Still Here. Still Can't Go Anywhere Else. Panama, 2020

Greetings From A Neighborhood Cayman
(Wavin' Atcha!)

Like our cayman friend we send you a socially distant wave from Panama. Here's how things are going for us, in order of importance:

1. We remain in good health. 
2. We remain under quarantine; day 33 from the closing of international borders and day 26 from the national "stay at home" order. 
3. We expect to remain here for at least another month because international flights are cancelled until May 22.
4. We remain committed to helping one another stay sane-ish.

Bloom Where You're Planted - Damnit

Molly occasionally rails against "those f - ing bloom-where-you-are-planted posts!" on Facebook but those well-meaning posts have inspired us now and again to focus on the beauties of the Red Frog Marina environs. Thanks for the prod, friends. And, at the risk of some readers having negative reactions and hoping instead to inspire someone to pause and look up and about, here are a few of the beauties we have noticed:

Today a dolphin swam between Abracadabra and the shore. Sorry, no video of the dolphin, but below are some pictures taken on the short walk between Abracadabra and our shower/laundry house.

A Red Frog Sunset

Hmmm -- If Only We Had More Rum

Waiting Patiently To Become Banana Bread

An Anemone Or Slowest Moving Lion Fish Ever?
(Look Right At The Marina Security Gate) 

Quarantine Status Report

There have been a few changes in our situation since our March 31 post, and as goes the way of these days not all of them are heartening.

• The Panamanian government has declared the last three Saturdays "full quarantine" days, which limits permitted grocery shopping by men to two days a week (women M-W-F and men T-Th-Sat, no shopping on Sunday). Grocery shopping is the only permitted reason to leave home for those not engaged in an essential function. Restricting movement by men is the intent: men aren't only more susceptible to the virus, they are less inclined to honor the government's out-of-house limitations. Cue one of the many "why women live longer" videos from the internet that show men doing foolishly dangerous activities. 

• The local store which had been willing to sell alcohol to people living on marina and resort property (private property rules - ?) has been told by the police to cease and desist. They did so immediately. Sadly, without leaving us any chance to stock up! We are closely monitoring the few bottles of wine we have left but by mid-May we will be involuntary teetotalers. Recipes for rice wine are being shared on sailor internet sites, we are told. 

• A package delivery service in town has figured out how to get deliveries from the U.S. to the marina. Bryce is researching some shade tie-down equipment and has recently wondered if he should be looking for "how to build a still". 

• The one boat-maintenance person permitted on marina property is delivering a rental air-conditioner to us on Tuesday. Throughout our eight+ years in Mexico and Central America we have resisted installing an air-conditioner, which for a sailboat the size of Abracadabra means sticking a small window unit on the deck and tenting it to direct the cold air through a hatch. This type of air-conditioner can only work using dock power and we assume will create a cool but stuffy and noisy environment below. We have always thought an air-conditioner would create just one more impediment to leaving the dock (just one more thing to find storage space for before sailing away). Seeing an air-conditioner on a little sailboat like Abracadabra has always screamed "we have no intention of leaving the dock" to us. But that was back when we could actually leave the dock. Or when we could say "jeeez it's hot today, let's finish up our project and go swimming" or even "it's miserable but only a few more days before we are scheduled to leave so we'll tough it out". None of those are available to us at the moment. Soooo - we'll see whether this air-conditioner keeps us more sane - or less. A report to come.

• The only restaurant delivery service available to us in the marina is taking a break. Those who are able to get to Bocas Town apparently have lots of food take-out options available to them (we have seen the delicious looking posts!) but our one pizza place has become a one-man event and he is closing. We hope only for a while. 

Our respective mental states fluctuate, often based on the weather. Fortunately, usually, when one of us is struggling the other can pull them through. We watch our dock neighbors struggle as well. Mostly we all are kind to one another or manage to stay out of each other's way when the anxiety threatens to become an unhappy projection.

One of our favorite things is the morning radio network (7:45 a.m., VHF #68). After the information we all know we need to hear -- the weather and the Panamanian virus statistics (presented by Bev on Assica - thanks) -- neighbors offer up various trivia challenges: on Monday Liz on Alba presents Caribbean Trivia and on Wednesday and Friday Jim and Susy on Octopus Garden present "That Music Thing".  Nice to begin the day with a laugh.

Molly has made one mask. In the same time our friend Irene in Sacramento has made about 700. Oh, well, a mask maker is only as good as her tools.

Phone for NYTimes Article
"How To Make A Mask"

That's it for this Quarantine update.

What Came Before

Here are some pre-quarantine era pictures of the 2nd Annual Bocas Regatta which took place on February 15, 2020 -- which now seems ages ago. We post these to remind us why we came to the Bocas archipelago -- even if that didn't include fiercely dominating the competition in the regatta (Abracadabra came in just above mid-pack).

Captain Bryce and Racing Crew Gordon

Dave of Alba On The Foredeck

Rounding The Mark

Every Which Way!

Bryce captained, Gordon and Dave were crew and Molly took pictures and made sandwiches and tried to stay out of the way. Everyone had a fun day and enjoyed the "awards banquette" -- a bar-b-que ribs party at the Calypso Cantina. We hope the regatta continues in the future. But, oh gawd we hope we aren't here for the regatta next year. Ya know?

In Closing: 

HANG IN THERE FRIENDS.
DON'T GO ANY CRAZIER THAN YOU ALREADY ARE!
WE WILL ALL BE OUT ON THE WATER (OR WHEREVER OUR JOY LIES) AGAIN;  SOMEDAY SOON, OJALÁ.