MERRY CHRISTMAS

Follow Catalyst’s voyage at:

http://www.winlink.org/dotnet/maps/PositionReportsDetail.aspx?callsign=KG4QFO

–

November 19, 2012

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Dear Friends and Family,

It is rather difficult to think that Christmas is less than a week away.  You can imagine life on a boat is not as decorated as the department stores or even our homes back in the States.  We do try though.  A new boating friend gave us a small tree, about 8 inches high and some ribbon that we will use to decorate it with.  Earlier, we had bought a small wooden red frog after seeing the live ones in the area of our marina and we are putting him as a tree topper!

So far, a day time pot luck has been organized for Christmas Day at one of the anchorages and I would guess it will get pretty crowded there.  One of the islands is a perfect location and we have received permission to meet there.  I will let you know more about it after the fact.

Today it has been raining all morning but I see it is clearing up right on schedule.  If the sun actually comes out well enough for us to navigate by the color of the water, we will move to a major village in the area where we can get produce.  We were in an anchorage when the produce boat arrived close to a week ago and stocked up then but need a new supply now.  We would also like to see a large village and let Linsey have that experience as well.

We have been having some trouble with internet access so sometimes, it may be days before we can get a connection.  We can work off line with the e-mail program we have and it is great as we can’t get access to the internet.  Once in awhile it is possible but not often.  When we get a connection, it can be slow but we can usually send and receive.  Sometimes pictures are difficult.  For that reason, you may find that our logs are dated several days before they actually are published.  If you have been sending comments through our log address rather than the rs.linehan@embarqmail.com address, we have not been able to read them and may not be able to until we return home.

I have been happy to receive some wonderful Christmas update letters.  I am not sure you need an update of our year because you have our logs but I will use this time to share all the reasons we are grateful for wonderful 2012.

First off is our children.  How lucky we feel to have children who love us and show us in so many ways that they do.  We could not do this travel as easily without their efforts.  The grandchildren are the joy of our lives.  Aly, our oldest, will be 14 soon.  Hard to imagine.  We hope this is the last year we will miss the winter birthdays!  Lisa and Jeff will present us with another precious bundle soon after we return home and hopefully in January, we will know the gender of their 7^th child.  Julie and Craig are busy with their two.  Clara, our youngest, is a 2012 baby and starting to stand.  She is likely to be walking by the time we see her next!

We are grateful that my Dad is healthy and content at 100 and gearing up for another family reunion with the family that we so love and are so grateful for.  We are grateful for his care givers, who are more like friends.  They allow us to live our lives fully without worry about him.

We are grateful that we have family coming to join us to experience the San Blas Islands.  We have wanted to be back here for so long and we are grateful that we are ending our Caribbean experience here.

We are grateful that we have friends back in Florida, waiting to welcome us home to a full time life in Punta Gorda.

We are grateful for the new people who come in to our lives every day.  They include fellow cruisers but also the wonderful couple that live in our house while we are gone and take such good care of it.  It also includes Linsey who is like family to us and will leave us in much better health, both physical and mental, than when she joined us.

We  are grateful for all our friends, both foreign and domestic, that we may not see as much as we like but who still keep in touch with us and let us know they care.

We are grateful that we have our health and the enthusiasm to live life fully.  We are grateful that we have had these 40+ years to build a life together with love and respect.

We are grateful that what has been listed above, comes from love, not from possessions.

What we wish for you this season is abundant love.  It is the gift you can give that returns to you with dividends.  I feel it coming back to me, even as I write this.

I know, I get a little sappy at times so to end this, I will share with you a poem that our talented Linsey has written.  Rob has taken on the job of being net control on the cruisers’ radio net that happens in the San Blas every morning.  He does Tuesday and so he will do the net control on Christmas Day.  Linsey told us about a poem she wrote at age8 and was published so Rob suggested she write something for Christmas morning to start the net.  Today, she had something all ready to go.  It is something to share with you that will give you an idea about our Christmas here in the San Blas.

A San Blas Christmas

by Linsey Rankin

At Christmas here in San Blas

with tropical sea and sun,

the cruisers get together

and vow to have some fun.

Christmas lights a twinkle

hung from the boat by night.

Happy hour goes all day long

much to cruiser’s delight.

And when the folk are sleeping,

anchored in the bay,

Santa comes to visit

but in his panga not a slay.

A knock at the hull at daybreak

rouses cruisers from their beds.

While all the rum from the night before

causes throbbing in their heads.

They stumble in to daylight

and see a Kuna smiling back

in his wooden dug out

he has Santa’s present sack.

Because Santa needs his helpers

to deliver presents out at sea,

the Kunas bring us molas

of course for a small fee.

So have a merry Christmas

in tropical paradise.

Where it doesn’t even matter

If you’ve been naughty or nice.

Have a wonderful holiday season and a new year full of love.

Sue and Rob Linehan

Aboard Catalyst

San Blas Islands, Panama

A LOBSTER TALE!

Follow Catalyst’s voyage at:

http://www.winlink.org/dotnet/maps/PositionReportsDetail.aspx?callsign=KG4QFO

–

November 16, 2012

Catalyst Log

A LOBSTER TALE!

Dear Family and Friends,

Life in the San Blas is treating us well.  There is always something to tell you about but today I wish to tell you the story of our lobster experience, hence a lobster tale about a lobster tail!

Rob is not much of a fish or sea food eater so we don’t usually buy those things from the fishermen who come to sell us the bounty of the seas.  Linsey adds a spark of interest to many things but she had a yen to try lobster and since we could share the meal and make something else for Rob, we did it.

The trouble with this plan is that neither of us has ever cooked a lobster before so I told Linsey, if we get one, it is on you to get it to the table.

The first step was to pick the lobster.

We didn’t want one too small or bigger than we needed so we got one that seemed just right!

Linsey is showing off her choice.

It was hard to tell what the lobster thought but he did more or less fit in to the bucket.

Now comes the question of what do we do next. We knew we had to either try to keep it alive or cook it then and eat it later for dinner.  We chose the latter course.  The first step was to make it fit in to the pot.   Linsey had to figure out how to trim the tentacles.

Caribbean lobsters don’t have claws and have very long tentacles.  There is some meat in them and the legs but you have to work very hard to get that.  We were mostly concerned with the meat in the tail.   Linsey used kitchen sheers to cut off the tentacles.

A boat of local fishermen, different ones than who sold us the lobster, enjoyed the entertainment on our boat.  You can see them watching in the background!

Well, the pot is boiling and it is time to put it in the pot.  It was hard not to feel bad about what we were doing but no turning back now.

Linsey prayed for forgiveness for taking the life of this lobster.

After about 10 minutes, it was all over and the color looks right!

Now comes the question of how to we go about cutting this thing open.  I am sure people who do this regularly or in restaurants, have the right utensils plus the knowledge, but it is a first for both of us.

Yech!  Icky stuff comes out.  Let’s get rid of that!

We got the front separated from the tail and it makes a pretty good lobster puppet!

The lobsters are very spiky and hard to handle while cutting.  Both of us worked at it and got our fingers punctured in lots of places.

Finally we got the reward of a good sized meaty tail.

Now to see if it was worth the effort.  Linsey and I both love to put out ideas for recipes and she is very creative.  She is like me and likes to come up with thing without recipes, just using what is at hand.

Linsey made a wonderful lobster dish by adding tomatoes, onion, garlic, some bell peppers, cappers and a butter wine sauce with basil.  The two of us had rich portions of the lobster with the pasta and it was topped with Parmesan cheese.  MMMMMMM.

We actually made the same thing for Rob, but instead of the lobster, we used some salami we had left from a lunch.  We were all very happy.

So, life is an adventure, even in making dinner.  We wouldn’t have it any other way.  Note to guests, if you want to have lobster while visiting on our boat, learn how to prepare it before you come!!!!

Fair Winds,

Sue, Rob and Linsey

Aboard Catalyst

San Blas Islands, Panama

12/12/12

Blog Master Note: Apologies for the delay in sending this.   As you can see, this blog is very date-specific, but I have not been able to get this out due to work and family obligations.  Again, my apologies.

Follow Catalyst’s voyage at:

http://www.winlink.org/dotnet/maps/PositionReportsDetail.aspx?callsign=KG4QFO

12/12/12

Catalyst Log

Dear Friends and Family,

Today (Wednesday) is a special number day.  A boater called out over the radio that it would soon be 12:12 p.m. on 12/12/12 and so we had about 3 minutes to come up with a way to celebrate the moment.  We chose to blow our conch horn on the moment in time to commemorate this unusual number arrangement.  We awoke to realize that today is also the 1 year anniversary of when my brother died in a fall.  When we blew the horn, it was in his memory.  It made the moment all the more meaningful.

Though I am confident, he is OK and in a place full of joy and peace, it is still hard for us who miss his presence in the body.  Having someone as outstanding as he was, absent from our lives, is still difficult.  But today, we sang out with our horn and celebrated the time we did have together.

It was another interesting day.  I had a remarkable massage this morning and then made yogurt and bread.  We had the bread warm from the oven for our lunch.  We were joined by Vincenso and his assistant.  Vincenso is one of the two most famous mola makers in the San Blas Islands.  I have a picture with him from when we were here in 2005.  His molas now have his signature stitched on each one.  His quality is very high but his prices reflect that.

I am sending some pictures out to you so you know what molas are and to give you an idea if any of you would like me to buy any for you and bring them back.  Mola’s are fabric art made to wear in a blouse that is the traditional dress for the women here.

Now they are sold without the blouse and people usually frame them or make pillows out of them.  The ones I have pictures of are more traditional.  They are geometric or depict animals and plants in nature and more recently are some that depict people and ceremonies in the local tradition.  The newer kind are less traditional and are more of a applique style.  They can be very beautiful as well.  They can be very colorful or more monochromatic.  If you have a style or color scheme or subject matter in mind, I would be happy to look for you.  I have so many at home, I am trying not to go crazy with more but I would love an excuse to buy!!!

This one is an example of the few $20 molas.  All of these pictures are of Vinchenso’s work.

This selection has molas from $40 to $100.  Price is dependent on the work it takes.

This one is $40 for one of them.

I don’t know any prices on these two examples.  Linsey broke down and bought her one purchase to take back with her.  I really like it because it reminds me of the Mayan Calendar and she has been traveling in the Mayan culture for some time now.  In the year when the calendar ends, it will be a nice remembrance.  This was $40.

We made it to the island near our boat to check on prices there.  We saw some quality things and some very simple things from $5 to $20 at the highest.  Here are some examples.

Some fall in to the $15 to $20 range like these.

These are for about $10.

This one about $15.  They also make applique on T-shirts

and on finished bags.

The applique style can be beautiful as well and these are about $15.

You can get smaller ones and they are usually the applique.

Anyway,  If you would like to make an order, let me know and I will look around for what you might like at the best price.  I am sure that over the time we are here, we will see Vinchenso again.  I would like our guests to at least see his work, even if they don’t buy.

We are located between two islands with a third tiny one forming at the entrance to the anchorage.  One of the islands has a very primitive camp site and though we have not done it, I guess you can go ashore and get chicken and rice dinner and buy beers for $1.50.

Linsey swam ashore and managed to get a massage client and will stay to visit with people in her age group.  She will swim home for dinner.   The anchorage has many boats but the locals who live on the islands, just sail right through them.

I have much more to write about so if we keep getting connections by phone, you should get a couple more logs soon!

Fair Winds,

Sue, Rob and Linsey

Aboard Catalyst

Kuna Yalla, Panama

A Lot of Updating To Do!

Follow Catalyst’s voyage at:

http://www.winlink.org/dotnet/maps/PositionReportsDetail.aspx?callsign=KG4QFO

–

Catalyst Log

December 8, 2012

Dear Friends and Family,

It has been awhile since I wrote and so this is likely to be a long message.  Many interesting things have happened since we pulled away from the dock at Red Frog.

We anchored near Bocas town and got in early enough to catch the truck coming in from David with our replacement microwave.  We were a bit worried because we were told it was different than the one we had before but fit our measurement requirements.  We met the truck and waited with the other eager boaters and locals who were anticipating their shipments as well.  You can see poinsettias that were ordered as well as new anchor chain, spare tires, food, etc.

We got the microwave back and as we suspected, it was too large for the space.  Now what?  Well, we found a spot near our navigation station next to the door of the refrigerator.  It was about the only other place it would fit.  We had to relocate the computer’s printer and we put it in the spot where the microwave fit, so that will work.  At least the micro wave works now.

We enjoyed our anchorage at first but should have probably chosen the one on the other side of town.  This one was away from the ferries and had better holding but it also was in the middle of the late night very LOUD music which went on until about 3 a.m.  It also had some strange current situations which meant that boats were going every which way and there was some concern about proximity.  We were there only two nights though.  We anchored there to be closer to our friends in their marina.  We met John and Sharon in Panama City and I mentioned them in another log.  We went out to dinner with them one night and I ordered Lion Fish fillets.

Very firm meat and very nice.  I took a picture of the plate because the rice was presented as a star fish.  There was also a very unusual flower on the table.  It was waxy feeling and I don’t know what it was.

You can see us at sunset with Bocas town in the background and Catalyst is the boat closest to Rob in the background. 

We hosted Sharon and John at our boat the next night.  Linsey used her days near town to do her last visiting with friends she has made.  She may be considering heading back there and has some job possibilities.

One of the things we did to get ready to leave was to get gasoline.  It is hard to get in the San Blas so we filled everything up we had.  To get gasoline though you had to go to this place where a woman siphoned gas, using her mouth to start the suction!  She filled large or small containers and then transferred them to your tanks.  What a process!

We have our way of doing things and we figure that it should always be that way but in so many parts of the world, things are very different.  Here, there are few regulations for safety at all.  You will see more examples of this as you read.

We took off on Monday morning for a half day sail to the island of Escudo de Veraguas.  It is populated by a small village of fishermen.  It is a beautiful island with unusual coast line.  We went snorkeling along the shore but not in coral so not much to see.  It was perfect water temperature though and I am looking forward to that.  Most of the snorkeling we do around the Caribbean seems to be colder water.  I think I am going to love it as I won’t have to get in to a wet suit to stay warm.  Now I just have to worry about sun burn!  You can check our position report at:

http://www.winlink.org/dotnet/maps/PositionReportsDetail.aspx?callsign=KG4QFO

to get a satellite view of this beautiful island and a picture of the anchorage where we are currently in Portobello.

We left the next day for Portobello on an overnight passage.  We told our daughter Lisa where we were and she asked if they had “good mushroom here?”  I am glad I raised a clever daughter!  Portobello is probably the last major village before the San Blas and consequently the last place to take on additional provisions.  Unfortunately, Bocas would have been a better option but we were able to get some general things here.

There is a fort system here that is quite extensive.  It is on both sides of the large harbor which right now is pretty full of boats, maybe about 30.  The area is open for anyone to walk around.  We have our own personal photographer on board so we both get to be in the pictures for now.  Here we are at one of the guard stations and also along the wall of cannons.  You can see the view of the harbor from the fort.

This town also has a large church which is famous for the Black Christ.  The statue of the Black Christ, is black because it is carved out of dark wood.  Many people come to this little town because of the miracles that have happened after prayer here.

Though this town seems pretty poor at the moment, most of the gold in South and Central America passed through here on the way back to Spain.  Sometimes it went to England with the very active and successful pirate, Henry Morgan.  Columbus was also was here in 1502.

We went to lunch at a famous place here.  It is called Captain Jack’s.  He has a very interesting background.  He worked his way up as a chemist until he was a vice president of a large chemical company.  He retired and sailed around the world looking for a place to settle and he picked Portobello.  Of course he is not really retired because he owns a restaurant and youth hostel where you can get laundry done.  He also runs a boat that takes back packers to see the San Blas and has a place in Colombia as well.  We had a nice lunch there.  What was most interesting though were the tables in the place.  They were made of one thick piece of wood.  The color was beautiful and the sides were the raw edges of the tree.  The benches were of the same wood.  Jack called it Roosevelt trees. Teddy Roosevelt was President when the Canal was finished.  When the lake that is in the middle of the canal was flooded, all the trees were covered with water.  That is almost 100 years ago.  They are just now harvesting these trees that have been under water for almost a century.  The wood is very hard and they are not rotted.  I would love to have furniture out of them as the grain is beautiful.  Jack could not remember the actual name of the tree.

While we were there, we met a group who were from a boat in the harbor.  The boat is called the Picton Castle.

It started in Europe and has crossed the Atlantic.  They made a stop in Grenada and then straight here.  They will be going through the canal soon and then on to Hawaii and the South Pacific.  There is regular crew but they also have people who pay to go as crew and they learn to do all sorts of things on this square rigger, including climbing to the top of the mast to release the sails.  People come and go along the way but they are almost full at the moment.  They each have a bunk but little privacy!  It was a mixed lot with age and gender and nationality, though they said everyone spoke English.  What an adventure!  Of course I prefer the comforts of Catalyst!

We went in to Colon, which is the town on the Atlantic side of the canal zone.  We had passed the entrance to the canal about dawn on our overnight passage from our island stop.  You could see the lights of the canal along with those of all the large ships anchored, waiting for their turn to transit.  The bus ride though was a little over an hour.  We took the normal bus, not a luxury one.  They are old school buses and who knows what condition they are in.  The brightly colored outside is not indication of anything nice on the inside!

The one we took to Colon had very loud brakes and the floor vibrated under us uncomfortably every time.  We got seats when we got on but the bus filled to standing in the isles.  We thought it got crowded until we got on the one coming back!

We stopped at only one market because we couldn’t do all the walking and carry our supplies.  I still couldn’t find some things I had hoped for.  They were doing a lot of stocking and it was very crowded.  We saw decorations up for Christmas and they were selling live trees.  Christmas music was playing as we explored the store.  It was the first large market Linsey had been to since she began her travels so it was a shock for her.  The markets locally in the small towns are more the size of a 7/11.

We left the market with 3 very full cooler bags, two back packs and one other bag.  Most of what we got was stuff in cans so it was heavy.  We walked about a block to the bus stop and waited about 10 minutes for our bus.  When we got on, there were no seats and we stood toward the front of the bus in the isle.  Of course we had all these bags as well so they took up room on the floor.  At the next stop, about 15 extra people got on our bus that I thought was already full.  I was just by the driver and Rob had left one of the freezer bags on the flood next to him.  A lady sitting in the front seat took my back pack and bag and held the bag and put the pack by her feet.  Later, one more person joined the two on the seat but they kept my bags for me.  Linsey found a seat as a third party and crammed her cooler bag and back pack in as well.  She, along with others along the isle who had three in a seat, only had support of one cheek and feet were in the isle which also held people standing!   Rob ended up way in the back in the isle with one freezer bag.  At one point, I counted 7 people just in the steps of the bus.  They traveled with the door open and at least 2 guys were hanging out half way.  I had only the front pole to hold on to and as we stopped and let people off and added more (mostly the later) I would find that there was not actually room for my feet.  I could put one foot down but maybe only the toes of the second.  The bumping and stopping meant that I had to hug my pole for balance.  The driver was sitting forward in his seat and I was leaning toward the back of his seat, often using that to balance myself.

This went on for over an hour.  Now you may think this was a bad experience but it is one of those that really make a trip more interesting.  Seeing everyone cooperate, holding bags for a stranger, making room in an already crowded seat, crawling through people to get off, not complaining when a bus made for about 40 has close to 75 on board and taking things as a matter of course.  People were even sleeping.  The cost is $1.40 for our part of the trip so it appeals to people on a limited income.  What I felt, was a sense of community and solidarity with these people and I didn’t feel left out of that because I am obviously not one of them.  Linsey said she felt the same thing.  It was ultimately very satisfying, though we are happy that it is not part of our day to day life.

We had thought to leave today but are choosing to stay to take advantage of internet one more day.  We will leave very early tomorrow for Porvenir, which will mark our entrance to the San Blas.  There is one problem that we are now trying to deal with.  We lost the use of our depth sounder before arriving here.  That is a little frustrating and Rob is working on some ways we may be able to resolve the problem, hopefully without having to take the boat out of the water.  In the mean time, Linsey is sitting on the back step with a hand held electronic sounder and Rob is on the bow with a lead weight at the end of a string so that we can at least know how deep our anchorage is so we know how much scope to let out.  Once in the San Blas, the charts will help and we can spot reefs.  Anchorages are generally deep and with help from other boaters, we hope to limp along but it is not ideal.

Speaking of Linsey, she is a big help.  Here is a shot of her working.

Woops!  I guess not that shot!  Here is another one of her in the galley and she is a good and creative cook though I am still doing most of the cooking by choice.

She is working on my arm each day and I have even gotten a shoulder massage.  She is helping me with exercises for specific pain and posture situations and when we can go ashore each day to a beach, we will start doing yoga.  I don’t know how long she will stay with us. I guess it will depend on what opportunities will come her way.  We have been enjoying her.  She is such a bubbly and personable woman, interesting and fun to be with along with the helpfulness.  By the way.  I must make a correction.  Rob misread her passport.  She was born in an English town that looks like Sweden so she was not born there but is British and Australian in her upbringing.  Also, some of you have written back, spelling her name with a ‘d’ it but it is spelled Linsey.

Sorry this is so long.  I will try not to let so many things accumulate in future but I also don’t have an idea about internet access.  If you write to us and we don’t answer quickly, that is why.  You can use the rs.linehan@embarqmail.com for now but if you have already corresponded to us via our winlink address, you can use that one for plain text.

We are being woken up each morning by the howler monkey’s which sound much like wild cats in the jungle but soon we will wake up to the knocking on the boat of the mola sellers.  No more late sleep ins!

Fair Winds,

Sue, Rob and Linsey

Aboard Catalyst

Free At Last!

Follow Catalyst’s voyage at:

http://www.winlink.org/dotnet/maps/PositionReportsDetail.aspx?callsign=KG4QFO

–

November 30, 2012

Free At Last!

Dear Friends and Family,

Well, we are almost free at last.  As I write this, it is the night before we are going to throw off the dock lines and leave Red Frog Marina.  It is bitter sweet as life here has been easy and comfortable at the dock and we have made some good friends.  We are leaving tomorrow morning to anchor near the town where we will be able to dinghy ashore.  We anticipate a good weather window on Monday so will leave about mid morning then for the 156 mile, 25 to 30 hour passage to our next stop in Portabelo.  It is a small very historic town with an old fort which is in good condition.  Most of the gold in South and Central America passed through this port.  We are stopping here to see it and do our last bit of main land provisioning before doing a 52 mile, “long day sail” which will land us in the San Blas.

We are eager to be in town tomorrow because a new microwave will be arriving.  We wondered if we would be able to get a replacement before we left here.  We hope this one works!

We have had a couple of days of little or no rain and so the final jobs on the boat have been done.  Rob still has things to do but it doesn’t have to be done right away.  Besides, we now have slave labor aboard!   Yes, we are taking on the massage therapist, who did my massage, as crew so that she can see the San Blas Islands.  For years I have been saying that my fondest wish is to have someone to massage me close by at all times.  It took me awhile to realize that the universe has given me this opportunity.  What her main goal will be is to help me with the rehab of my wrist that was broken last February.  It has never gotten full motion back and so that will be a daily work out.

Linsey was born in Sweden, but is British and moved to Australia as a teenager.  She took her 4 years of training there.  She has a degree in working with the relationship of the muscles and the skeleton and does rehab work as well as the massage.  Perfect for me.  She is 26 and has been back packing since the end of March, 2011 (18 months).  She has traveled in Europe, all but Venezuela, Argentina and Chile in South America and now Panama in Central America.  She picks up jobs here and there.  She helped sail a boat from Colombia to here which is how she ended up in the marina and we got to know her.  She is a pure delight, willing to try her hand to help out with anything.  She is also a wonderful and creative cook so we will have a lot of fun together!   After visiting while she did my first treatment yesterday, we realized that we were destined to spend this time together.  It may be hard to let her go!

We have been fortunate to be where we have had good internet access.  We will now be using a jack in the computer that connects us via cell to the internet.  We are not sure how that is going to work for us.  We are hoping to have good connections at least some of the time as there are more cell towers in the San Blas.  That is one of the big changes that we anticipate.  The natives all have cell phones now.  We always have our single side band as back up e-mail but we are hoping to be able to send pictures once in awhile as well, which we can’t do over the single side band.

We did get a lot done on the boat in the good weather but we also got a few days of exploring.  We were able to make it to the beach again and saw a red frog for the first time since last year.

The weather out to sea was pretty rough with the waves creating a bit of a surf.  There is a lot of surfing done here, though it is not like the big waves.  The surfing is not at this beach but there was a lot of boogie boarding going on.

We also ran in to Linsey at the beach chatting up the life guard.  What a rough life!

We were in town today to get our transit papers.  We need to check out of here and will need to check in and out of our next destination as well.  It’s like needing paperwork everytime you cross State borders.  While we were in town, we rented bikes and explored this town a little more.  We stopped by the airport to get some information and Rob took a picture of part of the Air Panama fleet.  Actually, when we came to the airport, there was a beautiful small jet there.  This shell of a plane was across the street.

We have enjoyed getting to know this area a little but we have left a lot unexplored.  It is a big ex-pat community and many people from Naples, Florida have built homes in this area.  I mention Naples because it is near us in Florida and is an upscale community.  I think we would have done more exploring had we not had so much rain but then we probably would have been on our way sooner.

One interesting (to some of you) thing we saw was a diesel powered outboard motor.  Most outboards are gasoline powered, not diesel.  It’s about 20-30 years old, and is the standard Yanmar 27 horsepower engine found on many sailboats.  (This part is from Rob.  I don’t find it interesting at all!)

We are glad to finally be on the hook again and will be ready to head out on the next part of the adventure!

Fair Winds,

Sue and Rob and Linsey

Aboard Catalyst

Bocas del Toro, Panama

RAIN, RAIN, GO AWAY! COME AGAIN ANOTHER DAY!

Follow Catalyst’s voyage at:

http://www.winlink.org/dotnet/maps/PositionReportsDetail.aspx?callsign=KG4QFO

–

Catalyst Log  11/25/12

RAIN, RAIN, GO AWAY!  COME AGAIN ANOTHER DAY!

Dear Family and Friends,

I guess the only real news from here is that we have not seen the sun in over a week.  It has been off and on rain the entire week.  There are short patches of no rain or just light drizzle but still heavy clouds.  While it has been worse, we are told, we also hear that this is more wet than normal.  We get from 2 to 4 inches every day!

We have been pretty lucky to transport during the dry parts most of the time so our trips in to town have been tolerable.  We went in to town on Tuesday to pick up our shipment from our shopping trip to David.  It took awhile to track down the truck in town but luckily, some friends saw it and pointed us in the right direction.  We got all the food but the microwave and herb pot with soil didn’t get on the truck.  Our friends picked up what we had shopped for on their behalf and the rest we loaded in to a ferry boat to take us back to our boat.

Included in the shipment were the two turkey’s we picked up for the Thanksgiving here at the Marina.  Luckily, I didn’t have to refrigerate them.  Another boater took that over along with the roasting.

We got it all unloaded on the dock. I have a pretty good eye, because the freezer space was filled, but everything fit inside.

I even managed to find places for most of the other non perishable things in various places on the boat.  I plan to buy more before leaving for the San Blas but so far, I think we are doing pretty well.  I almost hate to eat anything but I guess we have to eat now too!

Because we went in to town to get our shipment and wanted to get it back to the freezer right away, I didn’t buy produce.  It is usually not on the shelves until around noon because it comes in on the same ferry as our truck did.  I took a ferry by myself on Wednesday.  It is the only weekday that there is no free ferry from here.  I bought produce.  Got good stuff but couldn’t believe how depleted everything was less than 24 hours later!  My two cooler bags were very heavy and I was really glad that the ferry company would store them for me until I was ready to go.  I could have just gone home but they advertised a spa day at a local restaurant.  Yes, the spa people set up right in the restaurant.  It is called the Wine Bar and is quite small and intimate with over stuffed chairs and couches.  One side room was set up for facials.  A chair massage and pedicures were being done in the main room.  I got a pedicure, a 20 minute piece of heaven on the chair massage and then about a 30 minute facial.  Pure pleasure and all total $35 before tip.  Would do it again in a heart beat!  The people who do the work have a regular spa and there is more privacy as well as more services but the prices are higher to reflect that.

I got to and from town in the boat in the dry, though there was a down pour while I was getting my treatments!

Thursday was a dreary day but some dry time.  Because a lot of the guys wanted to watch football on one of the boats that has a satellite dish, our dinner was not scheduled to begin until about 5 with appetizers.  We got ourselves all prettied up.  I gave Rob a hair cut on the dock and then went to do laundry.  I availed myself of the marinas wonderful shower facility and gave myself a hair color treatment there.

While the clothes were in the dryer, we used that time to skype our family and wish them a wonderful Thanksgiving day.  We are so grateful to be able to get a good connection most of the time!  I am not sure how it will work later on in our journey.

The ball game went late so people came after 5 but we didn’t actually eat until closer to 6:30 or 7.  One of the turkey’s was roasted in a free standing roaster and after adjusting the level of the rack in one of the boat ovens, the second turkey also got done.  We had sweet potatoes, dressing, coleslaw, mashed potatoes and gravy, canned cranberries and a home made relish made with apples, craisins, pineapple and orange.  There was Panamanian bread and someone brought a cold rice with pineapple and whipped cream.  We even had the green bean casserole with the fried onions on top and also corn.  We had a couple of dips with vegetables and chips before the meal and I made some brownies with pie cherries cooked in to them and someone else made a cheese cake.  Pies were not at this party but no one complained.

Some of the boaters put things together and carved the turkey.  When we called for dinner, we didn’t have to call twice!  The woman at the front of this picture is from Venezuela.

She is married to a Canadian and she had never celebrated an American style Thanksgiving.  Another back packer who I got my massage from a few weeks ago, was also experiencing her first American Thanksgiving feast.

A picture shows a couple of full plates.  Debbie was one of the organizers of this event.  She and her husband will be going through the canal to sail to the South Pacific some time this year.

We served the food inside the boaters lounge area on that large table and then we ate at tables outside in the courtyard.  It was dark by then but we had a light in the area.  The night watchman brought some family members who played music on guitars for us and about 8:30, the rain came back and the party was over.  It was certainly traditional food and good company and I didn’t do much of the work!!!

Friday, we went back in to town to pick up our microwave and potting things that missed the truck on Tuesday.  I was very happy to have it to use to heat up the left overs that were easier to heat that way.  We got it installed and started using it.  I used it about 3 minutes just fine but after the first minute of using it on the second plate, it malfunctioned!!!!!  Rob did say that normally, if an electrical appliance is not going to work because of a defect, it happens right away.  Now what?  We have an e-mail message out to Toby to see what the store might do.  It has a warranty and there are two places listed in David so we are hoping that maybe something can be done before we take off.  It may be quite a delay though so we have to determine what we will do.  So far we have not heard back from her but it is a holiday weekend.  It is the 4^th national holiday of this month.  Already on Friday, the drummers were coming back in to town.  Unfortunately, the weather is not very supportive to outside revelry.  This is their independence day from both Spain and Colombia.  Yesterday, we saw a lot of boats full of locals coming to our beach here.  They were sure making lots of noise as they left the dock at the end of the day so they must have had a good time, even with the chilly over cast weather.

We certainly are happy to be on the dock.  Even though we are on the boat most of the time, we know it is easy enough to walk around and see people.  Rob got the main sail installed yesterday but has to put in the battens and the reefing lines yet.  We have not started on the jib sail.  Rob wants to figure out how to make the new jack lines for that.  Right now he is working on the wiring of the instruments to get them to do what he wants.  I took him up the mast to install the wind instruments.  They didn’t work as they should have last year but seem to be doing well after the repairs that were done at home this summer.  Each day, it is getting harder and harder to leave the dock!  This place may have the grip on us that the Rio did last year.  We will try to avoid the broken arm this time though!

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday weekend.  Now we start thinking about Christmas.  Rob put up a set of colored LED solar lights across the back of the boat so we are getting ready!!!!!

Fair winds and blue skies (Please!!!!!)

Sue and Rob

Aboard Catalyst

Red Frog Marina, Panama

FOOD GLORIOUS FOOD!

Follow Catalyst’s voyage at:

http://www.winlink.org/dotnet/maps/PositionReportsDetail.aspx?callsign=KG4QFO

–

November 19, 2011

FOOD GLORIOUS FOOD!

Dear Friends and Family,

Another rainy day in Panama.  They are the most common days but sunny ones are much appreciated.  We have enjoyed some time in better weather having fun rather than working on the boat so that too has kept us from getting things accomplished.  Little by little, things are coming off the list but it is slow.

I do want to thank those of you who have sent money in to the school in Guatemala.  That is not closed as an option for giving and I am sure that if you were planning to donate, there is still plenty of time to make that happen.  Rob and I are going to be sending some money and if it is easier for you to send us a check, (to our daughter) then we can include the amount of your donation with our check.  I don’t want to push anyone to donate but I do want to make it easier if you are interested.  Let us know if this is something that works better for you.

We did go in to town on Friday for awhile.  There was a local celebration.  There are 5 holidays this month around here.  This one was local but there are 4 national holidays celebrated this month.  What is common is to have the local school bands perform in the world’s slowest parade.  The bands consist of drums and hand held xylophones plus the girls with batons or just marching.  Now I say marching but it takes about 20 to 30 minutes for one band to pass by you.  It is not because they are so large, they just move at a snails pace.  Consequently, this goes on all day long!  They stop and perform in front of the band stand.  You can imagine how boring it is to be doing this as a slow pace for hours just to get down about 5 blocks of street!  Some of the girls are even looking at their cell phones.  The drums are very loud and playing constantly.  Many larger ones are clear.

 

Each group has their own colors and some are very tropical.  The girls have fancy outfits with matching hats and amazing shoes.  Most of the drummers are guys.  We didn’t see much in cross gender with the drummers and the marchers.

One group had their dancers in hoop skits and masks and they really moved the outfit around.  It was a little spooky and I don’t know if it had any significance or not.  It was more exciting as it showed more movement than just the slow forward pace.

People lined the street and children were dressed in traditional costumes.  They were very cute.  We had seen costumes like this on the adults when we lived here in the 70’s.  They didn’t wear them on the streets but for performing on stage with traditional dance.  They were more elaborate, especially in the head dress and in gold and pearl pins that were attached to the pom poms on front and back of the costume.

There were venders on the street and in booths set up in the park, which was along the parade route.

The celebration brought a lot of the kids in to town and we spotted a large ferry just filled with people packed on.  This was a big car ferry, not the small ones we take back and forth.

We also spent some of that time at a different marina we had not previously visited.  We were visiting a couple that we met at the hostel in Panama.  Sharon and John have a Voyage 43 catamaran.  They won’t be in the San Blas until after the boat is hauled and bottom painted some time in January but we hope to catch up with them later in the season.  They sailed over from San Diego so most of their experience is Pacific side.

On Saturday, Rob and I got up early to take the boat in from here to pick up one of the workers.  They dropped us off in town and were waiting to take a ferry to the mainland.  What would normally be right away, was a wait as there were a lot of the party goers from the night before, heading back to the mainland.  We were on our way to David to do our big provisioning.

I had decided that I would not get concerned about anything that happened on this trip and would leave it to the universe to determine what would serve us best.  Well, the universe kicked in big time to give us a perfect day.  The delay of the ferry got us on a full size comfortable bus for the 4 hour drive over the mountains.  We had taken a large suitcase, in which we put our smaller bag, so that we had room to take some things back with us.  The day was sunny all the way and we enjoyed beautiful views over the mountains.  The landscape changed with the elevation and we saw small outposts along the way.  People waited by the road and got on and off as we progressed.  Because it was a large bus, it was never completely full.  You can see a picture of our bus at the rest stop  where you could get some food or use the bathroom.

This is the same route we took coming from Panama but it was night time then so this was the first opportunity to really enjoy the view.

I did have to close my eyes a little as I was getting a bit car sick with the winding roads and quickly passing scenes with the vegetation close to the bus in many areas.

We were picked up by Tobey when we arrived in David at the bus station.  She and her sister run a business of helping boaters provision.  She will take you shopping or do the shopping as per your order.  Perishables are frozen at her place.  I was able to repackage my meats in smaller quantities at their place and then freeze it.  It is great for me as then when it goes in our freezer, it won’t take our system to freeze everything.  Everything is iced down in coolers and non cold things packed in boxes and shipped over when there is a full large panel truck.  It drives through the night and comes to Bocas del Toro on the car ferry by about 10 a.m.  Our things will arrive on Tuesday (tomorrow).  We will need to hire a boat to off load our things and take us back to our boat at the Marina.  We are praying for no rain tomorrow while we do this but one way or another, we will get things home.  We made the trip there as there are lots of things you can’t buy elsewhere and generally better prices.  Still we had the expense of the bus rides, water taxis, hotel, a couple meals out and the cost of the boat to get things back tomorrow.  We don’t know for sure what the cost of the shopping time and the truck shipment will be.  It is likely the most expensive provisioning we will do but we enjoyed the trip and the chance to pick things out ourselves.  We will relish every morsel!

I have a picture of what we bought, just at PriceSmart.  It filled the back of her truck and half of the back seat.   We had already purchased a microwave and pot and soil for herbs.  I will buy the rooted herbs here in Bocas.  We also made a stop at two grocery stores and had about 4 bags of things from that.  Yes, we may have gone over board but it is typical for what I usually do in advance of a 6 month cruise.  We will be where we cannot easily get supplies of this kind once we are in the San Blas.  We will have lots of treats on board for us and our guests.  Where it is all going once we get it on our boat is anyone’s guess but somehow we manage.  We still have some things that need to be moved outside the boat but we do need to keep the guest room unfilled as it will be used.

I mentioned that we bought a microwave.  A few years back, I suggested that we might want to get a newer one as getting something the right size is difficult in most of the places we find ourselves.  At the time, it looked impossible to get the old one out so we left things alone.  Last week, I mentioned that it was good that we didn’t get a new microwave as this one has lasted for us.  Shortly after that, Rob suggested I cook our rice in the microwave rather than use propane which will be harder to replace in the San Blas.  We are on shore power so that was not an issue.  About 5 minutes in to the cooking, the microwave gave up the ghost and we could not make it work.  I should have kept my mouth shut.  At least this happened when we could find a place to get a new one.  Because the air conditioner was on, Rob thinks the wood was not swollen like it might be in high humidity and we were able to just get the unit out.  What we found was slightly narrower so we are confident that it will fit in the same place.  The Universe takes away, but in this case, the timing and opportunity to replace it was great!

I also was able to get two Turkey’s for our Thanksgiving at the marina with the other boaters.  Turkeys here were about $2.40 a pound and if you wanted them cooked, they were $3.20 a pound.  I was able to get two 20 pounders for about $1.70 per pound which I think is still high but a savings.  What we couldn’t get was fresh or canned cranberries or the fried onion rings for the top of a green bean casserole.  Still, people will bring their favorite meals to share and the marina is buying the turkeys.  There are three of us who are putting this together.  One boater has a free standing roaster than can do the two turkeys and another boater will roast them and make the stuffing and the gravy.

Our biggest issue is where to put the 30 + people who are planning to come.  If it is not raining, no problem but finding an indoor spot that will seat that many is a challenge.  We will hope for good weather!  Either way, we will be thankful for a shared meal with new friends.

As we were returning from our trip to David the next day, I kept flashing back to other trips we have taken over these last years in the Caribbean.  Some of the plants in the higher elevations reminded me of the island of Dominica.  The smaller, more crowded bus we took home was like so many of the local buses we took on other islands or along the mainlands of Central America.

This is likely to be our last year on our boat in the Caribbean and rather than looking ahead to being back as I had feared, I find that this year may end up the most meaningful, knowing it is not likely to be repeated.  I felt very thankful for those feelings and the fact that we have been so blessed to live this dream.  I am excited about the months to come and eager to live out those experiences.

We came home in the roughest conditions between the mainland and Bocas we had experienced.  Even Rob was a bit nervous.  We took the rest of the ride home in the rain, getting wet before returning to the boat.  How thankful we were that it was our return trip to the boat instead of getting wet before a 5 hour bus ride and 4 or 5 hours of shopping.  We had every reason to be thankful.

This is the first Thanksgiving we have been cruising and away from home.  We will be thinking of all of you with your friends and family, perhaps sharing it with new people for the first time.  We hope the memories of specials times shared through the years will make this a special time as well.  We look forward to Thanksgiving at Pelican Bay, in our home waters some time in the future.  But now, it is time to live in the today and we are thankful for your love and friendship.

Happy Thanksgiving,

Rob and Sue

Aboard Catalyst

Red Frog Marina, Panama

A CHANCE TO BE PART OF SOMEONE’S FUTURE

Follow Catalyst’s voyage at:

http://www.winlink.org/dotnet/maps/PositionReportsDetail.aspx?callsign=KG4QFO

—

November 13, 2012

A CHANCE TO BE PART OF SOMEONE’S FUTURE

Dear Family and Friends,

I just got back from a wonderful day in town.  You may ask what is different on this day?  Well, it is Tuesday and that is when the fresh produce comes to town.  Some comes again on Friday but Tuesday is the best!  I dragged home lots of fresh produce and bought meat today as well.  This means spending the afternoon processing that to freeze in small serving sizes.  The chicken breasts here are huge and come with the back bone still in.  Since I use the meat differently than making fried, or baked chicken on the bone, I have taken most of the breast meat off and will freeze it in portions.  That leaves a lot of the meat on the bones so, I am making chicken soup.  I have just added the vegetables and it smells amazing in here.  I added onions, carrots, celery and lots of celery leaves, garlic, chayote squash, cabbage and caraway seed.  It will be yummy!

I am especially pleased to be back in the land of the big fat carrots that are so sweet and tender and also where I can buy the chayote squash at a reasonable price!  I love fresh fruits and vegetables and these are pretty fresh from the garden.

I guess you see that it doesn’t take much to make me happy!  I got a massage here yesterday from a young Australian girls who is working her way around the world.  It was wonderful.  There is also a chiropractor on a near by boat and I may avail myself of her care soon.

We are not getting as much accomplished as hoped.  Rob has not made progress with the trampolines since the picture in the last log, though he has gotten lots of other things done.  The excuse is that we went in to town until past 1 p.m. the last couple of days, and then it rains, or it is hot, or he is tired, so things are a little slow.  He’s also had stomach problems as well as an allergic reaction from the Sun, so hasn’t felt like working outside.  One can see why people may take years to get underway.  I think the tropical lethargy has really gotten to Rob more than I have seen before but, it will be done someday and there is no real rush.

We have made plans on Saturday to drive to the larger city of David which is on the Pacific side.  It will be a 5 hour trip on a 20 passenger bus/van which is likely to be over crowded.  It only costs 1 dollar for the trip!  Of course we have to take two ferries from here to get in to town and then back again on Sunday but not too expensive.  We are going to work with a woman in David who helps boaters get things at PriceSmart and then delivers things to Bocas del Toro.  I spoke with her on the phone and it will be perfect as she will pick us up at the bus station, take us shopping and then we can go to her home and process and freeze the items there and they will be delivered by truck in coolers on Tuesday.  This way, we can use their freezer to cool things down instead of trying to do it all on the boat and over tax our freezer.  Sending the things frozen is also good as they will stay that way when all items are packed frozen.

At home, I would go to the market and get everything I want and then be home in an hour.  Life here is different and while I appreciate my ease at home, shopping here is all part of the experience, just like riding on the buses is!  Of course we could survive just on the local economy but this will allow more of what we like and some special items that our company and guests aboard will enjoy.

Before this gets too long, I want to encourage you to read the following e-mail, sent to me today by our friends, Kelli and Chris, from their boat in the Rio Dulce of Guatemala.  If you read about our stay there in last year’s logs and our contributions to the local school, you will know what we are talking about.  The people there work so hard and have so little.  They do the best they can under difficult circumstances.  There is so much need that one could help in many ways but the future of the children seems to be a good way to make possible a more prosperous community.  You cannot believe what they do with so little and yet they have more than some other villages around their country.  A good wage for an uneducated worker can be about $10 per day and he may not get work every day.  Imagine clothing, feeding, housing and educating a family on that income.  Then throw in health issues or disabilities and hard choices have to be made about paying for food or paying for school.  School after the 6^th grade has to be funded by the village and families.  Most of the time, there is little or no money from the centralized government after the 6^th grade.  Some children drop out even before that to help do what little work they can to help out the family.

Some of these children are such bright lights and it breaks my heart not to see them get a chance in life.  We have met some of the kids who need our help so it is very personal to us.  Rob and I are going to make another donation this year to the scholarship fund.  I am not asking you to make a contribution unless it is something you can see clear to do and feel good about it.  I know you are all generous and have places where you see fit to contribute, but if this moves you, we would love to have you participate.  For the cost of a nice dinner out, you can educate a child for a year.

I want to assure you that the entire amount of the contribution will go to make this happen.  It is for real and nothing is taken off for administrative costs.   Every penny goes to help the kids.

If you read on, you will see that Kelli wanted the contributions by December 15 which would give a month to take care of this.  I am sure that at any time and for any amount, the school would be happy to hear from you and accept any contribution.

Sorry, if I overstepped on putting this information out but it is something we thought you may like to know about.  We hold no expectations.

All for now in wet Panama,
Sue and Rob

Aboard Catalyst at Red Frog Marina

Panama

Please read on to the message from Kelli!

Dear Friends and Family,

As many of you know, I’m a volunteer English teacher for Básico (equivalent to the 7^th, 8^th & 9^th grades) and also teach an adult class in the evenings in Cayo Quemado, Guatemala. It has been a rewarding experience. In the time Chris and I have been living in this neighborhood comprised of eighty families, friends and family have donated computers, school tuitions, supplies, translation dictionaries, and money for school uniforms – all benefiting this disadvantaged community to great effect.

Básico is the highest education available in this community and is funded with virtually no Government support. The parents of Básico students, in addition to paying for tuition, books, supplies and uniforms, must contribute money for salaries for some of the teachers through monthly payments for each student attending. Unfortunately, not every household can do so as many families have more than one child spread across these grade levels. This often results in the family choosing which among their children will continue to the next grade, if any at all. Recognizing a necessity, last year I started a program of providing Tuition Grants for Básico kids that would otherwise not have been able to continue. Through donations, eight students received Grants for the 2012 school year.

Awarding of the 2012 Grants…

The Básico Committee and parents held a meeting to establish guidelines for eligibility. The conditions were: 1) a family with limited resources, 2) a commitment from the parents not to pull the student out of school to work, 3) the student had to maintain a 75% grade point average or higher, 4) the student could not miss any exams, and 5) the student had demonstrated respectful behavior with teachers and peers in the past. I was very pleased with their selections and also that the Grants were equally divided between boys and girls.

Seven of the Grant recipients excelled throughout the year and complied with all conditions. The eighth student lost his opportunity of a paid tuition because he got into trouble and the family had to pay back the money awarded. The Grant was not “lost”… it was given to another deserving student.

The 2012 school year ends with Graduation on November 30^th and teachers, the Village Council, and Básico Committee members, are already diligently working to overcome the challenges forecast for 2013. There will be approximately 70 students in Básico in 2013, an 8% increase from 2012. As in previous years, they have solicited the Municipality and the Secretary of Education for teacher-salary funding but once again the prospect looks dismal.

Therefore, as I’m proud to say the 2012 program was a SUCCESS I’ve decided to do it again! I would like to extend the opportunity for you to join us this year in sponsoring tuition for a student. 100% of your donation will be in the form of Tuition Grants. Two students in the 2012 program are graduating. After discussion with the other teachers and the Village Council President, it has been agreed to give the first Grants received to the remaining students of the 2012 program enabling them to continue on to the next grade. A one-year tuition for the 2013 eleven-month school year costs Q550 or $71.50 each.

Payments for one or more Grants may be made by cash, direct deposit, or through our website by credit card via Pay Pal @ http://www.seakistservices.com/pay-your-bill-herecontact-us.html. If making a contribution via Pay Pal, please notify me by e-mail at seas2see@yahoo.com with “Tuition Grant” in the subject line once you have donated. If living in Guatemala and prefer direct deposit, please contact me for the appropriate village-owned bank account number.

Like last year, I will send an “update” letter to all supporters after school starts again in mid January. Please understand your donation is not tax deductible – Chris and I are not a non-profit entity – this is about neighbors helping neighbors. I’m requesting that all donations be made by the 15^th of December so as to give ample time for teachers and the Básico Committee to make their selections for 2013.

Thank you very much for your time and consideration of this school tuition project.

Kelli

In Guatemala: +(502) 5057-2093

seas2see@yahoo.com

PANAMA HERE WE ARE!

Follow Catalyst’s voyage at:

http://www.winlink.org/dotnet/maps/PositionReportsDetail.aspx?callsign=KG4QFO

PANAMA HERE WE ARE!

Catalyst log, November 10, 2011

Dear Friends and Family,

We made it to the boat yesterday morning after a long travel to get here.  As I had said ahead of time, we flew to Panama City on the 7^th.  From there, we were met by our driver Roger who works with Deb.  Deb owns the bed and breakfast where we were stay for the night.  We could have actually continued on that night but wanted to check out Deb’s place for future guests and it was a little less stressful to do it that way.

Deb is a former single-hander sailor who has sold her boat and is now trying to make a go of it with a cruiser oriented B&B.  She and Roger (partners in business but not otherwise connected) work together to get things taken care of.  Roger is Panamanian and since Deb doesn’t speak Spanish, he is her advisor and help.  He mostly does taxi service and together they are working on making deliveries to the San Blas for provisions for those who are staying there.  He also has independent work, mostly driving.  He is a very nice guy with a wife and kids and has worked with cruisers for a long time.

The down side of staying there was that she had to relocate as she is renting the house and the owner is coming to take it over.  She had anticipated moving in to the new location by now but as is common here, things were delayed.  Consequently, the house was full of packed things waiting to be moved and since her new location has 4 bedrooms and this one only three, she had booked people accordingly which put her and her adult son (who may stay on and help) sleeping on the main floor in the open space.

It may not seem like a very good situation and it was certainly not luxury but it was OK and us boaters are used to about anything.  What was wonderful was meeting Deb and Roger and especially the other boating couples that we met there.  Some we will likely spend some time cruising with as the season progresses so it is good to already have friends to look for.

Her new location is actually down town instead of in the former Canal Zone.  It is a 20 floor pent house apartment with amazing views of the down town and the bay.  There will be 3 bedrooms with their own private full bathroom.  One of the rooms will have a queen bed and the other two will be more dormitory style with 3 single beds in each room.  There is a master suite on a lower floor but connected by stairs.  There is a kitchen, dining area and living room and a maids quarters with a bathroom as well.  She is not sure what that will be used for.  The building has a pool, hot tub and exercise room on a lower floor that can be used by the guests.  It is near many restaurants and she said it is OK to be out walking in the area at night.  I wish we had gotten to stay there.  We saw pictures and it looks great.  Boaters are allowed to do their own cooking there and there will also be laundry and food storage in refrigerator and freezer if they are provisioning from there.  So far, she has not advertised and has only used word of mouth.  Some of our guests may wish to spend a night or two there.

The next day we went to the mall here that was built in the Air Force airplane hangers that were here when it was the Canal Zone and the Americans had it.  It has been updated and is very nice looking.  It is the biggest mall we have seen outside of the Mall of the Americas in Minneapolis.  We were told that it was the largest mall in Central and South America and I can believe it.  There are many American stores here as well as others that we are not familiar with.  There is one place that is called “The American look” and it has teen/young adult clothes that they think look American.  Things are written on them in English.

We mostly went there to see what was available, to get a card for the cell phone and to buy bus tickets for our transport that night.  The main bus station is there and also the airport that does the small flights around the country is in that area.  We were really tired of walking by the time Deb picked us up.  She took us to a regular grocery store where I stocked up on some non perishable items that are hard to get in Bocas where we are, or PriceSmart as well.  Then after all the people at the house ordered out for pizza, and we enjoyed dinner together, we were taken by Roger to the bus depot.  It is not far away.  By this time, we had 7 pieces of luggage.  Others helped load the car and Rob had not been able to count the bags as he usually does.  Just as we got close to the bus depot, Rob realized that he forgot our computers at the house.  We called Deb and she, and one of the other cruisers, brought it to us.  Luckily, it didn’t delay us getting on the bus.

Traveling with so much, we were worried about customs, weight, etc.  Even though they searched our luggage with TSA (we found their note in one bag) and they searched our 4 large bags in Panama, even after they went through x-ray, nothing was a problem and all made it through without damage or extra cost.

We got on the night bus and were prepared for the coldness of the air conditioning.  Now this is not just chilly, it is like riding in a meat locker for 10 hours.  I had come prepared by wearing jeans, tennis shoes and socks and packed a denim shirt to wear over my T-shirt and I also added a heavy sweater.  Because our luggage was so full, I wrapped the shirt and sweater around my waist from Florida on.  It was an inconvenience but so needed.  I actually spread the sweater out and used it as a blanket.  Rob likes the cold better so did well.  Now the trouble is that when you finally get out of the bus, it is hot so you suffer with the jeans until you get to the boat.

It is common to stop once for food and potty and you also stop at a check point where an official comes on board to look at your passports.  That is all they did when we took the night bus last year but this time, after looking at the passports, they got everyone off with their carry on luggage, put it in a line with us standing behind it and opened the luggage area and had a cocker spaniel sniff everything.  No problem so we all got back on the bus and on we went.  Because of a traffic slow down leaving Panama City and this extra time, we were running about 2 hours late getting to our final bus destination, Almirante.  We left Panama City at 8:30 p.m. and arrived in Almirante about 8:00 a.m. the next morning.  From there, we took a short land taxi ride to a ferry and had only about a 15 minute wait to board and get going to Bocas del Toro, which is an island.  Sitting next to Rob was a local who had a small boat and he wanted to know if we needed a ride to our marina which is on another island.  We agreed and he helped us get the luggage to the place where his boat was.  I left Rob and went to get some provisions in town, like fresh fruits and vegetables and some things we could eat on the boat until we had time to do a better shopping.  The boat was full with the two of us, our stuff and the driver.  We got sprayed on during both boat rides, so we were warm and salt covered when we arrived.

All in all, it was not a big problem, nothing really unexpected and everything made it safely.  Rob had packed a lot of boat parts, some delicate, and so it was a constant concern to him.  Luckily, our attention to everything worked and those things beyond our control didn’t happen!

Of course, I almost blew it when I stayed up later than Rob last night and forgot to close an overhead hatch.  It rained last night and got a canvas carry bag with some of the electrical parts wet.  Luckily the boxes that things were in it and the canvas of the bag protected things well enough but you can bet I will be more careful about being sure I close things up before coming to bed!!!!

It is rainy season here and as we are eating a late lunch, we have the air conditioner turned on and it has been raining.  It is actually quite cool in the breeze but being at the dock, and hatches closed for rain, we don’t get much air flow.  Since we have shore power, we might as well enjoy it!

Rob has a lot of work to do to get the boat back in order.  He is wearing his working clothes.  After last years log on his work shorts, I thought I would show you his shorts and shirt at the beginning of the season and we will see how it goes.

It took until late this morning to get the dinghy engine and hooka rig out of the main cabin.  It makes life so much more livable inside but now the cockpit is hard to get around.

Rob started working on replacing the trampolines on the front of the boat.  Once they are on, it will be easier to move around that area and not worry about falling in the water.  We can put up sails, put the engine on the dinghy and start stowing things away.

Today, the diver with the marina took off the plastic bags that were covering the propellers.  This is done to keep sea growth from growing on them.  If you don’t know, salt water is very nutrient rich and barnacles and other sea life grows on the bottom of the boat and the propellers.  This has to be cleaned off periodically.  The diver said that the boat bottom is pretty clean except for slime, which is likely to come off under way or can be wiped off without too much trouble.  Cleaning the boat bottom is a constant job for sea water boaters.

We are seeing many of the same people that were here last May.  Some call it home for extended periods.  The new bathroom/laundry/boaters lounge facility is finished.  The showers are wonderful.  There are 6 separate full bathrooms so you have privacy.

We had lunch yesterday at the youth hostel.  It is a big hill to climb to get there and I realize how out of shape I am.  We hope to get more boat work accomplished and have some time to go visit the beach and see some other parts of the island before we leave.

We had thought to stay through Christmas in this area but may leave closer to the end of this month to work our way east toward the San Blas Islands.  I guess that at this time of the year the winds from the east make passage there difficult and you have to wait for a weather window.  It is not a long trip so you don’t need a particularly long window but it could be weeks or even a month before one happens.  We will likely make our first run to Porto Bello and then from there to the San Blas.  Once in those waters, distances are shorter and waters are protected by a reef system.  Our first guests arrive on Jan. 7 and we don’t want to miss their seeing the San Blas so that is our latest target date.

We will be working on the boat and staying here at Red Frog Marina or at anchor near town for the next couple of weeks.  If you wish to know more about this area, you can reread some of the last logs from last season.

Would love to hear what is happening in your life.

Fair Winds,

Sue and Rob

Back Aboard Catalyst

PANAMA HERE WE COME!

Follow Catalyst’s voyage at:

http://www.winlink.org/dotnet/maps/PositionReportsDetail.aspx?callsign=KG4QFO

–

Cat-a-log 11/5/12

Dear Ones,

We have had a very full summer including meeting our new granddaughter born last March,a celebration of my Dad’s 100^th birthday on the 4^th of July and our nephew’s wedding just to name a few of the family high lights.  Lot’s of family time on both the Linehan and Herman side and we loved it but it made it a little fractured being back home.  It was an in and out summer for us.

Luckily, thanks to our house sitters, Hester and Paul, who will come stay in our home again this winter, we came home to a beautifully maintained house and yard.  How can you beat that!

We have been able to spend time with our daughter and her family who live less than an hour from us.  They were here for Halloween as our town celebrates it big time.  I had fun helping them put on their make up.  Colin in his spider man outfit was the most challenge but we were happy with the results.  Lisa and Jeff announced that they are having child number 7 with the due date of June 2.  It will probably bring us back a couple weeks earlier than we had planned but since we are getting a one month head start, it will still be a full season on the boat.

We are leaving this Wednesday, the 7^th for a flight to Panama City.  We are staying at a B&B owned by a former cruiser who has been very helpful in finding out things in advance for us.  We will be there one night and the following day, after doing some non perishable provisioning, we will board the night bus about 8 p.m., ride through the night and arrive near our destination.  It is only near because the bus cannot go to the islands.  Once we arrive there, about  dawn, we will catch a ferry to the island where Bocas Del Toro is located.  That is the main town in the area.  It is about a 30 minute boat ride.  From there, we will catch a 20 minute ferry to where our boat is located at Red Frog Marina.  We anticipate arriving around breakfast time.

We won’t be able to rest immediately as we will be needing to empty the main cabin of the things we stored out of the sun there over the summer.  I am sure it will take us a week or two of work to get sails installed, instruments returned to their proper place and in working order along with all the boat parts that were carried home and back to be fixed or replaced and will now be returned to duty.

The marina where the boat has been in the water is very comfortable and once we get fuel for the dinghy, we can go on our own to town and back.

Our first guests join us about January 7.  My sister and her husband will finally make the trip to join us in the Caribbean.  We had hoped to do this last year but they especially wanted to join us in Panama and besides with my broken arm and my sister having breast cancer to treat, it was not the best year for fun and games.  We are both healthy again and our looking forward to making this long planned trip a reality.

We anticipate a visit from my youngest brother and his wife and maybe daughter who is now in college and more restricted on time.  We also will see my niece and her husband but neither couple has set a date as yet.  At least we know what country they need to get a ticket to!

We will be spending the season in Panama.  We could still sail to Colombia but that is looking less likely for a lot of reasons, mostly time and economy.  For that reason, we are not in a rush to leave the area where the boat is and may spend Christmas in that area but plans are very loose.  From there, we will head to the Canal area on the Atlantic/Caribbean side to provision for our extended stay in the San Blas islands.   We will not cross through the Canal to the Pacific so all of our time will be spent on the one side of the country, at least when we are on the boat.

The San Blas Islands is an area off the coast of Panama on the Colombia side of the canal.  This indigenous population of Cuna Indians is unique and so very interesting.  We loved being there when we were in Panama in 2005.  It was our favorite stop and our goal has been to return.  Finally, that is happening.  I hope that we are not disappointed as things never stay the same.  We need to go with an open mind and heart and not anticipate knowing how things should be.  What will be fun is to show this area to our guests.

One of the challenges of being there long term is that there is very little one can purchase besides their local craft called a mola.  There are people who come to your boat every day to try to sell them.  You can also buy fish from the locals but they tend to over fish the lobster, crab and conch so we tend not to want to support that behavior.

Luckily, we have great freezer and refrigerator storage so we can pack for a long time.  What will be difficult will be getting a hold of fresh produce.

With no amenities ashore on islands that often have no electricity or water source, we will be doing all laundry by hand as well as cooking all meals as there are not really restaurants ashore, at least not that we know of.  The cruisers in the area do get together on some of the unpopulated small island and enjoy pot lucks, volley ball on the beach, yoga on the beach in the morning, etc.  There is a social life.  I would like to know more about the Cuna culture as well but would need someone who speaks English.  Even if I spoke Spanish, it would help, but many don’t speak that language either, using their own language.  I understand that there are some islands where boaters volunteer to work with the locals in the school so we may try to tap in to that as a way to learn about their culture.

We will be returning with the boat this year.  It will have been out of the country for more than 2 years.  We have missed boating in Florida with our friends and well as having the boat available for our grandchildren so this is planned to be the last season in the Caribbean.  While we won’t go places where we will leave the boat and return home, we do plan to still cruise local waters, the Bahamas as well as the East Coast of the US.

We don’t yet know our route home but because it costs money to check in and out of countries, often quite a bit, we may not do too many stops on the way back.  When we came home last time, we made one stop out of Panama after 1 ½ days on an Island named San Andreas which is off the coast of Nicaragua.  From there, we sailed home non stop to Florida.  It was a 7 day 7 hour trip to reach the entrance to our harbor.  We spent the night there and sailed home the next day.  It wasn’t a bad trip but weather and time will play a factor in stopping or not this spring.

We anticipate being able to check our e-mail at rs.linehan@embarqmail.com pretty regularly for the first couple of months.  After that, we will see.  Cell phones have made their way to the San Blas but not all the areas we might visit.  For now, we would love to hear from you on our regular e-mail.

Our son-in-law Craig, in Williamsburg, has really taken off in his photography business but will try to get these logs sent out in a timely way.  We hope that you enjoy hearing about our travels and let us know what is up with you.  That connection is very important to us so do drop us a line once in awhile.  If you are being sent this blog but don’t know us, let us know who you are so we can enjoy having you along for the ride!

Fair Winds,

Sue and Rob Linehan

Returning to Catalyst