HAWKEYE HAPPENINGS April, 2003

HAWKEYE HAPPENINGS, April 10, 2003

7 degrees 45 minutes north, 81 degrees 35 minutes west

At the end of our last newsletter, we had just arrived at Isla Parida, an island off the west coast of Panama. We had an opportunity to go out on another boat, VESPER, to a seamount where we got to do a dive in clear, warm water. The top of the seamount was in about 35 feet of water and there was a lot of current so we rigged up a line from where you jumped in the water to the anchor and then we were able to go down the anchor line to dive the seamount. What a profusion of fish life! There were lots of big fish and beautiful topography. Brian and Mitch of CRUISING TIME were on a hooka (a gasoline engine-driven air compressor with long hoses for up to two divers) and carried a big spear gun. There were able to get quite a few fish for a feast/jam session the next evening. The rest of us just looked around and enjoyed.

That evening was a potluck pizza party aboard the catamaran CHEWBACCA in honor of the local family where we get our water and whose kids picked up our garbage. A very nice and friendly family with a 6 yr old girl and two boys ages 12 and 17. They are eager to learn English and we to practice our Spanish. They were kind enough to speak clearly and slowly and so we were able to carry on great conversations. Even the kids spoke clearly and slowly! They are home schooled as they cannot afford to get them school uniforms, shoes, books, etc and send them off to the mainland for education. Some of the cruisers are now working with the kids and have gotten some curriculum books for them in Spanish. This family is basically self-sustaining. They grow rice, beans, mangos, bananas, plantains, pineapple and other fruits as well as tomatoes, peppers, onions, garlic, and other vegetables. They trade fruit and veggies with the local fishermen for fish and gasoline. They also have chickens and pigs. We would take out wet garbage over to “pig beach” to feed them. When they are not supplied with table scraps, they eat coconuts. It was pretty funny to paddle up to the beach and have the pigs come running towards us.

One day we went ashore and hiked with the family to some tide pools. On our way back, we sat down on a hill to look at the view and one of the pigs came up behind Linda and gave her a soft “kiss” on the shoulder. Definitely a new and hopefully never again experience!

After a week or so at Parida it was time to move on to see the Islas Secas. Our friends, Peter and Jennifer on the Westsail 32 DREAM WEAVER, had left the day before and the report was - clear water! We had a nice sail (about 18 miles) to the anchorage and got anchored just in time for a beautiful sunset. Guy from ELAN, a 46-foot catamaran who we had known from Mexico (like John, he is also a Ham net controller), came over to visit almost before we had the hook down. His wife, Deborah, had gone into David with some other people for provisions and he was lonesome. He delivered mail he had brought back from the states for John in January and we gave him coffee from Costa Rica and yeast which they had requested we get for them when we were in Puntarenas, CR.

We went snorkeling with Guy the next day and really enjoyed the clear water even though there were jellyfish to bother us. Linda saw a turtle and we saw lots of different fish. Hunting was good, and we had a fish-feast aboard Elan that evening.

As DREAM WEAVER had already moved to the southern anchorage, we packed up and moved to where they were. It is a beautiful anchorage with an island on each side and very protected from wind and waves. We explored that area for a few days and had some spectacular snorkels and visited some small islands and beautiful beaches where we gathered coconuts and talked about how people sitting in offices gazing out their windows dream of these places.

Jennifer, over a couple of days, had perfected her food gathering skills. While the rest of us, armed with abalone irons (tool used for getting scallops off the rocks down here) and spear guns, hunted for food, she would simply watch an alarmed triggerfish wedge himself in the rocks. She would then dive down and surprise it by grabbing it by the tail and then pushing down their “triggers” (dorsal and ventral fins) with which they lock themselves in place and pop back up to the surface with the fish wriggling in her hand. Linda loved watching her and would laugh when she came to the surface with her catch. Poor Peter then had to kill and filet these very alive fish! We had several meals provided by Jennifer’s talents; kind of unusual to have fish without any spear gun holes!

The most unusual thing we saw was two waterspouts. We were sailing from a more remote island to an island closer to the coast and suddenly saw the waterspouts. One touched down to the water and caused a whirlwind of spray on the water. It was amazing to see. We didn’t know if it was going to come directly towards us so we quickly reefed down our sails until it was safely past us.

Our diet consisted mostly of fish, rice, and coconuts after we ran out of fresh fruit and veggies but we were having entirely too much fun to go very far to re-provision. Peter and Jennifer kept telling us their time was running out and they needed to think about getting DREAM WEAVER to a safe, secure place to leave her for six months, as they needed to get back to Wisconsin and work. Jennifer is an attorney and Peter a construction contractor. Before we knew it, it was time to head to Boca Chica to catch a 1½-hour van ride to David, where there was Internet access and grocery stores. We “boat sat” for them while they went in and then they boat sat for us while we went in. By this time we all wanted a hamburger or some chicken but NO FISH!

It was great fun going to David. The first ½ hour of the trip is over very bumpy dirt, gravel, rut filled road, which is impassable when it rains. After that, we were on blacktop roads and we got really excited when we got to our $18 a night, air conditioned, cable TV room that had HOT water. Hot showers are strictly a US kind of thing so it was very unusual. We had a several lists of things needed or wanted. Some things were successfully obtained while others like sewing machine belt and J battery (for Linda’s dive computer) are still on the wish list.

We had heard clothing was cheap in David. While John was overdosing on the high-speed Internet connection (fifty cents/hour), Linda went shopping and managed to get John 2 pair of surfer shorts, 1 swimsuit, and 3 shirts for a total of $11.94. They also threw in a tube of toothpaste, a new toothbrush and 2 bars of soap! John was pleased with his new duds, which were greatly needed as everything he owns either has spots, grease, paint, or holes in.

Supermarkets were overwhelming. We had to go two days in a row. The first day was to look and get things that didn’t need refrigeration and the second day was to get fresh stuff (and beer, at $0.35 per can) that needed refrigerating. We packed everything in boxes after getting rid of all the extra packaging and then filled our cooler with the cold stuff. We were able to buy a frozen turkey that doubled as “ice” for the van and panga trip back to the boat. All went surprisingly well with not even a broken egg.

Sadly, we said goodbye to our friends on DREAMWEAVER as they headed back to Puntarenas, CR to leave their boat. After a few days of high winds, HAWKEYE headed back out to the islands for new adventures. We went back to some of the anchorages we visited with Peter and Jennifer and are now heading slowly towards Balboa and Panama City where our mail and new AGM (Absorbed Glass Mat) sealed batteries for the boat should arrive in a couple of weeks from Florida.

We have gotten quite used to washing clothes in little streams on remote islands, gathering rain water to fill our water tanks and solar shower and keeping the shampoo handy if it looks like rain so we can have unlimited water showers. A few days ago, we were in an anchorage and down below having lunch. All of a sudden, we were hailed loudly in Spanish. Emerging, we beheld a battleship gray "cigarette" boat, replete with machine gun, three armed dudes in uniform - and three (!) 200 hp Yamaha motors on the transom. Since we didn't think we could outrun them, John politely answered all of their questions, evidently to their satisfaction. They then asked if we could give them some ice; we had none, so they left. Clearly, it was a drug-busting boat on the prowl.

Panama, at least the islands and coast of western Panama, are absolutely beautiful and, by and large, unspoilt. It is like what we imagine Mexico was like thirty years ago. Unfortunately, foreigners, US variety in particular, now own many of the hitherto uninhabited islands. It seems the Panamanian government has first right of refusal on all private sales of marine property, but has been unable to exercise this right due to lack of funds. So, the desecration begins. Fancy, overpriced resorts springing up on pristine islands and beaches where the affluent are helicoptered in to a “secure” location where they need not be exposed to actual Panamanians (other than the servants, that is.)

Our plans, cast in sand, are to enjoy Panama until the rainy season is in full force at which time we will head to Ecuador. The rainy season starts in May, in Panama, and that is when winter, with good weather, starts in Ecuador.
Linda & John de Hawkeye