CHRISTMAS IN CARTAGENA- Dec.23, 2009

Wow! It's nearly Christmas. We heard that Christmas in Cartagena would be special and we are finding out that this is so! Enjoy these pictures of what we are seeing!

We are living on Sea Star in the anchorage in front of and South of Club Nautico. Rumor is that the owner of Club Nautico supported the wrong candidate for Mayor (the one who lost) and has had her renovations stopped. There are no facilities and services available. Boats can be tied side by side and like a "med mooring" they are faced bow in and the stern is held by lines tied to blocks under water. As of three days ago there is one shower. We are carrying our water as the harbor is too dirty to make water. It might ruin the diaphram in the water-maker.
Don't foget to return to blog for more after each slide show or movie.

Cartagena- where we are

The next set of pictures show some of the people and activities that keep us so very busy- beside fixing the necessary things on Sea Star like the radar, and brand new VHF radio.

Cartagena- What we do.

One night I went to a ballet recital. It was wonderful-lots of fun.

At the Ballet

Now just enjoy our pics of Cartagena. Dan and Laura, the daughter of a friend who was visiting Navy Blue both enjoy photography. One night we strolled through the Old City taking photos.

Cartagena before Christmas

We hope you enjoyed our walk through the Old City. See you next year!!

From Christmas Card

CALM PASSAGES AND OTHER TYPES, TOO November 20-30, 2009

CARTAGENA, COLOMBIA November 30, 2009
Dan has wanted to see Cartagena for years; maybe because of reading wonderful things in “The Log of Ithaka” by Bernadette and Doug Bernan, or our cruising friends on Pizazz, who really loved that city and all it had to offer. Now that Dan and I have visited some great places in the Northwest Caribbean arriving in the San Blas again, it seemed like a great time to continue on to Columbia. Dan really wanted to go, but I took some convincing. The choice was easy, really. As we travelled we met many cruisers who were returning from or planning their return to Cartagena. There was not one negative report. Cartagena, it is said,”is lovely, safe and has lots of wonderful things to see and do. Christmas time is magical !”

November is a moving month in the Caribbean because as the rainy season ends, the weather can change to windy with storms and thus higher seas at any time. Colombia already generally has forecasts for seas at least 6 feet and the usual conditions seem to be 7 to 8 foot seas. Most cruisers want to be in Colombia by mid November. We visited Massachusetts and returned to Panama on November 16th, so we felt we needed to move on quickly!

As I mentioned in other entries we left our long time traveling companions and friends on Tregoning in the San Blas two weeks previous. It was difficult to say our good-byes and sail away from them as we realized that we share many interests and had been daily companions since George Town in the Bahamas! At Shelter Bay we met a friendly couple on an IPY 37, Jay and Barb on Jupiter’s Smile, who wanted to leave, as we did, for the San Blas. Our two IPY’s headed out of the marina on November 20th at a break in the constant rain that had been beating down on our roofs and canvas for days.

It rained all through our first traveling day and at night but we spent one moderately comfortable night at anchor in Playa Blanca, scraping the renewed barnacles off our boats, and where we met a resident named Angel, before moving on toward the San Blas-again in the rain.
Our progress was inhibited by wind on the nose so we had to motor sail, and the constant rain had washed HUGE trees, logs, thatches of entwined branches and various debris into our path. Well, perhaps because the weather was s000 good and our trip wonderful- by the time Jupiter’s Smile had checked into Porvenir, they had also checked out again and decided also to travel on to Cartagena. Hooray! We had a buddy boat to increase the safety factor for both of us. The importance of which became very clear later in the trip. We spent a night in the West Lemmon Cays, a night in Nargana, where we revisited Nali’s Restaurant and introduced Sammy to Barb and Jay.

Our next night was spent only 20 nm from Nargana, at Snug Harbor, further to the east. We found the anchorage to be lovely and inviting. This protected harbor is near the Panama mainland. There is a group of four or five small reef protected islands with the names Yuala, Apaidup and Ogumnaga where friendly Kuna Indians paddle their ulus selling vegetables grown on the mainland, Kuna bread and other offerings. There were other boats at Snug Harbor and some were waiting for a weather window to Cartagena. Dan and Jay agreed that the next day, Thursday, Thanksgiving Day, seemed to look good for a passage, although not perfect. The next chance to leave was then somewhere off in the distance and so on Thursday we left at 6:30AM. We were not to be alone. There were six other boats from that anchorage who made the same decision.

In preparation for our passage I had made some chili, beef stew and a few other goodies to avoid the need to stand in the galley during possible rough seas.
Dan had changed our fuel filters checked the engine and steering and we felt we were as ready as possible for our 170 nm passage, figuring 5knots per hour we were looking at 34 hours on the sea. We had already determined from the forecast that sailing would not be possible. The best we could hope for was motor sailing and low windspeed so the boat could make progress against the wind more comfortably.

We moved along fine for two thirds of the trip at about 5 knots experiencing 4 to 5 foot seas, then 6 to 7 foot seas as we approached closer to the Columbian coast. By that time our group had formed our night formation where we could see each other’s lights. Jumby was far ahead and out of sight, Sea Star flanked by Jupiter’s Smile, then Tempest and Pelican’s Flight. Mariposa was slightly behind our group. The group had maintained chatty radio contact as much for entertainment and to keep the watch person awake as for safety. Infinity, a fast J boat, we had enjoyed seeing coming up behind our group earlier in the afternoon showing her lovely spinnaker which she changed when night fell, as the seas were building a bit more and the wind was "on the nose".

The seas were becoming more uncomfortable; the trip required motor and it was very late into the midnight to three watch when the call was heard; a Pan Pan call on VHF radio that says a boat is in serious trouble. Jupiter’s Smile was the only boat to hear the distress call on the radio. Jay responded by contacting the boat by VHF radio to find out a cruising couple had been bailing their sailboat, Kersti, for quite some time and they felt she might be in serious danger of sinking!

What to do? Any mariner is bound by law and the law of the sea to respond when a call for help has been received. No one else, such as a larger ship, had apparently heard the distress call. Soon Jay had turned Jupiter’s Smile to return the 9 nm upwind- back- to offer assistance. When the other boats were alerted to what was occurring, Maraposa and Pelican’s flight started to the scene with the powerful pumps they carry on board for emergencies. Infinity tried to contact the people who were expecting them on shore to get an idea of what might be a good solution if the issue was not life threatening. Sea Star contacted Tempest who had some emergency phone numbers for the US Coast Guard in Miami and Key West, and used emergency SAT phone to make contact with the US Coast Guard and eventually the Columbian Coast Guard.


RESCUE AT SEA
I wish I could report a happy ending to the story. The owners of the sailboat, Jeff and his wife Ruth worked valiantly to keep Kersti afloat and sent out a radio distress call; bailing constantly while trying to motor toward Cartagena where the Colombian Coast Guard, we thought, was going to attempt to meet them. Meanwhile, an attempt to pass a pump to them failed as Pelican’s Flight’s pump jumped from the dinghy in the high seas, now 10 to 12 feet and seriously rolling all the boats, and the dinghy flew by and was lost.

The US Coast Guard set out from 175nm away. They said they could not be on scene for at least 2 ½ hours and they could not deploy their helicopter off the ship until they were 75 nm away. The Colombian Coast Guard was called again. With sinking hearts we found they had not deployed their boat. They felt the seas were too high for the boat they had on hand and had sent a reconnaissance plane to check the scene first.

Meanwhile it was becoming apparent among our five boats that any rescue would be up to the sailboats on scene. The authorities kept asking for information updates; which meant that Jay who was having all he could do to drive into the crashing waves needed to talk on the radio to Dan so he could convey the information, to Tempest who was relaying information and suggestions to the crew of Kersti, who also were very busy. What were the new coordinates?, What color was the sail boat? Were the people wearing life vests? How do you spell Kersti? What is the radio’s MMSI number? Do they have a cell phone?

After the problem with receiving Pelican’s Flight’s pump Jeff was concerned that other boaters should not put their lives or boats at risk and gave up on trying to receive another pump that Maraposa offered. He then felt he would do all he could to move towards land while waiting for the possible help to arrive. Within an hour Kersti had taken on so much water and was so bow-heavy the couple decided to get into their life raft and abandon their home of six years. There was just nothing else to be done.

With great difficulty the couple placed a few belongings in their life raft and climbed in themselves while Jay, made a pass by the life raft and Barb, who had become quite sea sick, received it -being out on the deck in those huge seas. Jeff and Ruth and their few belongings were taken aboard Jupiter’s Smile; they were now safe themselves but they did not know the fate of their beloved Kersti. Dan, Sea Star had by now arrived on scene also, notified the coast guards, US and Colombian, that a pick-up had been made and called off the rescue. The distress call continued every 5 minutes until 10:15AM.

All of the boats now steamed toward the closest port grateful to have not required the skills of the Doctor aboard Tempest; the Bay of Cholon still eight hours away where we were guided into the shallow channel by Richard from Tisha Baby and all were treated to food prepared by other cruisers anchored in the Bay who had been listening to the radio transmissions and were anxiously waiting our group’s arrival. Arrangements were made on another sailboat, Glide, to get Ruth and Jeff to Cartagena where they could begin to decide what was to happen next.

It was the end of a very long day. We had set out at 6:30 AM from Panama. Jay and Barb turned around somewhere around 2:30 AM and with the sailboats Mariposa, Tempest, and Pelican’s Flight stayed with Jeff and Ruth until the conclusion at 8:30AM. Sea Star arrived around 6:30AM and while anxiously waiting and informing the Coast Guard of events on scene, took some pictures. We put anchor down at about 4:30 PM.

It is possible that the outcome would have been the same even if Jeff and Ruth had waited in the life raft for Coast Guard rescue. It is not certain. Apparently the US Coast Guard arrived on the scene sometime after we all headed to land and checked for the sinking sailboat, but saw no evidence of her. Here in Cartagena Harbor where huge cargo ships have been arriving and departing almost constantly, you have to wonder where they were that night. In the harbor we anchored quite near the impressive US Coast Guard cutter and saw the bright red rescue deck helicopter. It’s nice to know that in the states we have such resources. The Columbian Coast Guard apparently did not have a ship to send to the scene. Dan had great difficulty in communicating with them (language) and they didn’t appear to grasp the severity of Kersti’s situation or they just couldn’t help which was frustrating to us.

Jeff and Ruth still don’t know what sunk their sailboat. They have taken an apartment in Cartagena and may be waiting for some word of salvage of their boat; although it went down in very deep water there are some shoals near. They appreciate all the assistance given by the cruising community.

Jupiter's Smile, Pelican's Flight, Tempest, Infinity, Jumby, and Sea Star among others enjoyed our stop at the Bay of Cholon where the local boaters introduced us to the small town of Barru. A few days later Sea Star moved on to Cartagena.

click to see photos of Snug Harbor, Cholon Bay, Columbia and Barru

Cholon Bay-OL

Click here to see the rescue of the crew of sailboat Kersti

Rescue of Kersti

https://picasaweb.google.com/chepar50/5410811420640763969?authuser=0&feat=directlink

Now for some pictures of Cartagena anchorage and the Port of Cartagena.

Port of Cartagena OL

A Week in Massachusetts November 5-16, 2009

Logan Airport- November 16, 2009

BACK TO PANAMA

On November 5th Dan and I left Sea Star at 2:30AM and were driven to the Tocuman Airport by Tom from Shelter Bay Marina where we her in the capable hands ..of another cruiser, to arrive for our 5:30 flight to Boston. Now after what felt like a whirlwind and at times grueling trip- waaay too short- we are returning today to Colon, Panama, with the plan to soon continue on to Cartagena, Columbia via the San Blas Islands.

Our trip to Massachusetts was productive as Dan needed to keep his plumbing and electrical licenses current, and it was refreshing to visit family and friends and “catch up.” After a safe and on-time arrival in Boston, we got lost driving to Tom and Anina’s apartment in Cambridge. We finally arrived to a great 10:30 PM dinner, a little conversation, and headed toward Greenfield the next morning.

Luckily, Steven, our other son, has a nice apartment where we could stay while we visited my sister, Barb, my nieces and their families and some friends during the week, enjoyed special times with Steve, reacquainted ourselves with Maggie, the ex-boat cat, (she’s happy and solidly on land), did a quick tour of doctors and dentist and spent a day at Defender Marine in Connecticut selecting needed boat equipment.

We then zoomed back to Boston where Dan took his second class and Anina and I made pierogis, a tradition in our family that she wanted to master. We walked and talked, opened packages to take back to the boat, bought Christmas gifts, repacked -trying to keep the bags under 50 lbs (American Airlines let the last one go at 51 lbs) returned the rental car and we are waiting at American to get on the plane as I write this!

The weather was cool and a little rainy, I caught a cold, Dan had a sore knee but we had a great time and hope all the people we asked can make the time to visit us on the boat! In the confusion with all the bags and boxes I misplaced my camera so I have no new shots to include.

note that Tom put a new entry picture for our blog! It's also the shot we use for our boat card (like a business card) The shot was taken at the middle of our Newfoundland trip at Aviron Bay on the south coast back in August 2008.

In and out of paradise! October 30, 2009

Leaving the San Blas Islands behind October 30, 2009
In and out of paradise!

Sea Star backtracked to the West Lemmon Islands yesterday to stage for our passage to Linton today and then Shelter Bay Marina. We found the San Blas as lovely and inviting as it was eleven years ago- and are sorry to leave so soon.

We entered Kuna Yala and spent our first nights’ anchorage at the West Lemmons, where with Cabaret, John and Suzi, snorkeled a sunken ship in only 20 feet of water at nearby Dog Island, marveling at the colors presented by the growing coral reef. Also snorkeling were guests from a Kuna hotel on the island. They seemed to be Panamanians and some Columbians on vacation enjoying the warm sand beaches and crystalline waters. Here we were prepared fully for snorkeling; lycra suit encased and full fins, mask and snorkel. Seems all you need to swim is a tiny bikini if you are on vacation. I wondered if the beautiful girls would be covered with welts from the corals.

As new boats enter the anchorage the Kuna Indians in their sailing Ulus approach to tempt with lobster, crab, sometimes fish and always beautiful handcrafted Molas that the women of the San Blas have been making for generations. Two of the best known Mola makers are actually men. One is Venancio Restrepo who was first to come to our boat in the Lemmons and another named Lisa who is a transvestite, common in the Kuna culture, who wears her hair long and dresses in colorful clothing. We remembered having bought Molas and taking a river trip with Lisa on our last trip to San Blas.

To make a Mola colorful cottons of various colors are layered, as many as six or seven layers and cut to allow the design to immerge through from the color chosen for the last layer to the first or the top color. The best made Molas are always hand stitched with neat and tiny stitches taking the maker three months or more to achieve the desired design. The maker or his/her emissary bargain at the boat with Molas strewn on the lifelines and deck for effect and to sell at the best price a cruiser will pay. Many are lovely, all are colorful, some of traditional design and others of colorful birds especially desired by the tourists who come to Carti by cruise ship.

The next day Tregoning who had been delayed a day by engine trouble in Linton joined us. By afternoon they had checked in and returned to our new anchorage in the East Lemmons, a turquoise paradise between two inhabited islands, where we were approached by our second set of hopeful Mola saleswomen. They were able to sell to Tregoning-the newly arrived boat.

Soon we moved on down the chain of over 365 islands with incredibly complex names to Kuanidup in the Los Grullos group just a few miles away arriving in 20 knots of wind and low visibility to avoid the surrounding reefs. After finally achieving a safe anchorage we dinghied into the island and were able to order dinner at their restaurant. The crab was sweet and succulent and the fish, served whole after frying in coconut oil, Dan said was delicious. We snorkeled completely around a small island there- recording the water temperature between 86 and 92 degrees. We wore our lycra suits for sun and coral protection, not warmth.

In our two weeks in San Blas we visited briefly the Lemmons,Coco Banderos Islands, the Western Holandes where we found wonderful snorkeling, seeing beautiful reef fish and using our Caribbean Reef Fish and Creature Identification books extensively. Los Grullos, where snorkeling held many different sights but most memorable to me this visit was the joined islands of Corazon De Jesus and the town of Nargana where we watched the Kuna version of the World Series of softball. Unfortunately the home town, Yandup did not take the final game although it was expected to.

Also unfortunate is the fish stocks in the San Blas appear severely depleted with few edible species seen on the shallower reefs, but some drift into view where the reefs drop off into deeper waters. Dan has not felt the desire to hunt or spear fish as the fish we see are wary of divers and move away quickly, or are so deep that an inexperienced free diver couldn’t stay down long enough. There are many Kuna Ulus working the reefs constantly and many cruisers and some restaurants to sell the stock to. Lobster is offered every day at about $4 per pound and a whole large crab might be $6.

The traditions and customs of the Kuna in the San Blas are in flux. Some areas or villages are very traditional and do not welcome western visitors, but do tolerate them for the tourist dinero. One way the Kuna have updated is that many now have cellphones. The only problem is their island does not have electricity to charge them! They have learned that passing yachts have inverter-chargers and that cruisers are usually willing to charge the phones. One sweet, elderly woman traditionally dressed in Mola, patterned skirt and ankle and arm beading with a gold piece in her nose paddled with her son to our boat and asked with hand gestures that we charge the phones. Since it was really no problem we agreed, and she motioned for the son to give us a nice fish. Good trade! They paddled back in the morning to retrieve the two phones with huge smiles. Their island was named Miriadiadup and it was spectacular. There the family hung swinging in their hammocks in the shade near the palm thatched huts.

San Blas 1

There is so much more to explain about the Kuna culture but my journal is getting too long and I need to attach the pictures to the last entries now that I am back where internet is available. I’ll pull some background material about the Kuna from the guidebook next time. Right now I’m way too busy thinking about our upcoming visit to family and friends in Massachusetts.

Portobelo, Playa Blanca and Linton October 8-11, 2009

A Dangerous Incident

Portobelo, Playa Blanca and Linton October 8-11, 2009

We untied the lines and left the dock at Shelter Bay Marina in route for the old colonial Spanish fort town of Portobelo. This small community 11miles from Colon is reputed to have held so much gold in the storehouse at one time that the silver ingots had to be left in the streets. That led to great interest and taking of the fort by the pirates Drake and later Morgan.

Currently, the town is sleepy and quite economically depressed. It has certainly grown since we were there in 1998. From the boat we could see the colorful Colon busses that now pass through more regularly and other commercial and tourist traffic.

At Portobelo we decided to stay on the boat and actually go under it to remove the barnacle growth acquired at Shelter Bay. Water temperatures are very warm, high 80's to 90's and the growth had been significant. Navy Blue offered their hookah rig. A hookah is a compression motor with attached diving regulator so instead of bobbing up and down by snorkel, a very strenuous task on the hull of a 45 ft. boat, Dan could stay under the water on this hookah for one. I worked on the first four feet down while he scraped the propeller, shaft and underwater mechanical gear and removed the huge barnacles that drag the speed of the boat down-a huge job but made easier by the use of the breathing device. Thanks Ed and Valma!

The next morning we moved on to a lovely little cove area named Playa Blanca only 2.5 miles from Portobelo. It was a place with moderately good snorkeling along the sides and with a short swim from the boat, we could walk awhile on the beach. The anchor held well in the white sand and we felt quite safe tucked in behind the two small islands. The wind and swell were not a problem for us.

The next morning we moved on to Linton, another area Dan and I remembered from our last trip. There were many more boats than there were previously, easily fifty. Many were boats seemingly anchored and unoccupied but many were probably people, cruisers, who now live in the Linton area. We ate at the restaurant on shore and it was very good. We took a dinghy ride to check the facilities at Panamarina, and found they were absolutely full through January. They had a restaurant, too. After two days there we got our weather window and chose to move on to the San Blas, as we have quite a few days before we are due back at Shelter Bay to leave our boat and our time in the San Blas may be limited by the weather, the winter storms, when we return to Panama after our visit to MA and are waiting to move toward Columbia.

The following is a personal view of a terrible incident-my facts are the best I can recall at this writing:

While we were anchored at Linton, our good friends on the 38 ft. Island Packet, Navy Blue unfortunately were singled out for a robbery. The cruisers in the know describe what happened as an act of piracy, and it certainly has shaken up a complacent cruising community. Navy Blue was anchored in the center of the fleet, with boats surrounding all sides. Sea Star was 150 ft. from Navy Blue on the same line, both smack in the center!

The boat was boarded from the side late at night. Ed was still up at his computer and in seconds he was immobilized by one of the invaders with a machete at his neck! His frantic spouse did whatever she could to get them the hell off the boat. Unfortunately for other cruisers in the future, they extracted a large amount of money, passports and other valuables and left in a speeding Ponga. At that point Valma went into action blowing the horn and yelling that they had been robbed. Another cruiser further toward Isla Grande and in the direction the Ponga was going, gave chase in a 15HP dinghy, but to no avail.

The authorities in Isla Grande were summoned to the boat and interviewed Valma and Ed during the night. They took the basic information and left. Valma, unlike many of us cruisers, does speak Spanish but they were really not given any help in how to proceed to have the crime solved or deal with the resulting loss of crucial paperwork. On the VHF and HAM nets the discussion the next few days was how the police and others always seem unconcerned, and locals who often know the perpetrators and are fearful of reprisal aren't cooperative. The cruising community is angry feeling the police must be strongly encouraged by any means to be more involved! Rumors (apparently not true) started about a subject being handcuffed and arrested.

Meanwhile our friends, whom we had to leave behind, had to start the processes of healing, never easy in a foreign country, of replacing passports, boat papers and documents while quietly wondering , "Why was I singled out? What did I do wrong ?", and the terror of the moments of the attack will be with them forever.

Already they have had to worry again about being off the boat and at anchor for days at a time while they made the necessary trips first to Portobello authorities who sent them on to Colon authorities and all by bus or expensive taxi to "report" the incident. They had a hard time even getting a police report which they felt having would help in the replacement of documents, cards, and licenses. In the States we'd be looking at a home invasion situation with the expectation of severe penalty for the perpetrators.

Because of the seriousness of this crime followed by grapevine information and no/slow resolution, another rift in trust and relations between people who have moved fully to Panama, cruisers passing through who may need and want contact with the local populations and services and the local peoples just trying to live decent lives has occurred. The phrase the long term cruisers use is "What can you expect? This is Panama.", when one official tells you one thing and another negates it and sends you on to a third with his/her own idea-but it always costs more money.

Whatever the eventual outcome, the whole incident will be a major headache and major expense for the boaters involved.

Birding from Shelter Bay Marina September26 and October 3, 2009

Two Days of Birding in Panama

Birding from Shelter Bay Marina September26 and October 3, 2009

Still no sailing. We are still planning to move on toward the San Blas but have recently found out that classes Dan needed to take in MA to update his licenses were full on the date he had signed up for. We have delayed our trip home to MA until November 5th , which leaves us more traveling time now, but less later when we return. With our extra time now we have pursued our hobby of birdwatching and Panama is a wonderful place to find many species.

Previously we have had some opportunity to travel by renting a car and driving around for needed items and to Reba Smith, a great grocery store and meat market in Panama City.In the city we took a walk in the Metropolitan Park, an oasis in the middle of a thriving city. The view of the city was fantastic but it is a wild enough place that birds and animals can be seen. While we had the rental car we drove onto some of the back woods birding roads, visited Summit Park on the road to Gamboa, where we were able to see a captive Harpy Eagle very close up. I took a picture with my camera of the photos I bought in the gift shop, as this was the one day I did not carry my camera, gurrr.

She was offered food, a large chunk of raw beef, on a table in her cage. If she had taken the food that day we would have seen her from a distance of six feet! She did not swoop down for the food but this magnificent creature; large comb of feathers surrounding her head dark, preening after a drenching rain, penetrating, intelligent eyes and a six foot wing span -was still a sight to see. This species of eagle are endangered and only a few remain in the open in Panama. They eat sloths from the trees, monkeys, and barring those foods, small domestic goats and sheep. No wonder a still slab of meat didn't entice her to come and grab it, although she has been in captivity her whole life. At Summit Park there were three species of Mackaw, jaguars and other cats and monkeys (though we didn't see them).

The highlights of our birding in Panama has been at Finca Leirida where we saw the Three Wattled Bell bird and male quetzal- see Boquete entry) and the two birding trips with Jacobo Ortega. His company is birding in panama.com.

How else would you meet a great birder with an excellent scientific background but in the woods? Dan and I had our rental car and were on a road mentioned in Ridgely, the Old Pipeline Rd. We drove up the road as far as we could until a fence blocked the way. Just as we parked in a clearing a small white van parked also. We started to talk as the young man started to show us what we could not see ourselves, all the while talking about how ANCON and the Smithsonian allow limited access to that road since Ridgely wrote about it and he told us how he was a professional bird guide.

We were in awe of his ability to identify birds by their songs, find them and help us to see them, and amazingly imitate a few so as to call them nearer. On that day he pointed out a Purple Throated Fruitcrow, a Masked Tityra and Black Capped Pygmy- Tyrant- a tiny, canopy bird, and didn't even have his binoculars out. Dan was determined to hire him to guide us.

On a Saturday early Jacob arrived at Shelter Bay with his 12 year old daughter and took us to a place called Achiote Road, where we had a great day. Along with his other birding skills he could adjust his birding scope faster than we had ever seen anyone do. That day we were lucky enough to see a White Hawk, a Grey Hawk and lots of Tucans, Arricari, White tailed Trogan, a gorgeous iridescent green Honeycreeper and a female Blue Cotinga among many others. Upon returning to the marina Jacob and has daughter visited our boat for a few minutes before the two hour trip back to Panama City, were he lives.

We recruited Alison and Randall from Tregoning and Susan and Tom from Limmerick and hired another trip with Jacob the following weekend. He was busy but rearranged his schedule to accommodate us. This time out the list of birds and animals was longer despite an hour and a half of rain while we had lunch. What we saw was varied although we went to the same road. The male Blue Cotinga was seen and it was spectacular; a brilliant blue bird set off with black wingtips. We saw a jaguarondi in a tree as we drove out on Achiote and Tamarins and monkeys off the road in the trees. All the birders had good looks at new life birds.

Susan from Limmerick made a list of our birds seen that day and it was extensive. She has her ways of finding and learning the birds, too. She records the call, if possible, then dictates what she sees as she has her binoculars on the bird. Sometimes her husband, Tom, can photograph the bird at the same time, then when they come out of the woods, they study the identification book.

While walking along Achiote Rd. we had a long look at a Savanna Hawk sitting on a tall, dead tree out in a pasture, saw two species of orioles, Orchard and Northern, two species of Euphonia, Fulvous vented and Thick billed, many Tanagers including the Red Throated Ant Tanager, and Red Breasted Blackbird. (and many others) We spent some time on the way back to the marina in a quest for a Pygmy Kingfisher that Jacob knew he had seen perched above a stream in the mangroves on that road. We were in the van again and driving when Jacob heard the call of a bird and dashed along the side of the road carrying his scope, motioning to us to follow. After a few minutes of looking and listening while Jacob clapped to mimic the sound of the bird, the bird approached and we all were provided a great scope view of the "bird of the day", the Green and Rufus Kingfisher. Jacob was excited to have found a bird he
doesn't see too often.

Birding trip

Obviously Dan and I recommend him highly. Check out his website at birdinginpanama.com or google Jacobo Ortega. If you are in Panama, or planning a trip and have the interest, he organizes trips all over Panama, especially the highlands and Chiriqui regions and has a comfortable van that seats eight people.

If anyone would like a more extensive list of our sightings, write to the blog. Some photos were taken through the scope by my Cannon 850 point and shoot camera by Jacob.

Pictures to follow when I have internet again

Shelter Bay Marina, Colon, Panama October 1, 2009

What does a cruiser do in a marina ?

Shelter Bay Marina, Colon, Panama October 1, 2009

So the sailing vessel Sea Star remains tied to the sturdy, concrete finger piers at Shelter Bay Marina. What does a cruiser do in a marina for over a month? (Well, not now- now we have moved on so that Oct. 11, 2009 we arrived in the San Blas)
Since there are few worries once all the boat projects are done or planned- you can just hang around your boat and watch the comings and goings. Here at Shelter Bay there is a regular stream of cruisers planning to go through the canal to the Pacific, waiting for the measure of their yacht to prepare to move through the canal or arriving at Shelter Bay Marina the day of transiting the canal from the Pacific to Atlantic Ocean. The sailors and motor yachts are from all countries and they all have had adventures so it is a lively group.

Many cruisers run, jog and work out on a regular basis. For Sea Star and a group of cruisers who are heading toward the San Blas and eventually Columbia, the location of the marina near to the San Lorenzo National Park offers some great exploration opportunities while hiking, jogging or just walking and gawking. It's beautiful exploring the quiet, green and majestic canopied walking paths and roads. The roads were built back long before 1999 when the park and the Panama Canal were returned to the Panamanian Government by the United States military who used to jungle-train here in Panama. There are open fields, some with bunkers or homes that have now been allowed to return to jungle.

We Cruisers have been thrilled to see and hear mammals such as white-faced capuchin monkeys and the larger howlers cavorting in the treetops. Occasionally cats such as the Jaguarondi, anteaters, coatimondi, a long-tailed raccoon-like animal, agouti, a fat rodent with little tiny round ears and an few solitary crocodiles and caiman around the dock areas where there are mangroves have been seen. The paths are alive with a large variety of singing, whistling, colorful, noisy or squawking birds flitting around flowered branches, munching on fruits, ants or catching insects in flight, or just quietly sitting in foliage. Our Ridgely bird identification book has had a workout.

For us, mornings can be very leisurely. We get up, have great Panamanian coffee(we finally invested in a whole bean grinder when we visited Bouquete) and check out the news on the internet if the network is working that day, or read a book for awhile before breakfast. Sometimes Dan and I take an early morning walk carrying our binoculars and often discover new (to us) birds. But sometimes as needs arise for groceries and boat parts, we must gear up early to hurry to the Shelter Bay 8:00AM free bus with our canvas boat bags and backpacks and take the hour long trip to the city of Colon to a specified mall to shop.

Colon, we are warned in writing from the marina managers and from other cruisers, is not a safe place for gringos to walk around town. The crime rate is high as there is extreme poverty and petty thievery and worse is rampant. Shelter Bay must pick up some of its employees in Colon and so a bus is available to bring cruisers to the necessities of life. The Shelter Bay shopping bus arrives at the Rey Market where the majority of the people get off to grocery shop. Other cruisers pile out of the bus, some into other taxis to go to deal with boat papers or be driven to hardware stores, machine shops, the downtown vegetable market, or to Budget Rent-a-Car. Most will race back to rejoin the group for the bus at 11:15 on the trip back over the Gatun locks and back to the marina, the groceries, purchased gas tanks, water bottles, propane bottles etc. now stuffed onto the crowded bus, on all the seats, up near the driver and resting on the floor slipping and sliding on the 45 minute return trip over the bumpy and twisting roads, over the Gatun Lock with perhaps a 45 minute wait for a cargo ship or tanker to clear the locks, (makes for great scenery) through the gate into the military drill base (now Panamanian) and back into the gated marina. After disengaging ourselves one couple at a time from the mountain of purchases, we return to our boats and the intense heat and humidity of a day in Panama, exhausted.

But now we must store the purchases. The mantra is "there is nothing available in the San Blas". The refrigerator and freezer are solidly packed as we wash and repackage grocery items. Any cardboard possible to remove is removed to avoid contamination of the boat by cockroach eggs said to lurk in the glue of any cardboard. The aft cabin is stuffed with canvas bags containing the vegetables that won't fit in the refrigerator and any other large item that needs to be dealt with later. We collapse in a heap, turn on the boat air conditioners and try to recover from the marathon of shopping, packing, lugging, washing, cleaning and storing.

Other cruiser activities can fill our time, too, beside working on the boat and just waiting for the frequent rainstorms to subside so laundry can be brought to the three machines where you wait your turn in the 90 boat marina. The summer camp for adults atmosphere is noted at the swimming pool and hot tub. ). The restaurant has AC and provides some relief from the heat generated when cooking on the boat) although the food is not great. The restaurant has a large screen satellite TV playing ESPN or the occasional movie (in Spanish). On opening day of American football the bar threw an NFL party (sparcely attended however). Seems like we just finish one meal, barely get the dishes done (do you remember life without a dishwasher?) and it's time to start the next! Add the requirement to bring something out to the dock for happy hour and you are planning food all day. Some of the boaters have both cruisers who love to cook and have become sought after for the weekly pot luck dinners.
There is an "everyone is welcome" daily volleyball game organized by Suzi and John on m/v Cabaret for exercise and sociability and an evening gathering on the dock to hash over the events of the day, see who has arrived or left, who is waiting for what parts shipment, what cost three or more times what was expected and general meet and great gathering of the cruisers.

Specifically for Dan and I in our time at Shelter Bay some time has been spent in procuring a get-home to MA ticket for our boat cat, Maggie. This required driving her to the vet in Colon and to an agent in Panama City so she could be flown to Boston then driven to Greenfield to rejoin our son, Steven, at his home. We were able to fly her for more money than tickets for the two of us will cost- in Continental Cargo $346.00, and we met some nice people that helped through the red tape. The veterinaria in Colon, Omar Lorenzo at Silver City was excellent and helpful. $15 for the health certificate proving her rabies vaccine was current and $45 for a new cage for her transportation. He was able to certify that Maggie was healthy and could travel. In Panama City we usedmovetopanama.com for $551.00. Mario and Karina's service was appreciated as they took care of her to be sure she would be on the plane on time. We miss Maggie as she was great company on the boat, playful and uncomplaining, unless we were traveling for days, but we felt she would be happier on land with space to walk and exercise. The days were brutally hot in the boat when it had to be closed for the day.

Happily, our friends on Tregoning have traveled to the Rio Chagres and it may work out that Tregoning, Navy Blue, Cabaret, Whane and Sea Star as well as many other boats from Shelter Bay or Bocas Del Toro may move on to the San Blas soon. We heard from Jamie by email, now returned to his science teaching job in Canada and off of Wind Song for ten months. He is slowly acclimating to the differences in culture on land and he and his cat Spot, miss their sailing days. Well, actually Spot is fine. We miss you, Jamie! I guess it's up to you to teach the youth the basis for your values and the importance of conservation principles to the natural world.

Shelter Bay Marina in Colon, Panama September 11- 16, 2009

Shelter Bay Marina in Colon, Panama September 11, 2009

The day we decided to leave the Rio Chagres and move on to the marina at Shelter Bay inside the breakwater of Colon, dawned clear and pleasant. Still we lingered to enjoy the quiet beauty around us-

Well, pretty quiet considering the howler monkeys in the trees, and parrots screeching overhead. Up came our anchor about 9:00AM to hopefully sail the 7 miles into Colon.
Jamie on Windsong began his trip in hopes of good sailing, too. As mentioned in previous blog entries, he had no working engine propulsion on Windsong, having had his shaft sheared and propeller lost back in Bocas Del Toro. Both of our boats had made reservations at the marina. Jamie was having Windsong taken out of the water to return to his teaching position in Canada for ten months and Dan and I wanted to see him off, maybe help with his repairs if there was time, wait for more packages of electronics to fix our boat and check out Panama City for a few days.

In a little over two hours Dan and I were entering the breakwater. We had been able to sail about half the distance, then we had to use the engine. We worried a bit as Jamie tacked his way out of the narrow channel from the Rio Chagres but all went well and we worried again as rain pelted down as we were entering the marina and could raise no one on the radio to give us our slip assignment. We could see Windsong, still valiantly tacking along the outside of the gigantic rock breakwater and doing her best to get where she needed to go and avoid the seven or eight anchored ships of various kinds and foreign flags; tankers, container ships, car carriers, cruise ships and yachts waiting in a line to transit the Panama Canal.

Yachts heading for Shelter Bay traverse near this anchoring area called “the flats”. Eleven years previous our trawler Sea Star had spent a month in the deep and muddy flats anchorage waiting for a slip at the Panama Canal Yacht Club. Now the Panama Canal Yacht Club has been closed and there is nowhere to park a dinghy, so the flats anchorage is not used much by cruisers.

After a few unanswered radio calls on channel 74 we made our presence in the entrance to the marina known and were guided to our slip and told that we were lucky, because we got the last slip. I immediately reminded the dock person that two boats had made reservations and Windsong may need help as she had no engine. A few minutes later we heard Jamie trying to raise the marina on 74 to no avail. Knowing that he might have to use his dinghy to assist his entry, we wondered where the marina was going to put him, but he still received no answer on the radio, but at least the rain was lessoning by now.

At the entrance to Shelter Bay there is a long dock on the right. Perfect, we thought, for bringing Windsong in safely. Finally by cell phone Jamie reached the marina and was told where to go. Dave, a marina manager and a dock person waited to receive Windsong’s lines as Jamie putted his way in, circled, and driven by port side dinghy tie, eased his starboard up to the dock. We all guided her by lines to the far end of the long dock. It seems the marina staff were actually waiting for a 100 foot yacht expected soon at that very dock!

After welcomes and introductions on the dock Jamie asked about the hauling of his boat. He learned that the lift was going to be shut down at the end of the next day, but extracted a promise that he could be one of the three boats hauled before the lift closed. Feew! That was a lucky break as Jamie had just run out of time and had only a few more days to get ready to leave his boat on the hard and return home to teach Science in Windsor, Ontario for ten months. Of course he was reluctant both to leave his boat and the cruisers’ life.

Shelter Bay is not a cheap place to leave your boat but it is safe and has excellent floating concrete docks with finger piers, electricity, (by meter), potable water, showers and laundry. The amenities were more than we had seen for a long time and we were wanting to use the air conditioning on Sea Star as it had been so very hot! Shelter Bay also has a small restaurant , walking trails right to the Chagres River and the Gatun locks, a free bus to take cruisers to the town of Colon where groceries and hardware stores were said to be available. Since the closing of the Panama Canal Yacht Club they are the “only game in town” and all Yachts transiting the canal find their way to Shelter Bay.

The next issue for Jamie once he arrived safely at Shelter Bay, was a ticket home. He planned to leave the next Tuesday if he could accomplish his next task which was to find a mechanic to machine his new shaft. Meanwhile he had to start to ready his boat for the pull out; bilge pumps had to be cleaned and working well, the boat needed a certain amount of cleaning, sails had to be removed, dried and stored -- the faithful dinghy as well-- and he thought he was going to have his mast taken down and removed from the boat.

The real fun began at the nest issue. Jamie has a cat, Spot. She was a rescue cat and had been a faithful, uncomplaining sailing buddy, and she was expecting to go back to Windsor, Ontario with him, maybe climb a mountain or two and get her feet back on dry, stable land.
Panama regulations and airline red tape made this a difficult task and almost caused him to return home later than he should have for work. Because Panama is hot and Miami or Texas, cities he might fly through, also hot, the airlines had regulations about an animal in cargo flying when the temperature was too high. He found he could not carry the cat aboard the plane on which he had already bought his ticket. He couldn’t ship the cat in cargo as an individual, he had to hire an Animal Exporter to certify the animal was healthy and capable to fly and arrange the flight with an airline. The animal needs to have all its shots and see a veterinarian within seven days of the flight, then the Exporter had to certify the veterinary signature- and all this, he was told, could not be accomplished in less than three days!

He extracted a promise to try to expedite the process and decided to bring the paperwork to Panama City that afternoon. He had updated the cat’s rabies shots in Bocas and had a clean bill of health for the cat so cat in carrier and Jamie and Dan went off in the Shelter Marine bus, then a taxi in search of the local vet in Colon to sign off on the seven day requirement.
The only vet office cruisers knew of was closed, permanently! Next the guys rented a car and somehow found a feed store where, speaking pigeon Spanglish they communicated that they needed a vet. The store keeper found another vet who agreed to come to the store in his car. He provided a rabies tag as if Spot had just been vaccinated and then Dan, in a rental car, took Spot home to the boat (let’s just say Spot doesn’t ride well in a car) , and Jamie jumped on the express bus for Panama City. There he was able to meet the Exporter who took pity on him and provided the paperwork needed, and the name of a pet friendly hostel in Panama City which would allow both the cat and Jamie to make their flights-and all for only $750 fee and ticket for the cat alone!

Yikes, there was still a lot to do. I helped by folding sails and cleaning the dinghy, but Jamie worked non-stop until 6:00PM when we all left for Panama City in the rental car. We should have been there in 45 minutes but as luck would have it we missed the turn off in Colon for the toll road and found ourselves bumping along a construction zone and terrible uneven pavement with detour after detour on the “libre” all the way into the city.

Finding the hostel Balboa Bay, Panama was a bit tricky. Spot was welcomed by the friendly owners and the three of us were off to find our hotel and dinner. This part all went well. Dan and I stayed at the Marbella Hotel that had nice clean rooms and a good spot for a rental car, we ate Pizza and lasagna at Monolo’s Italian Restaurant, then Jamie took a cab back to the hostel and the next day Spot was transported by the Pet Exporter and made her flight. Jamie was transported by us and made his flight.

A few pics: but don't forget to come back for the rest of the blog!

table style="width:194px;">Wind Song's abrupt lading
Dan and I drove through Panama City, mostly in a deluge looking for a boat store by the name of Abernathy’s that we could not find. We started to head back to the hotel when purely by chance we stumbled on it in a maze of one-way streets and bought a few things we needed. We walked to a movie theatre from our hotel, seeing our first movie out since Massachusetts, I think. It was Pelham 1-2-3 with John Travolta and Denzel Washington and a good action movie.

The next day on the way back to Colon we did some birdwatching on a road near Gamboa called the “Old Pipeline Rd”, famous in the Ridgley guide for lots of birds. In the woods we met a young Panamanian bird guide, Jacobo Ortega, who said he could identify 500 birds by their call. We were only with him for an hour but he pointed out many birds we would not have seen, White-tailed Trogan, a Black capped Pigmy Tyrant, and Masked Tityra. We want to hire him for a trip near the marina where there are more trails and roads suggested in the guide.

So now that Jamie has gone to land, Tregoning is still in Bocas and Sea Star is tied up at dock, our pace has slowed. I’ve tried cruiser volleyball for the last few days, Dan has done some more boat repair work, searching the US on the internet for a discontinued Pro Sign 2 control for the inverter. We have ridden the Shelter Bay bus to town and lugged back groceries-stores almost like the states! Plans are not made yet for next stops. Our cruising permit for the boat in Panama will need renewal in a few days. We think we would like to visit the San Blas Islands of the Kuna Yala after a few coastal stops-but we, like most cruisers, are looking forward to a trip back to the states to visit family and friends, for Dan to take a class and maintain his plumbing and electrical licenses, both of us to see various doctors and dentists, and of course, procure more boat parts. That might happen in late October so we need a safe place to keep the boat. Our dilemma is that Shelter Bay and Cartagena are really the only two marinas in the direction we are planning to go.

shelter bay OL

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Escudo De Veregas, Rio Euero, Rio Chagres August 17-27 2009

Escudo De Veregas, Rio Euero, Rio Chagres August 17-27 2009

The packages containing electronic equipment to fix the boat after the lightning strike arrived by plane and boat, we installed the new equipment, replaced the seven AGM batteries with the seven new ones, checked everything again, and Sea Star was ready to sail within a month of her hit. At the time we thought our little group of Windsong, Sea Star and Tregoning were going to move on together yet again. We said our goodbyes to newly made friends in Bocas, thought about the things we didn’t get to do, yet it was time to leave Bocas Del Toro behind.

Windsong, still without propulsion other than sail, left a day before us heading to Escudo De Veregas, an Island that was reputed to be the “Jurassic Park” of Panama. The bird life was said to be exceptional. Sea Star and possibly Tregoning were going to meet Windsong and explore the island together. Jamie made the anchorage just at dark and spent a rather rolly night on the hook, leaving the next morning. At our regular SSB radio communication time of 9:00AM he was considering leaving Escudo unexplored unless a suggestion for a different anchorage could be found. No luck. In the west wind there were no good anchorages. Windsong, after managing with difficulty to raise his anchor in the west wind and not be blown onto the shore, left the island.

Well, Sea Star was not to be denied this island paradise, while Alison and Randall on Tregoning were delayed waiting for their mail to arrive, we made our way the 45nm to the very same anchorage that Jamie had left, and in the same wind. In the afternoon at anchor Sea Star was very comfortable and the weather was cooperating. Dan and I were sitting in the cockpit at sunset when the caretaker of the island Tortugas (sea turtles) and his son arrived in their motorized cayuco. This very interesting and friendly man explained to us in a mixture of English and Spanish how he and his son count and record the Green Turtle numbers and births and keep the natives from killing the adults for food. He welcomed us to Escudo, saying we could go ashore, walk the beach and see the turtles, fish if we wanted, because it was not a restricted park. A contribution was expected and we were happy to give the man $10.00 and two beers he hinted at as our way of contributing to turtle conservation efforts.

We had planned to go in to shore to birdwatch, explore and take our dinghy into the many mangrove lined coves but… as had happened with Jamie the wind picked up bouncing the boat around and pushing us ever closer to the land. At dark, the wind was gusting to 20kn and by 10:00PM torrential rain was falling and we were bouncing bow to stern and rolling, too.

Around midnight we heard a huge “clunk”, and each time the bow rose and fell it sounded again. We had anchored with our all chain rode and had 150’ out protected by a 30’ nylon rope for a snubber. The snubber had let go, so we in our raincoats and nothing else in the pitch black had to go out on the deck and replace the knot that had loosened while the boat pitched, thumped and creaked. We did not sleep very much and in the morning when the time to communicate by SSB came, we were still hoping that the forecast of very light winds and mild seas would occur. We took the big boat (to put the dinghy down would have been dangerous in the swell) around the south side of the island looking for a calmer spot to anchor. Since we could not find one, and the coral reefs were hard to see under the dark water with no sun on it, we were chased out of Veregas, just as Windsong had been! I'll bet it is a fascinating place and when the weather is right, a real gem.

So what to do? The Captain, Dan, wasn’t ready to just go on yet without some adventure. He checked out our guidebooks and compared notes between them and we decided to try another day stop at one of the jungle rivers along the mainland coast of Panama before going to the Chagres River. The guidebooks showed many to choose from; one where natives sell shark parts to Japan, one with a native village, some fishing villages where you had to surf over waves to enter the mouth of the river. We had about 45 nm to go after we motored along the south coast of Escudo De Veregas, so we hoped for good wind and weren’t sure where we would head to-how far along the coast we could get.

As we sailed along at about 5kn, we noticed a great deal of bird life out in the open sea, so I put out our trolling rig in hopes of catching a Mahi Mahi. There was debris in the water; small and larger logs and limbs, floating sea weed and grasses. We saw rafts of hundreds of terns, brown bobbies, Frigate birds and even one bird that could have been an Albatross working the waters while shimmering fish were splashing and jumping out of the water. The small birds were cute as they floated by us perched on logs. If it was a long log there might be twenty birds all in a line whereas a small stick might have just one. They would fly off only when the boat’s bow came near to hitting their perch.

My first catch was a small shark, a three footer. I don’t know what kind and we cut the line and lost the lure. Maybe an hour later I caught a Cero, which Dan decided wouldn’t be a good eating fish and let it go! Then in quick succession I hooked and Dan gaffed aboard two Black-fin Tuna of at least ten pounds each. It took me a while to clean them using directions from a book, “The Cruisers Guide to Fishing”, and it was a bloody affair on a sailboat. We haven’t eaten any yet as I need a few good recipes and some lime or lemon.

When I came up from the galley after cleaning the fish, Dan knew we would have to really bring our speed up if we were going to reach the Rio Euero anchorage before dark. We turned on the motor, took in the sails as there was little wind and cranked up to 2700RPMs and put the anchor down in a strange river right as the sky grew pitch black. On the way we were traveling at ODS-optimum dolphin speed! (I think it’s about 7kn) We had a pod of the sleek bodied creatures playing, jumping and whooshing under the bow of Sea Star for about an hour as we headed for the coastline and shore. All told it was a very exciting day on the water and sort of made up for our missing Escudo De Veregas.

The next morning was pretty and sunny-the anchorage hadn’t been calm but we did get some sleep and Dan was ready for his jungle adventure. I took one look at the surf outside the mouth of the river and questioned his sanity. We gathered the usual gear; my camera, his camera and lenses, binoculars, water bottle, sunglasses, shoes and socks and started off to the mouth in the dinghy, sighting and photographing a Black Hawk on the way. We saw the waves at the entrance and landed down the beach to go take a look. Dan waded in to his chest to check the depth and current strength, then we took all the gear out of the dinghy on shore, and hand guided the boat in through the chosen path. Of course waves lapped in and filled the dinghy with Dan in it. He bailed as I steadied the dinghy and without further mishap, gathered the equipment and went for our river ride. It was great fun and there were lots of birds. We heard howler monkeys and parrots in the trees. We saw trees full of Toucans, Arricari and other birds and paddled quietly while the rain started again. When it poured we were able to tuck under trees and vines with huge leaves. After about two hours in the river we decided to go back. Leaving the river was easier than the entry. Apparently the current had quieted and the surf was nowhere near as high as previously so we just blasted our way back into the bay with our gear in a dry bag in the bow locker.

We had been the only cruising boat there and at Escudo, too. We discovered we could trust our newly installed instruments even though the chart plotter showed our anchorage as on land -since we also have paper charts and guide books as backup, we knew the error was not the instrument’s malfunction. Now we were ready for our 52nm trip to the Chagres River.

The next morning early we started for the Chagres and arrived there by 2:00PM after a rollicking but comfortable sail at about 7kn as the current was helping us along the coast. It wasn’t easy for Dan to locate the Lajas Reef, a marker to guide the Captain’s choice of path into the Rio Chagres past the San Lorenzo Fort in the rather rough seas. We followed the Bauhauss and Zydler guide directions and did pass in 13 feet of water but no less. We found Windsong anchored well into the mouth of the river and we dropped our hook there, too. Tregoning was still in Bocas Del Toro and we hoped that they would soon receive their mail and join us, but it was not to be.

I remembered visiting the Chagres on our previous trip eleven years ago. I remembered watching a Bat Hawk, dinghying up river tributaries and hearing howlers and noisy birds. I was wondering if it was too much to expect the river to still hold its magic. It was even better than the last trip. The Panamanians have taken the canal area and are managing the resources there as a National Park. We found the river and its banks clean of trash except very close to the road to the canal and pristine with no development allowed, the paths and walks filled with wondrous sights from butterflies, birds and orchids to larger animals such as monkeys (White-faced and Howler)and sloths. We dinghied some of the tributaries, visited Fort San Lorenzo and walked near the dam on Gatun Lake and along the Panama Canal. The birding find of the trip was a pair of Southern Lapwings with young. Dan saw them distressed and hopping about when he was walking near the Gatun Dam area and a caretaker mowed down a meadow in which the birds were nesting. When we left, the baby bird was alright and burrowed into the mowed grass, and the adults were dive bombing us as we walked and every car, truck or bus that passed on the road to keep everything away from the nest. You had to feel sorry for them. They were frantic. We think the is a rare bird to see in this part of Panama.

And then there were the monkeys. We were able to watch a troop of howler monkeys eating fruits in a tree right on the Rio Chagres. There was a set of old concrete steps leading up a lump of dirt that we climbed and improved our view to looking right into the tree.The pictures speak for themselves.

We left the Chagres on Wednesday, August 26 for the 6 nm trip to Colon and are currently residing on the dock at Shelter Bay Marina. Jamie on Windsong is about to leave his boat on the hard for the next ten months while he returns to his teaching post in Windsor, Ontario. Tregoning may still join us here or we may see them in the San Blas. One of the hardest things about cruising is saying goodbye when plans don’t mesh anymore. Blogs are great! Both Windsong and Tregoning have written blogs at the same time as I have. Check them out at tripsailor.com/Tregoning and wincom.net/jhalpin/windsong.htm


Dan shot most of these photos- enjoy the slide show

Escudo-Chagres OL

Bocas, Batteries, Boxes and Booms! August 16, 2009

Bocas, Batteries, Boxes and Booms! August 16, 2009

At the end of my last blog entry I wrote that Sea Star was struck by lightning. The strike was on July 18th and was quite extensive, though, luckily, no damage of a permanent nature (that couldn’t be fixed) to Sea Star or her owners! I’m not really sure about Maggie, the ship’s cat. She has become much more skittish when she hears thunder and it’s raining.

We arrived in Bocas on June 18th in hot and humid weather. There were a few days where wind for a short time was 20kn or so in the anchorage but there were almost daily light sprinkles-“Hey, it’s sprinkling, finally some fresh water wash for the boat!” The skies did not open up on a regular basis.

It seems to me that the wet season is early as we have been getting daily rain, especially night and morning, necessitating popping out of bed and attending to hatches. “Son of a b****. I just opened them up and it’s raining aagain!” Hatches HAVE to be opened as the nights are hot and sticky, and the wind has dropped off to very little. When it pours, cruisers, wearing nothing but a smile, run around their decks setting up rain catching “gear” as well as closing and opening the hatches. We call it the “hatch dance” and it accounts for many yawns and a “cruiser midnight” of about 8:30 PM.

When we decided to take Jamie’s suggestion to go to Boquete I luckily asked the right person to care for Maggie. Apparently as soon as we left the skies opened up and Thor sent thunde ,and lightning from his mighty bow right to the mast of poor Sea Star. Sue on Waldon was feeding Maggie while we were away and watching out for our boat. Things can happen; we could be boarded by the locals looking to sell their langostas, we could drag anchor or someone could run too close.

Sue was confused when she noticed that we hadn’t done things we had talked about doing before leaving. Our switch for the anchor light was off. Not a good thing in an anchorage -and we told her we would leave it on! Then she noticed that the refrigeration was off and wondered why we would do that! She tried to call our cell phone many times but we were by then out of range. She grabbed some food as the refrigeration warmed to save for me and continued to care for Maggie- and think about our boat and the fact that the weather on Friday and Saturday was terrible with a huge storm having moved through.

When Dan and I were at the Avis Rent-a-Car return after our fabulous trip to Boquete, we checked the messages and finally called her back. She was on the boat and Dan had her turn things on and off and ..well..it was obvious we had been struck and things were not good on Sea Star- by chance we learned later, the only boat to be struck.

So what did that mean to us? TRIAGE! What was not available that was essential? After calling Jackline Insurance and notifying them Dan got to work. When talking with Jackline they said they had an assessor “really close to us- in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.”
“Uhh.. not too close to us”, Dan countered-“600 or 700 miles, and the boat is not in sailable condition.” So the adjuster said to prepare our best estimate and submit it.

With Jamie on Windsong, and Jeff on Waldon’s help the trouble shooting began. We already knew we had no anchor light and that lights on the electronic panel were off. When the engine started Dan knew the engine was not getting charge to the batteries. LED lights on the boat were unable to be shut off and all sorts of weird readings came off our instrument panels. Our wind generator had shut down, we had no refrigeration or freezer (that was actually helpful as we had no way of keeping them charged up anyway), and one by one other items were discovered defective.

While Dan worked, so did I. I had three pounds of hamburger to cook, a turkey breast, easily ten pounds of beef, some for stew and some steaks. As I’m cooking away and in the middle of a turkey roast-the stove turned its circuit breaker off and stopped!

With an “oh, no, heard here and oh, shit heard there the guys did their best to assess the damages. We had NO autopilot, computer, Raymarine chart plotters-an E80 and E120 read seatalk failure, all depth, wind and speed gauges were out, tachometer and other engine sensors were no good- the VHF radio and SSB were not receiving, the entertainment centers-one TV and a satellite radio were not working- if Dan were writing this he could be more specific but you get the picture. There was to be no moving this boat-

On the positive side we did not see any outside or hull damage and since we had been anchored in 40’ water, a thru-hull failure would have been a disaster. We could have arrived back at Sea Star to see 20’ of mast above the water! So we can say with authority, “It could have been worse.”

Two weeks after the strike we had to get an estimate to Jackline. That was tricky because there was absolutely no way of knowing which components might work again if a part were fixed, or a wire was changed. We put together as conservative an estimate as we could to bring the boat back to her former glory-but in the meantime we had begun the ordering process for what were the essentials. The process was to check what equipment we had, search for serial numbers, and parts available, then list the item number on the sheet to put out for an estimate. This was an all encompassing task for Dan for a week. He ate, slept and perused the computer figuring out what we had, and what was the current replacement. Then I typed it, we submitted it to Jackline and sat on pins and needles—for less than a day- until the bottom line was approved!

How does a person get packages shipped into Panama? What will customs charge for a Yacht in Transit? Where the hell is Bocas Del Toro?? Other cruisers gave us leads and that was the best way to have discovered Arturo at Marine Warehouse, PackYa and other ways (ship and truck) to get items from the US to Panama City and then on to Bocas Del Toro by air- in the middle paying a great deal to Fed-Ex for timely shipments.

On one day we received the six packages from two different shippers by the Panama Air cargo at the Bocas Airport. Four of them were late in arriving because Panama City was having a severe storm, so in the morning we took our two huge packages to the boat followed by four more even heavier in the afternoon. Into a taxi and to the Pirate’s Restaurant dock we lugged them all, into the dinghy and onto the boat to open them, just hoping all would be as expected. About that time Jamie arrived, seeing our loot and because he is young, agile and really nice by that evening we had our anchor light and VHF operative.

Before we could really rest on our laurels, our second shipment came. This time it arrived by ship. BEFORE the strike we had ordered new batteries to replace our only 3 ½ year old AGM battery bank of seven batteries. Each battery is 35 lbs and needed to be taken from the truck that carried them on the supply ship, carried down a rickety dock and lowered three feet into dinghy. Dan and Jamie lugged them aboard Sea Star and installed them in place of the seven old batteries without blowing up the boat while working in such tight a space with such volatile wiring.

So now every cabinet in the boat was open and every tool in use or cast aside temporarily, leaving Maggie and me absolutely no place to be. From the forward cabin the mattress was ajar and folded to access the storage under the bed. The forward head had been acting up and was stripped of its plastic covering and unusable, large and small boxes of Raymarine equipment were piled throughout the salon and the new refrigeration units were sitting on the galley countertops. Electric pumps; bilge pumps, pressurized water had been shut down for safety, either the seven new or the old batteries were in the salon depending on how the project was progressing, the aft cabin was holding all the “usual stuff”, like the pillows and table from the salon, the water making bottles, cat carrier, diesel jugs and plastics from the aft lazzaret, and by now the guys were installing the refrigeration in the starboard lazzaret, working around the pedestal in the cockpit- and it was pouring allowing no hatches to be opened for ventilation.

At the end of Tuesday the 18th, Dan and I were out motoring around and calibrating the new autopilot, speed and depth gauges. The mess throughout the boat remains, but it’s a little less. Jamie, with problems of his own- NO engine and he “lost” his propeller right off his shaft a few weeks ago is waiting for us to get it together so he can move to where his new shaft is waiting- in Colon, sailing, only there is no wind. He kept himself busy climbing another cruiser’s mast today. Tregoning, the other boat we have been in company with, are awaiting the return of their broken inverter and for some mail, then they will head to Colon.

As I write tonight, we are planning a Thursday departure to Colon if possible. All the newly installed gear is being tested. Some works fine and some is acting funny. We’re hoping the windlass works and brings up the anchor, and the new components in the bow thruster can steer us to the diesel dock. We have not totally cleaned the boat of “old stuff” (only three years old), and I’m trying to make room in storage for items we may be able to resurrect “someday.” We can see the full fix is a long road ahead.

Why did Sea Star get the hit? Why not? From what we hear there is no way to prevent a strike. It’s the luck of the draw. I hate to site this couple, but a few days before our strike we met a couple on an Oyster sailboat who have been struck three times! Now that’s unlucky.

Sea Star is a well made Island Packet sailboat, has the proper grounding of equipment and a little brush instrument on the top of the mast that is reported to dissipate lightning. Dan and I are aware of the dangers. Before we left we tucked a few removable items in the oven, a make-shift Faraday Cage, “in case of possible lightning”, but the built-ins can’t be protected.

Cruiser’s laugh when the old saw is repeated, that “Cruising is the fixing of your boat in exotic places” and I used to laugh, too. Let’s hope these repairs to our three year old boat is all the “fun” we have like that for awhile, and Sea Star continues sail on without incident.

Here are a few pic of the repairs. And just to show you we still can have fun in adversity- check out the other fire story from Bocas Marina, Calipso Cantina. Hot, Hot, Hot!

lightning July 18th, 2009

Almirante, Chanquinola, David and Boquete July 18, -21

Through Almirante, Chanquinola, David and Boquete July 18, -21

“Let’s go to the mountains” Jamie on Windsong suggested. He researched what he felt would be a fun trip including a zip line through the canopy and a strenuous hike up the Vulcan Baru trail reached from Boquete, a town at the foothills of the mountains well known for the quality of its coffee. Immediately Dan and I thought we should go-we love coffee, but we thought we should slow the pace down for us. We agreed to accompany Jamie from Windsong and Alison and Randall from Tregoning, but at a birdwatcher’s pace that would not include a zipline or Vulcan hike.

BUT First:
All three boats have been in Bocas for a month, so to remain legally in Panama we needed first and foremost to renew our Tourist Visas by July 18 and not too much sooner, and not later as there are fines for lateness. We find the rules confusing. Because we live on a boat, we need something called a Mariner’s Visa even though the boat is covered for 90 days by a zarpe. If a person flies by airplane into the country, they are given a visa good for six months. For some reason a cruiser needs to appear before Immigration officials every 30 days to renew a Mariner Visa, but the Mariner Visa is only good at a few specified places, like Bocas, and we might have to do the Visa thing again as soon as we go to Colon.

Anyway…….the head man at Bocas Immigration suggested we have copies available for the Changuinola office of our passports, our stamps in the passports, all our boat papers and papers given us on our initial entry into the country and have two passport –size photos for each of us ready ahead of time, which we all prepared and did indeed save us untold issues in Changuinola the next day.

We had the water taxi to Almirante, a tiny sea coast town, pick us up with all our luggage at 7:30 AM for the 30 minute fast boat ride to Almirante where we were rushed into a van-taxi and off for the 45min. twisty, bumpy ride with our driver animatedly talking with his girlfriend, driving holding her hand, and taking his hands off the wheel to put them on her many times- to the Capital of Bocas, Changuinola ,and the Immigration office.

We were the first group to arrive at the office in the morning and the young woman who had us fill out forms-laboriously- one person at a time-by hand was very pleasant and seemingly efficient. We had arrived by 9:00AM, done our homework in having the copies ready and things seemed to be moving smoothly, then more people came into the one room crowded office, and more people. The two 12” fans hadn’t a chance of keeping up. All the turquoise plastic chairs, desk chairs and wall space were filled with people and our luggage- and the woman who was head of the office was not there to begin our paper trail, so we all sat, and read and sat some more. We finally headed out for breakfast, walking through the Chanquinola version of a mall-open storefronts with a large selection of clothing and merchandise farther back in a large open room. We were called by cellphone when the head lady appeared-around 11:00 AM and were back to Immigration within 10 minutes of the call.

People came, went in to see the various employees, chatted, presented passports, kissed babies, had coffee and still the five of us sat in the turquoise chairs -1:00 PM, 1:30, 2:00 PM and finally after I nearly blew a gasket we were courteously waited on and given our Mariner Visas and we only paid $35 each, or $70 per boat in addition to the close to $300.00 the officials extracted in Bocas Del Toro the previous month when we arrived.

Now we were in a hurry. Originally we had thought, pick up the visas, and get to Boquete in one day. Luckily by now we had fatalistically decided this couldn’t be done. The bus we were now running through town to meet from Chanquinola to David would take 4 hours and from David to Boquete another 45 minutes. Once on the bus, we relaxed for the 4 hour trip to David and enjoyed the scenery, laughing about our morning in Immigration. Our entertainment on the ride consisted of watching the seats fill and empty with the indigenous people and their children and baggage. Seats were constantly full to overflowing.

The trip is over mountainous terrain and the bus has to sluggishly gear-up the mountain roads. To increase the power available, the driver turns off the air conditioning- but that is not too bad in the cooler mountain air as the passengers can open the windows-if the family sitting next to you wants them open and doesn’t bad-vibe. The bus made a stop at a roadside bus terminal cafeteria after two hours of travel. We were grateful for that as part of the ambiance is that you are hanging on and trying to stay in the seat the whole way. We got back on the bus and enjoyed the rolling hills and open fields full of cattle grazing as we entered the larger city, David. At the bus terminal we loaded up with our backpacks and bags, taxied to where we were to stay the night- in a cruiser recommended hotel named El Castillo. Our rooms for $40 were clean, had working bathrooms with showers, TV, and the hotel restaurant served passable food, so we rested well. We were going to have an early start in the morning.

Dan and I split from the others, deciding to rent a car and take a leisurely drive to Boquete. Alison and Jamie were planning on experiencing the zip line in Boquete at 10:00 AM that morning and they and Randall continued by taking the bus, supposedly 45 minute drive to Boquete- it took them 2 hours. Dan and I drove into Boquete in our fairly new rented from Avis, Toyota Yaris, a very comfortable car. We drove the outskirts of David on the Panamerican Highway, a very well kept road passing many beginnings of condo development and other construction, supposedly being built for the ex-patriot population moving into the area.

We arrived at the clean agriculturally based town of Boquete where fields of tomatoes,onions, strawberries and even sweet corn are grown. We parked because yellow detour signs were closing off the center of town where multicolored balloons and indigenous Guaymi Indians families, the women in long colorful dresses decorated in wide ricrac of various contrasts. There was a children’s fair there that day and these farm families were enjoying a day in the city square with their children.
Here are the traveling pictures to and from Boquete- Don't forget to come back to Blog to see the Finca Lerida set!

Boquete traveling

Finca Lerida-Boquete
Dan had checked online and found what we thought would be a great place to stay-outside of town at Finca Lerida, a coffee finca that advertised good birding. The authors of some of our most respected bird books had stayed at Finca Lerida and recommended it highly.

What a find! We were delighted by the beauty of the property- acres and acres of undisturbed forested area, jungle-like with huge trees and spreading canopy. We grabbed A Guide to the Birds Of Panama by Robert Ridgely and spent the rest of that day exploring on the Finca trails-there was so much birdlife that I might be staring intently into my binocular identifying one bird and he another when we might see or hear another and get distracted.

Blue tinged birds in the coffee plants, yellow along the trail, and hummingbirds in the flowers along the front and rear gardens all teased us with their hiding in the foliage and quick darts out for tiny bugs. We identified Blue-grey Tanagers and Flame-colored Tanagers and many more thrushes, finches and more.
These were the 10 room doors:

From Drop Box

The others joined us at the Finca and were just as delighted as we were-but Alison and Jamie were going to hike the Vulcan Baru in the early morning, a 5:30 AM start, so early to bed was necessary for them. We heard their stories about the zip line, a memorable adreniline experience, ate at the Finca restaurant and called it a good, long day.

The morning they started off was definitely cooler-cold than we had seen since Newfoundland , clear and lovely with the mountains looking purple and shades of blue when the mist lifted. Alison and Jamie were picked up by their guide and were on the trail early. The hike was to be about 7km and then an overnight on the trail, a quick ascent the next morning so sunrise would be on the Vulcan Baru mountaintop and the trek down. Unfortunately, Jamie became ill about half way up and had to stop. Alison, a little ahead with the other guide didn’t realize there was a problem with Jamie. She ascended to the top of the mountain, and also came down- part of the trip in the dark when she realized that Jamie was so ill he couldn’t make the trip. Both of them were disappointed by the changes in plans, and the guide warned Jamie he might need to go to the clinic for a blood test. They arrived back at their room at the Finca about 9:00 PM. What a long, exhausting day!

The same morning Dan and I were walking one of the trails on the Finca property and were thrilled when we were lucky enough to see a male Resplendent Quetzal flying through the canopy, and then landing in a tree among the air plants and bromeliads. We were able to see just glimpses of his brilliant iridescent green and red coloring through the branches when the wind blew some leaves out of the way using the highest power on the binoculars and looking almost straight up. At another vantage point we could see the tail and rump of the huge bird hanging through the foliage-keeping its balance. We searched for it again the next morning with Alison and Randall, while Jamie slept in, but no luck.

As we were leaving Finca Lerida of course we bought coffee. The Lerida coffee is prize-winning, rich and aromatic, and had a chance to speak with the knowledgeable bird guide, Victor, who had compiled a list of close to 200 birds that have been seen on the property. Dan and I were very happy with our selection seen and we had a chance for a few wonderful photos-and some not so great ones, and trail walks that were wonderfully scenic along twisty, slightly overgrown paths through the forest and fields! Lerida does maintain the paths very well, however.

Way down a hill in a path leading in from coffee plants we started to listen to the squauwking of some birds and did observe the Three wattled Bell bird, kind of the signature bird of the place, of course we heard its distinctive squawking call in the high canopy and had a very frustrating time spotting it. We heard the “ping” of the Solitaire but could not spot that bird, either. Outside our beautiful accommodation we spotted four of the perhaps 14 species of hummingbirds, two that are only found in western Panama and the Chiriqui area, many smaller birds, such as the flower piercer shown below, hawks, vultures, swifts and parrots, plenty of butterflies and interesting insects. Our road trip and time in Boquete had been a great.

Here are some pictures-mostly by Dan

Finca and birds

Then it was back to David, drop off the car and take the bus to Almirante and the water taxi to Bocas Del Toro---to find out that Sea Star had been hit by lightning the Friday we had left! More on the troubleshooting and needed repairs—at least we didn’t sink—in next entry.

Bocas del Toro July 5-13, 2009—Rio Cricamola

Bocas del Toro July 5-13, 2009—Steve’s visit

Sunday July 4th our son Steve flew in to Panama City on American Airlines, stayed overnight at the Milan Hotel, boarded the Regional flight to Bocas and arrived in Bocas at 8:00AM. We were so excited to see him as we hadn’t seen him in the year since we started our cruising.

We started a whirlwind of activities that didn’t stop until he flew back to Panama on July 12th . (Unfortunately, when Steve arrived in Panama his flight was cancelled or changed and he didn’t get to leave Panama as planned!)

First was a big welcome breakfast at Lily’s Café as the airlines gave him nothing. Then off to Sea Star with the bags with Steve driving a dinghy for the first time in years. We happily climbed on to Sea Star where we chatted, perused our “boat gifts”, boat filters, zincs, and repaired binoculars, and he got reacquainted with his cat Maggie, who now lives on the boat. We went out for a walk around Bocas Town, down the two main streets and into a drugstore where Dan took our newly acquired World unlocked phone and set up the calling process. Wow! A cheap, working phone- it had been about six months since we could use our cell phones and the Sat phone was very costly so used in emergency or at least urgency.

Steve wanted to get going on his vacation right away and took a surfing lesson off Isla Bastimentos. He was able to stand on the board by the end of the lesson, and felt he knew the technique and all he needed was practice. He was so excited when he returned and it was so hot he jumped into the water-with his sunglasses on. Whoops, gone! Our group of Tregoning, Windsond and Sea Star went to supper at Lemon Grass and back to the boats.

Situated in the aft cabin he proceeded to become ill. High fever just came on suddenly and he suffered from a 24 hour flu, we found out in 24 hours when he was better. Meanwhile we sailed out of the Bocas anchorage, deciding on a snorkeling trip to Crawl Cay about 10 miles away. Off in the distance we could see the famous Zapatilla Cays. We again wiggled into an anchorage which was 40 feet deep and deployed the anchor. Steve dove on it and told us we were holding pretty well-in coral.

Despite the less than perfect water clarity, we had an interesting shallow snorkel where brittle stars in many colors coiled around various shapes and colors of sponges; barrel, tube and reaching sponges, saw lots of reef fish of various sizes and beautiful colored coral structures, spending hours in the water. Later we circled Deer Island, in a mangrove river by dinghy, ate a wonderful fish dinner at a restaurant at Crawl Cay and decided to head for Bluefields and Rio Cricimola for Steve’s adventure.

From Crawl Cay we sailed on to Laguna De Bluefield, where Guaymi (Ngobe) indigenous people live on the edges of the water seemingly on little money and subsistence fishing. When entering the anchorage at Punta Allegre the friendly people came out to talk and greet us in their family Cayucos.

After two nights we moved on to Laguna De Chiriqui and the mighty Cricamola River. In Irish Bay where we anchored in a protected mangrove cove, the water was brown with run-off from the many rivers and we plogged up our watermaker (temporarily) and actually had to use bug spray to repel the no-see-ums as the anchorage was dead calm. It made us wonder how the natives could stand to be there all the time, despite the prolific wildlife and fish.

We had to use the dinghy motors on full throttle to move up the Rio Cricamola , and what a grand vista with mountains in the background, tall Kapok trees and foliage, banana plantations and indigenous villages one, two and three along the muddy banks of the swiftly downstream moving river. We had a great trip looking for birds, visiting with the villagers at village one and purchasing the woven carrying bags the people are famous for making. I’ll let the pictures tell the story!

From Laguna Chiriqui we gave it our best shot to sail or motor sail the 35 miles back to Bocas taking the Split Hill and Sumwood Channels between Chiriqui and Almirante. That was an adventure in navigation! The ferryboats take the channel regularly, but it is not well marked. We knew it would be the shortest way and should have plenty of depth if we could find the channel.

Our choice of path was somewhat complicated by Windsong’s mechanical issues. At the end of our trip to the Dark Lands, Jamie’s main shaft had broken off, dropping his propeller somewhere in the Bocas anchorage. He was totally motor-less and showed his sailing skills as he tacked his way back to Bocas with his dinghy strapped closely to his hull providing some propulsion but sucking up his gas.

The day was overcast and the water a dark blue so visibility as regards the shoals and shallows was impossible even when perched on the boom. Lucky for us Steve was aboard the boat as he and I spent hours in the dinghy using the portable depth finder sending the path to Dan who drove the boat with a few quick reverses needed as we measured the water -from 19 feet to 5 feet in the space of a boat length. Tregoning and Windsong relied on our information to safely negotiate the tricky channel through the mangroves and out into the bay.

Sea Star, using motor as required, arrived back in Bocas first and provided the only dinghy with gas to go for Pizza as Tregoning, followed by Windsong in the dark, arrived safely back at the anchorage.

The next morning we had a goodbye breakfast together and Steve was on his way home to Greenfield, MA and his plumbing job. We were sad to see him go. There was so much more to explore in the Bocas area. No wonder so many cruisers have purchased property in the area and moved to Bocas permanently.

Here are 100 pics:

Steve's adventure