Panama
The sail to Panama
We leave Isla del Coco on Wednesday December 11th in light southwesterly breezes punctuated by large
low clouds that, in contrast to most my experiences, remove or
somehow block what wind there is! I've named these backward squalls
"sllauqs", we have to motor through these. This is
around 5 deg. N of the equator and it is very hot even though we are way
out at sea, and its so hot in the engine room we have to motor with all
the engine room doors open, making it even hotter for us! The 2nd
day out, the wind goes even lighter and behind us and slatting becomes a
problem, so we again have to motor sail. Of course we now are on our
last tank of fuel so we know full well we have to do some sailing!
The next morning, the wind comes from a new and completely unexpected
direction, north! We are sailing, although beating, but at least we
are sailing. That night we begin to round Puntamala, to enter the
gulf of Panama in heavy ship traffic and spend the last day hard on the
wind on port tack. But I'm not complaining, we're sailing and quickly
too! This boat loves to go upwind and hauls ass! Also, to my
surprise, the boat self steers doing this with just a small line pulling
the tiller up against a little weather helm. It is wet though, Fred
Huffman was right, water taken over the windward deck goes into the
cockpit more than it goes overboard!
Arrived in Panama on Sunday, December 15th, late evening, proudly and
relieved (and with brandy) as we did
not have a detailed chart, we contacted Flamenco Control who sent us to
the yacht anchorage at the base of their island, attached to Panama via a
causeway.
We had a lazy day on Monday, launched the dinghy and had a look around,
and on Tuesday moved to Balboa Yacht Club, a couple of miles closer to the
canal. We were given a mooring, checked in and now have the use of
their "water taxi" for ferrying to and from the boat. It
is all pretty well organised; Dave remembers how it was ten years ago,
before the original club bar burned down. There is now a
replacement, but he says it is nothing like the original, which was called
the Star Wars Bar because of all the characters who frequented it!!
The next few days were spent restocking the boat, obtaining spare parts in
the city, and setting up a mailbox for the delivery of parts from the
States. It is necessary to take taxis everywhere, the city is very
spread out, and unless you know it well, impossible to find your
way. People are very friendly and helpful, and taxis
plentiful. However, you need plenty of patience when shopping for
spare parts!! We also found the YMCA in Balboa from where we can e-mail
and telephone.
December 24th
Dave went shopping, I went sight-seeing with some cruisers; Old Town, and
the canal which I had already seen having helped take a catamaran
through the previous Sunday!
What a trip!
Views from the 47ft catamaran
"What's Up Doc"
This is in Old Town of Panama City, Plaza de Francia, the French Embassy
on the left, the monument to all the French who participated in the
original design and work on the canal.
Old Town, old colonial buildings crying out to be developed!!
The old and the new! Panama City in the background
We spent Christmas Day in the
traditional way - smoked salmon scrambled eggs and Mimosas on our boat
with other cruising people and later a bus load of us went off to Pedro
Miguel Boat Club in Miraflores Lake, in the canal, for a wonderful
traditional turkey dinner, all laid on by the club. We were just
asked to bring a side dish, fruit, or something. It was great fun,
we even had mince pies!!