So the first week here has been an interesting adjustment to the pace of Bocas del Toro. The days are slow, hot, and quiet for the most part. Most evenings and nights, the pace picks up in town as the locals and travelers alike gear up for another party somewhere.

Sarah and Jenni left Andiamo last weekend, with plans to do some traveling together around Panama and Costa Rica. I suspect I'll be hearing from them from time to time.

Since getting Andiamo back all to myself, I've embarked on a few lingering projects that I've wanted to finish for sometime. The first was making a raincatcher, which I can rig up quickly and easily to catch rainwater and run it right into my tanks. After a few tweaks and adjustments, I've got a pretty good design down. This is a great thing, since it rains quite a bit in Bocas during the summer. I really should have done this a long time ago.

Another interesting thing: my nutty pal Lisa (crazy ex-lawyer from Ohio) now lives in Panama. We got in touch the day I arrived here, and we met up for drinks along with her cousin Ingrid and some friends from a spanish school here in town. It was nice getting caught up with Lisa and geez, it's frightening how much she has NOT changed in the almost three years I've known her. She lives in Boquete, a few hours from here, and will be coming over again soon for a visit. I suspect I'll be seeing Lisa around quite a bit during my time here.

There are also several Rio Dulce alumni here, so there are plenty of cruiser pals who will be hanging out here for the season. The great thing about Panama is that you can sail your boat even during hurricane season. Though the weather can be rainy and stormy at times, there is virtually no threat of hurricanes, so you can venture out. It's much better than being stuck up the Rio Dulce for months at a time, I'll tell ya that.

So I'm looking to do a sail soon to a couple of Cays outside of Bocas. I think I have some people lined up already for the ride, we'll see what happens.

In the meantime, I'll try to keep my partying to a minimum.