Yes, the plan was to memorialize Off-Boat Season, 2018 before posting about Travels on Abracadabra, 2019. And yes, there’s still more 2018 to write about: Northern England, London, Paris. But time is marching on at a pace faster than we can blog -- it’s March! So, we have decided to interrupt 2018 to bring you some Travels on Abracadabra, 2019:
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| The "First Annual Bocas Del Toro Regatta - Abracadabra Coming Up Fast On The Left Read On For More! |
So, Where Is Abracadabra Again -- ?
Abracadabra is presently docked at Red Frog Beach Marina, which is within and somehow financially affiliated with Red Frog Beach Resort, a work-in-progress real estate development on Bastimentos Island. Bastimentos Island is one of the larger islands of the Bocas del Toro Archipelago, a chain of islands, cays and islets in the Western Caribbean, southeast of Panama’s border with Costa Rica.And How Is Life Here?
Island life, even at a resort-style location, has complicated logistics: |
| A Ferry Delivers The Big Stuff (Like Construction Supplies and Equipment) |
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| Pangas and Water Taxis Deliver People and Goods (Groceries, Boat Parts, Propane Tanks) |
A roundtrip "to town" (Bocas Town on Isla Colon - the only significant commercial center in the archipelago) can cost around $14 per person, which could make weekly grocery shopping expensive. Fortunately, the marina offers a free shuttle every day - in at 10 a.m. and back at 1 p.m.. Plenty of time for shopping and a lunch at a favorite restaurant.
The marina docks are sturdy and well maintained and wi-fi, electricity and water are available - intermittently.
[Note: The problems of water availability aren't specific to this marina. This winter has been less wet than usual and many places in the archipelago are experiencing water shortages. Bocas Town has been having desalinated water delivered by the Panamanian Aeronaval. One wouldn't know the archipelago was suffering from drought this week, though -- by times it has been pouring! Hopefully that’s a sign that the water delivery problems will soon be over?]
Dock neighbors come and go, a common condition of marina life. Some of them have drawn more attention than others:
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| The Internet Says This Big Guy Can Be Leased For A Mere $550,000 - Per Week (Abracadabra, First Bow On The Left, Is Not For Rent!) |
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| A Former Fishing Trawler, Now A Tall Ship And Floating School |
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| Students Stowing Sails |
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| A Portion of The Swiss / German Student Body |
While at the dock we have done or arranged for: boat maintenance (water proofing canvas, a hull cleaning or two) and some minor boat repair projects (small canvas repairs, a bungie replaced here and there - minor). We have purchased a new battery charger / inverter (expensive) and (less expensive) a charcoal water filter to improve the flavor of the over-chlorinated dock water. And we arranged for a fellow cruiser, Guillem (from Barcelona) to take an exploratory trip up the mast where he confirmed that some of the connections there are – in highly technical terms – toast. Repairs to be arranged. Work-arounds in place.
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| Thankfully, Guillem Is Here To Climb And We Don't Have To! |
But the beauty of this present location is that it's not all about the work.
Walkin’ Through The Jungle
Our place at the dock gives us access to the resort’s pool and private beach and, equally important for people who live in a very small space, a system of roads and walking paths through the jungle we can use to stretch our legs.Throughout the resort’s grounds are signs of lots for sale, apartment-style condominiums under construction and some completed “villas” (large homes) - some occupied, others waiting patiently for tourist occupants. Odd to walk through the jungle and spot random signs of suburbia.
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| This Is The Jungle? |
When we aren’t contemplating the complications of owning a "villa" surrounded by jungle, we gaze out at even more complicated real estate development options:
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| We Don't Usually Walk Through Neighborhoods Peering Through Binoculars . . . But We Wanted To See The Island For Sale Sign |
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| This Island Has A "For Sale" Sign On It Let Us Know If You Want Us To Make A Call For You . . . |
There are still some un-cleared patches of jungle that are occupied by very interesting critters. There are sloths.
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| See Baby Sloth Peeking Out Under Mom's Head |
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| Baby Sloth Hanging On Tight To Mom (And Our Best Shot of Mom's Amazing Three "Toes") |
Panama is home to almost 200 species of frogs, several of which are "poison dart frogs". These beautiful little frogs excrete poisons which were sometimes used by indigenous hunters to tip their arrows. Bastimentos Island is home to a particular type of red poison dart frog not found anywhere else.
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| We Have Been Told It Would Take The Poison From Eight Of These Little Critters To Kill A Person |
A troop of capuchin monkeys can sometimes be seen crossing over the road that runs across the hill to the restort's swimming pool. They display tree swinging techniques that would make Tarzan proud. We have not been swift enough to catch one in flight, but will keep working on that.
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| Why Did The Capuchins Cross The Road? |
And sadly, we didn’t have a camera or cell phone with us the afternoon a boa slowly slithered across the road in front of us!
The resort’s roads and pathways don’t extend to all parts of the island, and some exploration is best done by dinghy or water taxi. On Valentine’s Day we took a water taxi to Eclypse de Mar, a little resort with a well-regarded restaurant. After lunch we walked the resort’s grounds and came to – a cayman nursery. It turns out it IS true that all babies are cute.
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| Eclypse de Mar |
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| Really, How Cute Is That? |
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| A Pretty Water Bird Taunting The Caymen Babies (Stay Swift, Birdy!) |
But The Best Part Of A Dock At An Island Marina Is . . . .
It is so easy to leave that we can come and go as we please. Within a few hours' sail are dozens (hundreds?) of anchorages. Some of them feel very secluded (bird sounds, howler monkeys, spectacular night sky views, the occasional barking village dog . . . ) and others are occupied by restaurants, bars, tourist attractions and social meeting places. |
| Starfish Beach -- Busy Tourist Beach By Day -- Tranquil and Almost Deserted By Night |
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| Abracadabra Anchored Near Ernie's Los Amigos -- A Local Dock Restaurant / Hangout Known For Sunday Breakfast |
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| One Ginormous Cayuco -- A Water Craft Made From A Single Tree Trunk |
A favorite anchoring spot is Dolphin Bay, where we recently stayed for two nights near the dock of the Green Acres Chocolate Farm. The owners of the farm give a fabulous tour showing the development of chocolate from cacao pod to brownies and chocolate tea.
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| Not Yet Ripe Cacao Pods and Green Acres' Owner Robert - Cacao Farmer and . . . Retired Dentist! |
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| A Ripe Cacoa Pod - Filled With Cacoa Beans |
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| Drying Cacao Beans |
Robert's tour includes what he describes as his "MacGyvered" cacao processing "plant" (a tiny tin shed), but also the farm's beautiful grounds . . .
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| A Pink Ginger Bloom |
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| Torch Ginger |
. . . and some of the interesting critters inhabiting them.
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| Yet Another Tiny Panamanian Frog |
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| Another Poison Dart Frog (See Above Re: Red Frogs) |
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| Termites - And Yes, We Ate Some (Notes of Parsley) |
On another Tour de Archipelago we anchored in the big, noisy Bocas Town-side anchorage in order to participate in the “First Annual” Bocas del Toro Sailing Regatta. Following a fun race and post-race party, Molly dusted off her decades-old press credentials (KHEN Radio, Henryetta, Oklahoma – we kid you not!) and wrote a story about the regatta which was published in the March 1, 2019 'Lectronic Latitude (the electronic version of the Bay Area sailing magazine, Latitude 38). We won’t rehash the regatta results here -- click on the link if you're interested in Molly's story. Spoiler alert: Abracadabra was not a big race winner.
We will add a nice picture of Abracadabra that didn’t make the cut for publication because, well - this is our blog and she's our lovely sailboat!
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| Pretty, Isn't She? |
The Archipelago generally has very light winds, which makes sailing difficult and anchoring easy. There are some navigational challenges, including evolving mangrove patches and a couple of “sunken islands” which we are told resulted from a Magnitude 7.7 earthquake in 1991. Fortunately some of them have left evidence behind.
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| At Least This Sunken Island Is Marked |
We have enjoyed our outings and are looking forward to other “trips away” over the next month of two.
But in the meantime, we will also get back to Off-Boat Season, 2018!
