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June, 2009

In San Blas, Panama
6/1 We are in the beautiful islands of San Blas, Panama just hanging out.   Here, you can stay behind the reef of beautiful islands with palm trees, sandy beaches and crystal clear blue water.   Why would we want to go anywhere else?   We will stay here until our visa time in Panama runs out, then we will head to Cartagena, Colombia for our visa time there (6 months) then we will return here.

 

We have enjoyed the beauty and tranquility of the islands.   In San Blas, there are ~ 360 islands, most are just gorgeous and uninhabited.

 

 Beautiful sunsets....beautiful days....
6/2 Currently, we are in the Western Lemmons in a totally protected anchorage.  Dave on S/V High Spirits from Kemah is anchored near us.  Valerie, one of his backpackers from Belgium, helped him from Isla Mujeres to San Blas is leaving today.  She is headed to Panama City, hopefully to be a line-handler on a boat transiting the canal.  What a sweetheart!   If Valentina were bigger.....   ; )
6/4 Breeze, a great guy on S/V Blue Sky, ask us today if we would be interested in meeting them at the East Coco's on Sunday for a Texas hoe-down.  Of course.....we would love to.   Several guitarist, Dave (S/V High Spirits from Texas), Brad (S/V Kindred Spirit from CA),  George (S/V  Southern Bell from LA) and Breeze (S/V Blue Sky from FL)  were invited to come to the festivities.
6/6 We pulled up anchor to head 17 miles to the East Cocos.   On our way, we were trolling with a small cedar plug, and the line started screaming.  It was very hard to reel in, so we put the boat in neutral and Sonny grabbed the gaff hook while I attempted to reel him in.

Our first Wahoo.....welcome aboard!

Finally, we got him beside the boat and were able to see, it was a Wahoo.   WA-HOO!  Sonny gaffed him and we got this big guy on board.   He was 48" long and nice.

We announced on the radio to the boats coming to the Texas Hoe-Down, we have fish to share for the meal.

Boats started heading this way. 

6/7 Happy 33rd Birthday to our son, Taylor...... We Love You.....Enjoy!

 

 Taylor with Riley Kay at a UT football game.
  We have a total of  10 boats in the anchorage and 24 people.

Breeze decorated the area on the island with Texas and nautical flags and put up a sign reading,

Breeze made a city limit sign, similar to our home town of Waxahachie

Welcome to East CocoHatchie

Population:  24

He announced on the net that it was a Texas gathering, so I had to make two pecan pies to share.
Dinner Tonight!   Our wahoo deliciously fed 28 people. Kay and Debbie (S/V Blue Sky) preparing dinner

 

It was one of the best cruiser's get-togethers we have been to, with once again, music.

 
Breeze (S/V Blue Sky) loves Texas! George (S/V Southern Bell) is a great entertainer. Brad (S/V Kindred Spirit) getting warmed up. Breeze and Dave (S/V High Spirits)
Brad enjoying his guitar time. Sonny with his harmonicas joining in the fun. Dave, playing and singing. It's Breeze's turn....

 
6/9 We fried some fish today and Sonny used the scraps for fishing off the boat.   We heard the line scream, and went to look.   It was a 7' nurse shark.   We called on the radio to see if anyone wanted him....no takers.  We like the meat, but cleaning them are difficult and just no fun.
Paul and Coby (S/V Angelheart), George and Josh (S/V Southern Belle) and Brad (S/V Kindred Spirit) came by to look at the big guy.   George took the hook out of the shark's mouth from his dinghy and we set him free. George assisted with getting this guy back on his way.
 

We put the line back in the water.

About five minutes later, it started screaming again.  Could it be the big snapper that has been hanging out under our boat?   No....it was the nurse shark again. 

 

  

We caught him twice.....

We set him free again and did not put the line back in the water.

We had Brad and Gloria (S/V Kindred Spirit) over for dinner (fish....of course) and he brought his guitar, so he and Sonny jammed for a while.

There is a full moon, so after dark, we were all in the cockpit and saw the splashes of neon green phosphorescence swimming in the water. 

6/10 We snorkeled today, then this evening, we went to Jim and Betsy's M/V Two By Sea for dinner.  We took some tuna that Jim grilled.   Brad and Gloria (S/V Kindred Spirit) also came.  Two By Sea is a 65'   and what a beautiful home.  They lived in Amarillo for 3 years, while in the military.

Now these are true sailors.

Kunas make sails for their ulus out of political flags or any material they can obtain.
6/11 A project day.....Sonny started with some hose work on the head, then he worked on our generator and then while in the water, cleaned on the bottom.   I varnished the cap rail for the last coat this season.  ; )     As I was varnishing, you could hear loud thunder clapping in the distance.   Thankfully, it missed us.  Rain and wet varnish do not mix well.   So, it is my last coat on it this season.  

We all met on the island tonight and we met the new owners of S/V Wind Quest.  They are Mark and Lois and two sons.  Wind Quest was a sailboat at Lake Texoma when we were there, when Henry and Beverly were preparing her for a 10 year cruise in the Eastern Caribbean.   It is a small world.

"How nice to get to stay here....OH! we can!"
6/12 What an ordeal to publish the website!   There is one place in all of the San Blas islands that has internet.   They just got cell phones last month in Nargana, so it really is remote here and the connections are not good.

We will try again to go to Nargana today to publish, hopefully it will work.   I am trying to not add quite so many pictures, so we will see.

We will be in San Blas thru July, then head towards Cartagena, Colombia.   In the meantime, we will continue to keep trying to update the site.   Thanks for your patience, we really do try and appreciate your interest in our adventures on Valentina.

Well, Nargana was unsuccessful.   The connection is so slow, it just will not do it.

We returned to the East Coco Banderas and played Mexican train dominoes with Jim and Betsy on M/V Two By Sea.

 
 

6/13 We have decided we will have to make a trip into Panama City to update the website.   We can anchor Valentina and ask someone to watch her while we take a jeep  3 hours inland to the City, spend the night, then return the next day.   We can also get some supplies while we are there.

Today we left the East Cocos to head 17 miles to the East Lemmons.    A storm blew through all afternoon with wind and rain.   Our water tanks are full, so tomorrow will be laundry day,  if we have sun.
6/14 Valentina had sheets flying today.....laundry day for sure.
6/15 We are going to Panama City tomorrow, so we left the East Lemmons and are anchored at Carti for the trip.  We went in to the island for a chicken dinner for $2.50 each.

Sonny, Gloria and Brad (S/V Kindred Spirit), Joe (S/V Rose of Sharon), Susan (S/V Wooden Shoe), Meg and Dave (S/V High Spirits)
6/16

Whew......the launcha arrived at Valentina at 7 a.m. to transport us to the SUV for our exciting ride over the mountain to Panama City.   It is a very rough ride, with 8 people in the SUV, having to cross a river, and going up and down the steep hills of the mountain.   And....we only had to pay $25 each for this ride.   It was more exciting than any amusement ride we have been on.   And, we are sore to prove it.

What a beautiful ride through the mountains.

We arrived at our hotel around 11 a.m. and immediately successfully updated our website.   Mission accomplished!

One of the beautiful churches in Panama City.

Then, after grabbing a bite to eat, we set out to get our shopping done.  You have to realize, since March, we have been out in the middle of no where, where only a veggie boat comes to your boat to deliver fruit and vegetables.   So, we were getting in need of provisions.

Our hotel room is full now, and our boat will be stuffed.   We should have enough food for 3 or 4 months, at least.
6/17 We have shopped, packed, and ready to head back to San Blas in the SUV at noon, when at 11:30 a.m. we received a call.   It was raining in San Blas, and our return trip has been canceled due to high water in the river and on the return road over the mountain.    So, we arranged to stay in the hotel room another day and hopefully return to Valentina on anchor tomorrow.

We considered flying home to Valentina, but decided to share a van with Brad and Gloria (S/V Kindred Spirit) so we can both cart all of our supplies back to our boats.

Avenita Central....a good place to get bargains and is safe early in the morning. We walked around town and, of course, added some more to our overstuffed bags.  We made an early morning trip to Avenita Central where we bought some new shirts for Sonny, a set of sheets, new pillows, and some new little towels at very good prices.

 

We treated ourselves to a wonderful steak dinner at "Jimmy's" restaurant.   We cannot remember the last time we have had beef.  Oh, yes, it was in January, when we went out to dinner with John and Lisa on S/V Morning Star in the US.  Only six months ago.   It sure tasted wonderful.....just as good as we remembered.

 

 
6/18

We are headed back to Valentina today......They picked us up at our hotel at 11:15 a.m. and, after a bumpy, rough ride, we made it to the river near Carti.   Working on the road along the way.

Due to the rain, the river was raging, so we had to unload our supplies and slide through the mud to get into an ulu to travel down the river out to our boat.

This is the river you drive across in the SUV, but not today.

I went on the first ulu with our laptop, refrigerated groceries and our carry on bag while Sonny waited for the truck to arrive with our other supplies.   He and Brad came on the next ulu.

What an adventure!    Just to get groceries is such an ordeal.  But, we are not complaining, we love this life.

When we returned to Valentina, Jan on S/V Slip Away called on the VHF to see if we had their cell phone Elijio was going to purchase for them in Panama City.  When Sonny arrived with Brad, they did have it, so Slip Away was very happy.

We went into Carti with Slip Away and Alpha Wind to eat a chicken dinner for $2.50.  It was a good visit with them, as we did not know them.
6/19 After the morning SSB nets, we pulled up anchor and headed to the West Lemmons.   It is good to be in a good anchorage where we can sort through our 8 boxes and bags.

We made a list of everything in each locker we stored our food....so we can find it.   It is amazing the storage on Valentina.   I thought there was no way, all of the boxes in the cockpit would fit into cabinets.....but it did.   Thankfully!

When we left Carti, we only had 1/4 tank of water (25 gallons) so we decided to use that water for washing clothes and empty our water tank.   So we did.   We ran the watermaker, but it only makes 4 gallons an hour, and then it started raining.   Our tank was filled to the brim with the wonderful rainwater.

One of our friends asked us about drinking rainwater.   We do all of the time, it is great water.   Sonny tested a glass of rainwater and also our tank water from our watermaker.

The results were:

  • Rainwater - 9 ppm
  • Watermaker Water in our Water Tank - 248 ppm

Both are excellent sources of water, and we are so thankful  for them.  When it starts raining, Sonny jumps up and cleans the deck and then get the hose to gather water off our fiberglass bimini.   It works great for us.

We spent over $1,000 on groceries, toiletries, oil for engine, etc. on our trip to Panama City.  It sounded like a lot of money until I remembered when we were in the States, and I could not get out of WalMart for under $100.   And, it has been over three months since we have been in a store.    We have so many supplies now, we should not need anything but fresh fruits and vegetables for several months.   Oh, of course, fresh fish.    We did get splurge and got some M&M's, chocolate chip cookies, Pringles, and chocolate bars.
6/21 It is Father's Day and what a day it is.  

We were awaken early at 5 a.m. with thunder, rain, and lightning.   And, it continued on all day.  

Sonny was treated like a King, as he rightly deserves.   A good Father that I am thankful for.
6/22 Wow, what is that in the sky?   It is bright, yellow, and we see some blue sky!   What a nice relief!

We lowered the dinghy and loaded our snorkel gear and headed out for a snorkel.   We went over to the reef at the East Lemmons.

Sonny captured a nice Ocean Trigger fish.....and we decided that would be our lunch today.   Kay shot at a snapper, but he got away.

Sonny put the whole Ocean Trigger on the grill, 20 minutes on each side, then went to put him on the platter, and the fish was so big.....it fell in the water.

So, Sonny jumped in, caught the fish and put him on the grill again,  10 minutes each side for the salt water.

He was delicious!   We ate half of him, then I made the other half in fish salad for tomorrow.
6/24 Mary Margaret, S/V Angel Heart is celebrating her birthday, so we are meeting them in the East Lemmons today.    We all went to the island to share snacks and birthday cake with everyone.

These three boys came to our boat, sailing a ulu.
6/25 It is fishing day!   Rich and Jan wanted to take Slip Away out to the hump near the Hollandaise to see if we can catch any fish.   So, Rich picked us up at 8 a.m. in his dinghy and we went with them to the hump.

We motored around for about an hour, without any luck.

Then, we had three strikes, but no fish.

Then, Rich caught four nice ceros and Sonny caught a big barracuda.   We had plenty of fish to clean and fill the freezer.

        A fun day fishing!       

6/26 We pulled up anchors at 8 a.m. and headed to Esnesdup, one of our very favorite anchorages in San Blas.

Rich and Jan, S/V Slip Away, are with us and we all went snorkeling in the cut.  We saw a lot of fish and the reef was very colorful and vibrant.

When we got back to Valentina, a husband and wife came by in their ulu selling molas.  They were very friendly and nice.  We bought a couple of molas from them and gave them some eye glasses, sunglasses, and needles for sewing.   They were very thankful!   Some of our favorite Kunas.

She put the glasses on and immediately started sewing.

As the sun was getting lower, the noseeums began appearing, with a vingance.  We had the screens up, but there was no wind and these guys can weasel their way through our screens.   I put on long sleeves and long pants for protection.  Not very comfortable for sleeping but better than getting bit.

 
6/27 We woke, or rather, stayed awake last night with the noseeums.  This is one of our favorite anchorages, but not this time of year.   We will not share it with these biting creatures.

There is no breeze today and it is hot, so Sonny hopped in the water and cleaned on the bottom for a while.

At 1 p.m. we pulled up our anchor, along with Rich and Jan, S/V Slip Away, and are heading to Greene Island, hopefully bug-free.

We are anchored and it is just beautiful here.   There are three boats already here, so we will make five.

Jim and Betsy, M/V Two by Sea came over to visit from the East Cocos and Rich and Jan from S/V Slip Away came over.  Two very nice couples, we sure enjoy their company.

Kay, while underway. Enjoying it in San Blas.

 

 Sonny changing out the flag halyard.

     

6/28 This morning, I attempted to put the "last" coat of varnish on our combing for the season.   As I was brushing it on, thunder was heard in the distance.  : (     Not a happy day......The wind began to blow, up to 30 knots, but no rain....yet.

My varnish was able to dry before the rain came.

Rich and Jan (S/V Slip Away) and us went over to Two by Sea for Mexican Train Dominoes after the storm settled.   But, we just sat around and talked rather than played.   It was a very nice evening on their beautiful boat.
6/29 Another wonderful day of snorkeling.   You just can't believe how beautiful it is here.  The coral is colorful, alive and bright.   Wish we would have brought an underwater camera back with us from the States.  

The fishing is nice.   The anchorage is calm with only a few other cruising boats.  Overall, we must again say, "Life is So Good".   We are so thankful to be able to be out here to enjoy God's beautiful creation with each other and our friends.
 

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Ever Safe

Safe in Jehovah's Keeping, Safe in temptations hour.

Safe in the midst of perils, Kept by Almighty power.

Safe when the tempest rages, Safe though the night be long,

E'en when my sky is darkest, God is my strength and song.

Sir Robert Anderson