Crawling back to Bocas – 2

The last post announced our delayed return to Bocas and mentioned the gearbox problem. As we are still not back in Bocas you probably realised it wasn’t an easy problem to fix…

Mañana mañana… más una mes

Our plan to get back to Bocas came to a grinding hold when the gearbox broke because the mechanic put it back together the wrong away around.

At first the Linton Bay marina manager helped us find a mechanic that specialises in our type of gearbox, in Colon. Dad went to Colon first thing on Monday morning to reopen the gearbox and find out what damage had been done. Dropping the gearbox off went okay and they were going to send us a list of spares and prices by the following day. Tomorrow came, but no news from the gearbox and no response to our messages. The days after that there was a lot of going back and forth to the marina trying to get answers, getting frustrated and finishing business with the locals that work in the marina.

Dad decided that if it takes the gearbox mechanic in Colon that long to respond to messages and phonecalls then we’ll have to wait forever. We called him to say that we would pick up the gearbox the next day. Dad found a new one online, that would need to be shipped from the US.

On that same day, when dad had left early in the morning to collect the broken gearbox, me and mom discovered that our fuel filter broke right at the ring where you put the cap on, with all the fuel running out into the hull. Ahh well, another thing to get, and lots of cleaning up to do.

Meanwhile Capo slept through the whole thing, lying on mom and dad’s bed, far away from all the action. And I had quickly moved the hermits outside to protect them from stinky diesel fumes.

What a drag!!!

On a really windy day we were trying to figure out if we were dragging or not. When we anchored, we put down anchor as quickly as we could, and we had not been able to dig in the anchor because of all the gearbox issues.

Dad checked the iPad and confirmed we were dragging. We discussed the best way to handle this because without the gearbox we could not move Exodus. We decided to ask the neighbours to help us tow Exodus with their dinghy to a better anchor spot. When we spoke to them, we agreed to wait for the rain to stop, the wind to calm down, and the Germans to have lunch. By the time the wind stopped, the Germans were gone to a BBQ in Panamarina, so we ended up doing the whole thing ourselves, using our tender and dad pulling us. When we put down anchor dad drove to the stern and started driving away to pull the anchor chain straight so the anchor could dig in. On board, he used our snubber rope to give us more swing range because the anchor chain was too short. Later that week we dragged again so we put on a longer rope and bought more chain in the marina shop.

Trip to Panamarina

In the weekend we went to Panamarina, as we were looking for an extra antenna, as the new one was not doing what it should (transmitting AIS). Dad had already made a homemade antenna but the first version wasn’t great and our neighbours had told us they saw one at Panamarina.

Dear readers, if you are ever on a boat in this area, I deeply suggest staying in Panamarina. It was a beautiful ride and just as my dad says it gives more of a cruisers vibe. On our way back from the marina we saw Capuchin monkeys, it was funny to watch them running around.

Meanwhile dad has sorted out the AIS. Don’t ask me how. We made a second homemade antenna and changed some parts in the ceiling.

Diving for fish

One of the weekends we went snorkeling at the entrance to the bay, where you have a lot of gulleys and deep holes full of fish in the coral reef. We saw a strange new trigger fish. It was a really dark color and where the top fin met the body there was a bright white line and it’s head was a perfect half circle. We saw about 6 of them, and they were a lot smaller than the trigger fish you normally see around here. We couldn’t find the correct picture online (I didn’t take my camera 🙄). The one that came closest was this.

Dad managed to shoot another big Cubera Snapper.When we got back from snorkeling I took Capo outside to inspect the snapper.

He went sniff sniffing around, looking for a way to get a little taste. I stopped him from going for the spearhole. And after a lick on the fish’s tail he slinked off, deciding it was too salty to his liking.

(Very angry) Monkey island

On another day me and my dad took a ride around and when we neared the island we saw a baby armadillo foraging near the beach 🥹. It was so cute! Then we went a little further and saw a tree that was leaning over the water.

We decided to tie up and go for a swim but then a very territorial spider monkey started walking toward us so we pushed off and as we were leaving the monkey sat on a branch and stared at us, what very bad manners😑, we also saw a Kestrel.

News from the bay

We also got new neighbours, they are an elderly couple and their boat name is Faith.

The other day I saw someting very sad. There are these little pufferfish that you see all over the place. Well, I saw a quarter of their population that lives in Linton Bay drifting by with bellies up ☹️. It looked like they were victim of pollution, as I also saw an oil or diesel stain drifting past….

Cats can be conditioned

Most people say cats are untrainable because they easily ignore you, right? And when you have their attention it is hard to keep. When mom studied psychology, she was told that cats cannot be conditioned due to the smaller brain size and their instinctive part taking up more space.

But latest scientific discoveries are proven wrong by Capo. You can condition a cat if you have fish. Not those ridiculous wet food packets you get at the store but we use … Tuna! Capo loovveess tuna. And will do anything to get a bite. (* Editor’s note: When we moved him onto the boat he even traded his jungle freedom for being a captive on board in order to get a bit of tuna). Now whenever someone opens a can of beans, sardines or tomato he will instantly wake up from a deep slumber, get super alert, go crazy, hop to the kitchen and pace around while making pitiful mews. He suddenly realised he is starving. You can literally see the disappointment on his face when you let him sniff the contents of that can. Watch the video, you’ll love it🤣🤣.

Riding the Diabolo Rojo

Dad has been going back and forth to Colon every week at least 2 times, collecting more spares and trying to do some of the chores that were on his Bocas list.

One time we went with him to do shopping for my Halloween costume, and sorry I can’t tell you guys what it is or I’ll have competition with my fellow kid readers. I can only say it’s a classic 🙂. Or maybe even a golden oldie 😝.

While we were passing through Portobello on the way back, the boys in the marching band were practising on their drums. They were still wearing their school uniforms, and made a heck of a noise. Then it dawned on me: they must have stored up all their anger and frustration of going to school the whole day! No wonder the drumming was so loud! And even less surprising that every school and village in Panama has a marching band! The schoolgirls that joined us on the bus seemed to take it out in another way. They were squealing like pigs (*editor’s note: or like teenage girls on a bus ride :-)) at every bump in the road until they reached their destination.

Hasta la Vista hermits

But another time when dad went to Colon was not so fun for I have sadly discovered my dear little Hermit crabs have passed onto the next life. I had been giving them a few sunbaths because I wanted to dry out their sand a little. But clearly one day it was all a bit too much…

Dear readers join me in a moment of silence😔 to mourn for my lost friends

R.I.P.

Little Joe

R.I.P.

Jasmine

R.I.P.

Amanda

Thank you😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

Ahh well I guess it wasn’t for nothing Hermit crabs are called throw away pets🤧🫥. At least they had a happy life with lots of clothing options and easy food for 2 months… Two out of three had actually molted, which is a sign of growth.

Further delays

Because of the hurricane the gearbox took a slow ride around the US and arrived with delay in Miami. From there it is sent to Bocas with Bocas Island Express and Deon then puts it on Uno Express to Colon. We hope to return soon!!!

Sad for losing my little friends – Gitane

Happy to have all the attention for myself again – Capo