Journal

During the past week, we have had guests aboard Audentes from Panama, England, Canada, and Poland. Much like the UN, everyone dislikes Americans but is polite enough not to say so to our faces. Also similar to the UN, we Americans do whatever we want and don’t care at all what anyone else thinks. There […]

The differences between the anchorage in Balboa on the Pacific side of the Panama Canal and Colon on the Caribbean side are incredible. A 50-mile motor through the canal took us from a post-apocalyptic world of drugs, prostitution, and rampant crime to a cultured, scenic, urban wonderland. Instead of an anchorage constantly under attack from […]

The past week has been a busy one. Setting sail from the friendly confines of Portobello on Sunday, we joined a caravan of boats making their way to the entrance of the Panama Canal. As we neared the breakwater that marks the beginning of the Canal, a number of enormous cargo ships came into view. […]

Super Bowl Sunday began with a great deal of promise but, ultimately, ended up being far from super. Due to a communication failure, likely resulting from our nearly complete lack of understanding Spanish and our total lack of understanding Kuna Yala, the grande fiesta that we were told was to take place on Sunday was […]

On Sunday, January 15, Zach Johnson joined the crew of Audentes. Only a week into his visit, he was provided with his first real test: to take care of the boat while I returned to the U.S. for seven days to attend the memorial service for my Grandfather. Although Zach has previously accompanied me on […]

All other events over the past couple of weeks have been overshadowed by the sad news of the passing of my grandfather, James Allison Cook. My grandfather collapsed and died from cardiac arrest while playing golf on January 19th. The shock of his passing has not yet set in and I am struggling to accept […]

It is strange that, during the past week spent anchored off of the tiny island of Porvenir, I have met more people than I normally do when I visit large cities. Despite only having four families residing on the island, a handful of visitors staying at the hotel, and less than five sailboats in the […]

The San Blas Islands might be the best kept secret in the Caribbean. It is difficult to imagine another place possessing more natural beauty. Instead of paying exorbitant prices to fly to Tahiti, where I understand that the local culture has been heavily impacted by tourism, a better option seems to be to purchase a […]

Several months ago, while discussing where to sail during my parent’s holiday visit, we considered whether we should stop in Cartagena, Colombia. On the one hand, cruisers raved about Cartagena and said that it shouldn’t be missed. On the other hand, it is Colombia and safety was a concern. After weighing the risks and rewards, […]

Following the departure of my friend TK and prior to the arrival of my parents, I was blessed with three days alone on Aruba. Most of this time was spent at the casino attempting to win money by betting on sports. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like gambling will provide an alternate source for funding my […]