Here we go!

Date: 7th January 2023

Location: Shelter Bay Marina, Panama

Today is Saturday. Tomorrow, on Sunday, we are due to transit the Panama Canal leaving the Atlantic and crossing into the Pacific Ocean. A big step. The fenders and lines arrived last evening and suddenly it all feels very real.

A few of you have asked if you can follow us as we transit. We hope to leave the marina at 1800 UTC (English) time arriving at Gatun Locks around 2000 on Sunday. We'll then spend the night on Gatun Lake before descending to Pedro Miguel Locks around 1700 UTC on Monday and out into the Pacific via Miraflores Locks around 1900 UTC.

If you have the Marine Traffic app you can follow us and you can see webcam updates of the locks at https://multimedia.panama-canal.com

However it might all change as the canal authorities are short of pilots, known as advisors for small boats like us, so we may go straight through starting at 1000 UTC either tomorrow or Monday.

So, what else has been happening? Essentially it's been a visa run to Costa Rica and final boat jobs with friends Hugh and Linda who will be crossing the canal with us.

Our 90 day Panamanian stamps were due to run out before we we set off for the Galapagos in February. We had two choices, overstay and pay $50 US (or Balboas as they are called here) each for every month we overstay or go the official route and leave Panama for a few days (estimates varied from 1 day, to 2 days, to 3 days to 30 days!). Costa Rica, whilst expensive in the touristy areas, was our choice. Luckily our French Canadian friend Andre was driving to Panama City so early one morning we set off for a day in the Old Town and a stay in a small hotel. I wanted to see the Panama Canal museum which much to Gill's surprise was absolutely excellent. It ran through the turbulent history of the country as well as the amazing building of  the canal. Spanish versus English invaders, gold rush, French canal attempt, Canal Zone, separation from Colombia, US invasion, dictators - Panama has seen it all.

The New City from the Old City.

After a good meal in the Old City we returned to our hotel to snatch a brief few hours sleep before quietly creeping out at 0415 to look for a taxi to take us to the big modern Allbrook bus station. Excellent, there's two immediately outside the hotel. There's also a couple of hookers hanging around. We get in, and so does one of the hookers. To say she is scantily dressed is putting it mildly, nothing is left to the imagination. The taxi driver quickly sprays some air freshener around (!) and off we set with her in the front seat next to the driver. His mind is obviously not on our fare and we just avoid crashing into another taxi before arriving at bus station where we won't accept out $5 bill. Turns out the vegetable man back at the marina has giving us a counterfeit note so we scrape together $4 in change instead and off we go.

We had our outgoing ticket booked but we still had to go to the booth to show passports before joining the queue for the bus. 15kgs per person was allowed. 45kg seemed to be the average on a packed bus to San Jose some 20 hours away. The journey was pretty uneventful despite a panic when we realised we did not have a return ticket out of Costa Rica. It was mayhem at the border. Which booth do we go to to exit Panama? We all pay $1 to avoid all the luggage being taken off the bus and before we know it we are out of Panama. But in front of us is a mass of people, shops, coconut sellers and huge semi trucks from all across Central America. You can just walk across the border into no man's land and this is where the cheap Panamanian shops are. Costa Ricans catch regular buses to buy there supermarket staples here. Anyway we find another shack and stand in line. But we need to pay an entry fee for Costa Rica. There are little shops where you can get one for $15 but by using a QR code we eventually manage it for $8 each. Another booth, no need to show our return ticket (which we managed to buy online on the bus) and we're off again.

We aren't going all the way to San Jose (do you know the way?) but its getting dark when we reach our stop and get off. Another bus is needed to Golfito where we are staying. None arrives but Gill talks to a lady who takes us back across the road and bundles us into a shared taxi telling us the price we should pay. The driver has a bit of English (well American) so after driving round for half an hour he drops us at our AirBnB. A cracking little hut in the jungle overlooking the bay in this famous wildlife area. Fantastic!

The view.

Our little yellow hut, high up in the jungle.

We spent a couple of nights here, relaxing and catching up on admin. One email resulted in us finding that James and Shelley on Carina who we knew from Grenada were just 15 minutes walk away as they had checked into Costa Rica there. A great coincidence and we spent good catch up time with them in the jungle.

Breakfast on day two was spent in a bar watching the world cup final. Great fun as everyone was supporting Argentina. One small boy was in tears as France gained the upper hand whilst his dad was pacing around the bar cursing.

After the game.

Next morning we needed to be back at the main road for our bus back to Panama City at 0450. In the end our AirBnB host got up early to take us there as we couldn't find a taxi. What a star she was.

Waiting for the bus in Rio Claro.

Very few people on the bus when it finally arrived including as it turned out a traveller called Nick that knew Hugh and Linda who were due to fly out to meet us a couple of days later. The border was closed when the bus arrived but crossing back into Panama went reasonably smoothly despite increased stress levels as to whether they would allow us back after only two and a bit days out of the country. Oh yes, and all the bags had to be unloaded and then put back on the bus again.

Immigration.

Off with the bags.

Finally we reached the marina after another packed 5pm commuter bus trip and taxi back to Colon.

Then it was back to work. Hugh and Linda arrived shortly afterwards with our 62kg of luggage. Luckily we hadn't given them the full story of our difficulties getting stuff into the country. In the event they were stopped and Gill's 20 year old sewing machine carefully scrutinised before being allowed in. "Do you have chocolate?" "No, of course not!"

Unpacking the goodies.

It wasn't long before we gave them their lists of jobs! They've been great. Hugh working with me installing and fixing. Linda on provisioning, medicines, storing and stocking.

Replacing old chain.

Fixing a broken sail slide.

Carefully refilling the repaired diesel tank.

Gill sorting Jack's Jordan drogue.

It's not all work though. At the end of another long, hot day.

Christmas Day arrived and it was party time in the bohio.

Cruisers here from many countries. Many chickens to eat and dishes from all around the world.

Hugh and Linda at home in the marine environment.

There are quite a few boat kids in the marina at present. Most of them are home schooled and they quickly become firm friends with each other. As well as the adult games(!) there was piñata for the children where they are blindfolded, spun around and then have to whack a drum full of sweets until they fall out and a scramble ensues.

The scramble.

New Year was a bit different. The Chagres River is just a few miles to the west of the marina and we wanted to try everything out that we had been installing and fixing. This river is the main river that was dammed higher up to create Gatun Lake, the lake at the head of the Panama Canal that provides the 52 million gallons of water required for a ship to travel the length of the canal. That's a lot of water! 

Previously the site of much Spanish/English aggro with a Unesco fort to show off, the river is now usually a tranquil, forest girded haven for wildlife. The entrance is a bit tricky but as long as they are not letting out water from the dam when it becomes absolutely untenable it's not a big problem. So that's where we spent New Year 2023 along with Ben and Eliza on Three Rivers, a Canadian Hong Kong couple from Victoria.

Chagres River entrance.

Peaceful anchorage.

Good friends.

Keen birders at work.

Dr Livingstone I presume.

Exploring upstream.

The river is a consistent 10m-12m deep once you are through the entrance and you can anchor anywhere. For some reason not many boats come up here and in three days we only saw one other small craft zip past us. Idyllic and just what we needed to recharge. Plenty of birds for Hugh and Linda. Herons, swallows, parrots, kingfishers, flycatchers, vultures, frigate birds, it had it all. And to top it off as the New Year ticked over a large crocodile came swimming down between our boat and the shore. We did venture ashore at one point but after only 30m or so the jungle was so thick that we were concerned we would not be able to find our way back to the dinghies.

New Year with Ben and Eliza

Traditional English Christmas Pudding for New Year.

It's hard to tell what the weather is like outside the river where it is protected all round from the wind so it was with a bit of surprise when we came out and had to motor into a nasty chop back to Shelter Bay. Not an ideal journey for seasick prone Hugh who was not impressed to se us write "Slight to Moderate" in the log. He prefers to call the conditions "Phenomenal"!

So that's about it for Shelter Bay and 2022. It's been great here but it's time to move on. Admin for tomorrow's transit is complete and we've just had initial confirmation of the times mentioned at the top of this post. The complex requirements for entry to the Galapagos are also progressing well and we are trying to decide whether to apply for an extended six month visa for French Polynesia. Hugh and Linda will leave us after a couple of days in the Pacific to visit some of the more famous birding sites of Panama and then we will look forward to the arrival of Peter and Sally who will come with us to the Galapagos.

That's all for now.