(Note) There is a possibility that the post entitled "Easing Out of Panama" either posted twice or out of sequence.)
We are currently anchored off Espiritu Santo, our Panamanian home as far as I am concerned. We were alone when we got here three days ago, but now have two other boats here with us. It is just as beautiful here as ever, and I am glad to be back. Again, I understand why we have stayed here so long, and will likely have to fight the urge to stay even longer than we have planned.
Today we sort of re-upholstered the seat that serves as a cover for the life raft that lives in the cockpit. The old cover was disintegrating, so we put a new piece of vinyl over it. We will never be hired as upholsterers, but for a hand made job, it is not bad and will serve the purpose well. It goes nicely with our hand-sewn bimini top. We might as well keep the homespun theme going! Tomorrow we plan to relace some isinglass in the dodger. We really need to replace the whole dodger, but right now is not a good time. We can fix the really messed up part, and that will do until we have a professional re-do all our canvas.
Between here and Mogo Mogo, where we spent two days after leaving Panama City, we caught a nice sierra, and he has been feeding us for two days now. Tonight is the last of the ceviche. It was fantastic - for those interested, the recipe can be found in "The Joy of Cooking", and they spell it "seviche." Awesome recipe! DO not forget the green olives! We skip the part about letting the fish sit in the citrus by itself until ready to serve, and simply put all the ingredients together at once and let it sit for at least 3-4 hours in the fridge before eating. It is better the next day, if you can wait that long.
Since I am posting this via SSB radio, I am not sure what I have reported previously and I can't check. And since I have practically no short term memory any more, I may repeat myself. Bear with me. We had to motor all the way from Panama City to Mogo Mogo, but we got to do some actual sailing between Mogo Mogo and Espiritu Santo. It didn't last but a couple of hours, and our progress was slow, but it felt great to feel the wind pull the boat along and not hear any engine noise. The engine is not working properly in that it is not sounding right, but all the gauges indicate that the oil pressure is fine, there are no problems with over heating, so we plan to use it as little as we can until we get to Costa Rica and can have it checked out. We could go back to Panama City, but heaven knows it is time to move on!
We have had a little rain since we have left the city, but not enough to do more than make it crystal clear how dirty one's boat can get anchored off a large city - dust, dirt and God knows what in the air. One more decent rain and the deck should look nice again. When we get to Costa Rica and the marina, I plan to take advantage of the dockside water hose and give this boat a good washing and waxing.
Anyway, there is not a lot of real news to report here in the islands in Panama Bay - just observing the periodic bird and fish drama, watching the clouds gather and then dissipate, listening to thunder and lightning and being really happy it is at a safe distance, and being really grateful I get to be here and see all this before something happens to it, like development, or losing the beaches to rising sea levels, or whatever can happen. There is talk that Panama might slip back into dictatorship, but I try real hard not to have any involvement whatsoever in local politics in other countries, regardless of my personal sympathies - which are always based on people I have come to care about. I just hope everything will be okay. There is an election coming up in May, and I have been told things always get tense when this occurs. Of course none of this ever effects tourists, but when you spend a lot of time somewhere and get to know and care for people, it is hard not to want to involve oneself. I guess that is just human nature.
So that will be it for now. It is starting to rain, and I need to help Mike close up the overhead hatches. I still love it when it rains, I never take it for granted. Too many years in the Southern California desert, I guess.
"If you smile at me I will understand because that is something everybody everywhere does in the same language" (Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young)
----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com
No comments:
Post a Comment