was being delivered from South Africa to Tahiti for the Moorings Charter company by a delivery crew of Richard, Savannah and Josh. Great folks we had met the night before. We pulled up anchor in the dark and headed towards the locks – a giant boat trailing us (very frightening to have a 600 foot boat behind you). They would ultimately be in front of us in the lock. The sport fishing boat had navigation light that didn't work and wouldn't be able to transit unless they got them fixed and to the locks in time to make the tie-up. We were relieved as we preferred the option of tying to the catamaran rather than the sport fisher as the hull shape is a better match.
We then waited. And waited. And waited. There seemed to be a problem in the lock with the boat that was passing through. We had rafted up with the catamaran– tightly tied with lots and lots of fenders between the boats. So finally – about 2100 (9pm) we started through. The catamaran captain Richard and Michael were coordinating speed and direction with the help of Carlos the advisor on the cat. Because we were rafted – we only needed two line handlers on Astarte – but we teamed up, Barbara and Lenny did the foredeck and Sue and Markus handled the stern.
We got into the lock staring up at the giant container ship "Merchant" from Nassau. A big black hull was not very far in front of us. The "mules", which are motorized engines on rails, handle their lines on shore with deck hands aboard. We have human beings on shore who walk along with our lines. But first, they toss a monkey fist aboard the boat which you have to grab and then tie with a bowline to your big line and feed it back to them. These guys (male and female) toss like they want to knock you off your feet. They line drive it aboard. The lines (fore and aft) are caught by the able Astarte crew, competent knots tied, and the lines are pulled up by the canal linesmen. They then put our line, which has a big loop on one end, over a large bollard. The lock gates get closed and the water starts to come in – quite quickly. We have to pull in the lines to compensate for the incoming water to keep the rafted sailboats centered. The same routine is happening on the starboard side of the catamaran.
It's hard work pulling in. We manage to get it done for the first lock, but the most frightening part is actually when the huge boat in front of us – starts. They put their engine in forward and the canal water becomes a class 5 rapid. Wow – it is really churned up sending the two rafted sailboats dancing. We are still attached to the canal walls with the four lines – but you can really see the pressure on those lines. You pray they hold as will your cleats. Whew...the first lock done. Two to go. But now, the boats, still attached, motor through to the next lock as the canal line-handlers carry our lines into the next lock. Two more times the routine continues – lines released, pulled back aboard, lines re-fed and retied. Pulling them in. Letting them out. Nervously watching the huge frieghter ahead churn up the water.
After the last lock, our two rafted boats stayed together (unusual) for the trip to the mooring where we will spend the night. The advisor wants us to stay rafted up on the mooring but we don"t think that's a good idea so we unraft. The lake is rolly enough with boat traffic and wind that we would listen to squeeks and squaks from tires, fenders and lines all night if we were rafted up. The party would have been fun – but sleeping more difficult. So they tied to one mooring and we tied to the other and it was around 2330 when that was completed. A few cocktails and beers were consumed. The advisor wanted a hot meal – but we told it would take too long and he would be picked up shortly. So we made sandwiches and lots of snacks.
We called it a day around 0100 (1 am) - it was a mighty long day for everyone – but the hardest locks were now behind us and it went very smoothly.
Day two: Thursday, December 29, 2011.
0530 the Astarte crew get up to coffee and breakfast and the advisor arrives around 0645. We head out just about immediately after introductions, warming the engine and untying from the bollard. The catamaran has left a few minutes earlier. It is a beautiful day and Ricardo is a pleasant addition to our crew.
We head through Gatun lake which is quite pretty. Sue has the binoculars in search of wildlife and everyone is amiably chatting and sightseeing. Barbara is whipping up brownies and pasta salad and snacking is non-stop. Ricardo is very informative about how our next locks will go – we find out two ferries that do this passage daily will be in the lock ahead of us then the rafted sailboats. Down is easier than up as you simply let out line versus bringing it in. The wind is blowing pretty good though – so we have windage on our side- pulling us away from the wall (that's good) but we need to keep the catamaran off the wall on the other side putting more pressure on our lines, cleat and crew.
We get into the first lock – a different view as we're sitting so high in the lock this time. Monkey fists are caught by both Markus and Lenny(one handed, by the way). Good work. And the process continues. But in between these locks, we have to motor rafted together – so monkey fist catching and bowline tying has to actually be done three separate times. The crew of Astarte for the passage has a 100% catch record with no windows broken, no solar panels lost or wind generator blades ruined. (Of course hatches and solar panels are covered with cushions, blankets, towels, line etc.)
After we are through the last locks, we are in the Pacific.
We unraft with our partners on the catamaran and make our way to an anchorage in what is called Las Brisas. It is around a few islands. The skyline of Panama City is bold, the sun is shining. By around 1530 (3:30 pm) we are anchored. Markus decides he will try to make the trip back to Shelter Bay right away so we get the dinghy unrolled and put back together. Tires and lines will also be picked up by Erick's son at 1630 (4:30pm). So we get Astarte ready and un-adorned with canal passage gear.
The fun news was that as we came into the anchorage we started to see lots of boats we know. People we hadn't seen for months or even years came out to say hello. Our friends Blake and Sunny from Slow-Mocean were on deck and we hadn't seen them since Puerto Rico. Feel Free with Liz and Tom we last saw in the San Blas. And we anchored near Yvon and Carmella of Taima. Voyager is anchored up there – haven't seen them yet. And so it feels welcoming. The wind was hooting out of the north and its a bit rolly.
A few celebratory Astarte rum punches and we would head in for dinner. Showers, cleaning up, dry clothes and we make our way to shore. The tide (which today was a 16 foot tide – that's normal) – was in.
We head in and unfortunately its not the easiest dinghy arrangement. You tie up then have to use a small plastic rowboat (very wet and tippy) to pull yourself across to the dock. With the wind and waves and tides, it can be a very wet trip to get to the other end. Barbara was soaked by the time we made it to dinner. We headed out for a bite – the crew all quite tired – but we enjoy a pizza together and head back.
Exhausted – we call it a night after putting the dinghy and outboard up (everything has to be locked).
Day Three: Friday, December 30:
Everyone had a great, much needed, night sleep. We get up to a nice breakfast and Michael takes Lenny and Sue ashore and then cleared in with the Port Captain. Its a holiday weekend, but all went well. Then we'll organize Astarte putting things back in the V-berth and forward head – after a repair – unfortunately it broke on Day one....bummer with guests aboard). But we'll probably take a few days to relax and appreciate that we made it to the Pacific.
Again, thank you so much to everyone for getting screen grabs from the lock cameras of us going through. We can't wait to see them. We took lots of photos and once they get sorted we'll post them as well.
We made it. Woohoo!!!!

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Ready for the Canal Passage

2011-12-28T14:33:00.001-05:00

The crew of Lenny & Sue from Windancer and Marcus from Namani are aboard. The tires are tied to the boat. The long lines are on deck. The fuel tanks have been filled and the boat is provisioned for two days and six people.
The passage was originally scheduled for 3:45 pm (ET) but it's been moved later – now we may transit under the lights. We get our "advisor at 1830 (6:30 pm eastern time). We are heading to the flats shortly to anchor and wait. Web site is: http://www.pancanal.com/eng/photo/camera-java.html?cam=GatunHi
There is a catamaran with a South African crew aboard will be transiting at the same time and they are fun people so we think we will be side-tied with them.
Otherwise, we're as ready as ever to go.
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Caroling by the Howler Monkeys

2011-12-25T08:58:00.001-05:00

We awoke on Christmas morning to the sweet (or scary) sounds of the howler monkeys bellowing – we were sure it was their very special version of "White Christmas" in 8 part harmony. This was followed by a very distinct "Silent Night" but obviously in Spanish.
The sun is out on this Christmas morning - after a day of on and off rain. Cookies have been coming out of the Astarte galley over the last few days – and this is quite a feat as the oven is quite small and you can only make about 9 cookies at a time (and I only have one custom made cookie sheet that fits!) But four varieties of cookies emerged.
On Christmas eve, we had a lovely steak dinner and actually splurged and opened a bottle of nice red wine. We kept the Christmas lights on extra long and listened to Mike Mullin's Christmas CDs he's made over the past years (compilations of music from "rockin'" to "chillin'" to Guitar) It was lovely even with the rain.
This morning, we'll do the traditional cookie delivery to our surrounding boat neighbors. We ride around in the dinghy (If Yoshi the outboard has the Christmas spirit) and hand out wrapped cookies. No singing allowed – we'll leave that to the nearby monkeys.
Then we'll make a few side dishes to bring up to Capt. Jack's Canopy Bar and celebrate Christmas with lots of other boaters and local folks. Capt. Jack is making a few legs of lamb, a ham, mashed potatoes and everyone else will bring various side-dishes and desserts. There will be a "Chinese" gift exchange – this is a fun event where you get to pick a gift from the pile or one from someone else who already opened one.
Tomorrow, we'll leave for Shelter Bay again to prep for our trip through the Canal on Wednesday. We have two line handlers already and hope we get another one today at Capt. Jack's. The one who had committed to us – bagged us. But we have Lenny and Sue from the boat Windancer. They should be a blast. They have been cruising for many years and never been through the Canal. They are a lot of fun and really nice and competent and we are grateful they'll be with us.
The next few days will be busy so may not be able to do an entry. We should be going through the Gatun locks on December 28th, probably late afternoon EDT – so tune in to the Panama Canal website
( http://www.pancanal.com/eng/photo/camera-java.html?cam=Gatun )
and look for us. We are a white single-mast sailboat with blue canvas. On the front stay (that's the line that runs from the top of the mast to the pointy end at the very front of the boat) – look for blue canvas on that stay that has two white stripes on it (this is our chafe protection on our sail – but it is quite distinctive). We also have a dinghy on the foredeck as well as we'll have blue cushions covering our solar panels over the bimini top. This is to protect them from the lead centered monkey fist and line that gets tossed down to you from the canal workers. Many a solar panel, hatch or window has been broken by these balls of line. So watch for us – if we get a more definitive time for Wednesday we'll do a quick post on the site with that info.
Merry Christmas to all and we hope you got everything you wanted from Santa. We did – we have each other and we're pursuing our dream.
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Merry Christmas To All From SV Astarte

2011-12-21T19:41:00.000-05:00

In the tropics it’s hard to believe it’s time for Santa to make his run. No snow. No chestnuts roasting. No egg nog (though plenty of rum). But there are Christmas lights twinkling aboard Astarte (enjoyed for about an hour each day – the allotted energy allowance). And we have CDs of Christmas music. And of course, there will be some holiday sweets from the galley.

Christmas is always a tough time to be away from family and friends…but we have each other aboard and have made many friends since we’ve started cruising. This is our third Christmas aboard Astarte and it’s funny that with all the miles under our keel, all three holidays have been spent in the country of Panama.

Because we keep our log page up to date (www.sailastarte.com) most of you know what we’ve been up to all year. 2011 had us visiting only two countries – Panama and Honduras, but many ports and islands in those countries. Michael did visit a few extra counties to earn a few cruising dollars in China and Korea. Barbara had a few articles published as well, and earned some beer money selling her writing.

We visited the States for Barbara’s mom’s 90th Birthday where it was great to see the entire Sobocinski clan. We also saw lots of family and friends in Salem and then went on to Michael’s brother and sister-in-law’s in Nashville. And finally a last stop – though not together- in St. Pete Florida where we stayed at the very nice “Richard and Rene Resort and Party Center”. Thanks to those who came and visited with us while we were in the States as well. Sandy made the trip from Oregon to Salem, Michael’s mom came to Nashville and Tim came from Philly to Salem. Thanks – it meant a lot to us. We conned Barbara’s sister Carol into helping us with our paperwork this year – thank you for that. We may be out here cruising around – but we are supported by lots and lots of family, friends and even strangers. We are sincerely grateful.

Astarte took a few “land trips” this year as well. She was hauled out for work in Honduras where she got a new bottom job and then unfortunately, had to be hauled again in Panama for a new shaft. Thanks Richard for your help giving us much needed advice and getting us the shaft material.

Here’s a quick, rhythmic re-cap of our year on Astarte. We wish you all a very merry Christmas.

January we enjoyed two sets of boat guests
Lloyd and Margaret, Dave and Lorna none were pests
We snorkeled, sailed, drank and ate
Explored the San Blas which is top rate
When we have great company life aboard is best

February we enjoyed on Panama’s coast
The San Blas, Linton and Portobello the most
We celebrated Valetines and a birthday
Drinking champagne aboard our boat Astarte
It’s been two years aboard so we drank a toast

In March it was time to start heading North
So we checked the winds, the waves and so forth
To Honduras we sailed for six solid days
The Colombian Navy stopped us on our way
And at La Ceiba Shipyard we hauled for ten days

April brought our frequent boat guests Kathryn and Mark
To Roatan, Guanaja and the West End Marine Park
They spent water time as they wished
But they had no luck when they fished
It was a fun for us all even when Mark saw his big shark.

May kept us enjoying our time in the Bay Isles
And we were graced by Jim’s visit, he came many miles
We saw sharks, lionfish and even some snakes
We showered in waterfalls, but caught no fish steaks
Eating, drinking and snorkeling, lots of laughs and big smiles

June meant it was time to head South once more
Hurricanes start forming and heading to shore
But first some time with Walt and Honoree
Good friends with whom we like to play
Then we sailed off to Bocas and boat projects galore

July was busy putting Astarte to bed in her slip
Thanks to Anna and Ian for the place for our ship
Then off to the states by boat, bus and plane
And Mike’s off to China he must be insane
Barbara spends time with family and friends on this trip

August is a big birthday month for Gen our sweet mother
After her 90th to Nashville we go to see Mike’s brother
Trish, his mom, comes for a fun few days
Then Mike and Barb go their separate ways
Thanks so much to Carol, Richard, Rene and others

In September, Mike’s back from work in Korea and trip to St. Pete
Barbara’s been in Bocas where cleaning the boat’s quite a feat
Tommy arrives with a giant sailbag in hand
It’s great to have him aboard and not on land
When Mike and Tom are together hold on to your seat.

October has us working on projects in the rain and wet
We housesit for a few days for someone we had met
At Rana Azul we celebrate Octoberfest
Then we head to a new place on our quest
To Bluefields we land a lovely place for our anchor to set

November comes and off to Portobello we go
Another haul out we need so we won’t need a tow
We give thanks at Captain Jack’s
With a feast and lots of snacks
But our outboard is starting to make us have to row

December has us in Colon and Shelter Bay
It’s nickname, for a good reason, is Shelter Pay
The new shaft is made
The new chain is laid
And we get everything ready for Panama Canal Day

This twenty-eleven has been a great year
We’re thankful for family and friends so dear
The Caribbean has been a lot of fun
The Pacific now calls so we head west with the sun
Now is that Santa and his reindeer we hear?

Peace and love in 2012…

Barbara and Michael
S/V Astarte

Committed

2011-12-16T08:31:00.000-05:00

No, not a mental institution (though there are days!) We are now committed to going through the Panama Canal and into the Pacific aboard Astarte. We have been “Admeasured” by the Canal Authority and have paid hundreds of our favorite US dollars to our excellent agent, Erick. And we have a date. Mark your calendars for Wednesday, December 28, 2011. You can watch us go through the locks on the Canal's website.
http://www.pancanal.com/eng/photo/camera-java.html?cam=Gatun

The Admeasuring took place on a rainy Tuesday. Ingrid was our Canal Authority official who came aboard to do the paperwork and measuring.

Yup. They take out a big tape measure and actually measure the boat bow to stern. Then its lots of questions and paperwork. Questions include how fast the boat will go, how much fuel you carry, do you have a clean, working toilet, will you have bottled water for the adviser etc. She was aboard about an hour and then we signed away a bunch of papers including the fact that anything that happens while in the locks is our fault!

With that completed, we called our agent Erick Galvez and picked a date. We thought it would be fun to be on the Pacific side for the New Year. Now we have to find three additional people to join us as line-handlers. You need four line-handlers and the captain aboard to go through the locks. Any volunteers? You have to be here by December 27 and it takes two days. We'll be in Panama City (Port of Balboa) by the afternoon of December 29).

After we paid Erick, we fueled up (ouch) and then left Shelter Bay Marina. We always love what we call “zero dollar days.” That's a day where we don't spend any money (sure we eat food that we bought earlier – but we don't actually spend any dollars.) Tuesday was anything BUT a zero dollar day. Between paying for the marina fees and the Panama Canal passage fees – we burnt through a couple of thousand bucks!

We have to head back to the marina on the 26th to get our tires for fenders and our four 250 ft. lines (the agent provides these) and some groceries for the Canal crossing. Now we are trying to find other cruisers to line handle for us and get the boat ready.

New photos have also been put on now that we have a better internet connection – pics of some of the yard work and new chain.

Monday Relaunch

2011-12-13T07:27:00.000-05:00

New shaft made and replaced. New cutlass bearing installed. Through-hull repaired. Boat waxed. New chain on board and old chain gone. Ready for launching...and we did get put back in the water on Monday afternoon.

It is always a scary moment when your boat is taken off the stands and put on a truck and moved. Then it is taken off the truck and put in the harness to lift into the water. But all went well and no water came in where it shouldn't. The shaft seemed to make an immediate difference with less vibration.

We are now in a slip at Shelter Bay and were hoping to get the local mechanic (actually a Canadian who lives on a boat here) to make sure the engine is aligned but last night we found out he is too busy. Bummer. Michael (who's managed to do everything else) will have to pull out the feeler gauges and Nigel Calders' "Boatowners's Mechanical and Electrical Manual" and get it done himself.

Today, we hope to get "ad measured" for our Panama Canal passage. That is where a Canal authority comes down with a tape measure and actually measures the length of your boat and charges you according to how many "containers" it can hold. Or something like that. Then we have to pick the date to go through.

It has been unbelievably rainy the last several days – monsoon rains. Its hard to keep the boat dry with wet clothes hanging everywhere. We have enjoyed the $1 Happy Hour beers at the bar (who's bartender is a 14-year old Canadian named Dylan). Connected with our old friends from "Voyager" Lynn and Byron who will be going through the canal this week. Re-met some folks we met in Roatan Desmond and Carol from South Africa and have enjoyed their company over a few drinks and dinners. Carol made us all a "Milk Tart" the other night – a traditional South African dessert – mighty tasty. So though we were exhausted each night with many hours of hard work, we have enjoyed some social time here as well.

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Happy Mother's Day

2011-12-09T20:53:00.000-05:00

No it's not May – it's December 8th and that means a holiday in Panama. It's Dias de la Madre – Mother's Day. So Happy Mother's Day to our moms and all the Mother's reading this.

It been work, work, work aboard Astarte. We feel like we've been going non-stop for weeks. Sorry for the lack of log entries. On Sunday, we left Portobello harbor where we did get a lot of projects done (or at least attempted). Heading into Colon and the Panama Canal area is exciting. There are about a hundred ships in the area almost all the time. Some coming from the Pacific and heading into the Caribbean and others preparing to go through the canal and sitting at anchor or motoring around awaiting their turn. You feel very small in a 42 foot sailboat amidst the 600 foot container ships, tankers and car carriers. Plus you have the chemical ships, military vessels and various other seagoing freight ships, barges and tugs. It is exciting to maneuver through them As you enter the Port of Cristobal you have to call Port Control and ask for permission to enter. After getting through the breakwater, we took a hard right to Shelter Bay Marina which was our destination.

We stayed one night in the marina and did all our paperwork for hauling out for our shaft replacement. We luckily got hauled relatively early on Monday morning. It is always quite scary watching the travel lift balance your boat out of the water. Here it then gets put on a truck and driven into the yard and stands are placed around it.

They do squeeze the boats in this yard. They backed us in between two boats which was quite thrilling. There is very little room on one side of us. We had hoped to get some scaffolding so we could wax the hull – but it won't fit on one side.

Once settled, Michael worked on getting the old shaft out – which wasn't as difficult as we thought it might be. Also, lots of calls to Marine Warehouse to make sure our chain and new shaft material would get here as scheduled. We were assured it would be here around 4 pm. So with the haul-out done,shaft out, we called the machine shop to confirm that we would be in at 7 am the next morning with old shaft and new material. With the Thursday holiday we were hoping it would get done by Friday so we could minimize our time (read: expense) in the yard. Well, 4 pm came no shaft or chain. 6 PM came, no shaft no chain and no response as to when and where it was. At 8 pm we canceled our cab for the 6:30 am pick-up. Still no idea where it was though a cryptic text message said something about car problems.

Finally the next day (Tuesday) around 10 am, we hear it will be here around 4 pm. We call the machine shop and hope they can still squeeze us in on Wednesday. Around 3 pm, the delivery comes. The new shaft material and 200 feet of new anchor chain. Whooppeee! We make arrangements for a 6:30 am pick-up so we're at the machine shop when it opens Meanwhile, Michael has also taken apart and repaired a broken through-hull. He also has replaced a water pump on the fresh water system which continues to be a problem. Perhaps the pump he repaired is the problem so he replaces it with a new pump. We've been taking fresh water out of the engine room every day.

Wednesday arrives – we get up with the sun and get all the bits together to go to the machine shop. We're ready and waiting for the cab by 6:15 am. 6:30 no cab. 6:45 no cab. Call Teddy who we arranged the transportation through. He tells us his brother (the driver) is stuck at the locks. 7 am no cab – we know he's not at the locks because now we've seen a half-dozen cars come through. 7:15 no car. Lots of calls – lots of frustration. By about 7:30 the car comes and gets Michael and the two long pieces of metal in the car and they head to the shop.

Meanwhile, Barbara is heading into town as well to get some groceries on the 8 am bus.

Michael manages to get the shop to work on the shaft immediately even though we are a day late. The shop thinks they can actually get it done in a day. Amazing (especially in Panama where nothing moves quickly). But then again, that's what they say – what will reality be?

Believe it or not – the new shaft was done by that afternoon and Michael went in to get it and even got a ride back with the new and old shaft.

Thursday (today), a holiday for everyone but the good crew of Astarte. Luckily we didn't have to get going at sun-up. By noon, the new shaft is installed as well as the feathering prop. The prop probably took longer than the shaft! It all looks great. Thanks again to Barbara's brother Richard for his help in getting us the shaft material.

Next project – getting the old chain off the boat, the rusty chain locker cleaned out and the new chain measured, marked and put on board. It will make a huge difference anchoring and keeping the boat tidier – and fewer rust stains on the boat. (Thanks Tom).

Plus, the fresh water system problem wasn't the pump – it's elsewhere – so that project is still not done. And, before we get back in the water we'll grease up the centerboard pin and all the through-hulls.

Perhaps we'll make it back in the water on Saturday!

It feels like an early Christmas aboard Astarte with all this new stuff.

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Dear Santa,

2011-11-27T15:45:00.000-05:00

It's hard to believe it's getting into the Christmas season. In the tropics, the weather is sunny and warm with cool tropical breezes (and sometimes stronger trade winds). It's hard to imagine the rush of Christmas shoppers on the day after Thanksgiving.

We hope everyone had a wonderful turkey day with family and friends. We got to speak to ours via phone which was nice and did indeed enjoy the fellowship of boaters, backpackers and local Panamanians at Captain Jack's Canopy Bar. It was a really magnificent and eclectic feast enjoyed by folks of all nationalities. Michael had a young Belgium backpacker asking him for relationship advice, we enjoyed the company of some Brits that now call this area home with dirt dwellings, and of course, the many boaters we've met along the way. It was a great afternoon with live music from the Amigos of Brazil as well as Capt. Jack and others taking up instruments or singing.

Now that Thanksgiving is over, it's back to boat projects. Michael completed two major sewing projects – covering the new water jugs and the "lifesling." The "Lifesling" holder had just about disintegrated so he built a new cover to add a few more years of life to it. That way it doesn't have to be added to the "dear Santa" list.

Our list for Santa is unfortunately growing. We now may also need a new outboard. Michael got Yoshi started again (another unanticipated boat project that took all day) but we think there is still a serious problem with a main bearing. It is probably not worth the cost of a major repair – so we will price outboards while in Panama City. Ouch.

So far our Dear Santa letter reads something like this:

Dear Santa,

Hope all is well with you in the North Pole and that you and the elves are taking a little siesta every afternoon. We know how busy you are at this time of year. We hate to burden you with our wish list – but what the heck, 'tis the season and we've been a good boy and girl.

Top of the list is a new Yamaha 8 hp, 2-stroke outboard. We'd like this particular model because we already have one and can strip it for spare parts and we have some spares already stocked away.

Next are some new water pumps – it seems the water department aboard Astarte has gone on strike and things are breaking down. We need a new foot pump for the galley as well as a new pressure water pump for the system. Oh and while we're on water – there are issues with the hot water heater that hopefully we can repair, but if you have a spare in your bag, we'd just as willingly replace it as repair it!

The aft toilet is pretty old (original with the '87 boat) and though Michael replaced another o-ring this morning, the pump casing is cracked – and let's face it – we use this piece of equipment a lot.

Some new foam for the outdoor cushions would sure make our bottoms feel better for the big Pacific Ocean crossing. You should know about long trips though you seem to manage thousands and thousands of miles in one day. Our passage from Galapagos to Marquesas will take probably a month – that's a lot of sitting time on watches.

Fishing gear is always welcome because it seems we feed it to the fish instead of getting the fish to feed us. Plus, we hear its good trading or gift stock in the Pacific Islands (and we want to be nice to the islanders.)

Any food goodies will be gratefully accepted. Though can you make sure they are tinned? Otherwise they probably won't last. Canned meat other than chicken would be a treat as its a little hard to find and a bit pricey. We do have to provision for quite a long time. Though people eat everywhere, there are some items that are very expensive in the Pacific or difficult to find.

And finally, can you deliver a delayed gift? Steady wind and relatively calm seas for the long passages would be most welcome.

We know we've asked for a lot – but we would be most grateful if you could help with any of it. We've tried hard to be good to each other all year and help others whenever possible. Thanks in advance and if you can't get our way – we'll understand – but please be kind to those that really need some kindness this year.

Cheers,
Michael and Barbara and the good ship "S/V Astarte"

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Happy Thanksgiving!!!

2011-11-24T08:17:00.000-05:00

It is Thanksgiving Day in the States and though not a holiday in Panama we will be celebrating.

First, we want to thank our family and friends for being so supportive of our cruising dreams. We think of you daily and miss you. We are also thankful for all our loyal readers of this blog as well as those who take the time to stay in touch with us. We certainly appreciate the latest news from you as well as juicy gossip.

We left the last pirate hangout in Bluefields and made our way on Monday morning towards the next pirate hotspot – Portobello. The 140 mile trip took about 28 hours and wasn't the best passage. It started great with a good breeze to sail along with a current in our favor. We were making good time and the engine was off (yippee – saving fossil fuel $$ and making for a comfortable ride). Then the wind (which was forecast to stay coming from the west/northwest switched and ended up right on the nose for the last half of the trip. We first thought it was some local squalls causing the dramatic wind shift around 2200 (that's 10 pm), but it just lasted and lasted all the way into Portobello. The seas had a good 6 foot swell which wasn't bad, but when you added the wind chop from the opposite direction it was sloppy. But we made it into Portobello harbor around 1130 on Tuesday morning and found a spot. It's quite crowded in here as this is becoming quite the cruiser hangout. Just like in the olden days – this was a favorite pirate spot and the town of Portobello with its many forts was often looted, pillaged and plundered. So cruisers fit right in.

Our original plan was to head down to a group of islands Veraguas and then to the Chagras River. But all the rain that Panama has been getting over the last few weeks changed our plans. The Chagras is an outlet for the dam that holds the water into the Gatun Lake (for the Panama Canal). And when there is a lot of rain as there has been, they simply open the dam with absolutely no warning and let some water out. Now this massive amount of water running out of the river can create quite a current along with debris from trees and jungle. Many a sailboat has ended up thrown on shore, a reef or sandbar unable to cope with the sudden water surge. We decided it wasn't prudent to sit in the river and wait for this experience. Hopefully, we'll still make it to the River because the wildlife is supposedly magnificent. But we'll wait until after our haul-out in Colon for the new shaft.

So we opted for Portobello and here we sit. It's only about 20 miles from Colon so we'll have an easy run (weather permitting) into the marina for the haulout in early December. We also have phone and internet here so we can make our final arrangements for the work we need done.

Today, we'll get to enjoy a turkey dinner thanks to "Capt. Jacks" Jungle Bar. Jack is captain of the sailboat "Fantasy" (the boat built for that old TV show, Fantasy Island), and also owner of a hostel. Its the local cruiser hangout as well. He is hosting a potluck there today for Thanksgiving and our guess is that it will be packed based on the number of boats here. We are hoping to start to meet some folks who will also be going through the Canal and into the Pacific this season. We'll be bringing a green bean casserole "Patsy beans" and a chocolate cake "Astarte Decadence."

We wish all our family, friends and unknown readers a wonderful day. Be thankful for what you have. We certainly are!

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Pirate Hangout

2011-11-16T10:23:00.000-05:00

Whoohoo. We moved out of Bocas del Toro yesterday (Tuesday) and are anchored in Laguna de Bluefield or Bahia Azul. It is not named for the beautiful blue water but rather because it was a favorite hangout of the 17th century Dutch pirate, Blauvelt. We can see why, it looks like a great place to hide out and then attack!

Yesterday was a sunny day and we were grateful for the good light. We took an adventurous trip to leave Bocas via the Sumwood Channel. Channel is a bit of a misnomer – as getting into and out of the channel almost ran us aground several times. But we didn't hit and this was the first time that the guide book we were using wasn't quite as accurate as it has been in the past. We then ran a route through the Laguna de Chiriqui which has scattered reefs throughout. There is also a large aquaculture farm with many structures and markers. After that we headed into the Bluefields area. This is actually a large peninsula from the mainland. At the western end, it splits in the middle into two sides giving a bay with good protection.

We anchored on the southwestern corner in a place called Playa Raya. We chose this side, though it was probably more open to the swell, because it was away from the town. We don't think there are pirates here, unless you count the officials whom we understand like to charge boats a fee to anchor, to walk the island and to get to the Caribbean side. This side is beautiful with a palm studded beach, a few Ngobe Indian houses and lots of great bird, frog and bug sounds from the thick trees that surround the water. Several cayucas (open hand carved canoes) were out fishing, setting nets or just coming back to their homes yesterday. It is very peaceful and we are happy to be anchored here.

Our plan is to stay a few days, though if it gets too rolly we may wander to the other side. Today is swimming day though. This is the clearest water we've seen for awhile and it seems to be jelly fish free. Bocas was loaded with jellies of several varieties and even taking our salt water showers was challenging. We know we are near a reef because last night we had another spectacular display of the glow worms (Bermuda Fire Worms) doing their mating ritual. These bright neon green worms come to the surface after dark, swirl around and other critters dart into them and then there is an explosion of neon green. It was so dark here and they were so close to the boat it was amazing to watch. One of the best displays we've ever seen. The worm dance lasted several seconds and you could really see their mating partners dash into the dance. They are supposed to do this a few days after a full moon – so these guys seemed late – but there were hundreds of them.

Today is a sunny day – perfect for a little laundry then a good snorkel.

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After Hours Party

2011-11-14T10:56:00.000-05:00

We're moving a bit slow today thanks to the incredible hospitality of Josef and Maria of Rana Azul and some fellow boaters. We went to Rana Azul for their Sunday afternoon dinner and to say our goodbyes to many of the folks we met here over the last few months. The "land" people tend to head there on Sundays and we thought it would be a good place to see everyone at once. Plus the food is always great and you never fail to have a good time. When our friend Tom came, he told us that the best time he had with us was the afternoon at Rana Azul.

So we upped our anchor from the one side of the lagoon and headed across the bay. We did stop in the middle to try to get the twists out of our anchor chain. We have new anchor chain (thanks again Tom) sitting and waiting for us in Panama City – and our current chain is all rusty and gets bad twists in it as we are dropping it or hauling it up. So we attempted to get some of the twists out of it, making a rusty mess of our foredeck and ourselves.

We re-anchored near Rana Azul. We headed in around noon and it was a small but friendly crowd and we enjoyed our feasts. Then we just hung around with our friends from Baros, Linda and Hans as well as a Dutch couple Yvonne and Andrew from the sailboat Windhond. Josef and Maria and their staff were also relaxing and we toasted someone's nineteenth birthday (the first extra round of beers). The famous house lemoncello was also brought out and shots of it were passed around (several times). The music was great and the dancing started along with the "singing" - which really was Josef's commentary on various songs with back-ups by Linda (and even Barbara who always wanted to be a back-up singer though she can't sing worth a darn). The evening proceeded with Slim and Gail from Miss Gail joining in the festivities and buying a round. The evening wore on with various discussions into the political arena, the music world and of course everyone's various personal experiences. Most of the group were Europeans – Josef and Maria are Austrians, Hans is Dutch, Linda Belgian, Yvonne and Andrew also Dutch and the others Americans. We always are a bit embarrassed that folks must speak English because we are around – and the amazing part is – they all can.

The evening wore on with singing, dancing, toasting and lots of laughing and fun. It was a great sendoff for us from Bocas and will be a night we treasure and remember.

Thanks to all our partying pals for making it a great night and to Josef and Maria for their generous hospitality. We're moving a tad slow this morning – and it is a rainy, grey day so we may or may not move on.

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Fixing Your Boat in Exotic Locations

2011-11-09T06:56:00.000-05:00

That is often the definition of "cruising." There is the daily, weekly, monthly and annual boat maintenance projects like checking the oil, changing filters, working the thru-hulls, looking for chafe on lines and sails, waterproofing the bimini, greasing bits and pieces, de-greasing bits and pieces, and any number of projects to keep you busy. Then there are the unexpected problems. Things break or stop working. Many times it is at an inconvenient time and place. It is never a welcome event.

Yesterday (Monday) was a boat project day. Michael was going to re-install the new pump for the water maker. We have been lucky with enough rain collection to not need it since we returned to the boat in August/September. But we are at anchor in Bocas and decided it was as good a time as any to get it done before we headed south towards Colon. The weather didn't look good for the next few days for an early departure, so we decided this would be a good day to get that done.

It went in with a few moans, groans, swear words and boat bites...but, not a big issue. We'll hope that's still the case when we actually try to run it. Then Michael went to use the foot water pump in the galley (this is not at all connected to the other water project) Oh no, it's leaking and not working. Another project for the day. He takes it apart and its broken so he decides to attempt a repair with epoxy. Now you have to understand, every project on a boat requires you to find tools, bits and pieces, cleaners, rags, glues etc. Nothing is never easy as it usually requires unloading huge areas to find one small bit. And often times it's not where you thought it was so that means unloading another area. Then the epoxy is old and doesn't work so you need to find another batch. Every project takes much, much longer than it should. But it gets done – or at least epoxied and we'll see if it holds.

Lunch time. A break and Michael asks for a glass of water. Nothing comes out of the faucet. Nothing. It seems that today, the water department has gone on strike! Another issue because this has absolutely nothing to do with the newly installed water maker pump nor the galley water foot pump. A whole new problem. Perhaps we are out of water – though the gauge tells us we still have two lights. Hmmmmm.

Now this problem is actually a more serious concern. There is a lot of water in the bilge – fresh water. We proceed to empty bilge lockers (remember storage is everywhere about a boat!) The wine locker (bottles stored in socks) is soaked – so we empty all the bottles out of their socks so we can dry everything. We track the problem to the pressure water pump which seems to run non-stop or until it overheats and shuts itself down. This causes an incredible amount of pressure to build which now has caused the water heater pressure relief valve to open and flow into the bilge. Michael tries everything to seal this valve – but unfortunately the pressure is so high – everything he uses to plug a water hose won't work. The pressure is so great it actually pushes water through a wood plug's grain, He finally installs a valve that seems to hold as long as we don't run the pump very long.

Of course all these emergency repairs mean we're late for an invite aboard Sapphire. Bummer. We get things back together enough to make a quick dinghy run over for a drink and sympathy and as always, advice from other boaters.

Michael sleeps on the problem. It rains most of the night so thinking about water and water issues isn't a problem. Plus, luckily we get lots of rain collected in case we can't use the pump for awhile. In the morning, Michael asks on the morning radio net if anyone has a spare re-build kit for the bad water pump. Luckily, a friend on a nearby boat has exactly what we need. He does take apart the broken pump in the hopes of seeing something obvious that can be fixed – perhaps a bit of grit has jammed into a diaphragm to hold the pressure switch open. He does find a problem but it is a spring that is very corroded and beyond repair. He has used the rebuild kit from Tom on "Liberty" and re-installs the pressure water pump. After much testing it seems to work – the hot water heater still has an issue, but at least we have running water again.

One success and then on to re-installing the glued together foot pump for the galley. Installation completed – now the test – will the epoxy hold? Nope! It breaks again in the same place and water gets everywhere. Luckily fresh water. So back to uninstalling and trying another type of glue. The offending part of the pump is now clamped and setting up, this time with super glue not epoxy .… will it hold tomorrow? Stay tuned.

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Independence Days

2011-11-04T09:59:00.000-04:00

There are lots of holidays in Panama. And most have to do with Independence. Many are in November. There is Independence Day, Independence from Spain, Independence from Colombia, and Colon Independence. There is also Flag Day (today) and in honor of today we will hoist a new Panamanian flag. If you have an old, faded or torn flag you can be fined $50. So we bought a new one as our old one has a few wind-torn areas.

There are eight holidays this month (including Day of the Dead, all the Independce Days, Flag Day and then various days celebrating specific cities including Bocas del Toro) and the rules change with the various days. Some are considered BIG holidays and others are smaller one. That means various shops are or are not open, the government offices charge overtime (an issue for us when trying to clear in and out of areas), and on some days you can't buy alcohol. The noise level also changes depending on the various holidays – some have parades in town, lots of boat traffic and partiers. Other days are more normal. We have heard the local Bocas drum lines practicing nightly – probably getting ready for some parade or other.

Yesterday (Thursday), we decided to test our new Hong Kong sail that Tom brought us from the states. It is a large asymmetrical drifter – a very large, light air, downwind headsail. We bought this sail anticipating our Pacific crossing with light winds coming from our stern. This sail comes in a large "sock" so it looks like 50 foot blue sausage when hung before being deployed. The winds yesterday were light and the perfect conditions to test her out. So we motored to Bahia Almirante where we would have some room to maneuver (without reefs) and put her to the test. And we failed. Michael got it rigged okay and it actually deployed pretty well (though the sock didn't seem to want to go all the way up). But when it came time to "snuff" it – which means pulling the sock back down over the open sail, it would only go about half way and then jam. We tried several times and then when Michael was totally worn out we headed back to Bocas.

We took the large blue sausage ashore and borrowed a lage piece of grass to unfold and repack the sail in its sock thinking that some of the lines probably got twisted inside. It looks like there was a fair amount of twists – so we repacked and will hopefully test again over the next few days. This big sail will take some pratice but we hope it will serve us well. The time we had it up yesterday, with the wind blowing only about five knots, we were going about 4.3 knots. So it does work well and pulls our boat nicely.

We're back in the BocasTown area after our bat cave adventure on Bastiamentos. By the way, the scary looking bugs we saw in the cave (photos on the photo album) are a Tailless Whip Scorpion and a large cricket. The scorpion was one large and very scary looking insect...especially in a subterranian environment!

Our boat documentation papers and a few small items arrived yesterday with Doug from "Yellow Shoes" so we'll collect those today and invite the courrier and his wife to dinner aboard as our thank you. Otherwise, it a bit of provisioning and then getting ready to head south next week.

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Real Halloween Adventure: The Bat Cave

2011-11-01T16:08:00.002-04:00

We may be a day late, but today we had a great adventure. This morning we took our dinghy 2.2 miles, then up a river at the tip of Isla Bastiamentos and ended up at Juan's property. It is a lovely piece of land. The path to get on the property is lined with pineapple plants and bananas and plantains are growing nearby. Lots of cocao trees are also fruiting, Chickens, dogs and kids are around the small house and there we met our tour guide, Juan. His compatriot young Aldoberto came along as well (he was the monkey spotter.) Juan speaks no English, so included in the tour was the daily Spanish lesson. We think we understood most of what he was telling us.

Before we got to the cave we hiked along a rather muddy path and saw several sloths, very cool orange poison dart frogs, various different plants, and Aldoberto did manage to spot a white-faced monkey in the trees. We had to stop talking and approached quietly so we could all get to see the rather large monkey.

Then, the giant cave was at the end of the trail. It actually was a bit scary looking into this large dark hole. We had been warned to wear clothes that you could get wet and muddy. The cave is quite long with several different chambers – some very large and others so narrow, you walked through holding on to both sides of the rocks. The water was also at different levels from ankle deep to chin high (for short Barbara). The end chamber is a very deep pool fed by a lovely small waterfall and is deep enough for young Aldoberto to dive into doing various flips and sommersaults as he jumped off the rocks. So we waded through the adventure.

There were large stalactites growing down from the ceiling of the cave dripping with cold water. The temperature in the cave was actually chilly and the water was cold. This is a great adventure for a hot day.

It's called a bat cave for a reason. There are lots and lots of bats that call this hole in the rocks “home sweet home.” You could look up and see them snoozing in the nooks and crannies. There were many, many bats though that were wide awake and seemed to take great pleasure in swooping down and coming very close. Perhas they were attracted by the lights. They got so close to you, you could almost feel their wings hit you and you certainly could hear the whooshing sound as they flew. They were fruit bats and some of these very critters may have feasted on Astarte bananas!

We followed Juan as he led us through the various chambers of the cave – giving us warnings where there were rock ledges and deep water holes. We were wearhing headlamps as was Juan, though young Aldoberto seemed content to roam around in the dark. It was pitch black in the back chambers where no light came in through the opening.

Michael took lots of photos, but unfortunately, our new underwater camera got very foggy because of the cold water and humdity. So most of the pictures look like they are haunted with ghosts.

In the last chamber, there is a small waterfall that feeds into the cave and is very soothing sounding amongst the flurry of bat activity. The pool in this chamber is deep enough that Barbara couldn't touch the bottom. You can get a good soak and swim in here, which we both did.

It was a very fun adventure that we were glad we did. We had planned to do it a week ago, but we got rained out. There were points in the cave where you could see high water lines (or leaves stuck in the rocks). It would not be a good place to be in a sudden downpour. But today, was a sunny, beautiful day – the perfect day for bat man and his sidekick to head to the cave.

Oomp-Pa-Pah

2011-10-25T15:13:00.000-04:00

It's October..and that means Octoberfest – Panama Style. Actually Austrian style with a Panamanian flair. This past Sunday (Oct. 23) was the annual Octoberfest celebration at Rana Azul in Tierra Oscura. The restaurant is owned by Josef and Maria, two Austrians.

They also own a Moody sailboat similar to ours – though their boat is for sale. They hired a band from Panama City, had a dance floor set up, lots of extra tables and chairs, extra restrooms (the men's room behind a blue tarp facing a small stream!), and a dessert and “shots” cabana and extra help. They roasted two lambs and a pig and also offered their clay oven pizzas.

Beers were 5 bottles for $5 (can't beat that!), The place was packed with local ex-pats, boaters and local Panamanians. The band (which we enjoyed a preview of the night before while sitting at anchor outside the restaurant) was quite good.

We feasted on heaping platters of food and drank a few celebratory beers (it was Octoberfest afterall). Lots of folks we've met over the past several months were here and so it was a really fun afternoon. Josef and Maria also celebrated their 35th wedding anniversary. It was celebrations all around.
The weather, which had been quite bad the previous several days turned out perfect (although a tad warm). It was sunny but because Rana Azul is a giant covered, but open-walled restaurant, it was pleasant.

We made the trek to Tierra Oscura after a few days near Bastiamentos where we enjoyed the company of some friends in the rainy weather. We had planned to go to the bat cave (that's why we went to Bastiamentos) but got rained out. It poured and poured and the cave gets filled with water (we understand you already have to walk in chest high water). Drowning in bat guana wasn't the group's idea of entertainment so the bat cave adventure was postponed to a later date.

On Monday following the Sunday Octoberfest, we took a group to the Jackson finca for a hike and tour. Having been there a few times we were the scout leaders and had a great walk. We managed to collect some bananas, limes, oranges and even a “biddybot.” . We saw a sloth (a first for us at this place),

hummingbirds and lots and lots of blue frogs and green and black spotted frogs. We trekked for a couple of hours and enjoyed getting some exercise and more social time (along with fruit “shopping”).

Tuesday morning (today), we headed back to Bocas Town. Someone is selling off some parts and bits having cancelled their Pacific plans. We plan on looking at the water jugs, spotlight, and perhaps even some of the tinned food for sale. We also promised some friends some waypoints for places in Providencia, the Cayos Cajones and Honduras so we'll get together with them while here. And as usual, we need to get some food supplies and fuel. So we'll take advantage of the few days here while we wait for our boat documentation papers to arrive on November 3rd. (Thanks Carol for sending them and thanks to Doug for bring them).
It's raining again – we are in the rainy season afterall. The good news is we're collecting plenty so there is no pressure for Michael to re-install the water maker yet.

No Dogs. No Cats. No Chickens.

2011-10-16T19:21:00.000-04:00

We left the land life and are back on the water. We survived our "house, animal and plant sitting" experience and left everything alive and well fed and watered. We did manage to get some big boat projects completed while on land – taking advantage of the space and the available water (and washing machine.) We did some major "fall" cleaning of curtains, cushion covers and beach towels. We also took our canvas bimini off and washed it and water-proofed it so now it doesn't rain IN the cockpit (whooppee). We got our rain gear all cleaned up as well.

So with the cleaning projects and the entertainment responsibilities of "Cyndie's Casa" we survived. And we're glad to be back on Astarte.

We left Tierra Oscura on Friday morning to get back to Bocas Town. Bocas Marina was celebrating its tenth anniversary and hosted a large marine flea market on Saturday morning. We had stuff to get rid of and perhaps things to buy. We managed to sell the suitcase that came back with us from the states and some books and charts. Unfortunately a few items came back aboard with us including our folding bicycle. We've carried it with us since Feb. 2009 and never used it. So we decided it was taking up way too much room and needs to go. But it seems no other boater wanted it either...so it came back with us. Getting rid of the suitcase (which we bought at Goodwill) was good. A local bought it.

The festivities of the anniversary celebration continued all day with a seminar from the "Floating Doctors" on CPR and first aid at sea; live music, booths with local crafts including organic locally made chocolate from one of the Indian villages on the mainland. Of course we needed some of that!

Lots of boating friends were around so it was a fun day ending with a few beers before making it back to the boat just before a big storm hit. The storm meant that the fireworks were cancelled – bummer (but mabe tonight!)

This afternoon Is Sunday dominoes at the Calypso Cantina and Barbara has to go and defend her title.

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NEW Residence

2011-10-12T21:30:00.000-04:00

Well, as they say in the cruising circles – we swallowed the anchor and are now dirt dwellers. Here's our new digs. Its complete with one dog, one cat and four chickens. It's located on an island in Tierra Oscura and has three bedrooms, two baths and a stove with SIX burners (mine on the boat has two!) Michael is re-learning how to use a remote.

Okay, okay – we're not permanent residents – simply pitched in to house (and animal) sit for four days at Cyndie's house. Juanita was house sitting and because she had to leave the country for three days to renew her immigration with a quick trip to Costa Rica, and her backup didn't show, we got recruited.
Its weird being in a house again – and it comes with lots of responsibilities. The animals make you feel like you're on an episode of “Green Acres.” We were left with three chickens and now we have four (one that was thought to be lost has reappeared – better than losing animals on your watch!) But they haven't pitched in on the egg front yet.

The house is a lovely home where we've had the pleasure of dining and swimming in the past. Cyndie is in Europe and has been hospitilized there and so we thought we should do our share to help out. Cyndie is one of the area's most gracious hostesses. So with house sitting also comes all the social mandates. Wednesday, you host the ladies for mah johg. Thursday is the grill night for twelve! Luckily, Captain Ron brings the meat and does the grilling and everyone brings a dish to contribute to the dinner. But it means cleaning and prepping the house and cleaning up afterwards. Whew.

Then we'll take off on Friday morning (after feeding all the critters) and head back to Bocas town for a big nautical flea market where we will try to foist some of our old stuff off on others. Trying to lighten the load.

So it's been a busy few weeks here and this house sitting has added to the “fun.” Michael has been ordering supplies (new chain is ordered Tom, and thanks to Richard *(Barbara's brother) we have the material for a new shaft ordered). When we have a firm shipping date for those things, we'll make our way to Colon for a haul out and the shaft replacement.

Meanwhile, we'll be having our drinks on the deck – only this one doesn't rock.

Photos !

2011-09-30T17:29:00.001-04:00

First, look to the right of this page and see: "New Photo Page". Click on it and it should take you to the new photo album (we hope).We have finally added some new photos.

We are also in the process of changing from our old photo page to the google photo page. It is easier and quicker to upload. So, maybe, just maybe, we may get new pics on the page more often.

The Bocas Experience

2011-09-30T09:38:00.000-04:00

We've been hanging out in Bocas del Torro now for a few months. We traveled to the states and safely kept the boat moored here and now we're getting back into organizing Astarte and ourselves for the next leg of the adventure. Meanwhile, we're enjoying the archipelago. Yesterday (Thursday) we moved into Porras Lagoon (also known as Dolphin Bay). It wasn't a long journey from Palos Lagoon (aka the DarkLands or Tierra Oscura or Laguna Palos). We're now anchored in a lovely bay near with the mainland of Panama on one side and an open bay dotted with little magrove islands on the otherside.

We came here because the little town of Buena Esperanza had a "diaz de campesino" or farm day. Unfortunately, we missed the main event (it happened earlier than our hostess thought). The kids put on a little pageant and they crowned a king and queen (elementary school kids). The king is selected by popular vote, the queen gets crowned because she collects the most firewood. Hmmm...what's wrong with that? But there were little booths with some local crafts and food as well. It was an interesting little local Indian community.

We also had the pleasure of getting invited to Camrykaland owned by Mary and Carl. It is a lovely home in the hills owned by sailboat cruisers (their boat Camryka sits in the bay here). We had a lovely potluck up at their home last night and it was really wonderful. Two howler monkeys were in trees very close to the porch where we were sitting outside, so you could really see them – and they were very active. There was also a sloth (two toed we think) in a nearby a tree and he was also active (for a sloth that is!). Their home is very pretty and the company was wonderful – nine of us from boats and nearby properties. We'll head up the hill again today to take advantage of some fresh wild lemons that are in full bloom and take another look at all the beautiful plants and flowers.

We helped another cruiser move her boat from Red Frog marina to Tierra Oscura where she's housesitting (her husband is working in the states). It was a lovely day to move and we got to take it through what's known as "the gap" between Solarte and Bastiamentos islands. That's a very narrow cut between the islands and a shortcut.

Swimming is a bit difficult lately as there are lots and lots of jellyfish in the water. Some are the harmeless moon jellies, but unfortuantely others are the ones with the toxic tentacles. So we haven't done much swimming. We did another hike on the Jackson Finca with some friends from "Adancara" and really enjoyed that – learning more about some of the local flora.

Barbara also enjoyed another afternoon of mah jong and we had another Sunday afternoon at Rana Azuls. So the social life in Bocas continues while we are doing research on getting a new shaft made and a haul-out planned. Michael is also reading a lot of Pacific cruising guides and getting excited about the next adventure.

We'll continue to explore the Bocas area and then move on to get the new shaft made and installed and then the next leg of the adventure will begin.

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Empty Berth

2011-09-18T09:44:00.000-04:00

Tom has left the good ship Astarte and should be arriving back in Portland, OR today (Sunday). We enjoyed our time with him and now have to get back to work getting Astarte back in shape.

Bocas Town was packed this weekend because of their annual Sea Fair. We decided that after dropping Tom at the airport and seeing him off, a quick pick-up of a few items, and a dinghy trip back to the boat, we would head out of town and back to Terra Oscura. Last night, we had a big thunder shower with good rain collection but lots of scary lightning. The repaired watermaker still needs to be reinstalled so collecting rain is a priority – especially because we have lots and lots of laundry to get done.

Sunday's in Terra Oscura usually means a trip to Rana Azul (Blue Frog). It is a great little restaurant that serves a Sunday dinner or brick oven pizza. We'll probably take advantage of it after some morning cleaning and organizing. We get the "laundry room/wet locker" back (also known as: forward head). And we get the garage back (V-berth). And in the end that means the salon area, aft cabin and aft head also get cleared out. That will be today's project then the reward of dinner out and if the rain holds off, a swim.

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Nobody said there would be an essay!

2011-09-15T10:11:00.000-04:00

I'm pretty sure the travel brochure never mentioned anything about a compulsory essay (blog entry) for a visiting guest to Astarte... But here goes...My name is Tom Babich and I am from Portland, Oregon. I have known Barbara and Mike for half my life. We were all are in the TV business in Portland. But more importantly we have sailed together for many years on each of our various boats. I have had five boats, Mike wins having had seven. We have stood up for each other at our weddings... and I have always considered him a "brother from another mother".... thus the sibling rivalry. Barbara always knows when MH and I are together the mental age level of any conversation falls to that of eight year old boys.
Following their adventures via email and Skype I thought I had better come see my friends in Bocas del Toro before the head into the Big Salt Chuck (That's a Pacific Northwest term for the Pacific). So here I am in Bocas del Toro, a Temperate Zone Boy (TZB),sweating away and feeding the local bug population with fresh blood. I made it here traveling through Costa Rica with "mi esposa en la bolsa*" Actually, a new cruising spinnaker Mike had made in Hong Kong and shipped to me that I carried in the largest duffel bag known to man. The joke works better when you know I had just gotten divorced... (insert comment here). (*translation: "my wife in the bag")
Anyway, I make it to Bocas with the whole family to meet with Barb to help her get Astarte back into shape after two months of being closed up. While we were provisioning for the week in Bocas "the bringer of rain" appeared once again. Back story... Being from Oregon whenever I visited M&B in Florida it always seemed to rain. Including the "Super Squall '93" event in the Dry Tortugas. After weeks of dry weather in Bocas I show up and the town is hit by "Super Squall 2011"... tons of wind and rain lasting over an hour, streets flowing with rivers, roof tiles falling, small children flying through the air, me and a new non English speaking friend pressed against a building in the only cover we could find. Welcome to Panama.
After a wet ride to the boat Barb and I set about getting Astarte in shape and me back on a boat... long story. Boat bites... those smacks, cracks and shin barkers that we all get when in the locale of any sailing vessel, usually followed by the #@%$$ that your dad taught you. Mr Mikey showed up Sept 9 glad to be back from being on the road. As the days followed I was fortunate enough to meet some very nice, warm and friendly Bocas folks. A great pig roast at Red Frog Beach, or wonderful pizzas at Rana Azul (dancing the swing with Janice and BS-ing with Bill, meeting the owner,Joseph), a death march photo op for frogs in the Finca, swimming at delightful Cindy's in the "dark lands". Now I see why people live here... maybe me someday... if I ever get used to the heat (TZB).I have done the Kuna Yalas (1998) and will always put them Number One but this is a close second.
To me this area is like Barkley Sound but with heat and not many beaches and no salmon.
One thing that is fun for me was watching M&B work together on Astarte. Like I said I have had a few boats and few partners... these two have it together.
Sometime the "Battling Bickersons" but never for very long... I think that's the key to living in such a small space for any length of time. They are each an individual and a part of a team. As any visitor will soon find out the treasure that come from the Galley are amazing. Barb has known me for so long that she knows I will eat a can of cold beans and call it supper.... but not on her boat. I have not eaten so well in many years... truly amazing.
As this week wanes on I am due to fly out this Saturday back to CR and then the next day to PDX. I will miss my good friends and their good ship Astarte but I will know the crew and boat will do just fine in the Big Salt Chuck. For me I will also miss the comfort of the V -berth (I'm 6'3 and 220 lbs, I am the V-berth) and feeding the local bug population. But more importantly, I am taking away with me much more than just photos, memories and an adventure. For the past 14 months I have been re-discovering myself... looking for Tommy 2.0. These past two weeks being here with my true best friends, being back on a boat again, all this has been good. Thanks Barb and Mike, Astarte, Mario and Caspar (the pet geckos).

Boats

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Family, Friends, Work and 200 lbs of Stuff

2011-09-15T10:09:00.000-04:00

Time to step back and catch everyone up on what the last two months were like for the crew of Astarte. After arriving in Bocas del Torro, Panama, we spent some time exploring, but most of it was spent getting Astarte settled for two months of sitting empty.

In mid-July, we left her at a dock (thanks Anna and Ian) and headed to Panama City for the flight back to the states. Stops at the US Embassy for more passport pages for Michael, a bit of shopping and then aboard the big silver bird. We arrived in Boston and the first stop of the adventure to Salem, MA and Barbara's mother's home. After a few day's of errands in Salem, Michael took off for Shanghai, China and work. He worked the World Swimming event there for two weeks – earning some much needed boat units. (translation: we call every $100 dollars a boat unit). He enjoyed seeing some of Shanghai and connecting with his workworld again. The crew he worked with was great.

While Michael was working in China, Barbara's first article in "Cruising World" magazine (August 2011 issue) came out so it was exciting to go to a magazine rack and pick it up!

Michael returned to Boston/Salem and helped get ready for Barbara's mom's 90th Birthday. Spending time with family was wonderful and it was nice to have a little longer than the past visits to really have some fun. We had the pleasure of seeing friends from all over. We are so grateful that Sandy made the trip from Oregon to visit. It was a blast. Tim came from Philly for a Saturday with his brother and Barbara was so happy to see them. And in Salem, we reconnected with good friends Nina and Kenny, Ted, and Barbara got to see Dorothy along with Joe and Paula. It was great to see everyone. The Birthday Event was great as the entire family was together and mom looked beautiful and turned 90 healthy and happy.

From Salem, Barbara and Michael travelled to Nashville to see Michael's brother and sister-in-law. His mother, Trish flew in for a family reunion as well and we had fun enjoying Derek and Margie's hospitality and the "pool." It was a really wonderful visit with time to connect. We even got to see Derek and his band "The Yardboys" perform at the Wilson County Fair. From Nashville Michael flew to Korea for more work – this time the track and field events in Daegu, South Korea. He worked much harder here and again, though it was that four letter word w-o-r-k, he did enjoy the experience and the folks on the job. More boat units will also come in quite handy.

Barbara flew on to St. Petersburg and had a whirlwind of things to do Our friends Richard and Rene were more than gracious hosts and threw a wonderful get-together for Barbara so she could see lots of friends. Aside from the enjoyable time with friends there were tons of things to get done. She came back to Panama with two big bags filled with boat parts and stuff (104 lbs of freight in two bags) and a 35 lb backpack a computer case! That was an adventure. She got back to the boat ater several planes, taxis and water taxis. Astarte was still afloat, but in much need of tender loving care.

Michae meanwhile was still in Korea working. He finished in early September and then went to St. Petersburg for a repeat of what Barbara had done – and Richard and Rene were kind enough to also repeat the process with him. He had a much shorter time there and really had to scramble to get everything done. He loaded his two bags with another 100 plus pounds of stuff and returned to Panama. Unfortunately, his bag of "freight" didn't arrive with him on the small plane to Bocas so we needed to make a return trip for that big bad bag.

Before Michael got back to the boat, our good friend Tom from Portland came to Panama for a visit. He was kind enough to schlepp our new cruising spinnaker here with him and a very large duffle. That's a good friend! Barbara got to enjoy his company for a bit and he helped get the boat off the dock and out at anchor to get a better breeze and fewer bugs. But...as is required on Astarte...you can read about Tom's visit from Tom. He's still with us a few more days.

So that's the catch up on the Astarte blog. We are back on the boat now and need to store or install that 200 plus pounds of stuff and get the boat organized again. We'll be in this area while we accomplish those tasks and start getting the boat ready for the next big adventure.

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Long Absence

2011-09-11T09:49:00.000-04:00

We are back! Barbara and Michael are finally back on Astarte and after much cleaning and fixing stuff(mostly Barbara), things are getting back to normal. We were back in the states for visits and some work(Michael). We will fill in more details as we get back into the routine.

Our very, very good friend Tom is visiting and having a great time, in spite the heat and humidity for a "temperate zone boy"! We have had some "communication" issues and apologize for not keeping up to date after we returned. As soon as the repaired SSB gets installed, we should be fully back up to speed.

We hope to head off to Terra Oscura today and have a meal at Rana Azul and then take a walk in the next few days at the finca we visited before we left Astarte.

All is good and it is great to be back aboard.

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Day Two,Three and Four Off the Water

2011-07-15T08:02:00.000-04:00

So far so good! Hope we're not jinxing it! We've done the water taxi from the dock; the really fast water taxi to Almirante; the really LONG bus ride to Panama City (10 plus hours!); a day in Panama City to get more pages in Michael's passport; and now we're out of Panama and on our way to Boston – leg one completed. We're cleared into the US and now we wait for the next flight.

The water taxi from Bocas Town to Almirante was a very efficient operation and the driver went full tilt the entire way – it took about 20 minutes. Then we waited for the "Express" bus to PC from Almirante. The good news – it was a Mercedes Benz bus with comfy seats, two movies and working air conditioning. The bad news – it was more than ten hours with quite a few stops along the way. It was a nice day so we did see quite a bit of the countryside. Heading up into the hills and rain forest was really beautiful. Then we went over to the Pacific side and got on the back roads and it wasn't quite as scenic – but it was still a pleasant trip. Our guy Roger was at the bus stop to meet us and get us through the awful PC traffic to our hotel.

The next morning we started early and had to fight major traffic to get to the US Embassy. We were luckily first in line for "American Citizen Services" and after about an hour, Michael now has a much thicker passport (and a lighter wallet!)

We then spent the rest of the day doing some much needed shopping at a big "Metro Mall." It was good to stretch our legs after the all day sitting adventure on the bus.

Thursday, day four, we got to Tocumen International Airport in Panama City and got on our morning flight to Atlanta. We had a long time between connections in Atlanta to get to Boston. Customs and immigration went quickly. We had plenty of time to our next gate. Luckily we missed the plane collision in Boston – and made it in a bit late.

All is good...now, we'll probably take time to enjoy our family and friends (with some work and projects as well). So you also get a break from the SV Astarte log page.

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Boats, Taxis, Buses, Planes and Trains

2011-07-11T18:13:00.000-04:00

We're on the move. After big time cleaning up and the stressful closing up of Astarte, we have left her at summer camp (thanks Anna and Ian) and we are heading back to the states. Barbara's mom turns 90 and we must be there to celebrate that momentous occasion in August. We'll also see Michael's mom with a visit to Nashville (she'll be coming there from Oregon) and then a stop in St. Petersburg before heading back to Panama (loaded down with boat parts). Michael will also be adding some much needed funds to the cruising kitty and logging some additional airplane miles with some great and interesting work.

We started this adventure – because all these trips are just that, adventures – with a water taxi from Solarte to Bocas Town. Then a cab to the Hotel Angela where we'll spend the night. Then an early wake-up call to make the first water taxi from Bocas Town to Almirante. From there, a cab to the bus stop and a LONG bus trip down the isthmus of Panama to Panama City. They say it takes between 8 and 12 hours depending on traffic, strikes, marches, road closures etc. The bus leaves at 0800 and they are supposed to be comfortable and air conditioned. We'll see. We do have seats (that was an adventure in itself figuring out how to book seats in advance). It should be beautiful for the first portion of the trip at least as we head into the mountains near David and Boquete. This is where there are coffee plantations, pineapple and banana farms and lots of beautiful rain forest and landscape. We're looking forward to that. Once we get on the Pacific Highway, it probably won't be as scenic, but it will be nice to see some of the interior of Panama – we've certainly done much of the Caribbean Coast areas.

In Panama City, we'll head to the US Embassy as Michael needs more pages in his passport (he's down to his last page). Hopefully we can get that done in a half day. We get on an airplane bright and early Thursday morning for an all-day air travel adventure to Boston (long layover in Atlanta).

So we'll be stateside for a bit – and this log may take a hiatus for a short time (unless we feel inspired).

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Morning Trivia

2011-07-08T09:36:00.000-04:00

We've talked about the morning radio nets a few times. Here in the Bocas archipelago the morning net has the typical information – weather, emergencies, buying and selling of boat bits as well as the local community announcements (mostly restaurant specials and music with the occasional movie, garden club event or fire dance). But here, there is also a morning trivia game. The crew of Astarte have recently been pretty good at coming up with the answers. The questions are quite interesting as well as some fun facts that are shared as well. The last few days have been filled with pirate trivia – today's included one about a pirate leader trying to settle his men down and did that, by importing a bunch of French women to marry them off. There was also an interesting fact about the year 2011. July has five Fridays, five Saturdays and five Sundays (this happens once in something like 800 years); there is the 1/1/11, 11/11/11 and if you add your age and the last two digits of your birth year, it will add up to 111.

We are about to tie up to the dock tomorrow and get the last minute preps to the boat done before we head off. That means getting the water maker pickled, all thru-hulls closed, the freezer and refrigerator emptied and cleaned, everything off the decks and stored, all the last minute cleaning, and wash done, and, all the garbage packed up and hauled off. Then on Monday we leave for Bocas Town and on Tuesday we leave for Almirante and then Panama City. We're giving ourselves a few days in Panama City as a safety and we need to go to the US Embassy as Michael needs more pages in his passport. Hopefully we can get that done there quickly- though we know it will be an adventure – it always is!

So we are in the finally preps – its hot and sticky – but we're checking things off the list to get ready.

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Rainy Season

2011-06-26T10:08:00.000-04:00

The rains seem to have started in earnest. Most days now, we're getting at least some showers and Friday evening the skies opened and to the accompaniment of thunder and lightning, it really poured. Michael braved the bright flashes and put four big jugs of rain water into the tanks. It seems we are getting some rain each day and trying to get laundry washed and then dried before the next rain.

After a social marathon in Tierra Oscura, which included Barbara's mahjong lesson from Cindy and a group of ladies, we headed back to Hospital Bight and the anchorage right off Red Frog Marina. We needed better internet coverage for upcoming travel plans. Because of all the rain, we've been pretty lazy though we are starting to organize for getting the boat ready to put at the dock and head back to the states for a visit. It's a ton of work to make sure everything is cleaned, closed and secured – especially with the squalls that come through. But having checked out Little Star Island, we're comfortable with where we'll leave her.

Menus aboard are interesting now as we're trying to clean out the refrigerator and eat up the last of the perishables aboard. Don't want to leave anything for unwanted critters to find. It's amazing what creative combos we can put together.

Today is Sunday and that means a dominoes game with the folks on Voyager!

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New Photos

2011-06-23T21:33:00.000-04:00

We moved back to Hospital Bight and finally have some slow but consistent internet. So Michael spent some time tonight and posted pictures of the "Hot, Hot, Hot" fashion show, our visit to Rana Azul and the frogs from our nature walk in the finca.
They are on the Photos 2 page this time.

Still dealing with no captioning ability, so write your own.

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Nature Hike

2011-06-22T10:48:00.000-04:00

We seem to have settled into the Dark Land/Tierra Oscura anchorage. The folks living here are very welcoming and friendly and we've enjoyed their company and all the information they are providing on the area.

On Monday, we had the pleasurable company of Cindy and her dogs, Arena and Buddy for an incredible hike. She took us to a "finca" (farm)that is owned by a family (now for sale). This finca has many, many groomed trails through the woods. There are wonderful wood built structures around the property. The gentleman who owned the property passed away and he seemed like an incredible guy. He built the various structures so that the local Indians could do woodworking, furniture making and have a place to stay. The woodworking building was filled with magnificent bamboo and local wood furniture – chairs, cabinets, lounge chairs, tables, stools – plus some wine holders and ornamental pieces. It was incredible work.

The property also was filled with interesting trees and plants. There were many fruiting pineapples, banana and plantain trees, noni fruit, breadfruit, almonds, oranges, limes and some strange looking things. As usual, and with Cindy's assurance, we picked some of these strange things to taste. One is locally called a "bittybye" (sp??). It sort of looks like an artichoke with longer, though soft spines all over it. When cut open there is this soft, custard-like white pulp with large black seeds. You scoop it out with a spoon and eat around the seeds. It was quite delicious. We also picked up a ripe pineapple which was less acidic than many and very white inside – and very sweet. It was like going to a great fruit market and we came back with a backpack filled with oranges, limes, passion fruit, pineapple, and this weird bittybye. The oranges were very sweet. Cindy also snagged a breadfruit (not our favorite).

The walk also was filled with interesting critters. There were the teal green frogs with black spots – Dendrobates Auratus (another in the poison dart frog family) and some very small dark blue (almost black) frogs (Dendrobates Claudiae). Butterflies were also numerous thanks to all the beautiful flowering trees. There were the very large morpheus (bright blue on the inside of the wing, black on the outside – but very large) and some interesting yellow with black designs that when they landed they curled like a leaf; a beautiful white with very delicate and intricate black designs and many, many more.

At the end of one of the trails is a stone labyrinth that we walked – it was really lovely. It was a tribute to the owner.

We climbed up this great tower that was built with a thatched roof and quite high. We took a really good walk, enjoying the dogs exploring all the sounds and smells. We loved all the weird bug and bird sounds and found the adventure really worthwhile.
Our hostess, Cindy lives in a house she and her husband built here in the lagoon. We went there for dinner on Tuesday night and it is a wonderful and beautiful home. Her husband was a great wood-worker and many of the touches in the house are quite unique and beautiful. She's a great lady and we've really enjoyed spending time with her.

On Monday night, we invited "Captain Ron" to Astarte for dinner. He is also a fixture in this area and our friends Anna and Ian connected us with him. He is quite a character and very helpful and informative as well. We've really enjoyed being anchored in this area and getting to know the folks. It is quite a social group and they are kind enough to include boaters regularly in their festivities.

It's been warm when there's no breeze but luckily the breeze seems to come when you really need one. We continue to empty the fridge and cupboards as we get the boat ready for our trip back to the states. We'll do the serious cleaning at the very end (why do it more than once!)

Happy Summer!

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The Bocas "Scene"

2011-06-20T09:14:00.000-04:00

From the Friday night "Hot Hot Hot" Floating Docs fundraiser to the Sunday afternoon bluegrass party at Rona Azuls, we've been taking in the local Bocas del Toro social scene. On Saturday, we pulled anchor and motored through several bays and around various islands to get to an area with multiple names (like most of the places around here). It is called the Dark Land, Tierra Oscura and Laguna Palos.

We anchored in the well protected bay that is surrounded by Panama mainland on one side, with its lovely green hills with a background of higher hills and mountains, and lots of mangrove islands on the other – some large and some tiny. There are several large (by local Panama standards) homes inhabited by ex-pats (US, Brits and other nationalities). There is a restaurant named Rana Azul nestled into the mainland behind a little mangrove island. The place has a few docks, one holding the owner's 41 foot Moody sailboat. The owner is Joseph, an Austrian. It is a lovely open-air restaurant with thatch roof and two large clay pizza ovens in back. The area is nicely landscaped. On Sunday, at noon, it is the weekly gathering place for all the local ex-pats in the area, boaters and a few Panamanian locals. This Sunday was extra-special because there would be bluegrass music. One of the ex-pats had guests who would perform – a father and son duo. The place was packed. We got picked up by Captain Ron who lives in a house nearby. There were launchas, pongas, dinghies and some bigger power boats four deep at the dock.

People packed onto long tables, squeezing in to make room. Beer is cheaper than soft drinks and the special was a beef stroganoff dinner. Having just had beef stroganoff on board Astarte this week, we opted for the pizza. Unfortunately the restaurant's sound system wasn't very good and with the huge crowd there, it was a bit noisy. But when you could hear them, the duo sounded pretty good.

We met lots of the ex-pat who call this area home. They are quite a group and were welcoming and fun to chat with. They offered lots of good information to us about how to get things, how to get around and names and prices of water taxis, land taxis etc. It was good to connect with many of the people who our friends Anna and Ian mentioned to us. Because we are leaving the boat here, its good to make the connections.

After the lunch event, we were invited to go swimming in front of Cindy's home, not far from where we are anchored. So we swam from the boat to the party which seemed to have moved to from Rana Azul to Cindy's house. It was a fun day and we continue to meet lots of new folks here.

It is nice here and we're hearing the howler monkeys on the mainland again which is nice. It is incredibly calm and quiet here compared to being anchored off Bocas Town. The birds sounds are wonderful and the views are magnificent. We'll probably stay here at least through today – perhaps a hike on land.

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Fun Fundraiser

2011-06-19T09:29:00.000-04:00

One of the things we particularly like to do is attend local events. We've been to parades, dance performances, local music events, beauty pageants and dinners. In Bocas Town, we attended the "Feeling Hot, Hot, Hot Fashion Show" for the "Floating Doctors." And it was quite an evening out!

It was held at the Bocas Marina's "Calypso Cantina and Grill" which is a mostly outside venue. One of the docks was converted to a raised runway and stage with the help of beer cases and plywood. Covered in black plastic it was lit with red LED rope lights and big spotlights. Decorated with some local flora, it looked great! Plastic chairs were put all around the stage, though not quite enough to sit the 200 plus people.

Dinner was a nice buffet, but knowing cruisers, they only provided a tiny plate to load up with the salads, cold cuts, lasagna and curried chicken and rice. They did run out of silverware at one point. The entertainment was, well entertaining! Bubba, the local chainsaw artist was doing a demonstration of his "art" which was being raffled as one of the night's prizes. Just before the fashion show would begin at 2030 (8:30 pm), two bathing suited women came on the runway (to music being played by a local band) and one woman proceeded to body paint the other. A few others joined in the painting as well.

Then to the song "hot hot hot" a bathing suited woman came out with a hula hoop aflame and did a fire dance sending the row in front of us scurrying She was very good (she was also the woman who did the body painting and we met her earlier in the week as the yoga instructor, masseuse and person who ran the spa at "Red Frog.")

Barbara was happy because the fashion show started with some very good looking men in swimsuits! The show was very well done and a lot of fun even though we aren't exactly fashion mavens. The models were good looking local folks who seemed to be having a lot of fun and they were well-rehearsed. There were swimsuits (Michael's favorite was the bikini set), casual clothes and even raingear from Helly Hansen, the boaters' loved that (Barbara loved it when the men took off the raincoats and had on boxers or swimsuits!)

Lots of prizes were raffled off and there was also a silent auction. Some of the prizes included dinners at local eateries, dive trips, local art, overnight stays at the hotels, massages, personal trainers and tattoos! Unfortunately we came home prize less but it was fun to see how excited people got when they won! Then, they auctioned a date with the doctor, Dr. Ben, who runs the "Floating Doctors" and he is quite handsome and really hammed it up on stage. We thought of bidding in the hopes of getting our annual physicals for a good price!. The bidding was between two folks and got to $275! Well out of our price range.

It was a fun evening and we called it a night around 2300 (11 pm) and dinghied back to our boat at anchor near the marina. It was a madhouse watching people leaving the event as water taxis were zipping and speeding every which way. Back on the boat, we listened to the music continue for quite awhile and were glad we left when the karaoke singing started!

We were glad to spend some of our limited funds on the night and support the "Floating Doctors." It was an entertaining night and the organization is a good one. "Floating Doctors" is an all-volunteer, non-profit medical relief team who work in remote areas to help in emergency situations (they were in Haiti twice – once after the earthquakes and once for the cholera outbreak) as well as to help provide education and care in remote coastal places. They work off a large motor-sailboat, the SV Southern Wind. Check them out at www.floatingdoctors.com

After all the excitement of Bocas Town, we moved to the "Dark Lands" on Saturday – more on that later!

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In Search of the Elusive, Indigenous Oophaga Pumilio

2011-06-15T10:55:00.002-04:00

It rained most of Monday – something we hadn't seen much of lately. So we collected water, did some laundry and washed the decks. That also meant that the famous Bastimentos Red Frog might also make an appearance.

On Tuesday, we decided to take a hike into the area rainforest to hunt for the little red poison dart frogs. Covered in bug spray we headed out. We trudged through the grasses (hoping not to find the dreaded “fer de lance”) looking for the tiny bright red frog that is indigenous to this island. We went up a several paths and into some clearings to look. We understood you could see them in the undergrowth. Finally, we spotted one little guy. They are relatively territorial (especially the males), so chances are we wouldn't see a bunch in one spot.

There bright red color does help in spotting them. We hiked around looking for one particular area (which we never found – it was off the only road we didn't go down) where another boater said he spotted several. We did manage to get all the way to the top of the hill and got a nice view amongst the construction of some high end homes and spa.

We had a good hike and ended up with at least one sighting. Of this guy.

We also heard all kinds of wonderful bird and insect and frog calls on the walk. It was good to get out and enjoy a good hike It does get hot here and when we got back to the boat we were ready for showers. Just in time, a big rain and wind squall came and we got more water and fresh water rain showers. Had some old friends Damon and David over for sundowners and it was good to reconnect with them – we saw them last in the Bay of Chilon in Colombia,

Today, we'll probably move Astarte and get a look at another area of Bocas. Its a big place and lots of explore.

Full moon tonight!

Exploring the Bocas Archipelago

2011-06-11T09:51:00.000-04:00

Getting to explore new areas is one of the real joys of cruising. Now that we are checked-in to Panama, rested up from the six-day passage, and have the boat back in some order, we are ready to start learning about this area. And boy, is there a lot to learn. Get out your maps – the Bocas del Toro area is in the northwestern corner of Panama, just 30 miles south of the Costa Rican border. Once in the Bocas waters from the Caribbean Sea, you're cruising through two major bodies of water – Bahia Almirante and Laguna de Chiriqui. The mainland and mountains of Panama are visible which give the area a great backdrop. Within these waters there are eight major islands surrounded by another 50 plus cays and more than 200 islets. Many are small mangrove dots in the sea of blue. The area is a bit confusing because the locals, the area's ex-pats, and the cruisers all have different or multiple names for every bay, anchorage or location.

A little history lesson. It was discovered (like just about everything it seems in the Caribbean) by Christopher Columbus on his fourth and final voyage. In the 19th century, immigrants descended upon the area that was populated by various indigenous Ngobe tribes. These immigrants were mainly slaves from the Colombian islands, US and some of the more eastern Caribbean islands. The banana industry brought in more folks and bananas still make up more than 80 percent of Panama's exports.

The present population is made up of an interesting mix of folks – the descendants from the slaves, the Chinese (which seem to own and run every store in the area including what is known as "the Chinese Walmart."), various indigenous Ngobe tribes, many ex-pats from the US and Canada and a mix of Latin Americans. Their language is "guari-guari" - a mix of Afro-Antillean English and Ngobere with a splash of French.

The wildlife of the area is quite remarkable. We are anchored off one of the large islands – Bastimentos where there is an indigenous red frog. This small very colorful frog is from the pumilio family – the poison dart frog. This small one is not quite as toxic as others – unless eaten (so we won't taste). Kids in the area collect them and carry them around in big leaves with a touch of water and show them to you for a tip. Unfortunately they often put the frogs in salt water. There are also monkeys, sloths and all types of colorful, beautiful sounding birds. We took a nice walk across the island yesterday to see the incredible beaches on the other side. Saw a few red frogs (caught by the local young boys) and heard some great birds. We'll take a walk after some rain and hope to see "lots of red frogs" after a rain shower.

Because of the large ex-pat community and cruisers who are here for long periods of time, there are lots of activities in the area. It starts with the morning radio net filled with everything from the local restaurants' menu specials to trivia to all the various events going on (garden club, charity fund raisers, movie nights etc.)

We'll explore the area and enjoy the process of doing so....

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Bocas del Toro Arrival

2011-06-08T11:24:00.000-04:00

After six days – well, two hours short of six days – we anchored in Bocas del Toro, Panama. We sailed much of the way and managed to not have to stop for fuel in either Providencia or San Andres. The last 30 hours we did have to motor as the Caribbean Sea turned into a windless waterway. We kept hoping for a wisp of air to be able to turn off the engine, but it was incredibly calm. The passage was a very good one – we hit two big rainy squalls (luckily not terribly windy or lightning-filled). They did seem to last forever, staying on top of us and just dumping rain. Wish we had water-proofed the bimini before leaving. It rained as hard under the canvas in the cockpit as outside! It seemed we were constantly drying cushions and clothes after passing through the squalls. Seas were relatively calm except when we had wind. But the boat handles them better when she's under sail – so all was fine.

We arrived just at sunrise off the entrance of Bocas del Toro and made it through the cut and around a few cays to anchor off Bocas Marina. We had barely got the anchor set and a crew of officials were at the boat, climbing aboard. Bocas del Toro does have a reputation of being the most officious (read: expensive) check-in procedure for boats in all of Panama. In fact, under way, we thought of heading to Portobello instead to clear in to the country and then just get a national zarpe to come here. But, because we have to get the boat ready to head to the states and also the winds would be calm for days – we would burn more fuel to go to Portobello and then the 155 miles to Bocas from there. So, we decided to just suck it up and deal with the check-in procedure here(read: more money).

So we get six guys on board, two from customs, two from immigration and the Port "Capitan" (plus the launcha driver). Most speak good English though we were hoping for Spanish practice. Papers start to fly and costs start to add up. One of the customs guys comes below for an inspection and opens all cabinets and engine compartment etc. I think because we hadn't yet cleaned up the boat or ourselves (they did arrive right after the anchor dropped), the inspection went quite quickly. While underway, things get stored so they don't go flying, snacks and water bottles are kept handy, and damp and dirty clothes were still hanging about so the boat was not in the tidiest of shape. When we go in to clear, we are usually all cleaned up, showered, clean clothes etc. But these guys didn't get that treatment.

After they left the boat, and more than a hundred of our favorite dollars was handed over (20 per person plus $15 for the launcha driver), we still had to go to town to complete the process. This meant a trip to the Port Capitan's office to get a new cruising permit (the rules changed yet again regarding cruising permits in Panama – now the permit we had was not valid because we left the country), and we had to complete the immigration process. So we launched our dinghy and outboard and went to town. We went first to get our Cruising Permit ($193), then to buy "immigration stamps" at the National Bank ($30), and then to the immigration office. This gave us a nice walking tour of Bocas Town and a good stretch of our tired legs. But it was warm, we were tired and we had to get a lot done before the noon closure of the immigration office. At immigration, we then had to go across the street to make a copy of the stamps now in our passports ($0.60). With all the legal stuff done (or so we thought), we then picked up some phone cards, cold sodas, fresh bread and fruit and headed back to the boat. We hoped to get fuel at the Bocas Marina fuel dock – but they didn't have any diesel. After getting back to Astarte, another "official" came by from quarantine who took our "foreign" garbage and did an inspection (well not really – he asked some questions about where we bought our food). And he needed more money. After some arguments we handed him $18. ($15 for the "inspection and $3 for our garbage.) So after six zero dollar days for the passage, we were spending money like drunken sailors.

After an afternoon of picking up and trying to get the internet/phone to work, we decided to head in for taco night at Bocas Marina's Calypso Cantina. Heck, we were spending money all day – why not continue???

It was a nice evening where we met interesting folks and reconnected with some people we met in the Bahamas in 2009. It was nice to get some local information about the area and get served a meal and not have to do dishes.

Back to Astarte and in bed for what we hoped was more than three hours of sleep at a time. It was a restful night though neither of us slept quite as "dead" as we thought we would. The body was probably in that 3 hours sleep pattern.

Today, we have to deal with fuel which will mean at least two taxi runs with jerry cans into the gas station in town. Perhaps a little more exploring around Bocas Town and maybe even an ice cream treat!

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Passages - =?ISO-8859-1?Q?=93Where are we?=94?=

2011-06-04T12:10:00.000-04:00

We are underway, finally! We left Guanaja, Bay Islands, Honduras on Wednesday morning around 1115 for the 600 mile trip to Bocas del Toro, Panama. We cleared out of Honduras (one of the best and easiest countries to accomplish that task), fueled up and stocked up on a few last minute items like bread and eggs. We are hoping to make a straight run to Panama without any stops. We don't carry enough fuel for motoring all of it, so we have to sail – but we are a sailboat after all.

Day one was potentially the roughest portion of the trip as we have to head almost due east (into the normal trade winds) to get past mainland Honduras. Then we make the turn to the southeast for awhile and then more south/southwest as we get closer to Panama. We waited and waited for the best weather window – which would mean very light easterlies so that we wouldn't have to crash into winds and seas. Michael picked out a great window to get us started – the winds were very favorable – light and northerly. We actually sailed a good portion of the first day (from about 1400 until 2030). We motored over the nighttime hours as the winds were so light that the sails wouldn't stay full and were banging around. But seas were light so we made good time. Day one – no fish. (we dragged a handmade lure that Walt on "Will of the Wisp" made us and we've named the "Sooper Cooper."

Day two – Thursday – we sailed all from sunup through most of the day and night. We had a small jog through some reef areas that we motored through as the light wind was on the nose. We've had a few squalls – mostly some rain – nothing too dramatic (that's the way we like it – not too dramatic.) Day two - "Sooper Cooper" still the favored lure – no fish. And we are definitely sailing fish catching speed at times.

Day three – still sailing – albeit mighty slowly. The winds are now due north so we are sailing dead downwind. The seas are about 3 feet but at times really cause Astarte to wallow and backfill the main. But we are making steady progress and saving fuel. See our progress on our "where are we" page – we update it daily. "Sooper Cooper" was lost today – something big broke the swivel and the whole lure was lost – so sad, But not long after – we pulled in a huge mackerel on a silver spoon. It's always an adventure landing these things on a rolly deck. But we did land it. Finally the fishing curse is hopefully over. The "Sooper Cooper" must have provided good luck. (Jim E – does that mean Barbara won??)

We are now into day four – it is Saturday. We are checking in daily with two different radio nets to give our position. The northwest Caribbean net and now the Southwest Caribbean net. The net controllers are kind enough to come up twice a day (morning and evenings) and we give them our current position. It's nice to talk with someone and have someone know where we are. We're still slowly sailing and the wind may be backing more to the northwest which may give us a better/faster sailing angle. Unfortunately, the forecast is for south westerlies as we get closer to Panama (that's the direction we'll be heading). So we'll sail as long as we can and save our fuel in case we have to motor the last leg or portion of it.

It now looks like we won't get in until Tuesday at the earliest. The few slow nights have pushed the timing back. But its been comfortable (mostly) though the boat seems to roll more at night (probably because we reef the sails at night for safety – the squalls are harder to see at night). That makes sleeping more difficult. We're doing our normal three hours on watch then three hours of sleep.

Glad we prepped so many meals in advance for the trip – the roll would make it hard to cook. Re-heating is easier.

All is good aboard the good ship Astarte and we hope the weather continues to be kind to us. There is a low sitting over the Caribbean giving us this favorable wind for now – we hope it doesn't develop into something nasty or create too many squalls.

Sailing on...and fishing.

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Oh, The People You Meet

2011-05-29T11:05:00.000-04:00

Saturday Michael solved a big mystery on the boat with his battery monitor. He is now getting an accurate graphic reading of how many amps are going in and out of the batteries. That was a great thing as its been a problem he's been trying to solve for months. It took a drill, some wires and the length of the boat to solve. We needed to make a new twisted pair of wires and run them in a different path to the battery bank. All in all it worked pretty well and best of all solved the problem that we have not been able to resolve for a very long time.

So to celebrate the solving of the Link 10 issue and because it was Saturday night in Guanaja, we went to the local eatery, The Manati, here in El Bight. On Saturday it's the place to be as they have a weekly "special" and many of the locals (albeit mostly the gringo ex-pats) come for it. It's always interesting to meet these folks and you have the most interesting and unusual conversations.

The proprietors are a couple from Germany – Annette and Klaus. They've been here for quite awhile and serve mostly German food (schnitzel, roast pork, german noodles, sauerkraut, sausages etc.). They are very nice and interesting and always make you feel very welcome in their establishment.

There are two guys who each live on a boat in El Bight and have been here since we've been coming to Guanaja. Gar is on a boat called "My Way" and he's the local expert on the hiking trails around the island. He used to work as a lumberjack setting chokers, moved to Alaska to work in the oil fields and crossed the Pacific on a boat. He's had some interesting adventures. We passed on a book to him about the the Pacific Northwest Haidas and lumbering and he told us last night he was really enjoying it. The other guy is Brian who lives aboard "Ketch 22" and he is usually quieter. Though last night we found out he's written two books and has a publisher now interested. He's self-published the two and they were at the bar. He also loves music and we shared music stories as well as Barbara's hope to also write and publish. He has a great sense of humor.

The local ex-pats are an interesting group. One guy who was helping to tend bar named Mike, built a lot of large buildings in the St Petersburg/Tampa area. He worked on the city center building in St. Pete, the cruise ship dock in Tampa and the Tampa Bay Performing Art Center. He and his wife have lived on Guanaja for over 11 years. He showed us some pictures he's taken of the hummingbirds that will eat out of his hand. It seems they've been there so long and he calls himself their "sugar daddy." He took some nice photos. He's also a musician – more on that later. His wife makes a local traditional Honduran Garafuna herbal drink called "guifiti" which we had the pleasure of sampling after dinner as a treat from Annette. This is a concoction of various herbs, spices, roots and alcohol. It is said to be a cure-all for everything from high and low blood pressure (how can it be for both??), headaches (I think it gives you one first), flus and colds, mosquito bites - but you have to drink it daily (hmmm- guifiti or mossies??), stomach cramps etc. It had an interesting taste but you certainly wouldn't want to get drunk on this stuff. We had it served in these lovely traditional stone "glasses" that made it probably taste even more exotic.

Back to the characters. Another ex-pat guy who could be running a Saturday Market stand in Eugene, Oregon (though with a tan and tropical attire), has lived here since the 70s. He has a long white haired ponytail, wild shirt and baggy trousers. He has a house with a stream and dam ("I didn't put the dam up , I bought the property and it was already there.") and we're sure a "garden." Old hippies don't die, they just move to the tropics!

Another guy told us about the water table on Guanaja (perhaps he was a burned out real estate agent!). He said the island never runs out of water because it is supplied by an aquifer from the mainland. We also learned about the waterfall on the other side of the island that we've hiked several times. It used to be much larger with a giant pool at the bottom of the big fall. It seems that Hurricane Mitch broke off a large wall and tumbled big rock down the cliff and made the falls smaller and the pool very shallow. He and his wife liked their drinks.

We dined with our friends Beate and Wolfgang from the boat Genesis and their friend Uli from another boat. They are all German and love chance to speak German and eat traditional food here. They were all kind enough to speak English for our benefit through the meal and post meal conversations. We were joined after dinner by Annette (the proprietress) for the guifiti drink and many, many stories of family, growing up, Germany, Honduras etc. It was very interesting and entertaining.

Then, the "live" music started. Klaus (the proprietor) used to play in a band in Germany. He plays bass guitar. Mike, (the ex-pat hummingbird feeder, builder of things in Tampa Bay) plays keyboards. The restaurant has an area set up with amps, a drum set, lots of instruments and microphones, etc. for anyone to join and and play. Unfortunately on this night it was a bass - keyboard duet. The "House of the Rising Sun" was first on the playlist. We needed more guifiti...quick! Then it was "Knocking on Heavens Door" and some other song. It was thankfully a short-set and we returned to the great pre-recorded playlist. But it made for an interesting interlude and we always love a chance to hear live music,

As seems to be always the case, it was an interesting night out in the islands. We safely made it back to Astarte past our normal bedtime.

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Fueling Up for Moving On

2011-05-27T09:53:00.000-04:00

The guests have gone (so sad) and now it's time to head south out of the hurricane zone and to get Astarte and us to Panama. We made the move from West End to French Key Harbour where we enjoyed another fun day with our friends Honoree and Walt from "Will o' the Wisp". Then on Wednesday we made the slow slog into the wind and waves to Guanaja and settled into El Bight. Here we will fuel up for the 600 mile trek to Panama. We also need to clear out of Honduras and pick up the fruit, veggies and bread for the trip south. We are hoping we can make it without any stops, but it all depends on the weather conditions We don't carry enough fuel to motor all the way and the prevailing winds will mean we have to motor a good portion of the trip. The first leg is pretty east/southeast which is where the winds come from this time of year. Once we reach Providencia, we'll have a better angle to Bocas del Toro, Panama – and hopefully enough wind to sail. We may have to stop and fuel up in Providencia which we hope we don't have to do for several reasons. It will mean having to clear in there (expensive); the fuel is all bio-diesel (our old engine isn't fond of that) and it means we motored the whole way (noisy and expensive). But we'll see. We have to get to Panama sooner than later. It looks like Tuesday or Wednesday might be days we can leave (lighter easterlies than normal – flatter seas).

In the meantime we like Guanaja except for the no-see-ums which seem to have evolved to come out even in a good stiff breeze. Jumping in the water is a good solution (except when you're trying to sleep).

We're getting a few projects done while we wait for a weather window. Michael worked on the wind generator yesterday (thanks for the new foam insulation Jim E.) and Barbara's prepping meals for the passage. We'll do some stainless polishing as well and if we get some much needed rain (haven't seen any rain for a month or more), we'll get some cleaning done.

But its he weather waiting game for now.

Best wishes to Barbara's mom – she broke her arm the other day and want her to know we're thinking of her everyday.

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New Photos

2011-05-22T20:48:00.000-04:00

We've added some new photos to the "photos 1" page. Unfortunately, we haven't been able to caption them so you'll have to guess what they are, But here's a hint – there are lots of new photos of our hike up the waterfall with our recent guest Jim Eady. These include some pics of the boa constrictors – one is eating a lizard and the other is sunning on a rock. Plus some lionfish cleaning photos. So enjoy and we'll caption if we can ever figure out what the problem is!

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Fun with Jim

2011-05-22T16:11:00.000-04:00

It was great fun having Jim Eady here for a visit. We had hoped he would break our fishing curse – but it still lingers. Even with a fishing tournament that ended with a tie – zero to zero – we did have a great time.

Jim managed to get in the water everyday and saw many a fish, shark, eel, and ray. The last day he found this hole covered by two large conch shells and when he pulled on one of the shells – it pulled back. He pulled again, and won the battle with an octopus behind the shells. It was a good size octopus and didn't seem intimidated by us. When we replaced the shells, he grabbed them and repositioned them to his liking. It was quite cool. Jim is a good fish spotter.

The last few days in West End were filled with daily snorkels to one of our favorite spots known as the "Blue Channel." It is like swimming in an aquarium – but with lots and lots of very large fish, especially groupers. We roamed around the little town and had some local eats, a nice dinner and a few brews.

Jim was a great boat guest and has an open invite to return. Hope he could relax a bit from his hectic work schedule. He can rest up now from all the workouts we put him through – hiking, swimming, lion fish hunting, snorkeling, and lifting that dinghy up and down.

Now we look for a weather window to head back south. Perhaps later this week.

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Monkey, Shark and Snake Sightings

2011-05-19T08:25:00.000-04:00

We've been busy snorkeling, sailing, fishing and hiking with our guest Jim. Unfortunately he was alone when he arrived safely on Roatan. His wife Catherine was still under the weather and didn't make the trip. So we had our high energy Canadian good friend Jim aboard and we've been having a blast (that's why we haven't written for a bit!)

Let's start with the arrival on Thursday. "Our guy" Alex met us (albeit a tad late) at Fantasy Island and then we headed to the airport. Jim arrived with the bag of boat parts and treats and just enough room for a few of his clothes. Then Alex took us all back to the dinghy and we made it to Astarte. After unloading (it always feels like Christmas when we have company!) we headed out for some snorkeling. Jim was a fish exploring the reefs of French Key. He also became a great deck hand! We went for a walk around the Fantasy Island Resort and saw iguanas, agoutes (a large guinea pig looking thing), and peacocks. With a need for some cold beers, we stopped at the beach bar and enjoyed the antics of a young monkey who would dash into the bar and steal the maraschino cherries when the bartenders stepped away. He was quite a felon, also stealing the remote, cigarette lighters and peanuts. Of course we didn't bring the camera.

On Saturday we left French Key Harbour for New Port Royal. It was about ten miles to the east on Roatan. The fishing competition officially kicked off – two lines got in the water immediately. We were going fish catching speed and a variety of lures were wetted...but no fish. Score: Jim – 0; Barbara – 0.

We anchored in New Port Royal near the Mango Creek Eco Resort and the boys went snorkeling and lionfish hunting. After a break for lunch, we all snorkeled at a different reef in the afternoon seeing lots of cool things like reef squid, huge parrotfish and some nice groupers. We also collected and "repatriated" some conch closer to the lodge for their safety. After showers, we went to the lodge for a hike around the property, drinks and a dinner out. The Canadians were in full force with a couple from another boat joining us (also from Toronto) and Terry, one of the resort owners, also being from up north as well.

After a full day of sailing (actually motoring), fishing, snorkeling, and hiking – the crew of Astarte were tired. Plus, we had an early departure for Guanaja planned.

On Sunday morning, we headed out to the island of Guanaja, another of the Bay Islands. We headed for one of our favorite places, Michael's Rock. Again, the fishing lines hit the water and the competition continued. The score after day two – Jim – 0; Barbara – 0.

At Michael's Rock we instantly got in the water for a snorkel on the nearby reefs. Our friends from "Will of the Wisp" arrived. We entertained them aboard for a lasagna dinner that evening and we decided to take a hike the next morning..
Monday we dinghied around the rock and went to the stream to hike up the waterfall. It was a great day for a hike. We saw a boa constrictor having breakfast of a lizard – constricting him. Further up the trail, we saw another boa sunning himself on a rock. Then Barbara saw another snake slither away quickly as she was climbing up some rocks. It was a snake sighting day for sure. We got to the waterfalls (yes Kathryn and Mark – all the way!) and got our fresh water showers and cool down. The five of us made it and enjoyed the trip. At the bottom, we decided we needed a cold cool down beer and headed to the Green Flash Bar for beer and french fries (so much for the workout!)

An afternoon snorkel was welcomed as the wind had died and the "no see ums" seemed hungry. Jim and Michael saw a shark – and were hoping he wasn't hungry! It was a reef shark and it went on its way. Honoree from "Will of the Wisp" invited us over for a dinner of their recently caught wahoo (how come they catch fish??) Michael unfortunately started getting a cold so he stayed on Astarte.

On Tuesday, more snorkeling and some serious lion fish hunting. We went around the rock to another set of reefs. The visibility was great as usual and upon entering the water, Jim instantly spotted 5 lion fish in one hole. The boys became focused on hunting and ended up with about 10 kills – 6 were kept for cooking. One that Jim got was quite large. The spines were cut (and a few saved). The reefs were wonderful – Barbara and Jim saw a turtle and lots of great bright colored fish, sponges, corals and critters.

After cleaning the lionfish the skeletons were tossed off Astarte. About 20 minutes later, Jim looked and saw a shark circling the boat. The nurse shark was hunting out the free lionfish remnants meal the boys had tossed. He stayed circling for a good hour. Barbara wanted to get in the water again as the bugs were bugging her and decided she's rather deal with the shark than the bugs. Jim would be her lookout (at least until he fell asleep).

We went to "Wisp" for another dinner – it was Walt and Honoree's 30th wedding anniversary. Barbara baked a chocolate cake and cooked up the lionfish from the lionfish cookbook Kathryn and Mark brought. We also cooked the spines as the cookbook suggests (to denature the venom) and gifted those as elegant toothpicks as the anniversary gift. We think toothpicks from venomous fish spines are what you get someone for their 30th!

On Wednesday, it was time for some serious fishing tournament competition. We'd travel from Guanaja all the way to the western end of Roatan – an all day trip. A 0630 departure from the rock was planned. Anchor up (Jim is now in charge of anchoring). Fish lines ready and in the water. We thought we'd be able to sail – after all we were going with the trades...but the wind just died. We motored all day – at fish catching speed though. Seas were flat as a pancake. We saw a huge pod of dolphins that came a played with the boat. We tried just about every lure in the box – even changed hooks on some and shined others and re-aligned weights...

Score: Jim – 0; Barbara – 0.

We are tied to a mooring ball in West End, Roatan. Let the fun continue! We only get to have Jim here a few more days – boy does time fly when you're having fun.

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Chilling the Beer, ay!

2011-05-10T13:59:00.000-04:00

We are prepping for our guests Catherine and Jim flying in from Canada on Thursday. Hopefully Catherine is feeling better and can do her final recovery in a hammock in the sun with an Astarte rum punch in hand.

The last few days we have been doing major cleaning and re-organizing the boat to make room for our good friends. We are really looking forward to seeing them as its been several years and they are great boat guests. The wind has picked up again and the nice window we expected this weekend to head to Guanaja may be closing – so we'll have to see what our other options are for an Astarte adventure. We thought it would be fun to hit another island and also give us some sailing time and fishing time. When Jim's on board there is always a fishing competition.

On Saturday evening we went to a fun potluck and met some new folks. We enjoyed talking with a couple from New Zealand and a couple from South Africa. The number of boats in the area is slimming down as people are heading to the river (Rio Dulce) or north or south to get out of the hurricane zone. The morning radio nets are getting shorter and shorter and the anchorages are getting emptier and emptier. It seems that there were more boats here at this time last year – but who knows. Its an enjoyable time to be here with great weather and the fish don't go away – so lots to see snorkeling.

Tomorrow we'll get the last minute provisioning completed as well as the final preps and then on Thursday we'll head to the airport to meet them. Back to cleaning! And, oh yeah, chilling lots of beer!

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What do you do on long passages?

2011-05-03T09:02:00.000-04:00

We've done six day passages but not like many who've crossed the Pacific and have been out 12 days to get to the Galapagos from Panama. What you do is really dependent on the seas and conditions. But you do have to figure out ways to spend the time when you are most definitely "boat bound."

On our passages we do all the regular things like chart work, boat maintenance, cooking and baking, laundry in buckets, boat cleaning and even some major projects like stainless polishing or sewing. We also spend time reading, chatting, writing or playing games. We are always fishing – rarely catching – but always trying.

After dark on watches you tend to just watch for other boats, nibble snacks and perhaps listen to an audio book or music. We try to have a nice dinner each night unless conditions forbid it. Sometimes, we play a game where we cast friends and relations as characters for a movie based on the books we're reading. We often reminisce about the great places we've seen and more importantly the folks we've met.

We mentioned in past blog entries about the friends Chris and Dave on a boat "Chrisandaver Dream" (shortened to CD) and Mike and Karen on Chapter Two. We had many a good time with these four Brits and sincerely enjoyed their company. They have headed to the Pacific, Chrissy, on CD, obviously must have been bored on their 12-day passage to the Galapagos and she crafted this lovely poem for us.

We thought we'd share her work...

Mike and Barbara aboard Astarte
When ever we meet we have a party
On remote island shore
You're never a bore

Always great fun
And when day is done
You light up the night,
Yes, you make it bright
Especially when there's a barby.

So whether with Chapter Two
Or may hap just you
With snorkeling most fine
Chocolate cake divine

We'll take memories of you
Which for now will have to do.
'til in some distant bay
Half a world or so away

We will be there
With wine and some beer
Which we'll gladly share
With friends so dear.

We're now in the pacific
And have to say you're terrific
So to a couple of yanks
We give YOU our thanks.

And we give them our thanks for the kind thoughts and good memories. So I guess we should add writing poems for friends to our list of "what do you do on long passages?"

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Getting in the Royal Mood

2011-05-02T18:15:00.000-04:00

There are Royal Weddings and then there is Port Royal. We are now in a place called Port Royal still on Roatan – on the southeastern end. We spent one night in a place called Calabash Bight – but then heard from some friends that had just anchored in Port Royal so we jumped here. It was the next harbour to the east. We hadn't had the chance to see these friends from the boat Footloose yet this year – so we made the two mile passage.

It may have been a short passage – but it was eventful. We had to head right into some pretty big waves and wind. Right near the entrance with reefs on the right and left of us – we caught a line around our rudder. There was a buoy (probably marking a fish trap) with a very, very, very long line attached to it. It was soon attached to us and we had to shift the motor into neutral so it didn't wrap the propeller. Now we are getting pretty close to the reef and trying with a boat hook to get the line free. Of course, with the big waves, the boat is rocking pretty wildly. Michael was able to grab the line but unable to free it from the rudder and the reefs were getting way to close. So he had to cut it free. Luckily it worked with a little nudging of the rudder to set it free. We then made it into the calmer harbour waters and anchored.

We did take the float and line and after we off loaded the dinghy and motor we went to try to find the line and re-attach the styrofoam float so others would see it and the local fisherman wouldn't be out a trap. Michael got the coordinates off the track we made coming in and we used a handheld GPS to get to the line. And sure enough we found it – still too much line floating and dangerous for other boats to snag. We tied on the float (tightening the line a tad so there wasn't quite as much free floating, prop catching line. It was an adventure.

The wind is hooting but we feel like the anchor is well stuck. Tonight, we'll splurge and have dinner at Mango Creek with our friends from Footloose and another boat. It should be fun and very tasty! Mango Creek is a really lovely eco resort – with a great cook. The owners Terry and Patrice are former cruisers who have circumnavigated. They also love dominoes so there may be a match in the future.

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Everyone to the River

2011-04-30T09:41:00.000-04:00

This is an interesting time to be in the Bay Islands of Honduras. Folks who spend many months here (December thru now) are all heading back to the "river." That would be the Rio Dulce where boats (both fulltime cruisers and commuter cruisers) often go to spend the summer months/hurricane season. We seem to be one of the few left here to enjoy the beautiful Bay Islands. It's nice because we have our choice of mooring balls and anchoring spots.

Its funny to be at the various last boaters gatherings and everyone talking about "seeing you in the river." We say,"no, we're heading back to Panama." For us, the river doesn't hold any appeal. You are stuck in the river (yes, fresh water) but its hot and there is nothing to really do unless you do inland travel (and it's pretty warm months to do that!) But every boater has his/her own style – that's what makes it so interesting. There are a few friends heading this way (on their way to the river) so we hope to connect with them prior to their getting river bound.

So over the next several weeks, we'll have our run of the Bay Islands. Our guests Catherine and Jim will be heading down from Canada to visit starting May 12 and we are very excited about their visit. That means a fishing tournament and hopefully the fish will cooperate this time.

We're still in West End, Roatan and will probably move on in the next day or two to another anchorage on Roatan. This year, we haven't yet been to Calabash Bight, so we'll probably head there. The snorkeling is really interesting there, so we'd like to explore it. And perhaps kill a few lionfish and get a dinner!

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Adios to Kathryn and Mark

2011-04-23T12:12:00.000-04:00

Our guests have departed Astarte and hopefully have made it off Roatan and to San Pedro Sula for their trip back to the states and work. We enjoyed having them aboard the good ship Astarte and had some fun times. They made it into the water everyday, and at least on this visit, there was not a drop of rain to be seen (unlike their visit to us in San Blas). We got some sailing in as well, and managed to get to two islands – Roatan and Guanaja. The fishing was a failure – though we gave it a valiant try. One lionfish at the end redeemed the skunking.

Thanks to them for the snacks, the Lionfish cookbook, fishing supplies (not that they seem to do much good) and the other bits and pieces.

Now, we're getting the garage and attic back to restore the items piled high in the aft cabin and head. Sounds like more visitors might be coming in May so we'll look forward to that in a few weeks. We need to restock on food, beer, gasoline and diesel.

West End is a busy place for Easter weekend. As Raoul told us in Puerto Rico over a past Easter weekend - "people used to go to church, now they go to the beach." It seems true in Honduras as well. The water taxis seem to be going non-stop by the waterfront along with the dreaded jet skis, banana boats and fast boats. Tourists from the mainland as well as the cruise ships are splashing around the reefs and the music is blaring at night from the many bars.

Cruising boats are starting to head up to the "rio" (many spend the summer in the Rio Dulce in Guatemala) so the mooring balls here in West End are opening up. We'll decide what our plans are once we hear for sure f our next guests will be coming.

Happy Easter to all – enjoy your chocolate bunnies.

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Sanctioned Hit

2011-04-22T11:05:00.000-04:00

We purchased a "License to Kill"! The Roatan Marine Park issues a limited number of permits to spear lionfish inside the park boundries. So, Mark and Kathryn bought one along with a short spear. We were now legal to hunt lionfish, which by the way, are very good to eat.

It took three trips, but we finally spotted one. They are all over Guanaja and other islands, but there was a derby in February that bagged over 1200 at West End, so the pickings here are a bit slim.

Mark shot it, clipped the poisonous spines off, and cleaned it. Kathryn cooked it up and we had a bite each. Very tasty. There are some new pictures on the Photo 1 page that document our hunting adventure.

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Hammer Time

2011-04-21T10:20:00.000-04:00

We've done a lot of diving over the past few days--the prices are right and there is tons to see, with great visibility (~15-20m)--much different than diving in the PacNW or Chesapeake Bay, where you often can't even see your gauges! We did a site called Mandy's Eel Garden the other day which was a nice little dive that brought us over a patch of garden eels! These are always really cool to see--they are small conger eels (Heteroconger halis) that live in burrows in sandy substrates with only their little heads popping up to catch the plankton in the current. They are pretty shy and go back down their holes if you get too close, but they are neat to see, especially because they're typically found in patches. We also saw a bunch of reef squid, which are always fun to watch. There were 66 of them (according to the divemaster's count) and we even saw a few amorous ones, which is cool because they get all brightly colored and flare their tentacles. They didn't seem bothered by us and at one point Mark and I had drifted ourselves right in the middle of the pack. At the end of the dive we also saw a small sharptail eel, which is a true eel, and is apparently a bit more rare according to the fish guide, so that was a cool sighting too.

Yesterday, we did a morning deep drift dive. The site was at the SW corner of the island where two currents come together, so there are typically bigger fish, huge sponges, and occasionally some sharks. We descended to about 100'--unfortunately, it was pretty hazy, so the visibility wasn't as good as it could have been had it been bright and sunny, but as we swam along the reef wall, we could see it got very deep, very fast. A few of the divers in the group headed out over the blue water and we kept along the wall. Soon enough we heard someone banging on a tank and divers started swimming fast. My husband cum dive-buddy started swimming hell bent for leather in their direction and I decided I had better follow, despite the fact that I wasn't keen on sucking up all my air chasing mystery animal--but as I got toward the group I could see there was a hammerhead shark cruising around and people were very excited! This is a pretty rare sighting, apparently, and there was a lot of boasting when we got back to the dive shop. It was probably about 7-8' but by the time we got back to the dock it had grown to about 10'+. We still aren't sure if it was a Great Hammerhead or a Scalloped Hammerhead, but it did have a scalloped hammer for sure. I'll have to check in with the shark folks when I get back to work to see if we can figure it out.

We had a few hours before our evening dive, so we wandered about town a bit, got some baleadas (a Honduran specialty I had been wanting to try--yummy), and then returned to the boat with full bellies. Unfortunately, the entire town lost power for most of the day, which was bad news for many of the shops and restaurants. The poor cruise-shippers had no place to spend their money!

Speaking of cruise ships, it really is amazing the impact they have on these small island towns. One ship came in the other day--it had over 4000 passengers and 1700 staff! West End was over-run. Yesterday, there were 3 ships in. There are catamarans that bring would-be snorkelers on day trips to the marine park where we are moored. We set out to go snorkeling the other day when one of these catamarans discharged its passengers--there's nothing like a bunch of flailing cruise-shippers, new to snorkeling and with ill-fitting equipment to drive the fish away. We kept hoping the few barracuda that were out and about would exact some revenge, but even they were hunkered down. It was really like being in a human-filled aquarium--this day the people provided more entertainment than the fish. The look on one lady's face when Barbara told her the fish she was looking at was a barracuda was priceless...I think if I was going to be here much longer I would have to devise a few practical jokes for this group. Apparently, some of the other cruisers have already discussed a remote controlled shark.

Anyway, we went back into town a bit early in hopes that the power might be back on and we could find a working ATM and make a trek to the gas station to fill the outboard tank. The power was still out, but we got both tasks accomplished thanks to generators. Mark and I hung around and people-watched before our night dive met up--it's a nice town to just sit and chill in, watching the comings and goings of Semana Santa partiers and all the activity on the waterfront.

We met up for our night dive and set out--there were 5 of us, plus two divemasters, all of which we had been diving with before at this point, so that was good. We descended just as it got dark and before long we saw a huge crab crawling about the reef and a small octopus. I could have watched the octopus for the rest of the dive--they are so curious and so fun to watch. We saw a bigger one later and since I was at the back of the pack, once everyone else moved on I turned my light off and then back on again and saw that he had turned this brilliant red color when the lights weren't on him and paled up as soon as the light shone on him. Pretty cool. We also saw some nudibranchs (my favorite!), many lobsters, a large green moray, and lots of tiny cleaner-type shrimp out and about. Mark spotted a cool scallop-type thing too. Night dives are always so neat because a lot of the animals that are tucked into the reefs during the day, like urchins, come out to feed and they are really active (well, as active as something with tube-feet can be). And the water clarity is so good here, you have really good visibility even when the flashlights aren't on. Very cool.

So, we're done with diving since we fly back to San Pedro tomorrow morning, but now that we're fueled up on tasty coconut bread french toast and fresh pineapple, we'll get a few snorkels in today at some of the sites we haven't hit yet. Hopefully, we'll avoid the fish-scaring splashers, and see some more fish and critters before we have to leave. I could definitely come back to Roatan!

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Nice sail, but no fish

2011-04-19T09:31:00.000-04:00

We left Guanaja bright and early Sunday morning for the trip back to Roatan. After days of fairly fresh breezes, of course, we awoke at 0515 to still water and barely any wind at all. Figures. But, as the sun continued to rise, the wind built back up a little and we were able to put out the headsail for the downwind run just as soon as we cleared the reef. With lines in the water, we still weren't really at fish-catching speed, but we figured it was early and some sleepy fish might be tempted. Or not. It was about a 45 mile run to our destination, the West End of Roatan in the Marine Park. As we made our way down the north side of the island, the wind and seas built and we were getting faster, but still not catching fish. A little sail trim got us in the fish-catching speed zone for sure, but still no dice. We tried every lure in the tackle box, each with a new name (e.g. Hondureno, Spoony, Don Pedro, etc.) but despite the love, no fish. Barbara thought she got a bite and hours later as we were putting Cucharita away, we noticed part of the hook was missing, so she had, in fact, been struck.

We got into the marine park, Anchor Boy selected a secure mooring, and all was well. We figured the giant conch (alive) that was below the boat was a good sign that the marine protected area may in fact be respected! The water is very clear and there are about a dozen moorings in the field, so plenty of company, but not packed in too bad. The water taxis zooming by off the bow provide a steady stream of interesting movies--some are packed, some are not, all move very fast! It being Semana Santa this week, the number of other boats around is pretty high and there's plenty of entertainment there too--lots of yahoos trying to waterski, tube, etc.

We went into West End yesterday to run some errands and scope out the diving options. After several shops, we realized the price is more or less the same everywhere, so we just chose one. We dropped off the laundry, bought some eggs and veggies, and dumped the trash, before heading back to the boat to fuel up and get our stuff ready for our afternoon dive.

We got back to the dive shop and found we would be the only ones on the afternoon dive (sweet!), so we asked to change the trip to one we wanted to do, and they obliged. Saw some very cool pipefish, a large green moray, and some jawfish with eggs in their mouths popping up out of the sand! Wicked cool! Also saw some very large crabs and several good lobsters, also signs that the park may be doing its job! Moreover, we saw no lionfish! Bummer in way, as we still haven't been able to try them for dinner! Barbara and Michael had a nice snorkel out on the reef while we were diving and then we all rendezvoused in town.

We had an evening out on the town last night, stopping at several spots for post-dive/snorkel beers before having a very yummy fish dinner while watching the parade of Semana Santa revelers move up and down the street. We were hoping for another green flash, but the sun dipped into some clouds just before it hit the horizon so we settled for a nice sunset!

After our yummy banana pancakes, we've got a morning "family snorkel" followed by another dive for Mark and I this afternoon.

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Green Flash, Astarte Punch, Fresh Veggies--What Else Do We Need?

2011-04-17T11:41:00.000-04:00

We welcome our guests Kathryn and Mark aboard Astarte. They are visiting for 10 days or so and as tradition dictates, our guests make the log entry. The following, by Kathryn.

Wow! Where has the time gone? After a very cool few days relaxing, canyoning, and river rafting up in the Rio Cangrejal outside of La Ceiba, we arrived on Roatan last Monday after a rough ferry ride from La Ceiba—it made the 12-seat plane ride into El Porvenir in Panama 18 mos. ago seem breezy. The complimentary sea-sickness bags were well-used by several of the passengers—a new ferry experience for us—I really can't see Washington State Ferries staff responding with the same nonchalance if/when being handed a full bag! Yikes. Thankfully, we got off the boat feeling a bit beat-up and not too green. After some minor provisioning and a bank run for more lemps, we made our way to Astarte—it was good to be back aboard and our first rum punches tasted quite refreshing.

Contrary to our Panama experience, which lacked vegetables and was long on rain, we started out with lots of fruits and veggies and plenty of sunshine! We did a nice couple of snorkels before leaving French Cay Harbor and got our first taste of Honduran reefs. We saw some nice sponges and plenty of colorful fish, all signs of a good time. We made our way east from FCH toward the island of Guanaja. Mark and I were hoping we'd make it there, as it's a bit more off the beaten path and is someplace a bit harder to get to for non-boaters than Roatan. After a stop partway down Roatan in Old Port Royal (which we determined is not where they brew the beer—the coordinates didn't match those on the bottle), we made the passage to Guanaja. Once again, we managed to keep the joyless fishing streak alive, despite the purchase of some new lures before we came.

We anchored up at Michael's Rock—Michael has a damn fine rock, we'd say! A beautiful spot with some lovely little beaches (albeit they suffer from the same jejene problem as most of the others in the area) and a sweet little place to snorkel right from the boat! The rocks were full of sponges and there were plenty of lionfish hiding around too. We took a nice (sweaty) walk to a nearby waterfall, where we all rinsed the salt off and enjoyed the fresh water cascade. The bugs weren't too bad either, which was nice, but made the sweaty long pants and shirt seem like overkill! We checked in with Bo Bush at his Green Flash Bar and had a delicious lunch of tasty fish and chicken, a few cold beers, and also got the scoop on diving. It must have been good luck, because we capped off the evening with a great Green Flash while eating our dinner of chocolate cake!

After a little relocation, we tried out the reef on the other side of Bo's which was a pretty nice little swim. We saw a Hawksbill Turtle and a few good sized sting rays, along with lots of bright blue reef fish! Blue seems to be the predominant color of the fishes here, which is kind of cool. We've seen plenty of red soldier and squirrel fish and various other things, but even the trumpet fish are blue here, which we haven't seen before. To cap off the night we carbo-loaded on delicious lasagna before our big diving day!

We decided to hang around Michael's Rock long enough to dive with Bo on the local reef. It's always great when it's just your party and the dive master, and that was the set-up for Mark and I this morning. Bo even managed to find some wetsuits for us so we wouldn't get too chilly, which was pretty nice. Once his guy loaded the gear, we headed out to the first of the dive sites. We saw tons of fish and some other interesting things, but it wasn't until the second dive that things got really cool! The second dive was a series of pinnacles and swim-throughs, which tested our buoyancy control but had high reward! We got to one little corner and out swam a 2 meter nurse shark—we watched it glide right by us with such ease. It was really impressive, but I did have to remind myself to breathe as I contemplated how it must feel to have 3 divers blowing bubbles in its face! Before I recovered from that, Bo swam us into a cave (where I was sure 5 of the shark's friends were hiding). I gathered myself (and made Mark go second) as we swam into this cave, only at the far end of which did a little bit of light trickle down from the surface—very magical. We had a cold beer back at Bo's and rehashed the highlights of some very cool dives.

While we were out having fun, Barbara and Michael were slaving away on projects—one of which included feeding us. We loaded up on hot dogs and homemade baked beans and coleslaw before taking a bit of a rest. Soon enough we'll be off to gather some mangoes—a local homeowner paid us a visit and invited us to come on by and fill a bag! Yum.

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Windy

2011-04-06T19:46:00.000-04:00

FIRST... we have internet so there are some new (albeit old) pictures on the website in the folder Photos 1. So take a look.

We miss the calm waters of Cayos Cochinos with the big island Cochinos Grande protecting us from the easterly winds. It has been mighty windy here in French Key Harbour since we arrived. It's a steady trade wind of over 18 knots and at times staying well over 20 with gusts in the 30s. The decks are all very salty from the constant salt spray from the gusty winds picking up the spray off the waves and sending it our way.

We're well anchored in a nice sandy patch. Unfortunately though, another boat came in and anchored a bit closer than we'd prefer in this kind of weather. Plus Michael dove their anchor and it isn't that well set! And it's in grass not sand. Oh well...

We had a lovely dinner aboard the motor yacht "Voyager" last night Lynn and Byron were great hosts and what a difference a big, heavy boat makes. We could hardly feel the swell and wind. It was a very fun night visiting and enjoying a feast.

We made our way into town on Monday to get some of our errands done. We got our internet connection, some Lempiras, and a bit of groceries. It was a very wet ride back in the dinghy. We were soaked by the time we made it back to the boat. We have to make another trip in to get some frozen shrimp and meat, but are hoping for a calmer day so we can stay a bit drier on the return. We are anchored near the Fantasy Island Dive resort, and they provide some services for cruisers. So we were lucky to be able to hit the propane truck's visit and get our tank filled pretty conveniently and cheaply. Unfortunately there is a fuel shortage on the island (or so we're told) so we'll hope to get our diesel and some gasoline over the next few days.

On Friday night here, there is a fundraiser for a local school to buy some band equipment, so we'll support that and enjoy a chicken dinner at the same time. We've connected with some other boats we've seen along the way and it's always fun to see old friends.

We continue to get the boat prepped for our company taking on a project or two a day.

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Bonjour from French Cay Harbour, Roatan

2011-04-04T11:26:00.000-04:00

We are now in French Cay Harbour, in Spanish speaking Honduras, on the islands formerly known as British Honduras. It was a lovely sail from Cayos Cochinos (about 22 miles). We did sail almost the entire way on a close reach doing over six knots and at times hitting 7.5 knots. The seas and winds did pick up as the day wore on and as we came to the entrance of French Harbour, it was hootin!

We worked our way over the corals and sand patches and found a great sandy patch to anchor. Michael dove it and it was a perfect set in nice silty sand. That was good because the wind started to really pick up. We watched an Island Packet sailboat drag and we held firm. All night it continued to blow over 20 knots, hitting 28-29k at points. We are settled behind a reef so the seas weren't bad, but there was just enough fetch to give us a little rocking, rolling and wave slapping against the hull.

As cruising is a series of "howdies and so longs" it was nice to have a reunion with some old friends Lynn and Byron from the lovely motor yacht "Voyager". We anchored near them so as they were heading back to their boat after a day of adventure, we flagged them down and they came aboard for a beer. It was nice to reconnect as we hadn't seen them since Grenada. We had done an inland tour with them in Guadeloupe so it was really nice to visit and hear about their adventures over the last few years. They are heading the same way as us now, so we should be seeing them over the next few months at least.

While still in Cayos Cochinos, Michael did some sewing projects. We got the big headsail down and on the forward deck with sewing machine, he did a sail repair. Then (Lorna you'll love hearing this), he actually made two of the three seat cushion covers for outside. Lorna and Dave brought us this cool, wild fabric to cover the vinyl cushions and Michael sewed them up. They look very cool and feel quite nice on the butt! We got some big cleaning projects completed as well and even managed a bit of visiting and snorkeling. We like the Cayos Cochinos – it was very peaceful and remote.

And, because it is so remote there, we came to Roatan to get a few things done before Kathryn and Mark arrive. We need some propane, to load some minutes on our phone card, maybe some diesel and some provisions. Then, we'll wait and hear what our guests final plans are and whether or not we'll head back to La Ceiba to get them.

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The Neighborhood Turtle

2011-03-31T09:52:00.000-04:00

Cayos Cochinos is really a lovely place – and quite exclusive. We've been the only boat here for several days and then one or two boats would come and go. That's good for getting our cleaning projects done and the boat re-organized after the haulout work. We tackle a few projects daily and then cool off with a nice swim, snorkel or exploring trip. There are a few resident turtles nearby that we see at the surface regularly and Barbara went looking for them on a swim and actually found one nestled below.

We did some snorkeling and it was good to get back in the water again. The water here is incredibly clear. There is a small resort, Plantation Beach Resort, on the big island (Cochinos Grande). We've met the manager Rio and divemaster Will. We've had a few beers there, but the dinners are too pricey for our budget. The resort is lovely with lots of beautiful wooden cabins and native landscaping. Unfortunately, when we head in for a sunset drink – the bugs are also out. Lots of local tour boats come into the area daily – many stop on the nearby beaches, some go to the resort. They stay for a bit and then take-off again. They come from the mainland about 20 miles away.

We're still making plans for the Kathryn and Mark visit here in a few weeks and really looking forward to it. The weather of course has been perfect and we hope it remains that way for their visit – they deserve a rainfree one this time.

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Yippee a handy toilet!

2011-03-25T12:28:00.000-04:00

Splashdown. Astarte looks fantastic and is back in the water with her new bottom paint, repairs and a wax job. She gets more cosmetic work than Barbara! Anyway, the yard experience was very positive at La Ceiba Shipyards in La Ceiba, Honduras. We got out of the yard for about 1/3 less than we paid for the last bottom job in the states. And it's nice not to have to climb down a ladder and walk a distance to go to the bathroom.

We spent nine days in the yard (plus a few hours at the boatyards dock on the tenth day). If we didn't have issues with our credit card working at the end – we probably could have saved another day in the yard. It was a problem on the boatyard's end – not our bank's! But, overall, the yard experience was very positive. The workers were pleasant, capable and conscientious. Many spoke English. The up and down on the ladder had us tired by the end. Michael did a lot of the work himself including changing the cutlass bearing and removing and re-installing the prop and shaft; waxing the hull and changing thru-hulls. The yard did the bottom job and some glass repair at the keel. They took the paint down to the hull and repainted an epoxy primer as well as several coats of new bottom paint. Hopefully it will all last for several years. Because of our centerboard, we had to be in the lift sling for a little while so the board could get sanded, primed and painted. This actually worked out because we were waiting for our credit card to go through with the payment. They don't put you into the water until you pay the bill. They had an issue on their end of the transaction that held us up for an entire day.

We enjoyed all the animals around and Daniel the 17 year old "bicycle" shepherd (he would often round-up the cows, bulls, sheep and goats at the end of the day using his bike). The guards, Daniel and some of the workers forced us to practice our Spanish regularly which was good. They would all come by and hang out by the boat to chat. Maybe it was because Barbara was always baking some goodies and would share. But it made the experience more pleasant for everyone around.

We finally got splashed at the end of the workday on Wednesday then had Cesar align the engine on Thursday morning at 0700 and we were on our way out of the yard by 0830. Our first boatwork in a foreign country was a positive experience. Of course the bill in Lempira is frightening – but converted to dollars it was quite reasonable.

We had a motor sail after leaving the yard but it was good as we needed to make water and really charge up the batteries. We got moored at Cayos Cochinos at noon. So all is good. We're doing some clean-up but plan to relax for a few days then get on with cleaning the interior of the boat for our upcoming guests.

It's good to be back floating and letting the waves rock us to sleep. And it's even better to be able to wake up in the middle of the night and go to the head on board!

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Work, work, work...

2011-03-20T17:00:00.000-04:00

First – NEW PHOTOS! On the Photos 1 tab, there are some pics posted of the boatyard and the big trophy we won in Britain for our article on "Cruising Colombia."

It's been a busy few days since being the La Ceiba Shipyard. So far, we've managed to get three thru-hulls changed and Michael managed to remove the propeller, shaft, and then got the old cutlass bearing off and the new one installed. By managing to do it himself, we saved some boat dollars and time. The yard is closed on weekends so no work gets done by the staff. We now have the hull sanded, washed, primed and one coat of bottom paint on. We thought we'd put on another coat this weekend, but the weather has been too lousy – lots of rainy bouts. The paint costs so much, we don't want to get a coat on just to have it wash off into the mud. We still need to get a little fiberglass work done – but that's scheduled for first thing Monday morning. Then we have to prime and paint that area.

Life in the yard continues to be "interesting." The roaming herd of animals is quite funny. The giant bull paid Barbara a visit while she was doing dishes. Daniel, the guy in charge of the animals, is obviously quite bored. He's been hanging out by our boat quite a bit. He speaks no English, so its good for our Spanish. He just sits and watches Michael do projects like remove the prop, shaft and cutlass. He's helpful and pleasant.

On Saturday morning, we had an in-town adventure. We hired Javier, a driver, to take us to town for propane, gasoline, groceries, oil and grease and some paint rollers and brushes. A rat trap was also on our list (preventative – no problemo yet!) We ended up going all over the place and it was an interesting day.

We came back and had to load everything on board – up that ladder. It, of course, was raining. But all was good.

We seem to be on schedule with the projects and so, keeping our fingers crossed, we should be out of here by Thursday. Weather may be a factor as the next few days are supposed to be pretty crappy.

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Grounded!

2011-03-17T13:19:00.001-04:00

We are high and dry and sitting out of the water. We are on stands at the La
Ceiba Shipyards in La Ceiba, Honduras. Its always quite tense to haul your "house" and have it "float" on land. The yard is quite good and the travel lift (the piece of huge equipment that lifts the boat on slings out of the water) was large enough that we didn't need to remove any stays (the pieces of wire that hod the mast up). The driver, Jorge, was very good and took excellent care in moving Astarte from her watery nest to her landbase. The boat then gets balanced on metal stands with wood pads and large pieces of wood are placed under the keel. It is quite unnerving to be staying on the boat because we both think it is rocking. That's what happens after 30 months on the water.

The haul out was the first step, now the bottom is being sanded and prepped for new bottom paint. Michael's been working hard at getting the broken thru-hulls out – one he found had been installed incorrectly at some point by the original builders or a previous owner. We're also removing the prop to put on a new cutlass bearing. Unfortunately they don't have the flat zincs we use, so we'll have to figure out a solution to getting a new zinc made.

The staff at the yard are all quite friendly. Many speak some English and those that speak Spanish at least talk slow enough for us to comprehend at least most of the conversation. The setting is interesting. We are settled on a grassy area overlooking some fields as well as the shrimp boats at the near-by docks. There are cows, bulls, goats and sheep that graze in the fields during the day and the baby goats (kids) are funny to watch – they just sort of bounce as they run around. The bird life and sounds in the morning and evening are very exotic.

The hardest part of living aboard is climbing up and down a ladder all day (we're about 10 feet off the ground) and not having a usable toilet aboard. That means a walk to the not so tidy restrooms. For the late night needs – it's a bucket and chuck it!

The place is safe with lots of guards around – but unfortunately they can't protect us from the fire ants, no-see-ums and mosquitoes.

We should be in the yard about eight to ten days. Then back to Cayos Cochinos for some serious boat cleaning from the dusty yard and guest arrival prep.

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Cayos Cochinos

2011-03-14T11:00:00.000-04:00

We enjoyed a few days at El Bight (should be El Bite) Guanaja, The "no-see-ums" were bad on land and even on the boat when the wind died. But it was good to relax and enjoy the close encounter with the dolphin that calls the anchorage home. He just cruises by the boat and hangs out for hours on end. We did accomplish a few projects and got the haul-out in La Ceiba all set-up after many, many phone calls with the yard. We'll get the boat hauled on Tuesday. Because there is no good place to anchor in La Ceiba, we decided we would go to Cayos Cochinos (27 miles from La Ceiba) and anchor for a few days before going to the yard. We could make the run to the mainland on Tuesday morning and get hauled out that afternoon. At least that's the plan. We'll see what's reality.

The trip from Guanaja to Cayos Cochinos is 45 miles so we started bright and early on Sunday morning. Cayos Cochinos (means pig keys) is part of the marine park and you must use a mooring buoy – there are about 6-8 of them so we were hoping there would be one when we arrived. It was a motor sail – we needed to get there in daylight. We sailed when the winds picked up. We, yet again, got skunked fishing though we were trying aggressively.

We arrived safely around 1600 and there was a mooring ball available so we grabbed it (first try) and settled in for the night. The winds gust off the high hills – but it was pleasant.

The Cayos Cochinos are quite beautiful – there are two larger islands – Cochino Grande and Cochino Pequeno along with lots of smaller, low lying cays. The large island that we are tied behind is more than 400 feet and very green with tropical vegetation and some rugged headlands. There is a small red and white light (not exactly a lighthouse) at the top of one the hills. The "pequeno" is behind us as we sit at anchor, and it too has some height. We're sitting in this lovely spot between the two hills and see the smaller, sandy beached cays to the south. The water is very clear. We hope the mooring is a good one as it is too deep to dive and check. It's more than 60 feet down.

We're only here a few days so not sure we'll do much exploring on this visit. We have to get the boat ready for hauling. But perhaps we'll return after the haul out as it's the closest spot to stop.

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Passage to Honduras

2011-03-10T13:49:00.001-05:00

It was our longest passage on this trip (at least so far!) We went a bit more than 600 nautical miles from Isla Linton, Panama to Guanaja – one of the Bay Islands of Honduras. It took us one hour more than 6 full days – or 145 hours to make the passage. We sailed all of it – having the engine on for less than 7 hours to get in and out of the harbors and to charge batteries and make some water at one point. But the sails were up for all of it except the last 15 minutes. We sometimes went at a snail's pace of 2 knots and at other times we were scooting along. The last leg we were actually working hard at slowing the boat down so we would arrive at our destination in daylight. But that proved quite difficult as the final leg was the windiest.

The first few days had the wind from the northeast (the direction we were heading) so that required us really pointing into the wind and "pinching" as much as possible. The seas started about 3-6 feet but calmed as the winds settled a bit over the days. We sailed slowly and even gave old Otis the windvane a try. He did fair - but because we were trying to stay on course very close to the wind, he just couldn't point as steadily as Nigel (the electric autopilot) could handle. In order to keep sailing though, we did end up running about 10 degrees off our course line and after 175 miles or so, that put us 12 miles off course and we had to tack to correct (so we wouldn't run into some reefs where there were plenty of shipwrecks stacked up! That one leg to get back on course took us seemingly forever. And, in retrospect turning on the engine might have been a better choice. But we wanted to sall, so sail we did – going backwards as much as we went toward to the courseline. But conditions were relatively comfortable – the seas flattened a bit and there were clear skies, no squalls and a steady breeze The skies at night were very beautiful – star-filled with a very small moon that set quite early giving the stars a chance to really shine. Those are always the magical sights of off-shore passages.

As we approached the island of Providencia (just past the island of San Andres)- both Colombian owned islands, Michael was on watch and spotted a signal on our AIS system (This is a very cool receiver we have on board. All large boats are required to have an AIS on board that sends a signal out from their ship. Information is then given to our system that tells us how far they are away and what will be the closest point of approach under the current courses. It also (often) provides information like the boats name, size, destination, if it's at anchor or under power, etc.) ) So back to the story. Michael sees a boat on AIS but can't see it by sight. There are no lights on it. He sees it is a military vessel on the AIS and the name is the Colombian Naval Vessel San Andres. They are closing in on us – which is always a bit frightening – especially because they remain stealth and unlit. If we didn't see that it was a military vessel – we would have been quite nervous. We turned more lights on our boat as well as the radar. Once the navy ship saw that we spotted them with our radar and by turning on more lights, they lit us up with a giant, incredibly bright spotlight and called us on the radio. In spanish. They were now quite close to us and even with the bright light blinding us, we could see that it was a military boat. They asked us for lots of information on the radio – boat name, boat numbers, country where we are flagged, departure point, destination, crew names, passport numbers etc. We made it through with Barbara's spanish and it ends with them really looking at all parts of the boat with the spotlight from sails to deck, bow to stern. They ask if we have weapons on board and then after much time and many long pauses, they wish us a nice night and a pleasant sail – shut their spotlight off and disappear into the dark again. Now that gets the adrenaline running.

On the fish front – we are simply failures! We need some good fishing buddies to come aboard and give us lessons or luck or something. We had lines out the entire time, and though we weren't going fish-catching speed very often, we had hoped for at least a bite. We caught some seaweed and a bit of plastic – but that's it! Nada. Nothing. Zilch. Zero.

However, there were fishing boats out along our course. One of the nights towards the end – as we were getting past the Vivarillos reefs – on Barbara's watch – she saw 24 boats at one point. Some seemed to be shrimpers – slowly moving, then changing course – seeming to just harass our course. Evasive tactics were required and under sail, that sometimes gets more complicated. But we made it through the massive collection of anchored and moving boats and got back on course. By the way, generally fishing boats are too small to be required to carry AIS transceivers.

The wind shifted the last few days as did our courseline and that created a downwind sail. The winds picked up as well, meaning so did the seas. The last night we were surfing over big seas as we got pushed along. At night, the crashing sounds of waves is always a bit scary. But we were flying with only our double reefed-main. The seas were too big to keep the headsail from staying filled. Every time we dipped down, the sail would collapse and then re-fill. This is very noisy and jolting so we chose to use the main.

Most nights we were able to maintain our 3 hour on and 3 hours off watch system. The last few, with noisy seas and a very rolly ride, it was hard to find a comfortable spot to sleep.

We had the thrill of being escorted on a few occasions by lots of playful dolphins. They love the big waves and seem to be "surfer-dudes" as they ride the waves right next to the boat – almost as if racing Astarte. A few of the dolphins also have that entertainment gene – they would leap to great heights and twist and turn to show off. One even leapt almost over the bow of the boat. They are so fun to watch and a few of the pods were quite large – probably more than 30 or so dolphins at a given time – many quite little.

Not much other sea life spotted this time. Very few birds and we were hoping to see whales or a whale shark – but no such joy. It was a quiet passage with very few other boats passing by – other than some freighters. Boy does Dole have a lot of boats! Must be collecting bananas and pineapples from Central America.

We got into the anchorage with enough light to sneak pass some corals and shallow areas. Anchored and relaxed for a bit Then we launched the dinghy and went to the island to clear in with immigration and the port captain. Both were very pleasant experiences and cost us nothing (quite a change from expensive Colombia and Panama). We also got some fresh baked bread and some Lempiras (the currency of Honduras). Then we had a wet dinghy trip back to the boat – the wind continues to kick up the seas making us glad to be safely anchored and not still "out there." We enjoyed a dinner out and met some interetsing folks.

Sleep came easily in the calm anchorage with a nice cooling breeze. No watches – we could sleep straight through. We did!

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What a Sail!

2011-03-09T11:02:00.001-05:00

Safely anchored in "El Bight' Guanaja, Honduras. 6 days, 1 hour, close encounters with the Colombian Navy, swarms of shrimp boats, only 7.3 engine hours total. Details to follow soon.(How's that for a tease!)

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Underway Destination Guanaja, Honduras

2011-03-05T16:36:00.000-05:00

We left Isla Linton in Panama on Thursday, March 3rd headed for Providencia and Honduras. It is now Saturday afternoon and we've been sailing non-stop since the engine went off at 0843 Thursday morning. Its been slow but we're trying to save fossil fuel (also boat dollars) and trying to get used to longer passages. That's something we haven't done much lately. The seas started out quite large but as the days have passed, the winds have lightened and the seas have flattened. That's good for comfort but not speed. So we're slowly making headway. At this point we're still just under 60 miles from Providencia and we'll most likely keep going. We could stop at the reefs of the "Vivarillos" and we'll make that call when we get there. We may choose to keep going all the way to Guanaja if the weather holds and we have enough wind to at least keep the sails full. We don't carry enough fuel to motor the entire way. From Providencia to Guanaja is more than 375 miles – and its 250 to Providencia from Linton.

So we're sailing. Micahel's posting position reports on the where are we page if you want to follow our progress.

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Sloths, Toucans and an Incredible View

2011-02-28T11:10:00.001-05:00

We left Portobello on Friday for the short trip to wait for a weather window in Linton (also known as Puerto Lindo). It was just a few hour trip but it wasn't a very pleasant one. The seas had high swells as well as lots of wind chop and the wind was right on the nose. So we crashed into it (and everything below crashed about as well) and finally arrived to a very crowded anchorage. The weather hasn't been good for anyone leaving for at least a week – so that makes for an anchorage that is pretty full. We found a spot, but unfortunately it is pretty far back towards the entrance into the harbor giving us a not so pleasant roll. But, we'll make do.

Got fueled up – an adventure as well. There is now an actual place in Linton to get gas or diesel – but they were out of diesel. So we ordered it to be delivered by Tito (who only speaks Spanish so its a good Spanish lesson practice). He was 90-minutes late on the designated day. But he came with good diesel that, even delivered, was cheaper than the gas station price.

Had a nice dinner out at Hans' and Endina's restaurant with some folks we met on a catamaran Kokopelli. That is always a tasty treat and reasonable. Can't beat ice cold 75 cent beers.

Then on Sunday, we got invited to join a group on shore at Binnie's house. This was an incredible place. The view was remarkable and the piece of property exquisite. It was like a jungle with a stream running through the large, verdant plot. The main house has an amazing large porch with a little stream running through it with a tiny bridge as well. Binnie, who owns it, is also building some guest rooms on a piece of the property.

We saw three toucans flying in the wild, very close by and landing in a nearby tree. Way cool. Their bright yellow beaks and dark bodies are quite a sight in flight. Then, we went on a tour of the house itself which had these beautiful dark wood walls and ceilings. There was beautiful carved art throughout and a wonderful collection of shells. But the best part on the tour were the three sloths in the house. (Not counting Michael). There were two three-toed sloths with beautiful designs on their backs and very long toes to hold onto the branches.. One of the two was climbing above us on the wooden rafters and putting on quite a show hanging upside down and right side up by one arm. There was also one two-toed sloth in the bedroom – a very different looking animal with a different face, different colored fur and she was much larger. The two-toed are a bit more aggressive than the mellower three-toed variety. This one was named (or miss-named) "Lightning" - not exactly a perfect name for a sloth. Molasses, one of the other sloths was more aptly named. It was very cool seeing them up close and touching them (you could hold them but after seeing their toes and teeth, Barbara opted to pet but not hold).

This is one of those outings that is always memorable. You meet some local folks and get to see a piece of property we've walked by but hadn't gotten past the big wooden gate at the front. It was a fun afternoon and it was nice to get off the rolly boat and away from the steady wind.

Michael did fix (hopefully) the dinghy by epoxying on the end-bits on the floor. Hopefully that will give us a few more months on our aging dinghy. (Want to contribute to the dinghy fund???)

We're ready for the trek north – just waiting for weather to cooperate.

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Portobello

2011-02-24T09:01:00.001-05:00

We left Kuna Yala and sailed (yes, sailed!) to Portobello on Saturday (2/19). It was a really great sail with an Astarte personal best of 7.8 knots(over the ground against a good current). We put the main and head-sail up as soon as we left the Chichime anchorage and put them down when we arrived in Portobello harbor about 9 hours later. It was great to sail. We gave "Otis" our wind-vane a chance to perform, but as is his way – he didn't steer a straight course and every change in the wind speed meant a serious change in his course. We gave up on him after several hours. He was adding too many miles off course to get us to port in time.

We sailed in consort with our friends, two British boats – Chapter 2 (an IP for all our friends with IPs), and Chrisandaver Dream (better known as CD). We stayed pretty close together when we were reefed, but when we shook out our reefs, we flew forward. Chapter Two won the fishing tournament pulling in several mackerel, Little Tunny and even a Thresher Shark (which they released after getting it on deck to save their expensive lure). We managed to get a few very small mackerel-like ceros, but the lures were almost larger than the fish and we sent them back to the deep to grow up!

Upon our arrival in Portobello, we settled into a very crowded anchorage and relaxed. It was a good trip. On Sunday we had a fun pizza night at Capt. Jack's with our British friends and many old acquaintances. A few beers were consumed. It is carnival time here, so there is much music and partying in town. One of the Portobello traditions for carnival is the "diablos." These are men who dress up as devils and threaten to pour mud on you, whip you or stop traffic unless paid a small extortion fee (some change). They usually don't hit on tourists though they do look threatening. But it is all in fun carnival tradition.

On Monday, we did some projects aboard. Tuesday was re-provisioning day. After two sets of guests and several months in Kuna Yala, it was time to resupply some of the basics as well as much needed meat, veggies and fruit. We took the bus into Colon and went to the big supermarket. Unfortunately their veggie and fruit selection wasn't very good – but we did stock up filling two big carts. The Visa card is still groaning. We had to take a taxi back with all our stuff.

The trip to Colon was interesting and sad. It was the first time we had done it since the terrible Panama weather in December. Portobello had several very bad mudslides. The one in the center of the town destroyed many homes and several people died. Another slide dumped earth on top of a very old fort that they are still trying to re-excavate. In many places on the road, slides had taken away some of the street and you could see large trees and buildings piled up at the bottom of hills or across the road. It was a sad sight and showed the force of too much rain in a hilly country. To the credit of the Panamanians, they have the road re-opened, albeit it with more potholes and narrower in parts.
Today, Thursday, we'll do our paperwork to clear out of Panama and hopefully find a few veggies in town. We'll pick up some of the good bread from the local bakery and then be ready to take off for the next weather window to head north. We need a relatively long window – at least three days to make it to Providencia, though we are hoping to not have to stop there and keep going towards Honduras. This weekend unfortunately looks like big seas (9-12 feet), so we'll keep looking at the weather and wait for our window. We still need to get some fuel so we'll head towards Linton tomorrow, fuel up and be ready to go.

It's the weather waiting game for now.

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Milestones

2011-02-17T09:58:00.000-05:00

It is always fun and memorable to celebrate events aboard the boat and in exotic locations. We've had fun birthdays, holidays, anniversaries of all kinds and even a renewal of wedding vows aboard Astarte.

On Monday, Valentine's Day, we had a dinner event aboard Astarte. It was a Valentine's Day Thanksgiving feast. We had reunited with friends Walt and Honoree from Will O' the Wisp and Bob and Sandy from Sapphire in the East Lemmons of Kuna Yala. A turkey made it Thanksgiving like, along with yummy sides like mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce. We had a good time ending with homemade chocolate cake. It was great to reconnect with these friends who just got back to the San Blas.

Yesterday (2/16), Barbara brought in a new year. Thanks to the morning radio net, she got greetings from many boaters – with wonderful wishes. The e-mail download (again thanks to the SSB radio) brought in more greetings. She called her mom so she'd get the traditional birthday song from her mom (no family birthday is complete without that!)). When she came out of the cabin, she got a very festive and wacky song AND dance from the neighboring boat and good friends Walt and Honoree on "Will O' the Wisp". And, Michael spoiled her all day. A wonderful early afternoon snorkel at a magnificent reef was also part of the day's festivities (and Michael even scored a fish). The "Wisps" were going to leave that morning for another port, but instead decided to have us over for a fabulous dinner and decorated brownies and a beautiful carved Alaskan necklace. A round of dominoes followed where Barbara had the worst score. It was a great way to celebrate another year starting.

Holidays and birthdays in exotic locations, aboard Astarte, are always unique and special and hold a special place in the memory book.

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The Start of Year Three

2011-02-10T14:26:00.001-05:00

Hot. Sunny. Light Wind. That means it's time to get in the water and snorkel on the other side of the reef. Winds and therefore waves, often limit us to the lee side of the reefs. But when the wind dies, its a great time to get on the outside (windward) side of the reefs and explore the drop-offs. And hopefully get some bigger fish.

Over the last few days we've done some fabulous snorkeling thanks to light breezes, little surge and swell. We've explored some new areas around Esnasdup where we are currently anchored. The fishing has not been so successful, but the reefs are beautiful. They are lush with healthy and varied coral as well as lots of soft sponges, fans, anemones, and bryozoans. This makes it a very colorful dive. There were all types of canyons and levels of depth to explore.

We reunited with friends we hadn't seen since Honduras – two British boats CD (Chrisandaver Dream) and Chapter Two. This meant we had to have a bar-bie on the beach (a tradition for the six of us (only last time in Provdencia it included exploding rocks!). We enjoyed a dinner of mahi, courtesy of Chapter Two, and side dishes from the other boats. We then ended up on Astarte for chocolate cake, lots of laughs and some additional adult beverages. Its always fun to reconnect with folks we've met in the past.

We'll probably stay here a few more days and enjoy more underwater exploration. Maybe Michael's spear will connect with dinner!

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Two Year Anniversary

2011-02-06T11:41:00.001-05:00

On February 6, 2009 we untied the lines from our home in St. Petersburg, FL and headed off on this adventure. Some days it feels like only yesterday and on other days, it feels like we've been doing this for decades. Both feelings are good ones.

In those two years after leaving the home dock, we've put more than 6500 nautical miles under the keel. That would be about 7475 statute miles. We've been to the Bahamas, Turks & Caicos, Puerto Rico, US Virgins, St. Martins, St. Barts, Guadeloupe, Dominica, Martinique, St. Lucia, various islands of St. Vincent and the Grenadines' (Bequia, Mayreau and Union Island), Grenada (including Carriacou), the out islands of Venezuela (Los Testigos, La Blanquilla, Los Roques, and Islas de Aves), Bonaire, Curacao, Venezuela's Los Monjes, several stops on Colombia's Caribbean coast and Cartagena, Panama's San Blas/Kuna Yala area as well as Linton and Portobello areas, Providencia (Colombian owned) and Honduras' Roatan and Guanaja islands then back to Providencia (with stops on some reefs along the way including the Hobbies) and back to Panama then back to Colombia and again back to Panama. Whew. We've stopped counting the various anchorages or specific islands at which we've anchored.

We've dealt in various currencies including dollars (US, Bahamian), E Cs (Eastern Caribbean); Euros (French/Dutch islands), Pesos (Colombia), Lempira (Honduras), Balboas (Panama – they are actually the US dollar but they mint their own coins), and Bolivars (Venezuela).

The languages on the shores we've visited as well as amongst other cruisers have been numerous. English (of the US, Canadian, Australian, British, and New Zealand varieties), French, Dutch, German, various island dialects, Kuna and Spanish. Our Spanish continues to improve – we've passed on learning the others.

As one boater once said, "cruising is a series of howdies and so longs" and through the two-years we've met some incredible people on land and aboard other boats. We've been out long enough to see people multiple times in various countries and the reunions are always great fun. We've made friends from many countries and always look forward to making new acquaintances. After two years, now we're not always the "newbies" - though amongst many boaters, we have decades to go before we have their level of experience. Many cruisers are what we call "commuter cruisers" - living part time aboard and part time on land. We're full time cruisers staying on the boat most of the time with the occasional visit to see our moms, family and friends and take care of some business.

We've stayed at anchor most of the two years with marina stops only when absolutely necessary. Marinas do a number on your cruising budget. The anchor chain looks like its been in the salt water for the two years it has!

We never counted the number of books we've read – but there have been many great reads and book trades are one of our best entertainment sources. The good thing about trades is that you read things you would probably never buy for yourself in a bookstore – and most of our favorite reads these last two years were the books we got on trades.

Boat maintenance is an ongoing adventure. Cruising has been described as "fixing your boat in exotic locations." We've had fun times and great adventures hunting out boat parts and repair options on various islands in various languages. Every time we've managed to make a friend and learn a lot about a country. Michael has managed to get the boat back in working order after each new issue.

Sampling local cuisine is another of the true joys of this adventure. We love trying new fruits, vegetables and local street and restaurant food whenever possible (and if our budget permits). Tasting every beer on every island is also a cause Michael (and Barbara) endorse. At one point we started a list of all the beers – but have somehow stopped counting them as well. Luckily, we've been healthy over these two years cruising – both of us have shed some pounds and are in better shape than when we were working our landside jobs.

Fishing - by line or spear has continued to challenge us. We've had some luck - but not enough to really be considered "fish-gatherers." The biggest to date was a lovely grouper Michael scored by spear. There was also a nice collection of hog fish from the Hobbies (until the spear broke), some lobsters and conch gathered, along with a few mahi on the line. We're hoping the next two years bring us more fishing joy (with or without bananas on board). If we fail, we hope to travel with boats that are great fish gatherers and will share (like our friends aboard Tumshi).

Guests have graced us with their company – Lorna and Dave came to the Turks & Caicos, Honduras and Panama; Kathryn and Mark visited in Panama and hopefully will join us in Honduras, Richard and Rene made a San Blas visit as did Margaret and Lloyd and Frank broke out of his Ohio existence for a Grenada visit. We love the company and look forward to having more friends decide that an Astarte visit is worth the effort.

We've managed to live within our budget and still keep track of every penny we spend. Some countries cost less than others whether its for supplies, food and fuel or for their immigration, customs and cruising permits. Our guests have been generous bringing us many a spare part and food treats. Health insurance remains our single biggest expense costing us almost 40% of our annual spending (for little coverage!)

Things have been wonderful for us – but there are some hardships as well. We miss the ability to pick up a phone and call our friends and family easily. Seeing family and friends is more costly and takes major planning (where to leave the boat etc.) so it happens less frequently than we would like. And maybe on some days, we miss ice cream and potato chips.

But we do have each other (yes, we are still happily married), an incredible boating community and sunrises and sunsets in exotic locations. We've been to places that are only accessible by sea and have had wonder-filled experiences. Whether on the water, under the water, or on land we are building a mental album chock-filled with great memories.

It's been a happy and marvelous two years aboard Astarte. We're glad we didn't wait any longer to start this adventure. Thanks for being aboard via this log.

Perhaps we'll toast it with champagne (or a local beer).

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Ciao Lorna and Dave

2011-02-03T18:29:00.001-05:00

Our recent guests have flown back to cold Ohio (if the Cleveland airport is open) and we enjoyed our time with them aboard Astarte. They are frequent guests and pretty much have the routine down pat. Unfortunately Lorna wasn't up to full "party girl" health, but we did enjoy their company, some sailing and snorkeling, a river adventure, a few games and time solving the world's problems! Thanks to them for all the goodies they brought from tasty snacks, decadent chocolates and pastries, fabric and boat parts plus many other thirst quenching libations.

After they departed Kuna Yala, we headed back up the Rio Diablo – this time not for sightseeing, but rather to do the laundry. Michael also cleaned the water filters up here, taking adventure of free, fresh flowing water. As usual, we looked like a laundry boat using every clothespin and hanger we had on board. The breeze and sun were out for good drying.

We stayed in Nargana just long enough for a cook's night off (dinner out) and a little provisioning after our laundry day. Today (Thursday) we headed back to Esnasdup. It's been a rather cloudy, rainy day with a lot of wind. So we'll just get a few more things put away and just relax. When we have guests (which we really do love getting) it means a bit of reorganizing aboard to make room for them. We do have a lot of "stuff" that needs to find homes while guests are on board. Now that we are back to "normal" we get to clear out the aft cabin and make the v-berth and forward head the attic and laundry room as usual.

We'll take a few days to relax and then we have to decide where we're heading next and when. We've not had internet access now since Cartagena (December) and we have to check on some things so that may be a priority. Michael's been working hard (and getting frustrated) at trying to get the cell phone to work as a modem again. We were able to do that before we left Panama before but this time he's running headfirst into brick walls (or perhaps firewalls). If we can get that done onboard – we'll probably be able to stay longer in San Blas. If not, we'll probably have to head towards Portobello in a few weeks.

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Molas and Bracelets

2011-01-30T13:21:00.001-05:00

The traditional Kuna woman dresses in bright colors – she has bracelets and leg decorations (that look like colorful stockings) made of beads in vibrant, primary colors. The skirt is a dark background fabric with a bright yellow, orange or green print. The blouses are the traditional molas (a fabric tapestry design made by intricate stitching and cutting of multiple fabric layers) attached to sheer bright colored fabric sleeves. Many Kuna Indian women also wear a red and yellow head scarf, a gold nose ring and a black straight line painted down the bridge of their nose. They make molas of varying quality. One of the fun events of cruising in Kuna Yala is having the ulus (canoes) come to your boat with a mola maker and have them show you their works of art. They hope you will buy one or many of these traditional fabric art pieces. Lorna and Dave's visit (unlike our previous guests) have been able to see many different mola makers – from the well-known masters Lisa and Venancio to some of the less known local islanders. It's hard to resist them as they are quite beautiful.

We are currently exploring the Naguargandup Cays – a long row of many islands with beautiful sand beaches and many palm trees and numerous reefs. We started on the Western end in Salardup and are currently at the eastern end of the chain in Canbombia. On this island we've met the Saila (chief) and his family. In fact, Carmelina, his wife, has made both Lorna and Barbara lovely ankle bracelets of the colorful beads. The Saila has given us permission to walk around the island (without charging Kuna fees).

Michael and Dave have done lots of snorkeling and hunting and all of us have done some reef exploration. The bugs unfortunately have seem to made a meal of Dave – but he's being a great sport and not complaining much. Must be all that sweet smelling bakery goods and chocolate he's around all the time! We're having a good time, eating well and even playing a few games. But mostly relaxing and enjoying the islands and the water.

Monday we'll head back to Nargana for their Tuesday morning flight. We'll do a river adventure on Monday up the Rio Diablo. The weather has been magnificent – a steady breeze at night has made sleeping comfortable. We hear it's cold in Ohio – so it's a good time to visit the tropics for Dave and Lorna.

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Hola David and Lorna

2011-01-25T10:40:00.001-05:00

Sorry for the lack of log writing – we've been busy entertaining – something we love doing. Our last guests Margaret and Lloyd made it safely back to chilly, snowy Maine. Our new guests (and frequent visitors to Astarte) Dave and Lorna came from cold Ohio. They were loaded down with goodies for both us and Astarte. Dave has a lovely bakery/candyshop in Oberlin and brought us many baked goodies along with CHOCOLATES!!!

They spent a few days in Panama City touring prior to getting on a mighty tiny plane (seven seats and one small Kuna woman who sat on the luggage) and landed on an equally small runway at Corezon de Jesus a few hours late. They were over the 25 pound each baggage limit and conned some other passenger into carrying one of their "bottles" of evening entertainment. Unfortunately, Lorna's wine coolers (of the mojito variety) got confiscated and didn't make the trip with her to Kuna Yala. We've had to make up for those with Astarte Rum punch.

Dave and Lorna have visited us on Astarte while we were in Florida, in Turks & Caicos, in Roatan, Honduras, and now here. So they're used to life on Astarte – but this time we didn't have a big grocery store to start the trip. With Margaret and Lloyd we hit the tienda jackpot loading up on eggs, veggies and fresh fruit plus we had many Kuna fishermen selling us lobsters and crab. This time, the pickings were VERY slim at the tiendas – eggs but no fresh fruit or veggies to be found. And so far (three days into the visit) not a single Kuna with gifts from the sea.

We've enjoyed re-connecting with them, snorkeling, eating and drinking and even played a game or two. There's been some early bedtimes and even napping, a little book reading and generally some good visiting and relaxing. They've been invited to do log entries as all our guests are asked to do – but so far they are having too much fun to write.

We started in Nargana, anchored off Esnasdup and now we're in the Eastern Holandes in the Swimming Pool. We'll stay in the pool a few days at least to explore some of the great snorkeling in the area.

The weather is great...and Dave Goldberg, we haven't "blown up and died" yet!

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Adios Margaret and Lloyd

2011-01-17T09:51:00.000-05:00

Our guests have departed Astarte and hopefully have made it back to Maine safely. It was fun having them on board and they were good boat guests. Thanks again to them for carrying supplies and goodies to us. We enjoyed their company and getting to know them better.

On Saturday morning before the plane arrived, groups of Kuna men were clearing some brush near the runway. The small plane arrived a bit late but they seemed to be able to get it turned around really quickly – offloaded with about ten people and re-loaded with the same and lots of boxes.

On Sunday, we went up the Rio Diablo and did three hours worth of laundry in the river. It was a beautiful day and we got a lot done. Upon returning to Astarte we hung it all out to dry and used every clothespin we owned (and we own a lot!).

We also did a run into Tienda Eide's because we heard he had eggs and lots of fresh veggies. We were a tad late for eggs – scored some but not all we wanted. Also got some veggies and watermelon.

We got great news via e-mail. Barbara's article with Michael's photos that was published in Compass (The Moody owner's magazine – a high gloss publication) was awarded the Godfrey Rose Bowl award for the most interesting cruising article. Cool! That motivates the writing bug!

Today, (Monday) we'll stay in Nargana and do some repairs and more tidying. Now we await our next guests Lorna and Dave from cold Ohio.

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Guest Log Entry #2

2011-01-15T10:03:00.000-05:00

Margaret and Lloyd continue to share their adventures....here it is:

So, we have to leave tomorrow and are going home with a wonderful week under our belt. We've seen pipe fish and lion fish and camo fish of all kinds. We've done a reef a day and marveled at how different they are one to another – some much denser with coral than others, some primarily sponges and softer animals. And then we met the veggie boat, and a couple of mola ladies, and bought crab (twice!) and lobsters from the Kuna who come up beside the boat. Apparently we have lucked out and gotten much more fresh fruit and veggies than other guests may have enjoyed. And then there are lovely cans of cold Balboa beer that somehow pop out of the fridge just when you want them the most.

It was disconcerting tonight to watch the Kuna kids watching TV tonight when we gave Barbara a cook's night off and ate at a little restaurant in Corazon de Jesus. The disconnect between the subsistence culture here and the hyper TV shows was enormous for me. The kids here hang with the adults doing the business of the family – gathering water in the river because the water pipe to the island is now broken, fishing, hawking molas or bracelets to the tourists. They seem very quiet and don't have much more than the clothes on their backs. Then on the TV are teens with skateboards hanging out with some other guy with his ATV, buzzing around in places that could not be more different than how they live here.

Since we last wrote, we visited Salardup and Cambombia – both inhabited islands. We could snorkel from Astarte both days. We shared Cambombia with 5 catamarans – the San Blas have definitely been discovered. Now that we have come into Corazon de Jesus/Nargana, we do not wish to get in the water at all, so had a river trip on Air Mary to see fabulous birds, butterflies, and the Kuna doing laundry and gathering water. We didn't see any monkeys, though there could be both white faced and howler monkeys in there. Barbara and Michael will go back tomorrow to do laundry of their own. So we shall think of them as we wing our way back to the apparently snowy northeast. So many thanks are due.

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Guest Log Entry

2011-01-11T10:35:00.000-05:00

As is a tradition on Astarte, our guests are asked to submit a log entry. So enjoy the adventures of our friends Margaret and Lloyd from Maine. They are racing sailors who own a J120 (note they are "racers" - we are cruisers and Astarte is our home!)

Enjoy.

On January 6th, Margaret and I left Brunswick at 0600 with 10 degrees F on the thermometer and Casco Bay freezing up quickly. We spent a night in Ft. Liquordale with relatives and then flew on to Panama City. After a pleasant evening there, on the 8th we took the puddle jumper across the isthmus to land on a glorified driveway at Corazon del Jesus, only to find that it is still winter down here! For the last three days we have had unremitting weather in the low 80's in the steady tradewinds. Water temperature is also in the low 80's, but we will struggle on and try to bear up with the hardship.

But seriously folks, we have had a wonderful welcome from Michael and Barbara, lucked out at the tienda with a great selection of veggies and fruits before our departure sailing, and have been happily bobbling in the turquoise water. Barbara has been cooking up a series of terrific meals for us. And they have introduced us both to snorkeling on the reefs, which I think is almost as good as sailing! I'll let Margaret tell you more about that in her entry, but we did a long dive yesterday drifting with the current for a half mile over the grass and coral, marveling at the sights. Only this morning does Michael tell we were floating in Alligator Alley! All fingers and toes are present and accounted for, though.

A great part of the cruise is getting to know Michael and Barbara better. We hit it off well last October at the wedding, and it's still feeling good. Michael and I were up till eleven last evening talking of battery technology, downwind tacking angles, and generally solving the world's problems. The last turns out to be remarkably easy: delete all the assholes and we will be good to go. More in few days. Margaret is next.

I am thrilled with my new snorkeling mask that opens up an amazing view that really doesn't look much like the dentist's office. Actually the viewing lens is much larger than my normal glasses, so all is clear to me now. Michael reports as we speak that they are squid hanging out by the anchor chain – what we have to put up with!

I was a little worried about the heat down here and it is indeed hot, but 2 hours plus in the water yesterday took care of that (the 15 knot trades blsoing through the boat probably helped too!

The float snorkel yesterday was interesting because of its variety. There were long stretches of sand or grasses with little that I could see except star fish. Then we would cross a fabulous block of coral that was loaded with fish. I saw the most incredible ray winging past me and wasn't even scared.

For all of you looking at your atlases, the first night we were at Esnasdup, 2nd in the Western Holandes Cays near Waisaiadup. Then last night we spent here in the Eastern Holandes near Kalugirdup and Ukupsuit. Westerns have nick-named this last the "Hot Tub". "Dup" means island in Kuna; "Hot tub" means fabulous snorkeling in English.

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Spring Cleaning or Guest Cleaning

2011-01-09T12:10:00.000-05:00

Some folks do the big cleaning projects in spring or fall – onboard Astarte – we do the major cleaning when we have guests coming. That's why we've been lax on writing on the log page – we've been cleaning.

Our guests Margaret and Lloyd arrived today (yippee) and we've got the boat all spit shined and polished – inside and out. Over the last few days Michael's tackled the outside – he cleaned and waxed the hull and did the underwater cleaning. Barbara's cleaned inside from ceiling to floor, rugs and curtains, and even bookshelves.

So Astarte was ready for company – looking her best and we were ready for company to relax and enjoy the boat instead of cleaning it. Like all our great guests, they came laden with boat bits and great snacks. They still haven't unpacked everything as we immediately got moving once they landed. But before we hand the computer over to our guests for "Guest Log" entries, we'll step back a few days.

Post New Year's Day we left the Eastern Holandes to actually clear into Panama and get our passports stamped. We had a lovely sail to Porvenir to accomplish that legal stuff then pulled anchor immediately and headed to Soledup. This ended up being a bit too rolly to get projects done so the next morning we again pulled anchor and went to Cambombia (no not Cambodia). This was the first time we went here and it was extremely lovely – unfortunately we were working the two days we were there. Non-stop. So we had little time to enjoy the reefs or beautiful beach. But we'll go back there – it was very nice.

Once all the work was done, we haded to Nargana to pick up a few items and then meet our guests when they flew in on Saturday morning. Friday turned into a most interesting day. We met the Captain of a Panamanian Naval ship "28th de Noviembre." He invited us aboard for a tour of the ship and we accepted. We saw the entire vessel from engine room to Captain's quarters. Then, we invited him aboard Astarte for a tour (from engine room to Captain's quarters). He accepted and we dinghied him out and shared a beer and some good spanish lessons. His english was very good, but he made us speak in Spanish to practice. Later that evening, he also joined us at a restaurant where we were meeting some friends and he had a few more beers with us. Barbara did bake a chocolate cake for the boat and traded it for a dozen eggs. It seemed there were no eggs on Nargana, so the Panamanian Navy came through!

These are the kind of meetings that make this life so interesting.

Now, we have company and headed to Esnadup for our first night. Our guests are a bit tired after having to get up for a cab to the airport at 5 am! Tomorrow's entry will be from them (hopefully). Tonight we'll dine on local (not Maine) lobsters that we bought from the Kuna.

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Happy 2011

2011-01-01T14:03:00.000-05:00

First congratulations to Michael's brother Derek and Margie on their New Year wedding. Sorry we weren't there to toast you two.

Happy New Year to all and best wishes for a healthy, fun-filled, satisfying and peaceful 2011.

We actually toasted in the New Year in the same place we celebrated 2010's start. So it was a full circle of starting and ending the year on the same little island. We had different people around – but it was in the same spot. 2010 turned into a pretty good year, so we hope the island is a lucky spot to start another year.

The crew of Astarte ended up "hosting" the big party. It seemed nobody was willing to get things going about a week ago, so we decided we'd just announce there was a party on the island and it snow-balled from there. We collected a portable generator, lights, a boom box and music from other boaters and did a dessert and party-snack potluck. The island looked quite festive and we ended up having a lot of help from several boats. A few boats here have kids on board and they ended up gathering a lot of wood for a giant bonfire. We did a "burning man" (a paper and palm frond stuffed effigy where you put all the things you want closure on from the last year written down and stuffed into the man so they burn up with him). That was fun and the giant BP sign from some New Orleans folks was draped around the "man's" neck.

We had live music after 11ish and we actually made it up past midnight. We popped a bottle of champagne and toasted in the New Year. We are grateful for what we have and the cruising life we've been enjoying these last few years. We wish everyone dreams coming true in 2011.

Cheers!

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Happy Boxing Day

2010-12-26T10:23:00.000-05:00

We hope Santa found everyone' s house and that he delivered! Hope the weather cooperated for your travels over the rivers and through the woods.

We managed to travel as far as an island (after a dinghy Santa run with cupcakes), for a wonderful potluck with other boaters and Kuna. It was a tasty afternoon and the weather cooperated long enough for the potluck. It had been a sunny, rainy, breezy day.

Michael cleaned half the hull (which was still carrying dirt and grime from Cartagena) and Barbara did baking and cooking and cleaning. The cell phone towers weren't cooperating too well – but we did manage a few calls before the towers gave up the signal.

Hope everyone can relax before the next big event – New Year's!

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HO, HO, HO

2010-12-24T15:09:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas to you! We wish you all a very happy holiday enjoyed with family and friends. Eat lots of Christmas cookies, raise a glass (or two or three) of champagne or your nog of choice, and get kisses under the mistletoe. It's a time to celebrate and know we are thinking of you all and wishing you the merriest of holidays.

Our Christmas celebrating began last night with a dinghy raft up. More than a dozen dinghies rafted together and shared wonderful snacks and cocktails as the sun set in the Eastern Holandes islands. In the middle of a raft up, a boat that was coming in ran hard aground on one of the reefs, so many of the dinghies left the raft up and went to the rescue. Way too many chiefs giving orders. The Kunas also joined in and it was quite a sight and the raft up had a front row seat. The boat was finally freed and the Spanish couple form aboard came by the raft up with a bottle of rum after they were safely anchored.

Today (Christmas Eve Day), there will be yoga on the island at 11 – a treat for Barbara's back. Michael will be working on yet more projects. He got the wind generator re-mounted yesterday – all went well and today he'll tackle the head sail furler and greasing the outboard lift. Barbara will be baking some Christmas cookies and cooking for a feast aboard "Ivory Moon" (our Australian friends that we reconnected with here.) It should be quite a table of treats and we're looking forward to the evening's company and festivities.

Tomorrow, there will be a potluck in the afternoon on the island and perhaps a fun gift exchange. We're helping to organize that festivity. Barbara got permission from the Kunas on the island to do it there.

The sun is shining and the temperature has been in the 70s thanks to a cool north breeze.. We're hoping that the squalls stay away through the holidays.
We hope if its not warm where you are – you have a warm place to enjoy – perhaps a crackling fire. Remember to leave out a s snack for Santa and his reindeer!

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Panama Holidays

2010-12-22T11:28:00.000-05:00

What a lovely gift we got yesterday. We had the most lovely sail from St. Ignacio de Tupile (or Tannaquetupu) to Nargana. The winds were blowing out of the northwest about 10-15 and we were close hauled most of the way but it was the first day we had the motor off almost the entire time. Because this leg is in pretty open water – protected by reefs and islands now and then, the seas were a bit confused and sometimes steep – but Astarte loved sailing.

Let's go back a few days. We arrived in Pinos and stayed two nights resting up from the passage and Michael did some projects (oil change and water filter change). Barbara did some baking, laundry and organizing. We never got hit up for a Kuna fee (nor did we go on the island). The days were rainy and grey but we were in a pretty spot and enjoyed watching the Kunas glide past and fish. On Monday morning bright and early, we pulled anchor and headed up the chain. Our original plan was to spend more time in this part of Kuna Yala and explore a bit, but we decided that we wanted to Christmas with friends. So we ended up moving on more quickly. The first day took us between islands and Kuna villages with interesting names and stories. After about 35 miles, we dropped the anchor near the village of St. Ignacio de Tupile (Tannaquetupu in Kuna) – but everyone calls it Tupile now. It's a crowded little community and we watched a non-stop ulu (their canoes) traffic jam. They usually get water via a pipeline (as in small pipe) from the Mono River on the mainland out to their island. Unfortunately, the massive amounts of rain they've had in this area has broken the pipe so the Kunas must row up the river and fill buckets and row back to their vllage. So the stream of people – men, women, children, in all sizes of ulus and "launchas" row back and forth. The ulus are quite low in the water as they row back loaded with big buckets, barrels or jugs of water. They bail and row, bail and row, bail and row across to the village.

We did get hit up for the Kuna fee but managed to negotiate down from $10 to $5 because we would only be staying one night. Another Kuna came by offering to bring by lobsters or crab the next morning and tried to sell us molas as well. We are back in Kuna Yala!!!

On Tuesday morning, again, bright and early, we pulled anchor and headed towards Nargana (also called Yandup and Akuanusatupu – two islands attached with a bridge) near the Rio Diablo. We've been here many times and its one of the few places to get fuel, phone cards and some provisions. The sail over was really enjoyable – a quiet, motor free day (saving fossil fuel and boat $$). We went past many pretty islands and reef areas.

We got into Nargana a bit before 1500 and instantly started on getting into town. The dinghy had to be inflated and hoisted, the outboard Yoshi put back to work, Michael put the diesel on deck into the tank and we headed to town. We were able to get some diesel (cheaper than Colombia). Frederico, a Kuna we've met and visited with several times while here in Nargana, met us at Pacos (the fuel dock) and proceeded to walk us all over town and help us shop. Thanks to his escort, we discovered a new bakery (you would never find it unless you knew where it was, with freshly made bread. In Nargana there are several little panaderias (bakeries) where you can get bread so it was surprising to see yet another one. These bakeries are huts with a stove. This bread was different than the traditional kuna breadstick style bread – it was actual long narrow loaves – more like french baguette but not crusty. Then we went to a few tiendas for some fresh food. The phone card place was closed. Frederico came back to the boat with us and took our garbage which he burns (we pay for that service).

This morning we need to get propane, a bit more supplies, and phone cards so we can call home for Christmas if the cell phone towers are in service (sometime they are and sometimes they're not). But we need some recharge cards to be able to even try. Then hopefully we'll be done before noon to make it to the "swimming pool" in the Eastern Holandes Islands where we'll connect with some friends and celebrate Christmas.

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Return to Kuna Yala

2010-12-19T10:04:00.000-05:00

On Thursday, we were preparing to depart the Bay of Cholon for the Bernardos and then on to San Blas (Kuna Yala), Panama. The weather window looked okay – not a lot of wind from the right direction but light north westerlies and the seas were flattening as the days passed. We figured we needed three days if we overnighted in the Bernados, twenty plus miles away – then another overnight at sea.

While flipping the dinghy over on the foredeck, Barbara twisted her back and could barely move. So we stayed put in Cholon another day. On Friday, her back was a bit better and we decided to at least try to make it to the Bernardos and see how the conditions were and how the back coped. It was pretty flat and we had the sails up so we decided to pass on the Bernardos and keep going to Panama. We sailed, we motored when we got under two knots, and we sailed. We fished with our new lures made under the direction of Nigel, fishing champion and star of fishing films in South Africa. No luck fishing and the wind was always just a bit too light or too much on the nose for really good sailing to make time. But we kept moving in the right direction. Seas were about six feet and at times and got confused with wind chop as well.

At 0600 on Saturday morning, Barbara's on watch putting out the fishing line and there is this strange noise. Michael below hears it as well. We look back and there is the wind generator, on the brand new arch hanging sideways swinging with every wave that hits the boat. The blades, still turning are hitting the arch. This is a serious problem. But, the good news, with the new arch, Michael harnessed up and was able to climb up and secure himself and get the wind generator down. It seems the anti vibration rig, an aluminum post that the generator sat on, slipped down the mount and the generator was hanging on its own wire, a hose clamp and the small piece of rubber hose that helps dampen the vibration. Michael secured it to the arch and we'd deal with it at anchor. Disaster averted – the arch paid for itself and Michael proved his skill at climbing and holding on in six foot seas and 15 knot winds.

About 50 miles off our destination (Isla Pinos or in Kuna, Tupak which means whale)., some squalls came .and dumped some rain and heavier winds and seas. We needed to get into the anchorage before dark because of all the reefs around – and it was gonna be close. If we couldn't make it to Tupak before dark, we'd have to keep going up the chain and get someplace else at daybreak the following day. But the squalls gave us a good push and we increased our speed just enough to get to the island as sun was setting. We dropped the hook at 1805, in 10 feet of water and it was calm..

We are the only boat here and we awoke to lots of Kunas working in their ulus (canoes) around the anchorage. Some collecting coconuts from the shore, others fishing. They still amaze us as we watch them paddle these heavy dugout canoes with such strength and grace. Its a cloudy day and we'll sit here and organize the boat, perhaps get the wind generator remounted (if the rain settles) and then move on tomorrow.

Another passage made and through an area that often boasts of big mean seas. So we're happy to be back in Kuna land and safely settled behind whale island.

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Expedition to Baru

2010-12-13T16:54:00.000-05:00

One of the enjoyable parts of cruising is exploring new places. We haven't been to too many little towns in Colombia this time because of all the work projects we had going on Astarte. But today, thanks to Kate and DJ from the sailboat "Hello World," we made our way to the little village of Baru. It was about a 5 mile dinghy ride through open bays and mangrove cuts. Getting there was half the adventure. Some of the mangrove cuts were small alleys through the trees that would be difficult to find if you didn't know. We started at 0715 in order to get there in time for the limited amount of seafood arepas that are made daily by a woman in the town. They are 2000 pesos each (a bit over a dollar).

The town is definitely not a tourist town. Definitely. In fact, other than a few cruisers anchored in Cholon, there are probably very few folks who stop by here. It is a typical small Colombian fishing town. Several tiendas, lots of houses, dirt roads, dogs, chickens and roosters and donkey carts. We tied up behind the house that sells gasoline and fish. We roamed through the town heading first to order our arepas (and some for the entire anchorage!). Then stopped by a few tiendas (which were decorated for Christmas) and looked around a bit. The church was closed and there is a technical school in the town. But most people look like they are fishermen with lots of boats behind the homes on the water.

We went back to get the warm arepas, and then got some shrimp and gasoline. The shrimp is fresh frozen without heads at a pretty reasonable price. They were 16,000 pesos (a bit over $8) for one kilo (2.2 pounds). We'll have them for dinner tonight and see how they are.

The trip back was a bit wet as the wind picked up and the waves were a little choppy. But we made it back and checked off another village in Colombia – a visit to Baru.

Michael did more sewing and Barbara did cleaning and we did a lot of visiting with David and Damon on Braudair who gifted us with some spare knot meters and depth sounders.

Tomorrow the weather looks good enough to head to the Bernardos and then on to Panama hopefully the following day. The seas are a bit high but will continue to settle over the next few days. We want to sail so we'll go sooner rather than wait until they are too flat which may mean no more wind.

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Bay of Cholon

2010-12-11T09:36:00.000-05:00

For the last few years, we've heard people anchored in the Bay of Cholon. We looked for it on the charts and couldn't even find it. But here we are, anchored in this lovely bay that is the playground for Colombians. The water is not quite as clear as we remember in the Rosarios or San Blas, but it sure beats Cartagena's harbor. It's nice to be back to the salt water shower routine.

We've barely got off the boat, except to get in the water and head to a "happy hour(s)." The "happy hour" takes place on an old shrimp boat turned cruise boat turned party boat that anchored in Cholon owned by Robert. He has built a house on the hill known as the "Crow's Nest" with an incredible view on all sides. We'll perhaps climb up there today or tomorrow and get some photos. He's a really nice and interesting guy and on Wednesday night we had a great time. He also put out hundreds of books for people to take (not trade). So, against our better judgment and room restrictions, we took a bag full. We know we can get rid of them in San Blas where there is always a great need for a fresh supply of reading material.

Projects are being checked off the list daily. Michael got out the sewing machine and has re-done the rain catchment gutters with vinyl. Since he's completed them, no rain! So we're certain he's designed rain "deflectors" not "catchers." We looked for terry cloth fabric in Cartagena to make boat cushion covers for the cockpit (the vinyl covers get sticky and we wanted to protect the vinyl longer), but we didn't have luck finding anything. So we made use of two big towels Barbara's sister Carol had given us and Michael made some temporary covers that work great. Next on the sewing agenda is re-doing the aft sun shade to fit the new arch.

We're both pretty much over our colds, so the stay here has been good for that as well. Several large Colombian power boats come in and they party and enjoy the bay but aren't too bad about keeping their distance from the anchored sailboats. They have, unfortunately, caused the price of local lobster, shrimp and fish to skyrocket here. It sounds like the holiday goers just plop down big dollars for a fish or lobsters, so when the local fisherman come by the sailboats, they expect the same $100 bucks for a fish! Ouch! We haven't purchased anything yet.

The shore noises are quite Interesting. There is a very loud donkey or two on shore that make the funniest noises. It's right out of a cartoon – loud, discordant and it just makes you giggle. He seems particularly loud when Michael is on deck doing projects. Hmm!

Unfortunately the weather continues to be bad for our crossing. There is this big trough sitting over the area creating very large seas (12-15 feet) and wind from all the wrong directions. We'll wait – it can't last forever. This is a nice spot to get the last of the barnacle feet off the bottom and continue to work the list of projects down. The San Blas area is wet- it's been raining there non stop with big squalls for weeks. In fact, in Portobello, there were several land slides that killed at least four people. The roads between Portobello and Colon are closed a lot and there is flooding in areas. We heard from some cruisers that even the Canal got shut down due to strong currents from the overflowing rivers and that it was chest deep water in the streets of Colon. So we'll enjoy the sometimes sunny, nice breeze, weather here and wait for the perfect window to cross. We have guests Margaret and Lloyd coming in January so we have plenty of time to get there.

Just cut open a watermelon we bought at the Bazurto in Cartagena! Yum.

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Adios Cartagena

2010-12-08T10:57:00.000-05:00

We have cleared out of Colombia and have our zarpe in hand and are making our way towards Panama. We heard the barnacles screaming as we moved out of the Cartagena Bay. We had to get the prop and bottom scraped so we could move and got underway on Tuesday (a day later than planned due to a late zarpe – exit clearance). We did last minute provisioning of some bread and fresh stuff on Monday as we waited for final paperwork and then got an early start on Tuesday. We went through the Boca Grande cut to leave. This is a very small opening – an underwater wall protects the bay from pirates and a small hole was blasted in it to let small boats through. It gets as shallow as 11 feet and is only about 100 feet wide so it is a bit tricky to sneak through. You want to be sure the markers are there or you have good GPS numbers. We actually had our headsail up and managed to sail for most of the day.

We are now in the Bay of Chilon, a lovely harbour protected on almost all sides and surrounded by green hills. Lots of bird noises and music have replaced the noises of boats, city and ship loading. It is lovely. We have never been here, but many boats call this harbour home for months and months. The water is clearer and it is pretty. There are about 15 sailboats in here and one large fishing boat turned pleasure boat turned "bar." That would be the "Manatee" where on Wednesday nights, tonight, there is a "happy hour."

We have been approached by several small boats (kayaks, ulus and a man paddling a surfboard) trying to sell us fish, shrimp, lobsters or fresh limes. We're pretty stocked up and the prices seem quite hefty here – so we'll pass. We do like supporting the locals when we can and when we anchor in their water – but we won't pay outrageous prices. We'll talk to some of the other boats around to see what the going rates are on things.

It was a very quiet and peaceful night here. The anchorage was flat, the breeze blew for much of the night keeping it bug free and comfortable. We awoke to lots of bird noises and some music from a nearby boat. But it wasn't loud or obnoxious – it was a nice way to start a beautiful morning.

Now we wait for a weather window (which we thought was today – but isn't), In fact, it looks like we may have to sit here through the weekend. We need at least a two day (preferably three day) window for the passage and we want to sail. The trades should start to blow soon which would be perfect direction – but due to lows in the area the seas are very big and the winds are from the west (the direction we want to head). Plus there is a current – so we don't want to fight both wind and current and high seas to cross. We'll wait – this seems to be a lovely little spot.

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A couple of new photos

2010-12-03T13:54:00.001-05:00

See Photos 1 for a few pics of the arch installation.

Still in Cartagena, it is still raining and we still have some food to find. The outdoor market will be a mess in the rain. We are fueled up, and cheesed up and just need some fresh vegies and a zarpe to legally leave the harbour.

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Colombia Observations

2010-12-01T09:22:00.001-05:00

This is our third visit to Colombia and we do like this country. Here are a few things we find interesting, unusual and curious.

What you Can't Find:

One of the joys of cruising is finding new and interesting items to eat, use for cleaning or cooking. But there are also things you just want because they work and you're familiar with them. One item I can't find is Crisco. I use it to make pie crusts, English muffins and bread and just can't find it anywhere here in Colombia!

Luckily they have lots of wonderful fresh vegetables here but when you need to re-supply your canned goods for a trip to San Blas, don't count on variety here! You can get canned peas, corn or mixed veggies and that's it.

Snacks are different and favorites like peanuts are expensive. Corn chips are impossible to find. Though corn flour is abundant here – easier to find than wheat flour -but you can't find corn chips. All these great fresh and inexpensive avocados for guacamole don't have chips to dip.

Wine and alcohol are relatively expensive here – probably due to high taxes placed on them. The beer prices here are much higher than Panama – but thanks to new rules in Kuna Yala, we'll have to stock up here.

Hydrogen peroxide is another thing that seems to be in short supply. And, thanks to the illegal drug trade, you can't buy ammonia in Colombia. And some stateside over the counter drugs are available only in pharmacies – like eye drops. You don't need prescriptions, but they are more expensive in some cases.

Street Food:
It's wonderful to be in a country where you can get fresh fruit by the piece or cupful. Just about everywhere, there are carts selling wonderful fresh fruit like mangoes, papayas, bananas and watermelon. You can buy these all whole or beautifully sliced in plastic cups. Zapotes, a personal favorite of Dr. Sorkin, our eye doc, are just getting into season and you see them being sold on the street as well. We bought one, but our carpenter told us it wasn't quite ripe yet, so we'll try it later. You can also get fresh avocados, tomatoes or other veggies from carts. Coconuts are plentiful (probably the ones the boats buy from the Kuna Indians in Panama) and the top gets sliced off so you get a drink of fresh coco juice. Plus there are lots of juice vendors selling freshly squeezed limeade, orange juice or a fruit punch made up of watermelon, papaya and other fruits. They sell these juices out of giant aquariums filled with ice and they keep adding freshly squeezed juice to the mix. They are tasty and cost about 50 cents for a large cup.

So you have all these fresh healthy things – and then you also have all the "fried dough" items. There are a large variety of shapes, sizes and fillings of fried dough treats readily available all day. They are long ones and round ones and empanada shaped ones. Some are just corn dough others are filled with eggs, butter or a variety of meats or veggies. They usually cost less than a dollar and are popular items.

Then you have the shaved ice vendors and ice cream sellers. The shaved ices are personal favorites. They pour sweetened milk on the top and it is particularly wonderful.

Parties:

These people like to party and it seems every week there is some type of holiday or excuse to celebrate. Last weekend there was a wedding in a nearby fort (one of the giant pirate ships was docked alongside and tents were set up in the fort area.) They partied until 4:30 in the morning with loud music and dancing. The other night it looked like a 15th birthday celebration was taking place in one of the high rises. Even birthday parties become big events.

There are these open air buses that go around the city that are filled with party riders. As they drive by they all are singing, yelling, and simply enjoying themselves (we think that the rum served on these buses may have something to do with the festive nature of the riders).
There are also the pirate boats that are not only for tourists, but locals also use them for night parties. They ply the bay with live bands or DJs most nights and lots of party-goers.

Fireworks are also a common occurrence here. Last Sunday there were a few displays – so Colombians are a country of party-goers.

Workers:

The country has some wonderful craftspeople and hard workers. Labor is still relatively inexpensive here. Some friends hired a worker to clean the hull and polish stainless and he charged 60,000 pesos a day (about $30). Our arch and carpentry project pwere expertly done at a reasonable price.

Lunches:

One of the things that we loved back in 2001 while here was the daily "comida corriente" (literally common meal, but it's the lunch special). For a few dollars you get a complete meal including a hearty soup, rice, meat or fish, salad and veggie or beans. The price has gone up a bit since 2001 (what hasn't?) but it's still a deal. We always look for places near colleges – because students always know the best prices for the most food!

Water rules:

Water taxis abound here along with a lot of other boating and fishing. And these boats love to go very fast through the anchorage. The bigger the wake the better. They also run at night without any lights. But the water taxis do require life jackets on all the riders! The anchorage is patrolled by the Coast Guard as well – and they are quite friendly.

Fishing:

The netters are fun to watch. Usually there are two (sometimes three) people in open cayucas (large carved canoes) with an outboard motor. They are very speedy as they let out their net, which is similar to a gill net – a long rather narrow net with weights on the bottom and floats on the top. They drop it in a large circle – often surrounding several sailboats in the anchorage. Then, they sneak the boat into the circle and drive around it quite fast with one of the fisherman slapping a large pole into the water. This makes big splashes and he also hits it on the side of the boat to make noise. This action is intended to scare the fish into the net. Then, they wait about five minutes and start to pull in the net going in a circle as one guy pulls in the weighted side and the other pulls in the float side. They seem to average about a dozen fish with each net placement. They are ambitious and once they are pulled in, they move to another location and repeat.

Floating Islands:
Its rainy season and when it rains it is in heavy downpours. This obviously stirs up not only the garbage, fuel and dirt from the streets that then run into the bay – but also the rivers and islands. Large "islands" of vegetation come floating by regularly. These are made up of grass and plants that have broken free from somewhere and start to float picking up additional bits and pieces along the way. Some of these islands are easily 10 to 15 feet long, often catching on anchor chain.

Transportation:

Besides being a great town to walk around – there are many ways to get around Cartagena.

There are water taxis for water routes. There are lots of small yellow cabs (many run on compressed natural gas) that are reasonably priced. You better know Spanish though! The motos (motorcycle cabs) are also everywhere. The drivers all have to wear these numbered safety vests and provide a helmet to the rider. They are less expensive than the cabs and you do take your life in your hands watching them drive about. You can also hop in the back of a bicycle rickshaw. It can handle two people and are sort of covered to protect from rain (when they seem busiest!). City buses are available as well and seem to weave in and out of traffic. The doors and windows are wide open and they always seem pretty packed. Horse drawn carriages are also seen – though these seem to be more of a tourist draw rather than a mode of transport.

In order to cut down on traffic congestion and pollution, the city does limit who can drive on what days. The license plate number indicates what day you can drive. Its an odd / even thing. Odd can drive on odd dated days and even on even dated days. Not certain if this is just for rush hour or for all day.

The country is a wonderful place and people seem genuinely friendly and helpful. You can always tell the folks who are studying English, as they love to practice on you.

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Thankful

2010-11-29T08:56:00.001-05:00

We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend. We missed our families and friends over the holiday, but as with most events while cruising, we managed to find a group willing and able to celebrate.

On Thanksgiving evening, a group gathered to go to an Australian restaurant. The Australian chef had arranged to do a traditional Thanksgiving feast with a bit of Colombian flare. The small restaurant was filled with cruisers, oil field workers and Colombian school teachers. Though each group tended to stay to themselves, the restaurant had a warm, happy atmosphere. Football (American style) was also playing on the TV so all the Texans in the crowd were happy to see the Texas / Texas A&M game. The feast included the traditional turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy and cranberry sauce and the Colombian flare was the lovely pumpkin soup, vegetable mix and rum and lemonade cocktail. It was a fun evening.

Friday, we went to a local dentist for a teeth cleaning. It was okay – though not as thorough as our St. Petersburg dentist's. But it was good to get it done and it was reasonably priced. Then, Michael continued to work on the wiring of the new arch. He was making great progress with the wind generator now working, the radar hooked up and the anchor light working. He continued with the GPS, safety light and stern navigation light. Barbara headed for Casa de Queso – the cheese house. This is a local man who makes his own Italian style cheeses. Good, hard cheese in Colombia is hard to find at a reasonable price and we had heard about this place. So, together with "Miss Kitty" she headed via cab to Bosque where the place is located. It was an interesting shop and Barbara bought some cheddar-like cheese, smoked provolone and some buffalo mozzarella. Before we depart for the cheese-less San Blas, we'll probably make another stop there.

On Saturday, we got caught in a monster rain storm. We've never seen rain dump quite so hard so quickly. We were just walking back from a Home Center store where we had to return a light we had purchased earlier in the week. About six blocks from the dinghy dock, it started to rain, then it poured. We ducked into an open air, covered restaurant along with lots of others. It was lunch time so we ordered the "comida corriente" (meal of the day) and found a relatively dry place to sit. And we watched it rain and rain and rain. It was coming off the roof like a fire hose running at full speed. The streets (which have trouble dealing with even lighter rainfall were turning into rivers. We enjoyed watching a delivery kid on a bicycle coming back and forth wetter and wetter. Hope he was being well tipped for his efforts. He was soaked.

We finally gave up and made a run for it getting as far as the grocery store. Many of the streets we crossed were calf deep in water with a strong current. It was crazy. We got back to the boat soaked and the dinghy was barely floating it was so filled with water.

On Sunday, we had organized a nautical flea market. We promoted it all week on the morning radio net (Barbara getting back into her promo writing mindset). We had lots of stuff to get off the boat – an alternator, a prop that we rescued from a landfill (someone was just going to throw it out so we said we'd get rid of it and had tried to give it away in three different countries – here we managed to actually sell it and make 40,000 pesos!), old line (quickly grabbed), an old fender (not guitar), small bits and pieces. We managed to get rid of a few things and came back with less than we left with. Michael was good and didn't buy anything (a first for a nautical flea market for him).

Sunday evening was the weekly barbeque and potluck. Club Nautico lights a large charcoal grill and everyone brings their main course to cook and a side dish to share.

It was a busy Thanksgiving weekend for the crew of Astarte. We hope yours was filled with family, friends, food, football and Friday Christmas shopping. We're thankful for all our family, friends and readers.

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Finito!

2010-11-22T17:23:00.001-05:00

The construction projects are completed. On time. On budget. And to our satisfaction.

The stainless steel arch on the back of the boat was done by Bianney Torres and his brothers. The quality of the work is exceptional and they did everything we asked. The design was Bianney's with a lot of input from Michael and it really looks nice. The radar fits and is much sturdier than our previous pole. The wind generator fits, is sturdier and is actually quieter below (yippee). And the best news is that the self-steering wind vane also fits at all points, which at first looked like it might be a problem.

The overall look is clean and we have great visibility. We have spare cleats, eyes and a very cool little barbeque holder. Now, Michael has a lot of work to do. He has to re-wire lots of bits and pieces...the radar, the anchor light, the big aft deck stern safety light, the stern navigation light, and the GPS. He already has the wind generator working though will re-wire it with some new wire in the future.

The other project that was done was some interior woodwork. We closed in the walkway berths for more storage. We had been using the area for storage all ready – but it wasn't very tidy. So we hired Nilson and his assistant Javier to build doors for the lower berth and a board for the upper one. They did the work in solid teak and it really came out nice. It makes the walk through much nicer. We did lose a little space with the construction but it was worth every bit.

Now, as we have to put the boat back together – it forces us to see what we have, what we haven't used in almost two years, what we can get rid of and what we couldn't find last time we were looking for it! It's always good to get rid of things. And because we did find some stuff to say goodbye to– one man's junk is another's treasure – so we're hosting a nautical flea market at Club Nautico this weekend. Maybe we can eliminate some extras and get some beer money.;

We can't believe its Thanksgiving week already. We've been so busy with the construction projects, it sort of just crept up on us. This morning we heard on the radio, the local "Australian" chef will be doing a Thanksgiving feast if they can get at least eight folks – so we'll probably join in and do that!

We still need to get to a dentist for a teeth cleaning and pick up some provisions, get our zarpe paperwork and then we'll be looking for a weather window to move on.

It's nice to be over construction and back at anchor.

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Construction Zone

2010-11-20T07:36:00.001-05:00

First things first: new pictures on Photo Page 2. No construction yet, just "desfile" or in english, parade.

Astarte is now officially a construction zone. Work on the installation of the arch is underway. We went into the Club Nautico "marina" on Thursday morning thinking the arch might be delivered that afternoon. This was after one of those Spanish phone conversations where we hoped that was what was said. Bianney did come by for some last minute measurements and promised an arch the following day. Michael went with him to his shop to take a final look – which was a good thing. A few small items were forgotten – but he was pleased with the overall construction and look.

On Thursday, when we went into the marina, the slip we were promised had been taken by a boat who just decided to tie up there and then go to a hotel. The funny thing is – the boat is registered from St. Petersburg, FL and we had met the folks in 2001 in Martinique. Small world. But they were in our slip and that meant we had to go elsewhere. We ended up next to a huge catamaran party boat and had to tie one line to their bow, another line to the underwater mooring (a diver from the marina does this for you), and two stern lines.. The mooring was really far away, over 100 feet, because the spot was meant for really big boats! It was a tight fit and when the wind switched about midnight, in the rain, it meant re-tying the boat. So much for the comfort of marinas.

On Friday morning, the boat in our promised slip moved to their permanent slip and we moved to the original planned slip. This was a much better place for the construction as it was farther from other boats. After all the boats moved and we were just getting settled, the arch was being walked down the dock by Martin and Johnny. It was quite a sight. The arch was polished stainless and quite large.

Then the destruction and construction began. First, they had to power up their generator – which meant "jerry-rigging" some wire as our extension cord wasn't quite right. Barbara was certain this would start a fire the way it was rigged! When that was completed they needed to first removed the existing stern rail. This proved to be a much harder project than it should have been. Turns out the existing stern rail and stanchions were bolted in places we didn't know. It required some tearing out of wall boards below to get to these bolts. Noise, sawdust, and just plain frustration was rampant. After having to finally just cut the stanchions off to get to the bolts holding the bases, they were off.
Then the arch was fitted. It was close. The wind vane paddle however, didn't quite clear it completely at one point. Now the tough decision of whether we wanted holes on the deck to show (or be fiber-glassed over) or live with it. We decided to live with it and hope that when the arch was finally installed the windvane would work because it was so close.

It's a day of lots of noise from the generator, drills, grinders, cutters polishers, and music from the nearby boats trying hard to drown out our noise! We don't blame them – but it's making for quite a noisy environment. Rain in the afternoon has slowed progress – but hopefully it will pass quickly and progress will continue.

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In the Washing Machine

2010-11-14T09:45:00.000-05:00

Nothing like being seasick at anchor! Well, almost!

Another parade to celebrate Cartagena Independence and continue the process to select "Miss Colombia." This time it was a boat parade. The contestants, in bikinis, are rowed by naval cadets in open lifeboats. They stand at the bow with the support of a bar and a cadet and wave to the crowd as they make their way from the old city to the lighthouse (a few miles). Of course every boat in the general area of Cartagena is out here to watch, make wakes, throw water balloons, play loud music and just have a great time. This all happens at 1400 hours (2 pm). But the boat traffic started much sooner – around 11 am. That meant boats of every size, shape, motor size and speed were zipping in and out of the anchorage. Many pushed giant wakes and others cut very, very close to the anchored sailboats. The police were out in force (also zipping about in the anchorage).

The bad news was the weather. It was a wet, wet day. It rained in buckets and then would stop and then it would shower and rain heavily again. The beauty
queens had to be frozen in their bikinis on the bows of those boats. The Aguila Chicas (that's the local beer and those would be the local beer girls dancing on the bow of a big power boat) were also scantily clad and quite an attraction surrounded by many boats (including many of the navy boats!)

We rocked and rolled all day as the wakes came from every direction. Everything had to be put away like we were offshore. It was fun to watch all the activities and everyone seemed to be having a great time despite the weather. All the big party/tour boats were out including the two big pirate ships. Even small canoes with men rowing were out and about though they looked like they were in mortal danger of being swamped or run over!

Of course in the midst of all these waves and rocking – Michael decided to tackle a huge project which kept him below (at least until the bikini clad beauty contestants arrived) with his body in positions it shouldn't be. He wants to get the designer of the boat alone for ten minutes! He replaced the 1 1/2in. aft head discharge hose – not a pretty project and bad language was heard! But it's done.

Don't know what parties or parades are scheduled today. There were fireworks at 3 am this morning! We couldn't tell what the noise was and woke up to watch the display over the city. I guess that was the finale to the big parties.

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Parties, Parades and Projects

2010-11-12T09:07:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the lack of entries, but it has been a busy few weeks in Cartagena, Colombia. We're underway with two big boat projects – the stainless arch for the back deck and some interior woodwork. The projects have been a good test of our Spanish language skills (or lack of them).

The arch is being done by the Torres brothers. Bianney, the younger brother, is the designer and a very skilled welder. We've seen a lot of his work. After our initial meeting with him, he came back with a drawing and a price. Some negotiating took place and we settled on a design, price and timetable. We signed a short contract and then had to exchange some more money to pay them the 60% up front. These small businesses don't have lots of stainless in stock so they need some of the money for materials. After that was all settled, we had to remove the radar post and the wind generator mount. This meant we had to clean off the back deck and empty the lazarettes – major projects that got accomplished with some effort but not broken bits or body parts.

We got the poles to the Torres boys – which meant we looked like the Beverly Hillbillies in a dinghy as we headed to shore loaded down with long stainless and aluminum poles, dinghy lift, radar mount and smaller bits and pieces to be fitted on the new arch.

Our next arch adventure meant going to Bianney's shop. Getting there was the first part of the adventure. We handed our cell phone to a cab driver to talk to Bianney for directions. We headed out to one of the barrios (neighborhoods) over rough roads and crazy traffic. We got to the shop which is an open air mud (a bit of concrete) floor and a roof. Dogs and chickens were running through the shop which had lots of interesting equipment. They were using a manual hydraulic tube bender which was fascinating to see at work. We took some photos of the bending project on our arch. Then we hopped a ride back to the marina with Bianney in his car. He had some parts for another boat he had made up. It was good he knew the way, because his exhaust was leaking into the back seat and too long of a ride would have spelled disaster.

The next project on our list was enclosing the bunks in the walk through for better storage. We met with the highly recommended carpenter Nilson and he came to the boat at beer thirty, which we obliged, to look at the project and give us a price. A couple of beers for spanish lessons seems like a pretty good deal. After a day to think about it, we negotiated and settled on a price and some specifics. We had to get him some money, also in advance, for buying the teak and then he was supposed to come back for measurements. He didn't show (after he had our money) but then we connected and he came the next morning. So both projects are underway and we should get them completed within ten days.

Now between trying to speak Spanish to the contracted workers (which is really great for our skills – especially over the phone where charades can't help you!) we are enjoying the city life. We've done some local street treats (shaved ices, tintos etc) as well as some local restaurants. Wednesday night is cruiser pizza night at a local establishment which is always fun. Sunday night is potluck night and then we connected with an Irish couple on an Island Packet who enjoy walking into Centro (an area in downtown). We walked there on Tuesday night to watch dancers in the square (but we were in the wrong square). So, we had a few beers and then had dinner at an Australian bistro that several people had told us about.

November 11th is Cartagena Independence day – and the celebration starts on the 10th and runs through the 16th. It involves several parades, parties, lots of music and some boat festivities. Yesterday we went to the barrios parade – where each neighborhood has a group in the parade – many dancing, great costumes, a few floats with beauty queens and much partying amongst the crowd. We got into town with Lindsay and David, and David turned into a big kid in front of our eyes. Michael was right there with him. They sell these very tall cans of spray foam (sort of like shaving cream) and people spray each other with glee. We got into it with the locals to break the ice. Then the corn starch came out – they rub the white powder all over you. There are also the "black men" - men covered in motor oil and they threaten to hug you if you don't give them a small amount of money. It's all in fun and you can just walk away.

We enjoyed a full day in town ending with a drink in a square (where the dancers we went looking for on Tuesday night performed). We had dinner at a German restaurant and headed back. We were exhausted as we got back to the boat in time for the skies to open up again. With lots of rain, lightning and thunder.

So we've been busy with major boat projects, some less major ones (wiring, installing a new light); looking for boat bits – walking all over in search of filters and bushings and some cleaning, minor projects, and basic maintenance.

We've also enjoyed meeting some new cruisers and exploring by foot the city. Barbara's gone to a local eye doctor (all is well) and was impressed with his skills. Now we need to find a local dentist for teeth cleaning. So we've been doing lots and have neglected our blog – we apologize.

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Settling Into City Life

2010-11-03T10:30:00.000-04:00

We are well anchored in the muck of Bahia de Cartagena. It's been hot, humid and quite rainy with a regular dose of squalls. Some of the squalls have been exciting with gusty wind and lots of lightning. Some of the gusts have really pulled the anchor chain through the muck of the bay – making it something to look forward to when we have to pull it up (yuck!) We are sitting in a good spot with enough swinging room between boats (we hope).

The bay is fun as there are lots of boats coming and going everyday. We always call the goings on in an anchorage as "bay movies." Well, in big city anchorages – it's like a multiplex theater. Lots of movies everyday! The boats are from all over the world with a plethora of flags flying. That makes time on the docks and in town always interesting with lots of well-traveled folks, accents and stories. We always learn so much from these well-traveled cruisers.

On Sunday, we had an appointment with the DAS agent. That's immigration here. Our maritime agent, Paola, set it up and we cabbed to the location to meet her. Because we arrived before she did, we started to walk towards the building. A uniformed man with a big automatic weapon stopped us. With our beginning Spanish we realized we couldn't proceed until our agent arrived. So we waited and had a few chats with the armed DAS agents who were all very friendly. We chatted (in our Spanish/English/Sign Language way) about baseball, the wild west and Colombia. It was fun. Then our agent arrived and we went into this incredible old building with high ceilings, many carvings and fancy concrete work, beautiful windows – many of old stained glass, and lovely wood and tile floors. It was quite a sight except for the very industrial desks within its rooms. The immigration agent was a very friendly guy – even though he had only two hours of sleep. It seems there are only two agents that handle all the boating traffic – including cruise ships. The day before there were two huge cruise ships in town – so he was one busy guy. But he maintained a great attitude and it was a pleasurable experience.

We cabbed back to the dinghy dock to change out of our "going to officials" clothes and then head into town to exchange US dollars for Colombian pesos. Because it was Sunday, we weren't certain if the "cambios" would be open. There is a big con in town that everyone warns you about - "never exchange money on the street." Banks do NOT exchange money – you can get pesos from ATMs, but they won't take US dollars and give you pesos. We did find an open "cambio" and exchanged some dollars. Now we could buy street food and drinks. We enjoyed a limeade from a street vendor who makes it with fresh limes. Very refreshing.

We tried to make a few calls to Colleen (Hans' daughter) so we could arrange to meet her and deliver her package. But we had no joy. As we walked back towards Manga (where the boat is), we stopped into a store and bought a SIM card for our cell phone. It was an interesting experience and we managed to get it done without any English spoken. Then we went to another spot to buy additional minutes (the first place would only do it with a credit card). Our last stop was Carulla – the big grocery store. We have a "tarjeta de Carulla" (Carulla discount card) which we got on our last visit to Cartagena. We loaded up on some fresh fruit and veggies and called it a day.

On Monday, a holiday here – day of the dead – we did boat projects (laundry and deck scrubbing - thanks to all the rain) and Michael spent hours trying to get online (no joy). Now we have lots of wet clothes and no place to dry them in the continuing rain. Monday night we went out with our agent Paola and her husband Mark and Les and Sara from a boat named "Wild Matilda". We were going to walk into the old city but it started to rain again – and so we went to a great local eatery that Paola knew. You had to buy your beers across the street at a tienda and bring them into the open air (but thankfully covered) restaurant. We enjoyed the local fare and then stopped on the way back in a pastry shop for a dessert.

It was pouring as we headed out to the boat in the dinghy so we were soaked upon arrival. Got the dinghy and outboard up and locked and tried to dry off.

Another rainy morning...so we sit amongst wet clothes. Today we should get the bid for the arch and will decide if we can afford it. Want to contribute?

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Back in Cartagena

2010-10-31T12:45:00.000-04:00

It was SUPPOSED to be a calm trip. The forecast was for light winds with a westerly component. Seas were supposed to be relatively flat – 2-4 feet. The current was supposed to help us towards Colombia. But, we weren't that lucky...on any count. The winds were easterly – right on the nose; the seas were about 5-8 footers; and the current was against us. Yup – nothing that was predicted came to be. It was a rough trip with steep seas, winds 15-20K on the nose and a counter-current. We tried everything – sailing off course 30 degrees; motoring; and a combo of both. At times we could only make 2.5 knots. At that speed we were convinced instead of two nights out – it would take us three. Luckily, about 0600 the second morning, the wind shifted, the current turned and we started sailing making at one point 7.2 knots speed. That helped and we were actually able to make it into Boca Chica channel into Cartagena at 1545. We were anchored just before sunset. We enjoyed a relaxing evening with a cocktail, chicken curry and an early night of restful sleep.

Cartagena Bay is quite crowded with boats so finding a spot was a bit tricky. We nestled in and set the anchor in the mucky, yucky bottom. This is a very "hot" harbor – not pleasant for boat bottoms or anchors. After a restful night we woke up and a boat nearby was leaving (with much ado!) and we decided it would be prudent to move up a bit and put out more anchor chain. Some storms are predicted (a hurricane that is heading westward but relatively far north). We won't get the hurricane, but there may be some squally weather as a result. So we re-set the anchor.

Luckily the welder we want to talk to is working on a boat right next to us (installing an arch for them) so we should be able to at least have an early conversation with him today (Saturday). We also made contact with a maritime agent to handle our clearance papers – a woman we had met in San Blas, Paola. We were supposed to go with her to immigration today – but two cruise ships came in so we will probably do that tomorrow. Then, on to calling Colleen, Hans' daughter so we can deliver the gift to her from her parents.

Its nice to be back in Cartagena...it is one of our favorite cities, and certainly our favorite in the Caribbean. We'll look forward to getting into the old town and walking around a bit though it is quite sticky and humid.

We made it safely – that's the good news. Astarte is a good boat and after a good night's rest, we're back to normal as well.

Happy Halloween to all you witches,ghosts and ghouls!

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The Log of S/V Astarte

One. Two. Three.

Visiting Pedro

Do You Know the Way to San Jose?

Fish On. Fish On. Fish On.

Shopping Panama City

Jesus and the Guardian Angel

Shopping. Spending. Installing.

Vacation Time

Boat Units

Prepping for the Pacific Passage

Crew-member Replacement

New Year. New Ocean. Cheers!

PACIFIC

Ready for the Canal Passage

Caroling by the Howler Monkeys

Merry Christmas To All From SV Astarte

Committed

Monday Relaunch

Happy Mother's Day

Dear Santa,

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Pirate Hangout

After Hours Party

Fixing Your Boat in Exotic Locations

Independence Days

Real Halloween Adventure: The Bat Cave

Oomp-Pa-Pah

No Dogs. No Cats. No Chickens.

NEW Residence

Photos !

The Bocas Experience

Empty Berth

Nobody said there would be an essay!

Family, Friends, Work and 200 lbs of Stuff

Long Absence

Day Two,Three and Four Off the Water

Boats, Taxis, Buses, Planes and Trains

Morning Trivia

Rainy Season

New Photos

Nature Hike

The Bocas "Scene"

Fun Fundraiser

In Search of the Elusive, Indigenous Oophaga Pumilio

Exploring the Bocas Archipelago

Bocas del Toro Arrival

Passages - =?ISO-8859-1?Q?=93Where are we?=94?=

Oh, The People You Meet

Fueling Up for Moving On

New Photos

Fun with Jim

Monkey, Shark and Snake Sightings

Chilling the Beer, ay!

What do you do on long passages?

Getting in the Royal Mood

Everyone to the River

Adios to Kathryn and Mark

Sanctioned Hit

Hammer Time

Nice sail, but no fish

Green Flash, Astarte Punch, Fresh Veggies--What Else Do We Need?

Windy

Bonjour from French Cay Harbour, Roatan

The Neighborhood Turtle

Yippee  a handy toilet!

Work, work, work...

Grounded!

Cayos Cochinos

Passage to Honduras

What a Sail!

Underway  Destination Guanaja, Honduras

Sloths, Toucans and an Incredible View

Portobello

Milestones

The Start of Year Three

Two Year Anniversary

Ciao Lorna and Dave

Molas and Bracelets

Hola David and Lorna

Yippee a handy toilet!

Underway Destination Guanaja, Honduras