Bocas del Toro 9:21N 82:14W
MALARKEY
Jo & Trevor Bush
Fri 4 Mar 2011 20:02
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Alright, alright..........alright!!. We are not
lost or killed. I know its been over a year since our last blog but cut us some
slack please.
Everyone else has been having fun filled adventures
while Jo & I have been winning the shopper of the year award at
B&Q. Clearly, we must be major shareholders in England's grimmest
DIY Superstore. We have spent a fortune on paint. I am becoming all
overcome with emulsion just thinking about it.
We have been renovating not one or two but three
friggin' houses in an attempt to get our finances back on track. Its fair
to say that we will be quite happy if we don't see a paint brush for a
while. But, I am pleased to report, things appear sorted atleast for a while
anyway.
Of course our friends have
been scoffing from a completely different trough. Roger & Vicki
(S/Y El Vagabond) have been conquering the Southern Oceans, Adrian & Jan
(S/Y Squander) have been buying mega yachts and half of Nova Scotia, Brian &
Sue (S/Y Darramy) have rediscovered the Antarctic and Nepal, and Neil &
Tracy (S/Y Adonde) are probably running a Roti Bar in Grenada.
So there you have it,... the reason for being
completely off the radar for the last year. Basically, I couldn't bring
myself to write about our crap when everyone else was having such a great
time. Sad I know. But it wasn't all bad. It
was great to spend some time with family & friends but most of all it was
great being back in England.
England can be a miserable place especially when
you haven't got any money and the weather is crap. But we had forgotten how
achingly gorgeous it is, particularly the New Forest. And how wonderful the
pub culture can be with the best beer on the planet and with
great British banter taboot....oh, how I missed that.
During a brief break between fixing No2 & No3
properties, we took some time out, borrowed a dog and walked the forest and
drank beer in pub gardens. And while supping on my 3rd pint of Ringwood's Best
Bitter in the garden of the Sir Walter Tyrell, I looked at Jo watching
a mare and foal sheltering from the sun under a tree. At that point I was going
to hang up my sailing wellies and bury the anchor for good. The
life of a landlubber was for me, you know, walking the hound and telling salty
seadog yarns down the Yacht Club with all the other armchair Admirals. A bit
soppy, I know, but clearly we were both in need of 'land time'.
With the cash from the sale of Winsor Cottage
burning a big hole in our pockets, we got very close to buying a
farmhouse in France. But as it happened, our offer of the full asking price was
turned down.......The muppet changed his mind and decided not to sell. He
was probably persuaded by his neighbours not to sell to another bloody
Englishman. They have finally sussed out that the Brits are
invading France by stealth. We are buying up the place. While we have been away
cruising, everyone's house in the UK is now worth over a £million. And thanks
mostly to His Royal Tonyness Blair, we are now all filthy rich land
owners, the very people the Labour Party despises.......funny how things
work out.
Anyway, enough of that old tosh, we finally came to
our senses when we learned how Britain has become a sanctuary for Foxes and
Muslims. We cant hunt foxes anymore and we cant even celebrate Christmas incase
we offend our new British residents. So we are out of there again. Escaped once
more from the UK in the hope that the new Conservative government brings the
country back to its senses, before it is brought to its knees by the politically
correct, wingeing & wining Janet Street Porter lefty types. After all,
we will be returning one fine day to enjoy our official retirement and our
government pension, which no doubt, will probably be just enough cash to buy a
Kebab and a prayer mat.
So here we are in Bocas del Toro,
Panama.
Its great here, probably our favourite place since
arriving in the Caribbean. Its even better than the San Blas. Not because its
prettier or has nicer beaches or any other of the normal attributes of Caribbean
archipelagos, but because it has a bar and/or restaurant in every lagoon or only
a short dinghy ride away. It is not so isolated but not overcrowded. It has
more sheltered anchorages and is easier to navigate. It reminds me of Turkey but
with one downside. In one week, during the wet season, there will be enough
rainfall to irrigate the whole of the Sahara. Cripes it can rain here. We
haven't even bothered commissioning our watermaker because we can collect more
water than we need. The upside however, is that everything is lush and the
sloth's, monkeys, parrots, red frogs and crocodiles seem to relish in
it.
   We have missed alot of stuff out due to fear of
boring you further, including affairs post lightening strike in Cartegena,
further excursions through the San Blas islands & the crocodile
infested waters of the Chagres River. And, last but not least, a
6 week trip to the USA staying with friends Alan & Laura (S/Y
Moonsong). But it would be almost rude not to mention our trip through the
Panama Canal in November 2009.
Pals Roger & Vicki (El Vagabond) invited us
along to help them through the canal. Their other crew member, PK,
arrived from the UK and we picked up the first 'Panama Canal Advisor' at
the flats anchorage at 3.00pm and then we were ready for the first lock in. It
should be said at this point that the canal is well organised and run very
professionally. The advisor helped to dispel any fears about going through
the locks. Just aswell really, as Jo was quite anxious about the whole affair,
mostly due to the horror stories she had heard or read. Her fears were
completely unfounded because the whole thing was a doddle.
   The Panama Canal is a very impressive structure and
is testimony to mans ingenuity and determination. The cost in monetary terms was
huge for the day (Victorian times) and was even larger in terms of the loss of
life (over 20,000). There are 3 locks upto the Gatun Lake and 3 locks down to
the Pacific.
Roger had asked for centre chamber which was
clearly the right move. We had 2 line handlers each side of the lock that walked
our lines with us through the complete series of locks. All went supremely well
and were through by lunch the next day after a nights stop over in the Gatun
Lake. It was a great crack, and of course the whole affair was suitably
celebrated on arrival at the Pacific Ocean with the canal and
bridge 'America' safely behind us.
We said goodbye to Roger & Vicki and
wished them well. We hoped to see them in some far flung place across the
other side of the planet in the not too distant future. We are to transit
the canal later this year for Malarkey's cicumsiscion of the world part
3.
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