Arkeen, a man and friend of ours from the indigenous tribe of the Panamanian islands, the Kuna, took me out in his dug out sailing canoe for a sail. We were heading in to the town and drove by his canoe. I switched boats and we put the tiny sails up. We were cruising along and Arkeen told me to grab a tangled up rope that was hanging in the front, untangle it, and pull. The rope was tied to the middle of the mast so that when I pulled on it, it acted like a the sheet on the big boat and pretty much tightened the sail to make us go faster. By this time we were going faster than the dinghy and were almost to the bridge that connected the island (the town covered the whole island) to the main land. Right before you went under the bridge there was a broken down dock to your right where the canoes tied up. The dinghy dock was on the other side of the bridge so Mom, Dad, and Roberto motored under the bridge while Arkeen and I tied up at the canoe dock. We met Arkeen’s wife and kids at their house. They had a calico cat and three calico kittens (all girls). The rest of the day we spent visiting the grave yard where we saw a dog sitting by what we assumed was his owner’s grave and Arkeen’s sister and nieces and nephews. We had to tow Arkeen and John (from Azonic, our buddy boat crossing to Panama) back to where the boats where anchored, and swam the minute we got there. We also made a couple fish friends who used us as a bus to cross the deep parts of the bay and still be protected from predators. Smart fish. Right now we are in Nargana and will be gong to Green Island later today. We cannot swim in Nargana because of all the trash in the water so we are all excited to get to Green Island.
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