December 2, 2001
Yesterday we moved to the Coco Bandero Cays, about one mile south.  We were told the diving was superb here and it proved to be a true tip.  After a delicious breakfast of homemade cinnamon rolls by Nick and Jules, we were off to dive the outer reef.  As we went over the ledge, I immediately noticed conch tracks littering the sand flats beyond.  Then, hiding behind a rather large rock was a fairly large nurse shark who “posed” for me while I moved under his nose with my camera.  He then proceeded to swim over my head giving me the perfect portrait of his face.  Next, I gathered some of the huge conch.  Fritters for Jules tonight!  Between collecting them and taking images of Jules swimming between the corals and sponges against the backdrop of beautiful sun filled blue water, I was pooped by the end of the dive.  The conch weighed an average of five pounds each (I had four of them).  In order to get them to the dinghy I had to fill my buoyancy compensator to the brim while regulating how fast I surfaced as well as staying at fifteen feet for a bit for a safety stop in the surge.  After juggling my camera, conch and B.C., I finally raised myself into the dinghy to find a nice Nassau grouper.  Chris at work!  When he finally came back to the boat, he handed Jules his booty.  A 35-POUND GROUPER!  Wow, were we surprised!  I guess it gave him a fight for his money and I’ll let him tell the story.  I have to say that the testosterone was flying all day on this boat!  What a fish.  I tried to gather up friends to come for dinner but all were in other anchorages.  The one night we have so much food we don’t know what to do with it all, is the one night we are totally alone here in this palm-studded paradise.  Soooo, I gave some to the local fishermen, who were equally impressed by this young gringos catch!  Dinner was superb.  Grouper jowls and lobster tails and Christopher made chocolate muffins for desert.  I must make the whip cream before the natives get restless!  As the orange full moon rises, I will say goodnight.

December 5, 2001
Today Jules left, and as he got on the plane, I thought I saw a familiar face deplane.  Later Jim and I went to town (the local island with huts) and saw two gringos in a dugout canoe. They said hi and asked me where I was from.  We said California.  They said ya, but where?  We said Redding.  They said oh, Cliff Sowder said you were in these parts!!  Here, in literally the middle of nowhere, we meet up with friends of friends!  In addition, they do glass!  So when all was said and done we invited them onto our boat for a couple of days.  We will see if they can change their reservations as they were just going to stay in the San Blas for 2 days!

Then Jim and I met up with the chief of the island who speaks English.  He was my key to getting out of buying a mola that I commissioned when we were last here.  The ladies brought it out yesterday and was it UGLY!  Therefore, I talked to the chief.  I explained to him that I didn’t want it as it was below the standard for which his islands molas are known and he reprimanded the ladies and then told me in private that the only good molas on the island were made by the “guys” and proceeded to take me to one of them!  So here, in the San Blas, we are having a custom mola made by a guy!  However, it’s looking good already.  For his help I told him I would like to have him out to the boat for a traditional American meal of hamburgers!  He said he would love to but he would like it if his grandson could come also as he was sick of fish and shellfish.  So here was the chief’s grandson (Juan) on our boat this eve telling us the history of the San Blas islands and his native customs.  I might add he thinks his women look much better in western dress with out the big nose ring and black lines accentuating the length of their noses.  Everyone was in heaven with potato salad, hamburgers with EVERYTHING on them, and cabbage salad.  The guys ate everything on the table and promised to make us island style octopus when we return.  Life on a boat in the middle of paradise!

December 6, 2001
We spent the day with Michael and Sonia, sailing, snorkeling, and of course, eating!  Then this eve we went to the hotel and had a kick having our faces painted, being dressed up by the locals in traditional dresses and makeup, and photographing the whole thing.  How much fun life can be even when you don’t speak the same language!

We also found a great lady to give Sue the little bird to.  The lady loves birds and was thrilled to have him!

December 7, 2001
Incredible day — taking photos of the bird lady and another bird guy and giving copies back.  The funny thing is that the ladies that originally wouldn’t let me take their photos now begged me to!  So tomorrow I will charge them a dollar each for the copies!  Just kidding!  Tonight we spent with the Peace Corps girls from Nicaragua and drank rum all night with Juan.  It was a kick but more than that we learned about the marriage rituals and the customs of the Kunas.  Very interesting.  We also heard about a boy who needs our help as he fell from a two story building onto his jaw.

December 17, 2001
Today I caught the mongo crab — he is huge!  His body being 8 inches across and claws that tried to reach around a snag me.  But I did it — I finally brought home the proverbial bacon!  Then tonight when Jim was pulling him out of the live bag I hear #%%&&&$%#$# -- the crab got him.  3 stitches in Jims thumb later and I had a ceremony putting the crab into the boiling water!  Poor guy.  Fed four adults though!

December 18, 2001
Not much has been going on past the cooking, cleaning, photography, diving, and spear-fishing.  Just living here in our little paradise.  As the holidays approach it is more noticeable that we are alone without our families.  Presents are not being bought as there is nothing to buy even if we knew what to give two children who are content within their selves.  So we prepare them gifts of our belongings that they can use on the boat.  It is so much simpler than life in the states but that doesn’t diminish our missing dear friends and family.

December 19, 2001
Pulled into Rio Diablo where we are having our friends Jamie and Brad, from Redding, come in January.  Shacks and shambles are all I see.  Ick!  They will be glad to go to all the other islands we have chosen to show them.  This is so close to the mainland the water is muddy and there are many mosquitoes.  Sent the boys in to get diesel and gas if they can find any.  I chose to stay here listening to old Fleetwood Mac songs full blast, singing along with the parrot!  He is quite the dancer and his voice is MUCH better than mine is!  He speaks Spanish so we haven’t deciphered his whole vocabulary.  Some I have a feeling we don’t want to know!  And those are the ones he screams at us when we move him from his favorite perch on the top of the Bimini (covering over the cockpit - our equivalent of a porch).  Next we go to explore Tigre, an island west of here that we have heard good reports of.  We have 3-4 days to explore this area before returning to Green Island where over 15 boats have congregated for Christmas.  Nyantja left for Porvenire this morning to pick up wine they had brought in by another boat.  They will meet us for Christmas.  They are wonderful people and their kids almost seem like my own.  When they head North for Belize we will definitely miss them until we can meet up in the Mediterranean.

Off to prepare lunch.  We have fresh produce once again and Maai brought us much from Colon when they returned from there four days ago.

December 20, 2001
Jim and I went diving today.  Brought home two nice sized lobsters and saw a beautiful nurse shark.  The dive was absolutely beautiful.  Naturally, I left my camera on the boat!

December 21, 2001
Last eve we had a lightning and thunderstorm whose ferociousness has not been seen in years around these parts where the wet season is known for them.  Rain so torrential that our dinghy was filled to the brim within minutes of its onset.  Lightning which blinded you and thunder to put a lion’s roar to shame.  Our anchors held, although we swung 90 degrees one way and then 180 the other.  We were in luck in the wind department as there were only 20 knots at any one time.  Now we sit by our little uninhabited palm studded paradise with red water from the mainland run off surrounding us.  Even with the storm, we celebrated this morning as our water tanks we over flowing, which signaled the allowance of 15-minute showers, cream rinse and all!

December 24, 2001 — Merry Christmas Eve!
Sunny and warm with swaying palm trees and turquoise waters.  NOT!  It has rained 2-3 feet in the past 3 days!  The water was orange from the runoff of the Panama mainland (now it has cleared) but our water tanks are full!

It is sunny and hot today and we have been baking Christmas cookies with all the children in the anchorage.  The same 6 kids have been together since we left Bonaire so they are very close now.  We have a palm tree for a Christmas tree which will be decorated with many of my earrings.  There are 12 boats that are doing a fancy pot luck for Christmas on a small palm studded island that the kids cleared to make a nice in the middle.  If it rains, all will be on our boat and another rafted together (I hope it stays clear!)  Hope you are doing well and enjoying each others company.  We miss you all.  Wish you were here.

PS -- Also having my boat famous Grand Marnier pudding.  Do cooked packaged vanilla pudding.  Put into sturdy wine glasses when slightly cool and add a half shot to the top.  YUMMMM.  Works with Kailua too!

December 25, 2001 — Merry Christmas!
It’s 8 am and I have 6 kids over for waffles -- how fun!  The boys spent the night on Millennial Destiny with the stipulation that they must wake us as usual in the morning.  Christmas without children is like cereal without milk!  Anyhow, the other parents were happy to oblige so we lucked out with all the children.  We even delivered waffles to the parents as breakfast in bed!  No fresh berries for on top but I think the whipped cream was enough to satisfy them!

Now it's eight at night.  Wonderful Xmas, with 45 other cruisers on a palm studded uninhabited island, great food, and great people.  Missed you all though.  It was overcast and a perfect temperature.

December 29, 2001
We have moved from Green Island to the swimming pool.    A large anchorage with crystal clear water and white sand bottom where orange starfish dwell (and large grouper along the reef!)  Jim and Michael have left for Honduras and the girls from Nyantja are now all staying with the boys and I for 10 days.  It is a long trip so they will fly to Honduras when Jim and Michael arrive.  It will be fun to be a majority sex for a change.  The boys are not complaining either!

January 4, 2002
A lot has happened but none to tell as life with three young women and two young men along with their mothers on a small boat!  Nothing bad, just the normal fun interactions that parents don’t usually get to see due to the normal secret life of the young.  Being close, they get to see all of our lives as well us theirs.  In addition, a very large quantity of food has passed through the galley as well as a large amount of traffic through the boat.  Maai and I are either cooking or cleaning -- or drinking that lovely bottle of wine at the end of the day!

Yesterday was a thrill as we heard from Jim and Michael.  They radioed us and let us know they only had 175 miles to go and that they were diving and having a great time while they waited for a weather window.  That’s it from this end.  As soon as Jim returns the girls will also and life will be back to “normal” until Brad and Jamie arrive from Redding on the 11^th.

January 19, 2002
After a long week of multiple dives, island hopping, and the preparation of gourmet meals out of scant provisioning, our great friends Jamie and Brad from Redding CA left this morning on a too-full plane.  They were fortunate to have been able to board.  They will be missed, as are the girls, but I will tell you it is nice to relax and not entertain — at least for now.  Soon we will miss the excitement and wish we had company once again!  You just can’t keep us happy!  What can we say?

Now I have the pleasant chore of putting away all the goodies Jamie had stored in her suitcase for us.  My Goddess of a Mother in Law not only collected but stored and packed huge bags for us, which Jamie and Brad sherpa(ed) down here for us.  Once down here we spent the first day motoring up the Rio Diablo so we could enjoy the fresh water of the head wall.  I enjoyed (really) doing laundry while the kids swung from branches and the adults waded in the deep pools.  We were able to experience much culture also on the way up and down the river.  The local Indians paddle their canoes up to fetch fresh water in big barrels at least once per week.  For some it is obviously a chance for a family outing with the kids but not excluding the dog!  We wondered how many of those canine friends succumbed to the five-foot caiman (a close cousin of the alligator), which slithered into the depths when we approached the murky waters at the mouth of the river as he chased the “walk on water” lizards that were abundant.  We were also privy to the many grave sites nestled among the palm treed that stood along the banks.  It was obvious from the manicured appearance that the natives take great care of their dead, planting flowers and seemingly taming the jungle.

After provisioning we sailed to Green Island where fishing was not as productive as the last time we were there but Chris enjoyed practicing with his new spear gun (his Christmas present Jamie brought down for us) while Jamie and I learned how to make home made cheese from a great Israeli lady, Iris, who I had met weeks ago.

All that practice came in handy the next day when Chris speared his second 40lb grouper and then again the next day when he brought home a 25 pounder!  The only problem was that when the freezer is full I don’t allow hunting so off we went to the Holandes cays where the water is beautiful but the fishing marginal due to the amount of yachts which frequent there this time of year.  We were able to say goodbye to many friends and return the engine another boat lent us until Jim was able to get parts and fix ours.  Luckily, we will see many of them on the other side of the canal.

Next, it was off to a wild dive site Jim found while we were sailing.  A pristine reef in the middle of the channel with sloping walls to 90 feet.  Not even the Kuna’s had gotten to this one as lobsters were abundant and we were able to choose a large one to feed Jamie and Brad to begin to make good on our promise of fresh shellfish during their stay.

Next was Salar Island where we were again blessed with a pristine reef.  This time huge canyons stippled between vertical 110-foot walls with abundant large fish to photograph as well as one for me to take as my first kill.  Same skills I have used for years to get close to animals I used here to bring home dinner.  At 25 pounds, it was a large quarry for a first shot but I think I’ll leave the hunting to the guys.  Quit while I am ahead so to speak, as they were all sufficiently impressed with the fact that I shot him perfectly, behind the gill.  After three more dives and no one else bringing home “the bacon,” I earned a small amount of respect.  Perhaps very small but hey, I’m just a girl on this boat!

Onward to Rio Cedra.  Known throughout Kuna Yala as the best place to purchase molas for the highest quality at reasonable prices.  There were ladies trying to literally sell the shirts off their backs.  Once we were used to this behavior it was shop 'til you drop, or until the guys fetched us to the bar to join them for a beer.  Here Jamie, with her limited but much better command of the Spanish language, conversed with the locals for over two hours.  After two beers, she was on a roll.  I haven’t laughed that much in ages.  Unfortunately, it was time to sail to Porvenire where they caught their plane this morning.  It was an early night for us all but it was a time we will all cherish until they return next year.