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.