Fun weekend

July 23 2013

Greetings,

We just got back yesterday from a lovely weekend in the Perlas, with Sharon. 

Last week Johne went back over to Colon to work a bit more on Kokomo Kat. There were some project he’d meant to get done for Sharon, but ran out of time before the transit. And a few more projects that she’d had come up later. So Johne drove over and spent Monday-Thursday working. While he was gone, I held down the fort on Second Star and got some procrastinated projects knocked out. Sharon and Johne came back over here for a long weekend with me.

We headed out on Friday afternoon after running a few errands (dropping off the part that needed bolts drilled out at the machine shop and picking up some awesome, fresh produce at the huge produce market) Friday morning. On the way out we saw a turtle, dolphin and more whales. This time I got to see one breach. Awesome!  
We got to Isla Mogo Mogo late in the afternoon. The visibility wasn’t great for anchoring and our first choice of places had a rocky bottom (not good holding) and a swell coming in from the South West, so we went around to the other side and anchored by Isla Chapera just to the North.  We seemed to get a good bite with the anchor and settled in for a nice dinner. We slept  well that  night and got up the next day ready for projects. Johne had brought some parts from Kokomo Kat that need welding so, while he worked on that, Sharon and I got in the nice, fresh water and gave Hook a long-over-do bottom scrubbing. 
After lunch, we all jumped in Hook and ran across to Mogo Mogo for a snorkel. It was very different for what I’m use to. With the large tidal variation and the rock (as opposed to sand or coral) bottom. Some of the fish I knew, some were new to me. The rocks were beautiful with lots of colors and interesting textures. It was fun to just relax and drift back and forth with the surge. When I did that, instead of swimming, the fish ignored me and didn’t swim away. 
That night a storm came through with lots of very close lightning and a good sized swell that was hitting us on the beam for quiet a while. None of us slept well, between the uncomfortable roll and frequent checks to make sure we weren’t dragging. When the storm passed we got a bit of sleep but, in the morning, we found we had swung around and drug a bit, and we were closer to the beach than was comfortable. We wanted to see some of the other islands anyway, so we pulled up the anchor and headed south to Isla Casaya. We again had a couple of spots we were thinking about anchoring. When we came around where we could see the first place, the two sport fishing boats with the bunch-of-kids and two jet skis that had been anchored by us the previous day, were anchor there so we went to the other spot which turned out great. We were in the channel between Casaya and Gibraleon. No one else was around (yea! No people) There was a good current but not much wind and we were pretty confident in the anchor holding. 
Johne took Hook out to do some fishing and came back, just when I’d finished getting lunch ready, with some nice snapper and grouper. There was enough for dinner that night and lunch the next day. Johne and Sharon decided they’d go out again in the morning before we headed back to town and get some more to bring back.
After lunch Sharon and I put on scuba gear and went down to scrub the running gear (props, shafts and struts). We  had intended to do it while the tide was slack but, after lunch and clean up and getting the gear ready to go the current had started to pick up again. When we first went in it wasn’t to bad but it kept increasing and, but the time we got done I felt like one of those cartoons of someone trying to hang on to a light post in a strong wind. It was a new experience for me and a heck of a work out.
Monday, after morning fishing and lunch, we headed back to town. As we left we saw a mama and baby whale right by the island. We got into the anchorage late, made a quick dinner and crashed.

This morning I took Johne and Sharon into the dock to go pick up the parts and head back to Colon to finish up the work on Kokomo Kat. So for the rest of the week I’m batching it again. When Johne gets back we’ll be installing the new inverters and getting ready to move on…

Time in Panama

July 9 2013

Greetings,

I was just looking over the last update and I realized I hadn’t described the anchorage here in the bay of Panama. Panama City is to the North, the Amador causeway is to the west and the islands at the end of the causeway are to the south. It’s open to the east. The skyline of the city is quite impressive, and beautiful if you like that kind of thing. It’s a very modern city with lots of skyscrapers that have interesting architecture. The bay is not clean water with the runoff from the city so no swimming here. There are lots of schools of very small bait (not bate, right Daddy?;) fish and loads of pelicans. The pelicans are fun to watch but hard to keep off the bow which makes for extra cleaning. There are lots of other boats here but we’ve barely  met anyone in the cruising community yet. It’s a nuisance and expensive to get into town. We wouldn’t want to be here too long. 

Now, on with the latest. Phil has gone home and we aren’t expecting more guests until Bob comes down in Oct, so now it’s time to get Second Star in ship shape for sea while we do a bit more exploring around this area. 

We didn’t get out to Las Perlas while Phil was here. We went to Taboga which is an island about 10 miles out from Panama City. It’s very pretty and quiet during the week. We got there on Thursday afternoon and enjoyed being in cleaner water with few other people around. We got the waterline scrubbed and enjoyed a quiet afternoon. The next day we went into the little town on the island for lunch and a walk. It’s a quant town built on the hill. It was good exercise exploring up one side and down the other. 
On Saturday we had decided we’d go on out to Isla Otoque, which is another 11 miles from the city, and meet up with Saverio who was planning to be out there fishing on Sunday. As it turned out that was a great plan for several reasons. First, Taboga gets very busy on the weekends. By the time we pulled the anchor up, just after lunch, there were many other boats in the little cove, all with lots of people and loud music. It was a good time to get out of there. 
On the way to Otoque, Capt Johne spotted whales (humpbacks) in the distance. At first it was difficult to see more than that there was something surfacing, flashing in the sun, making a splash. But they got a little closer and I could see there backs when they came up. It was my first time seeing whales in the wild and Johne expected more excitement from me, but since I couldn’t see them well, it was hard to get super excited. 
The cove at Otoque was quite with only one tiny local fishing boat tied up. It was deep and not very wide, so we had to anchor right in the middle so if the wind shifted we wouldn’t be in the rocks. It was a very pretty jungle all around and we were glad we’d gone there even though it would mean a little less sleep for anchor checks over night. 
The anchor held, and in the morning, after the rain passed Johne and Phil took Hook out to try a bit of fishing. They didn’t catch anything but said the ride around the island was beautiful. Saverio, Rosanna and their guest came by after their morning of fishing and we all had lunch aboard Second Star. 
After that it was time to head back to town so we could do some errands the next day before Phil had to leave. On the way back to town we saw more whales and this time it was close enough that I could see them blow when they came up, and clearly see the flukes (tail) before they went down. And got to see them several times. Now Johne got the excitement he was looking for from me. I jumped up and down and clapped my hands. I’m told it’s whale season here so I’m hoping to get to see lots more over the next few weeks.

Projects are going well. Johne has done some work to improve the exhausts on the main engines and is about to do the same on the generator. We’re going to pick up our new (upgrade) inverters, which should improve our battery performance. After which we will be about ready to make the next big trip. Ecuador here we come…But not for a couple more weeks.