When I was small, I remember my parents laughing at a postcard.  The message was “Having a lovely time.  Food not too good, weather not too good, shan’t be sorry to get home.”

When we arrived back in Panama, after more than six months´ absence, we both knew that the tropical rain and humid temperatures would have an impact on our lovely boat, despite the good caretaker work of the staff at Panamarina.  The first night back I was dismayed by the mildew, the fact that water had seeped in and equipment had seized up.  I have certainly learnt that, if possible, anything with a zip should be left undone, and I was very grateful for our fittings being 316 marine-grade stainless – the handle of a household bucket was all rust.  Ropes were green above water and slimy below and it took a long time to pick off all hermit crabs, barnacles, seaweed and tiger-patterned slug-like creatures. Despite extra honey it is difficult to disguise the grittiness of weevils in porridge, and I put it down to using old flour (also with weevils) as the cause of bread being as hard as a brick.  As least the coppered hull was still very weed-free, which is pretty impressive after being sat in the same place for so long.

Although I have lived in Singapore I had forgotten, to put no finer point on it, just how much you sweat with temperatures of 36 degrees Celsius and heavy, saturated air.  When a light breeze caresses your face, you try to hang on to the moment in the hope that the coolness will linger. I had also forgotten what a tropical deluge is like. Think of a hose being turned on you, but with the addition of exploding water bombs – marbles of rain that add to the din as they bounce back off the deck with torrents of water cascading around you.  It certainly adds a new dimension to boat handling!

You are not the only one if you are confused about our plans.  We came down to Panama in the Spring to go in to the Pacific.  That all changed and we’ve had a great time exploring Chile and Argentina (by land) and a busy summer seeing friends and family and working back at the office.  It was good to get involved with the development of the new Discovery 57 and have all the buzz of the Southampton Boat Show.  Because of the risk of cyclones, we don’t have the option to continue west until early 2012, so we’ve got a great opportunity to explore the Caribbean.  With easy flights, we hope that friends and family will be able to join us there.  The only problem with our current plan is that we now have to head east – a long way east.

In a couple of days we are heading up to Cartagena in Columbia (about 250 miles), but then we want to be in St Lucia to meet our Discovery owners who are sailing in the ARC (Atlantic Rally for Cruisers) and to attend an Ocean Cruising Club gathering.

A golden rule of sailing is ‘never sail to a schedule’, yet that is exactly what we are trying to do.  From Cartagena, St Lucia is about 1100 miles as the crow flies.  Going against the current, we are likely to have lumpy seas and as we are also sailing against the prevailing wind we will certainly have to take a ‘zig-zag’ route.  The whole trip is likely to take about seven days and I don’t think either of us is particularly looking forward to it.

So, like the postcard we received all those years ago, I could go on complaining about this and that. But now we are on the move, with full tanks of fuel and water, and Discovery Magic is feeling much happier. We are setting off for the idyllic San Blas islands, before exploring the old city of Cartagena.  And now that the sun has re-appeared too, I guess I could just say ‘Having a lovely time.’