May 16 Friday

Happy Birthday tomorrow Tyson and Sophia!!
Wish we could celebrate with you!!

We've been relaxing; the book exchange at the marina is great---Michael is reading a lot of different authors; still a dozen books to my one! Bocas town is across the way, we're on Isla Colon; shops, resturants, and hotels build right over the waters edge. Water taxi's are the way to get around if you don't use your dinghy. The supply barge comes in twice a week---you can watch it unload and the goods getting delivered to the stores. I happened to be in the grocery when the cow arrived---nice and fresh; not hanging in an outdoor setting with the hordes of flies around. We're resting up for our flight to FL. at 2am Sunday morning. We'll be coming back to Panama with a new marine head--just another project!

Trip to David

We took a 30min. plane ride to the second largest city in Panama. We went to David –pronounced Daveed- for some routine medical checkups and lab work. We were picked up at the airport by Toby, who escorted us to our appointments which she had set up, and helped with translating when needed. She and her sister run a wonderful service to those who need anything done in the ‘big city’. It helped make our 2 days there a most wonderful experience. We had a few hours to spare, so we hopped on a yellow school bus (recycling at it's best) for the hour ride to Boquete, a quaint town in the highlands. We enjoyed a quick lunch, then back on the return bus. The small local airports are the first two we didn’t have to take our shoes off…though we did have our ID’s checked frequently. We ordered new foam for our cushions on board, so we’ll be busy fitting them.

Changuinola

We 'took a day off ' and went with some new friends to Changuinola. Don't you love these names?? The trip there and back is worth it alone. You catch a water taxi in town for $6.oo and travel high speed to a canal that leads to the river...the turns and obstacles he's veering around remind you of the crazy taxi drivers in some of these countries--only you're on the water! It was very scenic and picturesque. At one point we came to a crawl because the water lilly's/hyacinths are completely across the river; we had to plow our way through and clean the prop off after. After a 40 min. ride, you get off at a dock, and take a taxi ($1.50) the few miles through a banana plantation to town. Changuinola is a bigger town than Bocas, and has a better selection at the grocery and hardware stores. A few hours later, we reversed our travels to come back to Infini.

April 30

We've been busy- time is flying fast while we're enjoying this nice marina. We took the jib down to reinforce some stitching on a few hem areas. We've currently got the windlass off to add the 'down' option for the controls. It's supposed to make anchoring easier, but never having used one, I'm anxious to see just how. It's not been too hard up till now!
The auto pilot is also being worked on, so Infini looks like a tornado hit--getting the tools out from bunks & lockers is a chore in itself!
We've been meeting more incredible people. We had met Mary from Back Stage Pass in Antigua where she runs & owns La Pena Resturant with her husband. She's here getting ready to bring her boat back to the Rio. Our friends on Willow are getting ready to leave for Colon. They have a flight back to CA. next month. We've really enjoyed traveling with them and hope to meet up again sometime.