Make Me Laugh Again

Up at 7, breakfast listened to the net, then bible reading and got ready to go. Then a few miles of motoring to Punta Salagua which has a resort and a small marina. This has a dinghy dock and we will be going to church in the morning. Much easier to get there from the dinghy dock. We had a quiet day, after we got the boat anchored. That as a lot of effort.

Normally, we put out our anchor in about 30 feet of water. I put it down and let out about 75-100 feet of chain. Reneé backs the boat up slowly to stretch out the chain and when it is tight, she “sets” the anchor. This means she brings the engine RPM up in reverse and pulls the anchor into the bottom. This time we were not so successful, we tried 4 times and the anchor would not set. So, we moved and were further out and got it set, …. But we were in a place where we  could have drifted into another boat. So we moved again and finally set the anchor in about 34 feet of water. So, we got anchored but it took 6 attempts! This is not normal.

We stayed on the boat, Reneé polished some stainless steel, and I caught up the blog, and we researched and bought tickets for our trip next month back to the states.

Up at 7, no particular reason other than that is when we get up. Breakfast, we listened to the net from Barra de Navidad. We got a call in the middle of the net from one of our neighbors. Mike on S/V Endeavor to tell us there were whales between our boats. Reneé was on deck and watched them. Later we kayak over to thank him for the whale notice and then continued on to shore around the other boats where the whale were playing. We snorkeled from shore and saw a lot of colorful fish, including puffer fish, and octopus and star fish and others. Finally back to the boat and naps. Followed by going over to have apps with Mike and then back to our boat, showers and bed.

No pictures today.

Up at 7am. Breakfast, bible reading then the net at 9 am. This is the latest start time I have found as we have cruised south. Reneé will take the laundry in today, while I run the water maker to fill our tank, and clean strainers. There is always something to do on a boat.

Reneé is going to the market as well while there she will be looking for snorkeling equipment, mask and fins. She has looked into where we are headed, and Manzanillo (which is a day or two south) has a couple of dive shops, so if she doesn’t find exactly what she wants here, she will wait until we get there.

She found the snorkeling equipment. We finished filling the water tank, I did not have to run the high pressure pump, the water pressure at the dock is pretty high. Early afternoon, we headed to the pool and we were there an hour or so, then got a call that the laundry was done, so we headed back and got it. On the way back I ran into some other Panama Posse members and heard about a great sushi restaurant with a saxophone. So, we walked out for dinner. Along the way, we ran into another couple and chatted for a bit, Ben and Miranda from S/V Fickle when we got to the restaurant, they walked on to check out the rest of the town, we offered to share a table as the restaurant was full or all reserved except our table. Ben and Miranda walked around and came back and joined us. It was an enjoyable discussion and dinner, with nice background music. Then back to the boat showers and bed.

Up and about. Breakfast bible reading and the net. Then a snorkel trip to the beach in the kayak. Good: we made it to the beach, Bad: Reneé’s equipment did not. We spent about a half hour looking and gave up and headed back to the boat and left after lunch at about noon.

It is only about 20 miles so we sailed most of the way. We saw whales on the way, some pretty close. Finally after the wind died down we started the engine and arrived about 4:30 pm. Reneé checked us in, and I got shore power on and then we washed the boat and had dinner. Afterwards showers and bed. A pretty peaceful day.

Up around 7 am, fresh coffee ready. Breakfast and a surprise there is a cruisers net at 8:30 on channel 17. We found out there is an informal get together in the afternoon. We are going to get the paddle boards down and head ashore for lunch then the get together. I listened in on the Panama Posse call this morning. We took the paddle boards in, Reneé stood up, I tried and felt too unsteady to stay up and sat down. Once ashore, we walked the length of the beach and back. Then had lunch at the restaurant. After lunch I took a nap on one of the boards, actually pretty comfortable. By then, lots of people were ashore and we got into a number of conversations. Finally around 5:30 we went back to the boat, put the boards away, took showers and BBQ’d dinner. This was Mahi-Mahi and veggies all in foil packs, so easy cleanup. Of course the batteries were down to 55%, so we started the generator, and cleaned up after dinner. We ran the generator for a bit more than 3 hours, charging the batteries from 55% to 91%. During that time, Reneé’s Facebook Messenger account got hacked with someone sending links via her account. She changed her password and we will see what happens.