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February's Log

February 1, 2003
I got up this morning and checked the computer as last night the hard drive made bad noises and it read "disk error." I took 2.5 hours to scandisk and we will be very careful. We listened to the net and hoped in the dinghy. We started out February with exploring and getting lost twice. We are in the river Sucio, 8° 30'. 080 N, 078° 20'.07 W. This morning we left the boat and headed north up the river and went to the end. We missed several outcropping of rocks and were lost. We were looking for where the river split in to three creeks, but at low low water it is hard to find the creek when there is no water in the creeks. We hit the end and we're confused. We returned to Slainte and waited for the tide to return and we agreed that the right creek was where we had been. After sending email we headed off and worked ourselves up the "right" creek and found a canoe. So we anchored and got real muddy and headed off down and up a trail. We had read from the Panama Guide that Caña Blanca was about a half mile from the river. We ran into four fellows carrying four machetes and a 10-foot pole with a knife at one end and four unfriendly dogs. Hummmm we are the lost sailors and are about to be lunch. No Louis the front fellow with the "spear" told us the Caña Blanca was on the other side of the creek and to follow him. I think that was what he said. We headed back to the river and got our dinghy and just up the creek and around the bend hear are cement stairs. We follow Louis and the other three and head into Caña Blanca. There are about 150 persons living here and we attracted a lot of attention, especially the kids. One kid was on stilts, kids are the same everywhere. We asked about "canasto", baskets and eventually we bought several. I gave out candy, pencils, powered milk, and coffee. We were followed back to the village steps on the river and said our goodbyes. It was beautiful and a cherish moment. We spoke so little Spanish and they spoke no English but there were smiles and handshakes. We are the great explorers; it must have been interesting when the Europeans explored the world 500 years ago.

February 2, 2003
We left "Kynda's" anchorage and headed out the gulf. We had 3 knots with us and we flew along bottom over 8 knots. Unfortunately we unrolled our jib and both Liz and I found that is looked very loose and even though we had the prefect wind we refurled the jib and motored. We decided to make for Bahia Piñas that was about 55-60 miles away. We made the bay and we're amazed but the development. The Tropic Star Lodge and Fishing Center takes up the Northwest cove. There are 10 large sport-fishing vessels here and the center has 15 or so 31-foot Hatteras fishing boats. About an hour after we anchored a 250 private motor vessel came in and also anchored. For a remote portion of Panama there is some big money here.

February 3, 2003
We are working on the boat especially the roller furling. We unfurled the jib and stripped it off, lowered the top and inspected the rig. Everything looks good and I retuned the standing rigging. I think that when anchoring the chain pushes against the bobstay and has stretched it, allowing the forestay to loosen and therefore makes our roller furling operate differently. I also put in new cotter pins and we put our diesel that was on deck to our internal tanks.

February 4, 2003
We listened to the nets and are planning on going to shore and get information on this fishing venture for our friends on Wet Bar. I am hopping to will sell 24 gallon of diesel.

February 5, 2003
We left Bahia Pinas at about 7am and headed on the coarse of 200-220 magnetic. This coarse get us off the coast of Columbia and once we're off 100 miles will come back to 190 degrees. We ran without running lights as we wanted to make the smallest visible presents. We watch the radar and never saw any vessels. I caught two Dorado and released one. Both were over 40 pounds and the one fish gave us over 15 pounds of sushi. The night was rocky and rolly and we didn't have our sea legs.

February 6, 2003
We had a rolly night, as the seas were 6-8 feet and a wind chop on top of that. The swell was from the north-northwest hitting our port stern. This action would push the boat counterclockwise and then back with a swing over 20 degrees each way. Just like a vertical washing machine. Throughout the day the wind back off and the seas dropped. >From noon until 8 pm we had flat seas and 8-9 knots of wind. We sailed at about 3-5 knots. The sound was quiet. Liz lost her tenth straight cribbage game.

February 7, 2003
Good morning we are off of Columbia at 3 01.6 North and 079 31.3 W or 195 miles north of the Equator. We turned the engine on last night about 8 pm and motor sailed with the seas flatting out and the wind out of the north about 6 knots. Liz said the wind picked up about 4 am and is about 10-12 knots from the north.

February 8, 2003
This was one of the greatest day sailing and we dug into the wine locker for a good "bottle" and our Ridel wineglasses at sunset.

February 9, 2003
We are now below the equator and the toilet spins the water the other way. We just made it. We had a problem with getting a bar pilot and just as we got our bar pilot and came across the bar it was 9 am, high tide. The depth sounder read 5.4 feet and we draw 6 feet but there is a two margin as our depth sounder transducer is 2 feet under water. We were led in an elliptical path, up and around the peninsula and past over some very shallow sand. In a period of 45 minutes we had the anchor down and Manuel left the boat and Jane visited us from Satori. They are from Illinois and their vessel is a 56-foot schooner made of aluminum, originally from France. We chatted about the lay of the land and will be meeting her partner, Sander and having lunch on shore.

They picked us up at noon and we were shown the cheapest beer in town, 53¢ per 700 ml plus deposit. We also learned where the banks are, post office, vegetable market, and meat shop. We then eat at the local Chinese restaurant and the food was great. I shouldn't of looked at the kitchen or smell it. Our food was great and the bill for 4 meals and 4 large beers was $10.80. New math! We walked passed their fire station with 2 very nice engines, but the city has no water. There is a purifying station and water cost $1.5 a gallon or for 5 gallon we are sure. Well anyway the firemen are a bit restricted in their efforts without water. Tomorrow we are going to explore the town and check in with the port captain. Then Tuesday we will catch a bus with several others and head to Manta and do immigration.

February 10, 2003
Today was a busy day for the Port Captain and we were doing our check-in paperwork. Things should of moved more smoothly but there was a question whether they had the correct forms. By the time they got the forms the Port Captain was having a meeting somewhere and wasn't expected back. This was a concern, as we wanted to leave early on the bus to Manta. Lunch as great and very cheap. Now if we could only speak Spanish.

February 11, 2003
We mustered out of bed and dinghied to shore. Satori picked up Sea Host and us and Dennis on Anastasia drove in with us and took the dinghy back to his boat so Sander's dinghy would sit on the shore all day. The bus was prompt and we almost forgot that to do immigration we needed out paper that were still at the Port Captain's. Rob and I slipped over to the Port Captains and Juan was ready for us and our papers were signed. Back to the bus and off we go to Manta. Manta has the population of about 140,000 people and it took about 2.5 hours to arrive across the street from immigration.

The bus ride was similar to the rides in El Salvador, Costa Rica and rural Panama. Several small villages ran past the bus and houses were on stilts. Out the window we watch a small number of houses that were of cement, and all the houses had thatched or tiled roofs. The road was dirt and rutted and the bus blasted and bounced a long. It is amazing when we popped out of the rural and hit the paved road and new building - culture shock.

The bus stopped a block from immigration/national police station and after about 30-50 minutes Sea Host and Slainte were checked in and Satori was checked out. Off we started for a paint store, fishing store and lunch. Lunch was great and the fishing store was for commercial uses and we found a couple of needs, but they directed us to a sport fishing store, but of course it was closed until 2:30 which was beyond our timing. We rode the bus back to Puerto Viejo where there is shopping at a mall. At the supermarket Liz and I found some specialties items; Beaver Horseradish, Skippy Extra Crunchy peanut butter and two types of pate, green olive and liver. There were other stuff but we needed to hurry. We arrived back at Bahia, treated with a Bus rally that would of rivaled Dayton 500 with speed bumps. Liz and I are battling a skin rash and we hit the hay early. During the night it rained and we caught 15 gallon of sweet water.

February 12, 2003
I started the day early retrieving the email on Sailmail and at 8:00 I went to the station and took on diesel. The service station has been out of diesel and we want to fuel early and often. I later helped Rob on Sea Host and we topped off our need. Using our two 15-gallon containers and then a bunch of 5-gallon cans we can transport about 50 gallon per trip. Sander on Satori doesn't want to get his legs wet and is transporting 10 gallon per trip and he needs 160 gallon. Being a person that thinks in time usage - Sander and I differ. After it was all said and done Rob and I transported 200 gallon of fuel and I had some Advil later. Liz and I walked about the town and I smelled a barbeque and we were allowed to join a gathering for the graduation of a fellow from high school. We may have waited about 45 minutes until dinner was served but it was worth it watching the family's interaction. Once of the young fellows spoke English and so this was how we knew what was going on. We walked back and took showers and relaxed

February 13, 2003
We started the day by picking up Polo at the municipal dock. Polo is working on our hull and doing some sanding on the skylight. He is scrubbing the yuk that started to grow when we were in Balboa. He is working about 5.5 hours for $5. We are hoping we have enough work for 3 or more days. We walked around town looking for scrubbing pads, plastic boxes and wax. We were successful on 2 out of 3 and lunch was great. While Polo was working outside I was reorganizing things that had accumulated. Liz went to the market with Jane on Satori and Claudia on Sea Host. The fresh market was very extensive and I now will be eating radishes, cauliflower and broccoli. We ended the evening with sundowners on Iron Horse. Alfred and Rose Marie are British that left England ten years ago and Iron Horse is a Colin Archer designed cutter, the same designer as Slainte. We were gathering information about their inland trip to Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Argentina. They spent 28 days exploring these countries and really were surprised that the Salt Desert was the highlight of their exploring. Both had great expectation of Machu Picchu but the desert was even more spectacular. Machu Picchu is the great city of the Inca's, either a spiritual or last achievement city. This is the place where you see the stone houses on a steep hillside that is enclosed by the clouds. I believe the elevation is over 3,500 meters or 11,500 feet. Liz and I are planning feverously to see if we have enough time to visit this place, it is quite a bit south. The travel will include two 24-hour days on a bus, a plane ride and perhaps a train to reach the southern portion of Peru.

February 14, 2003 - February 17
These were the days where we worked getting Slainte cleaned up and explored Bahia. The days just went by so quickly.

February 18, 2003
We popped out of bed and with our bags already packed and we were ferried to shore by Satori, Sandor at the helm. We caught the 8:00 bus heading to Quito. This was to be about 8 hours to the capital of Ecuador. The road was long and winding, huge cliffs and fog hung all about our bus. At the top of the Andes the road started winding down into the cauldron of Quito. The housing was perched on the steepest of hill with stairways that switchback. The hills are very green and are partitioned with hedges or trees in rows. We landed at the bus terminal in the old part of town and caught a $3 dollar taxis and sat back and watched the streets with people very differently dressed. The taxi driver or we found the Amazonian Hostel. We walked around the town after checking in. We found a travel agent and checked the airline prices. We decided to bus it to Peru and then fly to Cuzco as international travel is very expensive. We asked about and several folks recommended an Argentinean steakhouse. We passed several outdoor equipment stores and found the restaurant and splurged on a great meat dinner with wine - red of course.. We left and headed back to the hostel, but during the walk back I lost my new glasses. Even though I walked back immediately the specks were gone. The bed was a bit short but the shower was nice and hot.

February 19, 2003
We did some banking using the ATM, bought a new pack and some traveling books and found a great glasses shop that replace my glasses in less than two hours and we were ready to bus it to our new adventure. Quito has a lot to explore but we were anxious to head further south. We caught a taxi to the Terminal Terrestrial and searched for a bus to Latacunga. With someone's help we found a bus to our next destination. Our bus driver was "muey loco, he began the trip but running up on the curb in front of the bus and drove a steel pipe up through the bus's air scoop under the front bumper. In the next two hours he proved that he was fearless by passing on blind corner, with traffic coming toward us and pushing other vehicles out of the way when he needed room in the right land. He also was a bully to the coin collector that sits next to the driver. We kept on asking folks in the bus whether this stop was the correct on and finally exited the bus. After a long walk we headed into town and found a hotel. For next week or so we entered the relm of balloon throwing. There is a holiday where many of the kids throw water balloons at anyone. So far Liz has been hit three times and I said hello to a little girl and she immediately shot me with her squirt gun. She wasn't even six years old. Liz and I now are sitting in the Pizzaria de Bon Giorni - counting our blessing from the bus ride and relaxing after checking into a nice hotel. Tomorrow we with head to Saquisili to see a wonderful market

February 20, 2003
We headed out early and caught a local bus to and waited with the local, they're the ones with the Porgy hats on. The ride to Saquisili was quick and we found that most of the town was "the market." Everything was for sale, many of the items were either grown or hand made. There was bunnies, chickens, ducks, geese, pigs, lamas, kitten, puppies, pigs, guinea pigs and a ton of vegetables and fruits, many of them were new to use. I bought a olive fruit that was about the size of a softball and inside it was bright orange and tasted between a pumpkin and a melon. Shoppers would grab, say a bunny by the ears or a chicken by the feet and inspect it and then purchase it. We felt bad for the guinea pigs, as they are a delicacy. We saw other beautiful stands selling herbs, houshold item and toys. I suggested that Liz buy some balloons so we could fight back in the water wars. In both buses coming and going we had huge baskets on the top and they were filled with live and dead animal and all the other prizes from the market. The entire streets were plugged with vendor selling on both sides of the narrow streets. Flour from many types of grain was being ground, honey, woolen articles; CD's and hundreds of people fill the space in-between. Many of the shoppers had chicken tucked under then arms or swinging from their hand, the chicken were alive and silent. The fruit stands were layered and beautiful. There were many other venders just selling two or three items and these were scattered all over the ground. We bought Sapote, the orange fruit, anis, cinnamon, peas and another legume that we didn't know what it was. The food tiendas were having a lively business but we kept our distance. Innards and other animal pieces were cooking on the grills, everything smelled good but ……… We found another square selling potatoes, beets and sugar and mats. The farmers and customer were lovely and camera shy. I was very careful not to be intrusive as they Indians are very shy about having their pictures taken.. We did see another gringo with a camera and a hug telephoto. He stayed many feet away and took very careful pictures of the local people and their dress. After about 3 hours we headed back to Latacunga and caught another bus to Ambato and change to another bus to Banos. The trip was about 2 hours

The Banos bus headed way up in to the hill and there were several very large volcanoes off in the distance some over 20,000 feet. We passed through Ambato and then dropped into a large river gorge and eventually stopped in Banos. We spotted a dinner and had the traditional rice and chicken, sometime the rice is fried called Challufan. We found that this restuarant also gave tours. We decided to find a hostel in town away from the noisy bus station. We were turned away at our first choice and were directed to Hostel Santa Cruz, $5 per person per night and they had an open area with a fireplace and television. Across the street was an Internet café and several diners. The hot water was on and off but the place was great and we decided to stay two nights. We explored the town and since we had a large lunch we watched TV, drank some wine and ate a grilled chicken. We chatted with some Germans and shared their cheese bought locally. The cheese was like a light Paresan and the next day we purchased a half a round.

February 21, 2003
We woke up and saw that it was raining (lluvia). We packed one of our packs and walked back to the restaurant that we had eaten lunch at yesterday. We are lucky, as we didn't set a reservation and the fellow that fives the tour was still asleep. Henry the owner and tour director took our $25 and off we headed in his new Toyota Land Cruiser for a 5-hour drive. We headed down the road to lower Banoa then we came to a dam and generation unit. We stopped and walked down to a huge waterfall and the long swing bridge. Liz was very concerned since she is afraid of heights and the bridge was 200 feet above the river and the bridge wiggled. She felt less concerned as a mule and rider crossed after us. We walked to the base of the waterfall and it was very wet as the spray hung in the air. We looked at more waterfalls and stopped at a cable car. Really it was a wooden box connected to a cable. Liz wasn't to cross to the other side, but German lady of 300 pound talked her into it. The four of us headed across and we were over 400 feet from the river below and Liz had her eyes closed most of the way. On the other side were farms, a diner selling trout and lovely gardens. It was raining so we headed back alone in the cable car and stop and sample fresh orange and tangerine juice. We continued hicking down to the waterfall and were amazed at the plant life and other tourist. After the last hike we headed up to Banos and Henry took us up on the shoulder of the volcano that is just above Banos and we looked through the mist down at the town. Henry was amazed at our GPS and that we were at 8, 802 feet. We ended the night with a nice Mexican dinner and great Margaritas.

February 22, 2003
We caught; literally ran after a bus to Cuenca. I should have caught the next bus as of course the bus was filled and we had to stand. Eventually we found seats and watched beautiful landscapes pass by. We arrive in Cuenca after dark and found a hotel for $14 per night, private bath and some hot water if you waited long enough and breakfast. We explored a little and found a small café. Outside we met Hope and Elizabeth in front of the café. They told us that a band would be playing later. We invited them to join them and I bought them beers and learned that one was from Colorado and the other from Oregon. They were studying Spanish at a school in the city. The band was a Mariachi group and they played to the girls and they were very good.

February 23, 2003
I woke up early and explored the town just as the sun was rising. It was Sunday and the churches would be full in a few hours. I took several pictures of the local works of art, all Catholic cathedrals. I was on the lookout for a store that sold lattes but no such luck because everything is closed on Sunday. I went back with two roses and Liz finally came alive. We heard that a locals market was happening in Gauleco. We returned to the bus stop and hopped a 1 to 1.5 hour bus and arrived as the city was alive with either people about or in the river have a huge family get together. The market was wonderful, again we were the only out of town folks. The vegetables were the best and the people were dressed up and I took some discrete pictures. After about 3 hours we returned to Cuenca. We walked and explored Cuenca more thoroughly and were attacked many times with water balloons. I even chase a little boy back in to his house and he returned and watered me down good. Parents even drove around so their kids had better targets and many of the balconies were favorite hiding spots of the balloon terrorists. You'd look at the wet ground and look for dead balloon and then scan the areas above you.

We tried to find a Panama hat factory but everyone had a different opinion where it was. We gave up and returned to the restaurant where we had dinner the night before. Liz really wanted wine and what came was hot-spiced box wine. Our waiter, the same as last night's was Pepe. He was good and said, "I am sorry" about 200 times during dinner. It was comical.

February 24th 2003
We caught a bus to the Peru board. The ride was great there were many sod houses, TV antennas, Coca Cola signs (some rusty and some new), huge above ground cemeteries, speed bumps on a potholed road and thick folage. All of the land was cultivated and much of it was over 50 degrees. Hedge row everywhere and we were amazed that this steep land could be cultivated.

The bus stopped just out side of the board town, ------. Liz and I ran in as the bus waited and we checked out of Ecuador - no charge. Back on the bus and 4-6 kilometers later the bus was at the end of the line. We got out and for the next two hours we were at the mercy of the moneychangers and taxi drivers. Everyone was making suggestions and all of them were lies. They said I could get Soles cuz there was a festival, they had a better exchange rate, the hotels were booked, the buses had left, blah blah blah. I changes $50 at a 2.089 soles to one dollar and then in Peru the exchange rate was 3.45 soles to a buck. Oops!, and to make that exchange worst one of the fifty soles was counterfeit. I should of checked the exchange rate on the Internet. The taxi driver said he charge one price and then he had to stop on the road for gas from a house and charge us another 24 soles. We eventually made Tumbes, Peru and had dinner with great dark beer called Malta. Liz and I are battling bad colds and the air conditioning and the hot showers were great. We got some drugs at the Pharmacia and had a good nights rest.

February 25th 2003
We found the bus station and a back and met several ladies, Christine and Nicole. Christine was 24 and had been traveling for 6 years and was from Norway. Nicole was from Prince George, British Columbia. Initially Nicole was interested in joining us sailing back to the northwest. They talked us into the "60" (we thought it was dollars, later we only paid soles) bus. We had meant to get the "exectitivo" since this was an 18-hour ride. Well the ladies were fun to talk to but the bus had neither shocks nor air conditioning as advertised. We arrive tired, our noses sore from blowing and our breath smelling like Hall's cough drops. From the Lonely Planet we selected a hostel in downtown. Many folks suggest that staying downtown was bad and we should stay in Miraflores. We had a great time downtown. A taxi picked us up and where I thought I was in I wasn't. The taxi driver was Andres and over the next 10 days we got to know him well. He helped with our Spanish, suggested sites and seemed to like us and gave us discounts. When we returned from Cuzco our plane was late and he waited 3 hours for us.


February 26th, 2003
Our hotel was ok with ceiling over 14 feet high. A one time this must have been a beautiful site. We spent two nights here and explored Lima. We had a great visit to the cathedral where Pizzaro's bones are laid. The lady giving us the tour was great and she was our introduction to the Spanish vs. the Inca believes and conflict; yesterdays and today. We visited a travel agent, Fertur Peru and Miracles was great. In a brief moment we were booked on an airplane headed to Cuzco and we were armed with much information.

We continued to explore the city and it museums. We tried to find the South American Explores Club and after walking through a labor march we found that SAE had moved to Miraflores.

February 27th 2003
We caught a taxi to the Gold Museum that is two museums in one. Both are privately own and in 4 hours we paid $40 too see old stuff. The ground floor is an extensive armament museum with pistols, rifles, knives, armor, canons, shields, lances and other war memorabilia. The collection included African, South American, Asian and European items including an extensive Nazi collection and many "special" gun gifts from US Presidents to dignitaries.

The "gold museum was downstairs and in a vault. Here there were many Inca and pre-Inca tribe gold items and mummies and many rooms to art, household items, musical instruments and tools. We should have purchased a guide but that was another $20. We learned about the mummies and the gold but I sure we missed a lot. There were many civilizations before the Incas; Mscara Lambaygue, cinturon Nazca, Chimu, Vicus to name several. Some of the skeleton remains were over 1,800 years old. The mummies were adults and children, each with their knee folded to their chest and their hands and hair were very preserved. The process included removing all of the soft tissue including the brain and filling the cavities with cotton and wrapping the bodies in coco leaves.

February 28, 2003a
This was a good day. We went to a travel agent recommended in Lonely Planet that booked our flights to Cuzco and got us set for heading to Machu Picchu.