Biding Time

                                Amekaya at anchor in the early morning sun in Bocas del Toro. 

I've sort of fallen behind in my posts because we haven't done much in the past year. I've highlighted some travels we've taken but fell out of the frequent updates because we have been in a holding pattern. So, I want to cover that period in this piece and talk about issues and concerns as well as thoughts about where we are in our cruising life. We have been in Panama nearly 4 years. We love it here but want to move on to see other places.

 

A full moon rising behind some clouds at the Marina.

 

We returned from the San Blas Islands to Bocas del Toro, Panama in May of 2022. It's now late 2023 and we've been consumed with some boat issues that still are not resolved. As a result we did not leave Bocas this year as we had planned and spent way too much time in the marina. We've been in Bocas since January of 2020 before Covid changed the world. We have come to really like Bocas for many reasons because for a cruising liveaboard it offers many benefits. In some respects the Rio Dulce in Guatemala is better. There are skilled trades and craftsmen that are sorely lacking in Panama. Cruising to Belize and the Bay Islands offer great sailing and diving opportunities that are lacking in Panama. And, the northwest Caribbean is generally so much cheaper than Panama. 

                                            A Moonlit night at anchor facing toward town.
 

But, Panama on the Caribbean side has the San Blas which are a fantastic cruising grounds and in Bocas it's easy to find a secluded anchorage in an hour cruise from town. You won't find that in the Northwest Caribbean. But, we love the access to a myriad of fresh produce that isn't available in Guatemala and the ready access to pretty much everything we need. If it isn't available in Bocas, we can get it overnight from Panama City or in a few days from the US. Also in Bocas are many entertainment and dining venues that are lacking in the Northwest Caribbean and security is not a big concern. 

 

We enjoy many evenings with and without dinner at the Cantina in the marina. This was a full moon rising.

On a larger scale the western Caribbean in general offers a more reasonable environment than other places in the Caribe. It's more affordable, less touristy, less crowded and the Countries are real countries with real culture to delve into. They all have their own ag production so meats, fruits and vegetables are readily available at usually a very reasonable price. That said, we hope to make our way around the Caribbean to experience the other sides. I know I hope to visit many of the historic rum makers although we missed them in Jamaica.

 

A beautiful sunset at anchor.

We are executing on the plan we conceived in 2016 although we are 5 years behind because other things happened. But, that's OK. We haven't regretted anything we've done. If anything, we would have liked to spend more time in some places doing more things. Unlike many of our younger cruising friends our clock is ticking much faster but we enjoy taking things slowly after 50+ years of rushing. It would have been nice to start earlier.

One of our trips was to the Panamanian town of Boquete. This garden was from the Flower Fair that had been the week before we were there. The picture doesn't do the flowers justice.I did a blog post about our trip to Boquete.

So, in the time we've been in Bocas over the past year we've dealt with several boat issues. Of course the worst is the engine issue that we still haven't solved. In attempting to remedy it: I've had the fuel pump rebuilt; replaced the turbo; checked and cleaned the mixing elbow; replaced the hose from the mixing elbow to the muffler; cleaned the muffler; checked the manifolds; checked compression; checked the injectors; cleaned the breather and air intake; checked the back pressure; the bottom is clean; reset the prop pitch; the shaft spins freely; and the engine will get to full RPM out of gear, There just isn't anything else to check. I do however plan to replace the exhaust hose as the only other source of back pressure although that didn't seem to be a culprit.

 

A view of our engine with the newly installed turbo.I wrote a separate blog post about that.

Our plan to deal with it if the new hose doesn't resolve it is to try another mechanic in the Fall and if it doesn't improve we'll continue on to Colombia and while the boat is on the hard getting other work done we'll have someone pull apart the engine.

 

Doing a small repair ensconced in one of our lockers. Getting into tight places is a recurring requirement.   

Other issues we've addressed besides routine maintenance are: we had to replace the wind speed transducer as that failed; we replaced the windlass motor that burned out; had the bottom repainted; replaced the manual bilge pump; and stripped and refinished the teak. Next year in Cartagena will be 10 years that we've been on Amekaya. It will then be time to tear things apart to survey, clean and rehabilitate many items. We're working on our list now.

We also visited Quito and the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador. I have separate blog posts for those.

In the late summers of 2022 and 2023 we made our routine trip back to the States to visit family, friends, Doctors and to shop for many of the things that we need, can't find in Bocas and are hard to shop for online. Each year we go back it seems like we have so much to do but yet we would like to figure a way to shorten the time away from our home. Traveling back to the US comes with many unique considerations although we love spending time with family and friends. 

Another visit was to Cartagena and Bogota, Colombia. Bogota is a selfie from Montserrat overlooking one of the largest cities in South America. I have separate blog posts for those.

 

The first concern is that the cost of everything in the States is now extremely high compared to what we're used to. The sticker shock eventually wears off but renting a car and paying for gasoline and hotels isn't in our budget any other time. It gets very expensive.

A view of Miami  from the hotel we usually stay at by the airport with some rain in the distance. It's convenient to everything we need to do there. It's convenient getting to and from the airport with their shuttle. Our freight forwarder is close along with many stores and restaurants.

 

Each time we return to the US it is a confusion of feelings for us. When we go places that used to be routine for us there's a familiarity to them but being there is surreal. It's like we belong, but we don't. People we meet, talk to or engage have no idea how different our life is to theirs even though we look almost like we fit in. Unlike most people we engage we are detached and relaxed. When we disclose to people that we live on a sailboat in the Caribbean they often are in disbelief but, then they realize that we are people they only fantasize about. We also have a tendency to want to respond to people in Spanish because that's our typical response. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two restaurants we enjoy close to our hotel in Miami is the Little Latin Corner (El Rinconcito Latino Doral) and Grill 42.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One thing that happens is we tend to get off our normal diet and eat lots of wrong foods. This often happens because we eat out too much and make bad choices at the restaurants. To try and offset that we try to use hotel fitness centers when we can or walk. But, when we stay in Annapolis we can use the fitness center at the Naval Academy.

 

Spent one afternoon in suburban Philadelphia with a group of my college classmates (Mike Campbell, Ed Rogers and Cliff Trumbo) and their wives enjoying a lunch and later a wonderful desert.

Then comes the challenge of getting everything we bought back to the boat. We can check 4-50 lb bags on the airline for free and have 2 carry-on bags.  I'm usually pretty good about guessing the weights. This year we bought a postal scale to weigh our bags and boxes before shipping. We usually ship several boxes back as well. Typically, we have about 300 lbs of nutritional supplements, boat parts, household goods, liquor we can't get there, really good olive oil and balsamics plus many other things that are too hard to order online. Some of the places we've been it was almost impossible to ship packages to directly so packing the most into our bags was necessary. At least in Bocas we have options for quick shipping.

Ironically the same day I met my college classmates we got together for dinner with some high school classmates ( Ed Fasnacht and Ken Keener) and their wives in Lancaster, Pa.

 

Managing this is a logistical challenge. The first is identifying what we need. Many cases it's easy knowing what broke and needs replacement parts or we need to replace the spare we used. More difficult is anticipating things that could go wrong and having parts on hand for when they do. Next is the challenge of identifying the source for procuring the items. In that, lots of things are considered including cost, speed of delivery and where to ship it to. Is it something we want to ship directly? Do we want to get 

Last year some of our boxes showed up severely damaged. One didn't show up at all adding to an already complex task. The loss required filing a claim and then replacing the items lost. Unfortunately, it's more difficult getting replacements when you can't go to the source and get it adding additional time and expense that isn't covered by the replacement because now there's additional shipping involved. That's why this year we delivered the boxes directly to our freight forwarder.

 

it to check it out before getting it back to the boat? When will we be where to receive it? Then we need to get it, pack it and decide if we carry it back or ship it back. Somethings can't go in our baggage. Somethings are temperature sensitive. Then there is suitably and safely packing them. Everything we pack in our bags and for shipping is inventoried so we know where everything is. Of course, the real fun is when it gets back to the boat unloading, stowing it and adding it to our boat inventory. Since we don't take cardboard boxes on the boat we unload into bags to take inside and throw away the boxes. In the tropics corrugated cardboard holds roach eggs.

A Labor Day Weekend hike with Linda's son Seth who we stay with in Annapolis.

One other wrinkle in the process is getting the bags that we brought with us from the States back to Bocas. Air Panama only allows one bag each and we have 6. Our shipping company in Bocas is affiliated with a domestic shipping company who will pick up our bags in our hotel and deliver them to Bocas for about $15 a bag with overnight delivery to Bocas. Tracking all the moving pieces is a logistical headache and ensuring that they are packed well enough not to break.  

We were able to catch up with one of my son's and his whole family this year in Tennessee where they moved after he retired from the USMC. My son Jeremy, his wonderful wife Regina, beautiful daughter Abby and really smart grandson Jared. Taken in Knoxville.

Living on a boat is about living. That living involves boat maintenance, getting to know local cultures, sightseeing and then the everyday subsistence things. It's amazing how much time mundane chores take living on a boat. We eat little in the way of prepared foods (which we prefer anyway) so we prepare it ourselves which takes a great deal of time. In Bocas there is a bountiful supply of fresh fruits produce and vegetables although not in the diversity of good American markets. But, it is good quality and fresh. To take those goods and prepare them for storage, prepare them for meals and actually making the meals consumes a lot of time each day for both of us. Linda has the things she does and I have the things I do. Then we also have to be cognizant of the weather and what work can be done based on weather. 

This year we got to go into Center City Philadelphia and have dinner at a renown restaurant Vedge where our granddaughter Rebecca works. We had a wonderful evening.

One of the major tasks we accomplish when we return to the States is to visit our Doctors and get all of our wellness exams. This includes an annual physical exam; dental exam and cleaning; eye exams; any 

 

My oldest grandson, Alexander out for a trail ride.

needed radiology; other specific exams; and then getting any prescriptions filled and follow-up screenings. We can usually get emergent care done where we are but we always follow-up with our regular doctors in the States. So far, everything has been fine so it is all routine. At some point our health will require more issues and time.

The Florida "Welcome Sign" is always a good feeling.

 

We also like to spend time with family and friends. Trying to work into everyone's schedule is also a challenge. We often don't get to see all the people that we would like to each visit. If we miss someone we try to see them the next year. Depending where people are we often end up making domestic flights to save time. Then driving when we can. Every year is different depending on where people are. Also, school and college reunions occur that we like to attend. I've kept in close contact with many school and college friends. Linda, not so much. Unfortunately, our visits often slip by too quickly and we forget to take pictures so there are many that aren't here.

During our visit this summer I had the opportunity to reconnect with one of the students that was on the debate team I coached back in the 80's. We had a wonderful dinner with our friend Erik Grant and his lovely wife, Karen. What a special treat.

 We have many cruising friends that spend very little time back in the States. Some spend a great deal. Our Canadian and Alaskan friends need to spend 6 months a year at home in order to qualify for benefits. 

 

One of our perennial stops is with my college classmate Jack Andreas and his lovely wife Dora. We always have fun and sometimes too much to drink. If that's possible.

Each year we begin making plans for our visit months in advance as we try to iron out appointments, travel schedules and availability. Then the time comes and we pass through the time we knew we had for each activity and it's almost surreal when we realize, "oh yea, that's tomorrow." Instead of something we've been talking about for months. When it's over we're glad we're heading home but sad we only got to spend so little time with the family and friends we care about. As much as we'd like to spend more time with them we want them to live their lives. 

The back of our rental car loaded with our bags and boxes to be shipped back. In the end we shipped back almost 600 pounds of stuff.

 

In a short time we will be back home on board Amekaya. Getting back into our routine and getting back to boat work with a new year of fun and excitement that hopefully will find us in another new country to explore. 

Getting our bags and a little more back home to Amekaya