(To view Albums click here)We left Colon on the 19th of October. We had a good sail to Portobello, 19 miles to the East. Unfortunately our auto pilot didn’t cooperate and when Sid later messed with it, we found out that it was beyond repair and we had to return to Panama’s Colon, oops, Colon in Panama. But before we did that we spend the weekend in Portobello, since they had the annual festival of the black Christ. Portobello is loaded with history. Columbus called this bay Puerto Bello when he stumbled in with his weary ships in November 1502. Francis Drake used the port in 1570 as a base to rob Spanish merchantmen. The riches plundered from the natives nations of South America were sailed to the Pacific port of Panama and then conveyed by mule trains to the Atlantic side of the isthmus for the meeting of the “flota”. According to Thomas Gage, an English born Jesuit, the warehouses of Portobello would get so full of gold that silver ingots lay in the streets, unguarded. No wonder the place attracted constant raids by buccaneers, including Henry Morgan in 1668. British Admiral Vernon destroyed the Portobello forts in 1739 and the great commercial fair never returned to the bay after the Spanish Crown finally allowed trading voyagers around Cape Horn. Enough of the four forts remains today to give Portobello bay its unique character and history.
High hills to north and south surround the harbor while to the east several rivers drain into the bay through lowlands of marsh and pastureland. Portobello is also one of the rainiest places on this coast.
Once a year, in October, a fiesta for the Black Christ is held. The Black Christ statue was found years and years ago by local Indians in a sunken ship. They claimed that the life size statue has mystical powers and to this day they celebrate this in a fiesta. The town is very small, but during the festivity over 30 000 people are visiting this place. I tell you, there was almost no where to walk, it was packed wall to wall with people. We decided to watch the festivities anyway, especially the possession of the black Christ. We went ashore at 6 PM and not even five minutes later we were in the middle of a fight, got out of that one in a hurry. Then within the next twenty minutes Sid had twice someone’s strange hand in his pocket, trying to get money. The first one was a kid, but with Sid’s skills that didn’t happen, instead the kid found himself stuck, Sid had a good grip on him. The second guy, Sid knew immediately what the guy was up to, started walking across us and bumped into Sid. There was no reason for that, since the street wasn’t too crowded in that area. As he bumped pretty heavily into Sid, one of his hands pulled Sid’s pocket out, while his other hand tried to get into it. As I said, Sid had the guy figured out already and while the second hand tried to get into his pocket, he got elbowed so hard by Sid, the guy’s ribs probably were sore for days. That was it for us, we had a quick dinner at Ida’s Restaurant with our cruising buddies and went back to the boat and let the other boaters watch the possession. Sid felt like he was back to work and he sure didn’t need that.
A few days later we were back in Colon waiting for parts to be sent and working on maintenance on the boat, it’s not always Paradise out here. We want to let you know, we’re having a good time no matter what, but the following will give you an idea on things that can go wrong while cruising in Paradise. Ever since we left Quepos where we replaced the heat exchanger, things have been falling apart. And just to give you an idea, here’s a list:
Fuel pump would not turn off when engine was turned off, got a Band-Aid fix.
Low oil pressure alarm quit, gage still works, not fixed yet.
Kill switch on dingy engine wont kill the motor and with wet hands, it’ll zap you.
Solar shower fell into the galley and broke the galley faucet, waiting to be fixed in the US.
Dingy wheels locking spring broke on both wheels, fixed with bungee, better deal.
Wind speed quit working again, had replaced complete unit.
Pressure water pump failed, replaced.
Steaming light went out, so old had to be replaces.
Corroded sink drains broken and leaking, had to be replaced.
Engine will not cold start due to preheat Solenoid.
The fresh water coolant air bleed valve opened during transit in Canal, expelling the water and overheating the engine and leaving a big mess. Fixed and cleaned.
Fan belt replaced.
Engine and transmission oil changed.
Windless switch not waterproof? Repaired and replaced.
Sticky Windless solenoid and when they stick we have to run down below and hit box with a screw driver. One time though we were taking the chain up, had about 30 feet left to go when we couldn’t turn the windless off, it ran away, what a fire drill.
Galley salt water pump handle came off, screwed back on.
Water maker has new membrane.
Broken oil jug in bilge and what a mess to clean.
Fluorescent light out in head, unable to replace.
Running light corroded, taken apart, cleaned and put together again, working.
Hookah hose came apart from regulator, just as Sid was trying to clean the prop, glad he wasn’t inhaling at that moment. Repaired.
Dive tanks, hydro test done.
Mammography for Manuela, everything OK.
Broken ground plane for SSB fixed.
Loose wiring in VHF, fixed.
Auto pilot drive motor clutch went out, waiting for new part.
Wind instrument and speedometer installing took a whole day and many blisters.
Repaired dingy cover, sewing came apart and holes had to be fixed.
Computer problems with both computers, can’t be fixed until the US.
Icom radio SSB repair, external speaker jack was not working.
Mildew fight, not so bad when air-conditioner is hooked up.
Haul-out and new bottom paint.
Refrigerator up-keep on haul-out.
Canvass work and we haven’t even had time for varnish yet
and if you think that’s a big list, think about all the little daily things you do.
We don’t know how we ever could fit work into our busy schedule. You definitely will wake up when you retire, ha, ha, ha. Cruising truly is finding exotic places to work on your boat.
Oh, and if you think it takes a abnormal amount of time to fix these things, try shopping for them in a exotic place!
Yep, we’re stuck in another not so very nice place, but then stuff only brake in those places, don’t they. We made the best out of it and one day took a flight into Panama City, which took us over the Panama Canal. It was an exciting and fun flight, took only 14 minutes from take of to touch down and costs 15 bucks round trip per person, what a deal. We ran some errands before we visited Pedro Miguel and all our friends we made there. At that point we were wishing that we could have been stuck in Pedro Miguel waiting for the part until we got there. They had a plaque with moths, yes, moth. I tell you the jungle has all kind of surprises with the weirdest stuff. This moths specie lays eggs once a year during a span of three weeks. While doing so, they flap their wings so hard, that not just the eggs get air born, but also the dust of the moths wings. Air born it is and anything it touches it will stick to it. You should have seen some of our friends. They had rashes over their arms and legs, looked like they had the measles and they said that it itches like hell. They also say that if feels like you have fiber glass on your skin. Anything that you touch that has dust on it you’re done. It gets so bad with the plaque that they have to close swimming pools and parks for the duration of the three weeks. Our friends researched it on the computer and told us, that they wished they hadn’t have done that, that moths are far worse then that, especially when the dust gets into the eyes, mouth or even lungs.
Hope you enjoyed our little “Turtle Express 9 ½ Special Edition”, we sure had fun fixing it all. As a matter of fact when was done with this letter, I was evicted from the boat for a couple of hours, so Sid could work some more on the engine, the old starting problem. I had fun and found bathing suits in town for $1.99.
All in all we are still in and on Paradise and each day is a new adventure.
Photo Album is at end Panam Canal Report (click here if you like to watch it)
