Newsletter March 2003

"Let’s move to Panama - the beer is cheap! "

Were baaaack, and on the final count down before our return to the States. Jutta and I have completed our third year of cruising. Every summer we return to the USA for two to three months to visit friends and family. This year we plan to return for about six weeks and bolt back to Panama. The rainy season in Central America, or their winter, begins about mid April and lasts into October, and we plan to come back to experience it. Beautiful warm days, crystal clear snorkeling, dazzling white deserted beaches, and every evening a torrential rain storm to cool things off. I forgot to mention, the beer in Panama is fifty cents a bottle in the bars or thirty five cents in the markets; why else do you think I want to return so fast! In my last newsletter I said I became PADI dive certified in Bahia Drake. I neglected to tell you we were diving with sharks and I grabbed one on the tail with my hand, it was kwel!
In February,the crew of Pipe Dream sailed on to Golfito, dropped the hook (anchor) in front of the Land and Sea Yacht Club in Golfito Bay, and stayed for about two weeks. Golfito is the last port of call in Costa Rica. Our three month visa was running out and we needed to clear customs, immigration and the port captain to exit Costa Rica and move on to Panama. Luckily for us there is a duty free zone in Golfito and the zany crew of Pipe Dream took full advantage of it before we left. The boat’s waterline went down a couple of inches after we loaded many cases of Chilean and Italian wines aboard, rum was also a real bargain! We knew, with the war in Iraq about to start, we needed to provision for an emergency. We could be stranded on some tropical island for months eating coconuts and drinking pina coladas. You know you have an emergency, when you run out of drink umbrellas!
We said goodbye to Costa Rica and sailed through the night to arrive at the island of Parida, Panama. It was time for us to recharge our internal batteries and experience the solitude of a deserted tropical island. It truly is rewarding living off the land and
foraging for yourself. There were three giant mango trees on the island laden with fruit, and I finally got to use my Mexican machete on the coconuts that were lying all over the beach. To add to the cuisine, fishermen brought us lobsters, red snapper, and veggies. We also attended a crab barbecue and beer bust thrown on the island by four Columbian families spending the weekend. This Robinson and Crusoe survival shit is the greatest. Jutta and I struck up quite a friendship with the Colombians and visited them in David, Panama.
We finally got tired of lobster and it was time for an inland trip. We decided to sail to Boca Chica, where we left the boat on the hook and caught a minibus to David, Panama’s third largest city. We were accompanied by Bill and Doreen of the sailing vessel “Lanikai”. By the way, you may have noticed, we call our boats sailing vessels instead of large boats with vertical sticks on them. We never call them “yachts” because the IRS might monitor e-mail, those bandits are everywhere!!! From David we traveled by bus into the mountains above 6000 feet to Cerro Punta. Cerro Punta is a tiny village in a mountainous farming region with hillsides covered with strawberries, boysenberries, and all types of fruits and vegetables. We almost froze to death during the night as temperatures dropped to near freezing . Our main purpose for the trip was to hike the Sendero de los Quetzales (the Trail of the Quetzal Birds) in the Parque Internacional La Amistad, one of the most breathtaking national parks in Panama. Our hike began at 2500 meters or 7500 feet above sea level and ended in the town of Boquete at 3100 feet. Jutta talked the crew of Lanikai and me into hiking the park. At the end of the day we were sure she had a death wish for us. We hiked through Quetzal habitats, which are places where some unseen, red bird with a long tail lives, rain forest, cloud forest and very rugged terrain. After nine hours of hiking, we finally reached the asphalted main road to Boquete. The weary hikers were lying on the benches of a rural bus stop waiting for the last bus to Boquete; it was 5:45 pm. An old Indian man walked passed us and in our best Spanish we asked him what time the bus came by. He looked at us and said “they say there’s a six o’clock bus and a seven o’clock bus, but I don’t believe it!”, then he trundled off down the road, shaking his head. With our last ounce of energy, we tore ourselves of the concrete bench and reluctantly started walking down the 5 mile stretch to Boquete. Thank goodness, God takes care of drunks and fools: the bus came shortly after we started walking. I think Jutta was disappointed all of us lived. I must admit it really was a beautiful hike. After staying a few extra days in Boquete and David, we were off to Pipe Dream and the call of the islands. We also had to prepare the boat for visitors from the United States.
On March the 6th, we picked up our good friends Paul and Pam for a two week stay on Pipe Dream. Our time together was spent island hopping, snorkeling, fishing and searching the islands for places to re-provision our beer supply. Paul, not being out of character, set a new beer drinking record for the sailing yacht Pipe Dream. We went through 11 cases of beer in 13 days. Jutta and I limited ourselves to a couple of beers day so we wouldn’t run out. Paul lived, and we think, really enjoyed himself.
Those of you reading this newsletter should have bought short term stock in Panamanian beer, you could have made a fortune! Jutta and I bid farewell to Paul and Pam, we provisioned the boat with more fruit and veggies, and we took off to the islands. We will hang out at the islands until the end of April, greeting boating friends coming down the coast from Costa Rica and points north. At the end of April it’s off to reality, the U.S. of A. for a visit with family.
In looking back over the past three seasons of cruising Central America, we have had lots of fun, we’ve seen wonderful sights, and lived life to the fullest. In the coming years we plan to do the same. From some of the e-mails we have received onboard, a lot of you are very envious of our lifestyle. Well, let me assure you, things are not as they seem. You landlubbers have the ability to have supermarkets close by, large freezers and refrigerators in your homes and everything at your fingertips. On the other hand, we need to provision for weeks in advance. Our refrigerators and freezers are very small. You have heard of sailors living on hardtack or biscuits and water for weeks on end, and the threat of Scurvy from lack of vitamin C is also a concern. Please don’t worry about us, we will be ok. A typical menu is as follows, fresh squeezed orange juice and coffee, fresh papaya or mango with home made breads for breakfast. For dinner we had fresh caught (by Ferdy) Pacific Sierra served with a cream caper mustard sauce, accompanied with angel hair pasta tossed in garlic and olive oil, fresh Plantains fried in butter, and a very nice bottle of chilled Chilean Chardonnay. Tonight we are having fresh lobster. They are alive in a bucket of salt water on deck. Bring on the butter, life really sucks sometimes.
For those of you receiving this newsletter, this could be your big chance to become part of the Pipe Dream honorary family. On TV, you have seen the ads to adopt a child in Africa for a few cents a day. Now for a limited time you too can adopt the zany crew of Pipe Dream. Remember, just a few pennies a day will keep Ferdy and Jutta away, that’s worth millions to some people.
From the decks of Pipe Dream
Ferdy and Jutta