Five Fish

That is correct - I caught five fish today before one pm. I got a sierra, a barred pargo, a small bass (thrown back), a black skipjack tuna, and another fish we have not yet identified, likely a snapper or something of that ilk. Since there are only three boats here now (counting us)we were able to give fish to both of them and have plenty left for ourselves.

We have settled into Espiritu Santo nicely, and of course I can't remember what I last wrote, so hopefully I won't repeat myself too much. It is wonderful here as usual, and even better than before, because we aren't having lightning storms every other night. Now we get to experience the good time of year here, before the rains start up again. Since we finally have a decent plan for the near future, and are here legally, it is quite relaxing. We got our laundry done, made water, and right now we seem to have a respite from boat projects. I hope I didn't jinx anything. But right now we are just subsistence fishing, swimming, exploring in the dinghy, and of course the general maintenance that is on-going. But since the humidity is way down, I only have to clean mold off the walls once a week instead of every two days. And it has stopped growing altogether in most places.

There is a kind of heron around her called a tiger heron. It's call sounds like a dog, except that dogs don't bark in a pattern. you hear them at sunset and early evening, but you see them during the day. They have black and yellow stripes on their faces.

We are still talking about our trip to the Darien and are planning to visit another river soon. The only issue is whether we go into Panama City first. We have some business, but most of it can be handled via the sailmail and the SSB radio (which is what I use to post this) even when we have no internet access. I guess that is our biggest decision right about now. There is a whole river system in the Darien jungle, and much of it is navigable for boats like ours, boats with a fairly deep draft. Our Darien trip was truly one of the most interesting, life changing, and inspiring experiences we have had since leaving our jobs and regular lives, and a lot of that is for reasons I have yet to be able to articulate, even to myself.

Tomorrow some local guys are supposed to bring us some fruit - probably green papaya and limes. I will be happy for both. Our last batch of limes went bad because I didn't get around to storing them properly. Last time I do that! We are almost out of fresh produce other than onions, garlic, potatoes, carrots, and some other root vegetables. That is always the first thing to go - the fresh veggies. I have tried all the different tricks, and I think I stretch things out pretty well, but these things only last so long, no matter how hard one tries. I did a pretty good job this time - everything was bought several days before Christmas, so it has been awhile. There are some peppers left, but they are getting pretty dried out.

Somehow I ended up with Aretha Franklin doing "The Weight", which I am listening to as I write this. We have a lot of music stored on the computer, and Mike has made all these random mixes, I guess you would call it. I never know what I am going to be hearing next, but it is fun and rarely do I hear anything I actively don't like. But back to "The Weight" - I had no idea she ever recorded it. It is awesome anyway - one of my all time favorite songs by one of my all time favorite artists. I don't know where half this stuff we have came from - cruisers are always trading those little computer sticks around with movies, TV shows, music, and whatnot. Anyway, listening to good music, writing this post, and just enjoying a bright sunny day - well, I almost (but not quite) feel guilty.

"If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other." (Mother Teresa)

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