Kay Chung
Posted in Central America, Central and South Americas, Medical Service Experiences, Sailings
(February 22 to March 2, 2021) Each night, we stopped at a different anchorage in Costa Rica, leaving after sunrise and arriving in mid-afternoon at a new place. One day, we had to leave at 4 AM at dark (no moonlit) from Bahia Ballena (Whale Bay). Luckily, when I flashed the light on the water and John noticed water breaking on the surface,
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Kay Chung
Posted in Central America, Central and South Americas, Pacific Islands, Sailings
Approaching Naranjo Cove Near Cerro Hoya National Park in Panama
(February 11 to 22, 2021) The beauty of sailing is moving by wind power along. When all is under control and the wind takes us to a place, I feel fortunate. The other night, I saw five shooting stars and wished my dreams on each!
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Kay Chung
Posted in Central America, Central and South Americas, Pacific Islands, Sailings
Free Fish from Ocean, Fishermen, Our Neighboring Boat! Our cats were happy!!!(January 15, 2021) We are back to the marina. A month long get-away in Las Perlas, was a reboot of our dreams which were fading during this COVID lockdown. Most of the islands/countries in South Pacific and New Zealand are still closed.
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Kay Chung
Posted in Central America, Central and South Americas, Greetings, Pacific Islands, Sailings
Sailing and Motoring to Isla Otoque, Panama
(December 21, 2020) Truth to be told for the last couple of months, I got addicted to political news on YouTube Videos. It was easy to do. Spending many hours watching videos made me feel bad. I don’t need to know the tips or cooking recipes suggested by an Artificial Intelligent Search Engine.
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Kay Chung
Posted in Central America, Central and South Americas, Sailings
View of La India Dormida Mountain from Anton Valley, Panama
(October 12, 2020) We have been in Panama for far too many months. This is the longest time I personally have ever stayed in one place (other than in my home or on the boat visiting multiple countries.) As of today,
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Kay Chung
Posted in Carolinas, Central America, Greetings
(January 15, 2017) Meeting old friends and neighbors! For staying in the Caribbean for last two years, we decided to enjoy winter weather this time. We also have things to take care of on land. Leaving the boat in North Carolina, John purchased a used vehicle. We drove it to Fort Lauderdale with our two cats.
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Kay Chung
Posted in Caribbean Islands, Central America, Florida, Sailings
An adrenaline pumping sailing trip!
April 26 to May 3, 2016: I found that weather forecasts are about 50% accurate. Maybe it will rain, maybe it will not. Maybe it will be windy from the East, or maybe from somewhere else. Our sailing from Rio Dulce,
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Kay Chung
Posted in Caribbean Islands, Central America, Sailings
April 26, 2016: While waiting for a high tide to get out the Rio Dulce Entrance, a local boat stopped by and asked us if we needed his service to pass the shallow spot. We told him that we will follow our previous GPS track that we saved two months ago when we passed the shallow spot.
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Kay Chung
Posted in Central America, Medical Service Experiences, Sailings
“All sorts of bodily diseases are produced by half-used minds.” — George Bernard Shaw, Irish Playwright (1856-1950)
Clothes are real cheap in Rio Dulce. Most of the stores sell second hand clothes that appeared to be brought from the USA. John has been enjoying buying work T-Shirts when there is a bargain.
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Kay Chung
Posted in Boat Projects, Caribbean Islands, Central America, Sailings
While staying in some anchorages at night, we sometimes wished to have a bit more protection on our deck hatches. We have four small hatches and one big hatch on the boat. These hatches are big enough so we can get out of the boat if needed during an emergency;
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Kay Chung
Posted in Boat Projects, Central America, Sailings
I have read that ‘Guatemala’ means ‘Land of Trees’ in the indigenous language. The country is still very green with lots of forests but most people use wood for cooking meals. Based on the daily wage, there are not enough jobs for the people here, and to compound the problem,
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Kay Chung
Posted in Caribbean Islands, Central America, Sailings
Calypso Marina in Rio Dulce, if one loves tranquility, it is the marina to stay. (http://www.calypsomarina.com/)
There are many marinas in Rio Dulce River. Selecting a marina is matter of a personal choice. Marina cost in Rio Dulce is about the same, US$250/month including the water but electricity is an additional charge.
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Kay Chung
Posted in Central America, Internet Abroad
*** My Experiences with Claro SIM Card in Guatemala (February to April 2016) ***
In Guatemala, I bought a Claro SIM card because a Claro store is conveniently located by the Municipal Pier in Livingstone. I paid about 15 Quetzals (US$2) for a SIM card. It came with 150 MB data.
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Kay Chung
Posted in Boat Projects, Central America, Sailings
Sailing to Rio Dulce was an impromptu decision for us. This is the place where the original Jonny Weissmuller Tarzan movies were filmed. While we were passing through the Rio Dulce river gorge, John was more impressed by it than I was. He never stopped saying that “Wow, it’s awesome!” As the river is over 15 miles long to the main town,
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Kay Chung
Posted in Caribbean Islands, Central America, Sailings
It is known there is a shallow spot at the Rio Dulce entrance between the river and the sea. The shallow spot is about 5.5 feet (1.68 meters) at low tide. Most of the sailors wait for high tide to enter this spot so as not to get stuck on the muddy bottom.
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Kay Chung
Posted in Caribbean Islands, Central America, Sailings
Growing up as a kid, I liked geography and I dreamed of visiting many countries. I believe the journey of my sailing life, in a sense, is not a coincidence but is related to my childhood dream; ‘Traveling’ is in my blood. Why do I dream about it? Truly, I would have a hard time answering,
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Kay Chung
Posted in Caribbean Islands, Central America, Sailings
This sailing trip taught us lots of lessons. We had all kinds of weather during a total length of 600 nautical miles from February 15 to February 20, 2016. It took 113 hours averaging 5.3 miles/hour. It taught me again that sailing is “The sport of fluid dynamics and geometry.
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Kay Chung
Posted in Caribbean Islands, Central America, Sailings
An untouched paradise, ‘donde la magia envulve el alma y el Corazon’ (in English: where magic surrounds the heart and soul!)
We have been in the Providencia anchorage almost three weeks. People here are very outgoing, and most speak English to boot, so that I didn’t feel any distance from the locals at all.
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Kay Chung
Posted in Caribbean Islands, Central America, Sailings, San Blas, South America
Zika Virus, Chikungunya, Dengue Fever, Yellow Fever, Malaria… AHHHH, Life in the tropics. When it comes to bug bites, prevention is the best policy for me. Otherwise, once I get a bug bite, I end up scratching my skin leaving ugly scars. Based on my experiences, a mosquito bite makes me itch for about two days and a no-see-ums (Sandflies) about five days.
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Kay Chung
Posted in Caribbean Islands, Central America, Sailings, South America
February 1, 2016: In order to see the island, we decided to rent a scooter for each of us (50,000 Colombian Pesos = US$16 Per Day/Per Scooter). I was a little worried because I haven’t driven a scooter before. It is the main transportation vehicle in Providencia. The road is good and empty so I was ready to learn a new skill,
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