Author Archives: Mark
I Guess We’re Going to Gamboa
It’s funny how sometimes even the best-laid plans go awry. And then, as if by magic, things work out and the day is one to remember. The rain here in Panama has started to become a little more frequent as we progress deeper into the rainy season. Having to look at the weather for any […]
Mystery Solved!
We have been stumped by something recently. Every time we go to a fast-food restaurant, a manager has come to the cash register and enters a code. The total price goes down a little bit. At first, we thought we might be doing something wrong when we placed our orders. But, how can we be […]
Visa Renewal in Panama
Panama has become a top destination for expats. There are good reasons for this. The cost of living here is very reasonable. Healthcare is excellent and affordable. Gaining a visa or residency permit (not the same thing as a citizenship) is not very difficult. And, there are tons of special benefits for expats and retirees. […]
A Geography Lesson
Moving from the Caribbean closes the book on a chapter of our wacky sailing adventure. Our passage through the canal wasn’t exactly an easy decision to make. The decision mostly evolved from a lack of wanting to continue to cruise the Caribbean islands. If you are a regular reader of this blog, you already know […]
Transiting the Panama Canal – Part Two
Link to: Transiting the Panama Canal – Part One 5 am came too soon. This is it. This is the big day. I quickly brushed my teeth and got dressed. Going into the main salon and peeking in the forward cabin I see the line-handlers completely zonked out. I’ll make the coffee, I thought, that’ll […]
Transiting the Panama Canal – Part One
Absolutely feakin’ awesome! Wow! We went through the Panama Canal! I won’t say this was a dream of a lifetime come true but it’s pretty darn close. Because there is so much to talk about, I am going to have to divide this post into two parts. I’ll begin with the preparation and take you […]
Panama City!
Shelter Bay Marina is a brief stopover for us. The marina is nice but it is in the middle of nowhere. It is a 30-40 minute bus ride to the closest grocery store in Colón. The marina is located on the old US Army base Ft. Sherman from pre 2000 when the USA controlled the […]
Goodbye San Blas
The canned ham is gone and the rains are here. We have absolutely loved our time in the San Blas Islands. The Kuna Yala region of Panama is a little slice of heaven on earth and every day was like a dream come true. The San Blas are exactly what we dreamed about when we […]
Croc Watch at Green Island
After our visit to Sin City and still sailing in the San Blas Islands, we found a fantastic spot to anchor behind aptly named Green Island. I felt a little bit bad since there was one other Australian flagged boat in this spot and my intuition was when they saw us coming they probably thought, […]
Sin City
We went to Sin City. I’ll explain in a little bit. We have been having an absolutely awesome time in the Coco Banderas Cays. Our ear infections cleared up and we spent about 5 days snorkeling in the area. Lucky for us, we discovered one of the best snorkel spots since Bonaire (9°30’35.2″N 78°36’50.9″W). Water […]
San Blas Islands – Coco Bandero Cays
Cream Puff is anchored in a really sweet spot. We sailed to a small group of about 12 islands called the Coco Bandero Cays. We are anchored between three islands that are an easy swim from the boat. When we looked at the guidebook we are using for this area we were amused to see […]
Kuna and Karma
One of the Kuna fishermen cut his foot while out on the panga. The three fishermen in the boat turned towards the anchored cruising yachts for aid. Like us, many cruisers carry an extensive first aid kit. And, I mean extensive. We carry it for times just like this. Being very isolated here, self preservation […]
San Blas Islands – Eastern Holandes Cays
For the past few days our daily routine is to get up, eat breakfast, walk on the beach and visit boats in the area while out and about on our dinghy. Returning to Cream Puff, we eat lunch and go for a swim or snorkel. The waters are crystal clear and warm. In fact, the […]
San Blas Islands – Chichime Island
Venancio welcomed us to the San Blas Islands but more on him later. The San Blas Islands! Most people have no idea where these are. Don’t fret, neither did we before we started this adventure. The San Blas Islands are a part of Panama, well sort of, on the Caribbean side. I say sort of […]
Passage to Panama
It’s my job to throw the dead fish off the deck in the mornings when we are underway. I do this each morning before they start to bake in the sun and stink up the place. They will also stain the deck if left stranded. We had nine dead fish on our second night out. […]
