Crazy Daisy Update:

Friday night email from Bob……………. Hi Heather. We are in the little bar on Lemon Cays. Edward and Paul are about to try the internet. There are only 2 outlets. No wireless. Don't know whether the outlets will be fast enough to support skype. Look and see if Edd or Paul shows up on line. Paul has still not adjusted to how primative things are. He went into the shop today and thought it was empty. And now he's seen the only beach bar. Big enough for 2 people to stand at. So the internet is another shock, his computer does not even have a plug to fit this old generation outlet. How has your day been? We have been pretty relaxed. We are checked in. So now plan just to hang out for a few weeks o the San BlasLuv Bob

New Web Site

So my web site is up and running, its still under some construction, but the bones are there. Check it out, www.daisyatsea.com

Not Far Now...

Following a few days rest and relaxation, Daisy and her crazy crew left Isle Rosario yesterday morning on their way to the San Blas islands. My crazy crew will relax again in the San Blas for a couple of weeks before finishing the first leg of the circumnavigation and meeting me in Panama. The sail to the San Blas will be a "sail all day and sail all night" leg. This is never an easy sail the wind and current off the Columbian coast is never predictable and can be horribly choppy and rough, it was a passage I truly hated. Last time we were dodging masses of floating debris, whole trees that had washed off the

coast from the previous storms. Sailing at night there is really treacherous because you cant see the debris in the water. I will only be able to relax once I hear they have arrived safely. This is not a passage for the faint of heart.

The Truth will Out!

So, I'm realizing from reading my son's blogs, that Bob is very careful about how much accurate information he gives me regarding the little (and large) pho-pah's that occur onboard Daisy. I get a brief, sugar coated account from Bob, then the no holds barred, actual account of real events from Edi. At least I now know who to go to for real information.

Another Day, by Bob Morgan...

Hi Heather We are safely anchored in the Rosario Islands attached and below are todays ponderings. Another Day It’s another day, no not a refresher of the last day, but another day. Totally new, no recycled version of yesterday, a fresh beginning every 24 hours. The sea is flat, seemingly driven that way by the oppressive weight portending the heat that the day will bring, it is already smothering the shimmering vista of low cowering vegetation that have learned how to survive on the small ringlet of islands that enclose us. To us who bring our own survival with us and so oblivious of the challenges of life, we see beauty and tranquility in the early morning, still and graceful, over lush green islands basking on the line that separates a cloudless pale blue infinity of the upper world from the flawless blue piazza where we dropped anchor. But yesterday, that different day, we felt the breath of ………. Not death, but the knowledge that life is transcendary and we were walking a line of risk as we plunged and recoiled from the short sharp seas that boiled over the shoals and reefs around these islands when the winds swing to the north and whoop and gush between 30 and 40 knots. Out in the open sea such a day is exhilarating, knowing that our mobile fortress luxuriates in being able to demonstrate what she was created to do. Yesterday however we were not infinite distance from the hard stuff, we were walking a tightrope between rock and reef and long wending shoals that funnel you in to the jaws of the of the channel that gives access to the leeward side of the islands where we were seeking the refuge of an anchorage we had used on another day. To day, this new day, above the reef that coils and stretches in every direction around us we see and hear the rippling rain drops of shoals of small fry breaking cover as they leap to avoid the jaws of faster fatter cousins. Yesterday as we approached our refuge and this reef, The islands were our friends and gave us shelter from the wind but it was still too rough to pick out the reef from the helm position and we had already learned that the positioning of the hard stuff on the electronic chart plotter could not be trusted, when as we weaved our way though the shoals, we tried to line up beacons and hazard warning towers on shoaling reefs, only to discover that either they or we were misplaced by several hundred feet. More that a passing concern when the path to be followed is less than one of those hundred feet wide. So today we plan to swim and play on that reef ………but yesterday my mind was fresh with memories of our last visit here. When we watched another sail boat wrestle and then get caught and twisted on these reefs for nearly 2 hours, as it tried to enter into the sanctuary of our anchorage. On that day, a different day, the wind was the little 8-knot nephew from the East of the stranger from the North that challenged us to day. So armed with memories of how we went out and helped free that sailboat from the reef and totally discarding the positioning of the reef on our electronic panaceas of survival, Edward climbed onto the boom and called port – starboard while Paul manned the depth gauge calling 6ft – 5ft – 4ft – 6ft as I attempted to react to their instructions, holding a path at 1-2 knots while the stranger from the North tried to pull and trick me to one side or the other. To day the stranger from the North has left, and appears to have taken his nephew with him, so we are left in the temporary hole caused by their absence, bobbing aimlessly at anchor in a bay of apparent tranquility. So today we have slowly maypole danced 3 full revolutions around mummers anchor as I have sat here reflecting on time and place, bracing myself for the play that such day deserves. Luv Bob

Bob's thoughts...

Another rather poetic email from Bob in Cartegena, I think the atmosphere was having an effect on him… read on …………. > Good Morning Heather I am sat on deck, clear blue skies, looking over the > morning scenes of Catagena waking up. The unreal juxter positions of The > gleaming Miami Vice skyline one side of the bay and the Majestic Domes of > Spanish Colonial military might languishing over the old walled city at the > other end of the Bay. The subtlety of the vista is enhanced by the background > blend of its audio rhythms! Starting with the near silence of the early > morning haze that imperceptibly morphs into the murmuring heartbeat of a > sleeping giant, the hum of what can only be the pressurized gurgleling of 1.6 > million coffee makers turning into the ratatatats of distant diesels and the > fluid swooping cawing sea birds being replaced by the demented buzz of a > frantic water taxi appearing from nowhere skimming the surface and then > vanishing into the fabric of the audio seascape. All the while the audio > backdrop continues to blur yet partner the visual lunacy of this meeting of > eras in one city at the halfway house between The North and South America's or > 300 years ago between North and Southern European expansionism. The > occaisonal other era formality of The long practiced rythyms of a marching > band drift in and out of earshot behind the indecipherable hum of the rising > breaths of the Giant as the populace of Cartagena starts to power up its veins > of Narrow overcrowded streets and alleys. The soup of city sound is made all > the more homogeneous by the clarity and overpowering volume of dropped food in > the enclosure that pens in the towering megalosaurus and diplodocus eating > containers from ships that strayed too close. ................... > All very chilled and laid back here on Daisy this morning, we got up early to > dingy Graeme to shore to get his flight and then went to bed for more shut-eye > before relaxing under the bimini to soak up the start of the day. At 9:30am > Paul went down below because it was too hot for him on deck. Eddie is still in > Bed. Last night we went to the old city and had dinner in one of the outside > plazas.

Next Stop Cartagena

So here is a snipit from Bob's last email. I was questioning him why they were heading to the San Blas when Graeme had plane tickets from Panama (on Friday 18th). F.Y.I Both Porvenir and Rio Diablo have little airports, well actually "airport" is stretching it a bit, both islands have a garden shed that doubles as a check in office and customs next to a small airstrip, but its enough to get a small jet to Panama.///

>This photo taken of Edi in the San Blas Christmas 2011 …………………………………………... BOB'S EMAIL…….. Hi Heather, The reason for heading to the San Blas is that they are on the way to anywhere in Panama. Our idea was to see if we could get Graeme to Porvenir Or Rio Diablo to get a flight to Panama City, so we could stop and chill on the San Blas for a while before going to Shelterbay. However the weather on the Columbian Coast has not matched the Weather forecasts. The day has been clear and sunny but the winds and waves have not died down all day. The wind has been between 30 and 40kts all day and we saw a few 50s. The Waves have been behind us most of the time but have meant constant attention to avoid us either surfing too fast or being turn broadside to our sail settings. (The good news is that with our double headsail set up, we don't have to worry about gybing) Because the wind is not dropping, my current plan is not to go direct to the San Blas, but instead to go into Cartagena tonight and then Graeme will buy new plane tickets from there. We will then continue on to the San Blas at our own pace, either staying a few days at Cartahena and the Islands off Columbia or going straight to the San Blas based solely on the best conditions to do it. Of Course this plan may change on the Whim of the Weather! I will keep you informed. - Cartagena is currently in sight. I will email you when we get there. Luv Bob………... (I received an email following this one an hour later to say that they are safely anchored in the bay.)