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Thanks!

For all the rain, but really we have had enough now. The area had been suffering from a terrible drought. There was no water in the town, laundry couldn’t be done, the locals were protesting, a state of emergency was declared for the region and huge water trucks were sent in to deliver water.

And then it rained, and rained, and rained. We felt overjoyed to start with, our laundry went in to be done, we filled our tanks with rain water instead of using the water maker, everyone was relieved. But now it has been two weeks of rain and really enough is enough. 

Then, finally the sun peeked out. 1st for a few hours and then for a near full day. By this time we were back at the Red Frog anchorage and so took full advantage of the weather.

We walked to the beach, seeing sloths along the way. We strolled the beach and had a wonderful lunch at Macho Mommas. Their fish tacos are just amazing, John goes for the fish and chips.

After lunch we took the trail back to the look out area at the end of the beach

and enjoyed watching the surge crashing on the rocks. On our way back we spotted the Red Frogs and sloth.

Flat batteries 

Meanwhile, our batteries arrived from Panama City. The old ones were nearly 5 years old when they started to fade and before long they faded and died. It meant we were using the generator for hours in the morning and hours in the evening. Plus with the lack of sunshine, due to all the cloudy rainy days the solar array just wasn’t doing it.

We arranged to have Bocas Marine bring them in. John was really happy, he got them installed in a few hours and voila!! Lots of power, plus staying power as they are new. 

Dead Fridge = big inconvenience

Coincidentally our fridge was unable to maintain power. John was sure it was connected to the batteries, then he decided it was fuses that needed replacing and then it too died. That was a sad day when our fridge died, as the freezer was full of food too.

We were then reliant on bags of ice to try to keep everything chilled, needless to say that barely works. This also meant we had to be anchored near the town, which is far from ideal. The refrigeration fellow was busy, we waited a week for him to get back to us and come, but didn’t even hear back from him. Finally, just as we were giving up and had ordered a new fridge, we heard back from him. He had a second hand circuit board which should work in the fridge.

The next day we finally met up in Bocas town, got the part, John carefully installed it and, YES! The fridge started and has continued to work. 

Anchored off Bocas town

All this time we were anchored in the Bocas town south anchorage. This is not a good anchorage, the holding is poor and the water taxis zoom right through, usually 4 of them just before and just after the hour. But, we needed to be near our ice source and close to town for the repair man. However on the plus side there were lovely views across the bay towards the mountains.

Beautiful sunsets, bright early mornings, cloud displays in the distant mountains and approaching weather to watch. 

What else to do around Bocas town?

Most, if not everyday, we did a walk around the town, seeing what there was new or happening up and down the streets. One day we stopped and watched the ferry loading up.

There are no roads or bridges here from the mainland, everything and person arrives by water, (or some, not many, by air). The ferries are quite large and carry, people, livestock, foods, delivery trucks, tankers, container trucks, basically everything.

The container trucks and such have very little room to maneuver when going back aboard the ferry. We spent about half an hour, hanging out with some local men, watching the ferry reload, a bit like a game of Tetris.

Chico 

One of the days we took Chico ashore in his carrier and set off to the local vet. Dr. Gloria was very young and knowledgeable. She gave Chico his shots without too much trouble and then strongly recommended he go on a diet for obese cats. He’s in danger of many health issues, diabetes, bone issues, joint issues, liver problems…….

Of course I said YES! It’s a special formula, plus a liquid medication. He is only allowed 70g of food a day. We bought a little scale to get the amount right and so far he seems happy and healthy enough. Hopefully this time we see some results, cause at 24lbs he really is too heavy.

Red Frog anchorage

Being back in the Red Frog anchorage, life is once again peaceful.

The local empanada girl comes by around 7:30am to sell us pollo empanadas, which we have for lunch. The holding is great, hardly a water taxi do we see,

there’s a lovely breeze, life is back to normal.