Greetings from Bob and Carol 11-23 to 12-23, 2006

SEASON’S GREETINGS, dear friends and family . . . . and all the latest news from Carricklee in Panamá, November 23 to December 23, 2006

Our holiday season began with Thanksgiving and a wonderful afternoon and evening spent with new friends who live here in the Canal Zone of Panamá. The weekend before, we had met a norteamericana, Kerry, and her 15-year-old son, Spencer, while we were all standing in line for the movie All the King’s Men. We soon discovered she and we have much in common: She is from Walnut Creek, CA, with more recent homes in Port Townsend, WA, and Costa Rica. A junior sailor of Cal 20s in San Francisco, she shares with us many of the same fond memories of sailing in the Bay.

Over a fabulous feast of turkey and all the trimmings with Kerry, Spencer, and his father, Keith (who lives next door but is no longer married to Kerry), we exchanged our stories.

The next few days were spent dieting, and getting the boat prepared for a cruise with our guests, Mary Lou and Frank Nugent, who arrived the following Monday evening.

After a couple of days of provisioning and relaxing on the boat while the Nugents acclimated to the heat and humidity of Panamá, and were treated to a few torrential rains with impressive thunder and lightning, we set out on an eleven-day cruise.

We had set our sights for the nearby island of Taboga for our first stop, but we thought the residual swells from the south winds of the night before would make for an unpleasant night for our friends (though I reckoned they’d proved their mettle, and their sea legs, after two nights aboard a boat moored in Balboa). So we set a course instead for Pacheco, the northernmost island of the Archipiélago de las Perlas.

We dropped anchor in sparkling turquoise water offshore of spectacular rock formations, but knew we would stay for lunch only because of the lack of protection if the south came up again. After a respite of a couple of hours, we sailed by Isla Contadora and anchored behind the next island to the south, Chapera, where, the last time we had anchored here, the Survivors crew was filming. This time we were alone both in the anchorage and on the long beach, where we walked below the mosaic of colorful rock walls interspersed with stands of tropical plants. Back aboard Carricklee, we commenced our daily ritual for the cruise: we jumped into the clear, cool water for a cooling swim before our solar showers on deck, to be followed by cocktail hour—invariably, Bob’s renowned margaritas—and dinner.

After some discussion about where to head the next day, the Nugents decided to extend their planned two-week visit for another week so we’d have time to add a visit to to the Darién to our already full itinerary. Early the next morning we set sail for Golfo de San Miguel and the sweet anchorage behind Punta Garachiné. Along the way we had a short but glorious sail, and dolphins twice thrilled us with their acrobatics alongside the hull and beneath the bow. The coup de grace was Frank’s snagging of a 50-inch dorado, and the dorado filets that followed for dinner.

Next we were off to La Palma. As we turned into Boca Chica, shown on our chart as having deep water, four fishermen in a panga slowed down a distance off our starboard beam and waved frantically to us, all the while shouting, “Bajo! Bajo!” We immediately shifted into reverse to follow them over the deeper portion of the bar at the mouth of the river. Once past this “Little Mouth,” we had plenty of water and motored to the anchorage at the far end of the town.

Young boys paddling narrow dug-out canoes rapidly appeared alongside us. After we gave the first two boys oranges, other youngsters soon followed, reducing our large bag of oranges so drastically we had to close shop. Then the women selling canastas (woven baskets) began to arrive. In order to have a little privacy for lunch, we finally told them we would come ashore later and look at all their canastas.

Later, after going ashore to view and purchase a few of the canastas and a couple of small vases carved out of tagua, the popular “vegetable ivory” we had seen first in Ecuador, we went around by sport boat to the center of town. La Palma is one of the least attractive villages we’ve seen lately—noisy, dirty, smelly, with little of interest. Of course the people were as kind and friendly as Latin Americans are everywhere we’ve been. Nevertheless, we decided to leave the unappealing harbor behind and seek a more placid anchorage for the night.

Back to Boca Chica we went, this time knowing exactly how to avoid the low water at the entrance, and motored on to Río Lagarto, where the only sounds were those of the birds and the only debris in the water was the leaves. (Later, when the tide ebbed trunks and branches of palm trees swept downstream overshadowed those few leaves.) The swift outgoing tide in this small bay made our afternoon swim a bit more challenging than usual: we all held onto a line tied to the boat so we wouldn’t end up back in the Perlas.We had wanted to go birding up one of the small inlets, either later that day or early the next morning, but as the tide ebbed, we could see the now solid bars of sand in the sport boat could be crossed only at high tide, near midnight that night or noon the next day. We would content ourselves with the little blue herons and great American egrets pecking at the exposed mud flats, the green parrots and white ibises flying over the tops of the mangroves, and the distant howler monkeys, unseen but distinctly heard.

Refreshed by a splendid night’s sleep and a lazy morning, including listening to the Pan-Pacific net, with everyone in the Perlas reporting heavy rains, erratic and strong winds, and lightning perilously close, we got under way at 1000 hours for the short run back to Garachiné. Here, our afternoon swim again required a safety line. After the cooling swim, again including a safety line, and a solar shower, we motored in Abby slowly along the shore, spotting male and female vermillion flycatchers, collared bacards, and a common black hawk. In a cove near Punta Garachiné, we went ashore and walked through the jungle across the narrow tip to the beach on the Pacific side of the point.

The beach there is beautiful, the sand interrupted by black lava ledges and flows. But the most striking sight was the hermit crab procession from the water toward the jungle. Many of these crabs inhabited some of the loveliest shells we’ve ever seen, so lovely we almost yielded to the temptation to collect them. But we left them all to their tenants, allowing the crabs needed them more than we.

In alternate sunshine and light rain showers, we had an easy passage the next day down to Bahía Piñas. Ashore to confirm the arrangements for our visit the following day to two Emberá villages, we also tried to make reservations for dinner at the Tropic Star Lodge to celebrate Bob’s birthday. But the lodge was full. So we had our usual quiet dinner in the cockpit of Carricklee—not really a bad alternative.

At 1300 hours the next day, a local Emberá man, Johnny, collected us in his panga to take us across the bar of the Río Jaqué near high tide. No more than three hours later, we would have to exit the river. The coastline between Piñas and the river is spectacular, with small green islands, rocky islets, and sea spires and stacks set against the verdant green jungle peaks of the Daríen. On the return trip the tide was low enough so that Johnny drove the panga through an arch rock and a narrow pass of rapids, adding a thrill to the aesthetics.

At Jaqué, Johnny’s village, our first stop was the outpost of the local militia. After Johnny had spoken with the heavily armed soldiers and shown them our passports, I took a couple of pictures of the guard shack and soldiers. Immediately, one of the soldiers motioned me over and informed me, albeit with a pleasant smile, that no picture-taking was allowed. Fortunately, I was using a digital camera and could show him the images as I erased them. Otherwise, I’m sure he would have confiscated a whole roll of film. (This village only 15 miles from the Colombia border, is so carefully controlled that Ursula, one of the managers of the Tropic Star Lodge, had had to call ahead to get permission from the militia for our visit.)But the highlight of the day was our next stop farther up the river at the village of Biroquerá, where once again Ursula had called and Johnny checked us in. You can bet I kept my camera carefully pointed in any direction but that of the soldiers.

The children of the village, as well as a few adults, had lined the high banks above the ramp when we arrived. As soon as we were ashore, the dozens of children clustered around us, wanting to see the images of themselves on our digital cameras. (Clearly, we weren’t the first outsiders to arrive with digital cameras.) The entire group of about fifty children, from two- to three-year-olds to perhaps ten-or twelve-year-olds, followed us closely as the jefe showed us the school and then took us to a small hut to view the local crafts: woven baskets and plates, tagua and wood carvings. Many of these Emberá works were exquisite, and the Nugents and we both went away with a bagful each.

The next morning, our Darién adventure at an end for this time, we sailed north, back to the Archipiélago de las Perlas, with Frank catching a lunch-sized dorado for our midday repast. We anchored behind Punta Cocos, at the southern tip of the southernmost and largest of the islands, Del Rey.

Our friends Jim and Leslie, of the sailboat Trilogy, port of call Sisters, Oregon, were already anchored, having agreed with us by radio earlier that we would meet up there. They joined us for our cocktail hour, or two or three.

Ashore the next morning, we hiked across the Punta Cocos, past the now deserted Panamanian navy facility, along the runway of a small airport, the recent wheel tracks suggesting it is still in use, and through the tall grass to the cliffs above the Pacific shore. But we find no path down the steep cliffs to the water for a walk on the beach and a swim. Never mind. We had miles and miles of uninterrupted white sand beach around our anchorage and clean water for swimming.

The following day we along with Trilogy went the short distance across to another rich anchorage on Del Rey, Cacique, this one not only featuring the same luscious combination of sparkling water and white sand beach nestled beneath luxuriant jungle-covered hills but also a river for birding. At dinner aboard Trilogy that night we agreed on an 0600 departure for the sport boat ride up the river.

A heavy rain the next morning delayed our river trip slightly, but we nevertheless saw whimbrels, scarlet macaws, and yellow-headed caracaras aplenty. But our primarily pleasure was the quiet drift back down the 3-mile Río Cacique.

Then we were off for my favorite anchorage in the Perlas, Bayoneta. Tucked tightly between Isla Bayoneta and Isla La Vivienda and accessed by a winding, and carefully navigated, route around several reefs, this secluded little anchorage has calm water, secure holding, and a picturesque combination of narrow passes between black lava reefs and verdant hills. The nearby white sand beach is on La Vivienda, but our favorite beach to visit is the one on the northeast point of Bayoneta, popularly called “Pink Beach.”

In most years, thousands of scallop shells, the bulk of them tinted in shades of cranberry, mauve, and pinks, give the beach a pink glow visible from a mile or more away. We couldn’t wait to show Frank and Mary Lou this unique sight. But the heaps of scallop shells we’d seen in past years were greatly diminished this year so that we couldn’t detect the pinkness of the beach until we were within a few hundred yards of shore. Another change from previous years was far more disquieting. Having never landed on this beach late in the afternoon before, we’d had no notion it was a haven for the no-see-ums that typically appear around 1600 hours. After about 15 minutes, we were all scampering for the water and then into the sportboat for an urgent escape from these vicious little gnats. Fortunately, we left them all behind and relished our usual quiet afternoon and evening in Bayoneta.

The final destination of our cruise was Contadora, not our favorite anchorage—no more than a roadstead busy with tour boats and jet skis and reverberating with music from the shore. But it is the convenient and most proximate Perlas anchorage for the return to Balboa. It also has several fine reefs for snorkeling. Soon after getting the anchor down, we went in Abby to the nearest one, the reef at Punta Verde, where we all saw a variety of tropical fish. But Frank had the prize sighting of the day, a rare frogfish, just as we were climbing into the sportboat in the now torrential rain.

We could say we were soaked by the rain that flooded the sportboat, keeping us busy sopping up the extra water. But of course we were already soaked, and indeed appreciated the fresh water rinse, though our visibility was limited to about 10 feet.

We had rented a mooring in Balboa for the month so had a spot waiting for us the next day in this now full yacht club, though not the mooring we’d been on before. This one, near the fuel dock, was slightly less rolly but considerably more noisy, with the lanchas that transport the sailors back and forth to shore chugging nearby night and day and the club music blaring far into the night. But in a couple of days the manager asked us to move to another mooring because the permanent tenant of this one would be returning. So now we have no sounds of music but considerably more roll as the ships hurdle toward and from the Canal. We haven’t hit upon the win-win situation in the Balboa YC moorage yet.

For the last week of Mary Lou and Frank’s visit, we rented a car for a bit of land cruising. Our first stop, after the necessary provisioning, was at the Miraflores Locks, where we were in time to see a cruise ship and a giant container ship (called by the guide at the locks a “Panamax,” that is to say, the maximum size that will fit in the locks of the Panama Canal) in the locks. These two, arriving from the Caribbean, were being locked down to the level of the Pacific. Afterwards, we all enjoyed another hour or so in the new museum that wasn’t yet open when we were last at Miraflores.

The next day we drove to Colón, where we had lunch at the new mall on the outskirts of town. Then we went on to Portobelo to visit the remains of the 16th- and 17th-century Spanish forts and to shop for molas, the intricate appliquéd rectangles of cotton that are the signature craft of the Islas de San Blas women.

Our grand land cruise began the next day with an early departure for Boquete, in the cool Cordillera Central, 250 miles west of Balboa and but 45 miles from the Costa Rica border. Jim and Leslee, on Trilogy, know Boquete well, owning three lots and having built a spec house there a couple of years ago. They had provided us with names and phone numbers of contacts and recommendations for lodging and restaurants that proved invaluable for our brief three-day visit.

The drive on the Panamericana began pleasantly, with much less traffic at 0730 than we’d anticipated. Once we reached Santiago, roughly the mid-point between Balboa and Boquete, road construction, and then rain, slowed us down. After a quick late lunch at TGI Friday’s in David, we turned north on a winding road into the mountains.

In addition to its refreshing climate and growing norteamericano population, Boquete is also the coffee capital of Panamá. We had all determined we would sample coffee from as many fincas as we could, so our first stop was at Kotowa Coffee Estates. Here we sampled the coffee served inside and a bird’s-eye view of Boquete across and beyond the deep canyon.Fortified for the last leg of the day, we drove through the business district—described by our host for the next two nights as “about a hundred yards long”—and into the hills to Finca Lérida. John Colllins, whose father and mother bought this coffee finca in the 1940s, and his wife, Soroya, returned to Boquete four years ago to take over the operation of the coffee production as well as to expand into the hospitality business.

We had spacious and well-appointed rooms in the new lodge, opened only two months earlier, and traditional Panamanian breakfasts—fresh tropical fruits as well as fresh fruit juice (naranjilla one day and maracuya the next), a savory mix of smoked dried beef, red bell peppers, tomatoes, and onions; a corn tortilla mix rolled and deep-fried, called almojabanos; local white cheese; eggs to order; and the specialty of the house, café de Finca Lérida.With that hearty breakfast under our belts, we met a local bird-watching guide, Chago, for a five-hour hike through the hills and vales of Finca Lérida, our primary goal to see quetzals. That goal we achieved only partially, seeing only one male quetzal, and that seen clearly by only Frank and Bob. But the sightings were plentiful, with the four varieties of hummingbirds a delightful addition to the those we saw daily around the lodge.

Following lunch, John, the proprietor, treated us to a three-hour tour of the processes of coffee production on his finca. Among his goals are to restore to working condition much of the original equipment put in place in the first decades of the 20th century by the original finca owner.The last morning we arose early to try for a better view of the quetzals that often perch on a particular tree near the Collins’s house. Again, we saw dozens of hummingbirds but no quetzals.

After another fabulous breakfast, we checked out of Finca Lérida and took a last drive along the Río Santa Barbara, circling Boquete, before returning to the Panamericana and back to the boat at Balboa, both our sea and land cruises with the Nugents ended for this year.

Following a busy weekend of last minute shopping and organizing their luggage, the Nugents flew out for Sacramento on Monday, ending their vacation, and ours. Now we’ve settled down to boat chores and writing. The autopilot that we’d thought was repaired has come unrepaired, so we have the mechanic coming back on Tuesday to try again. One of the replacement batteries for our sat phone takes and holds a charge, but we haven’t been able to make a connection with Telenor yet.

But here are the successes. We’re giving ourselves romantic Christmas presents—a new and larger Honda generator that can recharge our batteries, a new bimini for the cockpit to replace our 20-year-old one that seems to let in almost as much water from the Panamá deluges as it keeps out, and new upholstery for the sofas and chairs in the dinette and main saloon. Santa Claus is being very good to us this year.

We’re looking forward to a pre-Christmas weekend with friends: dinner tonight with Kerry, Keith, and Spencer and a Christmas Eve dinner and concert with Jim and Leslee. But none of these new friends, as wonderful as they are, can replace holidays with long-time friends and family. We’ll be thinking of you throughout the holiday season and wishing you well for the new year.