Monday, February 9, 2009

Isla Del Rey

Hi! Right now we are bouncing up and down on the waves going about 7 knots
with 16 knots of wind. We are headed back to Panama to re-provision and fuel
up for the trip to the Galapagos. We just left Isla Del Rey in the Las
Perlas this morning. A few days ago we decided to hop in the dinghy and
explore the 'amazing river with waterfalls'. Since it sounded so much fun
from what our friends told us we decided to explore before we left for
Panama. So we all jumped in the dinghy and started to motor over to the
entrance. After maneuvering through shallow water and floating logs we found
the river. It was a beautiful, wide river with mangroves on either side and
all sorts of birds above you. Soon the bees started to attack and we had to
keep going since Don is allergic to them. After motoring a little farther
the river started to get more shallow and skinny but the bugs went away
(that could be because Mommy killed us and the dinghy with bug spray but who
knows). Anyways the surroundings soon became trees with amazing roots that
spread from the tree ten feet off the ground. We kept looking for monkeys
and sloths but only saw a few birds. Soon we came to a curve in the river
where we had a choice. One part of the river had a log lying across it but
just enough space to pass it, and the other was a bit tight but wider that
the first path. Since the river had now become really shallow and tight it
wasn't really living up to its name. Since we all wanted to see the
waterfalls we took the more open path. Soon we came to the end of the water
and ran into multiple logs. It was time to try the other path. After passing
the log we found another dead end. Oh well we thought. After motoring back
to the boat Cole and I pulled out all of our water toys (surf board, water
skies, stuff like that) and attached the wind surfer to the back of the
dinghy hoping that it would pull both Cole and I sitting down on it. After
multiple tries we had to paddle back to the boat and grab the water skies.
Since the boots on the skies are a little too big for me I had no trouble
putting them on and was soon flying across the water. I had so much fun
going outside the wake until my foot came out of the boot and we had to go
back to the boat to readjust it. Since it didn't go any tighter I did a
couple more circles of the anchorage and then went back to the boat to get
the surf board. Lucky for me, Cole wasn't in the mood for water sports and
so I basically had the rest of the afternoon. Since scurfing isn't my
specialty I decided to knee board. On my first lap around I performed a
beautiful 360 sideways spin off the board and splashed into the water
laughing my butt off. Daddy and Cole soon circled back so that I could grab
the tow rope and they were laughing pretty hard too. Soon my knees got tired
and Daddy wanted to water ski. In the hopes that the dinghy had enough power
to pull him out of the water he pulled on the skies and put Cole at the
wheel. Sadly, our dinghy isn't strong enough and so we had to put everything
away for the day. It was time for dinner. Well our speed has increased since
I started writing this but so have the waves. If I keep going I'm gonna make
my stomach flip, bye!

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3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey Cammi Cam,
Sounds like you are having a great time with your water sports and Don. Your narrative is so very exciting and I would have loved to see a picture of you doing your 360 sideways stint! Can't wait to hear what you have to say about the Galapagos!
I am finally hooked up to cyberspace and you will be hearing a lot more from me from now on.
Love you and hugs to the crew,
Nonna xxxxxxxxooooooooo

Anonymous said...

Cammi~
I just shared this blog with my students. They LOVE hearing about your adventures! I particularly loved the part where you described your Mom spraying the boat with bug spray. I can picture it now...your Mom furiously drowning the boat with spray and the looks on all of your faces. The mental imagae makes me laugh! I miss you guys!
Love,
Miss Erika

Anonymous said...

Hey Cammi your blog is so cool! You use sailor talk lol serena no understand, yah my mom works for a sailing company and I am still so oblivious. I should work on that. Hope you have lots of fun!
Serena