Loaded up some vids

Ok, so I haven't uploaded ANYTHING for a while. This was mainly technical issues, originally, now it's more laziness...

BUT I have managed to upload a stack of videos to You Tube, mostly the Atlantic crossing. Those with Facebook may have seen most of them, but if you haven't (or want to revisits the comedy gold of the Taoist Master or Mid Atlantic Rap again, just go to You Tube, search "gdayitsdamo", and there should be a dozen or so (select one then click the drop down menu, or gdayitsdamo tab, or whatever. You'll work it out I'm sure...)

NB - I wanted to just load them to this blog, but you CAN'T DO THAT ON IPAD (like a shitload of other things), hence I've had to use You Tube. And by extension, there probably goes my chances of future employment too...

Keep Calm and Get Oan Wi' It!

Location:Scootland och aye!

Not really an update...

I realise I haven't posted for over a month, but since the iPad and iPhone shat themselves, I haven't been able to upload photos, so I'll wait til I get to London and Apple can fix/replace their rubbish products before updating in full...

But a brief rundown of events from the last month, which i will use as a reminder for later expansion:

Panama - San Blas Islands
went to the San Blas islands for 4-5 days.  Awesome coral islands, andtoo much sun and booze...

Panama - Portobello & Talofa
Joined Talofa in Portobello, went cruising to teh San Blas islands (yep, again).  Awesome in a boat.  Met up with other boats from Columbia for parties on beach.  Fired the cannons on board Talofa (yes, we had cannons), and led a pirate raiding party to the beach to kidap the saucy wenches.  Yep, we played pirates... 

Talofa - to US Virgin Islands
headed off for the deivery.  Into winds and current all the way, so motor sailed all the time.  two days in, realised we vcouldnt make it directly to USVI, so detoured to Jamaica!  Wicked!  Ripped mainsail two days out of Jamaica, so only motor - very rolly. called in to Domican Republic for more fuel & oil.    Big squall off Puerto Rico including water spouts and freezing winds (microburst?).  Arrived US Virgin Islands.  Charlotte Amalie highest murder rate in the Americas - gunfire every night.  Didn't know this of course until after we'd gotten pissed and went to the 'local' part of town looking for local bars.  Hightailed it to British Virgin Islands.

BVI
Road Town superb.  Cricket on the telly, and way friendly people.  went to Royal BVI Yacht Club and got a ride for the Anegade Race (biggest and most prestigeous island to island race in Caribbean).  Got third.  Got pissed.  Great sail back next day.  Fantastic Club and people, had offers to stay on boats and couches instead of (expensive) hotel, but leaving soon...

Leaving tomorrow!
Got a ride to the Canaries (or Azores, depends on weather).  leave tomorrow morning.  4-5 weeks (hopefully not much more), then probably fly to England, get iPad fixed, and update this blog with some PHOTOS!

getting ready to sail...

(note - im posting this blog on a latin american laptop, which is not configured for englissh - and some damn buttons are in different places, so therell be bugger all punctuation and a heap of spelling mistakes)

im now back in panama city, to see a few sites i havent before, as well as getting ready to meet my boat for the delivery to the virgin islands.  cant wait - went to the canal yesterday for a look and three yachts were transitting, as well as a US warship.  very interesting to watch.  no truly!  OK, so the canal mechanisms and the warship did appeal to my "inner nerd", but it IS interesting. watching a large ship slowly be lowered is like watching the titanic sink. except it was a warship, there were no icebergs (in fact there were buildings and machinery, and tyou cant see any water), and everyone on the ship mwas smiling and waving, so actually nothing like the titanic now i think of it.

spent today on the island of taboga, about 10 miles south of panama, and a truly fantastic place.  very colourful little village, great beaches, and this time they were nearly deserted.  only about 40 of us on the once daily ferry, and not many locals.  I really dont understand why about a thousand panamanians and tourists dont come every day.  its very accessable and the location and beaches are superb.  might check out the real estate prices...

met a cool couple from kentucky on taboga who are holidaying here (tip for the derby - "The Factor"), and tried to convince them to buy a yacht.  theyve no keelboat experience (plenty in dinghies), but i volunteered to skipper for them throughout the caribbean, if only theyd just buy the yacht!

Note to self - Career idea #3 - rent out beach cats here (or in Bocas).  how much is my house worth now...

have possibly found a boat to europe, but it is not a perfect fit.  it is currently in jamaica, and they dont plan to go to the virgin islands, instead heading to bermuda.  they tthen heading to the Med and turkey, via Azores, Spain, Sardinia, Crete, Greek Islands.  Would be awesome!   i could potentially fry to bermuda from the VI, just waiting to hear more from the skipper.  im also a bit concious of not committing, as im reasonably confident of fing a boat in the Virgin Islands even if i have to wait a bit.  Otherwise its a flight to London, but i really want to sail!

couldnt get the damn ipad fixed here - not an apple store, just a "premium reseller", so that will have to wait til London.  But ive been warned before about complaining about "first world" problems, so im dealing with it.  Still shits me though...

hasta.

The first time I was here

Have come across some photos of my first visit here. I don't think I've aged at all?

And don't they love a parade...

They clearly love a parade here in Panama. First the Cabalgatas with every horse in the country, and now of course it's Easter. And in this strongly Catholic country, that means a parade.

The largest in the country is in a tiny town about 15kms from David called Alanje. About 15 thousand attend in a town of 200. Also, thousands of people walk here (some over 50kms) to say thanks for prayers answered previously. Some have been making this walk for over twenty years. I'd be praying that I don't get run over on next years walk...

Easter of course is big here. Mandy, if you thought Good Friday was boring in Melbourne, don't come to Panama! The sale of alcohol is prohibited from midday Thursday until midday Saturday. No-one told me! I couldn't even buy a bottle of wine! It's the Blood of Christ for Gods sake! (couldn't buy sake either). Oh well, I guess a couple of AFD's can't hurt...

But we're not going to Alanje (we've got a car), so we're off to Boquete that also has a famous parade that brings thousands to the town for Good Friday.

The parade starts at 7:30, so naturally we get there at 5:30 for a good spot.

The Parade gets underway at 8:30.

And for a parade that attracts thousands, it's actually pretty lame. There are only four floats, with hundred of people walking behind each one. Not really much to see! But anyway, below are some pics and descriptions of each float. Sorry for the crap quality, but my iPad is still rooted so can't upload photos. These were taken with my phone.

Float #1
A very substantial illuminated cross carried by about 20 blokes. They had to stop every 40 metres to rest. Obviously a heavy cross to bear. The guy with the long sticks job is to lift the overhead powerlines over the top of the cross. Very important job I think, the parade being led by a burning cross would not be a good look...

Float #2
Pretty self explanatory I think. This one had the most people following, about a thousand I guess.

Float #3
The Virgin Mary I think. I do actually have some information on this float though. It is being towed by a New Holland TS400 tractor. This model delivers over 190bhp through a 12 speed transmission, and has a turning diameter of under 8 metres with high clearance, making it ideal for use growing potatoes, bananas, or corn, which the Indians call "maize".

Float #4
Similar to the first, looks very heavy, but, wait a minute... are they WHEELS?!? No wonder they've been relegated to the back. Probably the Protestant float...


Parade finishes about 10:30 (mainly because of the first float continuously stoping I think).

Only 14 hours to go til I can buy some booze!


Hasta,

Dolphin watching watching

Bocas del Toro is an archipelago on the Caribbean side of Panama, (recently) famous for its white powder beaches, crystal clear water, and marine life.

Guess I'd better go see it then...

So I arranged a boat trip. The best boat trip. I researched, asked questions, quizzed other hosteliers, and found the best one going around. This trip left half hour earlier than the others - more time at the beach yeah? (Wippet, I think you know where this is heading. Remember the Fat Cat to Green Island?)

So there we are, under way whilst the other tours are still milling around on the dock! Ha! We'll have seen all the dolphins, then scared them away, before anyone else gets close!

Half way to the never-miss dolphin viewing site, we've been passed by everyone, including a friggin' sailboat! Nevermind, we've not missed anything. 18 pangas (18! You should see the photo, which I'll post as soon as this iPad starts working properly again) are all crowded in a half acre, all hustling for the best vantage spot.

Now, how many dolphins do you think we (or anyone else) saw? That's right. Nada; None; Zero!

What is it with me and fucking sea mammals? First the killer whales, then the normal whales, and now the dolphins are in on the fucking joke???



I'm not bothered though, I've seen plenty of dolphins in my time, and actually enjoyed the dolphin watching watching (watching punters try to watch dolphins) more than if Flipper himself (herself?) turned up for a show...

Thankfully we didn't waste time. More to see and do, so off to the promised deserted island for some swimming and chilling (we brought beer).

And what an island! Just like the brochure. In fact I'm sure all the 100 tourists on this particular deserted island thoroughly enjoyed the serenity. Ah, how's the serenity...

Two hours the skipper said. "Be back on this beach at 2:30". I'd been swimming for a while, and was losing track of time. I check my new waterproof watch - Shit! It's 88 minutes (and 88 seconds) after 88 o'clock. Better get cracking...

No time to rest though, so fang those 25 Mercury horses to the coral atoll (or is it attol?) for some more snorkeling.

The water is crystal clear. All the better to view the myriad of starfish. Red ones, orange ones, orangey-red ones... I saw one MASSIVE one, and then another (but maybe it was just the same one and I approached it from a different angle, 72 degrees or a multiple thereof). But they are amazing and entertaining creatures, having perfected the art of sitting on the sea floor and doing FUCK ALL. There were also sea cucumbers, which are the Usain Bolt of the (**google starfish/sea cucumber genus and add here**) world, regularly moving three metres a day. So I've been told. One particular cucumber was very brightly coloured, but of course I keep well clear (natures warning sign and all)...

And we finish the day with a trip to Red Frog beach (I'm sure I don't need to tell you how many red frogs we saw). But then, they did have a bar...

So, starfish fans, come to Bocas!

Hasta,

Damo.




(All this actually happened, but it was a great day, did also see loads of fish at abother spot, awesome weather and water, but no-one wants to hear that...)

Location:Bocas del Toro

Hammock ratings

1. Casa de Olivares, David, Chiriqui
Location: Excellent, 20 feet from bed.
Atmosphere: Well it's just a house in the suburbs...
Hammock: Netted, with spreaders. Clean, easy to swing.
Ease of beer consumption: Cheap beer (if I've remembered to buy it earlier). Need to get it myself though.
View: A backyard
Overall: 3.5 stars.

2. Boca Brava Hotel, Golfo de Chiriqui
Location: Magnificent. Views, breeze, tropics.
Atmosphere: Bit quiet, but ideal for relaxing. And that's what they're for after all...
Hammock: Cloth, no spreaders, little short between ends. Swingability good, but bit cramped due to short ends...
Ease of beer consumption: Perfect. "Una mas cerveza por favor", and viola! There it is, chilled to 1.5 degrees.
View: Couldn't be better.
Overall: 4.9 stars!

3. Hostel Heike, Bocas del Toro
Location: Rooftop, shaded, Powerpoint in charging distance.
Hammock: Netted, very comfortable. No spreaders. In corner, poor swingability. Powerpoint doesn't work. Dammit!
Atmosphere: Chilled.
Ease of Beer consumption: need to buy beforehand, no fridge up here.
View: Only of backyards...
Overall: 4 stars (4.5 if damn powerpoint worked).

Location:In a hammock!