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PANAMA
February 5 – ?
PORTABELA
Duco was in heaven as he finally got the nice, safe, no wind anchorage he was looking for. I went for a swim and he whittled away the hours daydreaming. Because we had left the anchorage so early I was in my bunk early. I dreamt that I had put down a deposit on a $2,400/mo huge apartment that was filled with classy modern furniture. How ironic as I woke up in my little berth with all my worldly possessions surrounding me.
Our first bit of business was for a luncheon and rally meeting to discuss the details of traversing the Panama Canal.
I had a wonderful time climbing all over the fort that once protected the largest trading post in the Caribbean. The Spaniards were the culprits this time and they added on to the fortifications several times. I had a chance to talk to the 15 boats that will be joining us and spread the word that I was looking for a ride around the world again. David was showing up in two days to reboard Briet and I needed a place to call home.
I had promised Rally Control that I wouldn’t embarrass myself or another boat by asking if I could join them. I would talk to everyone about needing a ride. I would wait till they asked me to come join them. Adrian, skipper from Mercury Rising was eager to talk. I remembered that he was bummed about Briet asking me to join him for the Caribbean part of the trip. I now have no worries about what to do with all my stuff. I’ll stay on Briet to traverse the canal then I’ll be moving on to Mercury Rising to make it 3 sailors crossing the Pacific to the Galapagos.
We only spent two days at the anchorage in Portabela because Briet is one of the first boats to be measured for the canal. Of course, having a disco blast all night till 4 am didn’t help matters any. Again we find ourselves leaving at 5 am for the 4 hour trip to Colon, Panama and Shelter Bay Marina. We motored the whole way and arrived 4 hours early for our measuring. The whole day was a comedy of changing times, moving boats because the new pier was unfinished, and watching the Super Bowl. It was fascinating to hear me explaining the rules of American football to the Brits in attendance.
TRANSIT THROUGH THE PANAMA CANAL
Plans were changing constantly and we were scheduled to leave to the holding area and still had no idea who we were going to be rafted up with for the locks. Every boat needs 4 line handlers and a hired pilot. We had a couple that flew down to Panama just to transit the canal and their boat wasn’t going through for several weeks. We left at 1 pm and was rafted up by 3pm. I had told lots of skippers that the pilots are not all capable as the good ones are on the huge ships. At one point all three of the pilots were yelling at me in Spanish to do the stern lines differently. I could not understand a word but knew all three were contradicting themselves so I yelled for Duco to straighten out the mess. Uneventfully we traversed through the first set of locks at Gatun. They put our small 3 boat raft in with a huge cargo ship. It is humbling to see this behemoth bearing down on you tethered by mechanical mules. At 7 pm we had reached the large mooring buoy, had dinner and fell into bed exhausted.
The next day a different pilot returned to the boat at 6am and we spent the largest part of the day motoring through Lake Gatun. The water is very muddy from all the heavy traffic. It is a man-made lake and when the water is low there is the danger of trees snagging your keel. I spent time searching the shores of thousands of islands looking for crocodiles. When we reached the locks we again were rafted with a 50’ catamaran in the center. As the portside boat in the raft up I had to catch a “monkey’s fist”, tie it to a 1” thick anchor line, and the canal worker hauled it up the wall to a bullock. I then cleat off the other end of the anchor line to the stern of Briet. The pilot did not think I did it tight enough and so sent David from the bow to make it tighter. Before David reached the stern the cleat made a large popping noise and broke clear of the deck. The two bolts were as thick as your little finger and the tension of the line sheared off the bolts at deck level. You have that 1/2 second of wondering what is happening when I felt the line wrap around my legs. I spent the other 1/2 second falling to the deck and kicking off the line before it tightened and pulled me out of the boat. If I was a cat I would of used up 3 lives. By 4pm we had unrafted and luck was with us as we got one of the few mooring buoys at Balboa Yacht Club.
The next day I was whisked off back to Shelter Bay and boarded Roundabout as a line handler.
Roundabout is a 58’ Discovery with a family of 4 onboard. This is the largest private boat I have had the privilege to crew for. So much room! The lines, cleats, winches, and cockpit are huge! Who cleans this floating home? Not much has changed in 3 days and we were in the holding area waiting for instructions that had changed 5 times before a pilot appeared. After he got us underway to the raft up point he changed the order 3 times. Eventually, we were to enter the locks alone and raft up to an old wooden boat, probably 65’ long, that was anchored to the wall. It was 8pm and I discovered the locks work all night. I also learned that only 30 boats go through the locks every day.
The wooden boat was not in great shape and we learned that it had once belonged to Al Capone.
We again moored to the buoy for the night and the next day the new pilot was there at 5am. Our cruising speed was pushed up for an early arrival at the second set of locks.
We were the portside yacht in our 3 boat raft up and I had to feed the stern anchor lines as the boat was lowered 85 feet to the Pacific. Luck was again with us and we got a mooring buoy in
Balboa Yacht Club which is right next to the Bridge of the Americas. David broke out the champagne and we toasted my round-the-world voyage, his wife, Jo’s birthday, and Roundabout‘s first taste of the Pacific Ocean.
All of the boats were not so lucky to get into the marina so they had to anchor in unprotected waters where the wind, currents, and boat traffic made for a bumpy anchor. One time the winds were so strong many boats dragged anchor and there was a very early morning collision. I already feel left out since there are only three boats in the BYC.
The following day Duco wanted me to clean the fridge, clean the head, and do laundry. I told him I was not cleaning the brass as I had to do that when I was growing up and my grandmother would come to visit. I started to plan my exit as fast as I could but Mercury Rising was on the hard getting a new coat of antifouling. David moved into his berth on Briet and I slept in the salon for another two days.
My friend Glenda on Lucy Alice was all ready to go exploring and Carol from Gautine III was tagging along too. I took them to my favourite places, Cinco de Mayo and the old town district.
We found where they were getting ready for Carnavale and then I took them to lunch at my all time favourite seafood restaurant. As we were approaching the building Glenda observed that it was definitely a seafood house because of the smell.
Imagine her shock when we entered a very clean fish market where they sold anything that came out of the sea. Up the stairs was the excellent food we were craving.
MERCURY RISING
She went back into the water with her new coat of paint, shoved off the pier, and Adrian fried her starting motor. With no engine, Miss Tippy towed MR to BYC because it is the only anchorage with mooring buoys. It would be taking too many chances of dragging an anchor or finding yourself in too much trouble with no engine to save you. I had put most of my gear onboard MR in Portabela so I didn’t have much to move aboard. My third yacht this rally and I feel right at home…sitting at anchor in Panama!
I have the largest quarters I have ever had on a boat. A full size bed, closet, 4 drawers, and I share the head with Dean. It still took me several days to unpack as my berth is the one to reach the engine compartment. We had the usual frustrating hassle of customs, ordering parts that are wrong, and missing the installation guide. Adrian actually thought he may have to fly a tech out from Miami to work the computer part of the starting motor. He found a local guy who had to call headquarters, go online for a systems map, and finally decided the problem was with the ignition switch. Again, order the parts from England, wait for their arrival, and a week later we were still waiting for something to come together.
CARNAVALE IN PANAMA
We went out on Saturday to participate in Carnavale.
It was more like a street fair with only a pittance of a parade. The big downside was the cans of foam they would spray in your face and then others would pelt you with confetti and it was a face full of sticky mess.
This did not stop us from having fun, eating from the local BBQ on wheels, and enjoying all the costumes.
Miss Tippy's kids think I have too much fun
By the time Fat Tuesday rolled around we were experts in dancing and eating in the streets. It was very crowded and the floats took forever. We were informed to look for the Colombian women because they would have very little feathers and glitter. If they were Colombian woman it wasn’t hard to pick them out of the crowd.
Thursday was such a great day. I had set up an afternoon with Miss Tippy kids for a fun afternoon. For insurance, I asked Glenda from Lucy Alice to join us. I had done reconnaissance and knew to go to Plaza Santa Anna at the opposite end of a fun street fair called Cinco de Mayo.
This is a middle class shopping district and I feel is a good representation of the Panamanian people. I wanted to be at the end of the shopping avenue so we could plan lunch first. I had had many a lunch at the Coco Cola Café 2 years ago and I thought as long as they did not have to use the loo we would move forward. I wish so much I had my camera for the look on the kids faces when they entered the café. Mouths agape, eyes glazed over, grabbing for Glenda’s hands they looked mortified. I was amused.
First the kids did not want anything to eat but after reading the menu and laughing about the interpretation of toast we settled down for burgers and spaghetti. (In case you were wondering lunch & drinks for 5 was $9.75 including taxes) We left the Café with the two girls clinging to Glenda looking so much like the mother hen with her chicks. Annabelle, the youngest girl at 9 yo, was terrified. I asked Glenda if I did something wrong and we should return our warders to a safer (albeit more American) area. NO!! They need to learn their sheltered life is not reality!! OK!
We absorbed the local culture and the cottage industries of the streets.
I had told the kids that we would walk along the shopping avenue and then catch a cab at the far end back home. Their mother had given each one $10US and told them to spend it on toys for the less fortunate children we would meet in our journey. The girls were very involved in how much money they were spending and how much they were receiving for their input. Freddie, the middle child, spend the whole $10 on BB pistols and ammo. He opened all 7 packages and lost all the Bb’s before he could even enjoy it with the other kids on the rally.
By the time we had ice cream and reached the other end of the avenue I leaned in the window of a taxi and asked “How much?” The Cabbie said $6 and immediately Annie stuck her hand in the window and yelled “$5” and he said OK!
Kids learn so fast!!
We were barely home for 3 hours when I was gathering up a crowd to go for an evening of Jazz. Lots of boats wanted to join me but Miss Tippy and the two boys on Mercury Rising were the sole participants. The Rally is having a problem with V&D. It must be the curse of new water on a stomach not use to new water.
The last time we were in the old section of Panama City (Check out www.gaiaworldtour.net click on Gaia diaries and scroll almost to the bottom ) we had found a great open mike with great artist and I wanted to return. We had the most delightful time at the restaurant and nightclub…I think I am the new tour guide for the trip.
Several days later Adrian was raising his voice (something that he doesn’t do very often) and Dean and I came up from below deck to see what was going on. There on the bow was a flamingo standing on one leg just looking around. Adrian thought it may be hung up in the rigging so sent Dean to go see if it would bite him.
Casco Veijo is the crumbling 17th century area full of Spanish architecture. Henry Morgan, the priate, had showed up with 1,200 men and ransacked the city. In 1671 the new Panama City was founded to move all the gold from Peru to Portabela on the east coast. There it was loaded onto ships and sent to Spain. Obviously it has been in a constant state of disrepair until just recently. This is where I would live if I chose Panama as a home port.
Once again a crowd wanted to go to Casco Viejo for the open jam at the Jazz Club. I pulled a Mom by scheduling everyone for Tuesday night but when we showed up the place was closed…open jam is on Wednesday night. We ended up at a bar for trivia night and we were holding our own until Current Events. When you are sailing you don’t have a chance to get any world news. We were cautioned about which two South American countries were at each others throat again but we got it wrong. All in all a great night and I’m back on my schedule of not getting to bed before 3am with this group!
Well, it seems that I am still the tour guide and on Wednesday we had a group all excited for the Jazz open mike night. We showed up and …no music at all. We walked around the Caseo Viejo and visited several watering holes for local atmosphere. I was teased unmercifully about the lack of music but everyone had a great time.
Living for a month in the marina has been interesting.
There is an ancient haul-out where you can hear the screeching of the rusted metal over the drone of the huge freighters passing by. It is open 24 / 7 and always has a boat waiting for the lift-out.
Sometimes the locals would beach their boats to work on the bottom. It is full moon time and the tides range 12 feet.
I knew we were in trouble when the cabbie had to get out and turn on the headlights by opening the hood and hotwiring the lights.
Yesterday I was awoken by a panicky skipper racing around yelling “Tsunami!! Get Up!! Get up!! Secure everything … we have a half hour before it is here!!” (8.8 off the coast of Chile). I climbed out of bed and just started throwing everything into a pile and into any available cupboard (There is not much space anywhere because I am provisioning for the whole Pacific trip to Australia). The two boys were securing the topside. We don’t have an engine so we could not head for open seas. Dean figured he would put a 20’ harness onto the mooring buoy. If huge waves came he would release the line and we would have enough give without losing the anchor. Hours came and past and the tsunami warning was cancelled. For the life of me I could not find my laptop. The boat is not that large and I thought sure I had left it in the clubhouse the night before. Huge search, ask everyone in my broken Spanish and no laptop. It has to be on the boat. Think! Think! Found! It was in the bottom of what my foggy mind thought would be the driest place on the boat if a wave took us topside.
We are ready to leave and begin the journey but, alas, we need to wait. Looks like the weeks are stretching out and we won’t be leaving any time soon. Once again left behind to catch up. The good news is on a 47 footer it will be quick…if the wind cooperates which the weather stations say is not going to happen. It is going to be calm for weeks.
We will motor the whole way to Galapagos.
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