Bocas Del Toro

                                Nov 13 0930

    Yesterday we had sun in the afternoon and took full advantage of it to go for a snorkel. As rough and stormy as it’s been, the visibility wasn’t great but if you swam down so you were close to the coral and fish it was really cool. There was a wall, which we want to go back and do with tanks, that had loads off fun things to see. It goes from about 6ft to 30 or more almost straight down. It’s my first wall and I’m looking forward to exploring it more. It’s close to the anchorage and has a mooring ball so it’s easy to get there and you don’t have to worry about hurting the coral with your anchor. It’ll be amazing when it’s calmer.
    We’re working on getting settled in here since we expect to be here for a bit. We’ll be getting a modem for internet but the store was out of them and won’t get more in until mid week (tropical time, so which week I don‘t know). We’ve walk around town enough to have a good since of the stores (grocery, hardware, etc) and the restaurants. The cruiser community here is large and very active. We’ve seen people we’d met in Isla and have made some new acquaintances, some of whom, I’m sure, will become good friends.

                                1600 hrs
    We’ve have a little sun today and got another snorkel in. The  spot we went today has old concrete pilings with quite a variety of coral and anemones  growing on them. The fish swimming around the pilings were small, but varied and colorful. This spot is inside the bay, so it’s a bit calmer than where we went yesterday. The clarity of the water was much better and it was shallow, so the colors were vivid especially when the sun came out.

                                Nov 15 1830hrs
    It rained all day yesterday, but today the sun has been out and, again, we took full advantage. After lunch, we took a long ride in Hook, around to the far end of Isla Bastimentos, one of the five main islands in the Bocas del Toro Archipelago. We ran through the cut and out to a beautiful spot of reef to snorkel. One of the really nice things they have done here is put in mooring balls in the reef areas that anyone can tie up to, so it’s very easy to find a ball in a nice spot, tie off, and go in with no anchor stress.
    This section of reef was very colorful and vibrant. There weren’t many big fish, but lots and lots of little, beautiful, tropical fish. I can’t stress the colors enough. Both the fish and the coral had various shades of reds, blues, yellows, greens, oranges, purples, tans, browns,  black, white and silver. There wasn’t a lot of current so you could float over one area and just watch what came and went. There are so many different forms of life interacting, it’s just amazing to watch.

                                Nov 16 1030hrs
    Bob and Johne have gone fishing this morning. I’ve just been doing the usual morning boat chores. Tomorrow is Bob’s last day here. He’ll fly to Panama City, then on home from there. His time here flew by and we’ll be sorry to see him go.

                                Nov 21 1240hrs
    I’m sitting on the couch in the saloon. It’s raining again. We still don’t have internet onboard. The people at the store where we’ve been trying to get the modem have switched from saying they‘ll be in “manana”, to “next week”. We’ll need to go into town in a bit (hopefully when it stops raining) to take care of some things online.
    We had Capt Ray, an x-pat cruiser who’s been here for several years, aboard this morning to pass along some of his recommendations of fun things to do and places to snorkel and dive around the area. We had met him in Isla Mujeres and he’s been very welcoming and helpful since we arrived here.
    We also had another guest aboard this morning. When Capt Johne went out on the aft deck to have his breakfast this morning, there was a baby red tailed boa on the rail of the wet deck. He came in to get the camera and told me to look out the port. What a treat! We decided that if we just left it there either a bird would get it or it would find it’s way into the boat, hide, and probably starve to death. So, I picked it up snuggled it warm, and it’s now asleep inside my shirt. We’ll take it out to the mangroves this afternoon and put it back in the wild where it belongs. It’s very small. Only about 20” long and no bigger around at the neck than my finger. It’s a very pretty little thing. It will be hard for me to release it but the boat is not a good place for a snake and it won’t stay small. The one I had, that now lives with my sister, is now 7 ½ or 8 feet long and weighs 35-40lbs (I think). But it’s been fun having this one visiting, even if I can‘t keep it...
   

San Andres

                                Nov 1 0900hrs

    We’ve been in San Andres for a couple of days now. Our trip from Providencia to San Andres  was fine. Following seas, a little bigger than ideal, but if that was the worst we ever dealt with, I’d be thrilled. We had a visit from the Columbian Coast Guard on the way down. They pull up along side us and ask where we were coming from, where were we going, and did we have a hall pass (Zarpe) from the Port Captain. We answered all the questions right, and they wished us a good day and went on their way. No big deal, but still a little nerve racking when heavily armed officials come up to you.
    San Andres is not as pretty an island as Providencia. Not as much topography but the water is beautiful and looks like there’s great snorkeling. There is much more infrastructure here (we have wi-fi onboard again) and lots of hotels, restaurants and upscale retail. Capt. Johne called it the Key West of Columbia.
    Brother “Burro” Bob will be here on Sunday. He’ll be with us for a couple of weeks. We’ll play here until we get a good weather window, then head south to Bocas del Toro Panama.
    Providencia was a new furthest-south-latitude for me, as is San Andres. And each trip for this next bit will continue to bring me closer to the equator and getting my “shellback” status.

                                Nov 11 1500hrs

    Sometimes the logs are easy to write. There are so many things to share I have to pick and choose which things to talk about so as not to get too wordy. But then there are times (like now) when it rains for days and I don’t feel there’s that much to tell.
    We have made the trip from San Andres to Bocas. It was a bit rougher passage then the last one. Still following seas but 4-6 ft, instead of 1-3 ft.
    Before we left San Andres, we (Capt. Johne, “Burro” Bob, Don, Rita and myself) rented another golf cart to do the drive-around-the-whole-island sight seeing thing. We had lunch at the southern tip of the island. Got to see all the coves and beaches. Got caught in a down pour. And laughed a lot.
    Johne and Bob did get to fish on the way down here and caught a very tasty Mahi-Mahi. We got to Bocas on the 9th and it’s been raining on and off since then. We’re hoping for some better weather before Bob has to head back…

Providencia

                                Oct. 19 1930hrs

Greetings,

    As we’d hoped, the trip from Grand Cayman down to Providencia was a calm and lovely passage. The nights were clear with a gazillion stars and the first night I saw one of the best shooting stars I’ve ever seen. We had a pod of dolphin come play in the bow wake the second evening just before sunset which, by the way, was magnificent, with the crescent moon and the shapes and colors of the clouds, WOW. This was what we hope every passage will be. Unfortunately, the weather just doesn’t care, and it’s difficult to find times when it’s this calm, especially when and where you want to be going.

    We got into Providencia and had the anchor set by 1530 this afternoon. It’s a beautiful island with lovely, green mountains, that curves around at the north end to make a bay which is where we are anchored. A smaller island called Santa Catalina sits just to the west of the north tip of Providencia and is linked to it by a foot bridge. Santa Catalina protects the north-west side of the bay so it’s only open to the WSW. It’s well protected with a good bottom for the anchor to hold. I think we’ll be able to sleep well here. I’ll report on the rest of the island and the diving when we have a chance to partake.

                                     Oct 21 2010hrs

    This afternoon we walked across the bridge to Santa Catalina and around the path to the “fort” (one cannon and an old well) and on around to Morgan’s head, a big rock at the mouth of the bay that was, at some point, used for navigation coming in. It was a fairly substantial hike with some great views along the way. It rained on us for part of the hike but it didn’t dampen our spirits (only our clothes, a little).

                                Oct 25 0810hrs

    With hurricane Sandy moving up through the Caribbean we’ve had some less fabulous weather for the last few days. Winds are out of the west which is the open side of the bay, so it’s been a little bumpy in the anchorage, but, so far, we’re holding. We’ve had showers passing through (it doesn’t rain for very long but it doesn’t not rain for very long either) for about three days. It looks like things will calm again tomorrow. In the meantime we’ve had some good reading and baking time.

    We did go for a ride around the island, night before last, in the local “bus” mini van, with the other cruising couple (Don and Rita) that are anchored close by. We went to a very fun reggae bar/restaurant that had rope and log swings out over the water and local rum drinks in fresh coconuts. The service was very slow but we had fun anyway.

   

                                Oct 27 1900hrs

    Today was lots of fun. The weather here has come back to tropical fabulous with Hurricane Sandy  up by FL and headed north.     With Don and Rita, we rented one of those four wheel drive, golf cart things and spent the morning driving all the way around the island stopping at any points of interest we came across. There were some amazing views of the Caribbean and the little cays on the NE side. We went back to the reggae place and I played a little more on their swings. We made a turn on a rough dirt road that ended up leading to the dam for the islands fresh water supply. A lovely little lake with rock hills rising all around it. We went through the neighborhoods and all the children smiled and waved. It was a great way to see the island.

                                Oct 28

    Capt Johne spent much of the day working on getting the new A/C system working. Don has a vacuum pump and Johne was hoping to get all the lines in place and soldered so he could use Dons pump. But, as boat projects go, they didn’t have quite the right parts and this isn’t someplace you can just run out and get them. So, it will have to wait for Panama.

    We heading out tomorrow, first thing, for San Andreas, the next island south. Both Providencia and San Andreas are part of Columbia. But we found that the culture here is much more West Indies Island than Latin American. Looking forward to the next stop…