Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter Ten
Pacific Ocean, Toboga Island, and on to the Galapagos Islands and Hawaii.
We lose the dinghy and Déjà vu!
A day in Panama City.
Dolphins save Déjà vu.
Out of cigarettes.
Galapagos galore!
Bar brawl.
Ran out of cooking gas.
Jury rigged cooker.
Cockroaches.
Almost out of food and water.
Amazing fish story!
Hawaii!
“The sun beat down upon us, and we soaked in her healing rays. It seems that on this ocean
there is more plankton than the Atlantic, certainly near the equator where it is a lot warmer,
turning the water green with its rich quantities of phytoplankton and algae. I must remem-
ber to trail a net behind to scoop up some of this plankton and krill to examine it. A lot of
it is eatable, but unfortunately, a lot isn't, and one cannot eat this from a net.”
So reads my
log leaving the Panama Canal.
Wafting along aboard sweet Déjà vu, we made an unhurried passage to Taboga on a greenish
blue Pacific. Taboga is a tiny island about ten miles to the north-west of Panama. We decided
to stop over for a few days just to relax from the pressure of crossing the canal and to be able
to make some beef jerky. We had been told by friends how cheap the beef in Panama was
(indeed throughout South America the beef was excellent and very cheap).
Taboga was reached on the first day of our departure, and we anchored in six fathoms of wa-
ter in uncertain holding ground. It was a delightfully tranquil, colorful, little bay not unlike
one you would find somewhere in the Mediterranean. Patches of color from flowering trees
and creepers gave it a friendly feel. The island appeared to be one big, high rock jutting out
of the ocean with a lot of crumbling, old buildings that had been built ages ago. We rowed
ashore later in the evening and, tying the dinghy to the little public jetty, made our way to-
wards the only hotel.
We had noticed the big, red yacht that had been bearing down on us just recently one morn-
ing when I had fallen asleep on watch anchored in our new neighborhood. Sure enough,
