November 10, 2007 - Back in Panama

In mid-June 2007, Dream Caper was hauled out and stored on the hard at Shelter Bay Marina, Colon, Panama for the lightening/rainy season (June to November). Panama is south of the hurricane zone so at least we don’t have to worry about hurricanes, only lightening strikes to the mast that can burn out our entire electrical system. We just keep our fingers crossed!

We flew to the Bay Area for a few days and then drove to Monterey to celebrate our wedding anniversary. We enjoyed lunch at Pebble Beach overlooking the 18th hole on a gorgeously sunny day and had 2 wonderful dinners with Portia’s son, Mako, who lives in Santa Cruz and is the head skydive instructor at Skydive Monterey. Our hotel was right on the beach (It seems we are always drawn to the ocean). We played tennis in Pacific Grove and visited the Monterey Bay Aquarium. After a few days in the Bay Area, we drove south to LA-San Diego, to visit good friends and relatives for a few weeks.

We then spent a week at the Northstar Resort in Tahoe attending its tennis camp where we tried to improve our tennis games while huffing and puffing at 6500’ elevation. We then flew to Kauai (Hawaii) for 5 weeks. We enjoyed Portia’s condo which is in the Poipu Kai Resort right next to the tennis courts. It was good tennis everyday with wonderful local players. We play tennis nonstop when on land because for the 6-7 months we are on Dream Caper, there are no tennis courts on the many small islands and inlets at which we anchor.

We moved on to Mexico on Sept 29: first, one week in Puerto Vallarta and then 4 weeks at Lake Chapala (south of Guadalajara). Lake Chapala is where Portia’s brother spends over 1/2 the year to get away from the Tahoe snows. Lake Chapala is at 5200’, is surrounded by large hills and is a vast shallow lake with small communities on its shores. Many Canadians and Americans retire here because the climate is moderate with low humidity. Wonderful restaurants abound in the area: Eastern European, Japanese, Greek, Barbeque, Chinese, Mexican, Argentinian, Italian, Coffee Cafes, and much more. There is great tennis at Cristiana Park (6 courts) in the City of Chapala. We have become acquainted with many of the players so we have been busy playing 4 to 6 sets a day, pretty much everyday. We arrived here 2 weeks before Portia’s brother because he was delayed by the remodeling project on their house in North Lake Tahoe.

Happily we stayed in luxury at a friend’s house right on Lake Chapala. Last year we met JR in Bocas del Toro, Panama at the marina there. Dream Caper was tied up just across the dock from Moon & Stars, JR’s and his wife Lupe’s 47’ catamaran. We became good friends with JR who we saw again at the Miami Boat Show and then in Colon. JR’s wife, Lupe, owns a beautifully landscaped 6 acre estate on Lake Chapala. The grounds are absolutely stunning! The estate is maintained by 6 full time gardeners and 3 maids. When Lupe offered to have us stay in one of the 2 large houses on the property, we eagerly accepted. Because Lupe lives and works in Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta, we unfortunately only saw her once during our stay. Before leaving Chapala, we had a “Behind the Wall Party” at the estate. There were 36 tennis players and partners in attendance. It was with great sadness we left Chapala on Nov. 7.

We are now on Dream Caper which is “on the hard” (out of the water) and much work is being done to install our new generator, rearrange the electrical system, and finish a number of repair projects. Boat projects never end!!!! And, it is raining, raining, raining. The rainy season is still here. Chris, our mechanic/electrician friend, on the sailing vessel Aquamarine is helping Steve install the new generator and upgrade the electrical system. When he completes work on Dream Caper, Chris and his family will transit the Panama Canal and sail to the Galapagos and then the S. Pacific. We hope to join them on the crossing in April 2008. Before splashing Dream Caper back into the water, we will have both hulls painted and take care of other out-of-the water projects.

On Nov. 16, we will fly to Peru for 13 days, during which time we will visit Lake Titicaca and then hike the Andes to Macchu Picchu. Portia’s brother and wife, Geff and Debbie, along with Shirley and Brant, cruisers on the sailing vessel Bruja, will join us in Peru. It should be an interesting trip gasping for air at 14,000 feet!!! We are looking forward to seeing the beauty of Peru with this fun group of people. We will be back on Dream Caper by Dec. 1. We guess it will take us a week to get her ready to sail to the San Blas Islands for the months of December to February. If all systems are working well on Dream Caper, if the stars line up properly with the sun and moon, and if the timing is right with our business circumstances, (so many factors here!), we will re-transit the Panama Canal and sail to the Galapagos in March 2008 with a planned Pacific crossing to the Marquesas in April. We shall see….Life is ever changing. We just go with the flow.