Connecting with family and friends

We have been have no a wonderful time visiting with family and friends.  

Our first stop was with one of our buddy boats, Tagish, Brian and Dorothy have purchased a gorgeous new house in Comox, on Vancouver Island. We stayed overnight in their home and they treated  us to a five star stay⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️! We have never been fed so well, everything was delicious and the accommodations were wonderful, we slept like kings. During the day we went for a walk in a local park and took this picture at a spring enraged river.  It was super to be in the land of the big trees and here the water running over the rocks on the river bank. 

We went to Barry's sister place next. We got to stay in the brand new suite they built for their bed and bale. We unexpectedly welcomed home with a sign, balloons , flowers and champagne, it was most appreciated by us, thanks so much Sherran, Bruce and Kim. The apartment is marvellous with the latest colours incorporated in the design.  The attention to detail in the furnishing and the tiling in the bathroom are superb.  When I snuggled down in the bed , I felt like a queen, the linens were new and the bed was perfect, two royal experiences in as many days. Normal life is going to be hard to take. 

We celebrated Georgie's 90 th birthday at the Merridale Cider restaurant.  The food was delicious and it was so great that alll her children and their spouses were there to enjoy her company on her special day. She was in good form and even had second's of the cake after insisting she should not have any because there was too much sugar in it. 

Last night over a wonderful meal prepared by Bruce we celebrated our circumnavigation.  The champagne was drunk and I drew a route of our trip on a globe that Bruce had bought, how thoughtful. We felt so honoured that our accomplishment was recognized and appreciated by Barry's family, thank you so much. 

Home again

Home again, home again, jiggidy jig!  We landed in Toronto and headed straight for Tim Horton's where Barry got an extra large double double and I got a small ice Capp and sipped on in glory. 

Our flights, all four of them went very well, not a hitch, except for a brief heart palpitation when I had not put my passport back in it's accustomed place. 

We spent last night in a Super 8 near Victoria Airport. 

There is enough room in the bathroom to swing a cat. It has more floor space than the entire boat almost. Best of all it had a tub and I had my second bath of this year.  We are off to visit friends today and then family for the rest of the week. 

Hasta Luego, Golfito

We worked hard most of the week and Cat's-Paw IV is ready for her rest in the sun and rain of tropical Costa Rica. I polished her top sides and the cockpit to keep the UV rays at bay. We wiped down the inside with bleach to prevent mildew.  Barry changed the oil, topped up the diesel, put bleach in the water tanks took the outboard and the life raft down below and helped put tracer lines on the mast.  I removed all the reef lines, took the sheets off the sails and washed and dried them. We packed yesterday and then stayed in the hotel that is associated with the marina last night.  There was more room in suite than on the whole boat and there was a king sized bed, what luxury. 

We were ahead of schedule so we took a bus trip to a town on the Panama boarder.  I wanted to buy some sandals , some sport sandal s as the ones I bought just over a year ago in Florida have fallen apart.  It seems that folks down here do not wear sport sandals so my quest was in vain. This is a shot of the border crossing in Passos Canoas.  There was definitely more choice for groceries than in Golfito but I am not sure it would be worth the $24.00 bus ride.  

We leave today on the bus for San Jose where we catch a plane early on Wednesday morning.  Canada here we come!!

WE DID IT!

On Saturday, May 13 we crossed our incoming track when we sailed south in 2008.  We were last in Golfito on March 6, 2008 so it has taken us almost 10 years to circumnavigate. 

The circle just in front of the boat symbol is where we figured we crossed our path, that's it todo el mundo. 

I find it hard to put my emotions into words, we have spent a decade of our lives sailing around. I am full of joy that we have been able to fulfill our dream of circumnavigating. I am proud that we have persevered through gales and windless days to finish what we started. To be able to be self sufficient enough to cope with any problems and complications we have run into over the course of 12 years of boat ownership is a huge accomplishment. Barry has grown in so many ways in his knowledge and ability to do all the boat maintenance that is necessary. I keep the boat looking shiny and bright but he makes it go.

 We have sailed over 50,000 offshore miles without outside assistance for the most part. We are indebted to the amateur weather forecasters, in Canada, New Zealand and South Africa for their invaluable help in figuring out when it was safe to leave port and continue on with our journey. I would like to thank my brother for joining us on our longest and finest ocean passage , from the Galapagos to the Marquesas. He was a joy to have along and in honour of his tireless ability to do his share of the hand steering once our wnd vane broke we have christened our new wind vane, Bob!! To our children and our families thanks for not saying we were crazy . We appreciate the encouragement they have given us and all the things they have done to make our journey possible, the mail collection, paying our bills, updating and fixing the blog. To all our sailing buddies who have shared our journey, we could not have done it without your support , knowledge and friendship over the years.  Without a doubt the times we have spent together will stay in our memories for ever. 

At the moment we are preparing Cat's-Paw IV for an extended stay in the water at the Fish Hook Marina in Golfito, Costa Rica.  We are heading back to Canada to set up a permanent home, most likely an apartment in Red Deer, Alberta. It is kind of bittersweet to leave now but it is time to reconnect with our families, we have aging mothers and growing grandchildren. Personally I was not getting any joy out of sailing to new countries and I was finding it a chore to figure out where we should go and what we should see. When you start feeling like that it is time for a change, time to quit when it's not fun anymore. We are going to try living six months in Canad and six months on the boat for a few years and see how that suits us. 

I strung up all the courtesy flags from every country we visited and flew them from the top of the mast. This was our way of saying

WE DID IT, WE HAVE CIRCUMNAVIGATED THE WORLD IN OUR SAILBOAT!

The Pacific Ocean, we made it through the Panama Canal!!!

FWe made it through the Panama Canal on our own boat!   There were a few dicey moments but we only have one war wound and we could leave today if we wanted. 

We headed out to the designated spot to pick up our advisor with an extra crew of three aboard.  We had one professional line handler, Gabriel and two young volunteer French fellows, Ludwig and Barthe.

When we arrived in the flats there were two other boats waiting and we thought we would be going through with them as a group.  The pilot boat arrived with the advisors and our fellow Omar , got off and then the pilot boat left, no other advisers got off?? It turns out the other boats had their transits cancelled for that day and had to wait another full day.  Thank heavens we were the lucky one to get to proceed with our journey, I would have been most unhappy if that had been us. 

We were told that the Falmouth Bay would be our buddy going through the first three locks and that we would be on our own, not nested up with two other boats like we were the last time,  requiring all four lines to be manned. As we approached the locks we saw the pillars for a new bridge that is being built and the skies were very threatening. 

They opened up and we got wet as we motored into the first lock.  The boat rises in the first three locks so you have to pull the lines taut as the water rushes and gurgles in to the enclosed space. The lines are the only things that are stopping the boat from swirling around with the water and bashing into the sides. 

As we entered the last lock on the western side an eddy caught the boat and shoved it towards the side of the lock.  It looked like a collision was inevitable , but Barry finally got control of the steering back and edged away from the wall.  If he had turned to sharplythe rear end would have smacked the wall and we may have damaged the wind vane. We dodged a bullet there and although the dinghy motor which is mounted on that side scraped the wall , all that happened Isi we got a bunch of mud on the cover. 

Our last view of the Caribbean Sea, we are in the second lock elevated above sea level by quite a bit. 

Our stay at the bouy in the lake and the transit of the lake the next day sent off with it incident.  I explained what the sailing terms were in English were to Ludwig and he very studiously wrote them down in a journal he was keeping. 

In the second set of locks we went into the lock in front of a container ship.  In the first lock we were tied to a tug boat.  That was great , we did not have to be responsible for the lines, we just tied up to the tun and he dealt with the lines while we were going down.  

In the second and third locks we were one again alone.  The line handling was easier this time because you just had to ease the lines out as we went down. 

At the top and the bottom of the lock, it is quite a considerable distance that you have to travel down. This is also our first view of the Pacific. We had made it hurrah. 

We popped the cork on the champagne and toasted the line handlers, the advisor, the Panama Canal and the Pacific Ocean, while making sure that Neptune got his salute with a taste as well. I thought we were free and clear and that we have made it through with just a near miss.  It is never good to count your chickens before they hatch.  We still had to have our advisor picked up.  When the pilot boat came there was a mis calculation on the part of the pilot boat captain and there was a collision between the two boats. He banged the stanchion that is aft of the starboard gate and bent it a bit.  The gate still closes but there is a bend in the stanchion and it looks quite crooked.  It is not structural though and does not need immediate repair.  

We are going to go into Panama City today to visit a museum about the Canal before we head to Golfito in Costa Rica. We will probably catch the afternoon tide to get a good boast on our way out.