Galapagos landfall

We arrived at Isla Isabella, Galapagos, early this morning. We were about 2 hours short of making the anchorage in daylight last night so hove to about 20 miles out - started sailing towards the anchorage at 2am this morning. So. First sea life I saw? A penguin swimming around Ceilidh chasing a group of very small blue and silver fish. Wahoo! Rich was running the Friday SSB net and was ever so bummed to have missed our little friend. He swam around the swim step, looked up at me, dove and came back up. I swear he winked and grinned. No way was I going to run down for the camera so no photos yet. I do, however, promise that they will be forth coming.

The trop took us 6 full days and then, due to the lack of daylight, another night at sea and into the 7th morning. All in all the journey was enjoyable. Ceilidh remembers how to dance with the wind and waves (very impressionistic) and we remembered which lines do what and how to trim sails and navigate. Haven't talked with the authorities yet so don't know how long we'll be able to stay. Hope a week or two. Isabella is a more remote island and not such a mega tourist attraction. Most of the sea and land creatures can be viewed by walking along marked paths or snorkeling nearby. Ahhh. Looking forward to seeing all . There are multiple volcanos on Isabella and one which is active. Just heard from friends that we can rent horses and approach the active volcano and see lava flows and steam rising out of the ground.

OK. I just realized I am a bit tired and who knows what words will reach the blog with my brain only partially engaged. So all for now and more with coherent details after some rest and exploration.

Love to you all
from the yin side

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N-O-T in Bahia

Greetings all!

Just a quick note (because we're so jazzed) that we departed 'Camp Bahia' this morning after over 5 months at anchor. Got up at 5:15 AM (dark), raised anchor at 6:00 (sunrise but light since 5:50), underway at 6:15. We're in Caba Pasado about 20 miles north (30 as you sail). Had a safe and uneventful exit despite our worrying about conditions getting over the bar and into the ocean. Then had a wonderful 5 hour sail up here to Cabo Pasado. What a wonderful first day out.

We almost didn't leave. Turns out that Migracion and Capitania del Puerto don't have an agreed upon check out process. Migracion was closed for a holiday on Monday, our planned visit and provisioning run to the nearby 'big' town of Manta. So we had to delay out departure for one day to the VERY last high tide we could navigate and get to Migracion on Tuesday. When we show up, the lady asks for our zarpe (exit permission from the Capitania del Puerto) and wouldn't check us out without it. Other friends told us to do what we were doing (Migracion first) because that was what they did the week before. But then other cruisers apparently did it in the opposite order which seemed to set a precedent for our Migracion lady. (There's only one.) But between us explaining that this was our last chance (we couldn't go back to the Capitania and back to her without spending another $35 on a taxi ride, and besides the Capitania was saying to everyone, "Show up at 8-9 in the morning, not in the afternoon. Can't do zarpes in the afternoon" We explained that if we did what she wanted, we'd miss our tide on Thursday and have to wait for another month. So between our explanations and a helpful word from a taxi driver who knows us (driving another couple that day), she checked us out. It may have cost is an extra $4 as others paid $16 and we were asked for $20. But, hey, the service was supplied and now no one owes anyone else anything.

Then we dutifully show up at the Capitania del Puerto at 9 AM on Wednesday only to be told that he is out and in meetings until 2 in the afternoon. Only he can sign the zarpe, no delegation of signature authority here. That worked out with just a little rushing in the afternoon and juggling of the get-out-of-town-project schedule. Turns out that the Capitania just needs a copy of the checkout form from Migracion and doesn't care if your do it first or second, as long as they have that copy before you haul up anchor. And they don't check the date on it, just that you have one.

Then last night for the first time in a month the winds continued all night long which usually indicates sloppy conditions for going out. But that turned out to be just small waves and of no consequence. Better conditions than we had coming in. We were beginning to wonder if it was destined that we really leave in November.

Another fun item: friends told us to raise the anchor days early and re anchor. After being in the same spot for 5-6 months they have many horror stories of the bottom mud sucking down their anchor and other cruiser's and not letting it go without days of lifting pressure. So we did and a good thing. We get over our anchor, chain straight up and down, and the whole process stops. No forward movement on ceilidh, and the windlass stalls under the load. I had Hope speed up the rpm's bit by bit and after a few minutes the anchor came up with a 6-8 inch diameter log about 6 feet long neatly balanced in its claw. Glad not to have that stress the morning when we departed.

So after all that, we're out.

Right now we're planning to clean the bottom and chain tomorrow. Check the zincs and clean the thru-hulls. Then we're out of here, probably for the Galapagos. We may change our minds before halfway over and head north to Costa Rica. We really want to get to the Galapagos, but if we have to pound into seas and winds to get there, well, we're just not too enthused about it at the moment. We've been looking forward to a lovely downwind sail. But we'll give it a try and see if we can adapt. So we shall see. No promises.

love from us both.

the yang side.

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Journey to Ecuador’s Northern Mountains

Disclaimer: Yikes. Too many photos and too slow of an internet connection. Don´t think I´ll do any more captions. Sorry!

Journey to Ecuador’s Northern Mountains

We were only away from Ceilidh for 2 weeks but it is a though we stepped into another world and separate time structure. We visited Quito, Mindo, and Otovalo and saw many of the small towns and villages sprinkled thru the mountains and valleys along the way. Ecuador is the smallest country in South America at 256,370 sq km or 98,985 sq miles. The population is somewhere around 13 million people. These figures exclude the Galapagos Islands. It looks like we won’t be visiting there this time round so I’ll save their stats for the day we do. Within mainland Ecuador the numerous cultures and broad biodiversity are astounding. I hope someday to return and visit all the areas and peoples of this fascinating part of mama earth.

Quito
Photo link: http://public.fotki.com/svceilidh/quito/
Rich and I took the bus from Bahia on the coast directly to Quito, a 9 hour ride. The bus was quite comfy and the scenery flying by the window much better than any nature film. Winding alongside joyous mountain streams and small villages we saw fisherman and their families working with nets and drying fish and then on to agricultural areas with banana and bamboo groves alongside flooded rice paddies. Climbing higher the population became sparser and the vegetation changed rapidly from one species of shrubs and trees to completely different varieties right before my eyes. Must admit I would love to have stopped and spent more time with the wild looking trees and shrubs along the mountain paths. Quito lies in a bowl like valley between volcanically created mountain ranges. Near the top of the western range we bumped into the clouds and rain and didn’t come back out for some hours as we descended the other side. I think the mountains to the east and west of Quito are around 4500m or 1476 ft. Quito it’s self is (I think) is around 3300m (1082 ft).

As we came out of the clouds the green mountains reappeared with hillsides covered in swaying giant bamboo. The bamboo is used for everything here – props during brick and cement construction and only material used for many of the homes. It is done beautifully and with an artists touch. Varied angles and types or sizes making pleasing patterns on the sides, windows, and doors of the structures. And still the bus rolled forward. Before long we were in the sprawl of Quito. In the photo link later you’ll see what I mean. It is HUGE.

Arrival was exciting and we found a wonderful hostel in the New Town area. One of our reasons to visit Quito first was to apply for our US Passport renewals. On our first day we managed to combine the renewal application with a visit to the nearby Casa de la Cultura Museo and Art Gallery plus a stroll thru the beautiful Parque Ejido. Ecuador knows how to display art and portray the successions of culture. The Museo provided captions in English as well as Spanish combined with arrows and display numbers to help guide you thru the centuries.

Night life in and around the New Town in Quito is a happening place. Restaurants, tourists from every land, tour companies offering trekking, rafting and Amazon jungle tours. Every night there were people filling the streets and music filtered out of clubs and restaurants. It is not a quiet place. The city is alive and kicking all the time. We enjoyed eating at a few of the restaurants, sampling different types of food. One night Thai, another Indian and of course Ecuadorian.

New Town and its museums visited we moved on the next day to Old Town. There are two different electric bus lines that run the length of the city and provide inexpensive public transit. We took one such bus into the heart of Old Town early in the morning, arriving at Plaza de La Independencia – described as the heart of the colonial city. There are so many churches and more museums to choose from. We started out with El Sagrario. It sits just around the corner from the Cathedral on the Plaza Grande. It was small, dark, old, and quiet. A very happy feeling pervaded the entire structure and I was very pleased we visited. Next on to the Cathedral. It was huge, bright and the best maintained church we visited in all of Quito. Owned by the Jesuits, it was first built in the 1500’s and then continued to be built onto and rebuilt all thru the years. We accepted the offer of an English speaking guide and learned such interesting details. One of which – there are 50 kilos of gold leaf in the church. Everything is covered with glitter. The church does not allow photos so we purchased postcards. We’ll scan them sometime and add them to the photos online.

I think we took a break about then and sat in an internet café called Papaya Net. Had some refreshments and checked email. Then on to more street wandering and church visits. Some of the churches were so run down it is amazing they are still standing. The streets in old town are narrow and cobble paved. If it had not been for the hills swooping up in the near distance I would have been reminded of old New Orleans. As we walked to the Plaza de San Francisco we passed huge numbers of riot police (just checked with Rich and he says around 50 or so) complete with riot shields, body armor, head gear that looked like a welding mask and BIG guns. They were all just standing around chatting. Continuing up the street to the church there was a large boxy thing in the middle of the road. Turns out it was a water cannon – just parked there. We tried to find out if the vehicles and riot police are just natural phenomena and, if not, what was the anticipated need. Never did find out but we suspect it has to do with the rapidly approaching presidential elections.

My favorite museum was Museo de la Ciudad, just north of the Plaza de San Francisco. The description in the guide book did not sound appealing but we wandered down a street, thru and arch, and there it was. It is housed in a beautiful old hacienda style structure with a large inner courtyard. The displays take you thru Quito’s history from pre-Hispanic times to the 19th century. Unfortunately, they also did not allow photos. Such an interesting approach to the introduction of history. We were the only people going thru the display just then so it was a private viewing. As you entered the first display area you walked thru layers silver strips of plastic hanging down to form a thick curtain. Once thru the opening the walls became cave like and wound you thru lifelike (and life size) displays of cave life and jungle huts. The next room jumped to the overview of Quito and its different peoples and outlying areas using 3 different video displays and a map painted on the floor that stretched from on end of the hall to the other. Very cool. From there the experience continued to fill my senses with wonder and appreciation for the presenters. Dioramas and reconstruction of complete huts and shop fronts depicted the various times, peoples and ways of life.

Mindo
Photo link: http://public.fotki.com/svceilidh/mindo/
Mindo is a village 2 plus hours from Quito. We arrived via bus and marveled as the countryside continued to become greener and greener. The bus drove over the bridge with a rushing mountain stream galloping below and onto the main street. As we departed the bus we met Claudia. She owns the hostal El Rocio. You know how you meet someone and have an instant connection? So it was. We went with her the half mile or so to her hostel and found it the perfect place to base our visit. We stayed on the third floor and hung out in the many hammocks lining the porches, watching the incredible birds playing in the tree tops. After stowing our bags we went downstairs to find Claudia talking with one of the women we had seen on the bus. Hard to miss her because she had gotten on the bus with a very distressed and noisy sack. She had gone to town to purchase a kitten and come home with this cute bundle of fur. He was in the process of playing hide and seek in Claudia’s hair and seemed ever so happy to be out of the bag and off the bus. Claudia asked if we were hungry and suggested we follow her friend down the road a bit further to her family’s restaurant. It is situated on a trout stream, has extensive gardens, and hangs humming bird feeders every 5 feet all along their covered patio/dining area. Sounded wonderful to us so off we went. Walking up the dirt road we saw more of the incredible plant life and enjoyed the cool air. At the restaurant we found a lovely outdoor seating area within 10 feet or so of the hummingbird feeders. Enjoying the garden, hummingbirds, and a fantastic meal of fresh trout (truncha) the time flew by.

It was quite a contrast that night. From Quito’s crazy city energy and noise to Mindo’s hushed jungle with occasional bird and frog songs. I slept ever so well! We walked the next morning into Sanctuario de Cascadas – an hour walk up a dirt road to an impressive number of waterfalls. Beautiful plants, lovely water and perfect day. They have a cable stretched across the canyon that carries a shuttle car so you can reach the falls more easily. It was fun to see the views as we sped down the cable. After viewing many of the falls we decided to start the trip back. Just as we reached the cable shuttle car the rain let loose and soaked us. Everyone was laughing and enjoying just being. On the other side the dirt road was now a mud wallow. A pickup with a family bundled in the cab kindly offered us a ride so the journey back took a fraction of the time.

The next morning the rain had cleared and Claudia asked if we would like to visit the protected forest. Sounded good to us! So off we went with two more of her friends, Sonia and Luis, plus a lovely girl from Germany who was in Ecuador studying tourism. In order to reach this remote place we all piled onto a rather dated tractor. Sonia was to fix lunch for us at the kitchen facility on the property while we hiked so she stowed the food in laundry baskets in the tractors scoop bucket. He he. The seats were slat benched attached above the big aft tractor wheels and the ride was long – about 1 and ½. What fun. So many new plants and insects. Once there we found more beautiful waterfalls and enjoyed the hike. Sonia cooked a lovely meal for us and we turned the tractor Mindo bound and were back at El Rocio. The next day we had a bit of time before our bus left for Quito so we went to a butterfly farm. Wait till you see the photos! I could go on an on but I’ll try and add captions to the photos as well so you can get more of a blow by blow. I know you all have heard me say how much I love the green and how healing it is. I shall never forget my trip to Mindo and always have a jewel to take out and marvel over for as long as I live.

Quick trip back to Quito for one night just to pick up our new passports and then off by bus again – this time to Otovalo.

Otovalo
Foto link: http://public.fotki.com/svceilidh/otovalo/
Otovalo is 2 hours north of Quito, located in a beautiful inter-Andean valley. It is surrounded by the volcanoes of Imbabura, Cotacachi, and Mojanda. Its origins go back to around 13000 years BC. The outlying cities specialize in various world class handicrafts that are exported all over the world. Otovalo hosts the largest South American outdoor market place. I think the peoples and the scenery are the most memorable but you can judge yourself from the photo link. In Otovalo, most of the women and children maintain the traditional dress of the Andean Quichuas. The language most spoken among these people is Quichua but those who interact in town and work in the market also speak Spanish. The traditional dress for the women consists of blue or black ankle length skirts, white embroidered blouses with lace of cuffs and the neck and cloth sandals. The men are more often seen in some type of more western dress – T shirts and long pants but wear their hair long in a braid that trails down their back. Many also wear the traditional felt brimmed hat. These are by and large a very small people. I was surprised to find myself often the tallest person on the crowded street.

We arrived by bus from Quito on Wednesday and located a hostel. The two big days for the artisans market are Wed and Sat so we made our initial visit and marveled at the many goods, peoples, and colors. The market takes place every day of the week but Sat is the BIG day. We were ever so interested to see exactly what that meant and were not disappointed. All of our gift shopping accomplished by Friday we had only to wander the streets and enjoy the hive like hum of commerce. When we arrived on the streets Sat morning around 7:30 the streets were closed to vehicles and venders were putting the last merchandise out for display, ready for the busy trading day. We were walking at a fast pace out of the city to visit the large animal market – a 20min or so walk to the edge of the town. What a scene it was. Pigs, sheep, cows, horses, and burros. Looked for lamas but didn’t see any. There is also a small animal market on the other side of town selling chickens, ducks, rabbits and guinea pigs (called cuy and considered yummy food) but we had not awoke early enough to get there as well before they closed down. After strolling around the animals we walked slowly back thru the waking town and numerous vendors and found a lovely breakfast, marveling at the increased activity and wondering where all these thousands of people came from. Wish you could have seen these sights and experienced the ambiance. During the quieter days as we strolled the markets we struck up conversations with many of the vendors and became friends. It was fun to talk with them on chance encounters as we made our way thru the city streets.

On Friday we took a tour with a gent named Washington and his brother Pablo to the outlying areas around Otovalo. It is in these outlying villages that the goods sold in the market are made, mostly in the old tradition, then sold at the market as well as exported. Our first stop was in Peguche. Peguche’s main craft exports are weavings and tapestries. We did not visit any artisans, choosing instead to linger at the Cascada de Peguche – a lovely waterfall that is a site for ritual purification for the Otovalo peoples. Approaching the falls the healing and wholesome energy rushed out to meet me, enveloping my being as it wrapped the happy dewy mist all around me. I smiled during the entire visit and my feet were light as a dancer on the path. It is a very special place.

Our next stop was at Parque Condor. The reserve was created to rescue and rehabilitate birds of prey, including condors. It provides environmental education for the community and thru the flying demonstrations engenderers a love for these beautiful creatures. Watching the great hawks soar into the clean mountain sky was breathtaking. I could feel myself flying with them. At the end of the demonstration the handlers brought out a small peregrine and allowed the audience to hold him. I waited till the last person was thru and then had my turn. What a lovely being. I was able to converse with him and feel a connection. If only I had real wings! The large area set aside for the park also contained many roomy enclosures for the injured birds that would never be able to leave the park. They all looked well tended and had plenty of room to move around within their enclosures.

Next stop was the lovely crater lake of Laguna Cuicocha. It sits at the foot of Cotacachi Volcano at an altitude of 3,070m. There are 2 islands on the lake but they are closed to the public and open only for biological studies. The view from above the lake was spectacular. The color of the water with a back drop of dramatic volcanic mountains and a blue sky dotted with pinto clouds. On the drive to our next stop we wound alongside a river and watched women and children in the streams up to their waist washing clothing and bedding, swinging the cloth high over their heads and bringing it down hard on a rock lodged in the stream. It looked as though they were enjoying the task.

Our last stop of the day on the way back into the city of Otovalo at a musician artisan's family workshop and home. We saw the pan type flues made and different types of stringed and wind instruments demonstrated. Rich played with some of the flutes. OK. I am just about typed out here. Just talked with Rich and he says he’ll read my post and then fill in blanks and craft his own special version of the journey. I always enjoy reading his journals.

Love and hug to you all
from the yin side

Otovalo

Yo,all! Yang again with a quick update. We´ve had a great time. Arriving on Wednesday we thought the marketplace (fabrics, leather, musical instruments, clothing, weaving, art, music CDs, all hand-made from the area ... OK, maybe not the CDs) was pretty full. But today, Saturday, saw virtually every street closed for more vendors. And this in a town of 50,000. We´ve made some friends of the locals and took a small tour of the area on Friday (Hope & I being the only ones in the tour). Saw a Condor Park and bird recovery sanctuary, a lake in a volcano cone, a musical instrument ´factory´ where pan flutes and other flutes of various kinds are made by hand, a sacred waterfall (sacred back to the Incas), much beautiful scenery, and a town that supplies leather goods mostly to the US (that $300-$400 jacket you want? ... $45 here ... same one).

We´ve learned a couple of things: first is that gringos don´t know how to sell. Everyone here in Otovalo is an expert. Second, we´re wondering if now that we´ve gotten in a habit of asking for a discount or making a counter offer whether we´ll be able to control ourselves and not make a counter offer to the cashier at the grocery store.

We´ll be back on the boat tomorrow night (Sunday). Hope has lots of pictures to organize and she´ll be getting to you about that later this week. And sometime we´ll let you know where we´re going.

nuff for now, love from us both.

yang

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typable. OK, this is a Spanish keyboard that´s acting like
a Spanish keyboard. Except that the spacebar only works with
the attached hammer (most of the time) and half the keys
have their letter label worn off. Not fun for us non-touch
typists.

OK, from the typhoid patient, the only downside to our trip.
We woke up one morning (the day we were going to Mindo & the
rain forests) and went to get some coffee before leaving for
the bus terminal. We thought we were very lucky in that the
street was deserted and there was no traffic in sight. You
need to understand that cars ABSOLUTELY have the right of
way. Even pedestrians in a crosswalk with the light have no
rights. We only had 100 meters to walk from our hostal to
the coffee shop. About 20 feet from the door of the coffee
shop two guys came around the corner. One approached me with
a hand out (I thought was begging), then grabbed my jacket
and said, "Money!" Then I noticed the knife/spike in his
other hand. The second guy went to Hope and tried to grab
her purse. She twisted down into a ball and started shouting
for help. I grabbed the wrist holding the knife. Then two
employees came out of the coffee shop and the one with a
broom hit the guy entangled with me and then both banditos
ran away.

We were so enjoying the empty street that we stopped being
aware. All´s well, we were blessed, we recognized the
outcome as a form of abundance. After this event, the stay
in Mindo was even ´mas tranquillo´.

Hope related my question on the history of the attitude of
the Catholic Church to women. The best endowed and
maintained church in Quito (even better that the bishop´s
cathedral) was one owned by the Jesuits who were quite proud
of how their altar included the founders of other
brotherhoods in the Church. And quite proud that EVERY
surface was covered with gold leaf. Being immersed in the
Spanish colonization of the new world for the last three
years and having read some fictionalized histories of the
new world, I´ve become quite interested in finding a
history of the church from apolitical perspective.

It´s also election time in Ecuador. Everyone we´ve
talked to looks at their decision as who do they want to rip
off the country for the next 5 years. No platforms matter,
no improvements expected. Decision: who do you want to get
rich at the country´s expense? Much like our own system,
just more up-front I think.

Note to my son Adam: Lots of VERY old Datsun pickup trucks,
but not a single 510. New Nissans, of course. A number of
original Minis running about and lots of old Ladas, the
Russian car that at a glance and a distance might be
mistaken for a 510 (to the uninformed).

Note to my son Tieg: Ran into an Aussie couple who said that
3-year work permits are relatively easy to come by now.
Might check out the Aussie embassy website if you still have
that dream.

Today we´re leaving for Otovalo, the best know artisan
market in Ecuador. Then back to Quito but only for the bus
back to ceilidh. Enough struggling with this keyboard. Love
to all!

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I have all these wonderful photos to upload. Visited 2 different internet cafes today and am stumpted as to how to rotate the photos prior to posting. Grrrrr. OK. I have now let that go and yet do wish to blog my Mindo visit while it is fresh in my mind and being. Tried a new approach to the visit. On the bus to Mindo I concentrated on the desire to connect with a soul sister who would direct me to the exact experiences I would seek out if I had all the time in the world. Having only 4 days that is quite a tall order. As we exited the bus a lovely lady named Claudia met us and asked if we had a place to stay. With a negative answer to that question she offered to show us her hostel. Traveling via foot down a dirt road and chatting as if we had known each other forever we soon arrived at her hosted. It is a three story rambling, eclectic structure with hammock hung everywhere. She has plants, dogs, friends, love and warmth filling all 4 floors.
On arrival we were the only guests but by nightfall the hostal was full. After dropping our backpacks she suggested we follow her friend, Margarita, down the road a mile or so to her restaurant for a meal of truncha (trout) and view the huge number of humming birds that visit the feeders set just off the outdoor eating platform. Lunch was delicious and I had no clue there were that many different sizes and colours of humming birds.

Early in the morning we started the day with a wonderful breakfast of fruit, eggs and toast. Thus fueled we set off on foot for the sanctuary of waterfalls. About an hour and 1/2 brought us to a small cable car spanning a canyon. On the other side are trails you can choose from to visit the various fall. We saw 3 that day and would have continued if only the legs were willing. It started pouring rain as we took the cable car back across. A pickup truck kindly stopped and offered us a ride back. Very welcome it was indeed.

The next day we were off again - this time on a tractor - to visit an area of protected forest. The trip there was about 2 hours and along paths that no normal vehicle could travel. We hiked in the jungle, saw birds and so many different types of plants that I was hyperventalating and then ended up at the wilderness lodge for a delicious lunch. After some interesting conversations it was back to the hostel bumpity bump. Our last morning in Mindo we visited a butterfly sanctuary. Wait till you see the photos. They have to be seen to be believed. So, ok, we are having a wonderful time. Tomorrow morning we are leaving to visit Otavalo and the small villages that surround it. So more blogs in the works soon. I have missed out large parts of the adventure but I´m sure Rich will pitch in with his bit. All for now. My beer is finished and time to catch a small siesta before dinner.

Love to allfrom the yin side

Doing a blog with spanish prompts

is really difficult. Would you know that Crear means to create? Well, it does. Didn´t know what I was missing by doing all my posts via my onboat email. Still in Quito and I just read Rich´s post. He summed up our bus trip to Quito very well. I´ll add that the rapidly running mountain streams and huge varriety of vegetation made me ever so happy. Can´t imagine a nicer trip. My eyes were jammed up against the window the entire 8 hours-a true feast.

In the last 3 days we saw fantastic art and interesting history descriptions as well as viewing amazingly preserved artifacts dating as early as 1000 b.c. That was day one. Day two we visited a variaty of churches. Some so well preserved that they glittered with the original gold leaf applied in the 1800´s and others so dismally maintained that we are not sure how much longer they´ll be standing. Rich had a very interesting observation. Everywhere we looked there were paintings and statues of the Virgin Mary and other women indoctrinated into sainthood. His question was "how could the catholic church rever women on one hand and then treat the general populace of the same sex as lesser and subservient beings?" Hummm. Very interesting.
Today, day 3, we took the TeleferiQo to the top of Rucu Pichincha to the altitude of 4,200 m. Photos will follow soon. After taking the tram to the top we then spent 2 hours walking further up the mountain. What a rush. At that altitude we both had to take many breaks but so enjoyed the views. We stopped and chatted with a South African couple who are on the way to Galapogos and then Peru before heading back home.

Tomorrow we are off to Mindo. From what we hear it is a small town in the middle of beautiful country side. The highlights are bird and butterfly viewing and playing in waterfalls. I´ll write more after our visit. Land travel is so different than our cruising in Ceilidh. I am enjoying this trip and have to admit I´ll look forward to going "home". Well, all for now and love to you all.

from the yin side

Cruising doldrums and ...

Quito!

Hello all. We will have to go back and change the subtitle from ...a feminine view of cruising. (I am having problems here in this internet cafe because it has a non-US keyboard with some of the Sapnish keys activated when I type, but some of the other weird types actually on the keyboard activated as well.

Hope and I were talking about being in Bahia for so long. No water sports, same people (some of whom we want to avoid in general). We have gotten most of the projects done and we have read quite a bit. I have finished the 20 book series by Patrick O´Brian on the British Intelligence service during the Napoleonic Wars. Most people think it is about the Royal Navy, but the Navy takes a minor role compared to the spy characters. Interesting, but I would only give it a qualified recommendation.

So to combat the crusing doldrums we are currently sitting in an internet cafe in Quito. We have taken care of our passport renewals at the consulate. We toured the Banco de Central Museo de Cultura which covers all of Ecuadorian history from the first migracions during the ice ages to the present. Most is on the pre-columbian cultures and the Spanish era. The Incas had conquered the Ecuadorian area just shortly before the Spanish arrived and they had not the time to consolidate the language, culture, and so on. Tomorrow is old town with the cathedrals dating from the 1500s. Later will be overnight trips outside of town.

We have a nice room with a double bed (and bunk beds) with a private bath in the tourist section of town for US$22 per night. Two pizzas and 3 beers (large Japanese size) for US$10 last night. Did I ever mention that Ecuador is one of a few countries that use the American dollar as the official currency? Panama is another we have been in.

The bus ride here is spectacular. We are currently at about 3000 meters (just under 10 000 feet) but Quito is in a valley between two sets of Andean peaks. And we had to go over one of those passes. Almost over the clouds. Rain forest jungle. Bamboo up to 80 feet growing wild. (Bamboo is a big construction material here, both for scaffolding and interior decoration).

OK enough again. Hope is taking pictures. love to all.


yang

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Volcanic ash and ...

four-strand line and other miscellany.

Yang here. We woke up this morning to find a 'severe' dusting of the boat. Turned out that it was volcanic ash from the volcano inland ... winds were just right. Don't have any news as to whether it was just a wind shift or a larger eruption. We'll get to the internet in a few days. (A few days to the internet ... doesn't that just boggle your sense of time and priorities? What's the rush? We can't see any lava headed this way.)

Update: Just talked to someone who went into shore today and the Ecuadorian papers are saying a significant eruption, one village buried up to the eaves of the homes, and 'much death'. Sorry to report.

We also needed to replace the polypropylene painter on the dinghy. Most standard (cheaper and low-tech) rope is made with three strands, often nylon, and all splicing instructions are for three strands. And polypropylene is really cheap rope ... but it does have the advantage of floating. But for some unknown reason here in Ecuador, their cheap polypropylene rope is made with four strands. So I can now add 'splicing four strand line' to my nautical resume. (For you land-lubbers, splicing is where one puts a loop at the end of a line by braiding the free end back into the line itself.)

Good news on the engine and transmission: Ran it with and without the prop shaft connected and no noises, no stopping. All sorts of rpm's. We dodged the bullet on that one. One good thing is that we got the new engine mounts installed. Much smoother and a little bit quieter. We continue to get projects done so that we can go inland in September to visit the Quito area. Then get ceilidh ready in October to head out on the high tides in early November.

August is the prime month for vacationers in Bahia. Lots of new people in town. On Saturday night they close the main street, rig up sound systems, and just have a party. One tradition is that ladies set up tables and sell cakes they've been making during the week.

One thing that takes getting used to here is having exact change. Hope went to the bank yesterday to get some change and they would only give her so many 5's, some 10's, and no 1's. Shop keepers have a hard time making change if you whip out a $20 bill and sometimes have to refuse the purchase. Of course, the ATMs dispense $20. Another thing is that most things are sold for $1. Want a dozen roses? $1. Want 3 roses? $1. Want 25 limes (limons)? $1 Want 5 limons? $1. Want 3 pineapples? $1. Want one pineapple? You guessed it.

And, yes, I seem to be completely recovered from my illness. Not as energetic as I recall, but then that was a matter of opinion. I was describing the illness as salmonella. Well, the official name for the bug that got into my system was salmonella typhii. So in the common parlance I had typhoid fever. Ooops. R-E-A-L-L-Y glad Hope got me to the doctor. So just a little correction there. Are you glad you're sharing this cruising experience 'virtually'? With a 3-day to 2-week incubation period, no way of telling where I got it.

There is a vendor in town each night. They sell a 'health' drink. If we're translating the Spanish correctly, it'll cure whatever ails you. They start by cutting an aloe vera pod in half and scraping out the clear goo into your glass. A little echinacea, goldenseal, yerba matte, honey, and possibly comfry and colt's foot (if Hope's Spanish was up to the translation). Water to top it off. Then using a knife to break down the aloe vera gob they stir it. Then they start pouring it from one glass to another to test the consistency. But the one glass ends up over the pourer's head with the other glass down on the cart. Five or six times, then some more knife stirring, then some more pouring/testing, then it's yours to slug down. The show alone is worth the 50-cents. My liver never felt better, how's yours?

Well enough for now. Enjoy!

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It's been a very long few weeks

With no fun being had by anyone. Rich became very ill and we waited 5 days for a doctor visit. On the 5th day (second day that his temperature rose to 104F) I insisted that we go to doctor and see what could be done. After the exam and laboratory tests were complete we had the answer. He had the typhus type of salmonella. He has now completed his 9 day course of cipro but is still weak and has a bit of an elevated temperature (99.5F). So, on Monday we'll check back with the doctor just to be sure there are no further pills/thrills/chills??? needed to complete the recovery. Poor Rich. He went 5 days with no food whatsoever and now is rather thin. I am working on feeding him up to previous stature, however.

On another rising note, Rich did manage to disconnect the transmission from the engine and it looks as though the engine it's self is in perfect working order. Just now completing the tests but it is chugging happily away. The transmission must be the problematic bit so perhaps Rich will feel up to taking it apart tomorrow. Progress in being made! Due to illness and small problems such as THE ENGINE! (yikes) we have still not done any inland travel. Hoping for a trip to the Quito highland areas in early September. Surly all will be sorted by then. In the meantime each day brings interesting experiences and the opportunity to study Spanish and play sarafina. Also many cruisers and town people to interact with when I step off Ceilidh.

Looking forward to a healthy boy soon and a properly functioning engine. I'll post again soon with an update.

Love to all
from the yin side

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The Entertainer

yo' ... yang here.

OK. So Hope hears rumors that there is another cruiser anchored in the Bay who plays the harp and has one aboard. (What: we're NOT unique?) She discovers her identity, Gayle, and they make arrangements to get together one Sunday afternoon to play for each other, trade tips, techniques, and generally just share in the joy that only harpists understand. (Actually, anyone listening understands the joy as well.)

A local woman, Elizabeth, hears of their plans and indicates that she'd love to be able to hear them practice. So they pick a time, 2 pm, and Gayle goes off to do her thing and Hope goes off to do hers. Later that week, we all discover that the World Cup Final Game is being played from 1pm - 3pm so a postponement is made to the harp practice time but the word doesn't get around to everyone. So when they start playing, Elizabeth comes up and explains that she can't stay any longer, but would they like to come to her establishment that night and play for her and her customers? Turns out she owns the Arena Bar and Pizzeria, a nice place for locals and cruisers, with great food and great prices. So Gayle accepts for her and Hope. Actually, Elizabeth is that sort of person who won't take no (nor even a maybe) as an answer and you feel guilty about even trying to say anything except yes. Infectious smile and energy.

Initially, I'm involved because as the official 'Senor Burro' of ceilidh, I'm needed to schlep the harp from ceilidh, across the water, and into town. (I get to listen as reimbursement.) I brought along my Native American flute to play when they were talking and deciding on music. Gayle was able to figure out chords on the harp to play along with me while I was playing, so now Hope can play with me back on ceilidh. (To those musicians out there, the flute is in G minor, not the easiest thing to match on a C major harp with sharping levers for D and G major keys only.) So Hope plays the bahrain (drum) for some of my playing and next thing I know, I'm included in the performance as well.

So we get there around 8 o'clock on a Sunday night. Now Gayle is a professionally trained singer who uses the harp to accompany herself so Hope and I eagerly agree to let her carry the weight of the 'show'. Can we all say 'knock out voice'? Good, I thought we could. So Gayle starts with about 6 songs, then Hope plays some, then 6 more by Gayle, then Hope, then me on flute with harp and drum accompaniment, then Gayle wrapping up. We each got a glass of wine as a treat on the house, so that makes it a professional gig, right?

Anyway, a number of our friends from the cruising community showed up. Elizabeth had a big contingent of her family there (husband or ex-husband we didn't inquire, daughter, granddaughter, and others). And some local customers even stayed for the performance. Business was good, the place was packed, people applauded just a bit more than they politely needed to, and the word afterwards was it was fun and 'they'll' be back for the next performance.

And we had fun. Hope would have 'disappeared' but between Gayle, Elizabeth, and me, she couldn't. And afterwards we were all glad we came and played. Gayle is talking up another gig for us at the cruiser hangout, Puerto Amistad, and we're sure we haven't seen the last of Elizabeth. Plus we have some other friends in the community who missed the first performance and want to see any others.

So we'll practice some more and look forward to the next gig.

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Panama Hats

.. yang side here.

We took a side trip to a town called Montecristi about 50 or so miles from here. Montecristi is a small tourist town at the bottom of a hill (curiously named Montecristi before there was a town). And what attracts the tourists? It's a center for Panama hat manufacture and sales.

Real, handmade, Panama hats.

Panama hats first gained international fame when they became the unofficial/official hat of the workers and especially the management building the Panama Canal. But even more curiously, the designation Panama hat has nothing to do with the canal or the country. And they have always been made in Ecuador. Even before the US created the country Panama by slicing off a section of Columbia (there's a story for another blog), even before the money was assembled to build the canal (which was well before Columbia got tough on canal building negotiations after France's failure which necessitated a new and pro-US country), Ecuador was making Panama hats. How? Panama hats are made from fibers of the Panama palm. (Clever, huh?) Slit the leaves and stems down to individual, very tough, very flexible, very thin fibers, and you have something to weave with.

True Panama hats of fine to extra-fine designation, come with a box about a foot long and an inch square on the inside. With a true Panama hat, you can roll it into a cylinder (crown at one end brim at the other), store it in the box, and then, when you want to wear it, take it out and it will resume its normal shape. The original ready-to-wear, wrinkle-free. Plus a fine to extra-fine hat will hold water ... the outside won't get wet. Or conversely, your head stays dry in the rain. Perfect for working on canals.

Some cruisers had already visited Montecristi and mentioned a specific shop. Turns out that every shop has hand-made Panama hats for sale. Hope bought a less-than-fine hat with a wide brim and a rounded crown. Quite stylish ... not all Panama hats are made for men's fashion. Size is adjustable by simply slipping on an adjustable hat band and the woven material will deform to a head size (somewhat) without deforming the shape (hardly noticeable usually). Worked for Hope's hat. They originally wanted $12 but with the negotiational skills of our taxi driver, Giovanni, we got it for $8. He was working on $5, but they weren't going for it.

I didn't see anything I really liked so the store owners took us to another store where they had some extra-fine hats. The original asking price was $85, we'd gotten them down to $35, and they probably would have taken $30 if we whipped out the cash. But again, nothing was 'just right' so I passed. On the way out of town, there were many other places with more options so I may go back, or wait until we're in south-central Ecuador around a town called Cuenca which is another center of hat manufacture.

These probably weren't true extra fine hats ... the quality levels being inflated and the pricing not matching. We'd heard of a cable TV special on the making of Panama hats. Apparently there are only two guys left in this region who still weave true, extra-fine hats. It takes them 6 months per hat and they get about $50. All their products end up in New York boutiques where they retail around $10,000 give or take a couple of thou. Unfortunately, these guys are getting old and are going blind. They lean on a post to work over their weaving mold from above and their chests are deformed with the indentation of the leaning post. It's been the only work they've done since childhood. They weave to a round mold and then the round crown is pounded with a wooden hammer on molds of different shapes.

In other, late-breaking news, our main engine seized up last week. The good news is that it is some problem either with the valves or with the fuel system. No clunking, banging, or grinding noises. Work I can do. We won't need a major or complete overhaul. Spanish classes are progressing and we're even having discussions with locals. People are very friendly and consider Americans generally rude because we don't say 'Ola! Como usta?' very much. We tend to focus on the task at hand and don't realize that market day is supposed to be just that: a whole day for about an hour's worth of shopping. Greeting friends, catching up, and making new friends are part of every task.

Enough for now. We're here through sometime in October, then to the Galapagos, then back up to Panama in November sometime.

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What do we do each day?

First a long philosophical (of sorts) discussion ... what else would you expect from the yang side?

At the core of it all, you need to understand that when we left the US, several cultural differences were encountered, but ours were encountered onboard, not on shore. We didn't even recognize the subtle differences for years. And then too, the subliminal training stayed with us for over a year ... seeing the world and our role in it the way we were trained. But we also recognized that these changes work 'here' on ceilidh but would not stay with us if we returned to America. They couldn't stay with us: different game with different rules.

Biggest difference: there is no mass media where we are. We don't have the advertising industry incessantly telling us to buy more, buy faster. We don't have the same industry telling us what the perfect lifestyle would be through TV or movie role models: more gadgets, better car, faster computer/internet, and so on. The psychological drivers creating greed and consumption have been (slowly) stripped away. Entertainment is self-generated or shared with friends. Simply being quiet and feeling/experiencing the environment is an enjoyable activity.

We also have limited choices: shopping is not a recreational activity in the same sense it is in America. Shopping for price rarely results in a savings of more than a few cents for an hour's work. You deal with the people you come to like. Eventually the prices come down. Shopping for variety is possible only in the larger towns (rarely encountered in our favored areas) and even then variety is nothing like in America. How many brands, types, formulations of sausage (meat, vegetarian, and vegan) can you find among all the supermarkets (individually and collectively), speciality gourmet shops, and meat markets in a convenient driving distance? We're lucky to find 6-10 TOTAL in an entire town (even the big ones) and that would take over a couple of hours of walking or several hours of bussing. Usually there is one meat market with two types: regular and spicy. Sometimes there is no sausage in a town: buy the whole cuts of meat then grind and blend your own that day. Limited choices, go with the flow. It's delicious!

The same lack of mass media has caused us to re-evaluate our usage and recycling practices. Not of trash, but of possessions. When outfitting ceilidh (especially while I was still working), we would just buy a new replacement, get exactly what we needed ... new. Now we mend, repair, make do. I even clean bolts and nuts and save them for reuse. Clothes are pushed beyond all normal standards in America because each has become (in its way) a favorite. If at all possible, I figure out a way to repair something with what I have on hand, not get a new piece of equipment like I did in America. In that way, ceilidh is getting to be (if you know where to look) more & more like a cruising boat. That 'temporary' fix will last for ten years so why lust after a whole new component? It would be much easier and faster to spend money, but why?

The one thing we have in excess is time. Learning, practising, then doing things ourselves that would be economically unjustified to employed Americans ("My time is worth more than that!"). Most cruisers have more disposable income than we do. So we have more time to 'spend' than we do money. So we spend more time on what we do than we spend money on the activity or project. Example, walking instead of busses, busses instead of taxis, taxis instead of car rentals (never a car rental).

One noticeable difference when no one is around: Hope and I simply enjoy each other (almost all of the time). Some have noted (exclaimed!) that this means we are together 24x7. I will sit and do nothing but listen to her play her harp. We will sit together touching & reading. We work together, shop together, explore together, and still it seems like 24x7 isn't enough (most of the time).

Another noticeable difference is that our home is in a constant state of decay (saltwater) and breakage (extreme usage ... sailing and passage-making). So no matter whether we are in a posh marina or on the hook in a remote anchorage, there is maintenance to do from polishing (to keep a finish that resists saltwater corrosion), to routine servicing (there are few qualified workers to do what is needed even if we had the money), to overhauling major components. You've got to like it (maintenance), be challenged by it, and be up to it, or it becomes a reason to quit.

So what did we do today: Up at 6:30 for coffee and a snack for Hope and pack for showers on shore. Check state of batteries, any weird noises heard during night. 7:00, put the dinghy in the water and get the outboard on (put away each night to lessen growth on the submerged surfaces). 7:15 leave for shore, tie up, drop things off at Puerto Amistad (local cruiser facility). 7:30, start walking around the point to the other side of town with a friend. Meet other friends on the walk (old friends new to town) and chat for awhile to catch up on adventures, answer their questions since we've been here longer. Usually 8:30 (but today 8:45) get back to Puerto Amistad for showers. 9:00-9:15 get back on ceilidh for breakfast (& dishes, & make bed, & straighten up, & etc), listen to the SSB radio net (catch up on friends not here) & weather, hang up exercise duds & towels. 9:45 go back (most weekdays) for Spanish class from 10:00-11:00. 11:00-2:00, in-town chores. Today: internet (15 min walk from class) and some groceries (15 min from internet) (someone needed copies of tax forms, we needed to make a VISA payment, etc). Walk downtown to mercado for fresh food (veggies, meat, bread, all little specialty shops spread out over a few blocks). Today we walked to the other end of town to find the one 'supermarket' in town. Bought a few things but decided it was too pricey for routine shopping, it's cheaper to eat out than shop there. Last Thursday we had to find the DHL office (& FedEx to compare prices & times) to mail a post office form & copies of IDs to our new mail forwarding service (took11-3, getting them notarized was another hour). Meet friends in the street, both cruisers and locals. Get back to ceilidh, put things away. Yesterday we had water jugs waiting for us to pour in the tanks (can't make water here). 2:00-5:00 or sometimes right after class 'til done: chores on ceilidh. The water line needed cleaning (without getting in the water) over the weekend. Other days: replace or repair used components, make repairs of things damaged in getting here (example, I'm having to re-engineer how the rudder post is held in place at the top). Hope has laundry that we hang around ceilidh on some sunny days. We're going to be making repairs to the sails, new dinghy chaps, I cleaned out the anchor locker (long overdue), etc ... our list runs to dozens of items not all of which we will complete here. We'll need to search out a coffin maker (apparently the only woodworkers in town) that can also make table tops. 5:00 or so have a 'delicious drink' (today Pisco sours) and plan dinner, spend some time together, just focused on each other. 7:00 do Spanish home work. 8:00 read & put dinghy away (outboard off & locked on stern rail, dinghy hanging & secured to lifelines). 9:00-9:30 turn in for the night.

Other possible activities that sneak in routinely: Local travel: Saturday we took a ferry/bus trip to another town up the coast that lasted from after the net (10ish) 'til 4:00 ... 3 hours in the resort town, 3 hours on ferries and busses looking at the scenery. Optional activities: Naps occasionally sneak in there (siestas work!). Dinners with or at friends' once in awhile. Happy hour with friends at Puerto Amistad once in awhile to trade in-land travel information or catch up on old/recent times. So far on two days ... 2-3 hours watching the Ecuador world cup team and celebrate briefly with the locals, they go on for hours, we go back to boat projects. We run one of the SSB cruiser nets on Friday morning and have been helping out on an unofficial one at 5pm each evening for others making the passage to here (often the longest any of us have made). Research (mostly Hope) & talk about land trips to Quito & Mindo, then Cuenca & Machu Picchu. Hope has been cat sitting for friends traveling inland for the past 10 days, two trips a day and time at their boat. I've been going with her some of the time. Write emails (Hello!) and blog postings. Edit, upload, and label photos. Financial tracking (where does that little amount of money get to?). Planning & dreaming where we'd like to go next in ceilidh: this involves researching & understanding weather patterns for the planned passage time, environment, currents, friendliness of local officials, what-if (something goes wrong) scenarios, provisioning needs (& availability on the other end), figuring out what projects have to be completed for such a passage ... obviously not just jumping in the car & driving down the coast. Trying to track down info on unidentified, broken parts not available outside the US. Searching out sources locally for broken bits or specialized services. Practice & fiddle with our musical instruments. Track down & eliminate this or that computer glitch. And so on.

So we feel quite occupied in mind and body and heart.

love from the three of us,

yang & yin
s/v ceilidh
Bahia de Caraquez, Ecuador

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Late (stress on late) Breaking News

Have no idea where the days go but they are zooming by – very hard to believe we have been in Ecuador now for almost 3 weeks. Such an interesting village this is. Rich and I were just chatting over lunch (ok, it is 2:15 but it is our afternoon meal) and I came to the conclusion that Bahia Caraquez (called just Bahia) is just that, a village – but a village with high rise (8 or so floors) apartment buildings. There are no supermarkets, no expensive or sophisticated restaurants, no department stores, no industrial manufactures, no….. There are, however, friendly people, a mercado (open market with various vendors) that supplies the town with basic food, and many small inexpensive store front type ma and pa places to eat. It is, all in all, a small town where everyone knows everyone else.

We started walking every morning and are now greeting and being greeted by the other walkers. They see us in town and stop to chat as we visit the internet in the afternoon. We are taking Spanish classes each morning, as well, and feel as though progress is slowly plodding in a positive direction. Francisco, our teacher, is a wonderfully patient man. Good thing! As always, we are attempting to balance the investigation of our surroundings with boat tasks and maintenance. Somehow we thought that with so much time in one anchorage there would be huge amounts of time to just work on projects such as varnish, polish, sewing…. Funny, but there are so few hours in the day that we are scrambling just to complete the smaller task list.

For example, this morning we started our walk early, at 6:30 am, so we could be showered and ready for breakfast in front of Puerto Almasted’s TV. Ecuador played and won their second game in the World Cup! Talk about excitement! Cruisers and Ecuadorians yelling and jumping and dancing. What fun. The government declared a national holiday and everyone is celebrating as I write. Music, honking of horns, people hooting with joy. Way cool. Today they played Costa Rica – Ecuador won 3 to 0. Poor Costa Rica. Who would have figured we would be in Ecuador watching them compete in the World Cup?

More travel adventures via land travel are planned for August and September. August to Ecuador’s interior and September to Peru. Looks like we’ll be headed for the Galapagos in late October, early November with Ceilidh, then back to Panama. For now, we are just enjoying each day and the adventures that appear.

I’ll blast up new photos at the same time as this post, so here is the photo link:
http://public.fotki.com/svceilidh/ecuador/
Best viewed by selecting the "slideshow" feature.

Wish it were easier to include photos intext but the whole BLOG tends to bomb when photos are included. Rich and I think about starting a web site but it still seems too much like work – UGH! Besides, we can BLOG from our boat’s email and that is very wonderful. So much still to say but I’ll get to it next time. Love and hugs to all from us

from the yin side

How far is far?

After installing the GPS/Chartplotter back in San Francisco in 2003, I never did reset the trip log (accumulated miles) to zero. Too many other things to do (like learn how to use a GPS/Chartplotter let alone navigate in more traditional ways). But yesterday I had some time and I've been curious: roughly how many miles have Hope & I sailed since leaving San Francisco in September of 2003?

When we knew that we were going to head to Central America and probably Ecuador, I meant to reset the trip log up at our northernmost point in the Sea of Cortez. Unfortunately, it didn't get done until a couple of hundred miles later in La Paz. But going back and gauging the mileage along the coast, I've come up with a total of at least 11,000 nautical miles (nm). For you land lubbers, that's roughly 12,500 miles or just over 20,000 kilometers. And it's probably more because I can't begin to add up the back-and-forths between islands and anchorages, circles we've made, and so on. As an example of that (this last passage), the straight-line distance between Panama and Ecuador is around 600 nm. Our GPS recorded that we actually sailed 935 (way out to the west then back again to have sailing angles on the winds from the south) to cover the straight-line passage of 600 nm. And in calculating the 11,000 nm I was using straight-line distances along coasts for about 60% of our travels.

The funny thing now (to us) is that the first hop out of San Francisco Bay around the corner to Half Moon Bay was about 50-60 miles. Then down to Santa Cruz was about the same again. But they were our first hops and they seem H-U-G-E ! Two weeks ago, this 900 mile passage seemed huge: now we feel we can plan 1000 miles at a time with no problem. Which will be helpful because when we leave here (Bahia de Caraquez, Ecuador) we'll be heading due west to the Galapagos, another 600 nm. But this times the winds should still be southerly so our actual miles should be almost exactly the 600 of the straightline distance.

OK, time to catch up on some waypoints to look up on Google Maps:

Bahia de Caraquez, Ecuador: 00.609217S, 080.420633W (Note the 'S' for a change, and we'll be here for a few months so no new ones for awhile)

Balboa, Panama: 08.908300N, 079.525333W (Zoom out or pan right to find the Panama Canal to the east ... should be interesting)

Las Perlas: 08.426983N, 078.854717W (Zoom out a little: this is just one place we stopped in this bunch of islands)

Bahia Banao: 07.425700N, 080.193800W (Zoom out a little to see the point to the East ... Punta Mala [Bad Point] ... Banao is the hidey-hole to wait for decent weather to get around the well-named Punta Mala)

Isla Coiba: 07.623483N, 080.726000W (Nice place but with the shark stories from Hope)

Isla Parida: 07.10167N, 082.367483W (First stop after leaving Costa Rica ... want to get back to 'western Panama')

Golfito, Costa Rica: 08.619633N, 083.153300W (Last stop & check out point for Costa Rica)

Isla del Cano: 08.713850N, 083.887083W (Best snorkeling story since leaving Mexico)

Bahia Drake: 08.697167N, 083.668400W (Panga trip into the mangroves .. search to the north for the river entrance ... and our own inflatable kayak trip up a stream on the point of land to the west of where we anchored)

Think that takes us back awhile. And, oh yeah: water does swirl in the opposite direction here when going down a drain!

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Catching up ...

A whole bunch of unrelated paragraphs from the yang side.

We were told by a local that one could live like 'a king' on US$2000 per month in Panama. New car every two years, great condo in the best neighborhood. Not going to do that though. Buying a $200,000 CD entitles you to a resident visa, which, if you renew the CD and the visa for 5 years, could lead to citizenship. Of course, enough money up front and I imagine the wait could be significantly shortened. Is tomorrow convenient for you, se�or?

Hope related the passage here. We are very pleased to find out that we are more resourceful than we thought, that we planned ahead appropriately, that ceilidh is stronger than we knew, that our sailing skills continue to grow, and that we're more and more in love with each other and our choices as time goes by.

When we returned to Panama to diagnose and the replace the battery bank, we didn't check back in so we were (technically) illegal aliens. The port captains are understanding (we're told) about vessels returning with problems so there wasn't much to worry about.

The rainy season was starting in Panama and Central America just before we left. Each afternoon huge black clouds would form over the isthmus and move out over Panama City and sometimes us. Good news for the canal as that what's fills the lake for the locks to continue operating. A daily downpour is pretty much how it remains through the summer. We were out on deck taking showers, filling buckets to catch the rain and add to our drinking water tanks, and generally having a good time in the rain. (Can't remember the last time I've been in the rain intentionally!) But come October (again, we're told) the lightning is so constant that you can see to pick up small things off the sidewalk during the night. No thank you!

On passage we had a few clear evenings, at least for awhile. It's a whole new sky, little is recognizable. The north star is gone (has been gone in the haze of the horizon for some time) but here in Ecuador, even the big dipper has to be just right to be seen. Think I recognized Scorpio, or at least a bunch of stars over the Milky Way that SHOULD be a Scorpio. Will check it out on the star charts sometime.

Hope and I celebrate our anniversary on the first full moon after the winter solstice. We celebrated our last anniversary (after the winter solstice you know and love on 21 December) on 14 January. But since we're in the southern hemisphere, 21 June is the next winter solstice, so another anniversary coming up! The back up in Panama, yet another come December!

All these extra anniversaries because we crossed the equator. We did so at 2 AM our last night out. Didn't have any hazing of each other, but it was a small moment to share as an accomplishment. Happened at a watch change so we were both up. That's a long way from San Francisco! More to come though.

One can never get ready on time. While getting ready to leave Panama, we seemed to be working many hours and very hard. But the date to leave slipped a couple of times. Not much, but it apparently takes much more organized workers and gifted schedulers than us. We're not as bad as others, not as good as others. We seemed to be hurrying and hurrying and tiring ourselves out, but the list wasn't shrinking appreciably. One of our friends declared that the whole week was a D-O-I-N-G N-O-T-H-I-N-G set of days. Maybe it's our attitude ... too beaver-like? (That's a joke ...) Actually, we're glad we pushed a little. With the delay caused by the batteries, we had a hard enough time because the wind had more of a chance to turn from the south and build itself and the seas. Those coming after us have even more wind and seas to contend with.

No big insights on what we'll do next year. Will go to the Galapagos in October, then we think turn north to Panama and Costa Rica. Maybe up to Isla del Coco before turning to the mainland. Maybe go through the canal and spend a season in the Caribbean. Probably not the south Pacific yet. This last passage gave us some insight and experience, but more will be in order. Just like we spent an extra year in Mexico and are very glad we did it.

Lots of pictures to catch up on. More to come.

yang

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Sitting here in Ecuador

and ever such a lovely day. Yes, we did make it. Only took us 8 days after the first aborted departure. We left Balboa, Panama the first time and got 18 hours out before realizing that our battery bank would no long retain a charge. Humm. Not a good way to start the longest journey we have made to date and to a further port than we have previously visited. So, back we went to Balboa to do further diagnosis of the problem and then obtain new batteries. Ouch. It is only $$$'s, right? Took us 3 days and we were on our way yet again. New batteries, topped off fuel and happy wishes from our friends still in the anchorage. As for the trip - it was long. I thought it was 1000 miles we sailed but Rich corrected me. It was only 935. The extra miles went in tacking back and forth into the wind which, as expected, was on our nose. We experienced many squalls with mucho rain and shifting winds for the first 4 days. After that the wind stayed in the 18 to 24 knot range with rather large lumpy seas. The battery failure was just the first of many. The regulator on the alternator went bonkers and Rich found a way to disconnect the alternator yet still have it run (just no juice coming out) and put in a switch to so we could charge only when needed. What a clever boy. Lots of other small problems that we'll solve while here so they will no longer be issues. The largest of these was the rudder wobble. During one of my early morning watches I started hearing a definite icky noise coming from the steering column, rudder post area. It continued to get louder and more worrisome so I woke up Rich and asked him his opinion. Turns out there are 4 screws that hold a circular ring which the top of the rudder post goes thru. This ring keeps the rudder from moving side to side. Well, all 4 of the screws had come loose and the ring and the rudder post were twisting back and forth. YIKES! We worked together and tightened them down and all was well. Had to do this again the next day as well but it all held together. The strong wind and large seas really worked the entire boat and especially the rudder. Rich is working on re engineering the whole structure for additional strength and safety. Whew! That was just a bit to close for comfort.

And so the journey passed and here we are. Today is our 5th day in Bahia. To check in with immigration we took a taxi (1 hour ride) to Manata, another coastal town to the south. Loved seeing all the farming land, rice paddies, fat happy pigs, brahma type cows and houses built of bamboo with braided palm leaves. Most of these houses supported on poles to stay above the flood plane. Yesterday we went with some other cruisers (Carina and 5th Element) to San Vicente via a large vehicle and pedestrian ferry. The vehicles pay a fee but pedestrians are free of charge - as many as can pack themselves between the railing and the vehicles. While waiting for the ferry on the Bahia Caraquez side we talked with a group of 15 or so students - all between the ages of 16 and 18. They come to the Bahia side to attend classes and live in San Vicente. We had a lot of fun trying out our limited Spanish and their smattering of English. San Vicente is just on the other side of the estuary here and appears to be a small but busy city. Sure we'll go back and explore some more soon.

Yesterday was also the first day of Spanish classes. In order to travel further inland in Ecuador and Peru we really need to improve our vocabulary. I want to be able to really converse, not just "how much is that" and "where is ???". So, Spanish lessons 5 days a week for an hour and Rich and I will get out in the town and practice, practice, practice! OK! We'll stick around Ceilidh and do some of the chores that identified themselves on our trip down in the next week or so and then start thinking about local adventures via bus and boat. I have taken some more photos and will work on getting them up on the web next week. I'll post a link when they're live. For now, love from here to you

from the yin side.

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Computer glitches ...

No postings for awhile for a variety of reasons.

We were frantically getting ready to leave Panama for the passage to Ecuador (the wind/seas window keeps getting more adverse with each passing week) and made no time to get to an internet cafe or write emails. Left Panama on Wednesday the 17th only to get 50 miles and discover the battery bank had crapped out (sorry for the 'tech speak'). Turned around and in 8 hours returned the distance it took us 18 hours to cover going out. (Were we going the wrong way?) A day of tests and wishful workarounds to confirm the obvious solution: time for a new battery bank. Purchased, delivered, installed on Friday (that's 360+ pounds of batteries in and out of a boat in a rolly anchorage by yours truly), and out again to Ecuador on Saturday the 20th. So having checked out of Panama on Tuesday the 16th, we were running around as (technically) illegal aliens.

Once out at sea, the connection between the computer and radio 'crapped out'. Today (the 27th) finally had time and conditions to figure out the problem (well, one never really figures out computer problems, one simply works around them or makes them go away).

We'll have been at sea for 8 days (not counting the false start) when we pull into Bahia de Caraquez, Ecuador. Cross the equator tonight. It has been a challenging passage (many more postings on that aspect later), but all is well, and we once again learned that we have skills and patience we didn't think we had, that ceilidh has strengths and abilities we didn't know she had, that we keep loving each other more and more, that we can learn new things and skills all the time.

enough for now, back to the bashing

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Catch up and photos!

OK. Now where were we? Literally and figuratively. Jan and Ken did fly off to Costa Rica and we did have a most wonderful visit with them. While they were here we visited the Mira Flores Locks, the first set of locks here on the Panama City side for the Panama Canal. The museum was ever so impressive and informative. The exhibits were visual feasts and extremely informative. All four of us came away feeling as though it was a class act. One of the exhibits was a replica of a large ship (container or otherwise) pilot house. Looking out the forward, port and starboard windows you saw the canal entrance and first set of locks as if you were standing in the pilot house. Let me tell you, as a little sailboat navigator it is eye opening to see how much these big ships can't see right around them due to deck/freight obstructions. The simulator even rumbled realistically so you experienced both visual and audio input. Way cool. This was Jan's favorite bit. Jan and Ken treated us at the fancy restaurant overlooking the locks so we feasted on delectable treats and watched ships transit back and forth from the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. We also saw our friends on She Wolf, a Tayana 42, pass thru on their way to Colon. We waved and took photos like crazy.

Ah, the perfect segway into the photo bit. Today I made it to the internet cafe, with our computer, and succeeded in uploading the photos that have been accumulating for ever so long. Even entered descriptions on all but the Canal album. I'll try and go back and enter some for it at another time. So, the link is
http://public.fotki.com/svceilidh/
and there you go. I'll be taking more photos in Panama and continue as we travel in Ecuador. Yes, we are still heading in that direction. Were tempted briefly to slip thru to the Atlantic side but decided to stick with the Ecuador plan. Should be on our way in a week if all goes well. I did miss out on two photos because the camera was not with me. One night as we were walking back to our dingy after a mango gathering expedition (yes, there are mango trees just asking to be picked!) we saw an armadillo scurry across the road and into a fenced off area. I have never seen a live armadillo before - only road kill models. On another walk we saw a sloth hanging from the fence. He s l o w l y reached down and scratched his hind leg and then just stayed in the scratch position for a good 5 min or so before moving this front leg back to the "hang on" position. We walked all over the jungle in Costa Rica looking for a sloth and found one in the parking lot in Panama. Go figure.

The clouds are building again and the thunder is booming so guess I'll shut the computer down for now and start getting ready for the rain. Love to you all
from the yin side

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"Getting Stuff" mode in Panama

Friends Jan and Ken are off to a Costa Rican adventure before flying back to SF and we are in full tilt GETTING STUFF mode. While our friends were here we went to the locks to watch boats transit the Mira Flores locks - only 2 of the 6 sets of locks that comprise the Panama Canal. The museum at the Mira Flores facility is wonderful. Both informative and beautiful, it contains history about the building of the canal and displays birds, insects and reptiles of the area - some live and others mounted. To give Jan and Ken a "cruising" type experience we sailed for the Perlas Islands and visited five in the limited time available. Did some great snorkeling and actually did some decent sailing, as well. Would have spent more time snorkeling but found large, beautiful jelly fish in some of the anchorages. Truly beautiful but not something I want to play with up close and personal.

So, back in La Playitta anchorage just off the approach to the Panama Canal and scurrying around each day to collect the items we need before traveling on to Ecuador. Many of the boats in the anchorage have departed already for Ecuador or the Marquesas and new boats have come to fill the anchorage from the Atlantic side of the Canal. There are flags of so many countries flying from the rigging. Boats from France, Belgium, England... very different than Mexico.

Sending this over the air waves this morning before heading off to town to hunt down new oars for the dingy, varnish for Ecuador projects and retrieve our laundry. The photos WILL be coming soon. Love to all
from the yin side.

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