Sunday, October 26, 2014

Through the Canal and on to Bocas



To Bocas del Toro

The Atlantic welcomed us warmly. After the canal transit, and a night at SBM marina [with showers! a bar! a pool! electricity! wifi!] outside of Colon [which even the Colonese people tell us is doodoo] we finished our get-ready-to-go chores and left.

Almost immediately we had all sails set – full main, jib, staysail – and were sailing pretty sweetly along at 6k in 9k of breeze. gentle seas, no big swells, pleasant temp. It was gorgeous – the most idyllic sail. I napped on deck a while, feeling the perfect motion of the boat through the water; listening to the water bubble and hiss; and thought of how much I love this life; and how perhaps I need to date only sailors ;-o

The night – not so pleasant. When I came on watch storms loomed ahead, illuminating the sky with lightning, and threatening with the distant rumble of thunder. In theory the breeze should have been pushing the squalls away from us, but instead we collided in the night. Clouds overtook the starry sky [although I did see one shooting star] ... I smelled rain, faintly, and shut the hatches, waiting for the storm to hit –  hoping I might skirt through.

But at the end of my 3-hour watch it was looking gnarly: it would have been cheesy to abandon Paul, so I stayed up. The snippets of clouds we had been dodging amassed into one, big, Australia-shaped (and sized?) storm – a huge pink splotch on the radar. And no matter how far or fast, or in what direction we went, it hovered over us like our own personal weather system. I felt like Pigpen, with his scribble of storm overhead. Bolts of lightning flashed more frequently- and close; so brilliant (and random) it was absolutely blinding: so much so, that after about ½ an hour, I felt a headache coming on and put on my sunglasses! The rain came; lightly at first, then the deluge; pummeling the cockpit where we huddled under the dodger. Finally we decided to steer perpendicular to the storm (and our course) and turned to port, hoping it wouldn’t continue following us! As we got to the edge of the storm it subsided, some. Still it continued to sprinkle, and lightning flashed all around – but the rumbles of thunder faded.

I went to bed around 230am ... I slept soundly – chilled even, when the rain finally subsided enough for the hatches to be opened, and I groggily groped for a pareo.

I awoke around 7am to the best possible scenario: the engine lulled and sun beamed in the hatch overhead; so I jumped presuming we were near our anchorage – but it was even better! Pamela had a fish on the line – and what a fish! A huge silvery angry fish, with gaping jaws and sharp, sharp teeth. She brought him in hand over hand as we wondered how to land him ... but with a sudden “CHOMP!” he was gone – taking the cedar plug with him. Damn!

Now we are at the anchorage – Isla Escudo de Veraguas – famed island of snorkeling reefs, white booby birds, 3-toed sloths. We anchored off the sw shore, quickly went in. This ends up being one of the most amazing islands I’ve ever been to – and I’ve seen plenty. Even cheap ($3) local lobsters – we each got two!

More later. Too much to enjoy here.