On Saturday evening, Peter once again went in the engine room to trouble-shoot on the generator. He replaced one relay, but the generator stopped running after a few minutes. Then he replaced another, and it started again. Hallalujah! It kept running although Peter is not quite sure why it seems to be fixed. Even though it wasn’t beastly hot, it was nice to have air-conditioning again to dry out the excess moisture inside the boat caused by the high humidity.
The weather was much the same on Sunday, Oct. 13--mostly cloudy in the morning becoming completely cloudy in the afternoon with rain in the late afternoon into the night. After lunch, the sun seemed to be trying to break through, so we snorkeled off the back of the boat. Unfortunately, it started to rain as soon as we got started, so the light was not good. Even had it been, there did not appear to be anything truly exciting to see, although I did spot a ray as we returned to Mantra.
Other than access to town and comaradie with other yachties, this anchorage does not have much to recommend it. Water taxis zoom in all directions across the bay from early morning well past sunset, leaving wakes behind. The water is not clear. There are quite a few derelict boats at anchor or on moorings. Sometimes they are neglected and in visible disrepair, but their unsightliness is not the main problem. The problem is that they not occupied or watched after, so they can break loose in storms, which is what happened on Sunday night. Just as we were sitting down to dinner, the boat started to shake and the awnings started to snap violently as the wind suddenly picked up to over 25 knots, with gusts as high as 28, near gale conditions. On the VHF radio, people were commenting on the squall, and then someone announced that a steel sailing vessel was drifting near the west shore of the harbor, which is where we are anchored. This boat, according to people who have been here for a while, has been here for over a year, unattended. Peter got out our high powered light, and we spotted it drifting a few hundred feet off our stern. It wasn’t long before it was grounded in shallow water near the mangroves, luckily upright.
A couple of hours later, after the storm had passed and the waves had calmed, Peter got on the radio to say he was going to tie lines from the boat to the shore in case the wind came from a different direction. Two other captains, one Canadian, one South African, went to help him. Peter had taken two of our dock lines, but luckily the lines that had broken loose from a mooring were still attached to the derelict boat so they were able to use them to secure it to trees. That was a bit of excitement after a thoroughly boring day.
On Monday, Oct. 14, the weather remained dreary. I did laundry and hung it on the lifelines as it drizzled off and on, wondering if it would ever dry. Although it never became a bright, sunny day, the afternoon was better than the morning. We took the dinghy to town, stopping at other boats along the way to invite people over for drinks at 6. Following suggestions for places to find book exchanges that we had been provided on the morning cruisers’ net, we stopped in a couple places with no luck. This was bad news, as I had finished every book on the boat and was going to have to resort to reading texts about diesel engines or electronics! In the northern part of town, we found a very lovely bed and breakfast with a large and comfortable room with not just one but several bookcases, and we chose six books to trade from the several hundred there.
We also stopped at a couple of hardwares because we always need the kind of stuff you find at hardwares. We were able to get a new flashlight, some hose and some kerosene.
Hustling back to our boat, we had less than an hour to spare to get all the laundry off the lines, tidy up down below and get the additional sodas in the refrigerator to chill them. I barely had time to take a shower, but I really needed one. Peter zoomed off to invite two Norwegian guys to join us also. Luckily, everyone arrived at least 15 minutes late, so I was just relaxing and eating chips when the party started. In addition to ourselves and the two Norwegians, we hosted a young South African couple who are living here on there boat for a time while they establish a business and a man and his three children from British Colombia who are waiting for his wife to join them at the end of the month. They have just purchased a boat that needs some work and are setting off to explore the world with no sailing experience. Gutsy!
Usually people stay for an hour or so, but everyone was having a great time. We had an abundance of drinks and chips available, the A/C was on (it was still humid after dark), and people moved from small group to small group becoming acquainted and sharing stories about boats and adventures. When everyone left, we looked at our phones and realized that it was much later than we thought, 10:30 p.m. Dinner was quick quesadillas.
We were not surprised at this point to wake up on Tuesday, Oct. 15, to the same weather. With nothing left to do in Bocas Town, we decided to move to a quieter and more pristine place until the weather changes and we can start travelling (hopefully, sailing) to San Andrés.
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