April 2, 2013

Time to turn

Long before we had reached the Pacific coast of Central America we knew that we would need to watch the weather for Papagayos. From December to March, high pressure systems move into the Caribbean, reinforcing the trade winds which then pour over…

March 23, 2013

On Phosphorescence

The Americans we’ve met call it bio-luminescence. When we crossed the Atlantic we talked about it as nightly green fireworks. Without doubt, one of the biggest changes we’ve felt since going from one ocean to the next is that the Pacific is brim…

March 22, 2013

The Pleasures of Passage Making

A frigate bird wheels overhead as the hazy dawn light is mirrored back by the water. The sea is absolutely still, more like a lake than an ocean, blurring the horizon so that the sky bleeds into the water. Slowly, gently, a large, old leatherback…

February 17, 2013

Reflections on a year in the Caribbean

From our first landfall in St Lucia on January 6th 2012 to our Panama Canal transit on January 26th 2013 we have had an incredibly varied sailing experience in the Caribbean Sea. Our twelve month tour of this area took us to 15 different countries…

February 14, 2013

Read the signs

Wow, Panama City really doesn't like you to feed anything [...]

February 13, 2013

Red tide at Taboga

Ahhhhh, Taboga. Only 7 little miles from the hustle and bustle of Panama City but it might as well be another world. We like it here immensely, in fact, it wins our prize for the place we’ve liked most in all of Panama. Why? Well, for starters it’s…

February 10, 2013

Rude awakening

It’s 5:30am, the boat is rocking violently from side to side and James and I are covered in water. Had we been on passage this might be something that we were expecting or at least prepared for. But no, this time, we are actually at anchor. The…

February 3, 2013

The Panama Canal

So we talked about it, planned it and worried about it for so long that the actual Canal transit seemed like an absolute doddle (does this remind anyone of all our talk of the Bay of Biscay?). We had decided to use a canal agent as our month in the…

January 23, 2013

Adamastor Admeasured

Yes – we’re finally doing it. The path between the seas beckons, we have our transit date for the Panama canal. We returned from the San Blas islands to Portobelo and were greeted by a mountain of admin back in the UK that had accumulated from a…

January 3, 2013

Sun, sand and Santa – a month in San Blás

The San Blás islands, also known as the Kuna Yala, is home to the Kuna Indians who are in charge of the entire archipelago of over 350 islands and retain autonomy without interference from the national Panamanian government. The archipelago is…

December 6, 2012

On crazy monkeys, hungry bats and lost camels…

Isla Linton is a sweet little island with a huge anchorage almost entirely occupied by French or German boats. Strange, first we found Bocas to be full of Americans, now Linton is full of the French – are there any Panamanians in Panama??? This huge…

November 23, 2012

Keeping up with the Joneses

Buddy-boating was a term that we had heard used but never fully understood until we left Bocas del Toro. We found ourselves in the fortunate position to have made some really great friends in Laurie and Damon of sailing vessel Mother Jones. We met…

November 14, 2012

Bye bye Bocas

The time has come. We have been in Bocas for 5 months now, had 4 sets of family and friends to visit, trashed and subsequently replaced our mainsail, done a full engine service, cleaned our keel and prop and even hosted a toddler. We've made amazing…

November 13, 2012

The family Edwards

Following the last post, I should have said it was the perfect break until...We got stuck at the border coming back into Panama. I was already anticipating issues as my passport renewal has resulted in me owning two valid British passports…

November 11, 2012

Me, James and mister raccoon

What are the consequences of staying in Bocas so long? Well, it means you need to do a visa run. In typical Panamanian style the rules for how to renew your visa changed in the week we were set to do it. It used to be that you had to leave the…

November 10, 2012

Going potty…

It turns out that one of the great perks of being in Bocas for so much time is that we have managed to amass a great big circle of friends. For the first time in the trip we have other cruisers all around us that can give advice, swap stories and…

October 13, 2012

The art of hibernation

Ah, an empty boat and no guests this month. What to do... what to do? Well, the first answer is, gratefully, nothing. Mary and Don left us and we stayed safely tucked away below deck in the same favoured anchoring spot for nearly 2 weeks before we…

September 25, 2012

This season at hotel Adamastor…

Visitors visitors visitors... We've been very lucky in Bocas del Toro as the enforced staying put (i.e. mainsail explosion) means that our friends and family have manged to pin us down long enough to come and visit. And visit they have in droves,…

September 11, 2012

Mainsail update

Say - weren't you two meant to be sailing round the world? Yup, that was and still is the plan but I thought I should explain while we're still in Bocas del Toro Panama. As mentioned in an earlier post, we shredded our mainsail on our way into…

September 10, 2012

The kinkajou, the geckos, the jellyfish, the shark, the ferret, the kitten, the ray and Bex and Toby

You know what they say about London buses? That you wait for ages and then suddenly three come at once. Well, Panama's Bocas del Toro has been a bit like that for us and visitors. We've just had our third set of boat guest here and are about to…