Colon, Panama

We finally left Bocas del Toro and arrived at Shelter Bay Marina, Colon, at the Caribbean (North) entrance of the Panama Canal.  We drive  across one of the locks on our way to town from the marina, sometimes having to wait for huge ships to get towed into the lock.  Cool.

We are in Colon for two reasons:  Ben needed to get to the US Embassy in Panama City to have pages added to his passport, which was nearly confiscated at the Costa Rica/Panama border when there was no space for the official stamp.  By sailing to Colon, we saved Ben a 12+ hour bus ride; its only an hour to Panama City from here.

We stopped at Rio Chagres on the way, only 6 miles from here, and enjoyed the pristine jungle complete with crocodiles, toucans and howler monkeys swinging through the trees.  We did not linger to do any hiking as Ben was in a bit of a hurry, and he was not lucky fishing, although a croc got interested enough in his jiggling bait to come close to the boat.  We were not brave (or stupid) enough to swim, but the fresh water was a treat for the boat and our showers with the deck wash-down hose.

On our way to Colon from Rio Chagres, we rescued a pair of fishermen in their panga who were rowing fiercely to stay off the rocky lee shore.   The starter cord on their outboard had broken, so we towed them out of the disorganizd swells back into the river mouth, provided tools and cord, and failed to capture their huge smiles when their engine started again.  They insisted on giving us some of their catch despite our protestations that we didn't need fresh fish right away--we had too much food to use before it spoiled--so we sallied forth again with 8 nice snappers and jacks.  (The next day I gave the fish to the marina restaurant chef; he gave us a bottle of wine and everyone was happy.)  That makes two times Ben and Bill have rescued a fishing panga in almost the exact same area.  The last time was in 2007.

Ben left the morning after we arrived at the marina, and is now back in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua with a passport bulging with clean pages. Rachel had left Bocas earlier to visit her family in Colorado, and flew back directly to Nicaragua, where they will spend the season working and surfing. Rachel is teaching yoga, Ben is seeking boat work. After having them with us for 6 months, it was very hard to say good-bye.

However, the fun never ends here. Paul and Piper (the deck babe formerly known as Mary Beth) joined us at Shelter Bay last week, and we planned to head for the San Blas Islands as soon as we provisioned and fueled up, and expected to share another fine Thanksgiving with them anchored off some fabulously beautiful island.  Then the rain started, then the floods began, then the fuel  barge didn't come, then the president of Panama declared a state of emergency in Colon, then fuel arrived but a fancy yacht needed hours to take on thousands of gallons of diesel, etc. etc, so our departure has been delayed a week and Thanksgiving dinner was a (delicious) cruiser potluck.  Today we toted 40 gallons of diesel in jerry jugs from the fuel barge, the weather has mostly cleared, and we're finally prepared to leave in the morning.  Meanwhile, Bill and Paul (The Semi-Colons--rhymes with Cologne) have amused themselves and others by playing  music outside at the bar, while Piper and I play Bananagrams, a great new game for word nerds that Polly and Miles brought down last month.   More about THAT wonderful visit later.

We can't say we're thrilled with Shelter Bay Marina, but it's the only game in town since the Panama Canal Yacht Club was torn down 4-5 years ago. Shame. The marina offers a free daily round-trip bus to shopping in Colon 30 minutes away, but a taxi costs $25 each way, and if you have a lot of bags, you won't fit them on the crowded bus.  We're looking forward to better cruising grounds soon.
Rio Chagres Photos

We've been lucky to have great friends and family aboard nearly constantly since last March, but I find it tough to sit and write at those times.  It's occurred to me that there have been some great moments unreported as we sailed from Key West to Panama with Ben and Rachel, and then spent the past several months in Bocas del Toro.  I will randomly post a few as I get internet access, which has been some frustrating here.   Here's the first:

Act III was on the same mooring in Key West for a couple of months and at least four of us swam around the boat every day, so I was greatly surprised that it took six weeks for me to spot a  15 hp. Johnson outboard sitting on the bottom only a few yards from the boat.  I dove down to make sure the motor was relatively complete and when it didn't look too bad--and against my better judgement--I pointed it out to Ben and Bill.  Silly me thought they would dismiss it as being too far gone, but in fact, the rest of the day was spent hauling it aboard, draining out the sand and salt water, and dismantling.  The two men stood side by side at the push pit, one working diligently on the lower unit, the other on the upper; tools came out of the garage; the compressor was unearthed (20 moves), and as each part was cleaned and examined,  the dang thing indeed appeared salvagable.  After several hours, Ben noted a key part missing, dang.  They reassembled their Johnson(s), and we took it to the "free" place near the dinghy dock, where it was snapped up before they could even set it down.  One less piece of garbage in the ocean, and several beers earned for the salvagers.  Happy ending.