Life is Brutal (Not)

March 1, 2012 By Leave a Comment

At Anchor, Las Hadas Marina

At Anchor, Las Hadas Resort

If things get any worse, we’re going to have to file a complaint!

We’ve been at anchor off the spectacular Las Hadas Resort since last Monday. A small fee of 200 pesos per day or 1000 pesos per week gets us all the resort privileges…swimming pool, beach towels, gym usage, and discounts at the bars and restaurants. And nice staff who deliver poolside cocktails and snackies. Plus a great little marine chandlery with more stuff than we’ve seen in one place for the last 5 years! [Read more…]

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Preparing to Leave Bocas del Toro

October 19, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Bocas Marina
Bocas del Toro, Panama

We left Independence at 1:00 pm on October 3, arrived at the hotel at the Rome airport and were checked in by 2:00. Because the Hilton provided complimentary shuttle bus service into Rome proper, we opted to hop on and do a quick (hah!) walking tour past the highlights. We’re sure glad we did – the bus let us off in the old district a 10-minute walk from the Coliseum, and in just under five hours we managed the Forum, the Vittorio Emmanuel Palace, Mussolini’s Palace, the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, and pasta at a local sidewalk café. Next time we’ll have to come in a few days early, or leave a few days later, to take advantage of seeing the insides of all of these wonders! [Read more…]

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Building the “To Do” List is a Thankless Task

June 30, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Bocas Marina
Bocas del Toro, Panama

Within about 24 hours of our arrival home, our “to do” list grew to over 30 items – and by the end of the month we were up to 38.  The biggest challenge is getting parts for the generator, which pooped out on us before we left Emma Jo last March.  Ole worked like a champ, bringing just about every spare part known to Westerbeke home in his suitcase and going through the process of elimination to find the right broken part.  Murphy’s Law struck – the broken part was not among the spares he brought. [Read more…]

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All Quiet on Emma Jo

March 31, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Bocas Marina
Bocas del Toro, Panama

Life on Emma Jo is kind of quiet these days, with Ole gone and Jan reverting to her normal night-owl schedule, staying up ’til verrrryyy late (or early, depending on your perspective) and rising in mid-to-late morning.  The month of March, Bocas del Toro received something on the order of 30 inches of rain, most of it from the first to the 12th.  As the boat dried out, Jan turned her thoughts to varnish – the cap rail has for some reason blistered (gee, do you think it might have to do with something like 13 FEET of rain since November????) and the table on the back deck needs some attention.  But we’ll need more than just a day or two of dry weather to get anything done. [Read more…]

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Prepping for the DeFever Rendezvous

February 24, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Bocas Marina
Bocas del Toro, Panama

Ole’s replacement aboard Independence has resigned, so his 10 weeks off has been cut down to 5, with one of the weeks requiring his attendance at diesel school in Ft. Lauderdale. Happily, though, the end of his course coincides with the beginning of the annual Winter Rendezvous of the DeFever Cruisers. We have been invited to present for about 45 minutes about our cruise from Guatemala to Panama, so we spent the last few days before Ole’s departure running through the presentation, editing and refining the Power Point slides, and working up our George and Gracie act to take it on the road. Well, I’m off tomorrow to join Ole in Ft. Lauderdale for a quick overnight and then a drive to Useppa to join the Rendezvous. Can’t wait!

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Valentine’s Day in Bocas del Toro

February 14, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Sweethearts Forever

Bocas Marina
Bocas del Toro, Panama

With the Bocas Marina Cantina under new and creative management, a Valentine’s Party was planned and executed with impeccable flair by Dyllan and Darian. The festivities included welcome pink jello shots, romantic poetry on ribbon-tied scrolls, hundreds of paper hearts flying all over the posts, walls and tables, and a great meal of eggs benedict, champagne, and rum punch. The highlight was a musical trio booked in from Peru – with a keyboardist, percussionist, and “girl singer” who started slowly and romantically, then built up to full-on dancing music. They were truly the best entertainment we’ve seen in Bocas, and it figures, considering they are from out of town! Here are a few moments from the party… [Read more…]

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Full Moon at Starfish Beach

February 12, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Full Moon at Starfish

Bocas del Toro, Panama

During a break between the rain squalls, we decided we needed a few days out at anchor, to get our sense of territory back, give the new engine exhaust manifold a tryout, and find somebody to repair our bimini top and bridge cover.  We joined Steve (Serenity) and Gary (Sea Feather) for a planned couple of days at Starfish Beach, and shared a good meal aboard.  We were fortunate enough to experience a full moon rise, and Ole went out in the dinghy to try to capture a few “mood” shots.

After a relaxing couple of days, we picked up anchor and moved to Dolphin Bay, where Cyntha and Tommy from Moondancer are house-sitting for Carl and Mary of Camryka.  We were able to cajole Cynthia into repairing our canvas, much to our delight.  Should get at least another year out of our “bargain” bridge cover from Rio Dulce after repairs.

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Happy New Year from Independence of the Seas!

January 31, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Ole and Jan on New Year’s Eve

Independence of the Seas

The beginning of the year greets us with more change.  It looks like Ole’s schedule is changing (again) and our projected 10 weeks of planned projects will be cut down to 5 weeks.

We were invited to present at the 2009 Winter DeFever Rendezvous at Useppa Island Resort in western Florida the end of February, and Ole has a 5-day course from Wartsilla Diesel the third week of February.  So we’ve got to get our heads around a new schedule. [Read more…]

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October is Party Month in Bocas

October 31, 2008 By Leave a Comment

Bocas Marina
Bocas del Toro, Panama

The second half of October was uneventful (save a couple of spectacular parties to be described later). We waited for parts. Ole has been down in the engine room dismantling the engine, cleaning up, and getting it ready for the hopefully soon arrival of a new manifold and adapter kit. I’ve been working on making new window covers for the outside of the pilot house, trying to protect the interior wood while providing much-needed shade. Thankfully there are just enough common sense fasteners to handle the just enough Sunbrella I have left.

Now to the parties: [Read more…]

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Anniversary Party at Bocas Marina

September 30, 2008 By Leave a Comment

Bocas Marina
Bocas del Toro, Panama

The work list continues…and so does the heat.

The highlight of the month was the fifth anniversary party of Bocas Yacht Club and Marina. With an expected turnout of 75-100 people, several of us opted to spend the Saturday afternoon of the party helping Sharkey cook, clean, and organize. I’m glad we did – everything was perfect for the expected 5:00 pm start time, with finger food, beer, wine, soft drinks, and killer rum punch ready to roll. All the cruisers were there, as were several folks from town, to enjoy the live music, a fire dance, a juggler, and general alcohol-fueled mayem. And during the evening, I got to discover why they call them “fire ants.” Sitting on a rock in the lawn I thought I had dropped cigarette ashes on my ankles!

Finally, tomorrow morning we’re going to head out in a convoy for a week or two (as long as the food holds out) with four other boats – Pamela Jean, with Pam and Bill from Texas; Mariah, with Evelyn and Dave from Key West; Serenity, with Steve Tepper (staff captain on Norwegian Jade); and Guavi, with Ariel and Michelle from Puerto Rico. Should be fun!

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