Tranquility returns to the Lady H

Saturday Feb 13th 2010 7:34 PM Colon Panama
Interesting sail down form Roatan....the awaited weather window was as happens often was off a bit.....the first 2 days was supposed to be calm with us burning the 3.80 a gallon diesel we picked up at Fantasy Island. Just the opposite..the cold front produced some great winds and by Sunday we were bouncing along at 6-7 knots in very confused seas. Joyce, you must remember after our little encounter with 55 nts last yr is not a fan. Sunday I was going below and missed the handrail....cockpit to hanging locker in 1 step...about 6 ft....jammed my wrist and landed on my back...now she really upset..and worried...well "pissed"....no serious damage other than my pride...hand still swollen but not too much pain...The 1st 3 days of any passage is a bummer....little sleep...up and down till one gets into the routine of watch keeping. Joyce was 2nd guessing my decision of sailing through the shallow bank off the coast of Nicaragua, fearing some rough seas. Our 3 other boats in our small flotilla all made the passage....the 2 slower boats were banged up a bit since they were heading to Providencia...a Colombian island a bit east of our course Lack of sleep and lack of my communication (must have rattled my brain by the fall) kept us with some lively conversations on the second day out (edited by Joyce)...then after we made the turn south for Colon we had a fantastic sail on calm seas in moderate winds at 6-7 knots...we had a 1/2 day motor sailing as the wind shifted to the SSE and then a full blast sail to the breakwater of Colon.By that time "tranquility" had returned to the boat. We were in the grove...caught a small Mahi Mahi...Joyce filleted masterfully so not to waste and ounce of meat. Arrived in Colon by noon on Wednesday....called the marina....no room at the inn...anchor in the back yard...we launched Hugo...oh yea...lost the plug for the floor so he filled up with water.....went ashore to deal with the Marina people.....might be a day or so till we get a slip with some power...really tired of our 3-4 hr genset battery recharge schedule......Joyce on 1 side of the office explaining our problem....me on the other doing the same..they took my AMEX and charged a week for about $350 bucks....we deciced to walk the docks...9 or 10 other Amels in the marina....Ran into Grabrial the dock guy....his people were knocking on our boat....had a slip for us...so back to the boat and into the slip....AC on...yep HOT...both of us were exhausted....simple dinner a few rums....down for the count...We had decided to take the free bus to the supermarket....best way to ge info..get a sim card for the phone .and check out the store...beer cheap...booze...not to bad...meat cuts unrecognizable to me...chicken and hamburg seemed ok...bought a few things and returned....We were able to contact the battery guy....cannot do anything till next Thur...Carnival....wonder if it is like New Orleans...many breast exposed for the male population???? Of course...Joyce want the guys to do the same We hear the whole town closes down for5 days........now it takes 4-5 days to recover from a passage....especially at my ripe old age of 63...we cooked up some mahi mahi and a salad and crashed. So much for our 1st day in Panama