| WELCOME TO ATTITUDE Neil & Kathy's Sailing Adventures Dec '07-Apr '08 |
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Dec. 12 : ALBURQUERQUE CAYS(Columbia Island) , gorgeous sm. Cays with beautiful water.
Nice sail there had our dolphin & ray viewing, still love all that,even some big flying fish on deck
this time. Tiny sand spit island with nice Navy kids, offering us shells. These guys stay here (out
in the nowhere land) for 8 months at a time. Poor kids asked for some cigs, best we could do was
pringles & peanuts. It was a bit tricky getting into this place because of all the coral heads. Again,
I make a fantastic figure head so I'm up on the bow pointing away.. Neil actually listened to me!
Neil was off hunting with his spear gun most days, spotting a 40 plus lb grouper, we didn't get. We
did enjoy his snapper,file fish & some other grouper he shot. While N hunts I snorkel & try to stay
behind him ,hey ya never know! I spotted a beautiful eagle ray and was ticked cuz I didn't have
my camera, but Jan and Ole came out in their dinghy to look around so I went back to the spot(w/
camera) to show Jan. It was my lucky day there it was the spotted eagle ray gliding around us with
a common ray hanging out right under us. Each day there was awesome,rows and rows of squid
were around all the time. These 2 Columbian Islands rank up there on my list of favorites! What
more could you want beautiful water, nice sand spits, great place to Kayak, shells, lots of fish to
look at and eat! Plus we had wonderful clear sky and a meteor shower for a few days..
FYI Ea. day we listen or participate on the radio net . Well Neil was thrilled one morning while he
heard our friends in 4 different countries, Belize, Honduras,Panama & Columbia, talking about
how wonderful a cook he is. Needless to say he is having a hard time getting his LARGE HEAD
out of the companionway now!
Dec. 17: Isla de Carinero, Bocas Del Toro ,Panama... 9:30 am an hr on the bow to get out of
Alburquerque cays, we are finally heading for Panama! I do the night shift love love love it! clear
sky tons of stars awesome! Entering into Bocas in the morning we have 2 dolphins leading us.
Into the Marina Carinero we go with a VERY tight fit and not enough water(draft) but we tied up!
Nicky and Craig (friends form U.K) came in the 21st, just as the rain started & continued all 15
days! Well not much to do on a boat in the rain.. We heard there was a huge trivia night for
charity,which we were not interested in ,till the rain continued. But hey our team, The International
Intepid Idiot Savant Society,(consisting of Neil,me,Craig ,Nicky & Jan & Ole(he is from Norway)
WON.. we even got our pic in the local Bocas Breeze . Famous around the world we are ha!
Christmas: Spent Christmas eve on Emma Jo they had a nice happy hr. but hey they have a lg
power boat ,it was like being in a house Christmas tree and all. Neil was at his usual cooking away
for 7( on a sm boat not easy) from early am. We had a fab morning N & C brought goodies for
us,so we opened gifts had champagne,salmon, caviar and just chilled.. The rain contiuned, Neil
continued to cook. For those of you who know him well, know it was time for the 3 of us to get out
,get out quickly!!! Luckily there is a sm bar down the mud path.. Nicky Craig and I spent the
afternoon there!!! well Dinner was fantastic ,with flaming plum pudding from Nicky and Craig, we
even had Christmas Crackers! No you Americans they are not to eat they are little toys that pop
out of a paper thing you pull.. FUN
Dec 26th-31st Pond Sock Reef was our 1st stop. Well better than staying in the marina but
nothing to see. We anchored out in middle swam to reef,brown nothing there and got little
stings... STILL raining. 27th Zapaillas Cays : Feeling bad for our guest, rain no fish and we had to
motor no wind! Anchored next to beach and saw a few lanchas(full of tourist) but hey they will
have to go soon and we can go check out the beach.WRONG we go in a ranger comes and says
its 10 bucks per just to go ashore. C&N say foget it !
Dec 28th Manavno Puento Allegre, Bluefields Finally a bit of wind still misting a bit but we are
sailing. Beautiful cove with lots of Ngobe Indians in their cayucas as we enter the bay. Every few
minutes a new cayuca would show up . No one would approch the families would get the kids all
dressed up and just paddle out ,sit a few yrds off and wait. If we acknowaged them they would
come up.. loved the kids I always have pencils,bracletts or the big hit with these guys was sun
glasses! Rain slowed down so we headed via dinghy to end of the bay. We were told there was a
path to get to other side of island to a nice beach. Found it and the Cacique( cheif of the village)
he told us how he keeps path and beach clean for us,meaning ..pay me..! Well we were warned
by others before we got there so we knew. Neil just handed him 5.bucks for the 4 of us. We did
hear later he had gotten 20 out of some for 2 people you go Cacique! He was cool though had
lots of stories to tell. 31st back to Carinero: choppy ride with lg waves poor Craig was not dong
well. Spent NYE with Jan, Ole ,Nicky & Craig had dinner at the Cosmic Crab( the bar down from
the boat) food was not great and service sucked! The weird thing was the band stopped at 11
said they had a gig to go do! Headed back to dock in time to see fireworks and rest of the marina
people having a good party. A few even went into the water..for a cool dip! The drinks were
flowing there so we stayed out a bit longer. NY day we walked to other side of Carinero , Watched
the surfers on the pt. this place is a HUGE surfer distination.. I think it might have been the only
day with sun while N & C were there.
Jan. Bocas Del Toro: The New yr is here,company gone so time to explore BDT. What better way
then by a bike trip.We talk a few other boaters into a "nice " ride to Starfish Bay,The ride was
fantastic although NOT easy. The highlights include several hills,howler monkeys, beautiful
terraine and fantastic views.. 26 miles later I'm lucky Cynthia(moon dancer) is still speaking to us!
Did I mention these are old bikes NO gears & the chains kept coming off. I guess N & I are nuts
but we did a 12 mile walk the next day to Colon with a stop at a Mango Playa for a pina colada!!
Jan 16-20: My anual sis trip met my sisters in PV Mexico. Ate,drank,slept and trashed the family
like every yr!! FUN
Jan: The plan was to move Attitude out to anchorage today and later to Bocas marina.. Marina
Carinero is cool but the owners are unpredictable so we are a bit nervous to lv Attitude there for
our month or so ski trip.So Mary(owner) doesnt want us to lv, she buys some fish and wants us all
to stay and have a nice dinner together 7 boats or so.. Well we are pretty easy to bribe so we
stayed.. Fun night but we still moved Attitude
Jan. & Feb 2 :Big Bite(Isla Colon),Dolphin Bay & Carnival! Out again to explore is SO nice we are
really not marina types! Big Bite off Isla Colon is a nice quite mangrove bay. We were all alone
which is fantastic.We could hear the howler all day and could not even count all the beautiful
green parrots.We did some dinghy drifting in the mangoves and over to the reef at the opening of
the bay. peaceful and clear,lots of feather dusters, angle fish,parrot fish,and the most brittle stars
I had ever seen in really pretty colors; Back to Isla Carinero anchorage just in time for carnival.
Well you have to remember this is a sm place . The sq was closed off, booths with food, jewelry
(which does fit on a boat BTW),and crafts lined the main street. For a few days there were
parades,by which I mean one group of sequined young and old girls with "their" band to follow
them down the st. ea. day! Really it was so cute to watch these little girls shake it.. How do they
do it??? My big excitement of carnival was finding out you could by Cuba Libres in a can at the
grocery store . Not forgetting the lime,squeezing it in can, stick in a straw and we were good to go
to watch teh festiviites
Feb: 4th -12th Martin-Perez Islands & Crawl Cay Awesome little spot between 2 mangove islands
only 2hrs from Isla Colon.Fantastic snorkeling N spotted a nice octopus just standing out in the
open for quite a bit, crap no camera should I swim back and get it??? Well I swam my little heart
out and of course you all know the Octopus was long gone but hey I got some exercise! This spot
gave us a few nurse sharks,lots of arrowhead crabs, a few rays and a few spooted eagle rays . I
also had a few dolphin friends cruise by as I was on deck polishing SO COOL Ill never tire of that!
Where did he go??? the trouble with snorkeling around sm mangrove islands is you can loose
one another,really. So Im looking for N don't see him swim to where I THINK he went nope not
there.ok 1/2 hr no N hum fine I'm back on attitude pissed cuz really we should tell ea other if we
are wondering off (I THINK) a few min. later I hear N yelling Now he is pissed we are both yelling
where the heck did you go. He swims back, but with a very nice lg Tridents's trumpet shell... yep I
am that easy.. ha
Entertain,pack & go SKI,: Back to Bocas we went. Neil was in entertaining mode which is cool I
love to eat! Caliente over for dinner 1st night, Damon & David over next night .. Meet a nice
french couple Bernard and Bridget On B&B gave them lots of info for heading N, all in spanish
and a bit of french very interesting conversation! Moon Dancer over for dinner one night also.
V-day: rainy day so went with Caliente to Smithsonion Institute for Tropical Research pretty
interesting but not to much there now.
Big chocolate contest going on at Limo.. so off we went it was $1. and you could taste all you
want. Well I thought that was a great way to end Valentines day! Boy did I get my dollars worth.
Back on Attitude its always a chore to pack,this time for Whistler to ski for the month,Cincinnati for
Easter to see kids & MS Ella who turns 1 March 18th,to georgia for my moms big 80 party and
finally to Ft. Lauderdale to hang Michelle,mr(jarrid) and Mike.
MARCH: Canada ,surgery & family: The trip started well we made it to whistler &so did our bags.
Always a plus. Great snow conditions day 2 I'm cruising down an easy slope..and I feel a pop/pain
on my right hip ,man that will hurt I think as I slide to a fall on my R side! So its medics on the
slope,cut off ski pants cut long underware,morphine in the butt and arm, sleigh ride down to
clinic,rush in ambulance to VanCouver,wait 3 days in pain for surgery,get a plate,screws and
HUGE bolt in hip/femur and back to the condo I go. So lets just say N had a great ski trip,me not
so great. TV was fun the 1st week but some of the kids came to ski so that was fun. Cari & James
told us they are expecting and I got to spend time with Ms Ella so it wasnt all bad. We left Whistler
as planned in time to hit Cincinnat so Neil could cook us all a fab. Dinner.Cari & James had 15 for
Easter so N was in heaven! Made it to Georgia for the big 80 party,headed to Ft. Lauderdale
after that. Hey I was crutching around anyway so I went and got a seahorse tatoo on my foot I
have been talking about for yrs. N even got to ride his Harley again for a day.(daughter Michelle
"ownes" it now)
So time to go back to Attitude ,well I'm not ready still crutching. So N goes I hang with mr and shell
a bit then head back to Georgia to hang with mom and my sis..
April 21: off crutches for 1 week still looking like Chester when I walk but its getting better. Plan to
go back to Attitude on the 25th. I think I need to or Ill be broke and very fat.. Hanging with my
mom and sister is dangerous!
Hoping my Journal will include me back to normal!!!!
