April began with a sudden feeling
of dryness…where has all the rain gone? Oh yeah – it’s
Panama – where in the dry season it rains every day, and
in the wet season it rains ALL day every day. Pleasant
daytime temperatures, not too hot, led to visions of
getting the varnish done on the bow caprail and a coat
or two all around. I planned to do one coat every day
from April 2 until April 11 – but then it started
raining on the fourth day.
I sang at the Cantina again – and
when we ran out of common material, we added a few
verses to the improvised “Bocas Bottom Feeder Blues:”
(it’s a basic three chord, 12-bar blues) – here goes:
Started varnishin’ on
Monday
They said it’d be sunny all week long.
Yeah, I started varnishin’ Monday,
Said it would be sunny all week long.
Well, Thursday it started rainin’ --
Now all my motivation’s gone…
So I spent my time cleaning the
inside of the boat ready for Brian’s cat sitting
service, getting some help from Margarita from the
Marina. Really helps to have somebody willing to stick
knives and microfiber cloth into all of the louvers…
April 11 I took off on the early
morning flight from Bocas to Panama City, for a
reasonable 2:30 flight to Miami to join Ole after an
overnight in a HOTEL! With CABLE! And a BATHTUB!! And
ROOM SERVICE!!! Oh, we cruisers celebrate the small
comforts of life. It really was a bit of a break-in
period for the outright decadence of the Chief’s cabin
on the Independence.
April 12 I took the crew shuttle to
Ft. Lauderdale to meet Ole and the ship, and our friends
Dale and Linda Bixler joined us for the Atlantic
crossing cruise and the first Med cruise of the season.
It’s their first trip to Europe, and they are tickled
pink to be able to join us and get what we’re sure will
be a first taste of the banquet that is the
Mediterranean.
The first six days we spent at sea,
following 30°
North pretty much 2/3 of the way across. No Titanic
passage for US! We had fantastic, warm, sunny weather
and light breezes all the way across, making us wonder
what all the hubbub about crossing the Atlantic was. We
played $10 a day in the penny slots in the Casino, went
to shows, shopped, and tried to work off some of the
extra meals in the gym every other day, warming up the
muscles and the feet for Europe. We split up the dining
experiences among the Windjammer, the Dining Room, the
Italian restaurant Portofino, and the steak house Chops,
as well as taking a few quiet meals in the cabin. Ole
joined us for lunch and dinner every day, and it was
great for him to share his experience of his fantastic
workplace with friends.
The first port call was a new one
for me as well – Ponta Delgada in the Azores. What a
pretty place – not at all tropical – it’s a volcanic set
of islands with cloud forest and a permanent halo, being
the first land for hundreds of miles in any direction.
Dale and Linda and I took a little walk, and as it was
Sunday, town was pretty deserted. It was charming,
though, with a distinctly Portuguese colonial feel.
After our walk, we opted to join a private tour and
drive up to an area with twin volcanic lakes called Sete
Cidades. Though it’s tough to see in the pictures, one
lake is blue – the other green – even though they are
only separated by a thin strip of land. All of us were
impressed with how prosperous, tidy and friendly the
island seemed. It’s not exactly on the beaten tourist
path, which may have something to do with the local
attitude.
Ponta Delgada on a Sunday Morning |
Twin Lakes at Sete Cidades |
Coastal View |
Church at Sete Cidades |
Second port call was also a new one
for me, as well as Ole – it was Funchal, Madeira. It’s
a bit south and east of the Azores, so it has more of a
subtropical feel, and has been visited by tourists since
the 17th century. There’s a lot more
development and tourist infrastructure, including a
step-on-step-off bus tour and two Madeira wine houses
that offer tours and tasting, so we opted to go that
route after a half hour walk into town. Ole was able to
get away for lunch, and we were talked into a wonderful
(but pricey) seafood restaurant up on the bluff away
from town that the locals prefer – called O Barqueiro,
it sits across the street from a developed path down to
a natural swimming spa. It was in the high 70’s, which
didn’t stop the mad dogs and Englishmen from having a
dip.
Independence in Madeira |
Natural Swimming Pools in Madeira |
Lunch at O Barqueiro |
Funchal Street - note flowering
trees! |
Dale and Linda being tourists |
One more sea day, then it was Vigo,
where we called last summer several times. Again, we
opted to walk, saving our big bucks for the Florence and
Rome excursions to come next cruise. After spending so
much time roughing it in terms of clothes and shoes in
Panama, I persuaded Dale and Linda to join me for some
department store time, during which Dale found a dress
shirt and some new tux shoes, so I guess it wasn’t all
girly shopping. Stopped for a lunch of seafood in the
Medieval quarter of the city, and had a wonderful,
relaxing visit.
We arrived in Southampton on April
26, and I took advantage of the proximity to a good
hairdresser and Marks and Spencer to run some errands.
Dale and Linda strolled the city on their own, and
seemed to have a grand time exploring. The highlight
was the sail away, though, as it’s about an hour and a
half downriver, passing the Isle of Wight, Portsmouth,
and a summer home from Queen Victoria’s time, as well as
some 18th century fortifications at the mouth
of the river. One of them is privately owned, converted
into a James Bond/Sean Connery sort of mercenary’s
paradise – apparently he’s behind on his payments and
the government is trying to evict him – but he’s not
going quietly!
First call was again, Vigo – and
Ole joined us for lunch at a restaurant recommended by
Captain Teo called El Mosquito. It was charming,
reminding me of the small country places we discovered
while we lived in France. While we were there, a
Spanish couple at a neighboring table chatted with us,
and before we knew it, had treated us to a round of
local liqueur. The friendliness of Spain just cannot be
topped in my book.
 Second call was Lisbon, where Dale
and Linda and I walked two miles down the Tagus River to
the Monument of the Discoverers, celebrating the
important Portuguese contributions to navigation.
Across the street, in an old monastery, is the Lisbon
Maritime Museum, with a fascinating collection of ship
models from the 1400s to present time, as well as
costumes from the various naval ages, and a
reconstructed stateroom from the king’s yacht. For
fellow boaters, I can’t recommend any better fun than
touring maritime museums – and this was one of the best.
 Gibraltar
was the third port, and the three of us joined a taxi
tour to the top of the rock, taking in St. Michael’s
Caverns, the Barbary Apes, and the 18th
century network of British fortified tunnels that
Swiss-cheese their way through the rock. Linda and Dale
just had to join the fun. Dale is a real
picture-taking-fool, and I highly recommend
visiting his website
as well. You’ll see that he and Linda are fellow
DeFever owners, and spend their summers in Puget Sound
and Canada and winters in their motor home, lately of
Key West.
Approaching Gibraltar |
Pilot on the Ladder |
Inside St. Michael's Cavern |
"Old Michael," the oldest of the Barbary Apes, at
27 |
Dale and Linda inside the Fortress |
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