Stravaig's Travels

It's been a very long time since our last update! We want to wish everybody a wonderful Xmas and great New Year! The rest of the story will have to wait a few more weeks, but be patient, it will be there soon.

Well, finally managed to get some pictures on the blog! Jeff still demolishing the old galley, we took a lot of weight of the boat and they kindly burned it in the marina for us, the good bits of wood were rescued ofcourse and dissappeared very quickly! An empty space, most of the new galley was designed, so all we had to do was put it back together. Good thing we both enjoy all those jobs most of the time. The beginning of the support/divisions. Well, you cant eat ashore every day, so we put the stove in the cockpit and I managed to get some pretty good meals from there, teaches you how little space you really need. Although now the galley is finished , its very nice to have more and better space! New countertop with some of the essentials, fruit , avocados and wine! All done, what a pleasure to cook there, what a difference with before, at least I have some counterspace now and proper storage. The cupboards are the next stage, but we are now waiting for epoxy etc, the repairs we had ...

During the last few weeks in Bocas del Toro, we managed to get hold of sufficient materials, plywood etc. with which we were able to reconstruct the galley. The stove was moved nearer the cockpit, the entire countertop was widened with cupboards and drawers below and a sparkling new sink installed and at last pressure water! During the construction miraculously Jose was able to continue producing great meals despite the fact that the stove was jury rigged outside in the cockpit! No mean feat! All in all a successful and worthwhile project. Once completed we loaded stores, diesel fuel and water and set of belatedly for Florida. Our first stop was the beautiful island of Providencia, off the coast of Niguaragua . This island is part of Colombia however and we were delighted to find the local people kind and friendly and we never felt as welcome as this in the rest of Central America. Our friends Pete and Robbie on PR2 had sailed from Curacao and were there in Providencia to meet up wit...

We are in Cartagena! What a wonderful place! No, no pics yet, not a long story either. We have been busy organizing supplies, like wood and fiberglass so we can go to one of the outer islands and do some work and swim and snorkel as well. We will also write the update since Colon, have been lazy I think! But all is well, we are really enjoying Colombia, its a very nice and friendly country, contrary to all the bad stories, so far we think its wonderful. More soon, dont give up on the stories yet!!

hello to you all! Its been a while since our last update, we have had some trouble with the boat, but hope to be at sea again as from tomorrow. On the way from Providencia to Jamaica we found some water in the main cabin and suspected it to come from the underwing hull connection. Not good, so decided the only safe thing to do was to go downwind and try to get to Colon, Shelter Bay Marina where we hauled out in December. Not our favorite place, but no other options that we could think of. it was a good decision, we did have a crack in the underwing and after 17 days of hard work she is as good as new and we are ready to try and make our way to Curacao where we hope to spend the hurricane season. So, the rest of the story and the latest pictures will have to wait a few more weeks, just thought to update you all a little bit at least! Keep reading the blog, send a comment if you like!

Here a few more pics from Shelter Bay, hauling the boat and my favorite sloth! Thia liitle guy is o Coati-mundi and the next one a Capucin Monkey. Leaving the Panama Yachtclub early in the morning we motored out and crossed the inbound and outbound shipping lanes for the Panama Canal and in quite strong wind made our way up to the breakwater which guards the whole canal approaches. Although we knew there was plenty of room for a couple of ships and us, the big waves and a cross current made our exit feel quite precarious. Once we had managed to get well clear of the pounding surf we headed almost south towards the Chagres river. THE CHAGRES RIVER SEEN FROM THE FORT This is only a mere 5 or 6 miles from the breakwater but to get there we had to pick our way between the anchored ships waiting for their transit. The entrance to the river is quite difficult, the water about 15 ft deep but reefs on both sides tend to make breaking sea...