Yippee...we're off to the Pacific

It’s Halloween and we didn’t dress up in funny costumes or go to parties or get ready to welcome the Trick or Treaters.  It was tempting to stick around Panama City a little longer because I can see they, like Canada, celebrate Halloween in a big way.  I haven’t experienced a good Halloween since I have moved abroad some five years ago. 

Instead we sailed out to the Pacific.  We travelled about 40 nautical miles to a group of islands called Las Perlas.  These islands were known for the pearls found in the waters in this area and Isla Contadora which is our first anchoring point, was the main island where they would count the pearls before shipping them back to Spain.  The island is now home to some wealthy individuals and about 2,600 residents.

Even though we had the sails up on our trip over, we put the fishing lines in the water and lucky that we did as we caught three nice sized Spanish Mackeral.  Jens cut them into fillets and cooked some up for dinner.  What a treat – nice white meat. Tasty and tender.

But the big treat for Jens was the Humpback Whale that jumped out of the water to say hello to him.  We had just come through a big rain storm.  Anna and Christian were down below, I was sitting in the cockpit step facing aft trying to stay dry as I was getting a little woozy down below and Jens was at the helm soaked through but enjoying every minute.  Suddenly, Jens’ mouth drops open, closes, opens again but no words are coming out.  His arms start moving and pointing, his eyes are as wide open as they can possibly be and then his legs start wobbling.  I thought he had just seen a lightning strike close to the boat and I was prepared for the crack of thunder.  But instead I heard a huge splash and got up just in time to see that something big had dropped in the water.  It took Jens a few more seconds to find his voice and then he told me that it was a Humpback Whale that had just breached not 30 feet from the boat.  He was almost fully out of the water before splashing down again.   The next time we saw him was off in the distance as he came to the surface spouting water through his blow hole.  It’s the end of the season for whales here and we may not see another one.  So Jens was very lucky indeed.

We anchored just off the beach and at the end of the runway.  Every day there are a few small planes coming in and flying out again.  Every time I see one, I can’t help but think of Eric.  Oh, wouldn’t it be sweet if it were him flying in to see us.  I can only dream about that for now, but it’s good to dream a little. 

Isla Contadora is a small island with nice paved roads.  We can walk around it in about one hour.  We have decided to take advantage of the hills and paved roads and are getting some much needed exercise every morning.  Anna and Christian run, Jens and I do some fast walking.  It’s a good way to start the day.