Wednesday, January 15, 2014
Provisioning for French Polynesia
Well, today Innocence, 5 years old, and I bought $2,500 worth of food from Mega Depot which will be delivered semi-near the dock tomorrow (they make vehicles park at the entrance, not near the gate or dock). Another $350 of food from Riba Smith brought home in a taxi. I had us dropped off at the rocks along the causeway, which is a short dinghy ride to the boat, because I thought scrambling down the rocks with a 5 year old and that many groceries was easier than the walk you have to take to the stairs which slope downward and are mossy at low tide and in the dark. Found a 1" piece of rebar with my bare foot along the way. Not sure which is more treacherous. The Riba groceries are all safely stowed, now to drag the $2,500 from Mega tomorrow to the stairs and find places to store it all. I have officially begun the provisioning for French Polynesia - Priceless!!
Monday, January 6, 2014
Native Life Up the Crooked River
We left the Rio Sambu this morning at sunrise. Had a gorgeous run down the river with the sun rising over the trees. It was so peaceful with only the sounds of birds chirping and water flowing.
This was our third trip to the Darien region. This time we brought 5 other friend boats with us on the "Darien Rally". We returned to our favorite village, La Chunga that is an Embera village. They live very traditionally, no roads, minimal electricity, no Claro dishes, etc. They grow most of their own food, make their art from locally grown materials, build their own houses form materials grown in the local area, cook over open fires, etc. It's all very impressive. They are a hard working people. They also seem to have excesses despite their daily manual labor. They are able to sell us eggs and bananas, and gift us coconuts and papayas, etc. They have time each day that we are there to visit, both in town and out at the boat. Often they walk us down a mile long trail back to the boat from town. So they are not burdened with work or effort despite their limited use of machines.
The other beauty in their society is that they appear to have fewer stresses. They certainly don't have the material goods that we have, but they have some; pots, pans, clothes, toys, etc. When you have material goods, you worry about protecting them, taking care of them, charging the electronics, getting newer/better ones, etc. They don't have these worries. They don't worry about accidentally leaving their cell phone or keys somewhere (by the way no doors = no keys) and someone taking them, about dropping and cracking their iPad screens, about having the latest iPhone and keeping up with someone else who has something better or more, etc. There is no dependence on electricity, Internet and technology. You miss some things, but you gain others. They have free time to be spontaneous. They appear to accept each other, there certainly appears to be no judgment about the "haves and have-nots".
They seem to look out for each other, make sure that everyone is taken care of, and share food when they have excess. Obviously there is no refrigeration (I can relate!). A guy came into town with a nice bundle of fish he caught. Later that day I saw a girl carrying a bowl with some of the fish to another house. Of course they are unique, some do the Jagwa (tattoo art), some do the dances, some cook the food, almost all the women make the Canasta (woven plates and bowls to sell), and some seem to lay low when we are there.
Upon arrival we were greeted by the male leaders of the community who had gotten word we were there and came out to the dock (a mile walk, then another mile on the boardwalk). We picked them up, brought them out to the boat, invited the members from the other boats, and had "negotiations." They asked what we wanted - dance, music, sugarcane press, etc. and we laid out a great day of entertainment. It worked out to $30 per couple basically for music, dance, sugarcane press, then a traditional dinner (rice, beans, chicken, and coconut milk). It also covered the fee for the Didigente up the river (chief of the region). It was really a great price considering a day in Vegas, LA, or anything else trying to "see the city".
Just as negotiated, there was a wonderful presentation, greeted at the bridge with music, a dance which brought in the audience members, then a treat of fresh pressed sugar cane juice. We had a little downtime, so we took the kids to the "pool", a little eddy in the river, which was a swim hole for the locals, especially the kids. Very refreshing!! Cool river water. The kids jump from a hillside way up on the side, maybe 15 feet? After some building up to it, Integrity was in just like a local kid, right off the top! From the swim hole, we went back to the "community center" for the dinner.
We had many impromptu hosting parties on our boat, took the local kids for dinghy rides and rides on the towable. They tried out our kayaks and went to visit the other boats in the fleet, at one point abandoning one of the kids on another boat. They tried the fishing gear to no avail. We served many dishes of popcorn.
Loyal found and captured an awesome Huck Finn log raft. It was 5 logs rafted up together. The fronts and backs were cut with machete into a semi-pointed shape. The fronts had a notch with a piece of wood in them. This piece of wood was held into the raft with wooden "nails" that were driven into the main logs. I've got pictures, hard to explain, but it was impressive. Apparently these rafts are made quite a ways up river. They ride them downstream to the main town of Sambu, and then discard them. I can't imagine this much work as a disposable raft! I also am not sure how they get home? We got extensive use out of the raft! The kids rode it; Courage took it up the river to the town. Heather and I paddled it back out to the boat from town. That sure took some work, both to push and to steer. But we made it. We were losing the left two logs by the time we were done with it. Guess it wasn't designed for ongoing use?
This trip up the river I think we got more bugged than the last times. There were mosquitoes, no-see-ums, and probably chiggers too. We all have lots of red, itchy bumps everywhere and are doing our best not to scratch and let them heal. Bumps are tolerable, hoping that we don't get anything subsequent like malaria, yellow fever, dengue fever or anything else those pesky mosquitoes carry; so far, so good. We had bug screens on our windows and doors as well as over the kid's beds as a secondary protection. We used bug sprays as well as the thiamine patch. All with limited benefits. Imagine if we hadn't done all that!
We bought the village out of eggs almost every time we went to town with each of the boats wanting eggs. On our final trip we bought 45 eggs, all they had, we had been given bundles of bananas and coconuts and a papaya. We were restocked for a few days at least!
We headed back down the river early one morning and made a direct passage over the mud flats and back to the Perlas Islands. We celebrated Integrity's birthday the day after we returned. He told me that he didn't want it to be his birthday until his friend Isobel arrived. She was with us in the Darien and returned to the Perlas the day after we did (on his birthday), so that evening we had his birthday party. We made pizzas, swam and kayaked at the shore, played some games, and then someone spotted a turtle swimming by the boat. We all ran out to see it. Courage noticed it had ropes hanging from it. We went to help it. When Courage and Bill and a gaggle of kids arrived in the dinghy they found the ropes to be wrapped many times around its neck as well as a fin. They'd been there a long time, his neck was swollen and his skin mottled. They brought it back to the boat, gathered more sharp tools, and then used a spatula to pass under the ropes to protect the raw skin when they were cutting. Finally they freed him from a large wad of ropes!! They let him go and he rapidly swam away, popping up 20 feet away and looking back, then off he went. He must have felt sooo free!! Yeah turtle!! We got some pictures, that'll be a memorable experience for us for a while!
We will be out another day or so, then head back to Panama City to have our meetings for our long stay visas in French Polynesia, resupply for another month, hopefully get our tarp cover for our cockpit installed, drop of Cassidy and Grandmother for a trip to the states, then head back out again.
Shannon
This was our third trip to the Darien region. This time we brought 5 other friend boats with us on the "Darien Rally". We returned to our favorite village, La Chunga that is an Embera village. They live very traditionally, no roads, minimal electricity, no Claro dishes, etc. They grow most of their own food, make their art from locally grown materials, build their own houses form materials grown in the local area, cook over open fires, etc. It's all very impressive. They are a hard working people. They also seem to have excesses despite their daily manual labor. They are able to sell us eggs and bananas, and gift us coconuts and papayas, etc. They have time each day that we are there to visit, both in town and out at the boat. Often they walk us down a mile long trail back to the boat from town. So they are not burdened with work or effort despite their limited use of machines.
The other beauty in their society is that they appear to have fewer stresses. They certainly don't have the material goods that we have, but they have some; pots, pans, clothes, toys, etc. When you have material goods, you worry about protecting them, taking care of them, charging the electronics, getting newer/better ones, etc. They don't have these worries. They don't worry about accidentally leaving their cell phone or keys somewhere (by the way no doors = no keys) and someone taking them, about dropping and cracking their iPad screens, about having the latest iPhone and keeping up with someone else who has something better or more, etc. There is no dependence on electricity, Internet and technology. You miss some things, but you gain others. They have free time to be spontaneous. They appear to accept each other, there certainly appears to be no judgment about the "haves and have-nots".
They seem to look out for each other, make sure that everyone is taken care of, and share food when they have excess. Obviously there is no refrigeration (I can relate!). A guy came into town with a nice bundle of fish he caught. Later that day I saw a girl carrying a bowl with some of the fish to another house. Of course they are unique, some do the Jagwa (tattoo art), some do the dances, some cook the food, almost all the women make the Canasta (woven plates and bowls to sell), and some seem to lay low when we are there.
Upon arrival we were greeted by the male leaders of the community who had gotten word we were there and came out to the dock (a mile walk, then another mile on the boardwalk). We picked them up, brought them out to the boat, invited the members from the other boats, and had "negotiations." They asked what we wanted - dance, music, sugarcane press, etc. and we laid out a great day of entertainment. It worked out to $30 per couple basically for music, dance, sugarcane press, then a traditional dinner (rice, beans, chicken, and coconut milk). It also covered the fee for the Didigente up the river (chief of the region). It was really a great price considering a day in Vegas, LA, or anything else trying to "see the city".
Just as negotiated, there was a wonderful presentation, greeted at the bridge with music, a dance which brought in the audience members, then a treat of fresh pressed sugar cane juice. We had a little downtime, so we took the kids to the "pool", a little eddy in the river, which was a swim hole for the locals, especially the kids. Very refreshing!! Cool river water. The kids jump from a hillside way up on the side, maybe 15 feet? After some building up to it, Integrity was in just like a local kid, right off the top! From the swim hole, we went back to the "community center" for the dinner.
We had many impromptu hosting parties on our boat, took the local kids for dinghy rides and rides on the towable. They tried out our kayaks and went to visit the other boats in the fleet, at one point abandoning one of the kids on another boat. They tried the fishing gear to no avail. We served many dishes of popcorn.
Loyal found and captured an awesome Huck Finn log raft. It was 5 logs rafted up together. The fronts and backs were cut with machete into a semi-pointed shape. The fronts had a notch with a piece of wood in them. This piece of wood was held into the raft with wooden "nails" that were driven into the main logs. I've got pictures, hard to explain, but it was impressive. Apparently these rafts are made quite a ways up river. They ride them downstream to the main town of Sambu, and then discard them. I can't imagine this much work as a disposable raft! I also am not sure how they get home? We got extensive use out of the raft! The kids rode it; Courage took it up the river to the town. Heather and I paddled it back out to the boat from town. That sure took some work, both to push and to steer. But we made it. We were losing the left two logs by the time we were done with it. Guess it wasn't designed for ongoing use?
This trip up the river I think we got more bugged than the last times. There were mosquitoes, no-see-ums, and probably chiggers too. We all have lots of red, itchy bumps everywhere and are doing our best not to scratch and let them heal. Bumps are tolerable, hoping that we don't get anything subsequent like malaria, yellow fever, dengue fever or anything else those pesky mosquitoes carry; so far, so good. We had bug screens on our windows and doors as well as over the kid's beds as a secondary protection. We used bug sprays as well as the thiamine patch. All with limited benefits. Imagine if we hadn't done all that!
We bought the village out of eggs almost every time we went to town with each of the boats wanting eggs. On our final trip we bought 45 eggs, all they had, we had been given bundles of bananas and coconuts and a papaya. We were restocked for a few days at least!
We headed back down the river early one morning and made a direct passage over the mud flats and back to the Perlas Islands. We celebrated Integrity's birthday the day after we returned. He told me that he didn't want it to be his birthday until his friend Isobel arrived. She was with us in the Darien and returned to the Perlas the day after we did (on his birthday), so that evening we had his birthday party. We made pizzas, swam and kayaked at the shore, played some games, and then someone spotted a turtle swimming by the boat. We all ran out to see it. Courage noticed it had ropes hanging from it. We went to help it. When Courage and Bill and a gaggle of kids arrived in the dinghy they found the ropes to be wrapped many times around its neck as well as a fin. They'd been there a long time, his neck was swollen and his skin mottled. They brought it back to the boat, gathered more sharp tools, and then used a spatula to pass under the ropes to protect the raw skin when they were cutting. Finally they freed him from a large wad of ropes!! They let him go and he rapidly swam away, popping up 20 feet away and looking back, then off he went. He must have felt sooo free!! Yeah turtle!! We got some pictures, that'll be a memorable experience for us for a while!
We will be out another day or so, then head back to Panama City to have our meetings for our long stay visas in French Polynesia, resupply for another month, hopefully get our tarp cover for our cockpit installed, drop of Cassidy and Grandmother for a trip to the states, then head back out again.
Shannon
Saturday, January 4, 2014
Low Water
The last few days have been pretty busy from dusk to dawn. No wind and pretty overcast so no spare power for the computer. A few of the boats got together and hired a guide to take us on a tour of the jungle. We set off at 7am. Early enough to still see the birds, but late enough the mosquitoes would not carry us off. Actually the mosquitoes were not all that bad. A little Deet and baby oil seems to keep them away for most of the day. Our guide was amazing at spotting the wild life. He would hear a bird call; tell us what it was, and start calling back to it. We all wanted to see a Toucan and when he heard one calling out we decided to follow its calls. In a few minutes our guide pointed up in a tree and there sat a Toucan. We ended up seeing a few hawks too. Along with many very colorful birds I can't remember the names of.
There were several frogs too, including the poison dart frog. As we got further into the jungle it got denser, and the trees higher. It was not long before the only way to make progress was to walk in the river. There we found an older gentleman with an axe. A tree had fallen and it was just the right kind to make a bowel for husking rice. We watched him work for a while. I was impressed at what he was able to do with his axe. The whole thing was about 4 feet tall and 2 feet wide. I'll have to see if I got a good picture of it.
On the way out I spotted a banana palm with a nice bunch of bananas that looked close to ripe. With a quick whack of a machete they came crashing down. I filled my backpack full and one of the other boaters grabbed a bunch too. I think we had over 50lbs of bananas. Paths sure seem to get longer when you are carrying a heavy load. I am pretty sure those last two miles were closer to ten. Luckily there is a swimming hole just before entering the village. Us wimps climb down to steps in the clay; the kids of the town (and Teggy later on) jump the twenty feet making a great splash. There are little fish in the pool that just love to feed on you.
They also have a type of fresh water shrimp. One of the villagers caught a few and cooked them up for me. Not being a fan of shrimp I politely took a small one. They were so unbelievably good I ended up eating several. They are boiled with some local roots, and a little oil. You may be asking yourself how big were the shrimp. Well a small one is about 5 inches long, big ones over 8.
Today we are headed back towards the Perlas Islands. Departure will be at around 6am with the outgoing tide. It is so nice moving at 7kts with the motor just over idle.
Until next time,
Loyal
There were several frogs too, including the poison dart frog. As we got further into the jungle it got denser, and the trees higher. It was not long before the only way to make progress was to walk in the river. There we found an older gentleman with an axe. A tree had fallen and it was just the right kind to make a bowel for husking rice. We watched him work for a while. I was impressed at what he was able to do with his axe. The whole thing was about 4 feet tall and 2 feet wide. I'll have to see if I got a good picture of it.
On the way out I spotted a banana palm with a nice bunch of bananas that looked close to ripe. With a quick whack of a machete they came crashing down. I filled my backpack full and one of the other boaters grabbed a bunch too. I think we had over 50lbs of bananas. Paths sure seem to get longer when you are carrying a heavy load. I am pretty sure those last two miles were closer to ten. Luckily there is a swimming hole just before entering the village. Us wimps climb down to steps in the clay; the kids of the town (and Teggy later on) jump the twenty feet making a great splash. There are little fish in the pool that just love to feed on you.
They also have a type of fresh water shrimp. One of the villagers caught a few and cooked them up for me. Not being a fan of shrimp I politely took a small one. They were so unbelievably good I ended up eating several. They are boiled with some local roots, and a little oil. You may be asking yourself how big were the shrimp. Well a small one is about 5 inches long, big ones over 8.
Today we are headed back towards the Perlas Islands. Departure will be at around 6am with the outgoing tide. It is so nice moving at 7kts with the motor just over idle.
Until next time,
Loyal
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Huck Finn
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Yes, here it is New Years Eve. Here we are trying to keep cool by spending the day in the cool river playing with the local kids. Tally and Innocence are chasing chickens while Teggy and Intrepid are playing with some small parrots - - - such cute little guys.
Mother and I went back to the boat to take a quick rest and make sure the river had not deposited too much in the way of logs and other debris on the front of Lil Explorers. While clearing the logs from the front of the boat we spied a small balsa raft drifting by. I quickly grabbed a rope and with the help of a friend we captured the raft, a beautifully simple little transport instrument. It is four logs next to each other. A small branch runs across the top and is held in with wooden pegs. It is so simple, yet strong. I was able to tow it behind the dingy at almost full speed without it even noticing. I gave it to Teggy as an early birthday present. He got the first ride down the river. It is quite the sight him drifting down the river with a stick as a paddle. As he drifted past a few of the other boats I had to think of Huck Finn and his little raft. I will have to see if I can still get a copy of the book for the little ones. I think they would enjoy it. Hopefully it has not been fully banned.
Right now there are four kids playing on one end, while Valiant is trying to get his leg between two of the logs up front. He is becoming quite the adventurer. Anything his older brothers do, he has to do too. And it does not matter what that may be.
Early Tomorrow a few of the people on the boats are going for a hike into the mountains. I plan to tag along and get a little bird watching in. I will give a report tomorrow.
Good night and Happy New Year.
Loyal- - - -
Yes, here it is New Years Eve. Here we are trying to keep cool by spending the day in the cool river playing with the local kids. Tally and Innocence are chasing chickens while Teggy and Intrepid are playing with some small parrots - - - such cute little guys.
Mother and I went back to the boat to take a quick rest and make sure the river had not deposited too much in the way of logs and other debris on the front of Lil Explorers. While clearing the logs from the front of the boat we spied a small balsa raft drifting by. I quickly grabbed a rope and with the help of a friend we captured the raft, a beautifully simple little transport instrument. It is four logs next to each other. A small branch runs across the top and is held in with wooden pegs. It is so simple, yet strong. I was able to tow it behind the dingy at almost full speed without it even noticing. I gave it to Teggy as an early birthday present. He got the first ride down the river. It is quite the sight him drifting down the river with a stick as a paddle. As he drifted past a few of the other boats I had to think of Huck Finn and his little raft. I will have to see if I can still get a copy of the book for the little ones. I think they would enjoy it. Hopefully it has not been fully banned.
Right now there are four kids playing on one end, while Valiant is trying to get his leg between two of the logs up front. He is becoming quite the adventurer. Anything his older brothers do, he has to do too. And it does not matter what that may be.
Early Tomorrow a few of the people on the boats are going for a hike into the mountains. I plan to tag along and get a little bird watching in. I will give a report tomorrow.
Good night and Happy New Year.
Loyal- - - -
Back up the Darien River
Going up the Darien River today, back to the La Chunga village. We have 5 other boats with us this time and made a gentle downwind sail yesterday crossing the large bay from the Perlas to mainland. We are all staged, waiting for a rising tide to cross the mud flats up to the river. Once in the river it's not such a big deal, just crossing the mud flats that it gets shallow. We draw less than most of the mono-hulls, so we usually take the lead and depth-sound out the channel. We have 2 Canadian boats and 3 other Americans, including Sunrise with the 4-year-old girl. Cassidy went with them yesterday to see how sailing on a mono-hull and with another crew was like---just a change of pace. Sounds like it was a nice time. It was a mild wind and downwind, so minimal heeling.
Need to go oversee schooling, and then off we go to the Darien. Since we are motoring and caught a little rain in a squall last night, we may even get to wash a load of laundry!!
Shannon
Need to go oversee schooling, and then off we go to the Darien. Since we are motoring and caught a little rain in a squall last night, we may even get to wash a load of laundry!!
Shannon
Happy New Year from the Darian
So many great things are going on these days. The new cockpit is wonderful. We are finally eating outside in the shade of the new cockpit cover. The raised cockpit has also given us more storage area. For now the decks are not as cluttered as they used to be. It is so nice to be able to sail without having to fight our way around the decks.
Two days ago we were getting ready to head across to the Darian from the Perlas. Before taking down the Volleyball net Cassidy wanted to play a last set to determine the King of The Beach. I got to be team Bigfoot captain, and Cassidy was team Littlefoot captain. Being a girl she figured she should have first choice of teammates. She chose Courage. Now, it turned out, he was the only other player on the beach. Luckily I was able to draw my own boundaries. I made my field a few feet narrower and a few feet shorter than their side. The first game was a close 10 to 21. During the game I had to widen my field, and even make it a little deeper. Even with the bigger field I was able to hold my own, during the second game. But for the third game they shortened their field, and I had to lengthen mine. And to make it more fair, I brought my width the within two feet of theirs. By this time I was wearing them down enough they were making a few mistakes (like thinking a ball was out when it was not). To make this short story longer I will wrap up by saying I don't think they will back me up on my version of events, but they will have to admit I took the title of King of the Beach. Three straight games.
Yesterday 5 other boats and Lil' Explorers set sail for the Darian. A few were wise and left early to catch the morning wind, while others took some time to beach the boat and give he a nice wash before setting off. There was a nice northerly wind blowing about 10kts so up went the spinnaker. The wind held for about 4 hours, but eventually sails started coming down and motors started. The wise ones who left early were able to select prime anchoring spots, and guide the rest of us to a spot in the dark. With an overcast night, and no moon, it was hard to see anything at all. At one point Courage called me forward to listen to a sound. We could hear the rain approaching. Quickly we started closing hatches, and gathering clothes that were out drying. The rain hit hard, but only lasted a few minutes. Not even long enough to wash our new roof.
Around ten am the next day we all pulled up our anchors and started making our way to the mouth of the river. This time there were no nets to block our path. It was impressive to see the line of six boats all in a row heading over the mud flats. Two of the boats did end up hitting the bottom when the current pulled them out of the channel. It was had to tell but the current did not follow the channel. I jumped in the dingy with boat hook in hand and headed back to find the channel. It only took a few minutes to figure out what had happened, and Cassidy was able to get the message out letting everyone know where the channel was.
Once we were all safely anchored in our favorite spot, a few of the villagers came out to say hello. For the next few hours we had between 30 and 40 visitors stop by to say 'Hi' and welcome us back. As the afternoon progressed we shared war stories with the other boats and introduced them to some of the locals.
Tomorrow there will be a bit of a New Year’s party in town, and we are all invited. It promises to be quite interesting.
Happy New Year from Loyal, Mother, Courage, and the whole Lil' Explorers crew!
Two days ago we were getting ready to head across to the Darian from the Perlas. Before taking down the Volleyball net Cassidy wanted to play a last set to determine the King of The Beach. I got to be team Bigfoot captain, and Cassidy was team Littlefoot captain. Being a girl she figured she should have first choice of teammates. She chose Courage. Now, it turned out, he was the only other player on the beach. Luckily I was able to draw my own boundaries. I made my field a few feet narrower and a few feet shorter than their side. The first game was a close 10 to 21. During the game I had to widen my field, and even make it a little deeper. Even with the bigger field I was able to hold my own, during the second game. But for the third game they shortened their field, and I had to lengthen mine. And to make it more fair, I brought my width the within two feet of theirs. By this time I was wearing them down enough they were making a few mistakes (like thinking a ball was out when it was not). To make this short story longer I will wrap up by saying I don't think they will back me up on my version of events, but they will have to admit I took the title of King of the Beach. Three straight games.
Yesterday 5 other boats and Lil' Explorers set sail for the Darian. A few were wise and left early to catch the morning wind, while others took some time to beach the boat and give he a nice wash before setting off. There was a nice northerly wind blowing about 10kts so up went the spinnaker. The wind held for about 4 hours, but eventually sails started coming down and motors started. The wise ones who left early were able to select prime anchoring spots, and guide the rest of us to a spot in the dark. With an overcast night, and no moon, it was hard to see anything at all. At one point Courage called me forward to listen to a sound. We could hear the rain approaching. Quickly we started closing hatches, and gathering clothes that were out drying. The rain hit hard, but only lasted a few minutes. Not even long enough to wash our new roof.
Around ten am the next day we all pulled up our anchors and started making our way to the mouth of the river. This time there were no nets to block our path. It was impressive to see the line of six boats all in a row heading over the mud flats. Two of the boats did end up hitting the bottom when the current pulled them out of the channel. It was had to tell but the current did not follow the channel. I jumped in the dingy with boat hook in hand and headed back to find the channel. It only took a few minutes to figure out what had happened, and Cassidy was able to get the message out letting everyone know where the channel was.
Once we were all safely anchored in our favorite spot, a few of the villagers came out to say hello. For the next few hours we had between 30 and 40 visitors stop by to say 'Hi' and welcome us back. As the afternoon progressed we shared war stories with the other boats and introduced them to some of the locals.
Tomorrow there will be a bit of a New Year’s party in town, and we are all invited. It promises to be quite interesting.
Happy New Year from Loyal, Mother, Courage, and the whole Lil' Explorers crew!
Thursday, December 26, 2013
Life in the Tropical Perlas Islands
Here we are in a beautiful little anchorage between two islands.
Christmas Eve we had all the boats over for a potluck dinner. Right now there are 9 boats enjoying the warm breezes, sandy beaches, and swarms of butterflies. Including the 10 of us there were around 35 people onboard, and still plenty of room.
Christmas Day we had a big volleyball championship. The Brazilians and Swedish people were quite aggressive, and kept us up to date with the international rules. It turns out last year there were some big changes. Now there is a point gained with each serve. It makes the game move much faster.
There were some really impressive volleys, especially with a 10-year-old soccer player by the name of Alex. He and his father were an unstoppable team, setting to each other and making saves that were impossible. And when Alex could not get it with his hands, he would kick it over the net.
This morning we went to the other side of the island to burn our garbage. Since it has not rained in the last week, finding firewood was a dream. In no time Courage had a nice fire going and the garbage on top. With the hot fire even the plastic burns without smoke. Teggy, Tally, and Valiant, gathered the plastic bottles and other debris from the beach. We usually try to burn as much plastic as possible from the beach.
There are a few grasshoppers out, and tons of beautiful butterflies. The butterflies are smart enough to stay away from little hands, but the grasshoppers allow themselves to be caught and seem to enjoy walking around on the little ones.
Courage picked up a power generator you tow behind the boat. It is essentially a propeller attached to 50 feet of rope that is connected to an electric motor. At 4kts no noticeable power is generated, but at 7kts we were making 6 amps. It will be a great asset while crossing the pacific as it will give us some power at night, assuming we are moving over 6kts.
Wishing everyone a very Happy New Year.
Loyal
Christmas Eve we had all the boats over for a potluck dinner. Right now there are 9 boats enjoying the warm breezes, sandy beaches, and swarms of butterflies. Including the 10 of us there were around 35 people onboard, and still plenty of room.
Christmas Day we had a big volleyball championship. The Brazilians and Swedish people were quite aggressive, and kept us up to date with the international rules. It turns out last year there were some big changes. Now there is a point gained with each serve. It makes the game move much faster.
There were some really impressive volleys, especially with a 10-year-old soccer player by the name of Alex. He and his father were an unstoppable team, setting to each other and making saves that were impossible. And when Alex could not get it with his hands, he would kick it over the net.
This morning we went to the other side of the island to burn our garbage. Since it has not rained in the last week, finding firewood was a dream. In no time Courage had a nice fire going and the garbage on top. With the hot fire even the plastic burns without smoke. Teggy, Tally, and Valiant, gathered the plastic bottles and other debris from the beach. We usually try to burn as much plastic as possible from the beach.
There are a few grasshoppers out, and tons of beautiful butterflies. The butterflies are smart enough to stay away from little hands, but the grasshoppers allow themselves to be caught and seem to enjoy walking around on the little ones.
Courage picked up a power generator you tow behind the boat. It is essentially a propeller attached to 50 feet of rope that is connected to an electric motor. At 4kts no noticeable power is generated, but at 7kts we were making 6 amps. It will be a great asset while crossing the pacific as it will give us some power at night, assuming we are moving over 6kts.
Wishing everyone a very Happy New Year.
Loyal
Christmas in the Islands
Merry Christmas from the Perlas Islands in Panama! We had a nice time. There were about 10 boats in the anchorage here at the island. We had about 30 people over for Christmas Eve dinner. It was nice. Then Cassidy and I stayed up and wrapped presents. Christmas morning we opened presents and played, then went to the beach later in the day and had a big volleyball game. We invited another catamaran over for Christmas dinner. They are from Brazil. Cassidy also got to go wakeboarding yesterday with that other catamaran.
We are setting up for another trip to the Darien and indigenous tribes Dec. 30th. There may be about 5 other boats going at this point. Things change rapidly here. Should be interesting though.
I need to get to shore, brought baby out for his nap, but am going to make a treasure hunt for the kids to do (and want to get them doing some more reading anyway.) Also making lunch to bring to them. They are playing with a 4-year-old girl on shore from Sunrise. Very nice family, we've been wearing her out. She’s not used to this much stimulus!
Courage and Loyal, with some help from Bill on Sunrise, built up the cockpit floor so that it is more usable and we have more storage. It's good, still raw wood, but functional. We also have a tarp guy sewing our old canvas to fit our new roof. Really excited for some better shade and rain protection out there. That will make it so much more functional and enjoyable.
Must make the treasure hunt and feed the kids.
Until later,
Shannon
We are setting up for another trip to the Darien and indigenous tribes Dec. 30th. There may be about 5 other boats going at this point. Things change rapidly here. Should be interesting though.
I need to get to shore, brought baby out for his nap, but am going to make a treasure hunt for the kids to do (and want to get them doing some more reading anyway.) Also making lunch to bring to them. They are playing with a 4-year-old girl on shore from Sunrise. Very nice family, we've been wearing her out. She’s not used to this much stimulus!
Courage and Loyal, with some help from Bill on Sunrise, built up the cockpit floor so that it is more usable and we have more storage. It's good, still raw wood, but functional. We also have a tarp guy sewing our old canvas to fit our new roof. Really excited for some better shade and rain protection out there. That will make it so much more functional and enjoyable.
Must make the treasure hunt and feed the kids.
Until later,
Shannon
Merry Christmas from Cassidy
For Christmas this year we are at Espiritu Santo with ten other boats. Christmas Eve we had this huge gathering/potluck with most of the boats in the anchorage. It was great, in total we had almost thirty people over. Our plans for Christmas are, well to open presents of course, and have a volleyball beach party!
Nothing quite like white snow and big Christmas trees. But we have the tropical version of that; Green waters and coconut trees.
Merry Christmas from Cassidy!
Nothing quite like white snow and big Christmas trees. But we have the tropical version of that; Green waters and coconut trees.
Merry Christmas from Cassidy!
Sunday, December 22, 2013
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