Friday, January 04, 2008
Panama Xmas
We arrived in Espiritu del Santo on the 23rd to join our friends Betsy and Richard on Qayaq and together with Aline and Bruce from Migration, the boat which had sailed with us from Ecuador celebrating our arrival with a mahi mahi dinner.
This was a lovely sheltered island with white sandy beaches and little rocky coves to kayak and snorkel around. It was nice to relax for a couple of days.
We spent Xmas eve on our boat with 18 other cruisers who were spending Xmas here watching “The Grinch Who Stole Xmas” using Bruce’s big screen (a white sheet) and his projector and sang carols. There were a couple of boats with kids which always adds to the Xmas flavour.
For Xmas Migration and Qayaq joined us for the turkey which I had bought in Bahia and pavlova made with the collection of the eggs we all had left. It was topped off with the passionfruit I had also bought in Bahia. It was a great day and Bruce had bought the words of the carols with him which made for songs which were able to go beyond the first verse.
On boxing day instead of going shopping to exchange gifts we addressed the rudder which had been very stiff all of the way from Ecuador—a result of sitting for 6 months there. After much advice from fellow cruisers—none of whom had anything to lose if it went wrong we decided to beach the boat at the high tide at 7am the next morning. We managed to beach it without incident the following morning even though it was pouring with rain which maybe made the helpers wonder if it was such a good idea. The weather cleared and with the help of several people we were able to get it out—it had a few minor spots of rust which we had ground and polished and had it all back in place in time to await the rising tide. Luckily the tide was 13feet 6inches high and was from dawn to dusk so gave us the perfect window. It went very smoothly and so was well worth the exercise. A little comic relief was offered when we suddenly noticed the boat of one of our helpers had swung into a sand bar and was gradually going onto its side. There was nothing to do other than wait it out till the tide came back in.
We then had a few more days there and celebrated both my birthday by snorkeling and hiking to a waterfall and New Years Eve with a party on the beach with a big bonfire.
Early the next morning left to go to Isla Chapera—“Survivor”--- was filmed here. It is a beautiful island with white sandy bays and we spent the day snorkeling and swimming before heading the 40 miles to Panama City the following day.
The winds had been forecasted to increase so we left at 6am and had a fast sail—9 knots a lot of the way. We set our anchor in Playita—an anchorage on the Pacific side of the canal where we will spend a few days repairing the fridge, I had inadvertently pierced the evaporator while trying to fast defrost—not a good idea!!! We will also go to the Atlantic side and meet up with Jack and Judy when they return to their boat in a few days.
From the anchorage where I write this before heading in it looks like a very large and modern city—you apparently can get all supplies you want so will be great to restock the fresh food which we have long since run out of.
This was a lovely sheltered island with white sandy beaches and little rocky coves to kayak and snorkel around. It was nice to relax for a couple of days.
We spent Xmas eve on our boat with 18 other cruisers who were spending Xmas here watching “The Grinch Who Stole Xmas” using Bruce’s big screen (a white sheet) and his projector and sang carols. There were a couple of boats with kids which always adds to the Xmas flavour.
For Xmas Migration and Qayaq joined us for the turkey which I had bought in Bahia and pavlova made with the collection of the eggs we all had left. It was topped off with the passionfruit I had also bought in Bahia. It was a great day and Bruce had bought the words of the carols with him which made for songs which were able to go beyond the first verse.
On boxing day instead of going shopping to exchange gifts we addressed the rudder which had been very stiff all of the way from Ecuador—a result of sitting for 6 months there. After much advice from fellow cruisers—none of whom had anything to lose if it went wrong we decided to beach the boat at the high tide at 7am the next morning. We managed to beach it without incident the following morning even though it was pouring with rain which maybe made the helpers wonder if it was such a good idea. The weather cleared and with the help of several people we were able to get it out—it had a few minor spots of rust which we had ground and polished and had it all back in place in time to await the rising tide. Luckily the tide was 13feet 6inches high and was from dawn to dusk so gave us the perfect window. It went very smoothly and so was well worth the exercise. A little comic relief was offered when we suddenly noticed the boat of one of our helpers had swung into a sand bar and was gradually going onto its side. There was nothing to do other than wait it out till the tide came back in.
We then had a few more days there and celebrated both my birthday by snorkeling and hiking to a waterfall and New Years Eve with a party on the beach with a big bonfire.
Early the next morning left to go to Isla Chapera—“Survivor”--- was filmed here. It is a beautiful island with white sandy bays and we spent the day snorkeling and swimming before heading the 40 miles to Panama City the following day.
The winds had been forecasted to increase so we left at 6am and had a fast sail—9 knots a lot of the way. We set our anchor in Playita—an anchorage on the Pacific side of the canal where we will spend a few days repairing the fridge, I had inadvertently pierced the evaporator while trying to fast defrost—not a good idea!!! We will also go to the Atlantic side and meet up with Jack and Judy when they return to their boat in a few days.
From the anchorage where I write this before heading in it looks like a very large and modern city—you apparently can get all supplies you want so will be great to restock the fresh food which we have long since run out of.
Farewell Ecuador
We continued with boat projects while we had the resources available—the major one being Joe who was an electrical engineer with the US navy who had been working on submarines for many years. He was able to resolve many of our ongoing problems and each day seemed to start with an emergency call to Joe with something else which was not working—boats are ongoing projects and if it is working today it probably won’t be tomorrow!! Ken was anxious to keep working on the boat to ready it to leave so I went to Otovalo with another cruiser wife—April, from the US.
It involved a 9 hour bus ride to Quito where I managed to get another haircut without disastrous results and celebrate another fiesta for Quito’s anniversary.
The next morning was a 21/2 hour bus ride to Otovalo. It is in a beautiful agricultural valley and is a prosperous and attractive town. It has been a trading crossroad for centuries and is now home to the largest market in South America. The local women still wear their traditional costumes with beautifully embroidered blouses (this is not only for the market, Ecuadorian Andean people all do).
We arrived there on Friday and scoped out the market which is permanently on a huge square and on Saturday expands to take in the nearby streets. The bargains are unreal with kid’s sweaters from $6 and beautiful woven bags and hammocks for not a lot more.
I also caught a bus up to a small town nearby which specializes in leather goods. Kristen had fallen in love with my jacket I had bought in another leather town previously and wanted me to find a similar one for her. After much searching I found the same jacket in a darker brown and as long as she regains her pre pregnancy weight in March it will be great for her next spring.
After two days April and I having “shopped till we dropped”---reminiscent of my gift show days—returned fully laden with lots of goodies. It had been fun having a “girls shopping trip” and we had enjoyed the restaurants and great pie available ($1 a slice).
Upon returning there were more boat projects and immigration formalities to leave Ecuador. It involved a 2 hour taxi ride to Manta to get our passports stamped where we stocked up on lots of goodies at the supermarket—turkey pieces and cranberry sauce so we are ready for Xmas—we will not be near civilization for 3-4 weeks or so. We stocked up at the local market for big shrimp--$2 a pound and if you tip them 25 cents they will clean and shell them for you!!! I only just found this out after having cleaned many myself!!! Lots of fruit and vegs but unfortunately in this climate you have to eat them all like crazy as they all ripen at once.
We had several social visits with other cruisers from the marina to say farewell, most have had their boats here for sometime and are heading to travel more in South America or cross the Pacific later—when we will. It is a really friendly community and it is the stopover for many boats as they travel. We enjoyed the facilities offered and it was a great choice for us to see this part of the world. It was sad to leave as we loved the people and travel in Ecuador.
Finally after resolving many last minute problems we headed out to make our way for the 520 nautical mile trip to Las Perlas Islands in Panama. We are buddy boating with “Migration” a trimaran. We will spend Xmas with them and meet up with “Qayaq” a boat we had been with in Mexico and El Salvador who are coming south from Costa Rica to meet up with us.
We had the first half with great sailing and made good time but the second night out we ran into squalls which made for a rough night. The next morning it was very calm and we were adopted by a couple of gulls who had become exhausted in the weather. One in particular thought he would make himself at home and ended up in the bedroom where Ken had to catch him with gloves and put him outside. He was not phased and still is living on the outside of our boat. Bruce on Migration caught a 4 foot long Dorado (mahi mahi) so Ken being very envious has several rods and different lures hoping to catch his mate.
I am writing this as we sail on our third day—we have now lost almost all wind so are motoring as we want to get in before dark tomorrow—the 21st December.
It is now the 4th day and we have land in sight—no night watch tonight we will be at anchor. Ken caught his Dorado—4 feet long and about 20lb.—Mike, Dave, Aaron and Kyle—eat your heart out!!! He is very happy and we will have sashimi for lunch. Our gull left us this morning to catch a ride on a fishing boat nearby—he should have waited half an hour as Ken caught his fish then and we would have shared. Mind you we were getting fed up with him pooping all over the deck and he didn’t seem interested in being house trained so it was just as well.
Our family continues to have life changes—
Dave has accepted a job with Nike which involves developing more hi tech stuff to promote their running stuff. They have agreed to let him stay in Hong Kong for 18 months (he still has 6 month to finish his MBA and they have just bought a house) and then they want him to relocate to Portland Oregon. It will lead to a more managerial position which is what he wants—we are hoping they will be there when we are back in Salt Spring—so much closer.
Kristen has been offered a job she can’t refuse with her company in Kanata (Ottawa) and as Kyle’s head office is there they are going to go in July. She hopes to do her masters at some stage in Ottawa and still has visions of joining the Foreign Service. Luckily for her Kyle is a supportive partner for all of her dreams—he probably realizes that she will change her mind 10 times and have a new plan before they come to fruition anyway!!
Aaron proposed to Ashley who accepted and they will be married on August 2nd in Ontario, she is a nice girl.
We are happy for them all.
We do hope you have (by now had) a great Xmas and New Year—do not forget we have lots of room for visitors and would love to see any or all of you.
It involved a 9 hour bus ride to Quito where I managed to get another haircut without disastrous results and celebrate another fiesta for Quito’s anniversary.
The next morning was a 21/2 hour bus ride to Otovalo. It is in a beautiful agricultural valley and is a prosperous and attractive town. It has been a trading crossroad for centuries and is now home to the largest market in South America. The local women still wear their traditional costumes with beautifully embroidered blouses (this is not only for the market, Ecuadorian Andean people all do).
We arrived there on Friday and scoped out the market which is permanently on a huge square and on Saturday expands to take in the nearby streets. The bargains are unreal with kid’s sweaters from $6 and beautiful woven bags and hammocks for not a lot more.
I also caught a bus up to a small town nearby which specializes in leather goods. Kristen had fallen in love with my jacket I had bought in another leather town previously and wanted me to find a similar one for her. After much searching I found the same jacket in a darker brown and as long as she regains her pre pregnancy weight in March it will be great for her next spring.
After two days April and I having “shopped till we dropped”---reminiscent of my gift show days—returned fully laden with lots of goodies. It had been fun having a “girls shopping trip” and we had enjoyed the restaurants and great pie available ($1 a slice).
Upon returning there were more boat projects and immigration formalities to leave Ecuador. It involved a 2 hour taxi ride to Manta to get our passports stamped where we stocked up on lots of goodies at the supermarket—turkey pieces and cranberry sauce so we are ready for Xmas—we will not be near civilization for 3-4 weeks or so. We stocked up at the local market for big shrimp--$2 a pound and if you tip them 25 cents they will clean and shell them for you!!! I only just found this out after having cleaned many myself!!! Lots of fruit and vegs but unfortunately in this climate you have to eat them all like crazy as they all ripen at once.
We had several social visits with other cruisers from the marina to say farewell, most have had their boats here for sometime and are heading to travel more in South America or cross the Pacific later—when we will. It is a really friendly community and it is the stopover for many boats as they travel. We enjoyed the facilities offered and it was a great choice for us to see this part of the world. It was sad to leave as we loved the people and travel in Ecuador.
Finally after resolving many last minute problems we headed out to make our way for the 520 nautical mile trip to Las Perlas Islands in Panama. We are buddy boating with “Migration” a trimaran. We will spend Xmas with them and meet up with “Qayaq” a boat we had been with in Mexico and El Salvador who are coming south from Costa Rica to meet up with us.
We had the first half with great sailing and made good time but the second night out we ran into squalls which made for a rough night. The next morning it was very calm and we were adopted by a couple of gulls who had become exhausted in the weather. One in particular thought he would make himself at home and ended up in the bedroom where Ken had to catch him with gloves and put him outside. He was not phased and still is living on the outside of our boat. Bruce on Migration caught a 4 foot long Dorado (mahi mahi) so Ken being very envious has several rods and different lures hoping to catch his mate.
I am writing this as we sail on our third day—we have now lost almost all wind so are motoring as we want to get in before dark tomorrow—the 21st December.
It is now the 4th day and we have land in sight—no night watch tonight we will be at anchor. Ken caught his Dorado—4 feet long and about 20lb.—Mike, Dave, Aaron and Kyle—eat your heart out!!! He is very happy and we will have sashimi for lunch. Our gull left us this morning to catch a ride on a fishing boat nearby—he should have waited half an hour as Ken caught his fish then and we would have shared. Mind you we were getting fed up with him pooping all over the deck and he didn’t seem interested in being house trained so it was just as well.
Our family continues to have life changes—
Dave has accepted a job with Nike which involves developing more hi tech stuff to promote their running stuff. They have agreed to let him stay in Hong Kong for 18 months (he still has 6 month to finish his MBA and they have just bought a house) and then they want him to relocate to Portland Oregon. It will lead to a more managerial position which is what he wants—we are hoping they will be there when we are back in Salt Spring—so much closer.
Kristen has been offered a job she can’t refuse with her company in Kanata (Ottawa) and as Kyle’s head office is there they are going to go in July. She hopes to do her masters at some stage in Ottawa and still has visions of joining the Foreign Service. Luckily for her Kyle is a supportive partner for all of her dreams—he probably realizes that she will change her mind 10 times and have a new plan before they come to fruition anyway!!
Aaron proposed to Ashley who accepted and they will be married on August 2nd in Ontario, she is a nice girl.
We are happy for them all.
We do hope you have (by now had) a great Xmas and New Year—do not forget we have lots of room for visitors and would love to see any or all of you.
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Canda and New Zealand visits
We are now back on our boat after our 3 month trip in Ecuador and Peru, 4 days repacking and then almost 4 weeks in Canada and 4 weeks in New Zealand.
We had a wonderful; visit in Canada with family and friends; it was great to see those of you who are reading this ongoing saga.
We arrived to the news of the arrival of Alexander James, Dave and Becca’s newest baby in Hong Kong—they now have the ultimate family of Arianne, who is a sweetheart and Alex who I am sure will also prove to be. We were unable to fit in a visit to Hong Kong on this trip and so are sad that we missed them. Hopefully we will catch up with them in the not too distant future and meet Alex and see Arianne who continues to be a beauty—I am sure she has some of her Nana in her!!!
We spent a couple of weeks in Calgary enjoying staying with Amy and Rob and their happy family. We loved watching Isaac and Alora involved in their many activities and acting as “real grandparents” for a while—poor Mike always wanted a “real mum” and now we are having grandchildren who will spend their lives wanting “real grandparents”. Luckily the in-law grandparents are filling in for us and we will be the ones they will speak of as the crazy ones who travel in exotic lands. It was good to have those family “get togethers” where baseball became the sport of the moment—Isaac having a “great arm’ with his pitching.
We met Ashley, Aaron’s new girlfriend who is a delightful young woman and was good to see Aaron established in his own place and patrolling on his “hog”. Mike had started his new job which seems to offer him his outdoor lifestyle and a decent salary as well—what more could he want.
We then went with Aaron and Ashley to Kelowna and visited with Adelyn who was almost walking. She is a cutie and very happy but drives Kristen nuts as she will not cuddle as she is far too busy in her own world—reminiscences of Dave!! Also has Kristen’s sociability so appears to have either the best or worst traits of them both?? It was lovely to spend the week with their family as well. We have since had news that Kristen is expecting a boy—she is due in March which will give them the perfect family as well---she hopes he will take after either Kyle or Mike!!! Adelyn who hated the riding toy which I was so excited to buy her of course loves it now that we are gone!!
We were proud of Kyle who we watched run his first marathon and achieved the time of 3hours 27mins which he had hoped for.
As parents your greatest hope is that your children are happy and having successful lives and they are all doing very well which makes us very happy.
We then flew to New Zealand and had a lovely visit with my family there. My mother had had a stroke a month before we got there but much to my delight had lost very little. Her walking is slower but her mental capacity was not changed and she is still as interested and involved in the world as ever and is very capable living on her own still looking after her dog and cats. We had a low key trip spending a lot of time with her and taking her out and fit in visits with my brother and sister and their families. Luckily for my mum she has lots of family and friends who look out for her so even though I feel guilty that I have abdicated responsibility I am glad she is so well looked after.
Met up with Anne –my old school friend (became apparent how old when she had to sign as a character witness on my NZ passport application and say how many years she had known me!!!—where did the time go?). We went out on their power boat on Guy Fawkes night—a big celebration in NZ—he tried to blow up the house of parliament in England many years ago and everyone has set off fireworks every Nov 5th (also Dave’s birthday) ever since. When I was young it was just a neighborhood celebration with every family having their own and maybe a local huge bonfire but now there is a huge display on Wellington Harbour and so it was great to be right there. It was a beautiful night and was Wellington at its best. It continues to be one of the world’s most beautiful cities and I always leave with mixed emotions.
This time was a little different as we should be there next November with our boat to stay for 6 months and renewing my NZ passport gave me a sense of renewed citizenship.
We had one of our last nights and took mum to a Chinese variety show which had been put on to showcase the Beijing Olympics. It was very colourful and bright. It had a distinct lack of Chinese flavour and was China meets Las Vegas—I think a sense of what they will try and portray next year—a little sad as McWorld is quite large enough. The highlight was a tenor who would have outrivaled Pavarotti had he been born elsewhere and we all enjoyed him immensely.
Stocked up with minties, vegemite, manuka honey, tea and chocolate and headed back to LA where we had a couple of days to run around stocking up with cheddar cheese, jelly bellies and various boat parts. We marveled at the amount of “stuff” which is available and were tempted to sail our boat back to San Diego just to buy more stuff!!!
We got back and cleaned our grubby boat having had workers fixing our single side band radio and hooking up our new iridium aerial in time to greet Karen and Jeff (previously of Calgary and now Pender Harbour BC). They stayed with us for a few days and we enjoyed visiting with them. Took the opportunity to go to the local museum which was very impressive for such a small town and we went over to a local beach where many gringos are buying waterfront property. Mexico and then Costa Rica have become very expensive and now the Ecuadorian government is very stable and is the most desirable retirement country right now. Now that we are back to $2 50lb huge shrimps and chicken breasts and $10 being more fruit and vegs than we can carry home we know why.
We are having sanding done right now $10 a day and in a week or so will take one last trip to Otavala—the largest market in Sth America to stock up with goodies here and then we will head to Panama to cruise until Feb when we will cross to the Galapagos.
Many thanks to all of you who entertained and fed us on out visit we did love seeing you all.
We had a wonderful; visit in Canada with family and friends; it was great to see those of you who are reading this ongoing saga.
We arrived to the news of the arrival of Alexander James, Dave and Becca’s newest baby in Hong Kong—they now have the ultimate family of Arianne, who is a sweetheart and Alex who I am sure will also prove to be. We were unable to fit in a visit to Hong Kong on this trip and so are sad that we missed them. Hopefully we will catch up with them in the not too distant future and meet Alex and see Arianne who continues to be a beauty—I am sure she has some of her Nana in her!!!
We spent a couple of weeks in Calgary enjoying staying with Amy and Rob and their happy family. We loved watching Isaac and Alora involved in their many activities and acting as “real grandparents” for a while—poor Mike always wanted a “real mum” and now we are having grandchildren who will spend their lives wanting “real grandparents”. Luckily the in-law grandparents are filling in for us and we will be the ones they will speak of as the crazy ones who travel in exotic lands. It was good to have those family “get togethers” where baseball became the sport of the moment—Isaac having a “great arm’ with his pitching.
We met Ashley, Aaron’s new girlfriend who is a delightful young woman and was good to see Aaron established in his own place and patrolling on his “hog”. Mike had started his new job which seems to offer him his outdoor lifestyle and a decent salary as well—what more could he want.
We then went with Aaron and Ashley to Kelowna and visited with Adelyn who was almost walking. She is a cutie and very happy but drives Kristen nuts as she will not cuddle as she is far too busy in her own world—reminiscences of Dave!! Also has Kristen’s sociability so appears to have either the best or worst traits of them both?? It was lovely to spend the week with their family as well. We have since had news that Kristen is expecting a boy—she is due in March which will give them the perfect family as well---she hopes he will take after either Kyle or Mike!!! Adelyn who hated the riding toy which I was so excited to buy her of course loves it now that we are gone!!
We were proud of Kyle who we watched run his first marathon and achieved the time of 3hours 27mins which he had hoped for.
As parents your greatest hope is that your children are happy and having successful lives and they are all doing very well which makes us very happy.
We then flew to New Zealand and had a lovely visit with my family there. My mother had had a stroke a month before we got there but much to my delight had lost very little. Her walking is slower but her mental capacity was not changed and she is still as interested and involved in the world as ever and is very capable living on her own still looking after her dog and cats. We had a low key trip spending a lot of time with her and taking her out and fit in visits with my brother and sister and their families. Luckily for my mum she has lots of family and friends who look out for her so even though I feel guilty that I have abdicated responsibility I am glad she is so well looked after.
Met up with Anne –my old school friend (became apparent how old when she had to sign as a character witness on my NZ passport application and say how many years she had known me!!!—where did the time go?). We went out on their power boat on Guy Fawkes night—a big celebration in NZ—he tried to blow up the house of parliament in England many years ago and everyone has set off fireworks every Nov 5th (also Dave’s birthday) ever since. When I was young it was just a neighborhood celebration with every family having their own and maybe a local huge bonfire but now there is a huge display on Wellington Harbour and so it was great to be right there. It was a beautiful night and was Wellington at its best. It continues to be one of the world’s most beautiful cities and I always leave with mixed emotions.
This time was a little different as we should be there next November with our boat to stay for 6 months and renewing my NZ passport gave me a sense of renewed citizenship.
We had one of our last nights and took mum to a Chinese variety show which had been put on to showcase the Beijing Olympics. It was very colourful and bright. It had a distinct lack of Chinese flavour and was China meets Las Vegas—I think a sense of what they will try and portray next year—a little sad as McWorld is quite large enough. The highlight was a tenor who would have outrivaled Pavarotti had he been born elsewhere and we all enjoyed him immensely.
Stocked up with minties, vegemite, manuka honey, tea and chocolate and headed back to LA where we had a couple of days to run around stocking up with cheddar cheese, jelly bellies and various boat parts. We marveled at the amount of “stuff” which is available and were tempted to sail our boat back to San Diego just to buy more stuff!!!
We got back and cleaned our grubby boat having had workers fixing our single side band radio and hooking up our new iridium aerial in time to greet Karen and Jeff (previously of Calgary and now Pender Harbour BC). They stayed with us for a few days and we enjoyed visiting with them. Took the opportunity to go to the local museum which was very impressive for such a small town and we went over to a local beach where many gringos are buying waterfront property. Mexico and then Costa Rica have become very expensive and now the Ecuadorian government is very stable and is the most desirable retirement country right now. Now that we are back to $2 50lb huge shrimps and chicken breasts and $10 being more fruit and vegs than we can carry home we know why.
We are having sanding done right now $10 a day and in a week or so will take one last trip to Otavala—the largest market in Sth America to stock up with goodies here and then we will head to Panama to cruise until Feb when we will cross to the Galapagos.
Many thanks to all of you who entertained and fed us on out visit we did love seeing you all.
Monday, September 17, 2007
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