To Panama City via Perlas Islands

We are headed toward the mainland later tonight.  The sail from Rio Sambu to here was fantastic. We had about 20kts of wind on a nice reach.

Today we met a nice French family with 4 little ones. They came around the horn and are headed to the Atlantic.  If all turns out we will help them throughout the canal in a month or so.


Time to get a little sleep before heading out.  Goodnight from a mosquito free boat.
Loyal

Driftwood

Rain . . . It has not really rained since I got here. We actually totally drained my hull, so we only had about an 8-day supply of fresh water.  Not that we were worried.  Actually, we gave 10 gallons to Windsong as they were having an issue with their water maker. This afternoon we filled the Port hull and half the starboard hull. So we are pretty set.

This morning we got a call from Grace saying a log was headed our way. Windsong said it had hit them in the night. Since we are pulling 30-foot logs off our bow regularly we figured I should take a look.  It turned out to be a 70-foot tree.  Courage, Mother and I were walking on it as it drifted past the boat.  We decided to tie it to the bank, as we did not want it returning tonight. We will set it free before we depart, but are not taking any chances of a midnight collision.

This after noon we visited the village for dinner. They killed a few chickens and cooked them in onions, a type of cilantro, and something red. It is a powder that does not have a smell or taste. They said it was just for color. What ever it was, it was great with rice.  For desert we had yellow plantans that we placed in the fire. They peal them and just set them in the ash - - So good. They also do it with the green ones, but the yellow are my favorite.

We will most likely depart tomorrow with the tide. A group of the local ladies are coming out to say goodbye and if the weather holds we will take them for a little tour of the river. They are really a nice group.  Rather shy when Courage and I try to talk with them.  It usually ends up with them covering their mouths and giggling.

Charles from the Peace Core will join us for the trip to Panama via some of the Perlas Islands. We plan to take advantage of his Spanish and see if we can learn a few things.

Storm: Mother and I visited the palm tree that has the Seeds and I will send a few back. When they dry they are very hard. Sound like rocks when you bang them together.

Since it rained the termites are out in force. The boat is covered in them.  I think they scared off the mosquitoes for today :-)

Sending big smiles.
Loyal

Notes from Crew Member Loyal

Once again we find our selves anchored outside of Rio Sambu waiting for the tide to come in. We want to confirm the channel is still where it is supposed to be.  Amazingly it is. This time it is a lot easier to do as our friend on Alba has a hand held depth sounder. We zip back and forth mapping the channel in just an hour.  That is when I remember I forgot to refuel.  We are down to less then an inch of the go juice.  Time to cancel the tractor pulls, concentrate on finding dry land.

Once the tide has come in 7 feet we figure it is safe to start heading in. There are 4 of us here. Alba, Windsong, Grace, and Lil Explorers. Drawing the least of the group we take the lead, with Alba second as she draws the most.  We are doing well when a panga approaches at full speed waiving their arms. There is a net across the channel just 30 feet ahead. We all stop and Cassidy and I head out in the dingy with the boat hook to lead the way around the net. At low tide the area was underwater so it should be okay, but we need to be sure.  No problem at all. A small detour and we are under ways again.  No sooner were we back on track than a second net is spotted. This one is about twice the size as the first. The end is in an area where we had spotted a sandbar earlier.  Back in the dingy and checking depth. It is not long before it is too shallow to continue. The current is drawing us along at 3kts so there is some frantic turning to get everyone back on course. We start backtracking the net to find the other end. At least on this side we have 7 feet of water giving Alba a whole foot to spare.  It must have been quite the sight with four boats ducking behind the panga looking for deeper water.

We made it up the river without any further incidents. The four of us are anchored off La Chunga Village getting ready for dinner when we hear some hollering from the beach. Turns out someone spotted us and wanted to come say hello.  A very nice young man, Charles, and just as nice young lady, Tally, had heard we had returned and came out to confirm.  We were invited to come into town the next day to a small celebration in our honor. Mind you we had only been here an hour or so.  We were also told the iPad had been recovered and returned in the morning. Great news.

Early this morning we all (17 of us) headed in to say hello. Excited children in traditional dress met us along the way. The boys in loin cloths with little spears, the girls with the local type of skirt, beads around their necks, and flowers in their hair.  As we approached the bridge we could hear the drums, flute, and rattle, welcoming us. It was quite the sight as we crossed the bridge to their welcome. All the men and women in traditional garb with flowers, the children racing all over the place--very nice indeed.

Later in the day we even go to dance with them. It is pretty much a two-step in a circle, to a nice drumbeat accompanied by the flute. I will post a recording when we get good Internet.

We then headed over to the sugar cane press where we had a chance to make our own juice. You would not believe how much juice comes out of the cane. Andrew from Windsong and I worked the press. There are two logs on top of each other held in place by two posts. Through the logs is a stick and you rotate the logs using a long pole. Pictures will do this justice.  The juice is really great with a little lemon. It is probably lemonade I have had.

Later in the day a few of the guys started heading down the road to do some work and I tagged along. It turns out 200 90lbs bags of cement were in need being carried to the village. It was like the good old days of carrying the concrete at Sonnenland.  For the next hour or so we trudged back and forth with those bags. I think I brought in 900lbs of the grey stuff.

By the time we were done with the first half I was ready to cool off.  A few of the kids and I headed to the river for a refreshing swim. They were a bit surprised to see me jump in fully dressed, but I figured I was covered in enough cement to start my own factory.

Logs are a bit of a problem this time. They are over 30 feet long and if they come down sideways we can get quite the logjam on the bow. This morning it got so big we finally pulled the anchor out. Luckily Courage notice before we were too far down stream. We now try to clear the bow before it gets to be too much.

Goodnight all,
Loyal

PS: It has been a great couple of days moving around, and I am sure I am forgetting a few things due to lack of blood.  I think the SS Mosquito has anchored nearby and is sending over as many visitors as she can muster.

Wounaan Village Visit

Today we are up a wonderful little river to visit a Wounaan village.  They charge you $5 to visit the village for 3 days. That is per adult. Children are free.  Once you have paid your fee you are free to wander the village as you please. There is a central hut where they will put on a market if you are interested. The baskets here have fewer animals, and more geometric shapes. Also, the woodcarvings are much better, and the ... I can’t remember what it is called, but it is a seed from a palm tree, almost as hard as rock. They carve cute little animals into it and paint them with unbelievable detail.

They have a restaurant (a hut that has a table) where you can get a meal. When we asked if we could have dinner tonight they said no, there was not enough time to make dinner.  Tomorrow would be better. We told them we would not be here tomorrow evening; they asked if rice with chicken would be okay. We said yes, and another boat (Grace) that came up the river with us said they would like to come too.

We headed back to the boat to put out a second anchor, as the channel is not wide and we did not want to swing into the side at night. While we were putting out the second anchor, another boat called Alba (3 of them came up the river) decided the holding was not good enough and headed down stream where the channel was deeper, wider, and offered better holding.  We smiled and waived as they passed, and thought to ourselves “amateurs". That is when we notice we too we dragging. Up came the anchor, and we too were in search of some place with a little more water.
We found a nice place with close to 20 feet of water. Dropped anchor, set it, and hurried off for dinner.  On our way up stream we passed Windsong as they went in search of deeper water.  We arrived at the dock along with the people from Grace, and were met by the village "tourist director" who told us Grace would be on dry ground in a few hours. Naturally they shot back to their boat to head for deeper water too. By this time it was getting hard to get a reading over 15 feet anywhere.  In the time from when we anchored till we got to the dock the water had fallen 5 feet and was moving fast. One guess put it at 6 knots.

Dinner was great, rice with chicken. The chicken was in a fantastic sauce made of tomatoes, celery, and other veggies.  Not sure what, but it was good. The pots were left on the table and we were told to help our selves if we wanted more. It was so good we pretty much finished it off.  During dinner we got to watch a nice lightning storm come in over the mountains.  Made for a great dinner and at $4 per person, quite affordable.

After dinner we got out our flashlights and headed home. Courage was driving and I handled the light. We were speeding along at about 10kts plus the 5 or so from the river so we made good time. The light would usually reflect back off the logs so we only hit a few small ones.  When we got back to the boat the water was down to 7 feet, and the sides were closing in. We sat there watching the Fathometer as it slowly ticked off the inches. When it hit 4 feet we knew we were aground.

When the tide started coming in, I took the boat hook and pushed us off the riverbank so we could turn around and sit properly. As I write this I can tell we are once again afloat and things are as they should be. Next time perhaps we will try to 25 feet of water...

I am happy to report that even though we are only 50 feet from the jungle, there have been no sightings of mosquitoes. Strange, perhaps they had their fill already?

Goodnight all,
Loyal

Lost in Translation

So, Courage was trying to say thank you for a great tour of the mountains to his guide. The guide just gave him this strange look. He said it again, and it was easy to see the guide did not know what to make of it. There was a young man nearby who spoke Spanish and offered to help with translating. It turned out what Courage was saying was Thank you for the old women. You gotta love it when things get lost in translation.

We are now anchored off Las Palmas. There is not much here, but it is a good jumping of spot for our next adventure. Tomorrow when the tide is low we will navigate the river with the dingy to lay a GPS track we can follow once the tide is high. After that we will go about 5 miles upriver to visit another village.

Right now there is a bit of a storm off over the mountains with lots of finger lightning (finger lightning is lightning where you see the bolt of light, camera lightning is when you only see the flash, no actual bolt).

Coming in we were moving at about 8kts on an incoming tide. It will be interesting to see how we do against the tide.

Time for me to hit the hay. We have an early tide tomorrow.

Goodnight from a mosquito free zone.

Loyal

Another Day on Rio Sambu (The Winding River)

Another great day here in Rio Sambu!  The sun is shining and our batteries are charging.  I have a machete ready and we are off to learn how to sharpen it using a file.  Along the way we meet several women on their way to say goodbye to us.  Our plan is to leave with the high tide. By the time we make it to the village we are a pretty big group. The fellow who was going to sharpen the machete is busy making his rounds in the village, so we walk with him - - sort of a moving class on knife sharpening.  It is a pretty simple procedure and in 20 minutes we have visited most of the village, and have a sharp knife.

We are looking for the chief now. Sadly Mother's iPad turned up missing yesterday.  After several hours searching the boat we thought we would ask the chief to keep an eye open for anyone who suddenly has an iPad.  We did not want to make a federal case of it, but they took it very seriously.  We have the word of the whole village they will find it if one of them took it.  If they do not find it there, they will file a complaint with the big chief up the river.  It is nice to see they are trying to do something about it, and not just say those things happen.  We will see.

Back at the boat about 15 children and 7 women and several men, including the chief, have come to see us off.  It is a very nice farewell with several nice gifts.  Cassidy even got a very nice vase and the boys got toy boats. We made popcorn for the children, and Cassidy gifted a few of her blouses.  We brought the boat close to the dock and dropped anchor just 20 feet away.  Courage started ferrying our guests to the shore.  It took 4 loads to get them all in.

And we were on our way.  Navigating the river is pretty easy as it is wide ad usually over 20 feet deep.  About the only things we had to watch for were trees and the occasional gator.  Once we made it to the mouth of the river Cassidy and I jumped in the dingy to clear a channel across the mud flats.  We had a 15-foot pole and kept about 500 feet in front of the boat.  Most of the way we were at about 8 feet with a mud bottom. Suddenly the mud turned to rock and we dropped to 7 feet. Cassidy radioed the information back to Courage.  Seeing as we would still have 2.5 feet under the rudder we figured it would be okay as long as it did not get any shallower.  With the tide racing out we did not want to get stuck.  Another 100 feet and the bottom was mud at 8 feet. We were back on track.

Right now we are anchored off a little island waiting for an incoming tide tomorrow when we will start making our way toward Rio Dulce.

I just came in after taking a look to see if we were dragging. Behind us I can see the light from a very small cruise ship.  It is making its way slowly in this direction.  Courage has assured me it will not be close to us until tomorrow afternoon.  Using my special binoculars I can just make out the name SS MOSQUITO on her bow.

Good night all,
Loyal

Dancing in the Rain

Today was the day of the great hike.  Courage, Shannon, and Cassidy, got up at 5am this morning and headed to see the mountains. While only about an hours hike away, they had to go through mud and rivers. From everything I hear it was a wonderful hike. We will have to wait to see the pictures and read about it when it gets posted.

Here at the boat, Mother and I had the children.  We were planning to head to the local pool when it started to rain. We have school when it rains, so out came the books and learning began. That was a lot of fun.  Math is progressing nicely, and writing is..... Well math is progressing nicely.

In the afternoon we headed to the village to see a demonstration of local dances, and some of their art. The dances were preformed by 5 of the local women (topless naturally). They had the local paint on their bodies in interesting shapes. One lady was leading the group with a drum as the others followed.  Videos will be sent when we have Internet.

There were baskets, plates, and carved seeds, presented by the women. Pretty much once the dances were over the place became a little market. We bought 28 eggs (all they had), 20 lbs of locally grown, and hand shucked) rice (again all they had), a bunch (about 25 lbs) of bananas, a bunch of plantanos, and even a couple of their beautiful crafts.

What we forgot was that it is a 1.5-mile walk back to the river. Courage and Shannon were carrying babies, Cassidy the eggs, and a nice gentleman from the village carried the bananas. They left me with a bag of rice balanced on my head and a bunch of plantanos in my hand.  Needles to say we were quite the group.

After we settled in for dinner we heard a commotion outside and discovered a few of the local ‘Cassidy Fan Club’ had brought us sugar cane. They had wanted to bring fish, but after a day without a single bite, they settled on sugar cane.

Tomorrow the local chief is planning to come out to say goodbye and wish us safe travels as we head back toward the open ocean and other adventures.  He is a nice fellow with a big smile. Missing a few of his front teeth, but at 75 that is to be expected.

I did stop off at the local mosquito shop and notice they had a new high flow pump designed for use on sleeping white people. There was an extra large one they only rent that said it had been tested on Bigfoot and was a great success.

Wishing you all the best,

A rather pale, Loyal

Another Day on the River

Another wonderful day here in paradise!  We had some of the village fishermen out to show us a few tricks of the trade, met a nice couple paddling their way up the river, and removed some stitches from the chief.

The tide is high in the morning so were able to motor up a little river 2.5km.  That is most of the way to the village. Otherwise we walk through the jungle on a raised boardwalk. The ground is somewhat soft mud, so we are glad for the boardwalk. It is about 8 years old and made of wood. A few planks are missing, some have been replaced with bamboo, and some are not very rotten. The others you need to make sure you step on two at a time and stick near the edge, or they may give out.

This evening as I was cleaning the dingy, a couple with a child paddled by and asked if they could take a break. We invited them aboard and as it was dinnertime asked if they wanted to join us. They did.  We also happened to have another guest who spoke English and could translate.  It turns out the couple was waiting for the tide to change for the trip up river. They still had 2.5 hours to go and were very happy for the rest while waiting for the tide to turn. The conversation was lively with a lot of questions from our guests. One of the ones I liked was when they asked what river we lived on. They figured it must be a pretty big one, and the only big one they could think of was the Panama Canal.  In the end we were invited to their village where they wanted to present us with a chicken, a living one naturally. That is an adventure for another day. Tomorrow the local village is putting on a traditional dance with all the war paint and costumes associated with their culture.  It promises to be quite the event.

Mother has introduced sprouts to the local Peace Corps guy. I think he may miss some of the fresh veggies from back home. She even started him off with a few mung beans and alfalfa seeds.  He plans to try to get them to produce seeds and be able to continue having a supply.

The mosquitoes are doing pretty well.  Between Valiant and I the blood supply has never been better. I am pretty sure they have a tracking beacon on me and their GPS comes preprogrammed with my whereabouts.

With a great big smile,

Loyal