Family Photo's

Edi and Paige, evening beach walk

The San Blas islands are so small you can walk all the way around them in minutes, as long as you don't mind getting your feet wet.  We spent most late afternoons exploring, looking for shells and watching the wildlife.

Paige with the hermit crab she named "Herman" !

Danni

Nic

Nic and Scoop

Last of all, US  :o)

End of Another Year...

The weather is just amazing today, the rain seems long gone, and the sky is incredibly blue, but now the heat has taken over, and "Bloody Hell, it's HOT",  no, that's not me complaining, I'll take this any day over the rain, I'm just grateful for the air conditioning on the boat.

Bob and I made the early morning bus trip into Colon today (always an adventure) to re-provision the boat, as we plan to spend the next 2 weeks back at the San Blas before he returns to work for a few weeks.  

The supermarket was stocked with all the goodies and things I wanted to buy for Christmas, but couldn't because they were sold out, needless to say we arrived back at Daisy with a cart load of provisions and booze, but it made me really sad when I was putting it all away because my family are no longer here to share it with us.

Bob and I will eat, drink and be merry for the next few weeks, and then Bob's off for a while, but at least in Shelter Bay I have so many friends, I'm never really alone.  I'm trying to convince him to let us stay here for New year, I really, really would like to spend it celebrating with all the friends I've made here, when Bob's gone, they're basically my family.

So, I'm about to serve curry for lunch, lovely on a 100 degree day :o).  I have had all my laundry done, all 60 lbs of it, and the boat is clean, polished and stocked, so we're well ready for another trip, OH why can't I be more excited about it.

If we do happen to leave here in the morning, this will be my last chance to wish everyone who reads my blog a VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR, and thank you so very much for your following and support.

Love Daisy xxx :o)

P.S.  Danni, it's so hot my watch has totally filled up with condensation, I hope your new watch doesn't freeze over in Ohio. 

Evening Beach Walk

The Joy of Christmas

Jumping for joy

I'm convinced the reason so many people read my blog, is because of all the nail biting horror stories I tell of my life at sea, which is basically just a catalogue of disasters, interspersed with brief moments of joy and "thank God I survived" tales.
The weeks leading up to this Christmas, and my family arriving were full of anticipation, prayers and hope for a Christmas without disasters, we haven't had one of those in so many years.  Christmas 2009 was possibly the worst, I actually cancelled Christmas it was all so horrific.

This year the weather had been truly dreadful for weeks, rain, rain and more rain, eventually becoming a monsoon before we left, I was in fear of a vacation spent locked below decks avoiding the downpour.

However,  as it turned out this year I have no horror stories, the weather cleared the day we set sail, and stayed beautiful for the entire time we were away, I even enjoyed the 10 hour sail from Colon to the islands.

Our closest disaster was a little too much sun, and Bob's discovery the day we arrived in the San Blas, that I had forgotten to provision for toilet paper,  we were down to our last 2 rolls, that near disaster was quickly averted by my discovery of three new rolls of kitchen paper ( happily we didn't need them).  We also ran short of beer and water but not until the last day, so that really doesn't count as a disaster.

The San Blas islands were incredibly beautiful as always, and our time there was spent happily doing fun family vacation stuff, snorkling, swimming, exploring the islands, and generally lazying around being boatie, beach bums.

Family Christmas in the San Blas

Beach walk

Every beach needs a hammock

Shopping For The Holidays!

The Morgan clan gathers for holiday season once again. Four of my family arrived yesterday, so now I'm just waiting for Edi and Paige on Sunday.  Daisy is more than ready to go with her fully stocked freezer, both fridges, fruit and veggie baskets, and liquor cabinet, she's so full that she's actually sitting lower in the water, hopefully we'll stay afloat.

Doing the final provision yesterday, proved to be just another typical day in the life of a "live aboard".  I left on the overloaded bus at 8am, as usual it was so full there was standing room only, I had to wonder where all the shopping was going to go on the return trip, I knew everyone had the same plan as me, 'stock up before heading out'.
The supermarket was fully stocked ready for the holidays, and as I awkwardly maneuvered my three tier cart around the store piling it high on all three levels with all the goodies I could lay my hands on, I wondered about transporting it from the supermarket to the bus, then from the bus to the boat, surprisingly that little chore requires quite a bit of effort.  Most of my shopping appeared to be bottles (no surprise there then), so it was all really heavy.
I finished as quickly as possible, I couldn't wait to get out of the store, I had quite a headache from the horrible noise they call music!!!  They play it so loudly, there's absolutely no melody, just screeching noise, like running nails down a blackboard, it was painful to listen to. "Why?" I kept asking myself, I couldn't believe anyone would actually enjoy it.

Once I had cleared the checkout I had to wheel the cart across the road to the bus, and crossing the road out here is really taking your life in your hands.  The taxi drivers are like hit and run experts, and every other car is a taxi. Simply getting on the bus is not easy, as twenty plus other people are also loading their shopping.  The bags and boxes gradually pile up in the space in the center of the bus, until it all spills over onto laps and floor space, then everyone attempts to find a seat, talk about  "how many elephants you can get in a mini" I was squished at the back with my legs up around my shoulders as there was no space on the floor.
The ride back to the marina was long, hot and uncomfortable, between the craters (pot holes) in the road, and the driver swerving every few seconds to try and avoid them, the journey was not a pleasant one.  Once back at the marina, the heavens opened (AGAIN) and down came torrential rain.   We all struggled to get our bags out of the bus and into the carts to wheel to the boats.  My cart was so heavy I could barely push it, and I was literally drowned, everything was soaking wet, it was like standing under a shower.  My good friend Arel was there to help me load all my soaking wet shopping bags onto the boat, it was the one time I was grateful for plastic, at least some of the groceries stayed dry.

Back on board, I changed into dry clothes, wrapped a towel around my wet hair and set about finding space for all the food and drink, and then collapsed with a glass of wine.  I have to tell you, shopping when you live on a boat is never easy.

Mrs Bennett

I had a revelation the other day, which both shocked and dismayed me.

I was working in the Dock lounge, a lovely quiet, air conditioned lounge that overlooks the marina, it's a great place to go grab a book and relax on one of the comfy couches, or just sit quietly with a cup of coffee.  I sometimes take my computer and sit at one of the desks and work on my book, I love the peaceful quiet atmosphere in the room.  I was there the other day quietly working at the desk, another marina resident was also working on his computer, and a lady was sitting on the sofa reading.  It was all very quiet and peaceful, and I was enjoying getting a lot of work done, when two women came in, and walked around the room chatting loudly, completely oblivious to the fact that people were reading quietly or working.  I mumbled to myself, how rude and inconsiderate they were. I tried to ignore their loud chatter, but it was impossible, I reminded myself that the lounge was a common area after all, and just hoped they would go away.  After about 10 minutes (I was in a really bad mood by now) one of them said "OH look a TV"  I cursed under my breath, didn't these people have any consideration, the lady reading the book looked over at me raising her eyebrows and nodding in what appeared to be dismay at the two women's obvious lack of consideration.  One of the women picked up the TV control and turned it on, but there was no sound, she fiddled around for a bit then asked me if I knew how it worked, "No idea, sorry"  I said, "I come up here because it's quiet, there's a TV in the bar downstairs if you want to watch something."  The woman looked at me with a frown,  and then ignoring me turned and asked the lady who was reading.  "No idea either" she said turning her attention back to her book.
You would think that they would have taken the hint, wrong!  The woman then asked one of the marina staff, and everyone else that entered the room if they could get the sound to work, sadly for them, but happily for the rest of us, no one was able to get the sound working, so after about 30 minutes both women left.  "Thank goodness for that" I said quietly, as they left the room, the other residents in the lounge chuckled,  and the room returned once again to a peaceful retreat, where we could all return to what we had been doing before the rude interruption.

That night I was watching Pride & Prejudice, and laughing at Mrs Bennett who was  doing her usual bitching and complaining about everyone and everything, when it suddenly hit me, "OH CRAP"  that's me, that's who I am, that's what I do, I've become a Mrs bennett, a crabby, complaining, short tempered, old biddy!  The realization of this was quite a slap in the face.  I think I'm in need of some serious work on my tolerance, and forgiveness of others.  The question is, if I stop bitching will people stop reading my blog?  Nice is nice, but it's also boring, don't you think?

Just Another Day in Panama...

Today I had to take a trip into Cristobel to see the head port Captain.  The drive into Colon was something I thought I should write about.
We drove out from Shelter bay through another really heavy rain storm, all the streets in Colon were flooded so we had to keep taking alternate roads, water was pouring off the roof tops like waterfalls (no kidding), the water in the roads was so deep in places it was right up over the wheels of the cars, I wondered how long it would be before we broke down and I would have to swim to safety, my biggest concern (don't laugh) was that I had the ships papers with me, a truly valuable possession, and I would not have been popular (understatement) had I lost them.
All the roads were jammed with heavy traffic, and the drivers here have absoutely no manners, they spend their driving time seeing how close they can come to impact with other vehicles, and leaning on their horns, (CAR horns)  no one follows the signs, and close calls occur about 60 times a minute.   There are no rules of the road out here, and even if there were no one gives a rats ass!
My driver doesn't speak a word of english, and my back is killing me from the jarring of the pot holes we have been driving through, not to mention the seat that is probably still in the laid back position from Heaven only knows what it was used for the night before (you know what I mean) and I can't get the seat up, it's totally jammed in the "laid back" position!  The area we drove through got poorer and poorer, even the driver locked his doors, I was not feeling comfortable at all.

I shouldn't really complain I was getting the ride into Colon for free, but somehow I just wanted to be back on the boat.
I was eventually dropped outside a building that looked as though it was probably still under construction. I followed direction and headed off across the road through the rain to the door that my driver pointed at.  Inside there was a desk where a couple of guys stood around chatting and laughing and another guy sat behind the desk, as I ran in they all stopped laughing and turned to look at me.  "Do any of you speak english" I asked.  One of the guys came towards me and said "what do you want little one?"  I was confused by the term little one, but chose to ignore the words and the creepy smile.  "I need to see the Head port Captain, please" two of the men laughed,  "I am the head port captain" one of them said with raucous laughter, a sudden chill ran down my spine as I suddenly pictured myself in a Panamanian Jail.

I won't go into all the details of the conversation that followed (it would bore and confuse you) just that I ended up climbing up two flights of stairs, and along creepy corridors to the top floor of a building without windows, and then opening a series of unmarked doors and peering into barely furnished rooms with random people, none of which spoke any english, eventually I came across a guard who had a few words of english and took me into another room where I was told to wait.  My driver appeared a few minutes later and he and the guard exchanged a few words and laughter, accompanied by curious glances in my direction.
After a few minutes I was called into a large room by a guy that I assume was the Head port Captain, he motioned to a chair next to a desk and I sat down, and tried in very bad Spanish to explain what I needed.
About 30 minutes later, after our meeting, in which the Port Captain was very nice, and had tried his best to be very helpful, despite the language barrier, I left, we shook hands and then I looked for my driver, I went all over the building, in all the offices, upstairs, downstairs, eventually I found the guard that spoke a little english and he helped me look for him, we looked everywhere, even outside.  I was beginning to get nervous, this was not a safe area for a woman alone.  I asked one of the guards to please call me a cab, then just after he called,  a couple of guys I recognized from the marina appeared, "are you going back to Shelter Bay?" I asked, "yes, in a bit we have some photocopies to get in town first, do you need a ride?"  I was so relieved, and bless them they brought me safely back to the marina.
Oh the joys of boat life are truly never ending...
As long as we have Daisy, I know I'll never in my life be bored!

Sunset

I feel the need to post something beautiful, as I'm quite fed up after yesterday, a day that started out so well, and became such a disappointment.  So here are some lovely photographs from Bocas del Toro.

Enjoy :o) 

 Each night Bob and I would watch the Egrits gather in the tree at the end of the dock, there must have been about 200 or more by the time they had all arrived.  By the way they make a huge din, and sound like a farmyard full of geese, but the were beautiful to watch.

Flocks of Egrits, gathering at sunset

Amazing sunset in Bocas Del Toro
over the marina

Robbed...

I need to be careful about how I write this, as I'm currently in a country where its not wise to upset officials.   But I just need to say something.  It's an unfortunate fact in life that one has to learn through mistakes, and I made a big (expensive) mistake yesterday by trusting, or rather taking for granted that I could trust someone just because they were in a uniform, in a position of power, dealing with official business.

Perhaps its naive of me, but I have always trusted people like Police, and others in positions of power who demand your respect because of the very position they hold in society, a position that assures you they can be trusted, they have been awarded that power because they have earned it.

It's a sad state of affairs when that person abuses their power, to steal from the very people they should be protecting.  And I will not easily trust or respect people in future just because their uniform tells me I should, or because they hold some particular position of power.  I hate that this makes me so cynical and suspicious, and also, in all honesty, a bit of an idiot.

I wish I could go into more details of what happened to me, because it really was my own stupid fault for taking someones honesty for granted, being so trusting, and not being more guarded and careful,  but I believe that while I am where I am right now,  it would be very unwise of me to go into actual details.

I don't feel unsafe here in the marina, far from it, I'm surrounded by so many wonderful people, the marina is full of us crazy yachties/boat bums,  and the security is really very good here, we even have armed guards on the gate.  I genuinely like many of the people who work here, and my neighbors are within shouting distance, I'm probably a lot safer here than I would be in a city.

I need to learn to simply be more suspicious, and guarded in future, and remember that position and power does not go hand in hand with intelligence and integrity.

I just have to put this experience down to another lesson learned!

Happiness :o)

Most beautiful day so far, blue sky and sunshine and 88 degrees.  Not a rain drop in sight,  so instead of laying around and enjoying the weather, I smothered myself with sun tan lotion and set to work on the toe rail, I am, remember "the varnishing queen of the Caribbean".  I'm so happy that I finished the sanding, washed the boat, and then managed to put a full coat of varnish on, and it still hasn't rained.

This afternoon I have the joyful job of cleaning out the bilge!  So with that in mind I'm at the restaurant for lunch, and I'm having fish & chips, I think I deserve it after all the hard work and sweat this morning.  My back is still sore, and I'm getting occasional twinges of pain, but not enough to stop me working,  I'm pretty sure now that I didn't slip a disc, because I'm able to do so much already.

Bob is on his way back to the States for 10 days of work, and I have a long list of 'to do' jobs to complete before his return, but I've made a great start this morning, I just hope the weather stays like it's been today.

I love this marina so many people around, and all so friendly, good restaurant, and nice swimming pool.
Happy again
:o)

Crippled in Colon!

Saturday December 3rd
Shelter bay Marina. Colon.

We had finally arrived in Colon, after a miserable week of weather and boat problems.  It had taken us just 12 hours to do the 103 mile leg from the island of "Escudo de Veraguas" (which would normally be record time) sadly though, it had not been a pleasant sail, even though we were with the wind the whole way, and managed to average over 8 knots for the entire leg.

We made the leg from Laguna de Bluefield, to Escudo de Veraguas, on Thursday afternoon, just stopping at the very rolly island anchorage overnight, before continuing on at dawn the next day to Colon.  Our overnight stop was not the best, with strong winds, and choppy seas making it a really rolly, and uncomfortable overnight anchorage...

We hadn't been able to wait any longer in Bluefield lagoon, time had been running out and we needed to get underway and get to Colon, no matter the weather.  We had only planned on stopping overnight in Bluefield, but it had been 3 days, and we were way behind our planned schedule. So we made the 4 hour next leg to Escudo de Veraguas before carrying on to Colon.

When we left at dawn on Friday morning, we had high hopes for better weather, but no such luck. Predictably the weather did it's best to make the trip thoroughly miserable for us,  huge sea's, drenching rain, and high winds (lovely!) I was sick, as I predicted, 6 times, all over the deck, fortunately (I suppose, depending upon how you look at it) we were sailing through storms, so the "stuff of my sickness" was quickly washed away leaving the decks clean.

We just went from one storm to the next, for the entire leg, we couldn't avoid them, some of the squalls were quite bad, with wind gusting at times to over 40 knots, and Daisy rocking violently from side to side, doing her "broken wheel on the big dipper at the fairground" imitation.

I was laying horizontal (as usual) in the cockpit, and Bob was at the helm, although thankfully due to all his efforts, the auto-pilot was now (finally) co-operating.
The sails were going up and down like yo-yo's, as we tried to sail rather than motor, (the sails would have stopped most of the rocking) but then suddenly the wind dropped from over 30 knots to 3 knots, and we found ourselves bobbing around like a cork,  in sunshine (no less) for about 10 minutes!

The engine went on, the sails came down, the sails went up, and the engine switched off, and so on, and so on, and so on for 12 (long) hours...
Eventually we pulled exhausted into the bay at the entrance to the Panama canal, and motored to the anchorage, as it was now too late to get into the marina, and it was already starting to get dark.

I dropped anchor (again without incident, I'm obviously improving) and then went back to the cockpit to grab the stuff from the fridge to get dinner, we were both starving having had only chips and nuts since 5:30am that morning. Being a totally useless sailor, I just don't function in the galley while underway, so we all tend to just go hungry until we're able to drop anchor somewhere, and I can function normally again.

Bending over the fridge to gather my ingredients I was suddenly gripped by a sharp stabbing pain in my back.  I whimpered like a kitten as Bob helped me below where I lay on the floor praying I hadn't popped a disc out of place, the pain was quite bad, and the slightest movement caused me to shout out.

Just when I thought I could celebrate our eventual (and miraculously safe)  arrival at Colon, I was now immobilized like a cripple, stretched out on the floor, unable to move, once again leaving everything to Bob...

Again the joys of boat life abound!

Freeing The baby lobster, and other madness !

Laguna De Bluefield

Our first day in the bay.  Bluefield was only meant to be an overnight stop! But things needed testing before we could depart. I was still in shock from nearly loosing our anchor last night.  Bob had spent the night making adjustments (that’s about as technical as I get) and we were ready to do a sea trial, and set sail for Colon.   I brought the anchor up (without incident) and we motored around the bay testing the autopilot.  Sadly, there was still a problem, so we motored back to drop anchor again.  Having secured the snubber, I noticed the water around Daisy looked very shallow, Bob had said we were in 20 feet of water, when we dropped anchor, but it looked a lot less than that to me now.  He had already gone below to start work on the autopilot again.  So I checked the instruments and saw that our depth meter read “0.00”.  I called to Bob “is our depth meter working?”  “Yes, why?” he replied.  “Because if it is, we’re aground” I told him.  I won’t go into the detail’s regarding in the panic that followed that statement, but lets just say that we moved the boat speedily to another location.

Two little local children, on their way to school
in their dug out canoe

Boatloads of Indian children visited all day, and I provided them each with paper and pens.  A man came buy selling a freshly caught lobster, it was such a perfect, young, magnificent, little creature, I had no intention of killing it, but I didn’t want anyone else to either, so I paid him (more than he expected) and as soon as he was out of sight I returned the lobster to his rightful home, the ocean.  Yes I realize this makes me a hypocrite, because I have eaten lobster in the past, and probably will again in the future, but this little guy was so perfect and obviously a young one, I had no other choice.  At least I know Danni would approve of my actions.

The afternoon was spent tearing the boat apart, floorboards up, cupboards emptied, wires re routed, mess and stress everywhere.  I constantly caught Bob scratching his head and frowning at the manuals… It had been a long, long day, and unknown to us was about to get longer…

After another failed sea trial at 5pm, (having waited out the storm,) Bob said he had no option other than to get everything out of the lazarette and get the floor up to get to the driver (or something).  It was already starting to get dark and looked as though another storm was on the way.  Together we moved all the contents of the lazarette into the cockpit, then Bob with trusty tool bag in hand, set about working in the cramped, confined space that is our lazarette.

Naturally it started to rain, so he was now in the dark, cramped, sweltering, soaked hole in the floor, doing contortions to reach and repair said stuff!

Many hours later, parts removed, re-wired and re-modeled, a very tired, wet, slightly stressed, but confident Bob, emerged from the hole looking like Lurch from the Adams family basement. 

It’s now 4:30am, the storm is still blowing, and its continuous pouring rain, I’ve never known so much rain, and I lived in Wales for 7 year’s! I’m wondering whether we’ll ever get to Shelter Bay.  If you’re reading this, then “yeah we made it” and if not, it may be at the bottom of the bay at Bluefield, and no one will ever know.

OH how I love Boat Life!

More Daisy Disasters!

Bye, Bye Bocas

Wednesday 30^th November 2011

It’s 2:30am, and I can’t sleep because the rain is lashing the side of the boat, the wind is blowing about 30 35 knots, and Daisy is swinging and pulling on her anchor like an unruly dog on a leash.  My vivid imagination has kicked in and I’m just waiting for us to blow up onto the shore and be smashed to pieces, so I’m sitting here in bed writing because that’s what I do when I can’t sleep, and I’m so scared and sleepless right now. I can’t see a thing through my bedroom window, its so black here, there is no light, and I mean NO light, nothing from the land, the local indians don’t have electricity, and because of the storm there are no stars or moon, there’s nothing but dark, dark, blackness…

Bob is asleep in the master cabin, I slept in one of the front rooms tonight because I hurt my neck yesterday (another story) and was thrashing about unable to get comfortable, I didn’t want to disturb Bob’s sleep so I crept up here for the night.

We’re still in Bluefield lagoon, there’s not much here, just a couple of little Indian villages scattered around the edge of the lagoon.  It would be quite picturesque if the place wasn’t currently under siege from Mother Nature.

I keep wishing we hadn’t left the safety of Bocas marina.  But we have to get to Colon, because Bob fly’s out of Panama on Sunday, to work for a couple of weeks, then he fly’s back in to Panama with the family for Christmas, so Daisy has to be there.

This horrendous weather looks like it will be with us till the end of the week “OH joy”!  We’re only 4 hours from Bocus, so I suppose we could go back, although Bob doesn’t usually do things like that, he’s Hell bent on getting to Colon, and that’s a good 20 hours sail away.  As everyone knows I hate sailing, I don’t enjoy it much when the weather is lovely, but when it’s like this I find myself once again questioning my sanity in allowing myself to undertake another journey on Daisy, I really wasn’t cut out for this adventurous life, I’m so much more productive in a kitchen than I am on a boat.

Our trip didn’t start out too well; we left the marina after lunch on Monday, under a cerulean blue sky and bright sunshine, with 15 – 20 knots of wind, but only an hour into the leg Bob noticed our autopilot wasn’t working.  Each time he put it on Daisy would swing wildly in a circle like a drunk.  So I took the helm while Bob went below to look at the instruments, and see if he could discover the source of the problem.  I noticed the icon on the chart plotter doing strange things too, it was showing that we were turning 360 degrees.  Now everyone knows I’m a useless sailor, but even I know how to steer in a straight line. I manned the helm while Bob worked trying to sort the problem, when we approached the entrance of Bluefield Bob took over, to bring us in for the night. 

Then we had another catastrophe to add to my collection of “Fabulously Frightening, First Mate blunders”; when I dropped the anchor I had forgotten to check that the windless was tightened, (despite being reminded by Bob earlier).  I put down 150 feet of chain and as I turned to ask Bob if that was enough, the rest of the chain suddenly started flying out, I was helpless to stop it, and just had to stand and watch as all 300 feet of chain went hurtling out past my feet over the bow into the water. 

Thankfully, Bob had tied the end of the chain into the anchor locker when he fitted the new chain last month.  So, as the last of the chain left the locker, the piece of line holding it brought it to a sudden, jarring holt. I’m hugely embarrassed here to admit that this is not the first time I’ve done this, one really has to question Bob’s intelligence in wanting me on board.  

The next panic was that the line would break under the pressure, so we grabbed the snubber, and the two of us struggled leaning over the bow of the boat to attach it, we had to try and pull up enough chain so that we could get it back around the windless and tighten it up, obviously we couldn’t pull it up without moving the boat forward, Daisy was pulling hard on the anchor, it was only a matter of time before the line would break. Bob motored forward slowly while I attempted to pull up the anchor (that’s how I injured my neck) I imagine the anchor chain weighs about 1000 pounds, but in 30 feet of water I was probably trying to pull up 200 pounds in weight, by the way, math’s was my worst subject in school, so don’t judge my mathematical calculation here, just know it was bloody heavy!

Obviously I couldn’t pull it up by myself, so having moved Daisy forward enough to take the pressure off the chain Bob rushed back up to help me, (he has 3 displaced disc’s in his back, so pulling a heavy chain, not the best idea,) but there was no way I could do it alone, we struggled again to pull the damn thing up, but bit by bit, holding the line around the windless to secure it and moving the snubber forward a few inches at a time, we eventually managed to secure it, and I was able to then bring in 150 feet of chain.  I was in such a sweaty, panicky mess by this time, and not in the best of moods, but already the local Indians had started to arrive in their dug out canoe’s and were hanging onto the side of Daisy watching our struggles with obvious curiosity, we must have provided quite the entertainment.

I gave fishing line, hooks, pens and pencils.  Having stayed in this bay before I knew what the locals needed, and had brought supplies with me.

By this time it was almost dark, so I made dinner and then relaxed with a large glass of wine, while Bob poured through the manuals looking for a solution to the autopilot problem.

Setting Sail Again...

So tomorrow we head out of the marina here in Bocas and make our way back to Colon.  I'm not sure which route Bob's planning to take, we've had advice from several people, some who are also leaving tomorrow.  Nothing they told me sounds good, it sounds like it's going to be a rough trip whichever way we go.  I have to question what will serve me better, the vodka or the dramamine, both make me sleepy, but the vodka makes me happy, and I don't care so much, but then it also makes me pretty useless as a first mate, so I may just have to go with the dramamine. I know for a fact that I'll be sick on this trip, attempting a rough crossing having not sailed in 6 months,  guaranteed disaster...
So, I'm praying the weather will be kind to me, and that we will find a quiet, calm anchorage for the night tomorrow, and not have to sail all night; and pigs may fly!
Probably won't have another Internet signal until we reach Colon, so this is it for now folks, wish us luck, and if you don't hear anything by Thursday please send out the Coast Guard.
:o)

Funny Boat people

""There's nowt so strange as folk" my granny constantly used to tell me.  As a child I really didn't know what she meant.  But I have to say that recently I often wonder whether I have become one of those people that she would have included in her "strange folk" category.

      Take for example a simple shopping expedition; I gather my towel to wipe the sea spray off me, my collection of assorted shopping bags, suntan lotion, anti-mosquito spray, purse and sunglasses, and wait patiently on the dock while Bob unchains "Woops-a-Daisy" (our dinghy) and starts her engine.  I untie the painter jump in, and we head off across the bay towards the pretty shantytown of Bocas-Del-Toro.  A town that, like so many other's in the Caribbean spill's out over and into the water.  Brightly painted hotels, houses, shops and restaurants perched precariously on stilts protruding out from the blue water, surround the island in a disorganized, ramshackle fashion.  It's all very untidy looking, but colorful and quaint at the same time.

      Parking "Woops-a-Daisy" involves maneuvering around, between and under a row of metal poles and ropes fencing off the "dinghy parking lot", we struggle to do this in the bouncing water, without hitting the dock or the other dinghy's tied up alongside, and gradually squeeze ourselves into a space. This takes us a while, and then having jumped out onto the floating dock, I hold the painter and fend off the other tied up boats bouncing around while Bob leans over the side and reaches underneath the dinghy to attach our chain lock.  Some taxi boats speed past while we are doing this, and the ensuing wakes cause all the dinghies and the dock to bounce violently up and down almost tipping me into the drink.  Eventually we're tied off, and Woops-a-Daisy is chained safely to the dock.

       Leaving the floating dock involves a walk along a wobbly gangplank on wheels, (I really should have been born in a circus to cope with this life!).  By now I'm a big sweaty mess, but thankfully the walk to the stores is a relatively short one.

"Where's the shopping cart?" Bob ask's me.  Let me just explain here, we have a small collapsible shopping cart with wheel's, that makes carrying heavy things so much easier.  "I didn't bring it" I said,  "I only need a couple of things".  Bob gives me his "you're an idiot look" and say's "I have to buy 2 gallons of oil, and 6 gallons of water, you're going to carry that in your little bag, all the way through town?"  My reply...  a red sweaty faced "OH"!

       So we make our way back along the gangplank to the floating dock, unchain Woops-a-Daisy, and head back across the bay to get the shopping cart, while my thoughts return to my dear Granny, who I'm sure is watching me from above and wondering what on earth I'm doing.

Awesome Axe wielding Talent!

While strolling through the lovely Bocas Marina grounds this morning (yes we do still stroll occasionally), Bob came across one of the marina workers building a dug out canoe, he called me to bring the camera and photograph the guy at work.  

The method used in building the boat/canoe was inspiring.  They start with the trunk of a large tree, and carve the entire boat with an axe, the precision with which the guy was wielding the axe was incredible.  

Sadly our knowledge of the Spanish language is pathetic to zero, but we did (using sign language) learn that this is the 5th boat this man has built.  

I wanted to post photographs for people to see.

Local Boat builder at work

Just an axe !

Dug out under construction.

Wouldn't change much!

I do believe that my very first post (going back a few years now) on this blog, mentioned how we were planning an escape from all the pressures and trappings of "normal" life, selling our house and going to live on a boat would completely change our lives for the better!  hmmm let me think about that!

Basically life did change, and in so many ways,  obviously the Caribbean is much prettier than Ohio, but the pressures and time issues we're under, often seem the same, we're still trying to meet deadlines, always racing against the clock, trying to finish jobs, and make repairs, find spare parts etc, etc, and don't forget that dealing with anything in the Caribbean takes so much longer than doing the same thing on land.

Beautiful Bocas Marina

The traveling is an absolute nightmare, dealing with the airlines is enough to try anyone's patience, but then once we're on the boat and surrounded by the immense beauty of the islands, all the pressures seem to melt away, at least for a while, and when life gets really frustrating we just go for a swim, or take the dinghy around the island and admire the sights, so life really could be much worse.  If I could just eliminate all the mosquitoes and noseeums, life would be pretty good.

Right now we're under pressure to get all the jobs we're working on finished, so we can set sail down island back to Colon, Panama where the family is flying in for Christmas. Bob had plenty of time when he was here last month to finish all the jobs, but then had to leave the boat in a hurry when his Mum had her stroke, so now we're really up against the clock again, and the pressure is on (again). However, each job we start seems to lead to another, and another, it's never ending, we just can't seem to get out from under the pressure.  Everywhere we turn there's another bill to pay or problem to fix, much the same as it was before we moved onto the boat, in fact I think living on a boat is way more expensive than living in a house, but at least I'm never bored.

J.B's Restaurant at Bocas Marina

I'm grateful to be in such a beautiful part of the world, mosquitoes or no mosquitoes, problems or no problems...

Bocas

Such a beautiful place, I'm so mad that I can't enjoy it because of the damn mosquitos, the weather is lovely, and it's so pretty here, and I'm holed up below decks away from the demonic biting insects, JB gave me a load of ice which I'm applying "everywhere" it feels as though my arms and legs are on fire, I have the air con on at full speed, Bob's going to freeze his ass off when he arrives tonight.  I've been eating garlic by the pound, I'm going to smell really bad (hopefully, to the insects) I can't wait to get to the San Blas where there are no evil biting insects, and I can dive in the water and feel no pain!

There's a big dinner, and party here tomorrow night for Thanksgiving I just hope I can cover up enough of myself to go and enjoy it.

Caribbean Paradise, You May Think!

The happiness at being back in the islands was of but short duration, I’m thinking, as I sit here in bed at 3am in tears, wanting to tear the flesh from my bones, as once again the Caribbean has greeted me with it’s never ending infestation of dreaded mosquitoes.  My arms and legs are covered, yes I do mean covered, in nasty, angry, burning, itchy red welts.  

I have by some miracle resisted the urge to scratch for the last few hours, thinking the itching may eventually stop, but it didn't so I gave in a few minutes ago, having jumped in and out of a cold shower all night, used all the anti-itch cream  I could lay my hands on, which does in all honesty, nothing, and with no ice on board, (the only remedy that works) I just couldn't stand it any more, I honestly think I will go quite mad. 

 I sprayed myself liberally with the nasty, poisonous anti-mosquito chemicals before I ventured out this evening, but all to no avail.  The bites are bad this time, not that they’re ever good, but somehow this time they're worse than ever.  A new breed of demonic mosquito, immune to the poisonous chemicals man has devised as a (so called) deterrent, has evolved to make life miserable. 

Lovely legs covered in bites

 

What a welcome back to Paradise !

Back in Panama...

OH to be back in the islands. Where the weather is fabulous, the people are friendly, the beer is a dollar, and a full dinner with wine and a gin & tonic is less than $10.

Following a day of travel that started at 5am, and finished at 6pm, I was really quite exhausted.

 I flew from Atlanta on American Airlines, who have now dropped even further in my book of airlines NOT to fly with.  Following an early am start, with a quick Starbucks at the airport, I boarded my first flight, where I was served coffee (clearly not Starbucks!) with a teaspoon full of peanuts!  In their favor I should add that even though the flight left 30 minutes late, it arrived on time.  Although during the flight they did not serve a breakfast, or in fact offer anything to eat other than the teaspoon of peanuts. But I was hopeful of food on my next flight, since I had to run from one flight to the next without even time to make a potty stop, and absolutely no time to pick up food.
Sadly on the flight I had been sitting next to a guy who's breath smelt like rotting cow dung, really, OH Dear God it was horrible, then the guy in the seat behind me was snorting the whole time like a pig, I wanted to offer him a handkerchief with the advice to please blow his nose, but he was about 6'10" and 350 pounds, so I just put my headphones on and covered my nose... I could have been in a farmyard, to say it was an unplesant flight would be an understatement.

On my flight to Panama,  only first class passengers were served lunch, so everyone else in economy got to enjoy the smells of the food being served, and listen to the clink of the wine glasses, but were offered nothing at all in the way of lunch, or even snacks. I was sat near the front of the plane so I got to enjoy the strongest food aromas, but had no food to actually eat, and I was bloody starving. Even the flight attendants commented on the food smells, I think they were embaressed... Nice, American Airlines!!!  thank you so much... No, I will not choose to fly with you again...

In Panama I had a tight connection, and I didn't even know where the connection was, it turned out to be outside the airport in another small terminal, I won't go into the fiasco that lead to my finally locating it.

Being in a country where I don't speak the language, and they don't speak English, can make life very trying, thankfully sign language works.

At 3:30, 6 of us climbed into the tiny plane,  and made the 25 minute flight across to Panama City, where I took another short flight (Taca airlines) to Bocas, the joke is, the little 45 minute flight offered me more food and refreshments than the 3 1/2 hour flight with American Airlines.

When I arrived at the marina I couldn't get any power working on the boat, so I decided to leave everything until Bob arrives tomorrow, I had dinner at the marina restaurant, and went to bed at 7:30.

This morning it poured (and poured) with rain, but by mid morning the sun was out and  everything had dried out,  all I have to do now is unpack, and work out where the Hell I can put everything I brought back with me.

I'm really hoping Bob gets here before dark tonight, so he can get the power on.  Despite my horrible travel, it is beautiful here and I'm actually happy to be back...

More to follow...

So happy to be back :o)

Delta Not so Bad!

I'm always very quick to critique the airlines for poor customer service and care. I will admit that  I have a rather large chip on my shoulder when it comes to anything to do with them, and I've written some horrible posts about my experiences (never good) when flying, usually preferring American Airlines to Delta, but something happened recently that, in order to be fair I should write about it.

When my Mother became sick I immediately booked a flight to England, Delta was the only airline that fitted the agenda I required, so I booked my ticket (reluctantly) with them.

While I was in England looking after my Mum, my Mother-in-Law had a massive stroke and family were summoned from all over the world to be at her bedside.  My husband was in panama at the time and he had to take 6 flights to get back to the UK quickly.  He was flying with American Airlines, when he explained the circumstances that his Mother was gravely ill in hospital and about to die, and he needed to get back as quickly as possible, so needed to change his return ticket.  American Airlines gave no concessions, no discounts, nothing, the fact that he had to change his return ticket because his Mother was dying did not qualify him for any special help or circumstances, what they did do was charge huge fees for changing his ticket.

When I had to change my return ticket with Delta, I explained that I needed to change my return date as I had to stay in England longer because my Mother-in-Law was in hospital, they were happy to help and changed my ticket immediately and without question or ANY charges.

SO A BIG THANK YOU TO DELTA  in certain circumstances you can deliver.  As for American... what can I say

Back to blogging...

My dear Mother-in-Law's funeral was Friday, very sad,  an emotionally tearful farewell to a truly lovely lady who was loved by so many, and will be dearly missed by everyone who had the privilege of knowing her.  R.I.P Joanie.

Joanie & Mary

I came to England to take care of one Mother, and while I was here I lost another...

And so a chapter closes.

It was wonderful to get family together, the Morgan/Fleming/Osborne clan are scattered over three continents, so sadly it always takes a marriage or a death in the family to get everyone together.

My Mum is doing so much better after a nasty, lengthy illness, but back on her feet finally, ready to fend for herself again, so I'm no longer needed here, I can put my nurse face back in its box and return to my crazy life as a Mother, wife, writer, artist, chef, sailor,  first mate, and varnishing queen of the Caribbean...

And So...

I'm leaving England for Ohio on Thursday, and will be returning to my Crazy Daisy, and Bob in Panama in 11 days, so much to do before I return, and I know Bob has a huge list of jobs for me once I'm back on board (sigh) as always there's just not enough time to do it all, so my blogging has to wait a little longer, but once back on board (in between all the jobs) I will be the blogging queen again, there are so many more adventures that await...

San Blas this Christmas with my family

watch this space...

Bedside vigil

Sorry folks, I won't be posting anything for a while, my family and I are conducting a bedside vigil for my Mother-in-Law, who suffered a massive stroke on Friday night.
Please pray for her.
God Bless

Beauty Sleep...

After 5 days (and nights) of not really sleeping, I've come to understand how the expression "beauty sleep"came about.  Sleep deprivation brings about some scary stuff... Right now I have black shadows that no amount of makeup could cover, and bags under my eyes that could hold a grape, my skin is lifeless, and I'm starting to resemble something that crawled out from the crypt.  Not to mention that I'm unbelievably crabby, much more so than normal (if you can believe that).  Does this mean I've caught insomnia?  Can you catch insomnia? Will I ever sleep again?  That's how I feel right now.  I really, really need some "beauty sleep", I'm so exhausted like I could fall over, but if I try to sleep my brian goes into top gear and I'm suddenly wide awake again, I'm also starting to understand the expression "asleep on your feet" except that I'm not!  I've been getting lots of work completed on my book, which is great, but at night in bed I just spend hours playing bejeweled and zombies, because sleep eludes me and my brain won't concentrate on reading... On the up side, I've got some brilliantly high scores at bejeweled, but I would rather be sleeping. I'm beginning to look like a zombie :o(
Anyone got any safe and effective sleep inducing ideas?

Ground- Breaking News!

This could take a few of you (especially those of you who know me) by surprise.  But, life is all about changes, right!  Anyway, I made this decision a few months ago, which is a huge, ginormous, incredible change of mind on my part, and I haven't said anything before because I always change my mind for a pastime, but, anyway,  here it is, are you sitting down?

I've decided I'm doing the circumnavigation with Bob in 2013.  

Yes it sounds like a long way off, but time fly's, and I know the day will be upon me before I can blink.  I just figured, why not, yes I hate sailing, but that's really only because I'm so scared, and I'm scared because I'm usually alone on the boat with Bob, and I'm always so worried that if anything happened to him, like falling and hitting his head, or falling over board, or God forbid having a heart attack or something, I would be all alone trying to take care of him, and dealing with the boat all by myself, for me that's a really, really scary thought.

But, for the circumnavigation we will have other (sailors) on board with us, and we will be sailing with at least 30 other boats, so what's there to be scared of ? ( this is what I'm telling myself so please don't try and convince me otherwise)
Anyway now that I know I'm doing it, I'm actually quite excited, and it will be great material for another book. I keep thinking about the Galapagos Islands, and Australia, and Bali and so many other incredible places, why did I ever think I was going to miss this opportunity.

I'm now really looking forward to returning to Daisy in November, and Christmas in the San Blas with my family, and then 2012 in St.Maarten, working on Daisy getting her ready for the around the world trip.

I still can't really believe that I'm going to do it, this has always been my biggest nightmare, so it just goes to show, things change...  I'm leaving the door open to fly back at any time just in case I just can't deal with it, so I do have a way out if I really can't cope, but like my current quest to lose weight, I've now made it public, so I have no option but to follow through, or be prepared to lose a lot of face if I chicken out..

So, now I'm busy making plans for a round the world trip. "WOW", did I really say that?  Roll on 2013...

Airline Travel, What a Joy!

I actually remember the days when traveling was fun, it was easy and totally stress free, we could just buy a ticket, and jump on a plane carrying whatever we wanted.  We could even check as many bags as we liked without incurring all those  expensive extra charges we face today.

Travel really isn’t much fun at all these days, I’m referring to all the stress inflicted upon us, us of course being the traveler, stress brought about through all the(necessary) airport security .  The innocent traveler passing through airport security today is made to feel much like an inmate from a prison, rounded up and marched in an orderly line to face the firing squad.  While little Hitler’s in uniforms shout and yell instructions at us, and lord their power over us like prison guards

Once we’ve removed our shoes, hats, coats and belts, and emptied our pockets of keys, phones and coins, removed the Mac from the bag, taken off our jewelry, and wished we hadn’t worn the underwire bra that day.   We tiptoe barefoot through the x-ray machine, that probably emits damaging radiation, doing God only knows what to our bodies, and always beeps, probably because of the underwire bra.  Then we're subjected to standing arms out while some 12 year old in a uniform runs their hands over your body, and up your skirt, and some purvey looking guy is watching the screen and probably lusting after the naked body he’s seen through the x-ray screens, and all this before we attempt to collect our belongings that are piling up at the end of the conveyor belt, and are probably being grabbed by security for extra checks, because we left a forgotten tube of toothpaste in the bottom of the bag.  

I’m always throughly exhausted, and horribly sweaty before I even begin the marathon trek to the departure gate, which has more often than not been changed to another terminal at least 30 minutes walk from the original gate.  I have yet to board a plane while not in a sweaty horrible mess, all attempts at nice hair, and perfectly applied make up are totally blown out the window,  you're a mess before you take off. 

Once finally on board you discover that the exit isle seat you requested, and was confirmed by the ticketing agent at the desk, is in fact the middle seat near the back of the plane no where near the exit isle, and all the overhead bins are full, so you have to stuff your carryon under your seat, giving you no leg room at all, and then you find you're sat squashed between two fat people that fart.

But, just incase idiot ticketing agents,  airport security, and gate changes weren’t enough to stretch your tolerance level’s to the limit, you then discover that you have a family sitting in the seat’s behind, with a small child that thinks its great fun to kick the  crap out of the back of your seat, and bang the tray table up and down because it likes the noise it makes, and then proceed to scream at the top of it’ s lungs for the entire rest of the trip. 

OH the joys of airline travel…

The Hurdle

See this is what I'm up against, and where my will power will truly be put to the test BIG TIME!  I'm working on the final edit for my book, and I now have to test each and every recipe before the book goes to the publishers, this means cooking, and tasting each dish.  As many of the recipes contain poultry or meat, Danni will not be able to help in the tasting.  Edi is not here other than the occassional weekend, so I can't rely on him to help with the tasting.   My deserts are not exactly waistline friendly, it's going to be a major challenge. What am I going to do with all the food I have to make ?    Fortunately I have Steve here, but only some of the time, and there is only so much he can eat, and my freezer is full so...
Help Me!

No more cup cakes for me!

My Not so Secret, Secret...

Second day into my "new life style eating." The quest is on, to get into a bathing suit again, respectably, without making a public spectacle of myself, and becoming one of those people that cause raised eyebrows  because of my inappropriate attire.  I've always been very quick to pass judgement on both men and women that strut around publicly in too tight, skimpy clothing, when they really just shouldn't; anyone who reads my blog, will be very familiar with my thoughts on men in speedos, and women over the age of 35 in a 2 piece, it's just wrong.  Believe me, in the Caribbean you see it all, people on vacation have no shame.

If I can't lose this weight, there's no way I'll be seen anywhere in a bathing suit this Christmas.  I'll just have to swim fully clothed, but at least I won't scare the fish.

I've had so many e-mails from people since posting yesterday, asking what I'm doing to attempt this weight loss.  My answer is no secret, sorry, I wish I had the miracle cure, but honestly the only way to successfully lose weight, and keep it off is by using sheer will power.  I can't give up yummy delights, they make life worth living, if I have to cut a food group that I love, out of my life, I know the diet will fail, so I'm just eating smaller portions, and counting calories, it's a bit of a pain at first, but it's surprising how quickly you learn the calorie content in foods, and for me it's worth it, because I don't have to give anything up.

Also, I have my trusty i-touch with its "Lose It" program, which makes this whole process so much easier.  I set a daily calorie limit of 1550 calories, which honestly doesn't restrict me too much, I'm just careful with my choices, if I want a slice of chocolate cake, I'll have one, but a small piece, and then add the calories into my i-touch, which counts for me, so I can see at a glance how many calories I have left for the day.  At 1550 calories a day my weight loss will be slow, but hopefully steady.  Remember if you lose weight quickly it's mostly water weight, lose it slowly and you lose fat. I carry my i-touch everywhere with me and put everything I eat and drink into it, so there's no cheating, or forgetting.

Honestly I've never been very good at sticking to a weight loss plan, but I am quite serious this time, and having made my intentions public now, I'll be forced to stick to it, or be really embarrassed.

I have to just finish with adding that America is not the easiest place to lose weight, there are so many ways here to fool yourself that you're not overweight;  for example here I'm a size 12- 14, in England I'm an 18 - 20.  The way the clothes are labeled here fool you into thinking you're smaller than you actually are, and if like me you don't have a full length mirror, it's easy to miss all the weight collecting around the nether regions!

Is This Possible?

As embarrassing as this is to write I'm quite determined to do it.  I'm already making preparations for my return to Daisy in November, which of course brings about the very scary thought of me in a swimsuit again.  

All my suits are looking just a little more than a tad tired, I'm ashamed to say I have over the last couple of years stretched them to the limit, and the fabrics are now breaking down and screaming for help.  I've not  been able to bring myself to buy new suits, because my growing passion in the culinary arts has gone hand in hand with my steadily increasing waistline.  Not to mention the horror I feel when I try on a swimsuit and see how it looks, I could easily double for Sponge Bob Square Pants!   

If you were to browse through my "Daisy's Galley" blog you would see exactly why there is now so much more of me, and honestly I'm no longer in a position to criticise other people for their inappropriate beach wear.

My concerns about my appearance really hit home when I was shopping with my Mum in Weston last month,  and I caught sight of my reflection in a shop window, that horrific revelation was closely followed by my needing a size 20 in a t-shirt in Marks and Spencer's.  Typically for me (lately) I brushed off the reflection by kidding myself that the glass was bent therefor making me look bigger than I actually am, and that Marks and Spencer clothes are always much smaller than the labels say.  Anyway, I get home and put on my new (size 20) t-shirt to show my Mum and she says " I think you could have done with a bigger size" (I hadn't told her what the size was) that remark coupled with the fact that the size 16 pants I bought with the t-shirt wouldn't do up, opened my eyes!  I really can't fool myself any longer that I'm OK, I'm officially FAT!

So, what to do about it?  I don't agree with fad diets, or any diets actually, they only work as long as you stick to them, and the minute you stop dieting and return to your normal way of life, all the pounds you lost pile back on, and then some...
There are, and never will be miracle weight loss tablets, or miracle cure's for weight loss that's permanent.  The ONLY way to lose weight, and keep it off is to adjust your life style.    Learn to embrace sensible eating, and adopt a doable exercise program.  

All these silly diets where you only eat grapefruit, or cut out all carbs, or dairy etc, etc, etc are all designed to help you lose weight fast, but if it comes off fast it will go on fast too.  You have to ask yourself when you're doing whatever diet your doing, can you do this for the rest of your life?  If your answer is no then forget it, you'll be yo-yoing your weight, and jumping from one starvation diet to the next forever...

The trouble for me is I really love cooking, and eating, and drinking wine, and margarita's and no I can't give up any of those things, I would be fooling myself if I thought I could.  

Over the last couple of decade's I've skipped from one fad diet to the next, you name it and I'm sure to have tried it, and yes, they all worked, but each time I slipped back into my old routine of eating whatever whenever, and turning the mirror to face the wall so I couldn't see my shame,  the pounds steadily packed themselves back on.  

There are a million excuses for not doing something positive about your eating habits, like, I'll start my diet on Monday, or after my vacation, or after Christmas, or I need comfort food because I'm feeling down, this attitude is a guaranteed recipe for failure.  

Determination is required, coupled with an eating /drinking program that suits you as an individual.  

I made the decision that I have to do something different before I'm forced to start buying elasticated waist's and shopping at Burlington.  My daughter Daniela has been nagging me for months to do something about my weight, as she is really concerned for my health.  I've put off, and put off, for the last few years making any changes because I hate being hungry, and I hate not being able to eat and drink all the things that I love.

So, I've set myself a sensible, achievable goal, that includes all the foods I love, bread, chocolate cake, risotto, pizza's, curry's, scampi etc, all incorporated into my new eating regime.

Starting right now...  Wish me luck :o)

Saving Skizzle

http://saveskizzle.blogspot.com/2011/09/skizzle.html

Incredible Orchids

To brighten Danni's room following her surgery, I bought her some blue orchids.  I've always loved these magnificent flowers, particularly the ones of unusual colors, but these blue ones are just too incredible...