MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM IT'S PERFECT
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| "Ass in the water, toes in the sand." Zack Brown Band |
Dear Family & Friends,
Another year of our lives is almost gone. Through the perfect and the not so perfect of this year we are still happy living aboard It's Perfect. It has been over 3 years since we left our home in McKinney and moved aboard the boat down in Kemah, Texas. The days of our lives fly past so quickly, its hard to believe.
We are here in Red Frog Marina, Bocas del Toro, Panama. We first checked into Panama in the San Blas Islands back in mid summer expecting to stay 3 months or so. Just when you think you have life by the tail, someone decides to let you know that you don't. Our lightening strike in August seems like the distant past. But it has left with us a new appreciation for where we are and what we have undertaken. Repairs and replacements are complete as far as we are able. The rest will have to wait until we are back in the USA next summer. If it were not for the help and support of our family and friends we would not be ready now for a new adventure.
This past year took us from Grenada 90 miles to Trinidad, less than 10 miles from Venezuela. Then we went back again to Grenada waiting for a favorable weather window to begin our journey west. In April we were off on a 550 mile journey across the Caribbean to Willemstad in Curasao, a part of the Netherlands and one of the ABC islands. Our sail took us 5 days and 4 nights our longest passage to date. It is a whole new world in this part of the Western Caribbean and we love it. After a month we were off again to round the Columbian cape another 550 miles to Cartagena, Colombia.
Willemstad, Curasao and Cartagena, Columbia have been 2 of our favorite places to visit. Both are World Heritage Cities, the historical sites leave you speechless. We wish we could have stayed longer. While in Cartagena we had visitors aboard, Judy my sister from Mesa, Arizona and cousin Rick & Leslie from Tyler, Texas. We love sharing a small bit of our life on the water with family and friends. It gives us a new perspective of our lives aboard.
After more than a month it was time to head on toward our next destination of Panama. In late July we arrived in the San Blas Islands, Panama. We cleared in to Panama on the island of Porvenir. It was our 14th new stamp in our passports. We thought the islands of the Bahamas were perfect until we dropped anchor in the beautiful San Blas Islands. The islands and water are breathtaking. The Kuna Indians that inhabit these islands, fascinating. Our plan to spend 2 to 3 months in these islands was not to be. Ben Vickers from McKinney came to spend a week with us in early August. Having him aboard was great. He gave us another view of our life aboard and our beautiful surroundings.
Soon after he left on the 13th of August we sat out an early morning storm at anchor. The winds were 60+ knots and the rain poured down. Our anchor held and as the sun came up and the rain finally began to let up, lightening continued to slash across the sky. We sat in the cockpit enjoying the show when out of the sky a huge bolt of lightening dropped. There was a huge BOOM and as we looked out into the early morning light and rain our wind instrument from the top of the main mast fell through the air in a ball of flames and hit the water next to the boat. There was no question.... It's Perfect had been hit. All the electrical systems on the boat were dead. All the navigation instruments, electrical devices, radios, radar, refrigerator, even the TV were fried. Needless to say a great shock to our system.
Our stay in San Blas was over, we headed for Portobello, Panama on the mainland to begin the process of putting It's Perfect back together. After a 3 month stay, much work and attitude adjustment we were finally ready to continue our travel. We arrived in the islands of Bocas del Toro, Panama just before the 1st of November. We moved It's Perfect to the dock at Red Frog Marina within a couple of days and Rod went to work for the marina servicing their electrical systems. 2 months on the dock and we have finally gotten our wind back and our confidence in taking on new and untried places. We are ready to move on. Craig and Angela came from Kemah for a week stay and improved our attitudes and sense of humor immensely. We saw a few of the sights of Bocas and took It's Perfect off the dock for an overnight stay in Dolphin Bay, complete with dolphin swimming around the boat. This short sail reminded us that being independent and off the dock is what we love best about this life.
We will leave the marina the end of the year and begin preparations for departure for heading north, planning on being back in the US by late spring. Many new people and places are still to be seen before our making landfall in Key West.
We would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year from Panama. Take a chance, get out of your box and do something new. Life is short, you will not be disappointed.
Rod & Linda
It's Perfect
Rod & Linda
It's Perfect
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