February at Shelter Bay Marina began in the best way possible – with a party! The Ocean Posse hosted a Caribbean party on February 1st and we took part in several of the events that day. Ocean Posse is a rally that brings sailors from all over the world together while sharing local information. https://oceanposse.com/ The information the organization provides proves to be very helpful in overcoming some of the logistical challenges of extended cruising. Two of the biggest, most desirable features are safety and money saving discounts. Safety is a top priority for them which follows how we live our life on Morning Stars. The rally emphasizes the importance of supporting other sailors through communication, weather monitoring, and mutual support. Ocean Posse follows in the ‘sailing spirit’ of helping one another and looking out for each other. We recently purchased a one-year membership to Ocean Posse and the discounts we have enjoyed have already paid for half the $300 annual fee!
On the day of the Ocean Posse Caribbean Party we took part in the emergency life raft demonstration in the marina’s pool. It was a very practical exercise for us to do knowing our life raft deploys in the same way. We had heard that it is also not easy to get into the life rafts under big seas and we now see why. It was creepy when we all got inside and tried to imagine what it would be like in a real abandon ship situation. We do everything in our power to help us avoid ever being in those circumstances. We hope our very expensive emergency life raft is never required to be deployed and will spend its entire life as just an overpriced decoration sitting on our railing.
Be sure to listen closely to the advice given in the video after the kids hop in the water. What he says makes so much sense.
The day continued with a seminar that provided an overview of what we can expect cruising the South Pacific. It hit on some of the incredible islands, people and experiences that await us out there. The seminar wrapped with an invitation to the complimentary rum bar! You can just imagine how quickly that room cleared out! 😆
We all enjoyed a rum (okay, maybe two!) as groups of Panamanian dancers performed beautifully to upbeat rhythms. We loved watching the performers dance the afternoon away in gorgeous, vibrant costumes. The kids dancing were so adorable!
Time for us to get back to work. The Pacific Ocean was patiently awaiting our arrival! It was that day that Inês came down the companion way and I could tell from the look on her face that she had something important to tell me. Up to that point she was planning on crossing to French Polynesia with us. She was on a time limit though. Her one-year travel visa was expiring soon. She needed to be in Australia by May. We knew timing was tight but it was still reasonable for her to cross with us and then fly to Australia. At the same time, we knew that if she found a boat to do the crossing earlier, it would be a good idea for her to do that. Well, that is what happened. A captain she was familiar with was looking for crew to join in on his crossing which would start in Costa Rica. Inês took time to consider her options and she made the right call. She needed to accept his offer. We were very disappointed but we understood and supported her decision. Before we knew it, we were seeing her off on the bus with tears in our eyes. We will always cherish our three weeks with her onboard. I really miss Inês but we made a pact to keep in touch and we are holding true to that! In the middle of February they departed to start what ended up being a six-week voyage landing them on the island of Hiva Oa in the Marquesas on March 28. During her time at sea, we would receive her updates every few days. It was so interesting and valuable to hear all about her first hand experiences knowing we soon were going to be making the same journey. We have huge hopes to reunite with her somewhere in the islands once we get across.
As I showed in my last post, Inês helped us in so many ways. For me one of the most valuable projects she helped us with happened just before she left. She helped bring Blandine (Blan) into our lives! Our experience with Inês made us realize that having another person onboard could help us tremendously when we do the crossing. Could we be so lucky to find ourselves someone as wonderful as her? Guess what, we did! Inês was part of a Facebook group for people looking to crew on boats. She noticed a post Blan put up and we were curious to find out more about her. Blan is from France and has been travelling for a year and a half. Before we knew it, we were texting and video calling with Blan in an effort to see if our plans, ideas, personalities and expectations lined up. It was wonderful that she had quite a bit of big ocean crossing experience on boats similar to ours. She had crossed the Atlantic twice and last year she crossed from Panama to the Galapagos Islands. Like Inês, she also smiled freely and we enjoyed getting to know her. Inês and Blan eventually had a private conversation. It seemed that once Inês filled her in on what it’s like to live with us, she became even more excited at the idea of joining us! We hit the point where Jas and I felt a comfort with Blan we decided to commit and excitedly asked her to make her way to us! She was in Guadeloupe though completing her free diving certification so it wasn’t until March that she finally stepped onboard Morning Stars. From Guadeloupe she found a boat to sail on down to Saint Martin and then she flew to Panama. By that time, we had crossed the canal and had enjoyed time in the Pearl Islands with Alex. It was so exciting to have her finally arrive… and just in time for lots of hard, sweaty, dirty boat work in Vista Mar Marina! Oh, poor Blan! I’d say she was what we expected but she’s so much more than that. She is a positive presence, hard worker, a wealth of experience and she always has a smile on her face!
Look at me getting ahead of myself here again – more about Blan later! As you can see, I am very anxious to get you all caught up to where we are now! I am working hard at that…stay tuned! 😅
Back in Shelter Bay, with our crew change plans decided on, the days ticked by as we saw our life at Shelter Bay slowly coming to an end. Boy, we had an incredible life there for more than half a year.
A lady named Amalia was another great part of being in Shelter Bay. Three times a week she brought fresh produce, bread and seafood to the marina. I later learned that her heritage ties to one of the oldest indigenous tribes in Panama, the Emberá people. I was so interested to learn that back in the 1960’s, her tribe was responsible for training the Apollo II astronauts in jungle survival techniques in order to advance their survival skills. Astronauts Neil Armstrong and John Glenn benefited from that training which including how navigate the jungle, build shelters, and find food. How cool is that? 🚀🏝️
Our experience with Amalia did not result in us learning how to string up a hammock on the moon but she still enriched our lives. So many times we would dash off the boat as soon as the morning text message came in saying that she had arrived. I had to hustle to make sure I would get there before she sold out of fresh shrimp! She lived in Panama City (an hour and a half away from the marina) so three times a week she was up at 2AM to go to the fresh markets to buy fish and produce to sell to us all.
Carlos, in the video above, was another wonderful part of our time in Shelter Bay. He was the resident environmentalist. Every morning our WhatsApp messaging group would buzz with interesting information and facts he would send along about the history and wildlife of Panama. He also gave guided tours through the jungle. One day, as a school field trip, Dylan, Stella, Sero and I did a two hour jungle tour with him. It was very interesting and he’d keep stopping along the way to quiz the kids on what the were seeing and experiencing. He was impressed at how smart our kiddos are and how well they were paying attention.
February’s focus for us continued as we prepared for the canal. That work was combined with our day to day life – my job, Dylan’s schooling and our mandatory pool cool down sessions (that often lined up with happy hour – we are on a budget after all!). Jas also continued on the lithium battery install as I worked on the visa paperwork.
Jas and I did manage to escape the marina for a day of fun in the city together. For Valentine’s Day, Jas and I enjoyed a date day in Colon. I got a much needed haircut, manicure and pedicure and Jas treated himself to a pedicure. After that we found some amazing sushi! Jas is not a fan of sushi (yes, he’s irrational) so he stopped at his beloved Wendy’s first. It was really to have that one on one time with Jas that day and to take time to pamper myself a bit. Liveaboard sailing life provides many wonderful things – but – it does not allow for beautiful nails.☹️
Back at the marina, we enjoyed having Fedi, Silke and the kids back in our lives for a bit. Originally from Switzerland, they excitedly just purchased land in Bocas del Torro so they are very busy setting up their new life putting roots down in Panama. We were happy they were able to carve out time to go through the canal with us!
A few days before we left to transit the canal, one of my absolute favourite people in the whole wide world stepped onto Morning Stars! Our son, Alex, arrived to spend a month with us! 🥰🎉 I could not have been more excited for his arrival and to finally give him a tour of Morning Stars.
This was his third trip to spend time with us since we started the Big Trip:
Visit number 1 = He did tons of work helping us move onto Starship back in July, 2023. We also had a fantastic one week sailing trip together on Lake Superior! Goodness that feels like a lifetime ago: https://svstarship1.ca/2023/07/23/happy-days-together/
Visit number 2 = Well, he was supposed to meet us in Key West but we had that unforgettable detour to Tampa Bay. The end result was still an unforgettable Christmas on Starship: https://svstarship1.ca/2023/12/25/merry-christmas/
Visit number 3 = In my following posts, you will see that we had the best visit to date with him! It was everything I had been wanting for so long…time anchored with him off of beautiful tropical islands, jumping into the water off the boat, him singing and playing guitar in the cockpit, watching him and his brother have fun fishing together, sailing days we wished would never end… oh how I loved that time with him! I dare to get my hopes up for another visit from him like that during our time in French Polynesia! 💞 (Alex, I know you are reading this…no pressure!😜)
With all our crew now onboard, we were ready! We had arrived in Shelter Bay Marina on Starship on July 28 and 209 days later we sailed away from the dock on Morning Stars. This life never ceases to amaze me – seriously!
It was time for us to change oceans. Time for us to take our floating home through one of the eight wonders of the modern world! 🌎
My next blog shares our unforgettable two days transiting the Panama Canal!
The blog below talks about why we have decided to add the above Ko-fi button. 😊
Random acts of kindness
The Big Trip 