Molas, Crocodiles, Late-night Visitors, and Rain

It's been an eventful few days here on Astarte, not the least of which was a humdinger of a squall last night at the convenient hour of 0230! Yuck. The dinghy has subsequently been bailed twice and still has a bit of water. The good news is that the water tanks are full, with water to spare! And our drying clothes got a second dousing while on the line. The bad news is that the squall wasn't the end of it and we continue to see the rain fall…and that once crystal water around Green Island has turned to mud. Yuck times two.

Backing up a bit, we did have an encounter with Lisa, "master mola maker and infamous transvestite" (as per The Panama Cruising Guide) before leaving the Lemmons. Barbara has written a bit about the Kuna's propensity for approaching boats and selling their wares. Having read about Lisa just a few hours earlier, I couldn't help but be intrigued enough to see her molas and chat her up (her English is quite good). And she had some very intricate molas. I'm not really a connoisseur and know nothing about the fabric arts (hell, I can hardly sew a button), but luckily the guide books tell you what to look for. My hopes of finding a Mola mola mola (yes, there's a fish joke in there) weren't realized but we did pick up a few nice ones and a very kitchy mola beer coozie! We'll hang with Lisa again when we talk a river tour in a few days.

Still no joy in the fishing world. We've heard reports of a crocodile (a wee pup at 5' in length) in the vicinity-he seems to be a bit of a local legend. Combined with the murky water, the snorkeling potential is rapidly declining, as you may imagine! We were hoping the murky water might lead to some fishing luck (it is looking more like Chesapeake Bay or the Gulf than that gin-clear water we were lured by), but alas even the changing conditions can't dumb down the local stocks enough to take a bite.

Lastly, we heard the saddest tale of woe last evening when we were approached by two Kunas well after dark. They arrived in the midst of yet another squall. They had been out collecting coconuts (Kuna currency, forbidden to visitors) and as they were paddling for home, their ulu (canoe) was upended. While these boats are very cool, we witnessed their lack of stability when the Kuna man selling octopus toppled out of his earlier in the day while trying to close the deal with us-he came to the surface with the octos held high! At any rate, the guys lost all their cocos, one canoe paddle, and some pride. The younger of the two (15) was a bit scared by the whole episode and they decided we were a safe bet. So, they got cookies and coffee, a towel, some shelter, and time to regain their courage while they waited for a weather window to make the 3 hour paddle home (not sure if that was calculated with 1 paddle or two?). The older one (20) was fluent in Spanish so we chatted a bit, at which point we learned about the crocodiles, turtles, and white sharks (though we're thinking some kind of reef shark) in the area-this story was further compounded by a side note whereby their dog had recently been eaten by a crocodile. Hmmmm. Barbara and I (the cynics in this case) just couldn't help but wonder if we were being put on! At any rate, it makes for a good story!

We're hoping for some clearer air and water tomorrow, but are content to read and sip rum punches for the time being.

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Porvenir or Bust

Guests Aboard Astarte, Comarca de Kuna Yala, Panama

Buenos dias! After struggling with my ever-diminishing Spanish skills in Panama City for a day and a half and finding the only $4 beers in the whole country, I was glad to board the plane to El Porvenir. Check-in was fairly simple at the airport (the former American military base in the Canal Zone). They bilked us for our extra luggage (gringo surcharge??), but not too bad, and we didn't have to leave all those nuts and that Dunkin' Donuts coffee we acquired as gifts behind! Security is considerably lax and they only asked to see the rum we had in our handbags-really, they looked at it and gave back to us. It was a bit disconcerting to see 5 guys standing around fixing the plane before we boarded, but we trusted the pilot and when he gave the okay, we boarded.

While the small size of the Twin Otter we were directed to was no surprise, what we didn't know about was the size of the runway in Porvenir. I'm pretty sure it would be considered a palm-lined driveway in some neighborhoods. The dude had won the window seat, which left him scanning for coral reefs. I got the aisle seat, which left me looking at the cockpit controls and the approach. I can't say I didn't utter a "Dios mio" under my breath when I saw this thing! We skidded to a halt 50 feet before the beach on the far side. B and M were there to meet us and M said he saw some pretty green folks deplane-I don't think we were among them, but I'm glad to be avoiding that runway on our return trip. Of course, he just flew back to Porvenir and didn't mutter anything about this runway-obviously he is tougher than I when it comes to sketchy airports! A great start to this adventure, at any rate.

We checked in with the Kuna congreso who lightened our pockets a bit and then it was off to the boat to chill with some coffee and breakfast snacks and watch the rain storms roll in. And it rained. But then it cleared and we took off for the West Lemmons-and as we were approaching, another rainstorm rolled in and this one was serious tropical rain. B bore the brunt of it, being on reef watch on the bow. Though, with a track-line to follow, we anchored without much ado, got settled, and took off snorkeling in the afternoon.

After a scrumptious dinner of lobster and pasta, some good times meeting the Tumshis, and several glasses of wine, we all crashed at cruisers midnight (which fits my sleeping patterns perfectly). A little bit of rain kept us on our toes during the night, but all and all a good rest was had by all.

Today we moved on to Green Island which is a picture perfect Caribbean island. We did a nice long snorkel in the afternoon and Mark and I tried to make up for the lack of fishing joy we had on the passage by trying again from the dinghy-so far we're not bringing much luck to Astarte to go along with all that tackle we brought…there's always tomorrow…

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The Calm Amidst the Storm

If you're on the eastern seaboard and have a pulse, you probably know that we're getting battered by a nice nor'easter here in Chesapeake Bay--winds gusting in the 50s, tides many feet above normal, power flickering intermittently, and those trees we probably should have cut down living dangerously and threatening us with every gust.

I have been keeping a keen eye on the NOAA tidal predictions/observations and laughed out loud when I received an e-mail stating that "Today's seminar about rising sea levels has been cancelled due to rising sea levels." If inquiring minds want to know, the real-time data can be found here or here.

But, despite the turmoil outdoors, I decided to crank the heat and hunker down to do some reading and just lay low. It is actually quite peaceful and for the first time in many weeks I don't feel like a chicken with its head cut off! In addition, I actually have some time to pack the remaining items for Panama and make sure I practice those few key Spanish phrases that may prevent humiliation...or at least interrupted travel plans!

Lagging Baggage

As we are in the midst of prepping for our great Panamanian adventure (for a taster check out Barbara and Michael's blog), I recently purchased some airline tickets for domestic (Panamanian) travel. Recognizing that the planes would be tiny, I had to investigate the baggage policy to make sure we knew our weight limits. The translation just cracked me up, and so, for a good laugh, I'm posting it here...and I assure you, my ability to translate the intent of such a message from English to Spanish would have been no better, seeing as how I've already confused some nouns and probably requested goats instead of transportation--still it's good for a laugh:

International flights Lost Baggage

First and foremost we apologize for any inconvenience caused.

If you are seeing this page is because his luggage was lost.

You should have submitted a claim by that baggage, which for some reason is lagging in some airport or was mistakenly delivered to another passenger.

The airline tells you to fill out the form, which was the procedure, however if you have any suggestions or questions you do about your baggage please send email to: XXXXXX with the number of claims, which 'll taste immediate response on the investigations.

Summer Highlights

As I sit celebrating the equinox, the official end of summer (even though the fashion police would have you thinking Labor Day was it, when you officially stored your white shoes and seersucker suit), I couldn't help but revisit some of the finer moments of the summer by getting back on the blogwagon.

Major summer endeavors included: our bourgeoning garden, field work for both halves (MN's was much more "adventure on the high seas" than mine, but I got to sleep in my own bed every night), maintaining a comfortable yet inexpensive temperature in the house, playing and watching lots of tennis, and a little travel here and a little travel there. All in all, we didn't die of heat stroke and we managed plenty of weekend adventure despite our geographic location.

The garden turned out pretty well, with much success in our first attempt to grow warm-climate crops like peppers. We had great success with the cayennes, but I think my favorite was the Italian sweet Corno di toro pepper--delicious.

The tomatoes started off with a bang and grew, and grew, and grew. Unfortunately, they grew huge but didn't exactly become laden with fruit as we had hoped. We did get a few delicious Cherokee Purples, which were similar to a Brandywine but I think even more flavorful. They are a keeper and will make the cut next year. We also had a bumper crop of basil, with staggered planting so as to keep us in the money all summer long. The combination of the tomatoes and basil led to many an Insalata Caprese. We did lose our parsley to a family of swallowtail butterfly caterpillars--an early crushing of one, led to amnesty for the rest and one decimated parsley plant! These guys seemingly eat their weight in a day!


In other critter news, we did have a Wild Kingdom moment--Marlin Perkins wasn't there to narrate, but I was, and I could hardly contain myself when I saw the snake I had been watching go for broke after a toad clear across the yard. Snake 1, Toad 0.


Our furry 4-legged critter didn't dig the heat and humidity much and on more than one occasion I found myself adjusting the thermostat downward on her behalf--she is spoiled. In the end I figured the cost of the AC was minimal compared to a trip to the vet to patch up all her bare spots! Perhaps she'll get shorn next summer to make the Virginia heat a little easier to bear. She did find some solace in beach-going--the water seemed to suit her as well as the Pacific, though she was a bit confused when her people got in it too.

As for the travels, I had high hopes for the girls' backpacking trip to the Bigelow Range--sadly, the weather made for not such a great outdoor experience and the end-of-trip Geary's were consumed a bit short of their planned date. The moose didn't seem to mind the rain and cold though, so our trip wasn't without one good wildlife sighting. I'm pretty sure next year a desert trip is in order--or at least something in an arid climate!

Even in the desert southwest it rains though. We made it to CO for a short trip to see some pals and explore a bit. Highlights from that adventure included a biking brewery tour of Fort Collins, many breakfasts at Lucile's, and a nice (but partly rainy) hike up to Emerald Lake and a view of Tyndall Glacier (or what was left of it). The air is thin at 10,500' but we must have been in better shape than we thought or the adrenaline took over, because it didn't seem all that bad!

And, lest we neglect our "home" state, we did manage a recent weekend camping trip to the wilds of western VA. We passed through Staunton on our way to the George Washington National Forest and I think I'd like to go back there some time--very cute town with sort of an artsy vibe to it. The camping was okay but the company was great. We did some chillaxin' and had some fun with zen campfire cooking and smores-making.


A hike up Shenandoah Mountain and the history lesson that came with it left at least one member of our party tired--so tired she skipped the smores-fest and took herself to bed--right on two comfy sleeping bags, neither of which belonged to her.



And last but not least for the summer of 2009 was a typically fantastic return trip to the Emerald City. We saw friends, jumping salmon, wedded bliss, hangovers, and alas, "the mountain was out" almost the entire time we were there.

Catch of the Day!

Speckled Seatrout, Cynoscion nebulosus (juv.)

Seems like forever ago when this site last saw some action related to the briny deep...and while I can't promise deep, I can promise briny (but for deep, check out the blog from the MAR-ECO cruise to the mid-Atlantic Ridge--some whacky stuff they are finding!). After straining my memorization skills and trying to master the art of prophesying exam questions over the last several months, I have finally been freed up to do what it is I was born to do: play in the water! Despite being surrounded by painful jellyfish (Chrysaora quinquecirrha) and pinch-like-hell blue crabs (Callinectes sapidus), I've been having a grand old time splashing around. And besides, if the crab is going to pinch me, I'm going to eat its brethren...only fair, eh?

Typically, this time of year, I have been up to my eyeballs in pollinating reed canary grass, surveying some mighty fine marshes (or at least they used to be, anyway) and wishing the sneezing and eye itching would stop. The rare instance would arise when I'd get to squeeze some fish, and it would be even rarer if they were of the salty type. So, wasn't I just in my glory when I got to pull up some trawls today and find a treasure-trove of sea critters awaiting my inspection! Trawling is kind of like Christmas morning--when the net comes in, it's full of surprises. Of course, this is less so on massive surveys where seeing one more arrowtooth flounder (Atheresthes stomias) or pacific ocean perch (Sebastes alutus) might cause you to jump overboard (the salty dude can attest to this, as he's spent 3+ weeks trying to keep himself in the boat). But my trawl was a simple little device that worked well without being overwhelming. In addition, when you are new to a system, everything seems cool...well, okay, maybe not the spot (Leiostomus xanthurus).

Lined Seahorse, Hippocampus erectus

Of course, some things are truly remarkable and I have to put the Syngnathids up there. These fishes include seahorses and pipefish. Of course, I had seen seahorses in aquaria many times before, but despite considerable effort looking in tropical seagrass beds on every vacation opportunity, I had, until recently, failed to find one live and in its own environment. My recent role as helper scientist had me donning the mask and snorkel and as I meandered about I saw a seahorse and lots of his relatives, pipefish! And it seems they come up in trawls relatively frequently, if not in great abundance, so I was thrilled when we pulled a few in today and I got to take some photos! Fun! Their prehensile tail is pretty cool and I could see it being quite a useful adaptation when trying to cling to eelgrass blades.

The other surprise catch was what I thought was Chesapeake Bay's version of the spiny lumpsucker (Eumicrotremus orbis), the cutest fish of all time. But lo and behold, the lumpsucker is a cyclopterid (lumpfish, in the same group as lionfish, Pacific rockfish, and cottids: Scorpaeniformes). Our catch was identified as a spiny boxfish (or striped burrfish Chilomyclerus schoepfi), a Tetradontiform (pufferfish and triggerfish are also in this group). Whatever name you call him, he came out of the net all puffed up and we had to try awfully hard to get him to deflate to his normal size and bouyancy before letting him go. I do think my first photo, when he inadvertently rolled over, looks like something from Star Wars:

Upon righting him, his fins became apparent and he proved to be just another incarnation of the Actinopterygii.

Paean to the Firefly

It's been several weeks since the local fireflies began illuminating our yard with their pulsing glow. And, perhaps in the interim, I have become slightly obsessed with them. They are also a source of curiosity for the dog--what is this thing that lights up in front of my nose and then disappears? It seems like they have hit their stride in the last week, more abundant than in the weeks prior, the light show in the yard more showy. And so, when I saw the article in the NY Times tonight about researchers who actually study fireflies (how cool is that?), I figured I should finally put fingers to keyboard and punch out an ode to this amazing creature.

My previous post on the insidious insects in my garden notwithstanding, there are many insects I find fascinating: staphylinid beetles, luna moths, bees of any nature, chironomids (if only because I've looked at zillions in fish guts), lacewings. But the firefly has to be the most captivating of them all. I had kind of forgotten all about them until a few years ago when I was back in Maine at the right time. While the sight of the flashing yellow bug butts reminded me of my childhood, it was my best buddy's absolute amazement at them that really made me feel like a kid. See, the East Coast does have a few things that other Coast lacks...

So, a few weeks ago in my effort to get a closer look at the beautiful firefly, I grabbed some cake-sized tupperware from my parents' cupboard (I was there claiming free dinner), and scurried about the yard trying to capture a few--okay it was easy, they aren't good fliers...And thank goodness they aren't because when it got loose in the pristine environs of my mother's kitchen, I was quickly able to recapture it, although my hysterical laughing and insistence that everything was "just fine" was a dead give-away to the actual events that were unfolding. I got a good look at its bioluminescent abdomen and its striped elytra. Unfortunately, the camera/glass jar/cellophane photo-station my dad and I constructed was inferior for photographing insects, even the slow-moving, relatively photogenic ones. Even so, we had a good time constructing it, he trying to over-engineer it and me trying not to kill the little fellow (he did make a good point that it would be a lot easier if it was dead). I sort of felt like I was 10 again.