Idyll Thoughts

The Friendly Kingdom of Tonga

2011-12-04T00:06:00.001-08:00

We made landfall at Vava’u, Tonga on September 9^th,after a nine day passage from Bora Bora. We had hoped to stop along the way atBeveridge Reef, a submerged atoll in the middle of nowhere, and the island of Nuie,but by the time we got there the wind was blowing 25+ knots from the southwest andthe seas were 4-5 meters. Neither placeis tenable in those conditions, so we sailed right on through. Next time…

The annual Vava’u Sailing Regatta was in full swing when wearrived. A week of parties, parades andfun. Many boats that we had not seen fora while were there, so it was great to catch up and swap stories about ourPacific crossings. Sete Maris, Sharkita,Chantey, CD, Narama and of course our buddy boat, Pelagic. And then the Rugby World Cup started. Evenmore partying! Tonga is rugby mad -every bar and restaurant with a TV screen showed all the games from morning ‘tillate. Tonga had a team in the tournament, so it was pretty intense. The Tonganscheered for pretty much every play by every team, but when Tonga beat France,the whole town of Nieafu went wild!

We did take some breaks from the unexpectedly intense socialwhirlwind of Neiafu to explore many of the 40+ identified anchorages in the protectedwaters of the Vava’u group. We were ableto find places all to ourselves and the snorkeling and diving were excellent. Weidentified about 60 new-to-us species of fish. Compared to the Tuamotus we didnot see the large numbers of fish, but we felt there was greater diversity. Therewas spectacular variety of abundant and healthy corals, b ut hardly anysharks. We usually had about 20+ meters visibility and the water temperaturewas about 26C, a bit cooler than French Polynesia. The people of Tonga were amazingly warmand welcoming. We felt that they weretruly happy to have us visiting and enjoying their beautiful island Kingdom.

Neiafu Harbout, Vava'u, Tonga. Its deep and rocky, making anchoring tricky but you can usually find a mooring in this well protected anchorage.

Rugby World Cup - Tonga vs. Canada. Everyone cheered for everyone.

Canada managed to win this one!

A Tongan Feast at the tiny village of Lape Island, population 24. Our hosts, Kulio and Tara were extremely welcoming. They are holding these feasts to encourage donations from cruisers towards the rebuilding of their dock, which was destroyed in a cyclone several years ago. After this gathering they finally had the required funds and hoped to have the dock built for next year.

Time to work off a bit of the beer and roast pig with some diving!

Amazing diversity of corals.

A formidable oyster.

A Pacific Lion Fish in the Pacific where it belongs. The last picture of a lion fish on this blog was from the Caribbean where they are a destructive, invasive species. Here they are part of the natural ecosystem with predators that keep their numbers in check.

More fabulous corals.

Sunset Wrasse.

Cathy's Clown(fish).

A Motley Crew aka the Southern Cross Net, getting ready to party. The Southern Cross Radio Net was started in the Med several years ago and picked up members along the way. We were pleased to be invited to join back in the Tuamotus and Derek volunteered to be the Monday net controller. Every morning, especially on ocean passages we all checked in on shortwave radio with our positions and weather conditions. A good way to keep in touch and it was great to know there were friends out there who would do anything to help if the need arose.

Derek's public debut, with encouragement from Connor of Toucan, who can actually play the guitar and sing - very well. Thankfully the Southern Crossers were a supportive audience, helped no doubt by the quantities of beer and rum!

The Tongans are renowned for their church singing. They have put up a shade tent for the overflow crowd on this Sunday. It was lovely to just stand outside and hear the choir and congregation sing in glorious harmony.

School boys dressed in their uniforms which include the Ta'vala, or waist mat, a traditional item of Tongan dress which signifies respect to God, King and country.

Primrose, a leading figure in the Nieafu market and a multi-talented artist presented Cathy with an heirloom tapa that had been in his family since the 1930s. Another example of the friendship and generosity of the Tongan people.

A woman finishing her day of weaving mats from pandanus leaves. It takes many weeks to weave a single mat and the best are saved for special occasions and as wedding gifts etc.

Shopping for watermelons in the Neiafu market. These were about $4 Cdn. There was a good range of local fresh fruit and veggies at reasonable prices.

Picture taken from inside Swallows Cave. Several high interlinked caverns large enough to tour by dinghy.

A Tropic Bird leaving its nest site inside the cave.

We hung out with a mother Humpback Whale (about 15m long), and calf for about half an hour. We were just drifting along in the dinghy and they stayed with us. It was wonderful to hear their songs underwater when we were snorkeling and diving. Next year we plan to do a guided trip where you are allowed to snorkel with the whales.

After 6 excellent weeks in Tonga, finishing with a few days in the Haapi islands, the weather conditions were perfect for the 1100 mile passage to New Zealand. It was a bit earlier than we had planned to leave, but given that the trip has the potential to be one of the nastier ones, we decided to take the window and leave for New Zealand. We'll just have to come back next year!
For this passage, we did engage the services of Kiwi weather guru, Bob McDavitt, to provide us with a forecast and voyage plan, as well as daily emails from our friend Russell in the Med (you can access weather info for anywhere from anywhere). We also download twice daily weather info directly via satellite and shortwave radio.

Cathy cooking up a storm on our passage from Tonga to New Zealand. We had heard that New Zealand Agriculture inspectors would not confiscate meat that has been cooked. So Cathy went through our frozen meat and cooked up masses of tasty dishes which we then froze. This worked for us but others had their cooked frozen meat confiscated anyway.

And it was mighty tasty! Here we sit down to a meal of Moroccan chicken on couscous, salad, homemade humus and wholewheat buns, and for desert, fruit bars (we had heard they would take our dried fruit too - they didn't.). We ate this gourmet meal while the autopilot steered us along at 8 knots with a double reefed main in 20 knots of wind and 2m seas - we love our cat! Not only was this meal tasty, but it was a prize winner. Cathy won Best Meal Underway from the NZ Island Cruising Association Rally!

We do have to go outside sometimes especially as we get close to land, in this case New Zealand. And suddenly it was freezing! Well, not actually freezing, but it was 19C and after 3 1/2 years in the tropics where we never had temps under 28C, our blood was pretty thin. So we piled on fleeces, hats and socks - warm thanks to Iris on Pelagic!

We had a great trip down. 1100 miles in 6 1/2 days, at an average speed of 7 knots with max of 15 and many hours at 8-10 knots over sparkling blue water. A great finish to a fantastic season sailing across the Pacific.

A sunny welcome to Opua, Bay of Islands, New Zealand.

The High Societies

2011-11-29T23:51:00.001-08:00

The Society Islands are the last of the three French Polynesian archipelagos we visited. These islands are unique in having reefs which encircle the mountainous islands, creating a ring of calm inner lagoon waters to swim, paddle and sail in and just enjoy. They are also more populated with Papeete, Tahiti being a real city with upscale supermarkets, pearl markets and ugh, even McDonalds (though when said with a French accent it sounds almost gourmet)..

Papeete, Tahiti. Dozens of outrigger canoes sweep past on both sides of Idyll Island during a weekend race. The channel is used all day by people in every sort of craft imaginable.

About half a km from our anchorage, a pass cut through the reef creates ideal breakers on the outer edges for surfers and boogie boarders to play. Though it looks tempting, it is not a break for beginners like ourselves, as the surf crashes on to a very shallow (and jagged) coral reef. There are world class surf breaks on the other side of Tahiti.

Fabulous black sand and white sand beaches are great places to wander.

Point Venus Lighthouse was built in 1867 by R.L, Stevenson's father.

Fautoa Waterfall, one of many plunging down the steep mountains. So steep, that a lone cruiser with an excess of adventure genes, scrambled down into a closed canyon and was trapped there a week before being hauled out by helicopter.

A steephead parrotfish on ice in the market for someone's dinner. They are very common reef fish that we enjoy watching while snorkeling.

Last stop in Tahiti - the Duty Free store. Drinkable wine $3-4 per bottle. Not as cheap as the $2 litre boxes in Panama, but cheaper than anything we will see for years... The whiskey was cheaper than we had seen anywhere at $8. Derek overestimated our consumption (just a bit) which gave us some worries when entering New Zealand with it's strict customs regulations. More later.

From Tahiti we sailed 10 miles across the channel to Moorea - spectacular!

Derek shining up our new Mercury outboard that we had shipped in to Tahiti. Saved us about 30% and was easy thanks to our amazing agent, Cindy (CMA-CGM Agency).

Cathy playing tag with a stingray. Dozens of rays and sharks come into the shallows to be fed by the snorkel excursion boats from the resorts.

Wonder where they got the design for the stealth bomber...

Bora Bora, one of the most photographed and legendary anchorages in the Pacific. Not bad.

Our chartplotter showing the reef completely surrounding the island, with only a single entrance channel. Makes for beautiful, protected waters inside the lagoon. You can see our boat, the black shape, anchored down in the Southeast corner where we were totally protected from the 25 knot winds and 4 meter seas that were crashing outside the reef.

Inside the reef the bottom is mostly sand, with a few sea urchins. Actually, there were only a couple of places where they concentrated like this.

Feeding Frenzy! Like Moorea, the resorts at Bora Bora feed the sharks and rays to liven things up for the snorkelers The sharks seem only interested in the fish bits - lucky for Cathy!

Just gotta stay in your own lane.

Not all the fish are big with large teeth. Here are a couple of cute little humbugs amongst the staghorn coral.

Derek taking advantage of the calm lagoon water to go up the mast to replace fix a broken wire - and get a better view.

A better view!

Life is good.

Time to leave French Polynesia and head towards Tonga, about 1500 nautical miles to the west. We stayed the full 90 days of our visa and thoroughly enjoyed every one. We would love to come back some day.

About half way across, we got into a school of short bill swordfish. In 2 hours we hooked 5, managing to release 2 at the boat, the other three, further out. They were about 2m long and put up a tough fight. Difficult to deal with when doing 8 knots downwind!

The last 2 days of our passage to Tonga were the roughest we've experienced with winds to 40 knots and seas 5m. Can't see it here but there were some big ones! Idyll Island handled it no problem, surfing down the waves at 10-11 knots with only a double reefed headsail. But we were glad to get into the shelter of Vava'u, Tonga.

The Tuamotus

2011-08-28T10:33:00.000-07:00

We felt like we'd found the pot of gold - The Tuamotus are the South Pacific as we had dreamed. We spent 6 weeks, visited 5 atolls and snorkeled pretty much every day.

Typical motus (islands), scattered along the encircling reef of the atoll. The lagoons enclosed by the reef are much larger than we had visualized; as much as 30 miles x 10 miles in area.

The lagoons are generally 20 to 40 meters deep but dotted with numerous coral pillars (bommies) rising to the surface. Or often just under, which makes them very difficult to see. Good light and a sharp lookout are required!

In company with our Aussie friends on "Pelagic" we explored dozens of motus. Most of the time there was no one else within sight.

The cairn that marks the spot where the Kontiki raft ended her voyage from Chile on the reef. Thor Heyerdahl and crew were safe and proved that the Polynesians could have descended from early South American sailors. Later DNA evidence disproved the theory..

Weekly supply ship being unloaded

A real store! We were able to find a couple of mangoes and a few potatoes. Too late for the baguettes. Very welcoming - they gave Cathy a frangipani lei.

In search of baguettes and brie. Nice road - all the larger villages have benefited from the French government's investment in infrastructure. And they are kept very clean.

Hi from down under in the Tuamtous!

A wet suit makes long, 2 hour snorkels more comfortable. OK we're wusses - the water temperature is 78 - 80 degrees F (26 C)

Finally, the truley unspoiled, vibrant reefs teeming with more brightly colored fish over healthy corals than we could have imagined. Sadly, the compressed, repressed and depressed images required for the narrow bandwidth available, seriously diminish the quality of the photos.

Moorish Idol. A common but reclusive fish.

A Dot Dash and a Speckled Butterfly fish cross paths.

This Bignose Unicornfish was enjoying our table scraps off the stern of 'Idyll Island'

Neon Chromis cloud the branching corals but slip instantly within when predator or diver approach too closely.

Twin Chromodoris, a 3.5 cm nudibranch which raises and lowers it's mantle (skirt) as it crawls along giving a doubled effect.

Very cute little guy about 1.5 cm

Raccoon Butterflyfish.

Orange Striped filefish

Sixband Wrasse (aka Candy Wrasse)

Chevroned Butterflyfish

Ornate Butterflyfish

Pearl oyster in the wild.

A very friendly pearl farmer gave us a tour of his topside operation. The oysters are grown on buoyed longlines in the lagoon. Another hazard for the boater to avoid, but a simple, eco friendly industry for the islanders.

This imported Chinese expert implants a plastic nucleus in the correct part of the oyster to produce a French Polynesian black pearl. And yes, Cathy couldn't resist a purply-green iridescent pearl pendant.

Tridacna, a smaller cousin to the famed Giant Clam. This species embeds itself into cracks in the coral. They are prolific on the shallow reefs. Their mantles are jewel-like iridescent, blues, purples, and greens.

Tridacna settled in the reef surrounded by a stunning bit of coral.

Hermit crab feeding frenzy. These guys are everywhere - we even saw one 6' up in a tree! Here they clean up the remains of a coconut.

Can't quite fly yet but this little branch is getting uncomfortable. Brown Boobie on shrubby motu.

Rescued by Iris and Graeme as our outboard seized in the pass at Makemo atoll on our way to a dive. We still did the dive and it was fabulous! Low, rolling, unending hills of live coral sloping into the depths, with masses of fish darting in and out every which way, other fish forming a 1 m cloud above the coral and larger fish appearing suspended in the transparent water above us. Truly awe inspiring. We know about 100 species by now but there are always new ones to look up. For you Caribbean divers - Paul Humann and Ned Deloach have written guides for Pacific fish and invertebrates - hurray! The Pacific Ocean is much richer in both numbers and varieties of species than the Atlantic/Caribbean and, they are more colourful. These authors consider their substantial books as mere starting points for Pacific species identification.

It shrank! Derek running the tiny 3.3hp outboard so generously lent to us by s/v 'CD' when it turned out that our 15hp was not repairable - kept us mobile until we could get to Tahiti. Thanks Dave and Cris!

Regal Angelfish

Orangespine Surgeonfish

Herd of Yellowfin Goatfish

Whitecheek Surgeonfish

Humphead Wrasse. About 1.5m long and must weigh 50kg. Just cruising slowly through the crystal water. Luckily they are completely docile.

Black Tip Reef Shark. About 1.5m in length. They were constantly cruising the reef. Not at all aggressive but would always come by to check us out. Though when Derek tried spearfishing and shot a small gouper, 3 of them showed up in about 5 seconds!

Saddled Butterflyfish

Steephead Parrotfish and others, just hanging in the crystal water.

A shy Moray Eel keeping an eye on us.

A tasty little Peacock Grouper. Tasty, but you have to be aware of which atolls are ciguatera free before taking one for dinner. Ciguatera is a neuro-toxin found in some species of algae that is concentrated in the tissues of fish.

You won't see a unicorn on land, but in the South Pacific, there are herds of unicorn fish roaming the reefs. This is a Spotted Unicornfish.

Just dove the South pass of Fakarava Atoll in the background. We glided through with the current while hundreds of Black Tip, White Tip and Grey Reef Sharks hung over the bottom. The little cafe suspended out over the water sold us their last 2 beers!

Another deserted motu.

Small but tasty. A Peacock Grouper, one of half a dozen fish Derek caught in 15 minutes off the back of the boat. You want the smaller ones to minimize the risk of ciguatera.

Bastille Day celebrations on Fakarava. A whole morning of coconut based competition. Here the winner is finishing up the 30 coconuts he has opened and extracted the "meat" from - in about 5 minutes!

The winner of the coconut frond weaving competition. We didn't stay for the second day of coconut sports.

After 6 weeks its time to leave the Tuamotus for the big city of Papeete and the Society Islands. Wish we could have spent another 2 months lost amongst the atolls!

French Polynesia

2011-08-27T12:37:00.000-07:00

The Marquesas

We had some excellent sailing from the Galapagos to the Marquesas. Here we are doing 11 knots (about 20kph) on a reach with the screecher up. Had done 13.5 the day before - not bad for a fat cat. Wind is about 20 knots, seas 2-3m - difficult to see in the video.

Relaxing at the helm on a night watch.

A day in our life out here: We’re doing 6 hour night watches; Cathy takes 2000 to 0200 and I take 0200 to 0800. That way we get a decent sleep plus we each have an hour or two nap during the day. So far fatigue is not an issue and we’re both feeling good. In the morning, after clearing the decks of any squid and flying fish that have joined us overnight (one night we had 2 dozen of each, but a bit too dried out to be on the menu for breakfast), we do a scheduled radio net with other boats out here and check our SSB email for weather info. We have breakfast together then I take my morning nap from about 1030-1230. Lunch together, then Cathy lies down for a couple of hours. That’s when I usually throw out the fishing lines; score so far, 2 tuna and 3 mahi – we’ve had as much fish as we want to eat, and there's more in the freezer. Download some more weather info and check satellite email, then dinner together. Last night Cathy did a great mahi-mahi curry! Then its time for Cathy to take her watch and for me to get some sleep. We get into a real rhythm, time just slides by with lot’s of reading (we both have Kindle’s and a friend provided us with 1000+ ebooks), some emails, music, a few boat chores and sailing.

Sailing across the Pacific in the moonlight.

0430 sitting out on the side deck listening to Dark Side of the Moon as I watch the silver bright ¾ moon’s shimmering path on the dark sea ahead of us. We’re sailing along at 8 knots, the sensuous shape of the full sails shadowed in the moonlight. The wind is blowing from the east at about 15 knots and its 30 degrees warm. I’m sipping on a mug of good coffee and thinking about life, the universe and everything, and how lucky we are to be here.
A band of clouds slides slowly across the moon like a smokey silk scarf and its dark, allowing me to see the stars above and the flashes of luminescence in the black water sliding past the hull. Man, what’s in that Panamanian coffee…? Actually it is pretty magic out here. We have about 900 miles left to go of this 3000 mile journey. Its been very good so far.

Landfall - Fatu Hiva in the Marquesas! We've had a great passage:
Nautical Miles Sailed: 3100 (approx 5500 km)
Elapsed Time: 17 days, 4.5 hrs
Amount of time using engines: 20 hrs
Average daily run: 180 nm
Average speed: 7.5 knots (approx 13.5 kph)
Max Speed: 13.5 knots (about 24 kph)
Maximum wind: 28 knots (approx 50 kph)
Largest seas: 4 m
Fish Caught: 2 tuna, 3 mahi-mahi, 1 wahoo (4')
Equipment failures: 0
Best Part: Night watches with full moon, sailing fast on a reach with sparkling waves all around, the rhythm of the days at sea
Worst Part: Steep, confused seas from 3 directions for first week - like a washing machine on "heavy duty cycle"
Number of other boats seen: 2

Fatu Hiva, Hanavave Bay (the Bay of Virgins, originally named the Bay of Phalluses due to the massive rock spires guarding the valley beyond, but the missionaries thought that inappropriate...). Whatever the name, its a stunning spot. We hiked to a jungle waterfall and swam in the pool beneath until chased out by a large freshwater eel (serpent?). Tried trading for fruit but the men seemed to have cornered the fruit market and only want to trade for alcohol.... Had a great evening aboard a friend's boat with all of us who had sailed across together, some of whom we had only talked to before by shortwave radio on the passage. Saw spinner dolphins and manta rays in the bay.

A tiki welcome to each village

Those hips really sway!

Off for a jungle hike - four boats from as many countries.

Refreshing!

Party on "Sete Mares". Thanks John and Marie Andree!

Different tikis at each village.

There are churches everywhere, even the smallest village. Some beautiful singing on Sunday mornings.

A family we met at a little village on the north side of Hiva Oa. They were bathing in the rock pool behind them. The woman offered us a big bowl of fresh banana fritters that she had made. Delicious! Note extensive and intricate tattoos on the husband and wife - the norm for adults here.

They also insisted on giving us a stalk of bananas. Kept us going for weeks!

Cathy with a couple of fresh loaves of whole wheat bread she has baked. If you're anchored off a village and get to the boulangerie early (before 0700), you can buy delicious fresh baguettes for only $0.60 a loaf. But whole grains are pretty much impossible to find in the French islands and we are not often near a village.

It was good to get back in the water. Lots of new (to us) fish. And the corals are amazingly and encouragingly healthy looking, especially compared to what we've seen in the Caribbean. Trumpet fish.

Redfin butterflyfish.

Convict Surgeonfish - often in massive schools.

Blue-lined surgeonfish.

Time to leave the Marquesas and head for the Tuamotus, 450 miles away. The Tuamotus are a chain of 100s of sparsely inhabited low lying atolls. We plan to be there for over a month so need to stock up on as much fresh fruit and veggies as we can , before leaving the lush Marquesas. We've been told that the best market is at 0430 (that's really early), so we pile into the dinghy in the pitch dark with our friends Iris and Graeme, and go shopping. The picture looks a little out of focus, but so were we....

Galapagos II

2011-08-15T18:31:00.000-07:00

Isla Floreana - the island of flowers

Approaching Floreana after a quiet motor sail of 54 nm from San Cristobal, and our fill of fresh banana nut muffins, we saw numerous ‘black turtles’, the same species as the Caribbean greens, lounging about on the calm surface. Then largish, slowly swirling lumps with the occasional flipper or head emerging clued us in to the mating activities. We paused for a while then carefully wove our way into the quiet bay. Floreana is the smallest of the four inhabited islands – population about 100. There are no stores or food available and the several small patio eateries attached to local houses were closed. Again the hoped for tourist boom has faded as in the Caribbean and Central America. We did have a lovely prearranged meal at the local hotel overlooking a black sand beach, run by the descendants of the Witmers, an early pioneering family on the island. The book of their experiences makes a very good read. ‘Idyll Island’ and the Aussie catamaran, ‘Pelagic’, with Iris and Graeme (our companions since Panama) were the only cruisers there the whole week.

A hot hike along the coast led to Punta Cormorant. From here we had a clear view of the Black turtles running the swells through the small pass and feeding in the reefs either side.

Along with Iris and Graeme, we hitched a very rough 5km truck ride up one of the volcanic cones mid-island to the Pirate Caves, temporary homes to the first inhabitants (no indigenous people) who sought the fresh water springs there. The truck was to pick us up a couple of hours later so we hiked around the area taking in the views, the Witmer homestead built while sheltering in the caves (their first son was born in a tiny cavern – tough folk), and many types of fascinating geological formations resulting from the island’s volcanic origin.

Nice on a sunny day, but not sure that it would have been our choice for long term habitation through torrential rains, as it was for the Witmer family back in the early 1900s.

"The sun doesn't seem to be helping my skin condition..."
The many dark lava rock beaches are littorally littered with well camouflaged marine iguanas basking in the sun or clinging to the surf-washed rocks, eating the low, bushy algae growing there - and always shedding. They ranged from 15 cm to over 1m in length. We would sit down or jump to a rock and find ourselves face-face with one or more of these.

Santa Cruz Island

A thriving, busy port appealing to adventurous tourists, boasts interesting shops and great little restaurants along the harbour front and several very nice, small scale hotels. We enjoyed lots of beach and inland hikes, many tasty and reasonable lunches out – a rare treat on a cruiser’s budget, and an island tour. The island has deep but verdant caldera, an extensive tortoise reserve, interesting vegetation adapted to the ascending altitudes, the Darwin Research Center and Sanctuary, and surprisingly, a major Sea Shepherd office with a 30 m long, high tech, tri-hull speed boat.

"Is it fresh today?"

Sushi Bar, Galapagos style...

These guys are vicious. We saw one attack a pelican over a piece of fish. It stabbed the pelican with its beak, seriously wounding it. The pelican was unable to fly and barely walk as it retreated down the sidewalk. All nature, all the time in the Galapagos.

The exotic, naturally opened fruit of a native vine. Though it’s the dry season, some of the flora were pretty amazing.

Lava tubes formed by escaping hot gas or a lava river create many tunnels and caverns and odd surface formations on the islands. This one, about 1/2 km long, and from less than 1 meter to 10 meters high made an interesting and cool respite from the 33 degree heat of the above ground part of our tour.

Now that's a cerviche! Not bad for $12, plus a big frosty cold beer for $2. A bit pricier than most of our lunches, but worth it. Life is good!

ISLA ISABELLA

If forced to choose, this would be our favorite Galapagos Island. Isabella is the most recently formed of the 5 inhabited islands with five occasionally active volcanoes. Though it is by far the largest island it has a small population and is quiet, laid back with lots of hikes and shoreline to explore and best of all, has wildlife playing and feeding around the anchorage most of the day and much of the night. The walk to the small town is about 2 km, all roads are of sand and there is nothing resembling a resort. There are two very small grocery stores and a somewhat squalid market with 3 stalls, but we were glad to get whatever fresh food was available. This involved making visits over several days to be there when anything came in from the few farms or a small, seldom appearing supply boat.

Our first trip ashore let us know that we were back in the land of marine ‘lobos’, most of them Galapagos Fur Seals. This species is different than the larger Galapagos sea lions at San Cristobal – being smaller, quieter and well behaved and not attempting to take over our boat. However, this local water taxi, left unattended for some days, was fair game.

Derek, Graeme and Iris are checking out the lovely beach park which fronts the town. There were just a few other cruising boats and likely not more than 20 land based tourists visiting the island. There was great camaraderie among the boats, visits back and forth, morning swims together with the penguins and fur seals, energetic water tag centering around the kids from ‘Bonaire’ and a beach bbq featuring water play, Frisbee football and masses of grilled tuna, salads, Cathy’s (previously Renate’s…) famous rum cake, etc.

Only a small number of cruisers choose to pay for the 4/5 island 6 week permit; (about $1000 total), the three week/one island (either San Cristobal or Santa Cruz), is more normal and affordable. We feel very privileged and fortunate to have had the time to experience these fabulous islands more fully.

This young fur seal took over our back step from the day we arrived until we left 18 days later. Fur seals generally hunt during twilight and darkness. We often heard the slap of a tail against the hull at night as they chased fish seeking shelter near our hulls. Daytime was for play and siestas.

Laguna Salinas is a one hour local speed boat trip from the anchorage. Acres of lava arches, tunnels and a maze of waterways make up the amazing, rugged topography.

A rather bedraggled little Galapagos Penguin standing in the rain. Quite a difference from the energetic, high speed creatures we see dashing around the boat daily.

Part of the speed boat tour was a snorkel in the mangroves with turtles, black-tipped reef sharks and many fish including this 18cm seahorse. Yes, peering through the murky water waiting for sharks to materialize was exciting. Actually the best view of several sharks circling amid large clouds of brave little yellow fish (convict surgeon fish), was through an underwater arch illuminated from above and behind – stunning.

Another common and sometimes messy, visitor to the boat. Gotta wonder how they manage those massive bills on that long skinny neck, particularly when wrangling a pouch full of wriggling fish. Love these guys; they are always amazing and entertaining.

Junior playing with her dinner 5 m from the boat.

A little Blue Heron nabbing a tiny Sergeant Major while perched on our dinghy painter.

Excuse me - you’re blocking the ladder.

So sleek, so graceful and so fast that we never did get a decent underwater seal shot. But, we did have many wonderful times swimming with them. Whenever we jumped into the water and executed a few of our own graceful (?) summersaults, a couple of fur seals would turn up and show us how it was really done. We blew bubbles and they blew bubbles. All concerned enjoying it immensely.Wonder how they do all that rapid gymnastic display and not get dizzy. We had a hard time even figuring out which way was up after a while.

Wonderful to watch from the deck or in the water, the penguins dashed and darted in all directions trying to separate one out of a school of tiny fish to slurp down. They actually fly under water as they no longer can in the sky.

One of the many hikes we did was to the local tortoise sanctuary. This was a particularly good one with egg collection, incubation and year classes raised to 6 years before release. The big chap on top is well over 100 years old but his lady friend doesn’t seem too impressed. All the other tortoises in that compound shuffled over to watch the action - all in slow motion but accompanied by enormous groans and grunts.

Yep, the sea-strainer for the water maker works. Strained this little guy out. He was a bit too mangled to join us for sushi dinner.

Finally time to raise anchor for the three week passage to French Polynesia, but our mascot didn’t want to leave us. He actually followed the boat for about 1 km as we left the anchorage!

Farewell to the wonderful Galapagos. Isla Isabella with its main volcano hidden in a rain squall.

Provisioning (if you are interested)

Poor old Idyll Island is heavily loaded with every kind of supply and boat part. This is Tristan’s/guest berth, packed to the ceiling, as are the third berth and the quarter berth. The port head is the home of the little, much appreciated, washing machine we bought in Panama.

So how do you prepare for an 8 month, 8,000+ nautical mile (14,000 km) season in the South Pacific where there are only a scattering of gorgeous but for the most part, sparsely populated and supplied islands? If you are us it is with gusto and possibly excess. Panama City is very inexpensive for most things and a wonderful place to begin the adventure. Cathy filled 18 large laundry baskets with hundreds of cans (meat, fish, veg, fruit, beans, soups) oils, condiments, dried fruit, whole grain products such as flour (30 kgs whole wheat and 15 kgs unbleached white), pastas (50 pkgs), rice (35 kg) and cereals; baking supplies, lots of herbs and spices, vitamins, paper products, medical supplies, gallons of vinegar (for cleaning) and anything else you might imagine. Everything had the packaging removed, was labeled, dated, inventoried and protected from moisture (humidity typically 60 to 80%) and the possibility of insects using xxl ziplock bags or lock ‘n lock containers. The large freezer was filled to capacity and an inventory kept. Derek focused on spare parts for the boat (which of the thousands of things are going to break/fail?), his beer locker and the bilge fillers – wine and spirits, installing a new sprit and screecher (yay), diagnosing and repairing the water maker (again), the SSB radio… motors repaired/maintained, alternator replaced (again)….. During the 5 months prior to leaving Panama we had 4 very large orders shipped in from Marine Warehouse (boat parts and more boat parts, vitamins, 2 Kindles (great way to have a library on board!), more fishing gear ++). Oh yes, we picked up a surf board. The boat has sunk several inches. Cats are meant to be light and fast –we have become Garfield!

Galapagos!

2011-03-28T15:41:00.000-07:00

San Cristobal Island, Galapagos!! Idyll Island is rocking gently while a mum and pup Galapagos Sea Lions are wedged onto the bottom transom step dozing in the late afternoon sun. This is no easy feat as we have tied every manner of obstacle over the steps to dissuade the ‘lobos marina’, as they are known here, from boarding us. These two are our preferred company as the bigger males are so noisy and boisterous. Megaphone loud, resonant belches, strangled wails, exaggerated fishbone coughs that literally shake the boat; we have sea lions. They are everywhere – in any unoccupied dinghy or fish boat, park benches, the playground, all along the promenade, etc., and they are absolutely fascinating to watch. For the North American Westcoasters reading this, they are an endemic subspecies of the familiar California Sea Lion.

We arrived several days ago after a delightfully easy, light wind sail of just over 800 nautical miles, 6 days and 4 hours from Panama City (including 36 hours of motoring through the doldrums, aka the Intertropical Convergence Zone). This was our longest passage so far and has us keen for more. We watched a Brydies Whale for some time just feeding in the rich Panama waters, a shark go after a Bonita tuna that Derek released, several schools of dolphin playing in our bow waves, and dodged large freighters along the coast. Two 700+ footers altered course for us in the middle of the night. Kind of intimidating but they were very cooperative - even small boats have the right of way under sail. This of course only works if they see us, which it seems that they usually don’t. Our AIS receiver and radar together tell us the name, course, speed, length and ‘closest point of approach’, etc. of the vessel, which means that we can call them by name so they can’t (easily) ignore us. Six hour night watches seem to work well for us. Time passed quickly - the moon was brilliant, the sun too, no rain and the seas sparkled.

After days out of sight of land or any other vessels, San Cristobal rose slowly on the morning horizon. It is a magnificent welcome, verdant (we expected stark and arid) low volcanic hills punctuating the rolling green, many white sandy beaches and craggy headlands. Pelicans, boobies, gulls and terns wheeled around us especially near the spectacular, sheer, nesting cliffs on Isla Lion Dormant. Galapagos! A bit of a Mecca for us biological types. The town of Pueto Baquerizo Moreno (previously known as Wreck Bay) is delightful. Ecuador has enhanced the long natural waterfront with beautifully designed pools, winding cobble walks and streets, numerous stone and wood gazebos, and labeled plantings of native species, all decorated with sea lions – live ones. They are just a part of life here. The shops and cafes are pleasantly ‘local’ and the back streets are clean but tropically basic and friendly. Off the outer points of the bay there is a sometimes significant surf break that provides some nice rides but as it breaks on volcanic rock we declined.

We have walked with our friends Iris and Graeme (of the Aussie steel cat, "Pelagic"), to several nearby beaches where the famed Galapagos Marine Iguanas, the only salt water iguanas in the world, swim, dive, feed and sun themselves. Blue-footed and masked boobies stand about unafraid, bright orange Sally Lightfoot crabs scurry about and of course the sea lions cavort and laze, mums nurse their young and the immature, but sizeable, males stage playful battles (hmm, rather familiar). There is a very impressive Interpretive Center on one of the walks, large and beautifully designed. Today we took a 45 min taxi ride up into the hills past a tiny town and numerous small fincas (farms) to the giant tortoise breeding facility. 12 hectares of low scrub forest contain incubating and nursery areas for young up to 4 years of age and then the giants roam about on their own. There are 11 extant subspecies in the archipelago, some evolving on different craters not too far from each other. San Cristobal tortoises are dome-shaped while other islands have saddle-shaped or intermediate carapaces. We hiked around the lava paths and boardwalks, heard and even saw several indigenous bird species – finches flitting about all looking too, too much the same to id to species (13 bill shapes) and newly resident bobolinks. So far we get the best look at Darwin’s famous finches at lunchtime – the crumb-snarfing subspecies (Sidewalkus cafétierias).

Such a treat to soak up the laid back, local atmosphere, have the local water taxis know us and wave each time they pass, tune into which day the supply boat arrives with fresh fruit and veg and sus out some favorite little restaurants. In a day or two we will be off to explore little Isla Floreana for a few days and then to three more islands – the younger ones with active volcanoes and drier more stark environments and tortoises with even longer necks.

A calm sea and light winds to Galapagos. Cathy making adjustments to our new screacher sail (half way between a genoa and a spinnaker) which sets on a short bowsprit and rolls up on its own furler. Should be a good set-up for downwind sailing in the trades.

We're in the Southern Hemisphere! We crossed the equator at night and made sure we provided Neptune (and ourselves) with a celebratory tot of rum.

Galapagos landfall! The rest of San Cristobal is much greener than this headland.

"Do I have to get up now?" Despite what we thought were extensive defences, this sea lion pup managed to wiggle through and spent the night in our cockpit. Very cute, but it took about an hour to clean up the mess he left behind as he searched for just the right spot. He was even up on the table...

"OK,what's for breakfast?"

So we beefed up our defenses, but two more have still managed to penetrate the barriers!

Nice of the town to put benches in for us....

There are animals other than sea lions. The famous Blue Footed Booby - looking good!

The famous Marine Iguana - looking as good as they can...

Cathy talking to a young (40 year old) tortoise.

"If they would only get rid of all this junk, we could get really comfortable!"

PanamaRama

2011-03-12T19:50:00.000-08:00

As we get ready to sail away from Panama, where we've spent 9 of the past 15 months, here are some pictures from our time on the Pacific side.

A nice pair of Bonito tuna caught on the way to the Las Perlas Islands, about 35 miles south of Panama City.

Not quite sushi grade, but not bad pan seared for Christmas Eve dinner.

Christmas morning; huevos rancheros and champagne.

Christmas day on the beach.

A Christmas feast aboard Idyll Island. Cathy turned out an excellent turkey dinner which we accompanied with more champagne.

Wait a minute, that's not champagne. Tristan on one of the most beautiful beaches we've seen. A group from a neighbouring island had just finished spending 3 days picking up all the garbage and raking it clean. A great example of grass roots care for the environment. It was pristine, and we were the only ones there!

Tristan wake boarding on our new surfboard.

And Cathy is looking good too!

After Tristan returned to school in the cold and rain/snow of Victoria, Cathy's brother Jon flew down from much colder (-35) and snowier Calgary.

Cathy and Jon off to explore another beach in the Las Perlas. We anchored in one big bay, all by ourselves and explored a different beach each day - for a week. There were a few local fishing boats in the area, but other than that we didn't see another soul.

Our friend Elvir, who piloted us through the canal, also works as an engineer on one of the canal tugs (built in PEI). He very kindly arranged for us to spend a morning on the tug, moving a ship through the locks. Fascinating.

Ready to see another perspective of the canal.

We're pushing up against the side of an 800' ship with 4000 hp, all controlled through a pair of joysticks.

A Kuna Indian, selling her molas in the old town (Casco Antigua) of Panama City.

Restored street in Casco Antigua.

One of the many churches.

We've had a great time in Panama. But its time to move on and explore the South Pacific....

From Sea to Sea

2011-03-11T18:16:00.000-08:00

Its been a long time since we've updated this blog. We've been pretty busy with visiting friends and family and getting the boat ready for 8 months across the South Pacific. So now that we are getting ready to leave Panama for the Galapagos and points south and west, here is a bit of a catch-up.

We left Bocas mid-October, headed for Shelter Bay Marina, via the Escudos de Veraguas, a group of islands with fascinating topography. Little cupcake islands sprouting out of the water and twisting channels and chasms under limestome cliffs. The same thing underwater made for some interesting snorkeling. Lots of invasive lionfish again - Derek managed to reduce the local populatoin significantly, if temporarily. Also speared a small barracuda which fried up nicely!

Couldn't resist....

You know what they say about people looking like their pets...?

Some pretty active squalls with major lightning as we approached Colon. Best to dodge these ones.

Here is a picture of our radar screen showing us escaping from our anchorage (lower center) and scooting out between two nasty squalls.

Much more peaceful up the Chagres River where we spent 4 days relaxing, exploring and resting up before hauling the boat out at Shelter Bay and tackling the large list of jobs necessary before heading into the South Pacific. The Chagres river was dammed to create the Gatun Lake which supplies the immense amount of water for the Panama Canal. About 180,000,000 gal of water flow out of the lake with each group of vessels (one lock full) passing through the canal's six locks. The Chagras is navigable for about 10 miles below the dam.

A peaceful evening on the river.

We paddled up several of the side channels of the Chagres looking for wildlife. Despite rumours of monkeys, crocodiles, toucans, and even jaguars, we didn't see anything other than flocks of rowdy parrots and a few lizards sunning themselves.

Finally, some wildlife! The dock crew at Shelter bay Marina - on Halloween. We scrambled around and created costumes for ourselves in time to join the party two hours after our arrival. Cathy went as Neptuna and I was a Mola mola (Pacific sunfish, represented by a mola stapled to my shirt front and back). Something got lost in translation and Cathy was referred to as "Queen of the Tuna", and I was Mola Man. Luckily we don't have any pictures to remind us!

Out she comes! Now the work starts. Was supposed to be 7-10 days. A few unexpected problems cropped up (surprise), like worn bearings in the saildrives needing parts to be flown in from Miami, delays to the painting schedule due to torrential rain etc.... 3 weeks later we were finally done, in all respects.

This is the seal that goes around the saildrive leg and keeps the ocean out of the boat. We knew it was leaking a bit and it was the reason that our haul out was mandatory. But we didn't realize how badly the rubber had disintegrated. The engine manufacturer, Yanmar, say to replace every 2-3 years. On the internet, there are all sorts of comments that you can let it go for 7 years, maybe even 10. I think we're going to follow the manufacturers recommendations on this from now on....

Our friends Jim and Linda from Victoria. This is a shot of them on one of the two sunny days they had during the two weeks they were with us. They arrived in Panama to find the country in a state of disaster due to horrendous rain storms; there were multiple deaths due to slides and flooding and the canal was shut down for only the second time since it opened in 1914. All the roads in and out of Panama City were washed out and we were in Shelter Bay on the other side of the isthmus. The plan had been to sail to San Blas and meet them there. But no one was going anywhere - except by helicopter. Our cruising friends Randy and Lynn of High States, had wound up in a situation where Lynn was stuck in a hotel in Colon, and unable to get back to Randy on the boat at Shelter Bay as the roads were out and no estimate of when they would be repaired. So they decided to hire a chopper and since it had to fly from Panama City anyway and Jim and Linda were stuck there.... So a dramatic start to Jim and Linda's tropical vacation.

Jim and Linda trying to be tropical. At least it wasn't raining when this picture was taken! We finally got to the San Blas islands, sailing through 30 knot squalls and 12' seas, a bit of a rough introduction to the cruising lifestyle - especially for non-sailors. But they seemed to enjoy the adventure!

Had to visit the monkeys at Linton. They liked the grapes we offered them better than the apples last year.

Back at Shelter Bay ready for our transit of the Panama Canal - and Christmas! Had a Christmas Party dinner at the Marina restaurant, sponsored by the marina and supplemented with goodies from the cruisers. A good time, even if we didn't win the Christmas light contest.... Note the plastic covered tires hanging from the rail prior to our transit of the Canal.

Getting the lines ready as we head towards the entrance to the Panama Canal. We have taped pieces of foam and surfboards and any padding we can fins to the hatches, windows and solar panels so that when the "monkey fists" (lead weights knotted into thin rope covers) are thrown down to us in the locks, they don't break anything.

Heading into the first lock behind a cargo ship. Cathy's delicate hand on the engine controls as we maneuver ourselves and the 50' monohull were rafted with into the chamber.

The canal operators refused to allow us to tie "centre chamber", as contractually agreed, and insisted we and the boat we were rafted to, tie alongside a tugboat. This eliminates our control and subjects us to far more turbulence, plus they were impatient , so opened both sets of culverts to double the volume of water flowing into the lock. The boiling water pushed us around incredibly, stretching our 3/4" lines to 50% greater than their originals length. At one point our starboard transom was less than a foot from the concrete wall of the lock. Thanks to Cathy's excellent driving, we came through unscathed!

Relaxing after the ordeal. Tristan had flown in from Victoria to join us (with 3 hours to spare) for the transit and to spend Christmas with us. Great to have him along for the adventure!

After spending the night on a mooring in the lake, we were joined by our favourite canal advisor, Elvir, whom we had met the previous year when we went through as crew on a friend's boat. When we called Elvir ahead of time and told him we were taking our own boat through, he arranged his schedule to be with us. It was great to see him again!

Early morning (6:30) after a peaceful night spent on Gatun Lake - in the middle of Panama's continental divide, midway between two oceans and two continents, at 80' above sea level in a sailboat! Pretty amazing!

Making our way through the muddy brown water, dodging the larger mats of vegetation that had been washed down from the surrounding hills by all the flooding of the previous 2 weeks.

Three amigos. Derek first met Jim back in Grade 2 on Saltspring Island.

Tristan tending one of our lines as we lock down to the Pacific side. Its critical to maintain the right tension on the lines so that we stay in the middle of the lock and don't crash into the walls or pull a cleat out of the boat (it has happened).

The gallant crew who shepherded Idyll Island safely from the Caribbean to the Pacific.

Back in our home ocean. Bridge of the Americas ahead of us.

Idyll Island anchored off Panama City. Another ocean awaits!

Bocas!

2010-10-10T17:49:00.000-07:00

We arrived in Bocas del Toro, Panama at the beginning of July and immediately felt right at home. The layered mountains (OK, tall hills), of the Central American cordillera, often shrouded in clouds and rain, the numerous islands and bays in protected waters, reminds us of parts of the BC coast. But maybe that's just because its been so long since we've been home! The 32C water temperature is a nice bonus. Sometimes even a bit too warm - not that we're complaining!
Given that this is the rainy season, we have been surprised by how pleasant it is here in Bocas. We had expected lots of bugs and endless days of rain and cloud, and lots of stinging jelly fish among the numerous mangrove islands and lagoons. But the bugs really have not bothered us on the boat at all, though the no-see-ums, called chitras locally, can be a bit vicious ashore in the evenings. We have had rain and/or overcast skies only about 1 out of 4 days (and some spectacular lightning shows, after all we are in the Inter-tropical Convergence Zone, Toto), and the "stingers" have only been occasional and easily avoided. So we are liking this place. Like they say, "Its Better in Bocas!".

Cathy and Kathy (from s/v Makai) paddling among the islands and looking for good snorkeling spots for later.

Cathy paddling again. This time up one of the many rivers that run into the Bocas area.

We've made it about a mile and a half up this rio past two fincas (farms) cleared out of the jungle by the local Indians. Gotta duck to avoid the overhanging trees (not to mention that there are huge spiders in those trees!). Wish we could see the birds making those exotic calls.

Time to get outta that jungle (and away from those spiders!).

Went for a walk with friends on a large eco-estate created by a Texas millionaire. Unfortunately he died a few months ago, but the estate manager was very welcoming and encouraged us to wander about on the miles of chip trails that they have cut through the jungle. It's like a tropical park - beautiful. We saw many of these little green guys as well as smaller blue ones. Supposedly they have poisonous excretions on their skins - so look, but don't touch....

Bright splashes of flowering trees contrast with the multi-green jungle foliage.

Anchored with friends in one of the lagoons. The owners of the house from which this picture was taken were cruisers themselves until they found this property and built their home in the jungle. They are very supportive of cruisers and provide free wifi and invited us up for sundowners. Thanks Carl and Mary! And Juanita for the dinner!

Our friend Fred on Makai. Little Rohilio would paddle out from the nearby village multiple times a day to ask us if we had anything for him. We gave him some paper and pencils but he wanted hats and clothes and money or anything else he spotted on the boat. When we didn't give, he eventually stopped begging. Obviously there had been some positive reinforcement somewhere along the way. Unfortunately when we visited a few weeks later, he had a couple of friends along in their ulus (dugout canoes) and they got organized and distracted us while one of them stuck his arm through an open (but screened) porthole to see if he could grab anything of value. They managed a paperback book from us and another from our friends' boat, which we only discovered after they had paddled away. Being that they were 11 or 12 year old boys it was probably more of a dare than anything, and must have been very disappointing that the books were in English - with no pictures! Nonetheless, not wanting this to escalate and potentially cause more trouble for all parties concerned, we contacted the village's Peace Corp worker (Michelle) and she paddled out with the school teacher the next day to talk to us about what had happened. Rohilio then had to paddle out, dressed in his good clothes and return the books and apologize. Evidently, when he returned home, he packed up his little backpack and was ready to leave the village! Interesting and often challenging dynamics between the indigenous populations and the yachties, who appear to them to have unlimited wealth. Makes one think....

And indeed we often do feel like the luckiest people on the planet! Relaxing on the front porch with Fred and Kathy.

Our son Tristan and his good friend Dave, down for a visit from Victoria. Life is good!

Wake boarding on a surfboard (thanks Fred!), behind the dinghy.

We all had a turn. Thanks to patient coaching and towing by Tristan and Dave, Cathy and I both managed to get up - in style! Unfortunately it is off season for surf but we did take a lesson and have both been up and actually surfing a few times.

Tristan and Dave loved spearfishing and each of them managed to bag a lionfish. Not only is it good to reduce the population of these invasive and voracious predators, but they are damn tasty, if a little tricky to fillet with those toxic spines - he snipped them off with wire cutters.

A mixed bag. All tasty - the parrotfish were probably our favourites from this selection. Which is not a bad thing as there are lots of parrotfish around.

The invertebrate life in the shallows is amazing, making for some of the best snorkeling we have experienced. Usually brittle stars hide during the day in crevices and under rocks, but here there are millions of them twining around brilliantly coloured sponges and tunicates everywhere, all the time.in these little undersea gardens.

A magnificent feather duster worm 4 inches across.

More brittle stars and sponges.

The boys relaxing after a hard day of snorkeling and boarding.

Ab Ripper X! Can't let those six packs ruin the six pack.

Yes, it is the rainy season. 2" in 12 hours. The longest and heaviest stretch of rain we've had here. Usually its over before you can even get the soap rinsed off!

Visited a local cacoa (not coca) farm run by two gringos Dave and Linda. The pods grow straight off the trunk of the trees which thrive under the canopy of a myriad of tall jungle species.

Wait a minute, this doesn't taste like chocolate! The flesh inside the pod is quite tangy and refreshing, almost astringent. The actual cacao seeds are just big, dark brown seeds that need to be processed before they become anything like chocolate.

First, its all fermented for a couple of weeks.

Then the seeds are dried for several more weeks. The next step is to roast them carefully (here they are turned by hand in a drum over a propane flame), before grinding and extracting the chocolate liquor to be used in your favourite cake, sauce, brownie or bar.

Looks like this guy could use a cup of hot chocolate - or maybe a double shot of espresso! We were able to bring the dinghy right up underneath this sloth who was huddled in the rain in a mangrove tree about 6' above the water.

The 1/2 lb Riptide Burger. $6.50 with fries. $3.50 for the 2 liter pitcher of ice cold draft. Together, priceless.

Waiting for drinks and food and another night of fun at the Calypso Cantina with the crews of Baros and Salida!

Dylan and Darian put on a hot show!

Waiting for the chicas.... on one of the gorgeous outer cays.

Cathy cuddling a kinkajou. It was rescued as a baby with a broken jaw and raised by the couple who own the Cosmic Crab Restaurant.

Vacations have to end some time (or not). Farewell dinner at the Cosmic Crab in our own little floating dining room.

Headin' South - Mexico to Panama

2010-09-09T08:54:00.000-07:00

After leaving the Rio Dulce back in April (yes, its been a while, but we've been away from internet access much of the time, and the rest of the time we've just been having too much fun!), we headed North for Isla Mujeres, Mexico, via Belize. We thought it would take a week or 10 days and then we would head across to Cuba before sailing back down to Panama before the start of hurricane season in July. Well, once again we found unexpected people and places and took the time to enjoy them. As a result we managed to get as far as Mexico, but we ran out of time and weather for Cuba. Mostly, we spent a wonderful time (about 7 weeks in total) visiting cays scattered along the barrier reef 15 to 30 km off the Belize mainland, diving and hangin' out with new friends and old. There are no stores or places to resupply with anything, even water, until you reach the very northern inshore islands such as Cay Caulker - fresh veggies at last! a small island with a few very low end hostels

Idyll Island anchored at Belize's Lighthouse Reef. This, and Glover's Reef 30 miles south are the only true atolls in the Caribbean. Outside the fringing reef the depth drops shear to more than 2000'. And the diving is spectacular!

Another perfect tropical island all to ourselves!

At the top of the observation tower of the research station at Glover's Reef.

Osprey keeping an eagle eye for fish in the lagoon. Other local birds also common in BC are the Great Blue Herons and Ruddy Turnstones.

Not always idyllic aboard Idyll Island. The positive cable on our starboard alternator broke at the terminal and shorted to the case. Derek noticed that we weren't getting the usual charge so opened the engine hatch to find sparks flying and molten aluminum dropping amongst the fuel lines! We were lucky not to have a major fire. We were able to get a replacement delivered out to the atoll, thanks to the incredibly helpful and resourceful staff at the Glover's Reef Marine station.

The water was so clear at times that fish (and us) appeared suspended in air. This barracuda looks mean but he's just hanging out on the reef.

Nassau Grouper. He was bigger than he looks in the picture. The protected marine reserves of Glover's and Lighthouse Reefs in Belize, West End, Roatan and Bonaire are the only places we have seen grouper of any size. They've been fished out of all unprotected areas.

Lionfish on a spear. Unlike groupers, the Pacific Lionfish is flourishing on Caribbean reefs due to lack of predators and its prolific reproduction. While beautiful, they are voracious predators and will inhale unbelievable numbers of small reef fish.

Sail repair underway. The sacrificial UV strip does its job protecting the actual sail, but needs to be restitched and patched pretty regularly in the tropical sun.

We made it to Mexico! Isla Mujeres was a lively, touristy town. We spent a couple of weeks here, waiting for decent weather so we could start retracing our wake south and east to Panama for hurricane season.

The Mayan seaside ruins of Tuluum. Having visited the extensive site at Tikal, these were pretty low key. The interesting feature, at least to us sailors, is the beacon they developed to guide their canoes through the very narrow reef entrance.

After a hot time at Tuluum, we cooled off in a secluded ceynote. The water was cool and crystal clear and you could see down into the cavern, were the river returned underground.

Our driver and friendly hustler. He talked us into attending a time-share presentation at one of the fancy resorts in Cancun by promising us all kinds of stuff for only 90 minutes of our time. Turned out to be more like 3 hours, but we did get a nice breakfast out of it and a car rental for the day, plus the company of Jose (or whatever his name was)... And no, we didn't buy any time share.

It was great to meet up with the crews of "Mystic Moon" and "Hooligan" again. All are keen divers and rum drinkers, so a very good time was had by all! We hung out together for a couple of memorable weeks, then it was time to once again say, "so long".

Finally dragged out our portable compressor to fill our scuba tanks, as way out on the reefs there are no other options. After 2 years stored away, it fired right up and worked as advertised.

Blue Tang. These guys typically cruise the reefs in schools of dozens, overwhelming the feisty little damsel fish to raid their algae gardens. We call them the Tang Gangs.

Time to leave the fabulous reefs of Belize. We have a weather window that looks good for heading into the prevailing winds and seas to get east around the corner of Honduras. So with hurricane season fast approaching, its time to go.

But not before stocking up on some (OK, lots) of excellent (and cheap) Belize rum!

After bashing our way to windward for four days, mostly under power, we were relieved to reach the Hobbes (pronounced "hobbies"), a few little cays strung out along a protecting reef about fifty miles of the most eastern point of Honduras (Cabo Gracias a Dios), where we met "Astarte" and "Ivory Moon" and spent over a week snorkeling, spearfishing and socializing. Fabulous.
Getting there was no fun; motorsailing straight into 15-20 knots and 4-6' seas. Broke a rigging fitting due to the constant pounding but managed to get it fixed in Guanaja, Honduras, thanks to helpful cruisers and locals. While there we had a couple of very enjoyable social evenings. Best was in a little beach bar in the torrential rain; the German owner and his son cooked us pizzas on the outside bbq - at one point the grease in the pan of bacon exploded due to the raindrops; while we sat at the bar in the semi-dark drinking beer, chatting and watching a rat tentatively make his way down the kitchen wall to try to grab some of the pizza fixings - he didn't get any 'til after we were finished. Ended the evening drinking homemade Jamaica Berry wine (Derek, not the rat...).

A successful shot. Hogfish headed for the barbie.

They are very strange looking fish, but damn tasty!

Damn tasty!

From the Hobbes we headed south on calm seas to the Colombian island of San Andres. While there we rented a golf cart for a day, along with another cruising couple and toured the island. Met these guys at the central nature reserve. They were starting to brew up a fish stew that had generous amounts of rum in it as did the cooks! The guy on the left turned out to be our assigned guide. He almost fell into the crocodile infested (we did see one) pond a couple of times, but they were very small crocs.

Gotta take a picture of any tree you can walk through...

Opted to not eat the fish stew back at the nature reserve, so found a great seaside spot with surf breaking right below us.

The whole family (there are four of them and a dog!) heading home with the groceries!

Sometimes it just doesn't work out like you thought....

After leaving San Andres we continued south and stopped at the remote Albuqurque Cays for 8 days. A couple of small islands behind a 4 km reef, 25 nm south of San Andres. There were no other cruising boats there - anchored about 1/4 mile to the north of the northern cay right on the edge of a sand bank in about 6' of water. There is a Colombian military detachment (about 20 guys in their early twenties wearing a random collection of gym shorts) there which we visited to check in. Had the tour of the island from the only guy who spoke even a few words of English - very friendly. The rest of the detachment were busy watching daytime soaps on satellite TV! We snorkeled (suits not required) every day and saw lots of interesting fish including a very active and curious 6' reef shark. Right off the back of the boat we watched thousands of tangs getting together in their mating aggregation. And there were a couple of sand tilefish that we watched doing their very sensuous mating moves. It was quite the voyeuristic show!

The Albuquerques do not provide much protection from weather, so when it started to become unsettled it was time for the last leg back to Panama, We had a mostly flat calm 26 hour motor to Boca del Toro except for the 30 knot squall that we (Derek) should have reefed the main for. But no harm done, just ran off in front of it, screaming along in blasting rain at 10+ knots for 30 minutes.

Guatemala - Muy Bueno!

2010-05-22T14:57:00.000-07:00

We cleared out of Honduras at Utila (a funky little backpacker/scuba diver island where you could smell the marijuana smoke while you waited to have your tanks filled (we didn't). From there we sailed to Livingstone, Guatemala, a distance of 120 miles, over-nighting at Puerto Escondido and Bahia La Grasiosa along the way. Nice down wind sailing. On March 12, at about 9:00 am, we crossed the bar at the mouth of the Rio Dulce river (Sweet Water in Spanish), thankful for our 4' draft as we didn't have to worry about waiting for a high tide. Boats drawing 6' or more sometimes have to be dragged over the bar to get into the river, luckily its soft mud/sand. We anchored off the little town and had an agent come out to us with a contingent of officials, 6 in total. They were very polite and efficient and completed all the paperwork themselves and were gone in 20 minutes. About an hour later they delivered the paperwork back to us on board, accepted our $130 and we were officially cleared in to Guatemala. Undoubtedly the easiest check-in we've ever had. By 11:00 am we were on our way up the river.

Up the Rio Dulce

Heading upstream from Livingstone we entered a steep, jungle-sided gorge that runs for about a dozen miles inland. The river is about 50m wide and with the exception of a couple of obvious (well they are if you're paying attention) sand bars, it is easy navigation. This is the magical place we have heard about for years. The jungle cascades in multi-green layers down the canyon walls to overhang the river. The air is still and the water slick and green. Masses of pelicans and gulls feeding. Truly spectacular! And all around is the life of the river. Fishermen fishing, kids paddling to school, women doing laundry. And carved out of the jungle along the banks, houses, shops, churches and even the odd little restaurant and hotel. There is a mix of tiny little dugout canoes that barely float, larger paddled canoes and the occasional outboard powered lanchas (fiberglass launches about 20' long). Everything and everyone moves by boat.

Fishing - luckily the fish are small, or he would be overboard!

Paddling to school.

The town of Fronteras, Rio Dulce.

After motoring up through the gorge, we then crossed the Golfetta, a large, shallow (8-10') lake. There was no wind and it was unbelievably hot (37C). The air was so humid that it felt like it was too thick to breathe. We re-entered the river, much wider and shallower now, and soon found ourselves (after dodging a few shallow spots less than 5') at the town of Fronteras and Mario's Marina.

Mario's Marina, Idyll Island's home for the next month. The restaurant and bar seen here get pretty active around Happy Hour and are a great place to meet new neighbours and find out more about the country, where to get the best food, the cheapest booze, etc. A very friendly group, some of whom have called Mario's home for seven years!

Street scene in Fronteras. A real frontier town. Always packed and bustling. The classic central American town. Armed guards (with 12 guage shotguns) outside even the smallest store. We didn't feel threatened in any way, though there were stories of active pickpockets and bank machine scams.

Local market stalls are found everywhere, along roadsides and dozens packed side by side in town - always busy and full of fresh Guatemalan produce. A nice change from most islands we visit where agriculture has been abandoned and everything imported. Locals rarely buy fruit and veg in a store though there actually is a small supermarket here. One surprise has been the huge, unappetizing looking carrots. They are actually tender, sweet and taste like carrots, unlike the lovely looking, slim, woody, tasteless type we ate in Canada. Supply is seasonal. If mangoes or avocados aren't in season then you can't fine them in the market. Avocado and mango season is just starting and it is fabulous.

Just behind the marina, we walked 30 minutes through a tiny village and a rubber plantation - looked like a maple syrup forest with drip spouts and cans collecting the latex - and found ourselves in the Guatemala countryside. There is a wide, fertile coastal lowland and then the mountainous interior with many active volcanoes.

These little swallows came out to greet us as we got close to the marina. We thought they were cute. They soon became the bane of our existence at Mario's, perching and pooping all over the boat and trying to nest in the mainsail. Derek had a running battle with them.

We swallowed-proofed the boat as best we could, jumped on a bus (luxury coach) and traveled inland for 5 hours (fare $7.50) to reach the ancient city of Antigua.

Antiqua - a World Heritage Site

Antigua streets are packed after a parade. One of the three volcanoes surrounding the city in the background.

By the early 1500's the town was a Spanish center for trade and government. One of the churches, built as a seminary only 40 years after Columbus first 'found' America, has been restored many times after volcanoes and earthquakes and is now a lovely university. The streets are deeply cobbled which makes it tough to sight see and walk at the same time - and there is so much to see.

Where we went to school. Spanish lessons at L'escuela San Jose de Vieja. That's Derek's teacher, Gladys. Cathy's teacher was a lovely Mayan woman named Mirna. We took 6 days of lessons for 6 hours a day (1-on-1 instruction, for about $100 per week), including field trips and a couple of lunches. It was a great experience, though mentally exhausting. And we did learn some Spanish!

Recess. Small, open individual 'classrooms' surround the garden.

Our home at the San Jose school while studying and visiting Antigua. Several hectares of lovely gardens, sprinkled with traditional casitas (modern inside) are contained within the walled grounds, as are a pool and tennis court.

Graduation dinner, en Espagnol, naturellemente!

Time to get out and see some sights. Churches, lots of churches.... and dramatic ruins of large churches are found every couple of blocks.

Semana Santa, Easter celebration. Processions, Alfumbras and lots of local people swarming to Antigua to observe or be part of the procession. The Alfumbras (Spanish for 'mats') are prepared by people living along the streets that the procession will take. They are begun in the early hours of the three Sundays prior to Easter and are constructed of dyed sawdust meticulously formed into elaborate designs. These are enhanced with finer sawdust stenciling and sometimes syringe applied dye.

Detailed work

Varied subjects. Amazing works of art.

Masses of them. This one created by a nurseryman and family.

Waiting for the parade to start. These Mayan ladies look hot and tired, but it is the most important Catholic religious festival of the year for them. They may well have traveled in from outlying villages, probably crammed in the back of an open pick-up truck.

This "float" must weigh tons. These guys carry in shifts of about 10 minutes. The Processions are all about the painful journey of Christ to Calvary and they share the pain each year, actually three times before each Samana Santa.

And then the ladies with the Virgin Mary.

An intense and important religious celebration.

After the Procession has passed, the alfumbras are reduced to dust (some kind of symbolism here). The streets are cleaned with a few hours. Ready to do it all gain the following Sunday.

Lago Atitlan

Off to Lake titlan. We didn't walk all the way, just across this washed out bridge. The van followed. It was a 4 hour drive on the twistiest mountain road we've ever been on. Sheer cliffs dropping hundreds of feet, narrow roads, no guardrails.

Crossing Lake Atitlan by boat to our hotel. Relatively small volcanoes surround the 15 km lake, a huge caldera which formed when the main volcanic dome collapsed.

Hotel at Lake Attitlan. Note long pants! Its cool up here.

Breakfast on the deck looking out over (another) volcano.

Cooking up specific daisies to produce the yellow dye which coloured this yarn. Many beautiful, subtle and vibrant shades are created from local plants by traditional Mayan methods.

Weaving using a traditional 'tree' loom which is tied behind her back and would be attached to a tree if outside. How such perfect, straight fabrics are produced this way is a mystery to me. She is working on a simple piece, the intricacy of her skirt is normal. The women of the 8 villages perched on the shores of Lago Atitlan virtually all wear traditional heavy woven clothing. The light ''modern blouses are only seen on the hottest of days. Each village has its own unique colours and designs. We found table linens to match our boat colours in the village of San Juan.

Shopping. Interesting woven Mayan calendars.

Pacaya Volcano trip

Time to go and check out a volcano. We tagged along with a group of women from Patagonia. They were lots of fun and sang all the way up and down the trail (dancing in the dark).

Its up to you....

Hot hot hot! You can get as close as you want. Melt your shoes at 20' (we saw a guy who did and was having to walk 1km down over knife sharp lava in his socks). Back in North America, or any other litigious, nanny state, they would have evacuated a 10 km radius, years ago.

Toasting marshmallows in a hot vent. You can see the lava glowing through the crevices and smell the choking sulphur gasses. And in the time it took to toast the marshmallows, the crack opened another 3". The whole mountainside was slowly sliding down over the molten lava. And about 1000' above us, the top of the volcano was shooting glowing boulders and sparks into the darkening evening sky accompanied by huge bangs and rumbles. Truly awesome (and pretty dangerous if you actually think about it...).

Not sure which was more incredible, the volcano, or seeing Cathy eat a marshmallow!

Ruins of Tikal

Time to go and check out the fabulous Mayan ruins at Tikal. They cover15 sq. km, now protected within a 576 sq km park. Over 3000 structures have been mapped, of which only a relative handful have been excavated; temples, plazas, palaces, dormitories, vast courtyards, government buildings, decorative stelae, a huge tripleball court. Inhabited by over 90,000 people at its peak around 600-800 AD, they had proper water and sewage systems at a time when Europe lived in filth.

The Jaguar Temple

One small part of the Acropolis Norte

Temple V - built 600 AD. Note steep, rickety wooden stairway on left. We made it to the top!

One of the 7 temples surrounding Plaza de Los Siete Templos.

Giant Cieba tree, 'tree of life' to the Mayans. Those are huge buttress roots.

Knockin on Heaven's(?) door. The 'underworld' was an important aspect of the Mayan religion. An un-excavated temple in the jungle.

As interesting in a different way, were the jungle plants, animals and birds at Tikal. We did see lots of monkeys (spiders and howlers) but couldn't get a good pic of them as they move too fast.

Nests woven by Oropendulas. The adult birds are more than half the size of the nest and it looks as though they will burst it apart when scrambling their way in.

Gray- necked wood rail. Fearlessly shared the pond with his crocodilean friend.

This guy is about 7' long. We saw him catch and eat a giant bullfrog for breakfast. Took him 45 minutes to swallow it.

Koatimundi, related to anteaters. This one seems to prefer Snickers bars. He just finished licking a wrapper he found and is busy looking for more.

Still find the banana flowers exotic, though they are everywhere.

The top of the highest temple, #4. Morning mists have just cleared and temples rise out of the jungle behind us. And there are many that haven't yet been excavated, still buried beneath the jungle.

Dawn - time to take Idyll Island and head back down the river to the sea....

Providencia and the Bay Islands

2010-04-11T03:12:00.000-07:00

We arrived at the island of Providencia on January 22nd after a 42 hour passage from Colon, Panama. It was at times our most uncomfortable sailing yet as the seas were very steep and confused, 8-10' on our beam. We were sailing close hauled in 20-25 knots of wind. Made for a noisy, wet and bumpy ride, but the boat felt solid and we managed to sleep well enough. The picture above is of our chartplotter screen showing our boat (the black symbol), on top of a significant reef at the entrance to the harbour at Providencia. Not to worry, because we were actually in the clear channel to our port. This is just an illustration of the intermittent inaccuracy of electronic charts. A reminder to watch where we're going!

We did some nice walks on Providencia and the adjoining island of Santa Catalina which is connected by a foot bridge. This is the view over the main harbour. Idyll Island is anchored just below us.

We didn't walk everywhere. Rented a scooter (Derek wants a real motorcycle!), and spent a day touring around the island. You could do it in under an hour without breaking any speed limits, but we took our time and stopped along the way. Everyone on this island rides scooter or small motorcycles. There are only a few cars and the odd small pick-up truck. You frequently see families of 4 on one scooter. The craziest we saw was a couple of guys on a small motorcycle dragging a big bundle of 15' long rebar down the road behind them - sparks flying everywhere!

One of the places we stopped was Roland's - you have to stop at Roland's when you're on Provo. Here is de mon hisself preparing our fish for lunch. In spite of being a territory of Colombia, most Provo Islanders speak English with a West Indian dialect. Many proudly trace their roots back to the pirate captain, Henry Morgan and his crew, who used this island as a base from which to intercept the treasure ships returning to Spain.

Waitin' for our fish to cook - may as well have a fancy drink.

And have a swing on the beach.

Ah, here's de fish. And it was delicious.

On the waterfront at Providencia. Its a very clean and tidy island. The inhabitants take obvious pride in the beauty of this place and work to keep it that way.

Morgan's Head. From the seaward side the rock on this point looks like a human head - sort of. There are caves honeycombing the island and just below us legend has it that there was a stash of treasure. We didn't find any - not that we would say if we did... By now all the easy pickins are gone, but there are probably wrecks still to be found out on the reefs, because the waters around here are pretty tricky to navigate even with modern navigation systems (see first picture in this post!). There are lots of cannons around though, attesting to the pirate's presence.

One evening we invited all the other boats in the bay to join us for sundowner drinks and appies. As usual, these events tend to extend well beyond sundown. Lots of fun and some very interesting people. In this group was a retired Hollywood camera man, his ex-actress wife and a profesional extreme snowboarder. You just never know who's out here!

Much as we enjoyed Providencia, we got a forecast from Chris Parker for perfect weather to make the 400 mile passage to the Bay Islands of Honduras. So it was time to leave. We have to say that the people of Providencia were some of the friendliest and helpful we have met yet. We had one fellow offer to drive us to a restaurant at the other end of the island and then to call him anytime of the night and he would come and pick us up. This was after he had filled our SCUBA tanks - for free!

After a much more enjoyable, faster and smoother passage than the last one (30 hours with the spinnaker up), we arrived in the Bay Islands of Honduras at the island of Guanaja. The main town is on a small off lying island (used to be three but they sorta got built over into one). The houses are densely packed, extending out over the water and there are no motorized vehicles - everyone gets around by boat of some kind. Again, while part of Honduras, many people here speak English as their first language, their ancestors having come here from Jamaica for work.

The beautiful little island of Josh's Cay (recently renamed Graham's Cay by the new owner - Graham), just off Guanaja. We anchored off - far enough off to avoid the sand flies! Had a couple of days here all by ourselves. Snorkeled and Derek tried to catch a bonefish on his fly rod. Graham's Cay is actually a world renowned bonefish and permit fly fishing spot. Graham told us how one of his customers cast a fly from his seat at the dinner table and caught a bonefish. Well sure enough there are lots of bonefish but after hours of stalking them and casting endlessly, Derek had not hooked even one. They were practically bumping into his legs as he waded in the shallows. And they were big!

In the background are the rocky remains of the old Roatan Dive Lodge where we visited, along with friends Jim, Jeannie, Dave and Ron on our first vacation together back in 1983. The lodge burned down about 10 years ago and the jungle has quickly reclaimed it. Brought back many memories...

That's a lot of iguanas! The Roatan iguana refuge. Ones in the wild are sought after as an alternative to chicken. Having tried iguana soup back in Bonaire, Derek can attest to its tastiness.

We don't have many pictures of Guanaja and Roatan as the weather was pretty wet and gloomy much of the time due to a series of cold fronts. And when it wasn;t we went diving. Diving was great at Roatan, possibly the best we have seen in the Caribbean. Relatively healthy corals with good diversity, fabulous, steep walls dropping into the deep blue, 100' visibilty, and lots of interesting fish. We also hung out with some great people in the Bay Islands. We'll never forget watching the Olympic gold medal hockey game with a bunch of other Canucks under the palm trees on the dock at Fantasy Island marina!

San Blas and Panama - Continued

2010-03-03T19:11:00.000-08:00

We left the San Blas islands just before Christmas and spent 2 days sailing along the Panamanian coast to Colon; the Caribbean entrance to the canal. We tied up the boat at Shelter Bay Marina - really the only option now that there is no safe place to tie up a dinghy in town. While there getting provisioned and cleaned up for Tristan's Christmas visit, we re-met Ted and Veronique of Verite, a Catana 50 catamaran. They are a fun and energetic couple who we first met in the Rosarios Islands near Cartagana. They asked if we would be interested in joining them as line handlers on their transit through the canal. We jumped at the chance not only because it would be great experience for when we eventually take Idyll Island through, but because we knew it would be great fun with them. And the timing was perfect for getting to Panama City to meet Tristan.

Cathy and Derek aboard Verite about to enter the Gatun locks at dusk on the Caribbean side of the Panama Canal. As line handlers, we had to catch the messenger lines attached to weighted balls (monkey fists) thrown down (40') to (or at) us by the lock workers, make fast our heavy mooring lines and then constantly adjust the tension on the lines as locks filled or emptied to keep Verite centered in the lock against the pressure of the in-rushing (or out-flowing) water.

We had to stay overnight in Gatun Lake. When it came time (0615) to raise the anchor the next morning to proceed across the Lake to the Miraflores locks, it turned out that Verite's anchor chain was wrapped around a submerged 10 m long tree. Skipper Ted had to jump into the water with a saw to clear the obstruction before we could get underway. There are fines for delaying the transit and there are crocodiles in the lake!

You can't see them, but there are lots of big ships in the 20 km channel through the Gatun Lake and Guillard Cut. Requires a fair bit of concentration to avoid being run over.

Our Canal adviser from the first day, Alvir. This is the second day when we had another adviser on board. Alvir took the day off to rejoin us on his own time - wonder why...?

The Bridge of the Americas, connecting North and South America, behind us, we are in the Pacific - if only briefly this time. We had a great couple of days with Ted, Veronique and Ted's mother and sister. And Alvir!

Tristan arrived safe and sound, if somewhat tired after his 2 day journey to join us and a tough semester at college. This is Christmas Eve at the Miraflores Lock visitors centre where we stopped on our way back across the isthmus by taxi to the marina and Idyll Island. The visitors centre with its extensive museum is an interesting stop. Making it even more interesting for us, if not bizarre, was running into Derek' cousin from Vancouver and his family, who Derek had not seen for over 15 years!

Christmas morning on Idyll Island at Shelter Bay Marina. We're together, cards and presents from friends and family and champagne for breakfast.

Somehow on Christmas Day there was a point when we only had one tin of beer in the pool....

Waterpolo skills were employed by one of us....

Someone swallowed more pool water than beer...

And in the end youth triumphed - this time....

Christmas day afternoon in the marina pool. Luckily we were able to find some more beer!

On Boxing Day we sailed back to the San Blas Islands.

Finding the right spot to drop the anchor is always challenging and requires good coordination between the foredeck and the helmsman.

Tristan jumped in with Derek's Christmas speargun to see if he could find dinner. Unfortunately the San Blas have been heavily overfished and there are very few fish of a size worthy of spearing. We did not take any.

Cooling off while floating on our pool noodles with a couple of cold ones. A trick taught to us by friends Chris and Kelly on Verna Breeze.

Cathy learning how to fly a kiteboard kite with our friend John from Tyee III. John, his wife Lucy and their boys; Theo and Simi, are from Revelstoke BC. They are now headed for the South Pacific.

Cathy looking at more molas. She managed to resist - this time.

In the San Blas there are a few stores but we were unable to find any fresh produce in them. Luckily, the veggie boat comes out to some of the anchorages and pulls up alongside

The island of Linton between Colon and the San Blas is uninhabited except for a troop of monkeys who are clearly in charge.

What the heck is this? An apple? The other guys gave me.....

... a whole bag of Cheezies!

Scary but tasty. Barracuda are one of our favourite fish to eat.

Yoga under the palm trees on Potluck Island. Led by Suzanne from Nautibear, this must be the most perfect place on the planet for yoga. It was Tristan's first experience and he's doing his "tree" position perfectly - the size 14 feet probably help.

After an exhausting day of yoga and snorkeling we need to get our strength back with a huge plate of ribs. Yum!

Potluck on Potluck Island. A regular weekly event and chance to meet cruisers from all over the world. The island is maintained in park-like perfection by Reg of Runner, who with his wife Debbie have been cruising the San Blas for 14 years.

Mixed seafood grill for New Years Eve dinner with our Italian friends.

After dinner sing along - in Italian, and French and English. A very cosmopolitan and fun New Years Eve. Thanks to Marco, Enrica and little Pablo!

On the way back to Colon we stopped at Linton again and this time visited the sloths. Actually we visited with Binnie and Roger who welcomed us warmly though we were unannounced. They live with 3 rescued sloths - gentle and fascinating animals related to possums and anteaters rather than monkeys.

San Blas Islands, Panama - First installment

2010-02-25T10:17:00.000-08:00

We departed Cartagena on November 21, 2009, bound for the San Blas Islands of Panama, a distance of 150 miles. But first we made an overnight stop at the Islas Rosarios, just 18 miles off Cartagena, so we could scrape off the 1000s of barnacles that had grown on our hulls during the 10 days we had been in the heavily 'enriched' waters of Cartagena harbour. It took the 2 of us almost 4 hours but the water was clear a gorgeous. Next day we left the anchorage and hoisted the spinnaker for a 21 hour overnight sail in light breezes. Dolphins came to play at dawn. Our first sighting of Kuna Yala, the native Kuna people's name for the San Blas, was of many low lying islands backed by misty, jungle covered hills of the mainland. In some ways reminiscent of the BC coast. We worked our way through the reefs and anchored in behind a little palm covered island. Locals in their dugout canoes, were paddling and sailing all around. They waved, but otherwise ignored us as they went about their business of fishing, lobster diving, heading up river to work their fincas (farms) or off to tend the islands.

Kuna village with lush mainland hills layered behind. We had to wait a week until the clouds lifted to get a sunny picture - it was the end of the 5 month rainy season.

Kuna father and son heading home from the fishing grounds.

A typical San Blas island. There are many hundreds like this along the hundred km coastline. The Kunas tend the palms and harvest the coconuts. Every tree belongs to a village.

Kuna village waterfront. The outhouse on the right just hangs out over the water. The reed and thatch houses are densely packed, with only narrow paths between them. The islands are very low, with typical elevations of only 2-3'. Storm surge and rising sea levels make fighting erosion a constant job.

The kids are alright! Kuna kids were very friendly and would run up and take our hands to lead us through their villages. In contrast to the adults, they loved to have their pictures taken. Behind them is a dugout canoe or ulu, nearing completion. Takes a long time with only hand tools.

These guys were up for a game of balloon volleyball - and anything else!

Molas are the traditional front and back panels which decorate the blouses of Kuna women and have become a renowned form of folk art. They consist of intricate, often geometric designs, created from multiple cut-through layers of fabric and extremely fine embroidery. One mola can take more than a month to complete. She was one of only two woman willing to have her picture taken (in the six weeks we there!) and she crouched over so far that her mola can't be seen, though her nose ring can.

Little girl and her grandmother wearing molas and navy wrap skirts. The grandmother is also wearing the traditional beaded leggings and bracelets. She allowed us to take her picture because we bought two of her molas.

Master mola maker, Venancio. It was difficult to choose from amongst his dozens of fine works. So we bought several - actually, more than several....

A more modern design with the upper part of the blouse cut away after we bought it. The bits would be reused.

We should get sails like that!

Images of Cartagena

2010-01-20T11:33:00.000-08:00

A few images of Cartagena. We loved our visit; people were friendly, fascinating history and vibrant old walled city. Harbour water though was a toxic soup - only thing growing seemed to be barnacles - we had to scrub off literally thousands after only 10 days. We are just leaving Shelter Bay Marina, Colon, Panama for a 250 mile passage to Providencia. Then its Bay Islands of Honduras, Rio Dulce in Guatemala, Belize, Yucatan peninsula of Mexico and hopefully Cuba before circling back here in July to avoid hurricanes.

Entering Cartagena the contrast of old and new is immediately apparent with fishermen paddling their dugouts in front of modern high rises. Not sure what kind of fish are able to live in the toxic waters - none that we would want to eat!

View from our front porch in Cartagena.

Main gate into the walled Old City of Cartagena.

Difficult to see, but the Colombian Navy is rowing Miss Cartagena contestants around the anchorage. There were hundreds of spectator boats. This was the fourth parade we saw in our first 4 days in the city. Any and every excuse for a party in Colombia!

Lots of cathedrals dating back to the 17th century. This one damaged by Drake's cannons when he laid siege to the city.

Relaxing over lunch in a cool(ish) little oasis. Many massive wooden doors or gates open off the narrow streets into inner courtyards.

D, "I know which one I'd choose!"

Another enclosed courtyard. This one a little more upscale.

These horse drawn carriages move at a quick trot through the evening streets of the old city. The sound of hooves on the centuries old cobbles transports one back to colonial times.

Birthday dinner for Cathy at a fancier place than we typically frequent. The live guitar music was a treat - much better than the meal!

A heap of emeralds. Hard to get the colour right in the picture. Colombia is famous for its emeralds and by a fortuitous coincidence (?) we wound up there on Cathy's birthday. We selected a number of stones and had them made into a ring and pair of earrings. We were both very pleased with the result!

Looking out toward the Old City from the wall of Castillo de San Filipe, the strongest fort ever built by the Spanish completed in 1762. Within the walls there is a maze of tunnels to enable the protected movement of troops and supplies.

The smiling face of Cartagena.

Cruising to Cartagena

2009-12-20T19:18:00.000-08:00

The stretch of water between the ABCs and Cartagena is known for its consistently high winds and rough seas. But thanks to the weather forecasting services of Chris Parker, we were able to pick a great weather window for our trip. We left Curacao on October 30th, at 0430 to make sure that we arrived at our first stop at Cabo de la Vela, Colombia in good light the next day. It is a 180 mile passage and we had wind in the 10-15 knot range. We started with the spinnaker, then motored for a while and finished with full main and genoa. We caught a small mahi-mahi just in time for him to join us for dinner. The seas were moderate and we had a wonderful 30 hour trip, accompanied by dolphins for most of the night as we sailed along in the moonlight.

We arrived at Cabo de la Vela at 1100 on October 31st and anchored in the shelter of the arid, rocky cape. Based on the sketchy cruising guide for the area, we had expected an active fishing village but the area seems to have largely given over to rustic tourist accommodation, which appeared to be mostly vacant. Apparently this area has become popular among Colombians and others as a remote tourism destination, though it didn’t look particularly appealing from our vantage point. We tried to go ashore but couldn’t find a spot where we felt comfortable leaving the dinghy, so just hung out on the boat for the day. The water though clean, was quite murky from the run-off of many rivers along the coast. The few fishermen that passed by seemed friendly enough, though we weren’t interested in buying the pretty reef fish that they had caught.

Approaching the anchorage behind Cabo de la Vela, Colombia.

Tourist "cabins" at Cabo de la Vela. This is rustic. And since there was no one around, either it was off season or maybe a bit too rustic.

We left around noon to do the 130 miles to 5 Bays. Just before dusk we got into a school of tuna and caught 4 before we pulled in the lines. Had a wonderful meal of fresh sashimi sailing along under the spinnaker in the moonlight – idyllic! Flew the chute in light breezes until about midnight, when multiple thunderstorms required us to take it down so we could take evasive action to avoid any unpleasantness. At dawn it was flat calm and we were motoring along the Colombian coast with the snow capped Santa Marta mountains in the background. Yes, snow capped at 10 degrees above the equator! The scenery was reminiscent of the BC coast except for the palm trees and the air temperature was 34C and the water 30C!

Moonlight sashimi dinner as we sail along at 7 knots under spinnaker. Tuna doesn't get much fresher - about 1 hour since it was swimming. Notice the glass of wine in a real glass - love going downwind in our cat!

We pulled into the first of the famous 5 Bays of Colombia around noon and anchored in 10’ of water all by ourselves, 50 meters off the beach, to the sound of howler monkeys roaring in the jungle. We jumped in for a snorkel and found the bottom alive with scorpion fish! We have often seen several in an area, but in this location there were dozens, many in pairs, so we assumed there must be some kind of mating thing going on. Not a place where one would want to go wading, as the scorpion fish (aka stone fish) have a toxic spine on the dorsal fin which can inflict a serious wound. But even more interesting, was Cathy finding a Pacific Lion Fish. As the name suggests, they are not supposed to be in the Caribbean, but in recent years have been sighted in several locations on this side. It is thought that they were introduced into the Atlantic via dumping of some aquaria in Florida several years ago and have been working their way down through the Bahamas and into the Northern Caribbean. We now know that they are in the south as well. They are voracious predators of small reef fishes and themselves have no known predators here in the Caribbean. They are beautiful fish but they just don’t belong here. So Cathy captured and preserved the little one she found.

Approaching the first of Five Bays on the Colombian coast.

Tourist cabins, 5 Bays. Looks like it would be a great place to get away from it all.

Idyll Island all alone in Bahia Cinto, 5 Bays National Park, Colombia.

Scorpion fish - actually two. They are masters of disguise, though not the prettiest fish on the reef.

Pacific Lion Fish (about 8cm) in the southern Caribbean waters of Colombia. Those beautiful feathery fins hide toxic spines, protecting them from predators.

Pacific Lion Fish in the specimen jar, about to be "preserved".

We were still experiencing low/no wind conditions so we motored through the next couple of bays. This area is all a national park and seems to be actively used by Colombians. We found ourselves another deserted little bay, and as we were trying to anchor realized why. It is a coral rubble bottom with several reefs and coral heads poking up to within a couple of feet of the surface and poorly charted to boot. We did manage to find a marginal spot which was fine in the settled conditions. After a couple of nights listening to our chain grinding on the already dead coral, we moved along to the resort town of Rodadero, a few miles down the coast where we dropped anchor and immediately became an attraction for the holidaying Colombians in their rented pedal boats. They all wanted to take pictures of us and many insisted that we take pictures of them – with our camera. Two more uneventful days of sailing/motoring in light winds and calm seas and we arrived in Cartagena on November 9th.

Colombian guys giving us a friendly thumbs up welcome to Colombia!

B&C of the ABCs (2009 version)

2009-12-20T08:48:00.003-08:00

We are playing catch-up on the blog, having reached Colon, Panama and decent wifi access. More to come....

Curacao (October 5 - 30, 2009)

This is our second visit to Curacao having been here in December of last year, so this time 'round we have only included pictures and descriptions of a few of the highlights.

Had a great spinnaker day sail to Curacao from Bonaire, with a short lunch stop at Klein Curacao. We were the only ones on the island, which on weekends becomes crowded with day trippers from Curacao.

Abandoned lighthouse on Klein Curacao. Note superstructure of wrecked ship in background, not to mention the peculiar profile of the lighthouse...

In late afternoon we entered the Spanish Water anchorage on the main island. Spanish Water is a large (1km x 3km) body of water with many small bays and inlets. Except for the single, winding entrance, it is completely landlocked. This makes for a well protected anchorage but with up to 200 boats and quite a bit of development on the shore, the water is not conducive to swimming, though some do and seem to survive.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays there is a Happy Hour at the local sailing club. Lots of locals show up, as well as cruisers making for a real cosmopolitan mix. All nationalities, all ages, all budgets – all having fun. We would find ourselves in a group with people from Italy, Sweden, Holland, Belgium,

France

. All speaking English so we can participate in the conversation – impressive and much appreciated by us. Meeting such a variety of interesting people from all over the world, many of whom have become good friends, is one the best aspects of this cruising lifestyle.

We also had a couple of great evenings with Baros (one especially, with their friends from Holland, where once again, the support posts for our arch were irresistible for incorporation in several dance routines).

ABBA reunion on Idyll Island. Who woulda thought..?

Another highlight of our time in Curacao was a hike to the summit of Kristoffel Mountain, the tallest peak on the island. A couple of local boaters provided their cars and 9 of us set off at dawn for the 90 minute drive to the other end the island, so we could do the hike in the “cool” of the morning. It was 8:00 before we got on the trail which started slowly but ended 2 hours later in a near vertical rock scramble to the top, the temperature by that time in the low 30s. All of us boat people, most of whom don’t get much walking exercise, made it. The view was great and thankfully the breeze was cool. Once back in the cars we headed for a beach where we refreshed ourselves with beer and swims.

A short rest at base camp before tackling the summit.

We made it!

The team at the top. Great view of Curacao.

In Curacao, Derek embarked on a quest for the best kabritu stoba (goat stew), sampling from many of the local vendors. The stand at the main bus terminal in Willemstad made a terrific stoba but lost points for lack of ambience, being served through an iron grating, while standing on the sidewalk. We also took advantage of the excellent and inexpensive medical services on Curacao to have our spots checked, essential when living outside in the sun. We each had a bit or two removed, but nothing of serious concern.

Once the boat was provisioned with beer, wine, cheese, chocolate and a few other less essential items, we were ready for the next weather window to leave Curacao bound for Cartagena, via the coast of Colombia. Our first stop though, was peaceful Santa Kruz Bay just along the coast of Curacao, where we spent several hours scrubbing off the hundreds of barnacles that had grown on our hull in the nutrient rich Spanish Waters.

Iguana Soup and Goat Stew

Our stay in Bonaire this year (August 25 - October 5), included Bonaire Day, celebrated in the small town of Rincon just outside the Washington Slagbaai Park. We decided to make a day of it with Randy and Lynn, so rented a car and left the boats early. We drove the winding coast road north and entered the park soon after it opened. We had been here several times last year, so hit the highlights and finished up with a couple of cold ones on the beach at SlagBaai. We left the park just after noon and headed for the celebrations in Rincon. We had been assured that there would be lots of music and food. We found both, in a hot, small town way. The highlight for Derek was trying the Kabritu Stoba (aka goat stew), and the iguana (aka Bonaire chicken) soup. Both were good, the goat very flavourful but bony and the iguana tasted better than they look!

While in Bonaire, we also met up with our friends, Linda and Hans aboard Baros. Together with Randy and Lynn we all had several great evenings, on board one or other of our boats or ashore at BobbyJans for ribs or Karel’s or Rumrunners for happy hours. Rumrunner Mondays became a bit of a tradition. We would go and snorkel right in front of the resort where there are massive schools of silversides (silvery little baitfish), with many larger fish zooming around looking for dinner. Swimming into the millions of silversides and having them close around you in a shimmering cloud was very cool. Coming face to face with a 5’ tarpon doing the same thing, provided added excitement! Just above us on the lava cliff, the iguanas would be soaking up the last of the day’s heat. It seems that they consider some spots more desirable than others and we watched as two of these large lizards (3’+), battled each other, with the loser finally being thrown off the rocks to land in the water (with us) 6’ below! After all this excitement we would shower off at the Rumrunners dock and then go up to the bar for their free rum punch Happy Hour. Thanks to Rumrunners for making us scruffy cruisers feel welcome! A regular at the Happy Hour was Cap’n Don, the driving force behind protecting Bonaire’s underwater world starting 40 years ago and with his foresight establishing it as the diving mecca it has become. Cathy had several good conversations with Don about what life was like on Bonaire, “back in the day”. Thanks to Don and many others, Bonaire’s coral reefs and fish life, though not what they once were, are the best we have seen in the Caribbean, including Los Roques, Las Aves, and the San Blas.

Good as life is in Bonaire, it was time to move along, so we said so long to friends and set sail for Curacao, the next of the ABC islands (should be ACB) to the west.

Bon Bini in Bonaire

2009-10-27T20:35:00.000-07:00

"Bon Bini" means welcome in Papiamentu, the language of the ABCs. Its a mix of Spanish, Dutch and South American Indian languages. And we did feel very welcome on our return to Bonaire in September.

What would a blog posting about Bonaire be without a flamingo picture? They are commonly seen wading in the salt ponds, but the coolest is when they are flying overhead with their long necks and legs stretched out fore and aft, looking like an arrow with the feathers in the middle.

We saw many more parrots on Bonaire this year than last. They fly around in small flocks, screeching raucously as they invade one tree after another then quckly move on. They seem like a boistrous bunch of teenagers, trying to stir something up.

Bonaire is a dry island with cactus forests dominating the northern part.

And in the south, the dominant feature is salt. Mountains of it. The pink water in the foreground is caused by brine shrimp, which also give the flamingoes their colour.

Idyll Island was moored in front of a beach that was used for swimming lessons. Here is a group of little ones who have just swum between our hulls. They got a real kick out of this and it became a daily event.

All dressed up and out on the town with "High States" to celebrate Randy's birthday. Food and service was very good, and prices in a restaurant like this were about what we would pay at home. Therefore, we only eat in places like this on very special and rare occasions!

The ladies looking good and smiling at the thought of the free rum punch Happy Hour at RumRunners. Even the iguana in the bouganvillia behind them is smiling!

And Captain Don is smilng too! He is a bit of a legend in Bonaire and in scuba diving circles, as he was the driving force behind establishing Bonaire as an marine park and preserving its underwater treasures.

A seahorse. He's only in about 4' of water right in front of the town, hangin' out in a clump of old wires and pipes. Not a very picturesque location, but he was the first seahorse Cathy had ever seen in the wild. Every time we jumped in the water in Bonaire, we saw something cool.

Like this beautiful sharptail eel. These guys swim along the bottom and stick their noses into every little crevice and hole they can find, looking for tasty bites. They are often followed by several other species of fish hovering just above them in the hope that something might get flushed out and provide easier pickins than finding it on their own.

A Few More Islas de Venezuela

2009-09-29T09:59:00.001-07:00

Who's there? Red Footed Booby perched in mangroves in Las Aves. Las Aves means "the birds" in Spanish - aptly named! There were boobies, frigate birds, pelicans, and just about every other species of seabird. All up close and personal - and smelly!

Brown Booby and chick on nest. When the chick stands up and asks (demands) to be fed, its bigger than the parents. We know what that's like!

Good to be in clear water after murk of Grenada. Temperature about 85F (30C).

Especially when you see cool stuff like these very large (close to 3') Midnight Parrot Fish. We also saw a school of equally large Rainbow Parrots feeding on top of the reef in water so shallow they were half out of it.

This water is not so clear. Some of the islands have fresh-ish water just below the surface. This was critical for the original inhabitants and is still used by fishermen. Even with our watermaker not working we weren't tempted to fill our tanks here!

We don't always anchor off a perfect tropical beach. This is the view from Idyll Island of the mangroves at the anchorage in Las Aves. Reminded us of the Ents in Lord of the Rings, though we couldn't hear a word they said over the noise of the birds!

On our way to Bonaire from Las Aves we were joined by a pod of dolphins for 20 minutes or so. It seemed like they were trying to see which of them could come closest to touching their dorsal fins to Derek's hand as he stretched over the forward crossbeam. They came within inches but never touched. They looked like they were laughing with the sport of it! (Or maybe because he wasn't wearing any shorts.)
A bit later we were welcomed to Bonaire seaspace by a Dutch Coast Guard plane that flew by at about 50' off our stern. They didn't look like they were laughing (Derek had shorts on by then). There is a lot of drug smuggling out of nearby Venezuela and Colombia, so they are pretty vigilant in this area.

Sailing up the southern, leeward side of Bonaire past the salt ponds and mountains of salt waiting to be shipped. One of the best sails in the Caribbean with 20 knots of breeze in flat water. We hit 10 knots reaching with our spinnaker which we had up for the full 35 miles from Las Aves and kept flying right to the entrance to Kralendijk harbour.

On the mooring at Kralendijk, Bonaire. View from the front porch.

After a month in the islands, the boys are off to do the laundry. OK, let's not stretch it tooo far but they are at least carrying the bags!

Las Islas de Venezuela

2009-09-14T13:01:00.000-07:00

We left Grenada at "O dark thirty", in company with Randy and Lynn on High States. As dawn broke and we watched them pulling away from us with their big genoa, we decided it was time to get our spinnaker up. We had a great sail to Los Testigos - the first of many over the next few weeks. Downwind is good!

One fish ....

Two fish. Yellow fish, blue fish! Good fishing as we sailed over the reefs near Los Testigos. We were able to offer Randy and Lynn their choice of catch of the day for dinner that night. Both were mighty tasty.

On arrival at our anchorage in Los Testigos (about 4PM) the air was filled with wheeling frigate birds and various types of boobies which nest on the surrounding rocky islets. Most were juveniles now fending for themselves and lacking the graceful and successful fishing skills of their parents. We sat in a lovely bay looking over a sand isthmus to the open sea and low hills where small goats fed. We were a bit uncomfortable about several shots we heard and the rough looking fellow returning to his shack with something(?). Several of the locally built, very high prowed fishing and boats passed with friendly waves and smiles. The coral heads near the boat revealed three different types of morays within 15 feet. Next day we dinghied to the main fishing village on an adjacent island and were checked in by a very nice young member of the Venezuelan Garda Costa who was very tolerant and encouraging regarding our poor/non-existent Spanish. You never know what to expect from the officials. Would that they were all so friendly and helpful.

We spent a couple of days exploring the surrounding islands finding extensive sand dunes and beaches with very recent tracks of turtles who had dragged their massive bodies to and from nests, and little tracks, evidence of tiny turtles scrambles to their first swim. After one of our forays we returned to the dinghy and noticed that it had been moved, however all seemed in order. We later learned from the French couple anchored in the next cove that that the fellow on shore with the shotgun had rescued our dinghy and re-anchored it for us. We wanted to thank him, so gingerly approached his 'home' with a bottle of wine. He welcomed us, was very nice and showed us the dinner of seabird he was preparing which he said was delicious. We took his word for it and hope the wine helped to wash it down. There are no stores on these islands.

On to the island of La Blanquilla. We left in the evening so as to arrive in good daylight. Unfortunately, it was mostly a motor sail, but the seas were flat and the moon was full.

High States getting ready to drop the hook at La Blanquilla. We spent a couple of days here, enjoying snorkeling at spectacular Americano Bay, one of our favourite spots from last year.

Americano Bay, La Blanquilla. Very cool to snorkel under this 20' arch.

We then sailed off into the sunset headed for Los Roques, temporarily leaving High States. We had a full moon, a 15 knot breeze from behind us and only a 1-2m swell. Perfect conditions to fly the spinnaker - our first time at night with just the two of us (only one on watch at a time). It was magical as we sailed along at up to 10 knots with the bright silver moonlight illuminating the sea and the sail, with the sound of the boat swooshing through the water and surging gently on the swells. And of course the air was a soft, velvety 28 degrees!

When we arrived in Los Roques we spent the first 3 nights anchored in behind the barrier reef. Our only neighbour was this trawler who some years ago miscalculated the position of the entrance through the reef. A grim reminder to keep a careful watch! We travelled through the archipelago in mid-day with one of us perched up high to make sure we could see the reefs.

The beach scene at Gran Roques. The previous day was a bit more stressful when we went to check in with the Garda Costa. We were hit up for a $60 "fee" which went straight into the officer's shirt pocket. In return we were assured we could stay in the wetern half of the archipelago "no problema" for 10 days, instead of the official 24 hours for a vessel in transit. We later heard from an Italian boat that they paid $100, while our friends on High States didn't pay a peso. Probably depends on who's watching...

Off to explore one of the dozens of cays (keys) and islands that make up the Los Roques archipelago. Most of them deserted.

Even in paradise there's laundry to be done. The watermaker must have been working that day!

Derek fishing for the elusive bonefish. Los Roques is reputedly a mecca for those who pursue this wily fish.

And still fishing. He did catch a small bonefish and released it after a scrappy fight.

You'd think they'd be easier to catch when you're snorkeling and see them swarming like this!

July in Grenada

2009-09-04T15:34:00.000-07:00

Our last installment ended with Tristan flying back to Victoria after a great visit on Idyll Island. He had to return to his responsibilities of earning money working as a lifeguard and as a vineyard worker to help support himself at college, while his wayward parents fell back into the relaxin’ lifestyle of Cruisers in Grenada. It really is a great island with friendly people, just enough challenges in finding parts and provisions to keep things interesting and to have something to complain about. Highlights included meeting old friends, Jim and Renate (well, Renate is not old) who finally caught up with us after being a couple of islands behind us since January! Of course they started in Florida – in November… They anchored their boat, Emerald Seas, right beside us so we were able to keep an eye on them and vice versa. We had lots of good times and just hangin’ out floating around in the water keeping cool. We also consumed a few bottles of wine that had somehow survived the trip from St. Martin. Emerald Seas is an Island Packet 37, a solid, seakindly boat that is looking after them well. They also have a fancy new dinghy, a Walker Bay Genesis hard bottom inflatable (RIB) with a 15hp outboard. Jim told us how well this boat performed and Derek was particularly interested because our Avon RIB of the same size (11’), with the same engine goes fast but cavitates badly when trying to turn on the plane. So a couple of days later Jim and Derek are heading off to town in the Walker Bay to buy some boat bits. Jim gets her on the plane and then asks, “Want to see how well she turns?” He cranks over the steering handle and within a nanosecond, Derek sees Jim disappear over the side with the most amazed expression on his face. Derek was laughing so hard he could barely get the boat back to pull Jim out of the water. Luckily no one was hurt and yes indeedy, that boat does corner like its on rails. After that we noticed that Renate seemed to do most of the dinghy driving…

No season in Grenada would ever be complete without at least one visit to Gouyave (we went twice) - the Fish Capital of Grenada. Every Friday night they close off several streets and dozens of vendors set up to sell many types of fish cooked any way you like as long as its fried. Actually, we found a tasty wahoo pizza and a snapper steamed in foil with veggies. But the fried flying fish were pretty darned good! And then there's the free rum sampling....

Its a great scene and everyone is really friendly and havin' a good time, Mon!

Looking for one more piece of fish....

And the beat goes on ....

Another fine dinner on Emerald Seas. Jim and Renate look pretty happy with their cruising lifestyle!

Before we left Grenada, we were lucky to have good friends Bruce and Laura on Amaryllis sail in from the USVI. It was great to see them and have another chance to say “Farewell”, before we headed west and they back to the US for a couple of months. In Grenada, we also reunited with Lynn and Randy on High States, whom we met last year just as we were starting out from Soper's Hole in the BVI. They are also from Victoria. Fortunately, we don't have to say "So Long" to them just yet, as we are going to buddy boat with them through the Venezuelan Islands to Bonaire.

Back in Grenada

2009-07-07T09:52:00.000-07:00

Tristan and Cathy looking good in the Tobago Cays.

Its been a busy time on Idyll Island since our last update. After saying “so long” to Derek’s brother et famille, we picked up our good friend Dave Reay and spent a few days sailing with him to St. Thomas, where he caught his flight back to Victoria to spend the summer on his BC boat. Once he had left, we started working through the list of projects and repairs that had been in hiatus while we had friends and family aboard for the previous few months.

We picked up another 2 solar panels (total of 650 watts now) so that we can be pretty much engine free while at anchor; we repaired our starboard alternator (again) and watermaker (again), bought ourselves a liferaft, just in case our unsinkable boat isn’t; got our shortwave (SSB) radio fixed so that we can now talk as well as listen, installed an automatic identification system (AIS) so that we can see who those ships are at night and which way they’re going, installed a Crew Overboard alarm system (Raymarine Lifetag), shipped in a sewing machine and material for Cathy to make covers for our cockpit cushions, and we finally succumbed and bought ourselves a TV/DVD unit. Not to mention the 6 cases (or was it 7?) of wine, case of rum and oh, some food too. We were thinking that this was going to be our last stop where we could buy many things we couldn’t get “down island” or if available, only at piratical prices. While in St. Thomas we had a couple of farewell get-togethers with our friends Bruce and Laura on Amaryllis. We probably won’t see them again before we head west. That’s the hard part of cruising….

So after a couple of weeks emptying our bank account while watching Idyll Island sink lower and lower on her lines, the weather finally settled down to where we could head east. It wasn’t like we planned to go to Sint Maarten, the only place with more services and shopping than St. Thomas at even better prices, the wind gods just kind of sucked us in… So again, we went into project/acquisition mode and modified our helm seat to swing out of the way when at anchor (makes way more room for partying in the cockpit), installed a raised maple paneled ceiling in the galley (to give Derek enough headroom to do the dishes without whining quite so much – probably the most expensive inch ever), had the salon table and chart table refinished ( a bit of a saga…), and found a reeeally great rum (El Dorado from Guyana) at a reeeeally great price, so stocked up on that to make us feel better about spending so much money on other stuff. We also met up with our friends Chris and Kelly on “Verna Breeze” and Jen and Jay on “Rum Runner”. Some good evenings sampling rums and wines. Based on Chris and Jay’s recommendations we also bought a cool little black box that plugs into our newly purchased TV and allows us to play just about anything, and Chris gave us a great deal on his 750 GB hard drive fully loaded with 100+ movies. Now we have even more excuses not to do boat work!

Idyll Island at the dock in St. Maarten for a few upgrades.

Our new swing-away helm seat. FKG Rigging did a great job. You can't see the cool custom rod holder they also made up for us.

The new raised maple ceiling in the galley. A bit of an ordeal to get it in, but Derek now doesn't have to do his Quasimodo impersonation to work in the galley.

We finally got out of St. Maarten, with poor old Idyll Island sitting even lower in the water, but her crew happy if significantly poorer. We had only just enough time to get to St. Lucia to meet our son Tristan who was flying in to spend 12 days with us. One of our stops was Montserrat, with its active volcano. It was there that we discovered a leaking (pouring) cooling manifold on the starboard engine. Thankfully, being a catamaran we have built in redundancy and can operate on one engine. We were able to call Island Water World in St. Lucia, and they were happy to order in a new manifold to be there when we arrived. We did have a good tour of Montserrat and saw how the islanders are working to rebuild their country after the devastating eruptions destroyed half their already small island, including burying the capital city in volcanic ash.

Portsmouth, ex capital city of Montserrat, buried in ash. The image is a bit fuzzy because it was taken through a long telephoto as you aren't allowed anywhere near the area due to the real risk of more pyroclastic eruptions.

The Montserrat International Airport. Also ex. Buried in ash.

On the way to St. Lucia, we stopped at Fort de France, Martinique for a day, mostly for Derek to gorge on French pastries!

Between Martinique and St. Lucia, we sailed through a squall with winds to 30 knots. It hit us before we realized that it would have been a good idea to reef the sails, so we ran down wind in front of it for half an hour, surfing along at 10-11 knots under full sail. A bit sketchy and a reminder to reef early. We dropped anchor in Rodney Bay St. Lucia the day before Tristan was to arrive. We had spent too much time in St. Lucia last year getting our watermaker fixed the first of many times. But everyone was very friendly and helpful and made us feel welcome. And the jet skiis were far less obnoxious than last year. Jon at Regis Elecronics provided some very good advice on our again-not-working-very-well watermaker. No, not to throw it overboard -with Jon’s advice, Derek was able to fix a sticking brush in the feed pump and stop an air leak. Finally, our watermaker seems to be working as it should! On Saturday (June 20th), Tristan arrived. It was so great to see him – Christmas in Bonaire was the last time. Derek spent the following day (Father’s Day) installing the new cooling manifold while Tristan slept off his jet lag, then we celebrated with a fantastic sparerib dinner that Cathy made for us in her new pressure cooker. The following day we set sail for Bequia and the Tobago Cays.

Caught a nice Wahoo along the way. Put up a decent fight, but succumbed quickly to the overproof rum once we had him on the gaff!

Then the butchering starts. Blood everywhere with these fast warm water fish. Took about an hour to fillet this guy. Well worth it though as the meat is very tasty without any "fishiness" at all.

It was great to finally be sailing with the wind on our beam, it seems like we have been bashing to windward for most of the last 6 months. The boat goes faster, quieter and more smoothly - just like in the brochures. We checked into Bequia, a very sleepy little town, with not much in the way of anything. Many of the restaurants and bars were closed (including our old hang-out from 13 years ago, the Green Boley). Normal end-of-the-season slow down, exacerbated by the impact of the ailing global economy. We quickly headed for the Tobago Cays, just a few hours south.

Tristan taking a bath on the trampoline!

A pod of dolphins off St. Lucia, must have been over 50 and they were way to busy herding their dinner to pay any attention to us!

We dropped anchor in 7’ of crystal clear water with nothing but a reef between ourselves and Africa (and we had a layer of Sahara dust all over the boat to prove it). For the next 5 days we snorkeled with turtles and rays (eagle rays swimming right off the back of the boat and turtles everywhere), explored the reef and little islands and just hung out and relaxed. We had a few squalls blow through, but the holding is about perfect and our anchor just dug in further. We had a good visit with Walter, “the Face of the Tobago Cays”. We first met Walter 13 years ago, when he delivered ice to us every day so that our friend Mike could have his beer really cold.

Tristan, jumping for joy at being back in the Tobago Cays!

Walter, de Man.

Cathy and Derek hangin' out in the Tobago Cays....

Tristan's old water-polo coach would be happy to see that Tristan can keep up with a turtle! They actually swim pretty darned fast when they want to.

The water is so clear its like flying.

Tristan up a tree

Sweet nectar!

Laughing gulls having a good time. They are amazing flyers, though in their eagerness to grab food out of the air before anyone else gets it, they sometimes crash into each other.

After a great time in what Tristan describes as his favourite place in the whole world, the weather forecast suggested it was time to leave the Tobago Cays and get ourselves to Grenada. We pulled in to Prickly Bay and dropped the hook just inside the reef. Checking in with Customs the following day proved to be a bit more complex than last year. In an attempt to prevent the spread of swine flu, instead of just the skipper going ashore to the Prickly Bay office, everybody on board is required to get on public transportation and travel into the capital of St. Georges. Seems like a good way to ensure maximum exposure!

We celebrated Canada Day quietly sipping cold beers, swimming, listening to Tristan play the guitar, then a bottle of champagne on board and a great Chinese meal at Choo Light, a short walk down the road in the tropical evening. We wrapped it up with a couple of episodes of Trailer Park Boys. What could be more Canadian, eh?!

We walked over to Mt. Hartman Bay, to see the anchorage where we spent 6 weeks back in 1996. The docks are still in use but the reort was damaged in hurricane Ivan 4-5 years ago and has been left vacant since. The bush is slowly reclaiming it, though we heard that there are plans to rebuild.

On July 3^rd we were up at 0400 to get Tristan on his plane. He finally had an uneventful trip back to Victoria! He is now home trying to earn enough money to cover his portion of next year’s expenses for his second year in the Environmental Technology program at Camosun College. We continue to be very proud of how he is pulling it all together on his own, while his parents cavort about on the oceans.

Tristan playing "I'm Leaving on a Jet Plane". We are always sad to see him go.

For a change, we don’t have any critical boat projects to do, so we are free to move on whenever the weather looks right. For the past several days we have had a series of tropical waves moving through, bringing winds to 40 knots (over 70 kph) and torrential, though short-lived, downpours. At the same time its 32d Celsius and the hatches have to be closed. Funny, but nobody back home ever sounds very sympathetic… Next week the weather is supposed to settle down and we’ll likely be on our way to Bonaire via the Venezuelan off-shore islands of Blanquilla, Los Roques, Les Aves. We are looking forward to getting back to the fabulour diving in Bonaire….

Jon and the Nauticat Crew

2009-05-20T05:55:00.000-07:00

After a few days recovering from our crazy time with Neil, Christine, Russell and Jane (and restocking the wine locker), we picked up Cathy's brother Jon, in St. Thomas. We were really happy that he was able to get away from Calgary to come and visit.

Jon blows a mean blues harp. Who knew?

A couple of days after Jon joined us, we met up with the crew of Nauticat, our friend Dave Reay's boat. They had just sailed over from Sint Maarten where they had raced in the Heineken Regatta, once again beating bigger, supposedly faster boats. Wiliness wins! We all got together on Idyll Island for dinner. Mike played guitar and with Jon joining in on the blues numbers, and all of us singing along (and drinking excellent scotch - thanks Nigel and Heather!), we had a fantastic evening. The first of many we shared as we sailed, explored and partied together for the next couple of weeks.

Nigel and Heather flew over from Sint Maarten for a day, just to say Hi. It was really great to see them. Unfortunately, the good scotch they had left aboard Nauticat, had all disappeared the night before!

The Nauticat, stealthily sneaking up on us from behind. Friend Paul has the con.

Anchor's down. We gonna get us some seafood!

Hunter Gatherers

2009-05-20T05:34:00.000-07:00

Got him! After Dave spotted him, it took Derek a couple of hours to figure out how to get this guy out of his coral cave. It was quite the battle, all by snorkeling in 12' of water.

And very tasty he was, broiled in butter. All 6 of us had a good portion, accompanied by great veggies and curried rice, washed down with a couple of bottles of wine. Another great meal with good friends!

Then there was the conch. "Catching" these guys is way easier than lobster. You just pick them up off the bottom. But cleaning them is a whole 'nother (very messy) thing. They're pretty darn tasty though. Good thing, because its tricky to get them tender and you have to chew for a while!

Dinner's ready! Jon not only blows a mean blues harp....

They seek 'em here, they seek 'em there, those damned elusive whelks. They may not run, but they sure can hide.

Winkle Pickers

2009-05-20T04:43:00.000-07:00

Whelk winkling production line on Nauticat. Takes a lot of whelks to make a meal for 6.

But its worth it! Cathy and Dave made up an amazing whelk soup. Dave's homemade ginger sauce (a whole jar of it!), spiced up the pot. Another gourmet seafood feast.

Dave, Jon, Maureen and Paul. Saying farewell after an amazing couple of weeks sailing, exploring, snorkeling, foraging, and partying.

Cathy and Jon enjoying the last sail (before the chaos of getting the chute down without the snuffer). It was a very good time.

Heading for Antigua to pick up Rupert et famille. Close hauled in squally conditions. Luckily, the next 4 weeks with the family on board would turn out to be squall free. Sunshine and fair winds ahead.

Antigua and the Family

2009-05-20T04:11:00.000-07:00

A nice (46") Mahi-Mahi hit the lure as we were approaching Antigua (after the weather had settled down a bit!). He put up a good fight; several zinging runs and some tail walking. Once aboard he was quickly subdued with a couple of shots of overproof rum.

They made it! Rupert, Diane, Samuel and Celeste after 36 hours in transit, they are in the dinghy for the final leg out to Idyll Island. Its stinkin' HOT (90+F) and no wind. Welcome to the Caribbean, Mon!

After a couple of days in Antigua, visiting Nelson's Dockyard, and checking out several beaches, it was time to sail to Barbuda. Some of the crew felt a little queasy on their first offshore passage. Next time we'll give them Gravol before we get underway!

Everyone feelin' good now, Mon! The beaches on Barbuda are stunning. 11 mile beach is 11 miles of powdery white and sometimes pink sand - with no one else there! Though there were tracks to show that turtles had come ashore the night before to lay their eggs.

Anyone for a night swim? Several shark suckers (not sharks), came by to see what was cooking on the barbeque. They "stuck" around for a day or so.

Across the Annegada and beyond

2009-05-20T03:42:00.000-07:00

Time to sail the 100 miles from St. Martin to the Virgin Islands across the infamous Annegada (Oh My God-a) Passage. We listened to the weather forecasts while in St. Martin and when it sounded like a good time to go - we went. Left in a bit of a hurry so weren't able to clear out with French Customs in St. Martin - oops.

As soon as we got underway the rods were out and in short order the Gale Bros Fishing Team had landed a double header of tasty tuna!

Night passage across the Annegada. Everyone seemed to feel better sleeping in the cockpit, rather than going below. Lovely sail, broad reaching in 15 knots of wind.

And when we got there it was time to get in the water...

.... and go snorkeling. Samuel took to the water like a fish and was diving down chasing tarpon and barracuda bigger than he is! His little sister Celeste, was able to put on her mask and snorkel and float around in her life jacket oohing and aahing at all the fish. Snorkeling was a highlight for all of us - we spent a lot of time with our heads in the water!

Artists at work. We can't be in the water all the time.

Maintenance madness. The darn watermaker continued to be a problem, only producing about 2/3 of its rated output of 60 lph. Our guests were very good with their water conservation so we never ran out nor did we have to fill up at the dock. And we only had one of our 2 alternators working to provide electricity on board. But we always had enough juice to keep the drinks cold and crank the tunes!

A hot hike to see the Annaberg sugar mill on the island of St. John in the USVI. The kids were great even though they were melting. Interesting restoration of a sugar mill typical of the hundreds that thrived throughout the islands in the 17 and 1800s. The Caribbean of today was shaped by sugar, slavery, and of course pirates! The good, the bad and the ugly.

A view of the harbour of Gustavia on St. Barths, one of the French islands. It felt very Mediterranean, especially with the cafe au lait and croissants! And the prices were authentic as well....

Luckily the tide only comes up about 1 ft.

The wild windward side of Barbuda. You don't want to fall on those rocks; they're razor sharp lava. Thankfully the kids are very sure-footed from growing up on their beach on Quadra Island!