San Blas Island – Panama, Jan – April 2012, Part 2

And fishing…this was the most enjoyable year for fishing…the ones that did not get away included a number of 10 lb or larger permit, snapper and barracuda, but by far the catch of the season was the 24lb grouper.  This was a two day ordeal and the story goes like this.

Day one…Gary is out hunter/gathering with Steve (Sv Better Days).  After an hour or so with nothing much to show for, Gary is heading back to the dinghy and sees the flash of fish belly (shiny silver) off to the right near a medium sized coral head.  As he swam closer, he noticed it was two small (4ft) nurse sharks playing (or perhaps mating)…they were rubbing their bellies against each other and standing vertical almost on their tails.  There was a large dark shadow below them against the coral, and as Gary swam around the back of the coral and peeked around the corner to watch the sharks, there lay the largest most beautiful black grouper he had seen in these waters.  Carefully aiming with his pneumatic gun he fired just behind the grouper gills, and as he did the grouper twisted enough that the spear pieced his higher back…he then shot under the coral head, twisting and flailing and finally dislodging Gary’s spear…bending it almost into a semi circle.  The two sharks followed the grouper into his hidey hole and lay on top of him.  Gary called for Steve to join him who had his pole spear.  Together they tried to move the sharks and finally, after repeated pokes in the keester (that’s the rear end) of the sharks,…one swam off…the other remained in total control and possession of this beautiful and dying grouper.  Undaunted, Steve repeated the process and Gary lined up (after straightening his spear) for a kill shot on the grouper.  Gary aimed carefully, and just as he was about to deliver the ‘coup de grace’…Steve poked the shark and the shark came out straight at Gary…Gary fired…and hit the shark between the eyes…BLAMMO…one dead shark…the grouper skittered away in the sand…..:(…you wanna talk about two very P O’d fisherman…alas not all was lost as Gary and Steve took the shark ashore, skinned and filleted him and everyone in the anchorage had shark meat that nite…it is very tasty…but it ain’t no grouper.

Day 2…determined and not beaten…after spending many hours of sleeplessness reliving the experience and fretting over the ‘one that got away’…and no one would believe how big he was…Gary and Steve went back to the same spot and within a minute Steve surfaced about 100 ft from the spot and yelled…he’s here…he’s here in this hole”…and sure enough…there was Mr. Grouper…and the proof was that you could plainly see the flap of skin off his shoulder where he was shot the day before.  The only problem now was…how to get him out of the hole.  About this time Steve and Gary were joined by Carl (Sv Diva) who also had a pole spear…so…the three stooges developed an extraction plan to get Mr. Grouper home for dinner…or so they thought.  The problem was, Gary couldn’t get a side shot at the grouper…the hole was about 12 feet across and the grouper kept himself pointed at the opening…and despite repeated shots…they kept bouncing off his iron clad skull.  Finally, with Carl on one side of the coral head, using his spear thru a small opening he was able to poke the Grouper enabling Gary to take his shot.  It was not wasted and he fired a spear clean thru the big bad grouper :o).  However, Mr. Grouper, wasn’t having any part of ‘coming home to dinner’…just yet.  Gary, remembering the damage to his spear the day before, brought a second spear (and you thought he was just a rookie)…and fired that second spear in and thru the gills of that big ol grouper…now we have two spears in him….and still Mr. Grouper refused our entreaties to ‘come home for dinner’.  All of this is happening in less than 6 ft of water, but with a fast moving current and little to hold onto…it was very difficult to find any leverage to haul Mr. Grouper’s big fat butt out of the opening…especially since when a grouper is hurt, they tend to inflate their bladder and he was now approx twice the size of the opening we were trying to pull him thru.  Too make a long story short (thank God) after spearing him yet again…and inserting a fairly hefty dinghy anchor into his gills and the three stooges pulling with all their might…Mr. Grouper wouldn’t budge…there was no way Gary was going to abandon this fish…so after some debate, and consternation…the three stooges managed to use the dinghy anchor to‘re-design’ the opening in the coral opening until it was large enough to extract Mr. Grouper…YEAH!!!!! and…the three little stooges lived happily ever after and Mr. Grouper was had by all!...ain’t life Great!! (well… maybe not for Mr. Grouper). 

The Three Stooges, Carl, Gary & Steve and the Big Bad 24lb Black Grouper Now that's fishin :o)

San Blas Islands – Panama, Jan – April 2012 - Part 1

We had a change of plans regarding our Transit of the ‘ditch’ (Panama Canal) because we wanted to do an excursion to Peru and learned that February was not the best time to do this so we decided to wait a couple of months until April for that trip allowing us time to relax and enjoy the San Blas for a little while long.

January & February and most of March we experience very unusual weather patterns for the San Blas, a lot of wind and no mas Sol (not much sun).  However, we still had enough sunny weather to enjoy snorkeling...

 

Kaija out for a snorkel as the weather permitted –rare viewing of Spotted  Drum – thanks Michelle for the pictures

Christmas 2011 - New Year 2012

We spent a fun filled Christmas week with friends new and old in the Swimming Pool (East Hollandaise Cays, San Blas).  There were many parties beginning the day we arrived and culminating with a big bash on BBQ Island Christmas day.  This was attended by approx 60 cruisers and friends with food supplied by all providing a great variety of treats.  We had a reverse draw for Christmas presents which lasted a couple of hours and Kaija’s Potluck Carrier was a coveted item and changed hands many times along with a hammock donated by Lannie and Ian Sv Kadoona, new friends from Australia.  There was music, singing and dancing and the local Kuna’s joined in the festivities.  There were presents for the kids and a bountiful food hamper provided by the cruising community…all in all a Christmas to remember!

          Christmas 2011 on BBQ Island San Blas...what a Joyous occassion!

New Year’s party was hosted by our new friends Rixzeene, Steve and puppy Olivia Sv Pogeyan (currently in the Marquesas) with birthday cakes served in honor of Kaija’s birthday.  A fun time shared with fellow cruisers as we bring in the New Year with a New Year’s Baby.

  

New Years 2012 aboard Sv Pogeyan with hosts Rixeene, Steve and puppy Olivia (as seen in previous picture bottom right above)

Cartagena, Columbia, Sept – Dec 2011

We returned to Cartagena with the goal in mind of having Lens Replacements Eye Surgery.  We have been hearing from many of our cruising friends of the excellent medical care and results in this field here in Columbia.

Kaija always had perfect vision that is until our Atlantic crossing in ’92 where she wore a Scopolamine (motion sickness) patch.  She discovered on the second day that her short term vision had been affected.  It never recovered and so she has worn glasses for reading and other close up work since that time.

On the other hand, I have worn glasses since grade school.  Problems with astigmatism and short sightedness have required me to either wear glasses or contacts for all of my adult life. 

For both of us, wearing glasses on the boat has been a hassle.  And so, we elected to remedy that situation.  We were recommended to a couple of fine eye surgeons and elected to use the services of Dr. Javier Vasquez Ramirez in part because he speaks English good enough to understand our questions and answer them in a thoughtful and thorough manner.

There are two main manufacturers of multi focal Intraocular Lens.  Abbot Labs of California produces the Tecnis Lens and Alcon Inc. makes the ReSTOR TORIC product.

Dr. Javier recommended the Tecnis lens for Kaija.  In my case, (dealing with astigmatism) he recommended one of each.  I found with my first eye (the Tecnis lens) that while my distance vision was greatly improved I was seeing ‘halos’ around bright lights at night altho I am advised that this will correct itself over time.  For my second eye, the ReStoric lens provided even clearer vision without the halos and there is a ‘built-in’ corrective feature for my astigmatism.

                                     Kaija & Dr. Javier

The procedure of the eye surgery is very simple.  It requires having your eyes measured (painless), applying drops for three days prior to surgery (painless) and then the 15 minute eye surgery (painless).   The entire process was painless and the results virtually immediate.  The morning after surgery the bandage is removed…and VOILA…you are seeing.  It is recommended to have one eye the first week and the second the next and so there is a period of adjustment for the new stereo vision to settle in.  Also, it is necessary to continue with eye drops for a few days after surgery.  Other than not being able to go swimming for a week following surgery, there were no other restrictions to any of our normal daily activities.

We are thrilled with the results and feel that we found an excellent surgeon and caregiver as well made a new friend in Dr. Javier and his beautiful wife Ingrid who is an excellent Dr. of Dermatology.  Together, they are a very handsome couple and big warm hearts and made this whole experience one we will long remember as we carry on our journey enjoying our new improved vision.

                                  Javier with Kaija & Ingrid

During our visit here, we had opportunity to visit some of the tourist attractions we had not previously seen including the Grande San Filipe Forte,

          Forte San Filipe, Cartagena Columbia - Kaija in Insert

We spent many fun hours meandering thru the Old City with its many shops, vendors and unique sights including some very interesting architecture and door knockers. 

                         Cartagena Old Town sites incl Famous Fat Lady                                                                        and door knockers

During our visit Cartagena celebrated it’s Bi-Centenial celebrations.  The marching bands and tradition costumes were a delight.

Cartagena celebrates it's Bi-Centenario

We enjoyed renewing acquaintances with old friends and making new friends here in the anchorage.  We also had time to spend in the Bay of Chalon which is a beautiful anchorage approx 20 miles south of Cartagena and spent time with Rob and Carmen M/v Manatee and their beautiful home on the hillside called Crow’s-nest with a 360 degree million dollar view overlooking the ocean.

Bay of Chalon with Carmen and Rob from their Casa Crow'sNest

One of the cruiser favorites is the Wednesday night social held at the Restaurant Pacho & Gillo Pizzeria hosted by Sandro.  His beautiful wife and daughter make everyone welcome and the food is great.  This year they also hosted a Columbian Style American Thanksgiving turkey dinner will all the trimmings.  What a Treat!

Sandro and family, Owners of Pacho and Gillos Pizzeria

While here in Cartagena we took the opportunity to have some additional renovations completed by the famous wood worker Tutti who is a magician with his chisel and saw.  We also needed our transmission overhauled and were lucky enough to find Elvis, King of the Cartagena Mechanics.  Both of these gentlemen were honest and quick about getting the job done.  Muchos Appreciado Amigos.

Elvis the King of Mechanics and Magician Woodworker Tutti

Our final dinner at the wonderful de Oliva was with Drs Javier and Ingrid, Lauren (daughter of our good friends John and Jeri Mv Peking) and Kenny and wife Jesse Sv Makai

Ingrid with Kaija & Lauren

Jessie, Kaija & Kenny

We are leaving manyana for the San Blas where we will hook up with good friends on that side of Panama for Christmas.  Then, Good Lord Willing thru the ‘ditch’ (Panama Canal) in January and finally the South Pacific…HERE WE COME!

And so as we enter the Holiday Season, to all of you, we send our Best Wishes for a Wonderful Christmas filled with Joy and Happiness and abundant time spent with those you love and a New Year filled with Good Health, Good friends and Good Times.