June 7, 2008
Bocas Marina
Well, if all goes according to plan, Ole
gets back on Sunday morning. He phoned me on arrival at Turku
to tell me that American Airlines had “misplaced” his luggage in
Miami on the way into Finland…a few worries for a few hours…but
it showed up on Monday.
I took Maggie in to see the volunteer vet,
and wonder of wonders, she’s put on 2 pounds, her fur is looking
better, and she appears to be tolerating the thyroid medication
(Tapazol) quite well. The ride over was even pleasant
(relatively speaking). In the lancha, from her travel box, she
seemed a whole lot less frightened than in the dinghy—and there
was only discharge from the forward end this time. The vet is
pleased. Now for the challenge of finding a steady supply to
keep her motor from racing. She looks more like a cat (a svelte
one) than a p.o.w. cat. She had us worried!
Kathy (from Attitude) and I went for an
overnight trip to David, to meet Toby, the local “fixer” and
visit a dermatologist, find bulk cat food and litter at the
Central American Costco equivalent, and round up some Sunbrella
for miscellaneous sewing projects around the boat. Found a
great little hotel, the Castilla, right downtown, where a double
room was only $45. Clean, bright, friendly, with comfortable
beds and a decent restaurant and bar! Good Gringo find.
Another great find was a restaurant we would have overlooked if
not for a reference from Toby. Called “El Renegado” (the
renegade), it’s run by a Spaniard and his Peruvian wife. Great
ceviche, good wine selection, and an interesting menu. The
restaurant is on the Pan-American highway, and looks like a
typical roadside comedor, but the food is first class.
The dermatologist turned up a small basal
cell on my face – no real surprise there, as I’ve had them
before. They say (whoever they are) that skin cancers are
actually germinated when you get sunburned as a kid. Lord knows
I had my share of childhood sunburn, exacerbated by 15 months in
Tahiti protected by nothing but coconut oil, not to mention some
real doozies here, caused by 15 minutes of floating on my back
in the noonday sun while at anchor. Nothing that a bit of
liquid nitrogen couldn’t fix, but with this lifestyle I’ll have
to stay vigilant.
June 14, 2008
Bocas Marina
  Okay. We’re now Panamanian landowners. We
just couldn’t resist the opportunity. With the US economy
stalled out, and Panama growing at about 7% a year, the choice
seemed obvious. Call us optimistic, but we chose Lot #279,
here. We took the bus up to David on Tuesday, paced the
property, wrote the deposit, and celebrated at El Renegado, a
Peruvian/Asian fusion restaurant in David.
On Thursday morning, we decided to go out
for a long weekend before Ole goes back to work on the 18th,
and before I meet up with my friends in London on the 23rd
to join the ship in Southampton and cruise with Ole for his
whole 10 weeks.
June 28, 2008
Aboard Independence of the Seas
What a wonderful thing, to meet up with old
friends in a new place! Early on the morning of June 22, I
turned the boat over to Chef Brian here at Bocas Marina, who
will be cat-and-boat sitting for us while we’re aboard
Independence of the Seas for 10 weeks. Caught an early water
taxi to town, flew on a little puddlejumper to Panama City, and,
via Miami, to Heathrow Airport. After a 4-hour wait, our good
friends Cason, Julia, and Suzanne showed up from Phoenix and
Seattle, respectively, and we taxied to a funky little hotel
near Russell Square.
 We had a fabulous time together for 5 days,
cramming as much of London into our time together as possible.
Mastered the tube to explore the British Museum, Westminster
Abbey, Cruise to Greenwich, a West End Show (Avenue Q – the
x-rated muppet-like musical), and watching the World Cup Soccer
finals from a pub a few blocks from the hotel. Since we
were so close to King's Cross Station, we also had to see if we
had what it takes to get into Hogwart's. We also took an
“independent” day, for each of us to do whatever we wanted. For
me, it was haircut, manicure, and shopping for essentials like
underwear, which cannot be found in any size, quality or
quantity for women like me in Central America. For Julia and
Suzanne, it was the Victoria and Albert Museum. Suzanne, Cason
and I “did” the Tate Modern.
Today we taxied to Waterloo Station for a
short train ride to Southampton, where we joined Ole’s youngest
son Petter and his girlfriend Kristina, to take over the
Independence of the Seas for two weeks together.
The ship is phenomenal. We counted 22
bars, a 3-level formal dining room, 4 specialty restaurants;
there’s an ice-skating rink with world-class shows; a theater
that seats 1800 with sound, lighting, and special effects to
rival any Broadway or West End theater; entertainment from
Vegas-style “t&a” reviews, chamber music; Brazilian jazz guitar;
and English sing-along pub music. Can’t wait to get at the
14-day itinerary! I’ve provided a link to Royal Caribbean’s
page on the Independence here so you can see what we’re talking
about…
The challenge is that the ship is full –
over 4200 passengers, 1450 crew. We’ve signed Petter and
Kristina into our cabin, and Suzanne is sharing a triple with
Cason and Julia (who are celebrating their 4th
February 29 anniversary…hmmm…) and we want to be able to
accommodate everyone. But whenever a ship is brand new, all of
the past cruisers want to be among the first to cruise a new
ship and new itinerary, so we’re chock-a-block here.
Sailaway was fantastic, cruising down the
Thames past the Isle of Wight, through a veritable flotilla of
day-sailors, and into the English Channel.
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