We have been in Portobello a month today, and love it! We have all found work here, and are settling in for a few months. Portobello offers a great cruising community, beautiful surroundings, a friendly and safe anchorage, and a Cruisers Bar where we have found work. The bar is run by three ex cruisers, Jack (aka Jack's Bar), Dennis and Marco. Jack and Dennis are from the US, Marco is from Canada, originally Montreal, but has family and lived most recently on Vancouver Island.
I am going to be working with Dennis on the 2011 edition of their Cruisers Directory, doing the graphic design and helping to organize the publication. Brett and Dylan will be helping out running the front desk and bar, as it is also a hostel. They offer other services, fuel and propane for cruisers, day trips into Colon and Panama, and run a boat back and forth from Panama to Colombia. Greg will be doing mechanical work and some welding, and helping to build docks as they expand, and build a Yacht Club.
It will be a great opportunity for all of us. The guys will continue their school work, but will also learn so much from working in the bar/hostel, life skills that they will be able to use in their very bright futures. Our boat is safely anchored and all is well with the Dutch Dreamer.
We have had two of Greg's former co-workers from First Air in Yellowknife visiting us. Yvon and Emil originally came for one week, but after one week, Yvon decided to stay an additional week. The weather has been crappy, lots of rain, but we have all made the best of it. Lots of card games, poker and the like.
The weather looks like it will clear up so I can get some much needed laundry done, and air out the boat, which feels really damp after a few days of rain. We had a pretty good storm Saturday night, its been very rocky and rolly since, but at least our anchor has held and we have been secure in our spot at the northern side of the anchorage. It is a bit of a dinghy ride into town, but this side is less rolly, and we are out farther so the water is a bit cleaner.
That's about it for now. We will try and be better about updating our blog, but things have been so busy since we got here, the days fly by.
After almost two months in the San Blas Islands, we have decided to move on. We hope to leave the West Limons Wednesday morning, weather permitting. We will travel as far as Isla Grande, which is 42 miles from here, a nice day trip. We will spend a couple of days there, and then head around the corner to Portobello, 11 miles further. Portobello is full of history, with lots to see and do. Christopher Columbus landed there in 1502 on his fourth voyage, and Portobello was founded in 1597. We will celebrate Brett’s 16th birthday there, on Sunday, September 19th. This is a milestone birthday, so we will make it special. Given the fact that we don’t have a vehicle for him to take a driver’s test, we are going to give him a “dinghy licence”, that is, if he passes the test. Greg and I have a test figured out, which will include a written exam as well as a practical test, including parallel parking. Should be interesting! There are a few restaurants in Portobello, so we can even take him out for a birthday dinner. From there, we will go up the coast of Panama, to Bocas del Toro. We should have internet in Portobello, so we will send out an email/blog post then. We now have a cell phone, you may have to dial 011 first, and the number is: (507)6034-3075. We’d love to hear from you! The Dutch Dreamers
Well, here we are, back in the West Limon Cays. Below is the email/blog post I have been working on since August 1st. We hope you are all well and happy, and enjoying the last bit of summer back in Canada.
Life in the San Blas continues to fascinate and amaze us, and there is still so much to see and experience. This is what we have always imagined cruising being about. We are self sufficient, making our own water, running generators as needed for power. We are anchored in the middle of paradise. Small islands lined with white sand, topped with palm trees dot the horizon. The azure water is clear and clean. Civilization is miles and miles away. Life is simple and sweet. We take each day as it comes. Chores and maintenance depend on the weather, as it is rainy season. When it does rain, it is usually during the night (Ron and Goldie can attest to that!) or in the morning. The skies generally clear up in the afternoon. The boys do their schoolwork in the mornings while we do our work, and then most days the afternoon is free for swimming, snorkelling and diving. The boys and I continue to work on our Spanish, using the Rosetta Stone program. Hopefully in a month or so I will be able to hold a simple conversation in Spanish; it is all actually starting to make sense.
We had an awesome time with Greg’s sister Goldie and her husband Ron. They were here from July 21 to August 1. We swam, snorkelled and did some diving (they brought their dive gear), got into the Kuna culture and generally just had a lot of fun. They really enjoyed getting to know the boys. Dylan taught Ron how to clean lobster. Whenever a Kuna boat would come by singing “langosta”, Ron would hop to attention and begin bartering. We feasted on grilled lobster, broiled lobster, steamed lobster, boiled lobster, and lobster salad. What used to be a once a year treat on our anniversary has now become one of the least expensive seafood we can buy. We continue to eat our fill of these succulent crustaceans and are still not tired of it!
The boys got out their instruments and serenaded our guests. Unfortunately, the salt air has been a little hard on Dylan’s saxophone, and some of the keys are sticking. It is in dire need of a good cleaning and tune up, so once we can get to Panama City, we will look for a music store to have that done. Both boys play the guitar really well, and after happy hour and dinner, would sit on the aft seat with Aunt Goldie who sang along. Her favourite song was “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life”. Brett played guitar, Goldie sang, and Dylan sang and whistled in the appropriate spots. They were quite the trio!
On Friday, July 23 we headed to Chichimi, two islands about 3 miles east of Porvenir. There we reunited with our Aussie friends Terry and Elaine. They left on Sunday for Panama City and to put their boat up on the hard for the winter, which they spend back home in Australia. We were getting low on fresh produce though, so on Monday, we headed 8 miles southwest to the Carti Islands, to do a bit of provisioning. The island we stopped at was jam-packed full of tiny huts and narrow pathways. We managed to find a few “stores” (these are hard to differentiate from the “houses” and sometime include both) but very little produce. In one hut we learned that their produce boat was delayed due to mechanical, and was expected within the hour. We found our way through the maze of huts to the “cafeteria”, a tiny restaurant on the water, where we enjoyed a fabulous lunch of fish or chicken, with rice, beans and salad for a whopping three bucks each, including cervesas. Then we filled our bags with lettuce, cabbage, carrots, peppers, celery, tomatoes, potatoes, limes, watermelons and a bunch of pineapples, and dinghied back to our boat. We spent the night in the anchorage, and in the morning, made our way to the West Lemons, a couple miles from Porvenir.
We spent two days anchored here to do internet. This is the only place in all of San Blas to have internet. The “internet cafe” is a straw shack attached to their straw hut. There was a big satellite dish out back, so all you had to do was hook up to an ethernet cord, and for $3.00 per hour, you had pretty good internet. There were about four cords working, so you had to time it right to get a spot. Unfortunately, it was really buggy, both on the island and on the boat, and the water wasn’t very clear, so once we had done the internet we needed to do, we headed back to Porvenir.
The raw water pump on our big engine was acting up a bit (actually squealing like hell and smoking) so Greg didn’t want to go too far in case we would need to have parts flown in. He did get it fixed though; he took it off the engine and disassembled it and it turned out that for over thirty years crap had built up inside. This was not a fun job for El Capitano, as it is a very large industrial pump. He accomplished the task with very little complaining but “some” swearing. Ron was a good assistant, handing him tools as needed, just picture a nurse handing a doctor the scalpel... you get the picture. Ron and Goldie were a great help on the boat, they scrubbed decks, washed windows, and even scrubbed the rust off the sides of the hull. Ron and the boys helped Greg clean the bottom of the boat.
We had a great time exploring the reefs around Porvenir both snorkelling and diving. Greg buddied up with Goldie, who did a couple of dives. She really enjoyed it, but her ears bothered her, so she stuck to snorkelling after that. Before we knew it, time had flown by and their visit was over. They flew out the morning of August 1st. The boat seemed way too quite after they left! We spent the day relaxing and on Monday, got back into our routine of boat chores and maintenance.
On Tuesday a fellow named Tahsin from the boat Delfin Solo came over to ask Greg if he had a belt for his engine. Greg gave him a couple of spares we had on board. He was going to try them, and let us know how they worked, and if not, he would head into Panama City to try and find what he needed. We told him we were going to go back to the East Lemons for a few days. Wednesday morning we pulled up anchor and motored there, about a five mile trip to the east. After only one night though, Tahsin called us on the radio asking for help with his engine. He couldn’t find the belt he needed and asked if Greg could possibly take a look at the engine. We motored back to Porvenir, where Greg spent the day unsuccessfully working on his engine. They decided they needed to go into Panama City again, so a trip was planned for Friday. It is a two day trip, because the boat picks you up from your boat, takes you to shore, about 8 miles away, where you ride in a SUV full of back packers and other cruisers. It is a two hour journey through the mountains, where Greg said everyone drives like absolute maniacs! (No surprise there!) In Panama City, they found what they needed for Tahsin’s engine, and Greg found a backup breaker for the generator that we needed. They had supper, and spent the night in a cheap hotel (they called it a “hooker” hotel), it was on the water front on the Pacific side. Early the next morning, they set out for the supermarket to do a bit of quick provisioning. Everyone and everything was packed into the SUV, and back to the shore and the boat, to take them back to our boats. They arrived in Porvenir at about 10:00 a.m. Saturday and resumed working on the engine.
Both Tahsin and his wife Rengin are from Turkey. They, along with their cat Gatito, aboard their 45 foot sailboat, take backpackers from Cartagena to the San Blas and Panama City, to Cartagena. We really enjoyed getting to know them, and the group of back packers they had on board. The group they had ended up taking a catamaran back to Cartagena though, because of the delay with the engine. Greg and Tahsin finally got things working so Delfin Solo could make the trip back to Cartagena. That night, a sailboat ended up on the reef on the north side of the island. A hired captain tried to go to into Porvenir at 2:00 a.m. on Friday the 13th. The boat was being bashed to death on the coral, so they ended up in the life raft and drifted to the island in the dark. They had eight backpackers on board; another backpacker boat took four of them, and Delfin Solo planned to take the other four, after getting supplies and water in Carti. The ruined boat is slowly being claimed by the sea.
While in Porvenir, we befriended a local Kuna, named Nestor. While Ron and Goldie were here visiting, he took them to the island he lives on, to his house, and gave them a tour of the island and the school. One day, shortly after Ron and Goldie left, he and his wife came to our boat and invited us to one of his daughter’s (Caritza) birthday party. He also asked if we could bring the birthday cake, with “Happy Birthday” and her name written on it. I baked a chocolate cake from scratch, but when it came to the icing, I had a bit of a dilemma, as I had no icing sugar. I scrounged through all of my cookbooks and found a recipe for a glaze, which called for chocolate chips, water and white sugar. It worked well, and I added some coloured sprinkles for effect. I had no way of doing writing on the cake though, so I made a little birthday sign on the laptop, printed it, and mounted it on the cake with two straws (see photo). They were completely delighted! We enjoyed a “Kuna” birthday party, which was really the same idea as our traditional party, lots of kids running around and playing. We were served coconut water to drink, and plates of coconut rice (the grownups also got a piece of fish) and the chocolate cake. Nestor asked us to sing our birthday song, which we did, and Caritza blew out the tea light I had put on the cake (no birthday candles!) As no one but Nestor spoke English, we just visited amongst ourselves, smiled a lot and enjoyed watching the cute little kids frolicking.
It was interesting too, to see how they live. They live in two huts, one a cooking hut, the other a sleeping and living hut. The cooking hut has a couple of fire pits, where they do all their cooking, and an area for preparation. We watched Nestor’s wife grate coconut for the rice, with a big circular grater. (Wish I had one of those!) Their living and sleeping hut had a double bed in the corner where Nestor and his wife slept, and the rest of the hut was scattered with hammocks and a few chairs. Everything is very, very clean, and the sand swept. The whole island is like this, as crowded as it is, they are very clean people. Their bathrooms consist of a makeshift dock leading out onto the water, sided with either bamboo or tin siding, so the waste just goes right into the water. Nestor has two pens with pigs, which are fed scraps, and a pen with chickens. The older women dress in traditional Kuna wear, while the teenagers and children wear regular clothes, toddlers sometimes just underwear. There is always clean laundry hanging out on lines. We really appreciated being invited to this party, to see how simply they live, and how content and happy they are. It is sure a far cry from the U.S. and Canada, where life is materialistic, complicated and stressful!
We left Porvenir on Saturday, August 14 and motored (no wind!) to the Coco Banderos Cays. Luckily, the day before a produce boat came by and we were able to stock up on fresh produce. It was about a 20 mile trip and took us four hours. The water was calm, and everything ran smoothly... we love it when that happens! We anchored between two small islands, and enjoyed the view! According to the Panama Cruising Guide, “the Coco Banderos are a group of extremely scenic islands, situated behind a four-mile long protective outer reef barrier. These uninhabited islands may be the most beautiful in all of San Blas, with their white sand beaches, towering palm trees and crystal clear waters.” The book isn’t kidding, it was absolutely gorgeous here! We anchored between Olosicuidup and Guarladup, in 34 feet of water, and you could see the sand bottom. The boys put their sailing dinghy in the water, and had a blast exploring the islands. The second day we were here, the boys sailed their dinghy to Guarladup. I was hot and wanted to take a swim, so I donned my fins, mask and snorkel and swam to the island. The bottom was mostly sand and grass, dotted with coral here and there, and small fishes. We had a visit, and then we set out back to the boat. I was swimming in about four feet of water when I saw a big fish, which turned out to be a Palometa. I was pretty excited. I told the boys and swam after it. It was quicker than I was though, and headed the wrong way, so I gave up the chase and turned around, headed towards the boat. Swimming along peacefully, I happened to glanced to my right, and just about left a brown stain in the water. Swimming alongside me, about ten feet away, was a good size shark, bigger than I was. He was a nurse shark, we saw them in Porvenir, and they are not supposed to be dangerous, but nonetheless, I could prove to be a tasty meal for him. I stayed calm, and just kept swimming, and soon I lost sight of him. When I was almost to the boat, I looked down and saw him swimming under our boat, right below me. Safely back on the boat, I decided to pay more attention to the time of day when swimming. “Shark time”, is late afternoon, around four o’clock, that’s when they are supposed to come out to feed. Note to self: DO NOT SWIM DURING FEEDING TIME!
Sunday morning dawned clear and sunny, but as the day progressed we could hear thunder in the distance and dark skies and clouds looming on the horizon. I spent the morning and early afternoon scrubbing the decks, and hoped for a good shower to rinse the clean decks (we use salt water only for scrubbing up top). Well, I got my wish, because at about 4:00 the skies opened and we had a good downpour. There was very little wind so we all stood outside bare butt with shampoo and soap and got a beautiful fresh shower. The rain let up about an hour and a half later. We had supper, (yup, lobster!) watched an old James Bond movie, (the first one actually, Dr. No, what a classic!) and went to bed. About two a.m. we were awaked to a torrential downpour with shrieking winds, thunder and lightning. Thirty to forty knot winds, out of the east. Greg and Dylan kept watch during the storm, but our anchor held firm. A small catamaran had trouble though, and had to reset their anchor twice. We had to close all the portholes because the rain was pouring in from all directions. The storm lasted a couple of hours, so we finally all got back to sleep sometime after 4:00.
We continued to spend our days swimming and snorkelling. The boys had some success spearing. Brett got a nice lobster and a couple of parrot fish. Dylan and Greg have been hunting rocks : ) (Brett told me to say that.) A few boats came and went, but on the whole it was a very quiet anchorage. We had a few Kunas come to the boat, asking us to charge their cell phones. We did, and Greg asked for “Langosta” as payment, but we never did receive any. Another Kuna, Apio, came by with a bit of fruit to sell, and said he could get us veggies, fruit, vino, pan, etc. We gave him our order. The next day he showed up, he had maybe one or two things. We gave him part of the money up front, but day after day, he sometimes showed up, other days not, and when he would, he would have like, a couple of half rotten carrots, etc. We finally gave up and Greg sat him down, went over our list, showed him everything we did not get, and got most of our money back.
We were getting really low on supplies, and wanted to do internet, so yesterday, Monday, August 22, we motored to Nargana, an island five miles away, right off the coast of Panama, and near the entrance to the Rio Diablo. Our guide book said there were various stores and you could get wireless internet at the school. We met “the guy”, a local named Frederico, who has been a guide there for twenty years. He took us around to the “stores”, where we picked up a few scant supplies, but the produce boat had not been in lately, so there was no fresh produce to speak of. We asked about internet, but unfortunately it was not working. Later, talking to another boater on the radio, I learned it has not been working for two years! So much for that!
This morning Greg and Dylan went to get a few more supplies, and at 11:00 a.m. we pulled up anchor and motored to the West Limons to finally send off this email I have been working on for weeks and weeks!
Well, seeing as i'm just about recovered, we're saying a long overdue goodbye to Cartegena and sailing to the San Blas. We really are this time. I'm serious.
The past couple of days Dad and Dylan have been cleaning up the boat, getting everything ready. We got a local to clean the bottom of the boat, and the lines as well, they get covered in a centimeter thick layer of barnacles after a while... not fun to pull on, they cut your hands!
The weather is going to be very nice, almost no wind and waves. Dr. Ambrad, who has been to the San Blas many times, has told us quite a bit about the islands, and where to get a few things.
We all really need to get into clear water and white, sandy beaches. The Doctor said that the swimming would help me heal, salt water is good for the wound.
Don't expect to hear from us for a while, the San Blas are very isolated islands, which is why we're going there :). We heard there is an internet cafe in porviner, so we might be able to post something there, just don't expect anything!
Hi everyone. We are still in Cartagena, Columbia. Brett had to have some surgery on June 8, and is recuperating on the boat. He has Pilonidal Disease, which you can google, to find out more about it. The doctor did a modified surgery, given that we are living on a boat, and will be travelling. He hasn't been off the boat since he got back home, two weeks ago today. The problem is getting off and on the boat, since we are at the dock stern to, and it is quite a stretch to get from the back of the boat, to the narrow plank leading to the dock. He will attempt it when we get the okay from the doctor, hopefully next week.
We hope to leave here in about 10 days. Greg's sister Goldie and her husband Ron are coming to visit us in the San Blas Islands. They will be flying into Provenir on July 21. We are all really excited for their visit.
Meanwhile, Brett will continue to recuperate, and then we will be on our way!
The Rosario Islands turned out to be much more than we could have ever hoped. We motored the short 15 miles to the islands and arrived there mid afternoon on Friday, May 14. We anchored in a small, sheltered bay close to the main island of Isla Grande.
We are in a beautiful spot! A tiny island lies at the entrance to the bay, it is almost completely covered by a beautiful two story pink house, and a few trees. I envy those who live in such a perfect place! We found out from the locals that it is called “The House That Is Never For Sale”, in Spanish it sounds nicer. The shoreline is dotted by several houses, some inhabited by locals. Others, larger and empty most of the time, are weekend retreats for wealthy Cartagenans. There is one hotel, with a pool built into the long dock over the water.
The water in the bay is a lovely turquoise with a sandy bottom. We have done some snorkelling but the visibility is not great. Mangroves line the shore, along with a few palm trees. We are completely self sufficient here. We practically live in our bathing suits, as we swim at least two to four times a day. It is hot and sunny most days, so jumping into the water is a great way to cool off. The water is quite a bit warmer than it was in Aruba and in the bays on the way down to Cartagena. We have all our shower supplies on deck, and rinse off with fresh water after we bathe. Our water maker is up and running, Greg keeps the tank pretty much full. What little laundry I have, I can wash in our little machine, it smells so good after hanging to dry in the fresh air, especially towels and sheets!
We provisioned well in Cartagena, but after a week our fresh produce is gone, except for potatoes, onions and limes. We have a good supply of staples:canned and dried, pasta and rice, and yesterday I baked a batch of fresh buns. We have treated ourselves to lobster a couple of times. The day after we arrived, canoes with local men came by offering fish and lobster for sale. It was a real treat that night! Sunday at lunchtime, I was just saying to Greg, what a beautiful spot this was, just like paradise, when along comes a canoe with an umbrella. It was a floating seafood restaurant! The two locals had a board across the canoe for a table, which was covered in small Styrofoam plates filled with fresh lobster and shrimp. They sprinkled on fresh squeezed lime, some seafood sauce and a few crackers, and for $5 US a plate, we enjoyed a lunch better than at any fancy restaurant. Greg was impressed at their entrepreneur spirit, what a great idea!
Since then, Greg and the boys have been out spear fishing and diving, hunting for lobster, crab and fish. So far, they have only succeeded in bringing back a few small appetizer size fish. They keep watching to see where the locals go, and will keep trying. Greg and Brett even dug out their dive gear one day, but still didn’t see any lobsters. Greg donned his dive gear to check the bottom of the boat as well. He was horrified to see that our large zinc for the prop, which he replaced in Aruba, along with all three bolts, was gone! He doesn’t think it fell off, because it was secured well. He suspects someone stole it. In Cartagena we had our bottom cleaned several times, and there were often locals in the water.... so who knows. We didn’t have a spare, as they are hard to get, but we still had the old one, or what was left of it, so he put that one back on, and secured it with the bolts and lock wire, so we know there is no way this one can come off, without difficulty. For those who don’t know, zincs serve to pacify the electrolysis effect of the ocean. In short, they keep our boat from being rusted away.
We run the generator several times a day to charge batteries and make ice. Refrigeration is working well; we turn it off for night as it runs down the batteries, but being cold plate refrigeration, everything still stays cold or frozen. We even had a garbage boat come by to pick up our garbage. We didn’t have a lot, as all of our food scraps go overboard, so it’s mostly packaging, cans and bottles. I rinse out the meat packaging so it doesn’t smell after sitting in the hot sun a few days. I wash out and reuse all of our Ziplocks, until they fall apart or get holes in them. They are expensive here!
There is a fair bit of traffic in the bay, just enough to keep life interesting, but not too much as do destroy the peacefulness. Water taxis come by at 7:00 a.m. to pick up neatly dressed women for work, uniformed children for school; and return them before dark, usually around 5:30. The odd powerboat comes by to check things out, and one day two boats anchored beside us for the afternoon, enjoying the water and sunshine.
We celebrated Dylan’s 13th birthday on Saturday, May 15. He is officially a teenager. We spoiled him on his day; the galley wench spent most of the day in the galley preparing all of his favourite dishes. He had an “Uncle Bob” breakfast, waffles with berries and whipped cream....mmmnnn good! Dinner was his favourite food, fish of course! Brett and I shopped for all the necessary supplies the day before we left Cartagena. We had blackened salmon, which Dylan helped prepare, using a recipe from his dog-earred fishing book. We had lobster, from the fisherman, dipped in butter. I made the boys’ favourite rice dish, Bahamian Rice and Peas, and Dylan’s favourite veggies and salad, Carrots l’ Orange, and Caesar Salad. For dessert, I baked a carrot cake with cream cheese icing. We were so stuffed we could barely look at food the next day! Brett got Dylan a set of Lego. I know what you are all thinking, but boys will be boys and they really miss their Lego, even though they are teenagers! They have had a blast building all kinds of things, mostly boats, catamarans and sailboats, and making sails for the boats with paper towels and toothpicks. Greg and I got Dylan some fishing stuff, surprise, surprise! We even decorated the boat with balloons, which were a blast to play with in the water, and I dug out our pool noodles. It was a great day, which ended with a Clint Eastwood Dirty Harry movie.
Brett and Dylan have been doing really well on their schoolwork. In Cartagena I was able to find a great web site for schoolwork for Dylan. He seems to have mastered Algebra, with the assistance of Brett, who is an absolute whiz at Math, and a great helper. That being said, Dylan absolutely hates Math and all schoolwork in general. They both get at their schoolwork first thing in the morning, so it is out of the way and we can go swimming, etc., and get on with our day. We all read voraciously, and share the same books. It’s almost like our own book club, we discuss the books we’ve read, what we liked and didn’t like, etc. We exchange books at every opportunity with other cruisers, who are always anxious to exchange books with each other, as none of us can afford to buy new ones! We read fiction and non-fiction, mostly mysteries, and of course, anything to do with sailing. Recently, I came across the book “Innocent Traitor”, about Lady Jane Gray, the House of Tudor in the 16th Century and Henry VIII, and his wives. It was so interesting, and will be a great history lesson for the guys. I am not allowed to refer to them as “boys” anymore, so when I say “guys”, I am referring to Brett and Dylan.
Of course, it can’t be all play and no work, especially for El Capitano. He has been working on the floors in the galley and salon. In the galley between the sink and the forward head, a few pieces of teak flooring had come loose. They have been like that for a while, as repairing them was really low on the priority list. I am happy to say that they have finally come to the top of the list. Greg sanded the edges and glued them down, and it looks perfect! The salon was a different story. Remember all the water that wasn’t supposed to come into the boat, but did? Well, most of it ended up in the salon. In Cartagena, a section of the floor started to buckle, so Greg knew something had to give. He tried drilling holes in the floor from the engine room, and squirting in the epoxy, and then in the salon, weighed down the floor with our water jugs from the deck. Nope, didn’t work. So, yesterday, Friday, we had our first rainy day. Seemed like a good time to fix the salon floor. He ripped up a good chunk of the teak pieces, and in some places, parts of the plywood underlay came off as well. He got out his belt sander, and cleaned it all up, and then, after sanding the edges of each piece, put the puzzle back together. We were all used as ballast for the rest of the day, as we took turns sitting on a bucket of oil, to weigh down the pieces as the glue dried. It was worth it, as it looks great again.
Week 2:
Today is Sunday, May 30, and we are up and preparing to leave the Rosarios. We are heading back to Cartagena to Club Nautico for a couple of days, to provision, and then are going to Baru, a small island just north of the Rosarios. It is supposed to be beautiful and quiet. We have had a great time here. We befriended a few of the locals. A young Spanish couple, Francesco and Juliana, came by in their dinghy one day. They are originally from Cartagena, but are now both lawyers in New York, so their English is excellent. They were here vacationing at his family’s cottage on the shore, and invited us over for wine and snacks later that afternoon. We had a really nice visit, and their staff prepared some local snacks for us, which was a nice treat. Afterwards, we climbed aboard their 20 foot boat, powered by dual 115 HP engines, and they took us on a tour of the area. The next morning Francesco swam over to have a tour of our boat, and then we all went snorkelling. Unfortunately for us, they had to head back to Cartagena that afternoon. It was great meeting them, and learning more about the area. We also befriended one of the local fishermen, an older fellow. We have bought fish, lobster and crab from him a few times. We were running low on pesos, so we added a few things to make up the cash shortage, a ball cap, my freshly baked buns (he loved these!), some packs of cookies, and chips, and of course, some cervesa. The arrangement worked out well for both of us! Also, a few times during our stay here, two little local kids have paddled out to us on an old surfboard. They greet Greg with the only English they know: Hello! Good Morning! Candy? So, each time they come by we give them a small Ziploc with some gummi’s and cookies. Greg calls them the “Candy Bandits”!
We have done more snorkelling this week, and one day Greg and the guys went diving on a plane wreck, just around the corner. Unfortunately, the visibility wasn’t great, but it was a great experience. Brett has made a video of the dive, and will upload it onto You Tube, we will let you know when it is there. We had a fair bit of rain this week, mostly during the night and morning. One night we had a squall come through, we got about a foot of rain that night. The winds pelted the rain through the portholes, so we had to close everything up. Our salon hatch leaked quite a bit, so that is another project for Greg to attend to. Our brass lamp hangs beside it, and unfortunately got wet in the downpour, and stopped working. The bulb was stuck, and after finally getting it out, Greg discovered the culprit was a broken wire. He completely dismantled the lamp, and will get the necessary parts back in Cartagena. It will be a good opportunity to give all the parts a good cleaning before it is put back together again. We think this lamp is original to the boat, so it would be 31 years old, and a beautiful piece.
We had a wonderful time in the Rosarios, and made many great memories!
P.S Brett made a video of the dive on the airplane. Check it out at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C61llsyQjWE
Hello everyone! We are long overdue in doing a blog post, for that I apologize. I have been sick with a nasty head cold for the last ten days, which I am having a hard time shaking. We plan on leaving Cartagena today, for the Rosario Islands, a short 15 mile hop from here. The Rosarios are an archipelago of 23 islands, keys and isles that promise clean, clear water, some snorkelling and a chance to clean out our through hulls, and get the water maker going before leaving for the San Blas Islands. We have sure enjoyed Cartagena. We were leery about coming here due to safety concerns, but having followed the advice of other cruisers: never leave your dinghy in the water overnight, don’t walk deserted streets after dark, and don’t wear expensive jewellery when out; we have never had any problems. Cartagena is definitely a mix of the old and the new. We were surprised to see skyscrapers on the horizon when we first sailed into port, but there is still plenty of history preserved in the old part of the city, which is still surrounded by a wall built in the 1600’s. The architecture of the old buildings in the old City is amazing. Our trip to the fort was awesome; walking through the narrow, deep tunnels, you could close your eyes and imagine soldiers rushing through them, carrying weapons to fend off the enemy. We visited the Palace of the Inquisition, that included room called “The Torture Chamber”, with artefacts like the rack, and in the courtyard, a gallows. We toured the gold museum, with artefacts that dated back to before Jesus Christ’s time. We were intrigued and amazed by everything we learned. As part of his schoolwork, Brett will be posting a blog and photos on these visits. Ah, now the part you have all been waiting for... the trials and tribulations of Dutch Dreamer! Well, we finally got our shore power and its’ associated problems sorted out, so now have enjoyed air conditioning 24/7 on the boat. What a difference! I actually dug out blankets and our comforter, which were put away back in the Bahamas, I think. It won’t be long lived though, as once we leave here, we will only use it when we run the generator, in the morning and during the day as needed to charge batteries; and after dinner for an hour or so to cool things off for night. As for the shore power here at Club Nautico, it sucks! The power boxes are a nightmare themselves, with wires hanging everywhere. We spent the first two weeks tied side to, so Pedro could complete our work on the pilot house. During that time, we had to use several long extension cords, instead of our usual thick shore power cord, to connect to one of the scary boxes about 50 feet up the dock. Instead of 110 coming in, it was more like 80 or 90, but with enough finagling; Greg (hurrah for El Capitano!) was able to get things working so we were at least able to charge our batteries. But alas, even though our capable Captain was able to fix the air conditioning, we did not have enough power coming into the boat to run it. After the pilot house was completed, we moved with delay and tied stern to, next to Chantecler (the boat Mike and Kelly were on, more on that saga later) in hopes of connecting our shore power cord directly to one of the “newer and better” power boxes. Our hopes were quickly deflated though, when we were not able to get any power at all. John, the dock master, called an electrician to come over and help. Now, keep in mind, most of these guys don’t speak a word of English, so there is a lot of sign language going on. Kelly speaks a bit of Spanish, so she was able to convey a bit of what Greg was trying to get across to the electrician, who fiddled and farted around at the power box. Well, we managed to get power alright. We got a power spike that fried our icemaker and our transformer. NOT GOOD! Now, not only did we not have power, but one of the most cherished items on Dutch Dreamer, the beloved ice maker, was smoking instead of making ice. Needless to say, we decided to try another electrician. Between him, Greg and Mike, the sweating trio managed to get our power back to what it was originally, so we were able to charge batteries, but again, no AC. When we first arrived at Club Nautico, we decided we were going to stay awhile, so it was worth our while to get the long term rate, so we prepaid for a month, which included water and electricity. Now Greg being the tight (and stubborn) little Dutchman that he is, was not happy, as in his mind, he is not getting the electricity he has already paid for, thus the fight was on! We finally lucked out in the form of Alex, an electrician who actually knew what he was doing. He managed to get everything going, and with the use of the proper shore power cord, we were able to get enough power to the boat to run the AC. As life is never dull, or easy on Dutch Dreamer, there were, of course, other challenges to rise to while fighting the electrical battle. There was our main generator, which died back in Cabo de Vela on our way to Cartagena. After ordering in some parts that did not fix the problem, it turned out the wiring harness connector from the generator to the control box was the culprit. Also, the refrigeration motor was sounding worse all the time, so Greg took it apart, and then had to scour Cartagena for the necessary bearings and pressure switch that needed replacing. With this all done, I allowed the Captain a few days rest and a chance to breathe before I brought up discussion of the washing machine. The seal went on our little washer back in Puerto Rico last year. While we were in Grenada, we had the part ordered in. It has not been a priority to fix it, God knows there was always something else to fix, wasn’t there???!!!! Up until now, laundry facilities/services were always easy to find and inexpensive, except for Bonaire. There I resorted to the buckets on deck system. Washing the clothes was easy, but wringing them out by hand is hard on the arthritic knuckles, for sure, especially washing clothes for a family of four. Bearing this in mind, and thinking about being in the San Blas Islands with no laundry services for a month or so, I got up the courage to suggest fixing the washing machine. It didn’t go well, but the next day, my Captain, God love him, got up and started dismantling the shelving surrounding the washer. It was a “bitch” to get at, Greg reminded me, as he twisted and contorted himself into the tiny space between the top of the wash machine and the headliner (maybe a foot). He got the part installed, and wisely suggested we try the unit out before putting everything back together again. To our dismay, the machine would not fill with water. We sent the helpful technician we had emailed last year an email describing our problems, and he promptly responded. It turned out the door switch was the culprit, and even more problematic to get at, but he also suggested a “hot wiring” solution to solve the problem until the part can be replaced. Those who know Greg, know that he jumped all over this. “McIvor” is his middle name, so within minutes he had the job done, and the machine worked perfectly. He put the cabinet and headliner back together, and was greeted with a round of applause from the galley wench and crew. Another battle fought and won! With all the work completed, and the sweaty mechanics and electricians with their greasy hands and tools all gone, Dutch Dreamer was due for a good cleaning. I scrubbed out the aft cabin, walls, woodwork and ceiling, cleaned out the closet and some cupboards. I did a major refit on the v-berth, which has always been a stash of assorted goods thrown and stuffed in. With a few more bins, and some helpful tips from Mike, Dylan and I were able to create an organized and labelled space, where everything is now easier to find and get at. Our friends Mike and Kelly left with Chantecler two weeks ago. They were heading to the U.S. Well, life is never dully with Mike and Kelly either, maybe that’s why we got along so well with them. Turns out George is gay and tried to get Mike in the sack with him, so they gave him the “sack” in Isla Mujeres, a small island near Cozumel, Mexico. After a nasty experience on route, they got off the boat, and are now on route to Nanaimo, where Mike has a friend who needs some work done on his boat. They will spend the summer there working, and then back to San Francisco, where their boat Isabella is waiting. They plan on heading down the coast and to the Caribbean and Mexico. Their blog address is: www.searchingforbella.blogspot.com if you want to check it out. We hope to have internet at the Rosario Islands. If not, it may be a while before you hear from us again. We don’t expect to be able to get any in the San Blas Islands. From there, Colon is only a day sail away, and will be our next stop. We hope you are all well, happy and enjoying spring, wherever you are! Love from the Dutch Dreamers
