Rhodes & John in the mighty Nissan Patrol Ute

After many teary farewells and leaving our little boy with his surrogate Mum & Dad (Glenys & Wayne) at the 'Orford Guesthouse', we left Rockhampton early on Tuesday morning 13 Nov. After nearly 48 hrs traveling we arrived back in Shelter Bay, Panama, on Wed 14 Nov. 

 Our Qantas plane - the only one we have seen with the boxing Kangaroo.

Everything went smoothly, although our bags were opened and thoroughly searched in LA.  After exposing undies and bras to whoever was passing by, the officers were able to cram everything back in the bags. I must admit, i was impressed as this was no mean feat.  I suppose not everyone travels with Sat phones, life jackets, vegemite or bottled herbs. Teddy Luna, our taxi driver from Colon, picked us up & drove us back to Shelter Bay through heavy rain, the precursor of things to come. Five Islands was still floating in her spot on the dock (C2) where she had been since we splashed back in March.  The outside was looking a little green. The lines were a mixture of green and black and the bimini was torn and generally let in as much water as it was keeping out. The inside was reasonable as we had paid for a dehumidifier to run for the 7 months we have been away. The starter batteries on the port side were dead as was the battery charger. The bilge pump on that side was also not operating and there was a small amount of water in the bilge.The starboard engine took a little bit of encouragement to start, but purred into life and has started reliably since. 

 Bimini will need to be replaced

 Where do you start - COFFEE?

The last couple of weeks have been focused on getting the boat ship-shape again (new starter batteries, repairing the bilge pump, cleaning etc) and applying for an US Visa as we have decided to take Five Islands north this season. Applying for an US Visa in Panama has been an interesting process to date. We traveled into Colon armed with the address of the Citibank branch where we had to pay $US160 each as the first step in the application process. We grabbed at taxi from Quattro Alto (Shopping Mall) and gave the address to the non-english speaking driver. The trip to the Bank took forever as a number of main streets had been closed due to a Marching Band competition. There were children and adults in uniforms with funny hats and carrying instruments, banners & batons everywhere. We finally arrived at the bank and asked the taxi driver to wait via much gesturing and charade type signals. The bank official then told us we needed 2 copies of the bank form we had printed from the internet. We of course only had one and were told that the closest photocopy shop was a couple of minutes away which, in the traffic, turned out to be at least 20 minutes.  Our trusty taxi driver took us back to the bank and after paying the Visa fee, drove us back to Quattro Alto, a round journey of 1.5hrs (everything gets done in "Panama Time").  The next step in the Visa application is to fill in the online forms which have page after page of questions relating to involvement in illegal or terrorist activity.  I'm not sure what would happen if you answered yes to any of these questions (would they send helicopters to take us away).  It took a good 6 hours or more to get through this part of the process, due mainly to power outages and the laptop not performing well when being charged through the 12V system. The next part of the process is a face to face interview in Panama City on 13 Dec, then we will have to wait for the Visas to be issued and returned to Panama City for pickup. We might have them by mid January.

We have eaten at the Shelter Bay Restaurant a few times since we have been back and one meal was a pig roasted in a charcoal pit.  The pit was a metal box on wheels that the spiced & herbed pig was placed in and a lid placed over the top.  A bag of charcoal was placed on the lid and lit and cooked all day.  Chris (head chef/restaurant manager) promoted the lighting with leaflets delivered to all the boats and just prior Alex (waiter) walked around ringing the Happy Hour bell.  The lighting ceremony took place at 10am and we ate yummy roast pork that night for dinner.  We also celebrated our first Thanksgiving which, according to our American neighbours Heidi and Bill from S/V Act 111, is when the first settlers from the Mayflower sat and ate with the Native American Indians in peace.  They now give thanks for all the good things in their lives.  We had a Turkey and potluck dinner up at the Restaurant.

 The pig is placed in the box

 Chris with the trusty lighter fluid as the charcoal was a little reluctant to catch alight.

The weather has been very wet since we have been back and a 'State of Emergency' was declared last week when 2 people were killed and several houses were destroyed in landslides. The road from here to Colon was cut for a day or 2. The local flooding around the marina only lasted for a day, as the water drains into the marina bay quickly. The sun has come out again over the last couple of days which is giving us a chance to open up the boat to some fresh drier air.

 Flooded Marina road

 Flooded drain and roadway

… and lastly a Happy Birthday to my 2 boys.

 Checking out the mango tree in Kev's backyard, Blackall.