Back to Bocas

Well it's been a long time between posts, but as most of you know anyway, we have been back home in Australia enjoying the summer with family and friends. It all went too quickly and now here we are again in Bocas del Toro aboard Brio.

John & Marilyn with Cole and Huck the dog

We arrived here a week ago, having spent a lovely few days on the way over with our friends John and Marilyn who live in Los Angeles. As always, they were incredibly welcoming and we were lucky enough to be with them while they were babysitting their grandson, Cole, for a few days. He is just a magic little bundle of energy and laughs.

We arrived at Marina Carenero in Bocas just as the weekly 'pot luck' was happening (this is the saturday night communal dinner for people staying at the marina where everybody brings a dish to share). It didn't matter that we had just stepped off the plane and had nothing to offer, we were made to feel extremely welcome and got to say hello again to some folk who were here when we left 6 months ago, and got to meet lots of new people too. Since then, our Canadian friend John has joined us and we have been working at getting the boat ready to sail over to Shelter Bay marina at the Carribean entrance of the Panama Canal. Brio seems to have sat contentedly in her berth while we were away, so most of the work has been trying to remember what sails and sheets go where...oh and the small matter of evicting a few pets (weevils!).

John hamming it up in the main st of Bocas

The weather during the past week has been unseasonally wet and windy so no boats have been moving anywhere, but it looks like there is a break in it and we may even be able to get going tomorrow.

Our little dinghy finally has her name 'Miss Allie' put on