Central America « Aboard Dignity (Lagoon 420) Blog

Boat Cleaning and Trip to Colon

by steve, on December 16th, 2009 (InnForAPennyII, Panama)

Today was another busy one. We started the day scrubbing the entire deck removing the last of the Cartagena grime. Around mid morning the admeasurer arrived to measure the length of Dignity and fill out the paperwork for our crossing. Later in the morning our agent, Enrique Plummer, arrived to collect our passports and boat papers to handle our immigration, clearance and canal booking.

There are a lot of so called agents who will help out for various fees. Enrique has a solid reputation and is consequently not the cheapest by far. Regardless, we felt in very safe hands.

I went into Colon with Enqrique for a couple of reasons. The first was to draw some cash from Citibank and the second to take our sail to the sail maker to see if it could be repaired.

I forgot the mention in yesterday’s blog that the trip from Shelter Bay to Colon takes about 45 min. Partly due to the distance and partly due to the fact that the road passes in front of the first of the Gatun locks which is invariably closed as ships need to pass through.

This time I remembered to bring my pocket camera to capture a few shots.

When we reached the port area the Citibank was opposite the port office so while Enrique handled the formalities, I went in to get the cash to pay him. I wanted to get cash to avoid paying the extra 5% credit card fee. Although the “Citibank” here looked like a Citibank and had the same logo it turned out I could only withdraw cash if I had a local account. What a load of b**l**cks. They didn’t even have an ATM to use. I was sent to the HSBC up the road who did have a cash machine. I duly went there, waited ages in line to have access to the machine and was refused on all my cards.

I explained the situation to Enqrique getting a little worried as both my credit cards had been refused the previous day at the supermarket. This is not atypical as there are many reasons a card won’t be accepted and only sometimes is it due to their being a block on the card. We decided to try another ATM in a nearby mall and have lunch there. This ATM was out of service. Reluctantly I tried one of my cards on Enrique’s portable machine and fortunately it worked. (I have since learned my one other card is in fact blocked which I can hopefully resolve today before we leave here)

In between all this we visited the sail maker. He felt the sail can be repaired for a modest fee if only we can provide the cloth. Enrique was happy to be go between and receive cloth sent from the US, get it to the sail maker and eventually collect the repaired sail and get it back to us at one end of the canal or the other based on timing.

After our late lunch Enrique dropped me off at the mall up the road which turned out to be the same mall we visited the day before. I tried the ATM there and was able to withdraw some cash. I’d withdrawn cash the previous day but had had to use it when my cards were declined so it was a relief to be able to get some more before we head off to the San Blas.

I caught the Shelter Bay bus back to the marina and bumped into Peter and Penny again from InnForAPenny II.

Back on the boat Helen was exhausted having completed the boat clean while I was running around Colon. We rested for a short while before Peter and Penny showed up with a jug of fruit punch. We spent a couple of hours around the boat before separating for evening meal and sleep.

The winds appear to have died down a little and the forecasts reflect this. We’ll be out of here today once we’ve sorted out the sail cloth, the blocked card, some preventative maintenance and a few other odds and sods.

Important note for close blog watchers: We’ve settle on our date for the canal crossing. We’ll be uplocking on Sunday January the 10^th, staying the night on the lake then downlocking on the 11^th. The precise time of our transit will not be known until much closer to the time. However, I know we will be uplocking the Gatun lock sometime (probably a few hours) after 16:00 local time, that’s 21:00GMT but no earlier. The very earliest we will downlock the Miaflores lock will be 13:00 local time, that’s 18:00GMT. If you have nothing better to do you can watch us go through the canal on the webcams at http://www.pancanal.com/eng/photo/camera-java.html

I will try my best to provide more precise timing if/when I can.

Shelter Bay

by steve, on December 15th, 2009 (InnForAPennyII, Panama, Tracks)

We had what I thought was a very exciting sail from our last anchorage to Shelter Bay marina. If we thought we’d been playing slalom with the tankers in the shipping lane it was now dodgems sailing into Colon bay. The bay is protected by a massive break wall and the entrance is marked with impressive markers. Sadly we took no pictures as we were concentrating on jibing the boat and more importantly avoiding the tankers coming in and out and jostling for position. In the end we timed it nicely by aiming broadside at a tanker entering the bay and jibing in behind it. It was a bit of a squeeze as the maneuver was based on our sailing slower than the tanker (which we were initially) but the tanker slowed down, presumably to comply with speed limits. We were catching it up through the entrance but were then able to veer off to starboard and get out of the lane. We then had to pick our moment for our final jibe to Shelter Bay marina as the bay was full of anchored tankers and we had to pick our line. To give you a sense of the trip, here is our track of our brief travels so far in Panama. If you zoom out you’ll see our passage from Cartagena.

View 2009 Panama1 in a larger map

The dock we were given at the marina had less than two feet clearance either side but we made it in ok and tied off. The morning then proceeded with talking with the agent, the sail maker and sorting out a few things with the kids on the internet. Helen started on cleaning the Cartagena grime from the boat.

At 1pm we took the bus over to the large Rey supermarket for hopefully our last provisioning trip. We have to assume we’ll get nothing bar lobsters and crab in the San Blas so we’re taking no chances. A large part of what we purchased yesterday were soft drinks and juices.

On the bus back to the Marina we met Penny and Peter from InnForAPenny II. They were a great help getting our supplies on and off the bus. They invited us over for drinks on their boat in the evening after we’d unpacked. That all took a bit longer than we expected and by the time we’d showered we arrived a bit late. We had a few bevvies on their boat before heading off to the marina restaurant together for an evening meal.

This morning I’ve managed to upload our past pictures. If you’re an active reader you’ll need to go back to see the last couple of slideshows.

We’ve decided to stay here one more day to avoid rushing. Also the weather doesn’t seem to be calming as soon as predicted so we want avoid a slog up the coast.

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Isla Naranjo Abajo

by KC2RIY, on December 14th, 2009 (Panama, Sympatica)

Sunday morning we did indeed get to see the sloths. Louis called us on the radio and around 9:30am we dinghied over to Sympatica and then over to a grotty beach nearby where we hauled the dinghy ashore and locked it up. It was a short walk along the shore path before we came to some steps up the hill to Beanie and Rogers beautiful property. They are CLODs (Cruisers Living On Dirt) who have retired here in Panama. They have a large plot of land on which they’ve had built a stunning home. The sloths, all orphans, were quite amazing. They naturally hang onto trees so picking them up is done by holding onto their front claws and holding them involves a cuddly embrace. They move so ponderously and slowly and seem very content just to hang on to us. One was sitting in the kitchen, one was up the Christmas tree and the largest one we saw (called Lightening) was on the bed in their bedroom feeding. In the bedroom Roger had built a ‘tree’ in which Lightening lived. All very bizarre.

We had to say our goodbyes in order to get down the coast before light fell. Having had a plan A and plan B to choose from we opted for plan C and head to Isla Naranjo Abajo a small island 10nm from Shelter Bay and Colon. Leaving the shelter of Linton the seas were quite rough. At one point we were slammed by a particular large wave which sent a few things flying including some of our wine cartons, one of which burst draining red wine into the bilge. Once out of rough waters the sailing became smoother but demanded our attention as we were in the main shipping lane going down to Colon. The wind was better and seas smoother out in the shipping lane so we ended up playing slalom with the tankers. Our early days of learning to sail in New York Harbour made us feel reasonably safe but the AIS system which gave us good info on projected closest approach was invaluable.

We are the only boat here in Isla Naranjo Abajo which makes it quite nice. At night we can see the orange glow of Colon off in the distance and the lights of ships in the lanes. But around us it is all vegetation and no sign of man. It’s nice to be on our own like this from time to time.

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Our plan for today is to leave here early and go to Shelter Bay Marina and get the ball rolling with our clearing in and transit booking. We have some more shopping to do involving runs today and tomorrow. If all goes well we’ll only need one day in the marina possibly staying out on the ‘flats’ outside Colon the following evening. Then will begin the slog back up the coast against the prevailing winds. Looking at the weather data the most recent forecast we have show the winds dying and clocking around from the south for our trip back east which would be good if it plays out.

First day in Panama

by KC2RIY, on December 13th, 2009 (Panama, Sympatica)

Our first anchorage in Panama is Linton, a small island with a very protected bay behind it. It is supposedly very safe from the weather and from crime. We had heard that it was connected to Colon and it was possible to hire cars here so we wanted to check it out as a possible base for a week from now when the kids arrive.

Closing in on Panama the country looked different to the landfalls we have made before. More mountainous, more rugged and more lush. Again we get this sense of adventure, of being somewhere completely new.

I’d actually had a bad night. I’d been running a slight fever and not slept well. On arrival we first secured the boat, tidied the lines and communicated our position. The we fired up the washing machine and, as the generator was running to do this, we ran the A/C in our cabin to feel cool for a bit. I’m not sure if I slept at all but the hour of coolness really picked me up. During this time, using my US SIM, I made a call to an agent in Colon to discuss terms for his organising our way through the canal. Ordinarily we would do this ourselves but we don’t want any slip ups that would cost us time. We don’t mind the delays ourselves but with the family aboard their time is limited and we want to minimise the risk of being stuck somewhere due to an omission or mistake somewhere.

I then made a general call to the nearby boats to see if anyone had any good experience of the local area that they could share. Louis, an Ozzie, from Sympatica responded and gave us lots of useful info before having to stop for brunch. We had brunch then too and afterward Louis came over to see the boat and talk further about the local area and our ideas. He and his wife Julie are another couple on their second circumnavigation and they’ve been in the Panama area a lot. We gave Louis some of our mahi mahi in thanks for all his help.

I was keen on getting a SIM card for my phone so that we could have a local number to communicate with our agent for the canal. Helen and I dinghied 2 miles over to La Guarya where they had a single shop that seemed to sell everything. And everything did include SIM cards and we soon had a Panama number. I wasn’t that long ago when you had to wait months for a land line to be installed. Now you can buy a number in a one horse village in the middle of nowhere and be going instantly. Amazing.

On the way back we stopped by Sympatica as Louis had invited us back. We met his wife, July, and their passenger Heather. They had a shore-side party to go to so we didn’t stay more than an hour but had a good time chatting. I was able to help him out with a setting on his charger as they had been spending too many hours charging each day. The place they were going ashore to had four orphan sloths they were looking after. Louis said he would see if he could arrange a visit for us this morning.

Back on Dignity we relaxed for a while before having curry for dinner. We watched a few shows to stay awake before hitting the bunk and crashing out for a well needed nights sleep. It’s a lovely feeling going to sleep knowing you won’t be woken in less than three hours.

Today we’re going to close the 30nm distance between here and Colon. We’ll go and see the sloths if we can and then move on. Plan A is to go to Portobello and check that out and do the final 20nm early Monday morning. Plan B is to go all the way to Colon and anchor out on the Flats before going into the marina early Monday. We haven’t yet made up our minds up which to do.

We have arrived: Linton

by KC2RIY, on December 12th, 2009 (Panama)

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