"We just don’t get tired of having fun! "
The spring flotilla has arrived, or so we call it. Pipe Dream, in the company of eight other boats, has arrived in the Bay Islands of Honduras. For those of you who are landlocked a flotilla is a bunch of boats traveling together. If we were winter visitors to Arizona traveling in motor homes we would be called a caravan. After a 30 hour sail from the Vivorillo Cays we entered the island of Guanaja through an opening in the coral reef. This reef pushes back the sea and gives boaters a ¼ mile waterway around the island and provides protection from the surf. Guanaja’s water is pristine and crystal clear. On the way in Jutta and I caught a Barracuda and we filled the freezer with fresh fish. Life doesn’t get any better than this! The flotilla anchored at Josh’s Cay, and we were greeted by Graham, the owner. Graham lives on the Cay and has a restaurant, a small hotel and, of course, a bar. He offered us free ice, water, and a free washer and dryer. You have no idea how excited we get over a washer and dryer. If you are wondering how we normally wash clothes on Pipe Dream: We use three large plastic buckets and a toilet plunger and then hang all the clothes in the rigging which makes Pipe Dream look like a Chinese laundry. Many of you know how I can agitate a crowd; you should see me agitate a bucket of clothes. This was Semana Santa or Easter week, and we spent four days anchored in front of Josh’s Cay enjoying the beach, the bar and camaraderie of other boaters. Graham’s place was packed with local families enjoying the holiday. For those of you in Yuma, a Cay is a piece of land surrounded by water.
The Monday morning after Easter we bid farewell to Graham and sailed out into the blue waters of the northwest Caribbean bound for Roatan Island. The crew of Pipe Dream has finally reached a point in the Caribbean where we can travel from island to island and do it all in day hops. No more overnighters for a while until we reach the north end of Belize. Roatan, the largest of the Bay Islands of Honduras, is located about 40 miles north of the Honduran coast. The language is English, which makes it easy. The British owned the islands before they gave it back to Honduras. Most of the original inhabitants are descendants of pirates and runaway slaves. Because of this, Roatan’s bays (called bights) have wonderful names like Calabash Bight, Fiddlers Bight, Hog Pen Bight, French Cay, and Coxen Hole, to name a few. Again the water is clear and the people are friendly.
Since the crew of Pipe is on vacation 365 days a year, we watch our money and always try to save a buck when ever we can. We found out we could buy beer by the case at the local distributor at a great savings. Jutta and I purchased 5 cases of “Salva Vida” beer (“life saver” in Spanish). The taxi dropped us and the beer off at the French Harbor Yacht Club which sits on top of a hill overlooking the harbor. From there to the dingy dock we had to walk about 80 steps down the hill. While walking down carrying all the beer, the plastic shrink wrap around the cases came apart sending beer cans tumbling in all directions. You can just imagine the sight, beer cans rolling away, spewing geysers of beer with Jutta and me running after them, while getting drenched with beer. When the “Coxen Hole Beer Barrel Roll” was over and the final tally taken, we decided it would have been cheaper to buy the beer at the grocery store one can at a time. Some days it just doesn’t pay to get out of bed.
The crew of Pipe Dream gunk holed around Roatan before hoisting the sails and heading for the island of Utila at the western end of the Bay Islands. Gunk holing is moving from bay to bay and dropping the hook (anchor), “sailor talk”, arg! Utila is the smallest island in the chain and the cleanest. Everywhere there are garbage cans. I don’t know where the trash goes but I live by the premise, “what I don’t know won’t hurt me! It might be floating on the other side of the island. While anchored in Utitla Jutta and I planned our route to Belize. The trip was going to take us 12 to 14 hours if we went direct, by-passing stops on Honduras mainland. We needed to reach the reef at mid morning so we could read the water and see the coral heads and shallow bars with the sun behind us. We thought our overnighters were done but we decided to go the direct route. One more time we headed out to sea at seven in the evening. We should have known it was not going to be a fun trip since the wind had been howling for two days. Our passage was another one of those bone crushers with a heavy following sea and twenty five to thirty knots of wind. It is really scary to sail at night and to see 10 foot waves cresting above the stern of the boat (stern is the back, “mo” sailor talk.)
The coral reef protecting the eastern shore of Belize is approximately 180 miles long, the second largest barrier reef after the one in Australia, with about 10 or 12 breaks in the reef for a boat to enter safely. A vessel can enter the opening in the reef in blue water 1000 foot deep and be immediately in 12 feet of water and be looking at the bottom. This really gets your attention. If there’s a big swell at sea you will be surfing down breaking waves going through the cut in the reef. As you can tell from reading this newsletter we made it through, and this is not one of those tragic sea stories. Jutta and I will stay one month in Belize gunk holing from cay to cay. Each cay or island is about one to 8 miles apart. A few hours a day is being spent refinishing the teak trim on Pipe Dream which is looking in need of a little TLC. The rest of the day is spent snorkeling the reefs and diving for conch. I make the best conch fritters you have ever tasted; and my lobster piri piri is no pushover either. Who said you couldn’t live off of the land, um, excuse me, sea?
Well, that about sums up the dull boring days of the zany crew of Pipe Dream. We will reach Florida at the end of June and put Pipe Dream to bed in a nice marina for a few months. There will only be a few more newsletters this season. Jutta and I will travel by plane to Arizona and California to visit our kids and try to pick up a few extra bucks mowing lawns, raking leaves, or collecting aluminum cans to fund next season’s cruising budget. We are still looking for a good used grocery shopping cart to push around this summer. If everyone had sent their dollars to the “HFCF” (Help Ferdy Cruising Fund) Jutta and I would not be so destitute today. Remember the Army needs a few good men; Pipe Dream needs a couple of bucks!
From the decks of Pipe Dream
Ferdy and Jutta
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Newsletter March 2004
"Those old sea dogs are off on another zany adventure"
Yes, you guessed it, the crew of Pipe Dream is back on the boat and off on another sea adventure. After extensive medical examinations in Bocas del Toro, Panama, we were given a clean bill of health. Jutta and I were extremely worried we had developed webbed feet from all the stink’n rain. We returned on February 9 from our trip to Ecuador in hopes to find a weather window and sail out of Bocas del Toro. We would do anything to escape Bocas, and Pipe Dream finally vacated the harbor on March 16 without a good weather window. For the past five weeks it rained almost every day and we finally made our break. To be honest, we really motored out of Bocas and 40 hours more to reach San Andres Island, Columbia. We were motoring into 20 knots of wind right on the nose with six to eight foot churning seas. As if that wasn’t enough, we also had to fight a 1-2 knot current. Pipe Dream’s hull was making the most ungodly sounds slamming down into troughs of waves, it sounded like a fat lady plopping down in a church pew on Sunday morning.
On Feb 11 we arrived at San Andres Island after slogging for 46 hours. For those of you in Yuma Arizona that’s the sun up twice and the moon up twice. And no, for those land lubbers, we don’t drop the anchor at night in the middle of the ocean and go to bed. We also couldn’t find any hotels along that stretch of ocean to take a quick nap. Approaching San Andres, we had finally reached the land of painted waters. All we could see was turquoise in hundreds of different shades. We could see the bottom in 20 – 30 feet of water. I had always appreciated looking at bottoms but this is a whole different enchilada! We anchored in front of Club Nautico, put down the dinghy, and went in for a cold Colombian beer and a greeting from the Port Captain, Customs, and Columbian Immigration. Check-in took 15 minutes and we were legal tourists in Columbia. For those of you who flunked geography, San Andres and Providencia are resort Islands belonging to Columbia, although they are off the coast of Nicaragua.
San Andres is a busy resort island with commercial beaches, duty free shops, beach bars, restaurants, and water sports of any kind, inhabited by approximetly 7,000 people. Three or four airlines fly in daily bringing tourists from around the globe. Jutta and I spent two weeks in San Andres working on the boat, going to discos, dining out, and just play’n. . A special treat was the movie theater – air conditioned, surround sound, stadium seating – where the waiter brings your order of popcorn and soda to your assigned seat. Where in the world do you get that kind of treatment for $2.50?
After two weeks of thoroughly enjoying the busy resort life, we moved on to Isla Providencia. This mountainous island of 2000 souls is fifty miles to the north and very different from San Andres. The downtown consists of about two city block and provisions and supplies are very limited. The beaches are beautiful and mostly deserted with few small hotels.” We spent three days in Providencia enjoying the “tranquilo” atmosphere, riding a motor scooter around the island, and renewing old friendships with the twelve other sailboats in the harbor. There were cruisers in the bay we had met two years ago in El Salvador, and it was fun comparing our different experiences and travels.
On Saturday morning, April 2, the crew of Pipe Dream sailed out of Catalina Bay on the Island of Providencia bound for the Bay Islands of Honduras, 400 miles away. We hoisted and trimmed the sails, which is sailor talk for raising them up and adjusted. Our intermediate stop was the Vivorillo Cays, 150 miles east of the Bay Islands. For two days and nights we had the most incredible sail since leaving San Diego four years ago. The seas were almost flat, we had a light easterly breeze and a full moon at night. We have finally reached the land of sailing ships. During the last three and a half years cruising the Pacific Ocean we would sail a couple of hours on a ten to twelve hour passage, if we were lucky,. Pacific in Latin means tranquil sea or waters and that’s exactly what it is. On the Caribbean side the trades blow continuously. We are jazzed, we are sailors, we now have the wind!
We are now anchored in the middle of the ocean surrounded by a coral reef with eleven other sailing yachts. Jutta and I are finishing the newsletter, and enjoying the clear water, snorkeling, sun and the breeze. Pipe Dream sits in calm waters while we look out across the reef at the ocean breakers pounding the reef in its endless struggle to beat it back Tomorrow we will sail to the Bay Islands of Honduras, stay a while and then on to Belize.
I would like to point out that my first article “How to Find a Cruising Mate” was published in the March issue of Latitudes and Attitudes. We are waiting for notification on the second article submitted. As you can probably guess we have made it to the big bucks. When we get our seventy five dollar check we will be in tall cotton, playing like the idle rich, spending the publisher’s money, never having a financial worry again. Now, being a new member of the literary guild, the readers of our newsletter should consider themselves lucky. The printed word comes gratis, from the bowels of Pipe Dream. Not only is the newsletter free, you also receive a full share of bull “dung” with every e-mail (“dung” for those at Merillat). With a smile on our faces and a cold beer in our hands, we bid you farewell.
From the Decks of Pipe Dream
Ferdy and Jutta
Yes, you guessed it, the crew of Pipe Dream is back on the boat and off on another sea adventure. After extensive medical examinations in Bocas del Toro, Panama, we were given a clean bill of health. Jutta and I were extremely worried we had developed webbed feet from all the stink’n rain. We returned on February 9 from our trip to Ecuador in hopes to find a weather window and sail out of Bocas del Toro. We would do anything to escape Bocas, and Pipe Dream finally vacated the harbor on March 16 without a good weather window. For the past five weeks it rained almost every day and we finally made our break. To be honest, we really motored out of Bocas and 40 hours more to reach San Andres Island, Columbia. We were motoring into 20 knots of wind right on the nose with six to eight foot churning seas. As if that wasn’t enough, we also had to fight a 1-2 knot current. Pipe Dream’s hull was making the most ungodly sounds slamming down into troughs of waves, it sounded like a fat lady plopping down in a church pew on Sunday morning.
On Feb 11 we arrived at San Andres Island after slogging for 46 hours. For those of you in Yuma Arizona that’s the sun up twice and the moon up twice. And no, for those land lubbers, we don’t drop the anchor at night in the middle of the ocean and go to bed. We also couldn’t find any hotels along that stretch of ocean to take a quick nap. Approaching San Andres, we had finally reached the land of painted waters. All we could see was turquoise in hundreds of different shades. We could see the bottom in 20 – 30 feet of water. I had always appreciated looking at bottoms but this is a whole different enchilada! We anchored in front of Club Nautico, put down the dinghy, and went in for a cold Colombian beer and a greeting from the Port Captain, Customs, and Columbian Immigration. Check-in took 15 minutes and we were legal tourists in Columbia. For those of you who flunked geography, San Andres and Providencia are resort Islands belonging to Columbia, although they are off the coast of Nicaragua.
San Andres is a busy resort island with commercial beaches, duty free shops, beach bars, restaurants, and water sports of any kind, inhabited by approximetly 7,000 people. Three or four airlines fly in daily bringing tourists from around the globe. Jutta and I spent two weeks in San Andres working on the boat, going to discos, dining out, and just play’n. . A special treat was the movie theater – air conditioned, surround sound, stadium seating – where the waiter brings your order of popcorn and soda to your assigned seat. Where in the world do you get that kind of treatment for $2.50?
After two weeks of thoroughly enjoying the busy resort life, we moved on to Isla Providencia. This mountainous island of 2000 souls is fifty miles to the north and very different from San Andres. The downtown consists of about two city block and provisions and supplies are very limited. The beaches are beautiful and mostly deserted with few small hotels.” We spent three days in Providencia enjoying the “tranquilo” atmosphere, riding a motor scooter around the island, and renewing old friendships with the twelve other sailboats in the harbor. There were cruisers in the bay we had met two years ago in El Salvador, and it was fun comparing our different experiences and travels.
On Saturday morning, April 2, the crew of Pipe Dream sailed out of Catalina Bay on the Island of Providencia bound for the Bay Islands of Honduras, 400 miles away. We hoisted and trimmed the sails, which is sailor talk for raising them up and adjusted. Our intermediate stop was the Vivorillo Cays, 150 miles east of the Bay Islands. For two days and nights we had the most incredible sail since leaving San Diego four years ago. The seas were almost flat, we had a light easterly breeze and a full moon at night. We have finally reached the land of sailing ships. During the last three and a half years cruising the Pacific Ocean we would sail a couple of hours on a ten to twelve hour passage, if we were lucky,. Pacific in Latin means tranquil sea or waters and that’s exactly what it is. On the Caribbean side the trades blow continuously. We are jazzed, we are sailors, we now have the wind!
We are now anchored in the middle of the ocean surrounded by a coral reef with eleven other sailing yachts. Jutta and I are finishing the newsletter, and enjoying the clear water, snorkeling, sun and the breeze. Pipe Dream sits in calm waters while we look out across the reef at the ocean breakers pounding the reef in its endless struggle to beat it back Tomorrow we will sail to the Bay Islands of Honduras, stay a while and then on to Belize.
I would like to point out that my first article “How to Find a Cruising Mate” was published in the March issue of Latitudes and Attitudes. We are waiting for notification on the second article submitted. As you can probably guess we have made it to the big bucks. When we get our seventy five dollar check we will be in tall cotton, playing like the idle rich, spending the publisher’s money, never having a financial worry again. Now, being a new member of the literary guild, the readers of our newsletter should consider themselves lucky. The printed word comes gratis, from the bowels of Pipe Dream. Not only is the newsletter free, you also receive a full share of bull “dung” with every e-mail (“dung” for those at Merillat). With a smile on our faces and a cold beer in our hands, we bid you farewell.
From the Decks of Pipe Dream
Ferdy and Jutta
Newsletter Jan/Feb 2004
"What the hell are those sea dogs doing in South America? "
Our last newsletter (a few weeks ago) left the crew of Pipe Dream in Bocas del Toro, Panama, trying to develop webbed feet from all the rain. The day finally came, when we decided “enough is enough.” We can just be kicked around for so long. It was time to vacate Bocas del Toro, Pipe Dream, and the continuous torrential downpour that was ruining our lives. Our initial reason for going to Bocas was to work on the Teak trim and spruce up Pipe Dream before our passage to Florida. She loves to strut her stuff when she’s fixed up.
The sunny highlands of Ecuador looked like a good change of scene from rainy Bocas. The decision was made and we “were out of here.” It was my first trip south of the Equator, and South America. I might witness my first Llama rodeo, who knows?
I have always considered myself almost grown up, although most of my close friends would argue that point. I have done a lot of crazy stuff in my past life but I am sure I’ve grown wiser by now. Whatever possessed me to get on the roof of a box car and take a five hour ride through the rugged Andes with a couple hundred of my closest friends, or to dine on pork in the open market sitting eye to eye with a baked pig’s head, or to partake of spit-roasted Guinea Pig... Well sports fans, I guess I’ll never grow up, and I don’t really want to!
Jutta and I landed in Quito, capital of Ecuador, for our one month jaunt through the Andes. Since we live on a boat and have traveled the Pacific coast for the last three years, we decided to travel through the Central Valley. After all, one coastline looks like another. I neglected to tell you Ecuador is extremely inexpensive, to the point of being cheap, and they use the American dollar which makes it very easy to travel.
Our first stop by chicken bus was in the town of Latacunga with a side trip to the indigenous market in the small mountain village of Saquisili. What a treat it was. The scene was like leafing through pages of National Geographic Magazine with all the indigenous people in their colorful traditional dress. Spread out all through the village plazas and streets were huge baskets with squirmy guinea pigs and rabbits, squawking chickens tied together with string, fresh produce and fragrant flowers, woven baskets, intricately patterned textiles and blankets, etc. While the women, wearing felt hats, were busily selling their wares, the men stood idly around doing nothing. What a great life!
Our next stop was Los Baños, known for its therapeutic hot baths, located at the base of Tungurahua, a 15,000 foot smoldering volcano. We hiked all over the foothills of the volcano and pampered ourselves with hot baths and the most wonderful $20.00, one hour massage we have ever experienced. Across from our hotel was a restaurant which grilled cuy right on the sidewalk. As they say, “while in Rome do as the Romans do,” I walked in and ordered cuy. It really tasted quite delightful, like chicken, but doesn’t everything? In case you were wondering, cuy is guinea pig and a national dish in Ecuador. If you ever wonder what to do with your children’s pets after they leave home, you could always give an exotic dinner party featuring cuy.
Once again we boarded a bus for the five hour ride to the town of Riobamba, the location of the train station. Once checked into a hotel, we hired a driver to take us to the first climbers’ refuge in the National Park of 16,470 foot high Chimborazo volcano. We stood at the base of the volcano at 4800 meters, 15,748 feet, gazing at the permanent glaciers on the steep flanks of Chimborazo. At 4800 meters we could only take a few steps before becoming out of breath. We walked around grave stones and read endless numbers of names of international climbers who lost their lives trying to reach the summit of Chimborazo. It is an eerie feeling looking up at a volcano that took so many lives. I thought about trying to climb to the summit but changed my mind when I realized it was almost cocktail time. I do have my priorities!
The next morning our one dollar Micky Mouse alarm clock, the only one we could find on cheap street in Panama, awakened us at 5:30 AM. We checked out of the hotel, and walked the few blocks to the train station. There before us on the track were about six or seven rusty box cars hooked up to a well-used locomotive. We rented a seat cushion and climbed to the corrugated tin roof of the box car along with a couple hundred other people. The train company had bolted a two inch piece of angle iron along the edge of the cars to put your feet against so you wouldn’t slide off the train. For five hours the train wound through rugged canyons until it arrived at the infamous Nariz del Diablo or the “Devil’s Nose.” This section of railway was carved into a sheer cliff face, the floor being over a thousand feet below. What an adrenaline rush! During the trip the train stopped at various towns and venders boarded the roof of the train to sell beer, food and candy creating a festive party atmosphere. Our train ride ended in the town of Alausi, and once again we boarded a bus for a five hour ride to Cuenca, our next destination for several days.
Cuenca, in the south, is the third largest Ecuadorian city dating back to the 1500’s. With its cobble stone streets, colonial architecture, majestic churches and groomed parks, it’s by far the prettiest city and our favorite in Ecuador. Jutta and I could walk the streets anywhere at night and feel safe. If we would ever consider living in Ecuador, Cuenca would be our first choice. We spent many days exploring the city’s sights, taking pictures and getting a taste of the night life.
After three weeks traveling through the mountains, it was time for a change and we decided to return to Quito via the Amazon feeder basin on the eastern side of Ecuador. On four different busses, we rode for thirty hours on dusty gravel roads. In the middle of a pitch black night, the bus stopped at the banks of the Pastaza River, one of a number of large rivers feeding the mighty Amazon. All the passengers were told to get off the bus and cross the raging river on a rickety foot bridge, suspended by cables with no sides to hold onto. With our backpacks strapped to our shoulders, we gingerly plodded along the wooden planks praying that no plank was missing. It was so dark we could barely see the shadows of the other passengers in front of us. We both felt like kissing the ground, when we finally reached the other side where a bus was waiting to take us to the jungle town of Tena.
In Tena, Jutta and I hired a guide for a two day trip into the jungle. We literally had to hack our way through the jungle with machetes wearing knee high rubber snake boots for our protection. Our one night sleeping in the jungle was preempted by a torrential downpour during the night.
This adventure through Ecuador, one of the cleanest countries we have traveled in, was one of the most exciting trips we had taken in years. On February 9, Jutta and I once again boarded Copa Airlines for our return to Panama and Pipe Dream.
Well, there it is sports fans, another chapter draws to a close for the zany crew of Pipe Dream. We are back in Bocas del Toro preparing Pipe Dream to go to sea. Our next destinationwill be Isla San Andres, Columbia. Jutta spends most of her time working on the boat, while Ferdy (The Captain) panhandles on the streets of Bocas del Toro trying to get enough money to sail on and continue the adventure. It’s a shame his affluent friends have not funded the “Keep Ferdy Cruising Fund.” It would keep him off the streets and in the bars where he belongs! Just Kidding.
From the decks of Pipe Dream
Ferdy and Jutta
Our last newsletter (a few weeks ago) left the crew of Pipe Dream in Bocas del Toro, Panama, trying to develop webbed feet from all the rain. The day finally came, when we decided “enough is enough.” We can just be kicked around for so long. It was time to vacate Bocas del Toro, Pipe Dream, and the continuous torrential downpour that was ruining our lives. Our initial reason for going to Bocas was to work on the Teak trim and spruce up Pipe Dream before our passage to Florida. She loves to strut her stuff when she’s fixed up.
The sunny highlands of Ecuador looked like a good change of scene from rainy Bocas. The decision was made and we “were out of here.” It was my first trip south of the Equator, and South America. I might witness my first Llama rodeo, who knows?
I have always considered myself almost grown up, although most of my close friends would argue that point. I have done a lot of crazy stuff in my past life but I am sure I’ve grown wiser by now. Whatever possessed me to get on the roof of a box car and take a five hour ride through the rugged Andes with a couple hundred of my closest friends, or to dine on pork in the open market sitting eye to eye with a baked pig’s head, or to partake of spit-roasted Guinea Pig... Well sports fans, I guess I’ll never grow up, and I don’t really want to!
Jutta and I landed in Quito, capital of Ecuador, for our one month jaunt through the Andes. Since we live on a boat and have traveled the Pacific coast for the last three years, we decided to travel through the Central Valley. After all, one coastline looks like another. I neglected to tell you Ecuador is extremely inexpensive, to the point of being cheap, and they use the American dollar which makes it very easy to travel.
Our first stop by chicken bus was in the town of Latacunga with a side trip to the indigenous market in the small mountain village of Saquisili. What a treat it was. The scene was like leafing through pages of National Geographic Magazine with all the indigenous people in their colorful traditional dress. Spread out all through the village plazas and streets were huge baskets with squirmy guinea pigs and rabbits, squawking chickens tied together with string, fresh produce and fragrant flowers, woven baskets, intricately patterned textiles and blankets, etc. While the women, wearing felt hats, were busily selling their wares, the men stood idly around doing nothing. What a great life!
Our next stop was Los Baños, known for its therapeutic hot baths, located at the base of Tungurahua, a 15,000 foot smoldering volcano. We hiked all over the foothills of the volcano and pampered ourselves with hot baths and the most wonderful $20.00, one hour massage we have ever experienced. Across from our hotel was a restaurant which grilled cuy right on the sidewalk. As they say, “while in Rome do as the Romans do,” I walked in and ordered cuy. It really tasted quite delightful, like chicken, but doesn’t everything? In case you were wondering, cuy is guinea pig and a national dish in Ecuador. If you ever wonder what to do with your children’s pets after they leave home, you could always give an exotic dinner party featuring cuy.
Once again we boarded a bus for the five hour ride to the town of Riobamba, the location of the train station. Once checked into a hotel, we hired a driver to take us to the first climbers’ refuge in the National Park of 16,470 foot high Chimborazo volcano. We stood at the base of the volcano at 4800 meters, 15,748 feet, gazing at the permanent glaciers on the steep flanks of Chimborazo. At 4800 meters we could only take a few steps before becoming out of breath. We walked around grave stones and read endless numbers of names of international climbers who lost their lives trying to reach the summit of Chimborazo. It is an eerie feeling looking up at a volcano that took so many lives. I thought about trying to climb to the summit but changed my mind when I realized it was almost cocktail time. I do have my priorities!
The next morning our one dollar Micky Mouse alarm clock, the only one we could find on cheap street in Panama, awakened us at 5:30 AM. We checked out of the hotel, and walked the few blocks to the train station. There before us on the track were about six or seven rusty box cars hooked up to a well-used locomotive. We rented a seat cushion and climbed to the corrugated tin roof of the box car along with a couple hundred other people. The train company had bolted a two inch piece of angle iron along the edge of the cars to put your feet against so you wouldn’t slide off the train. For five hours the train wound through rugged canyons until it arrived at the infamous Nariz del Diablo or the “Devil’s Nose.” This section of railway was carved into a sheer cliff face, the floor being over a thousand feet below. What an adrenaline rush! During the trip the train stopped at various towns and venders boarded the roof of the train to sell beer, food and candy creating a festive party atmosphere. Our train ride ended in the town of Alausi, and once again we boarded a bus for a five hour ride to Cuenca, our next destination for several days.
Cuenca, in the south, is the third largest Ecuadorian city dating back to the 1500’s. With its cobble stone streets, colonial architecture, majestic churches and groomed parks, it’s by far the prettiest city and our favorite in Ecuador. Jutta and I could walk the streets anywhere at night and feel safe. If we would ever consider living in Ecuador, Cuenca would be our first choice. We spent many days exploring the city’s sights, taking pictures and getting a taste of the night life.
After three weeks traveling through the mountains, it was time for a change and we decided to return to Quito via the Amazon feeder basin on the eastern side of Ecuador. On four different busses, we rode for thirty hours on dusty gravel roads. In the middle of a pitch black night, the bus stopped at the banks of the Pastaza River, one of a number of large rivers feeding the mighty Amazon. All the passengers were told to get off the bus and cross the raging river on a rickety foot bridge, suspended by cables with no sides to hold onto. With our backpacks strapped to our shoulders, we gingerly plodded along the wooden planks praying that no plank was missing. It was so dark we could barely see the shadows of the other passengers in front of us. We both felt like kissing the ground, when we finally reached the other side where a bus was waiting to take us to the jungle town of Tena.
In Tena, Jutta and I hired a guide for a two day trip into the jungle. We literally had to hack our way through the jungle with machetes wearing knee high rubber snake boots for our protection. Our one night sleeping in the jungle was preempted by a torrential downpour during the night.
This adventure through Ecuador, one of the cleanest countries we have traveled in, was one of the most exciting trips we had taken in years. On February 9, Jutta and I once again boarded Copa Airlines for our return to Panama and Pipe Dream.
Well, there it is sports fans, another chapter draws to a close for the zany crew of Pipe Dream. We are back in Bocas del Toro preparing Pipe Dream to go to sea. Our next destinationwill be Isla San Andres, Columbia. Jutta spends most of her time working on the boat, while Ferdy (The Captain) panhandles on the streets of Bocas del Toro trying to get enough money to sail on and continue the adventure. It’s a shame his affluent friends have not funded the “Keep Ferdy Cruising Fund.” It would keep him off the streets and in the bars where he belongs! Just Kidding.
From the decks of Pipe Dream
Ferdy and Jutta
Newsletter December 2003
"I got better look’n again this year! "
Yes, we are back with another newsletter. In our last newsletter we were anchored in Colon Harbor, just outside the Panama Canal on the Caribbean side. Our plans were to sail north to Bocas del Toro soon after the canal transit. So far, we have been stuck here for three weeks with constant rain, and “I do mean rain.” When Pipe Dream’s water tanks are low, we can open them up and take on 100 gallons of rain water within twenty minutes.
We were finally fed up with the rainy weather and the crummy anchorage in Colon Harbor. Every day we had to fight the wind and waves just trying to get back and forth with our dinghy. Another irritant was constantly having to watch our backs while walking down any of the streets in Colon. Our guide book says a mugging in Colon is not only probable, it’s very likely. It was time to cut the anchor line and head for greener pastures and better weather. The weatherman said today was the time to go. We were provisioned and ready. We pulled the anchor, hoisted the main sail and headed out of Colon Harbor in a torrential rain squall with winds at 20 knots. Ugly, ugly, ugly! Once we made our way through the breakwater, things settled down somewhat and we thought the trip would be ok. We had made our break Two hours out, the stuff began to hit the fan. So much for the weatherman’s prediction! The once smiling crew of “Pipe Dream” was beaten up for thirty hours. The seas were very confused, large swells coming at us from all directions. It felt kind of like loosing a slapping match with an octopus. We sought what little shelter there was in the lee of Isla Veraguas and went to bed. Early the next morning we started on the 40 mile leg to Bocas del Toro. It only took thirty minuets of pounding into the saltwater without making any headway, and we turned back to the island. Another night at Isla Veraguas. On Day three we woke hours before sunrise to a star lit sky, not a breath of wind and flat calm seas. Adios, we are out of here. Our weather ordeal temporarily over, we motored six hours toward Bocas del Toro, and our first marina visit in two years.
We are continually painting a picture of our life cruising in paradise, throwing our cares to the wind, living the life everyone dreams of. Well, our trip from Colon to Bocas del Toro gives you a glimpse at the flip side of this life. This does not happen very often, but when it does, it sucks out loud, or as Jimmy Buffett says “another shitty day in paradise”.
If any of you want to experience the joy of cruising at sea in a large sailboat, but are stranded on dry land, here is how to go about it: Go downtown to your local do it yourself laundromat. Ask the attendant if you can climb into one of his large commercial washing machines. Have him turn it on and come back to check on you in about thirty hours. Remember, don’t sleep a wink while trying to hold on for dear life, wear hot bulky rubber coated rain gear, and to top it off, add a little nausea.
A week after our landfall in Bocas del Toro our good friends Jim and Gail Philo arrived by plane for a three week visit. Unfortunately, the weather did not always cooperate. We found out that the Bocas del Toro area does not have a true dry season. While the rest of Panama has a definite dry season between January and July, overcast skies and misty rain showers are an almost daily occurrence in Bocas for much of the year.
Our Christmas dinner was to be a potluck at the marina. On Christmas Eve day the marina put a whole pig on a spit and everyone had to sign up for “turn the pig” shift. Jim and I had the 2 to 4 AM shift on Christmas morning which was interrupted by a large earthquake at 2:35 AM. No damage in Bocas del Toro but lots of damage on the Pacific side of Panama. Thank God, the pig didn’t fall off the spit! The Christmas party started at 2 pm and lasted into the wee hours of the morning. After a very short night for ourselves and our visitors, we departed Bocas del Toro for the city of David and a 5 day inland trip through the mountains of northern Panama.
Our visitors, Jim and Gail, were very impressed with Panama’s beauty, and especially the fifty cent beer. Jutta and I led them through the Sendero de los Quetzales, better known as “Jutta’s death march”. The hiking trail starts atCerra Punta at an elevation of 6,300 feet. From there we climbed another 1000 feet to the ranger station and the entrance to the National Park. We then hiked seven hours through rain and cloud forests to the town of Boquete, elevation 3200 feet. With the exception of soar muscles we lived to hike another day. Great fun was had by all and we returned to Bocas del Toro on New Years Eve, and yet another party at the Marina. This life isn’t easy!
We bid our farewell to the Philo’s on January 4th and Jutta and I started planning our next adventure to be released at a later date.
Jutta and I wish everyone a wonderful, happy and healthy New Year.
In 2004 the Chinese are celebrating the “Year of the Monkey”. In the United States there is a rumor that George Bush will announce that 2004 is the “Year of the Pipe Dream”. Be the first one on your block to give to the “Pipe Dream Cruising Fund”. A dollar a day keeps Ferdy far away.
From the rain soaked decks of Pipe Dream
Jutta and Ferdy
Yes, we are back with another newsletter. In our last newsletter we were anchored in Colon Harbor, just outside the Panama Canal on the Caribbean side. Our plans were to sail north to Bocas del Toro soon after the canal transit. So far, we have been stuck here for three weeks with constant rain, and “I do mean rain.” When Pipe Dream’s water tanks are low, we can open them up and take on 100 gallons of rain water within twenty minutes.
We were finally fed up with the rainy weather and the crummy anchorage in Colon Harbor. Every day we had to fight the wind and waves just trying to get back and forth with our dinghy. Another irritant was constantly having to watch our backs while walking down any of the streets in Colon. Our guide book says a mugging in Colon is not only probable, it’s very likely. It was time to cut the anchor line and head for greener pastures and better weather. The weatherman said today was the time to go. We were provisioned and ready. We pulled the anchor, hoisted the main sail and headed out of Colon Harbor in a torrential rain squall with winds at 20 knots. Ugly, ugly, ugly! Once we made our way through the breakwater, things settled down somewhat and we thought the trip would be ok. We had made our break Two hours out, the stuff began to hit the fan. So much for the weatherman’s prediction! The once smiling crew of “Pipe Dream” was beaten up for thirty hours. The seas were very confused, large swells coming at us from all directions. It felt kind of like loosing a slapping match with an octopus. We sought what little shelter there was in the lee of Isla Veraguas and went to bed. Early the next morning we started on the 40 mile leg to Bocas del Toro. It only took thirty minuets of pounding into the saltwater without making any headway, and we turned back to the island. Another night at Isla Veraguas. On Day three we woke hours before sunrise to a star lit sky, not a breath of wind and flat calm seas. Adios, we are out of here. Our weather ordeal temporarily over, we motored six hours toward Bocas del Toro, and our first marina visit in two years.
We are continually painting a picture of our life cruising in paradise, throwing our cares to the wind, living the life everyone dreams of. Well, our trip from Colon to Bocas del Toro gives you a glimpse at the flip side of this life. This does not happen very often, but when it does, it sucks out loud, or as Jimmy Buffett says “another shitty day in paradise”.
If any of you want to experience the joy of cruising at sea in a large sailboat, but are stranded on dry land, here is how to go about it: Go downtown to your local do it yourself laundromat. Ask the attendant if you can climb into one of his large commercial washing machines. Have him turn it on and come back to check on you in about thirty hours. Remember, don’t sleep a wink while trying to hold on for dear life, wear hot bulky rubber coated rain gear, and to top it off, add a little nausea.
A week after our landfall in Bocas del Toro our good friends Jim and Gail Philo arrived by plane for a three week visit. Unfortunately, the weather did not always cooperate. We found out that the Bocas del Toro area does not have a true dry season. While the rest of Panama has a definite dry season between January and July, overcast skies and misty rain showers are an almost daily occurrence in Bocas for much of the year.
Our Christmas dinner was to be a potluck at the marina. On Christmas Eve day the marina put a whole pig on a spit and everyone had to sign up for “turn the pig” shift. Jim and I had the 2 to 4 AM shift on Christmas morning which was interrupted by a large earthquake at 2:35 AM. No damage in Bocas del Toro but lots of damage on the Pacific side of Panama. Thank God, the pig didn’t fall off the spit! The Christmas party started at 2 pm and lasted into the wee hours of the morning. After a very short night for ourselves and our visitors, we departed Bocas del Toro for the city of David and a 5 day inland trip through the mountains of northern Panama.
Our visitors, Jim and Gail, were very impressed with Panama’s beauty, and especially the fifty cent beer. Jutta and I led them through the Sendero de los Quetzales, better known as “Jutta’s death march”. The hiking trail starts atCerra Punta at an elevation of 6,300 feet. From there we climbed another 1000 feet to the ranger station and the entrance to the National Park. We then hiked seven hours through rain and cloud forests to the town of Boquete, elevation 3200 feet. With the exception of soar muscles we lived to hike another day. Great fun was had by all and we returned to Bocas del Toro on New Years Eve, and yet another party at the Marina. This life isn’t easy!
We bid our farewell to the Philo’s on January 4th and Jutta and I started planning our next adventure to be released at a later date.
Jutta and I wish everyone a wonderful, happy and healthy New Year.
In 2004 the Chinese are celebrating the “Year of the Monkey”. In the United States there is a rumor that George Bush will announce that 2004 is the “Year of the Pipe Dream”. Be the first one on your block to give to the “Pipe Dream Cruising Fund”. A dollar a day keeps Ferdy far away.
From the rain soaked decks of Pipe Dream
Jutta and Ferdy
Newsletter November 2003
"We’ve got to get out of this place before we get too fat! "
John Steinbeck, much like the zany crew of Pipe Dream, wrote excerpts of his travels. In John’s book, “The Log of the Sea of Cortez”, he gets very scientific (us authors refer to each other by first names). The crew of Pipe Dream has also dabbled in scientific studies during our three year trek down Central America, through the Panama Canal, and into the Caribbean. We feel the time is right to release our studies. Much to our chagrin, we came to the conclusion that “Partying is fattening”, and that sucks!!!!
We finished the last newsletter a few days before the centennial celebration party of Panama - and what a party it was! Due to our celebrity status in Panama City, we were invited to a “small” two day party on Balboa Avenue (which is the city’s waterfront boulevard). Estimates put the crowd at about 1,000,000 people. There were stages set up at various locations and stars from all over Central America performed. There were parades in many parts of the city lasting all day, and the most spectacular fireworks displays I have ever seen. Every hundred yards or so there were beer, food, and refreshment stands for us to enjoy. Keep in mind, Panama, Balboa, and Atlas beers are fifty cents per can, and we drank our share. It was the polite thing to do.
Our brief stay in Panama City lasted over two months. This is a very cosmopolitan city and hard to break away from. There are wonderful restaurants, wine bars, super markets, and a myriad of boat hardware and electrical stores to drag us back on shore on a daily basis. From our anchorage we look out on one of the most beautiful skylines we have ever seen. The big drawback is that it’s really easy to spend money. Panama City, being an international port, offers goods and services at a very good price. It seems we are going broke saving money. A few repairs to Pipe Dream and the purchase of a wind generator, thirty yards of canvas material, re-wiring the boat, etc. etc. etc. took care of any extra cash we had lying around. I forgot to mention the Panama Canal transit fee which is a big blow to the pocketbook. Well, easy come, easy go, I can always get a job as a greeter at Wal Mart.
Broke, tired, and a few pounds heavier it was time to blow this town and cross the big ditch. Jutta and I have plans to return to the Pacific side of Panama some day but we will tell you about that at a later date. It was time to schedule our transit of the Panama Canal. This has been a real mile stone for me as a sailor to cross in my own boat. (I would have said “yacht” but the tax man might be bugging the e-mail!) Our canal adventure started with arranging with friends to act as line handlers, hanging tires all around Pipe Dream to serve as bumpers, eighteen to be exact, and renting four 125 foot ,7/8 inch lines to hold Pipe Dream during the passage through the locks. We then notified the canal authority that Pipe Dream was ready to cross the canal. At this point, admeasurer comes out to the boat and literally measures the boat to the inch, length, beam (width), and height above water line. He spends about 1 hour asking dumb questions about the boat, like how much fuel we carry, are we transporting frozen foods, do we have any pets, does our head work etc.(for those of you in Yuma Arizona, a head is a bathroom on a boat). That same evening after 6:00 pm, we called the scheduler and he gave us our transit date. Oh, I almost forgot, I had to go to the bank and give them $1440.00 for the transit, of which $640.00 was for the transit and $800.00 was a buffer or deposit to be refunded. I assured them we wouldn’t damage their canal but they still needed a deposit. On the morning of November 20, 2003, Pipe Dream headed for the Miraflores Locks in the Panama Canal. Aboard were five friends acting as line handlers (four needed by the canal), and an advisor or pilot employed by the canal. We climbed approximately 85 feet through three locks, then motored 5 hours through Gatun Lake to reach the last three locks that would dump us into the Bay of Colon and the Caribbean. During the last three hours of our crossing we were in a torrential downpour. If you have ever been in Central America in the rainy season, water literally comes down in buckets, sometimes for days on end. Our crew, all dressed in foul weather gear, looked like drowned rats but smiling all the time. It truly was a great adventure and fun was had by all. Upon completing the final lock, a pilot boat came along side and we bid farewell to our pilot. We proceeded into Colon Harbor, dropped the hook, broke out the champagne and caviar, and it was another party. The celebration lasted well into the night and all the line handlers stayed on Pipe Dream, our first pajama party, and we do have beds for eight.
The highlight of our stay in Colon was to be the Thanksgiving dinner at the Panama Canal Yacht Club. The Panama Canal Yacht Club is a crumbling, broken down building with docks in the same condition. The important thing is they have a decent bar (although cockroaches have been seen scurrying along the counter top) and restaurant. When we saw a flier announcing Thanksgiving dinner for $8.00 per person with all the trimmings, we thought what a bargain, and signed up. One day before the dinner we found out the cooks were Chinese, a dinner with an international flair! The turkey tasted like cardboard, grandma’s dressing was Chinese style and the gravy was Kikkoman style. The instant box potatoes topped off the meal. Jutta named it “Turkey Chop Choy with all the trimmings”. (To Ryan and Jody I just want to say that the Christmas turkey in Mexico wasn’t that bad after all). Thanksgiving is a time to be thankful, we were thankful we survived this memorable dinner.
The zany crew of Pipe Dream has been in Colon, Panama for about two weeks. It’s time to raise the anchor and sail north to Bocas del Toro. Jim and Gail Philo from Phoenix will be joining us for the holidays.
Please keep in mind Christmas is a time for giving. There are a lot of less fortunate people in this world who are suffering. So remember the “Keep Ferdy Cruising Fund”, a dollar spent today keeps Ferdy farther away.
From the decks of Pipe Dream
Ferdy and Jutta
John Steinbeck, much like the zany crew of Pipe Dream, wrote excerpts of his travels. In John’s book, “The Log of the Sea of Cortez”, he gets very scientific (us authors refer to each other by first names). The crew of Pipe Dream has also dabbled in scientific studies during our three year trek down Central America, through the Panama Canal, and into the Caribbean. We feel the time is right to release our studies. Much to our chagrin, we came to the conclusion that “Partying is fattening”, and that sucks!!!!
We finished the last newsletter a few days before the centennial celebration party of Panama - and what a party it was! Due to our celebrity status in Panama City, we were invited to a “small” two day party on Balboa Avenue (which is the city’s waterfront boulevard). Estimates put the crowd at about 1,000,000 people. There were stages set up at various locations and stars from all over Central America performed. There were parades in many parts of the city lasting all day, and the most spectacular fireworks displays I have ever seen. Every hundred yards or so there were beer, food, and refreshment stands for us to enjoy. Keep in mind, Panama, Balboa, and Atlas beers are fifty cents per can, and we drank our share. It was the polite thing to do.
Our brief stay in Panama City lasted over two months. This is a very cosmopolitan city and hard to break away from. There are wonderful restaurants, wine bars, super markets, and a myriad of boat hardware and electrical stores to drag us back on shore on a daily basis. From our anchorage we look out on one of the most beautiful skylines we have ever seen. The big drawback is that it’s really easy to spend money. Panama City, being an international port, offers goods and services at a very good price. It seems we are going broke saving money. A few repairs to Pipe Dream and the purchase of a wind generator, thirty yards of canvas material, re-wiring the boat, etc. etc. etc. took care of any extra cash we had lying around. I forgot to mention the Panama Canal transit fee which is a big blow to the pocketbook. Well, easy come, easy go, I can always get a job as a greeter at Wal Mart.
Broke, tired, and a few pounds heavier it was time to blow this town and cross the big ditch. Jutta and I have plans to return to the Pacific side of Panama some day but we will tell you about that at a later date. It was time to schedule our transit of the Panama Canal. This has been a real mile stone for me as a sailor to cross in my own boat. (I would have said “yacht” but the tax man might be bugging the e-mail!) Our canal adventure started with arranging with friends to act as line handlers, hanging tires all around Pipe Dream to serve as bumpers, eighteen to be exact, and renting four 125 foot ,7/8 inch lines to hold Pipe Dream during the passage through the locks. We then notified the canal authority that Pipe Dream was ready to cross the canal. At this point, admeasurer comes out to the boat and literally measures the boat to the inch, length, beam (width), and height above water line. He spends about 1 hour asking dumb questions about the boat, like how much fuel we carry, are we transporting frozen foods, do we have any pets, does our head work etc.(for those of you in Yuma Arizona, a head is a bathroom on a boat). That same evening after 6:00 pm, we called the scheduler and he gave us our transit date. Oh, I almost forgot, I had to go to the bank and give them $1440.00 for the transit, of which $640.00 was for the transit and $800.00 was a buffer or deposit to be refunded. I assured them we wouldn’t damage their canal but they still needed a deposit. On the morning of November 20, 2003, Pipe Dream headed for the Miraflores Locks in the Panama Canal. Aboard were five friends acting as line handlers (four needed by the canal), and an advisor or pilot employed by the canal. We climbed approximately 85 feet through three locks, then motored 5 hours through Gatun Lake to reach the last three locks that would dump us into the Bay of Colon and the Caribbean. During the last three hours of our crossing we were in a torrential downpour. If you have ever been in Central America in the rainy season, water literally comes down in buckets, sometimes for days on end. Our crew, all dressed in foul weather gear, looked like drowned rats but smiling all the time. It truly was a great adventure and fun was had by all. Upon completing the final lock, a pilot boat came along side and we bid farewell to our pilot. We proceeded into Colon Harbor, dropped the hook, broke out the champagne and caviar, and it was another party. The celebration lasted well into the night and all the line handlers stayed on Pipe Dream, our first pajama party, and we do have beds for eight.
The highlight of our stay in Colon was to be the Thanksgiving dinner at the Panama Canal Yacht Club. The Panama Canal Yacht Club is a crumbling, broken down building with docks in the same condition. The important thing is they have a decent bar (although cockroaches have been seen scurrying along the counter top) and restaurant. When we saw a flier announcing Thanksgiving dinner for $8.00 per person with all the trimmings, we thought what a bargain, and signed up. One day before the dinner we found out the cooks were Chinese, a dinner with an international flair! The turkey tasted like cardboard, grandma’s dressing was Chinese style and the gravy was Kikkoman style. The instant box potatoes topped off the meal. Jutta named it “Turkey Chop Choy with all the trimmings”. (To Ryan and Jody I just want to say that the Christmas turkey in Mexico wasn’t that bad after all). Thanksgiving is a time to be thankful, we were thankful we survived this memorable dinner.
The zany crew of Pipe Dream has been in Colon, Panama for about two weeks. It’s time to raise the anchor and sail north to Bocas del Toro. Jim and Gail Philo from Phoenix will be joining us for the holidays.
Please keep in mind Christmas is a time for giving. There are a lot of less fortunate people in this world who are suffering. So remember the “Keep Ferdy Cruising Fund”, a dollar spent today keeps Ferdy farther away.
From the decks of Pipe Dream
Ferdy and Jutta
Newsletter October 2003
"We should be in The Tourist Business"
We’re back and none too soon. The zany crew of Pipe Dream has been really busy since the last newsletter. Don’t read too much into my last statement, it isn’t anything like woork, wourk, whork, or however that word is spelled.
We arrived safely in Panama City and grabbed a mooring buoy at the Balboa Yacht Club, (BYC). The BYC is located about ½ a mile from the Miraflores locks, which are the first set of locks of the Panama Canal on the Pacific Entrance. From Pipe Dream’s mooring we can watch 800 to 1000 foot long ships passing within 50 yards of us, 24 hours a day. This may sound very exciting, but it gets a little unnerving and also the wake from the ships makes us turn summersaults at times. The only reason we moor here is because the BYC has a very social “Happy Hour”, and pitchers of beer are really cheap. We cruisers know a bargain when we find it.
Bob and Tish Saemisch arrived on Sunday, September 28 and we had a fun filled two weeks ready for them. When our friends John and Mark on the 51’ catamaran “Little Wings” arrived in Panama City for their Canal Transit., we volunteered to line handle for them, and the four of us hitched a ride through the Canal. Our transit, which took about 10 hours, ended at the Cristobal Yacht Club on the Caribbean side of the Panama Canal. From there, we hopped on a bus for a 2 hour ride back to Panama City and Pipe Dream. The transit was a real thrill for all of us.
It took all of the next day to provision Pipe Dream to go to sea with Bob and Tish. We bought all the necessary life sustaining items, wine (red and white), hors d'oeuvres, ice, beer, and a little food. We sailed out of Panama Harbor and on to the Perlas Islands, 32 miles away. The Perlas chain is where the Television series “Survival” is being shot for the second time. This archipelago consists of more than 100 islands with numerous bays and anchorages. On one island, Mogo Mogo, a film crew was shooting a segment of their up coming Survivor series and we were asked not to cross over to the other side of the island. I guess, an inflatable dinghy with an outboard, and footprints on a deserted beach is a dead give-a-way for civilization; that’s showbiz!! We spent four days cruising a few islands and it was then time to return to Panama City and another leg of our world cruising tour with Bob and Tish.
Upon our return to Panama City we boarded an airplane and flew to Cartagena, Columbia. Cartagena, the walled city on the Caribbean, is the most beautiful city I have ever visited. Columbia, as a country, is totally screwed up due to drugs, drug wars, guerrillas, civil war, etc. I even heard Juan Valdez of Folgers Coffee is into coke! He traded in that mule for a Hummer. The city of Cartagena is neutral territory for Columbia. For some reason it is left alone by the drug lords for the tourist industry. The rich of Central and South America come to Cartagena to play and so did the zany crew of Pipe Dream and their visitors. Most of the walled historic part of the city has been restored. The original buildings, dating back to between the 1533 to 1700, are breath taking with balconies of concrete and rod iron with flowers and vines cascading down the walls. If you ever get a chance to travel to Cartagena, don’t pass it up. Prices are extremely cheap. Jutta and I would go out for a gourmet meal at one of the finest restaurants in Cartagena, and the total bill including drinks, wine and coffee came to $24 to $26.
Jutta and I had planned to fly back to Panama City with our friends, but we were having such a great time in Cartagena, we said our goodbyes to Bob and Tish at the hotel and stayed another two days in Columbia. Ah, the high stress life of a cruiser!!! We flew back to Panama City with good intentions of transiting the canal. After realizing Panama was having their 100 year celebration on Nov 2, 3, and 4th, we decided to stay for a little longer. There went our itinerary and our plans for a October Canal crossing. We have never been known to miss a wild party. I’ll check my day planner but I think I can fit the Canal into my schedule in mid November?
During our last three years of cruising, Jutta and I have anchored in beautiful spots, have traveled through various countries and encountered many friendly and interesting people. Although most times it seems like we’re living in paradise, bad stuff can happen, no matter where in the world you are. After returning from Cartagena, we heard on the Single Side Band Net, that our friend John was attacked in the middle of Cartagena harbor as he was launching “Little Wings” after a brief haul-out at the Shipyard. Apparently, three thugs climbed aboard, tied him up, stripped the boat and left him adrift in the bay. Fortunately, he was not hurt physically and managed to untie himself and take the boat back to the marina, where he put up a $ 1000 reward for the capture of his attackers.
It’s a shock to all us cruisers when things like that happen, and it is also a reminder that even in paradise we have to remain alert. However, High Seas Piracy really doesn’t scare us as much as running out of gourmet food, wine or cold beer. Everyone needs to have their priorities in place. Don’t worry we try not to take any chances.
Jutta and I are now anchored around the corner from the Panama Canal Entrance at Flamenco in the Bay of Panama. It is very calm here and we don’t get tossed about from wakes of passing ships. We can still watch the tips of the huge freighters and cruise liners pass by on the other side of the causeway. From the decks of Pipe Dream we have a magnificent view of the entire downtown skyline of Panama City. The 100 year anniversary of Panama begins in about two days and continues for four days. We are shining our dancing shoes and resting up. We have also installed a new wind generator, rebuilt the heads, changed out the alternator, and done other repair jobs. As you can see, this life is not all fun and games.
Well, that’s all for now. The next newsletter will be from the Caribbean side of the Panama Canal. Remember, if it feels good, “do it”, if it looks like work, “ignore it”.
From the Decks of Pipe Dream
Ferdy and Jutta
We’re back and none too soon. The zany crew of Pipe Dream has been really busy since the last newsletter. Don’t read too much into my last statement, it isn’t anything like woork, wourk, whork, or however that word is spelled.
We arrived safely in Panama City and grabbed a mooring buoy at the Balboa Yacht Club, (BYC). The BYC is located about ½ a mile from the Miraflores locks, which are the first set of locks of the Panama Canal on the Pacific Entrance. From Pipe Dream’s mooring we can watch 800 to 1000 foot long ships passing within 50 yards of us, 24 hours a day. This may sound very exciting, but it gets a little unnerving and also the wake from the ships makes us turn summersaults at times. The only reason we moor here is because the BYC has a very social “Happy Hour”, and pitchers of beer are really cheap. We cruisers know a bargain when we find it.
Bob and Tish Saemisch arrived on Sunday, September 28 and we had a fun filled two weeks ready for them. When our friends John and Mark on the 51’ catamaran “Little Wings” arrived in Panama City for their Canal Transit., we volunteered to line handle for them, and the four of us hitched a ride through the Canal. Our transit, which took about 10 hours, ended at the Cristobal Yacht Club on the Caribbean side of the Panama Canal. From there, we hopped on a bus for a 2 hour ride back to Panama City and Pipe Dream. The transit was a real thrill for all of us.
It took all of the next day to provision Pipe Dream to go to sea with Bob and Tish. We bought all the necessary life sustaining items, wine (red and white), hors d'oeuvres, ice, beer, and a little food. We sailed out of Panama Harbor and on to the Perlas Islands, 32 miles away. The Perlas chain is where the Television series “Survival” is being shot for the second time. This archipelago consists of more than 100 islands with numerous bays and anchorages. On one island, Mogo Mogo, a film crew was shooting a segment of their up coming Survivor series and we were asked not to cross over to the other side of the island. I guess, an inflatable dinghy with an outboard, and footprints on a deserted beach is a dead give-a-way for civilization; that’s showbiz!! We spent four days cruising a few islands and it was then time to return to Panama City and another leg of our world cruising tour with Bob and Tish.
Upon our return to Panama City we boarded an airplane and flew to Cartagena, Columbia. Cartagena, the walled city on the Caribbean, is the most beautiful city I have ever visited. Columbia, as a country, is totally screwed up due to drugs, drug wars, guerrillas, civil war, etc. I even heard Juan Valdez of Folgers Coffee is into coke! He traded in that mule for a Hummer. The city of Cartagena is neutral territory for Columbia. For some reason it is left alone by the drug lords for the tourist industry. The rich of Central and South America come to Cartagena to play and so did the zany crew of Pipe Dream and their visitors. Most of the walled historic part of the city has been restored. The original buildings, dating back to between the 1533 to 1700, are breath taking with balconies of concrete and rod iron with flowers and vines cascading down the walls. If you ever get a chance to travel to Cartagena, don’t pass it up. Prices are extremely cheap. Jutta and I would go out for a gourmet meal at one of the finest restaurants in Cartagena, and the total bill including drinks, wine and coffee came to $24 to $26.
Jutta and I had planned to fly back to Panama City with our friends, but we were having such a great time in Cartagena, we said our goodbyes to Bob and Tish at the hotel and stayed another two days in Columbia. Ah, the high stress life of a cruiser!!! We flew back to Panama City with good intentions of transiting the canal. After realizing Panama was having their 100 year celebration on Nov 2, 3, and 4th, we decided to stay for a little longer. There went our itinerary and our plans for a October Canal crossing. We have never been known to miss a wild party. I’ll check my day planner but I think I can fit the Canal into my schedule in mid November?
During our last three years of cruising, Jutta and I have anchored in beautiful spots, have traveled through various countries and encountered many friendly and interesting people. Although most times it seems like we’re living in paradise, bad stuff can happen, no matter where in the world you are. After returning from Cartagena, we heard on the Single Side Band Net, that our friend John was attacked in the middle of Cartagena harbor as he was launching “Little Wings” after a brief haul-out at the Shipyard. Apparently, three thugs climbed aboard, tied him up, stripped the boat and left him adrift in the bay. Fortunately, he was not hurt physically and managed to untie himself and take the boat back to the marina, where he put up a $ 1000 reward for the capture of his attackers.
It’s a shock to all us cruisers when things like that happen, and it is also a reminder that even in paradise we have to remain alert. However, High Seas Piracy really doesn’t scare us as much as running out of gourmet food, wine or cold beer. Everyone needs to have their priorities in place. Don’t worry we try not to take any chances.
Jutta and I are now anchored around the corner from the Panama Canal Entrance at Flamenco in the Bay of Panama. It is very calm here and we don’t get tossed about from wakes of passing ships. We can still watch the tips of the huge freighters and cruise liners pass by on the other side of the causeway. From the decks of Pipe Dream we have a magnificent view of the entire downtown skyline of Panama City. The 100 year anniversary of Panama begins in about two days and continues for four days. We are shining our dancing shoes and resting up. We have also installed a new wind generator, rebuilt the heads, changed out the alternator, and done other repair jobs. As you can see, this life is not all fun and games.
Well, that’s all for now. The next newsletter will be from the Caribbean side of the Panama Canal. Remember, if it feels good, “do it”, if it looks like work, “ignore it”.
From the Decks of Pipe Dream
Ferdy and Jutta
Newsletter Aug/Sep 2003
"We’re finally on the way to the “Big Ditch”! "
Well, we are back, and just in time! The crew of Pipe Dream has been remiss in keeping up with the mandatory newsletter. We’re just too busy playing to spread the news.
About August 1st, I loaded my last newsletter on a floppy disk and headed to the City of David and the internet café. I am such a computer guru, when I loaded the disk on the computer, it was blank. I guess the newsletter fell out on the bus. It took three or four days to get it reloaded and resent. Don’t laugh, I bet Bill Gates had his problems too!
In my last newsletter, Jutta and I were going back and forth to David to get the inverter fixed. After the funeral and last rites for our old inverter, we bought another one in David. With our navigation computer back in action, we decided to take Pipe Dream inland twenty five miles to Puerto Pedregal. We had never dared this trip before because one of the first obstacles to overcome, was an approximately (or supposedly) 55 foot high power cable across the estuary we had to travel. At the lowest tide, we slowly approached the wire with Jutta standing on the bow looking up and me behind the wheel trying to calculate the cost of the damage if we happened to hit the power cable. Well, since you are receiving this typed newsletter, you probably realize, we made it under the wire without any mishap.
For two days we traveled through incredibly scenic mangrove channels with Barú, Panama’s only volcano, looming in the background, stopping for one night to catch up with the required high tide. The fauna and flora were magnificent. For those bachelor friends of mine in San Diego, fauna and flora are not the twins we met in a bar on Shelter Island. I won’t go into any detail, you know who they are!
After arriving in Pedregal, we dropped anchor in chocolate brown river water -remember, this is the rainy season - in front of the worst looking marina you ever saw. However, we enjoyed watching white faced monkeys playing in the trees and the occasional crocodile floating by on the lookout for a stray swimmer! We stayed for about two weeks, and our time there was well spent. We had some much needed stainless steel welding done to Pipe Dream and did a general clean up. Being inland, we took a few days off from boating chores, hopped on a bus, and headed over the mountains to Bocas Del Toro on the Caribbean side of Panama. After three days in Bocas, we were excited about crossing the ditch (Panama Canal) and taking Pipe Dream to the Archipelago of Bocas Del Toro. For those of you in Yuma, Arizona, this ditch is wider than most canals you’ve ever seen.
It was then time to provision, cut the dock lines, dig out the “How to Sail Manual”, retrace our steps through the estuary, and head back out to the Pacific Ocean. The zany crew of Pipe Dream needed to get their feet wet again and go island hopping. Our final destination would be Panama City to await the arrival of Bob and Tish Saemisch. To reach Panama City, we had 350 miles to go, and at the rate we travel, it only left us a month to get there.
Our first stop was at the Contreras Island group. In the large, deep bay on Brincano Island we dropped the hook and explored the island for three days. There were artesian springs all over the island with waterfalls cascading into the sea. After several days of napping, reading, swimming, gourmet meals and cocktails at sunset, we were exhausted. It was time to move on.
Our adventures at Bahia Honda will be with us for as long as we live. Bahia Honda’s entrance is about 150 yards wide, opening up to a bay 1 mile wide and about 2 miles long, completely surrounded by jungle. All traffic to this bay is by boat or mule train, there are no roads connecting to any highway on the mainland. A local character, Domingo, who has lived in Bahia Honda for 50 years and considers himself the official greeter of any foreign yacht sailing into the bay, arrived promptly at “Pipe Dream” by panga to take our order of fresh fruit and veggies from his finca (ranch). On a daily basis, Domingo would come to our boat or we would go to his house. He had no money, so everything was done through bartering. Domingo appointed himself as our guide, and led us through the mangroves for miles to the pueblo of Salmonete. These village people had no electricity or phones, they had mud floors and some lived in straw huts. We felt like we had gone back 100 years in time. Yet, the people were extremely friendly, they all came out to greet us. There was a school in Salmonete with four teachers. After our visit, we gave them everything we could spare on Pipe Dream: Paper, pens, pencils, etc. We put out a call on the radio for other cruisers coming this way to buy supplies to help the school. Because we are traveling in the tropics, we always carry lots of Neosporin ointment on the boat. Many of the children had infectious sores, so we gave them all our Neosporin. As we were leaving, a mother ran out of her hut and gave us three eggs to say thanks for the ointment. We never realize how good we have it in the good old USA, until witnessing the plight of others.
After a week in Bahia Honda, it was time to leave. Having witnessed Domingo’s sparse furnishings, we told him we had a special farewell gift for him, and presented him with our only surviving folding dock chair. We unfolded the chair and invited Domingo to sit in it. He gingerly climbed into the chair not quite trusting this modern contraption. Then his face lit up and he started to grin from one ear to the other. We think our old deck chair will be put to very good use!!!
We said our goodbyes to Domingo and his family, loaded up on fruits and veggies and the crew of Pipe Dream sailed into the sunset, and on to our next kewl adventure. We made numerous overnight stops on Cebaco Island, kayaked to the island’s beautiful beaches, walked for hours along the jungle clad hills, and enjoyed the sun sets and rain showers. Onward we moved to Bahia Naranja where the ocean swell was so bad that Pipe Dream (with us inside) was doing somersaults all night long. In this bay, we spent two days preparing Pipe Dream for the passage around the dreaded Punta Mala, renamed Punta Malacaca by some of our cruising friends who got beat up on that leg due to the high winds and the giant waves creating by the strong Humbolt current which flows around the point. Once again, the crew of Pipe Dream cheated death. We literally motored around Punta Mala in almost flat seas and 5 knots of wind. If it hadn’t been for a rain squall right at the point, we could have played cards in the cockpit along the way.
We have now entered the Gulf of Panama, and we are on the home stretch to Panama City. We have been away from civilization for 3 ½ weeks. Its time to play in the big city, make some repairs to Pipe Dream, and wait for the Seamisch’s to arrive.
We have been asked about the weather in Panama. This time of year, the rainy season, June through October is known as winter. When we wake up, usually around 7:00 am, our thermometer reads 78 to 82 degrees and 70% humidity. At noon it’s 80 to 85 degrees and 70 to 75% humidity. It usually clouds up toward the afternoon and we get a medium to heavy rain in the evening, sometimes raining all night (which is great because it fills our water tanks). The rain is warm and you can live in a bathing suit 24 hours a day. Bugs or insects are not a problem if we anchor at a safe distance from shore. All in all, we consider this paradise.
In closing, I must tell you how disappointed I am in my good friends. After sending my newsletter out to all of my friends for three consecutive years, I finally received my first dollar for the “Help Ferdy Cruising Fund”. It was e-mailed to us from Jutta’s cousin Bibi in Mexico City, not from any of MY GOOD FRIENDS!!! That dollar filled the entire screen. We’ve been trying to figure out how to cut it out of the screen so we can spend it!!
From the decks of Pipe Dream,
Ferdy and Jutta
Well, we are back, and just in time! The crew of Pipe Dream has been remiss in keeping up with the mandatory newsletter. We’re just too busy playing to spread the news.
About August 1st, I loaded my last newsletter on a floppy disk and headed to the City of David and the internet café. I am such a computer guru, when I loaded the disk on the computer, it was blank. I guess the newsletter fell out on the bus. It took three or four days to get it reloaded and resent. Don’t laugh, I bet Bill Gates had his problems too!
In my last newsletter, Jutta and I were going back and forth to David to get the inverter fixed. After the funeral and last rites for our old inverter, we bought another one in David. With our navigation computer back in action, we decided to take Pipe Dream inland twenty five miles to Puerto Pedregal. We had never dared this trip before because one of the first obstacles to overcome, was an approximately (or supposedly) 55 foot high power cable across the estuary we had to travel. At the lowest tide, we slowly approached the wire with Jutta standing on the bow looking up and me behind the wheel trying to calculate the cost of the damage if we happened to hit the power cable. Well, since you are receiving this typed newsletter, you probably realize, we made it under the wire without any mishap.
For two days we traveled through incredibly scenic mangrove channels with Barú, Panama’s only volcano, looming in the background, stopping for one night to catch up with the required high tide. The fauna and flora were magnificent. For those bachelor friends of mine in San Diego, fauna and flora are not the twins we met in a bar on Shelter Island. I won’t go into any detail, you know who they are!
After arriving in Pedregal, we dropped anchor in chocolate brown river water -remember, this is the rainy season - in front of the worst looking marina you ever saw. However, we enjoyed watching white faced monkeys playing in the trees and the occasional crocodile floating by on the lookout for a stray swimmer! We stayed for about two weeks, and our time there was well spent. We had some much needed stainless steel welding done to Pipe Dream and did a general clean up. Being inland, we took a few days off from boating chores, hopped on a bus, and headed over the mountains to Bocas Del Toro on the Caribbean side of Panama. After three days in Bocas, we were excited about crossing the ditch (Panama Canal) and taking Pipe Dream to the Archipelago of Bocas Del Toro. For those of you in Yuma, Arizona, this ditch is wider than most canals you’ve ever seen.
It was then time to provision, cut the dock lines, dig out the “How to Sail Manual”, retrace our steps through the estuary, and head back out to the Pacific Ocean. The zany crew of Pipe Dream needed to get their feet wet again and go island hopping. Our final destination would be Panama City to await the arrival of Bob and Tish Saemisch. To reach Panama City, we had 350 miles to go, and at the rate we travel, it only left us a month to get there.
Our first stop was at the Contreras Island group. In the large, deep bay on Brincano Island we dropped the hook and explored the island for three days. There were artesian springs all over the island with waterfalls cascading into the sea. After several days of napping, reading, swimming, gourmet meals and cocktails at sunset, we were exhausted. It was time to move on.
Our adventures at Bahia Honda will be with us for as long as we live. Bahia Honda’s entrance is about 150 yards wide, opening up to a bay 1 mile wide and about 2 miles long, completely surrounded by jungle. All traffic to this bay is by boat or mule train, there are no roads connecting to any highway on the mainland. A local character, Domingo, who has lived in Bahia Honda for 50 years and considers himself the official greeter of any foreign yacht sailing into the bay, arrived promptly at “Pipe Dream” by panga to take our order of fresh fruit and veggies from his finca (ranch). On a daily basis, Domingo would come to our boat or we would go to his house. He had no money, so everything was done through bartering. Domingo appointed himself as our guide, and led us through the mangroves for miles to the pueblo of Salmonete. These village people had no electricity or phones, they had mud floors and some lived in straw huts. We felt like we had gone back 100 years in time. Yet, the people were extremely friendly, they all came out to greet us. There was a school in Salmonete with four teachers. After our visit, we gave them everything we could spare on Pipe Dream: Paper, pens, pencils, etc. We put out a call on the radio for other cruisers coming this way to buy supplies to help the school. Because we are traveling in the tropics, we always carry lots of Neosporin ointment on the boat. Many of the children had infectious sores, so we gave them all our Neosporin. As we were leaving, a mother ran out of her hut and gave us three eggs to say thanks for the ointment. We never realize how good we have it in the good old USA, until witnessing the plight of others.
After a week in Bahia Honda, it was time to leave. Having witnessed Domingo’s sparse furnishings, we told him we had a special farewell gift for him, and presented him with our only surviving folding dock chair. We unfolded the chair and invited Domingo to sit in it. He gingerly climbed into the chair not quite trusting this modern contraption. Then his face lit up and he started to grin from one ear to the other. We think our old deck chair will be put to very good use!!!
We said our goodbyes to Domingo and his family, loaded up on fruits and veggies and the crew of Pipe Dream sailed into the sunset, and on to our next kewl adventure. We made numerous overnight stops on Cebaco Island, kayaked to the island’s beautiful beaches, walked for hours along the jungle clad hills, and enjoyed the sun sets and rain showers. Onward we moved to Bahia Naranja where the ocean swell was so bad that Pipe Dream (with us inside) was doing somersaults all night long. In this bay, we spent two days preparing Pipe Dream for the passage around the dreaded Punta Mala, renamed Punta Malacaca by some of our cruising friends who got beat up on that leg due to the high winds and the giant waves creating by the strong Humbolt current which flows around the point. Once again, the crew of Pipe Dream cheated death. We literally motored around Punta Mala in almost flat seas and 5 knots of wind. If it hadn’t been for a rain squall right at the point, we could have played cards in the cockpit along the way.
We have now entered the Gulf of Panama, and we are on the home stretch to Panama City. We have been away from civilization for 3 ½ weeks. Its time to play in the big city, make some repairs to Pipe Dream, and wait for the Seamisch’s to arrive.
We have been asked about the weather in Panama. This time of year, the rainy season, June through October is known as winter. When we wake up, usually around 7:00 am, our thermometer reads 78 to 82 degrees and 70% humidity. At noon it’s 80 to 85 degrees and 70 to 75% humidity. It usually clouds up toward the afternoon and we get a medium to heavy rain in the evening, sometimes raining all night (which is great because it fills our water tanks). The rain is warm and you can live in a bathing suit 24 hours a day. Bugs or insects are not a problem if we anchor at a safe distance from shore. All in all, we consider this paradise.
In closing, I must tell you how disappointed I am in my good friends. After sending my newsletter out to all of my friends for three consecutive years, I finally received my first dollar for the “Help Ferdy Cruising Fund”. It was e-mailed to us from Jutta’s cousin Bibi in Mexico City, not from any of MY GOOD FRIENDS!!! That dollar filled the entire screen. We’ve been trying to figure out how to cut it out of the screen so we can spend it!!
From the decks of Pipe Dream,
Ferdy and Jutta
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