Waiting for the Canal

The blog editor continues to confound me. The photos should be in a different order etc.
Frustrating.  I swear it is not the whiskey.

 

We crossed over the isthmus by road to Panama City in search of parts and supplies.

 

Nevertheless it was a social time at Shelter Bay.

 

 We wait for parts to arrive from the USA and to be measured because our length governs how much we pay to transit the canal.  Here the restaurant, pool and hotel.

 

It

The marina is surrounded by jungle teeming with wild life. We walk each morning to see monkeys, and strange critters the like of which are not easily described. Tapirs, pigs, parrots. Someone reported seeing a jaguar [not the motorised version]. And the marina has resident alligators, tho we haven`t seen any.

The jungle has long ago reclaimed the original defensive fortifications built when the canal opened 100 years ago.



 

 

 

 The bar and pool. Says it all!

 

 

filling jerry cans from the fuel barge

Refitting winches



These unusual birds nest attached to palm fronds

 



 

Morning walking territory

The bus to town has to cross the canal and we often have to wait for ships.

 



This container ship paid $400,000 to transit the canal.

 

 



There are no pumps involved in filling/emptying the locks and it all depends on natural rainfall in the lake above the locks. 

Apparently the last wet season was not too wet and the lake is a bit dry, so there is some concern about water wastage when the gates open and spill water into the sea.

 





Refitting cockpit winches; just one of the many chores before we head off across the Pacific.

 

 

And so to Panama

JT is now at Shelter Bay Marina at the Caribbean end of the Panama Canal

 

 From Montego Bay in Jamaica we had a vigorous sail south through various reefs and shallow banks to the Colombian island of Providencia.  [See Jacktar`s web diary]

We dinghied ashore to find the agent to arreange our inward clearance.

 

 And to get supplies.

 

Providencia is a beautiful small island rarely visited by tourists, so was a delightful stopover.

Our anchorage was very sheltered.

We walked across a floating bridge to a nearby island.

Louis-Eduardo was the agent`s rep.

We hired a "mule" to tour the island.

And found our way to a lovely beach for lunch.

The setting was idyllic.

The Princess was thirsty.

Lunch stop.

If  Kevin Rudd can do it ----

So was the skipper.

Then we sailed firther south to another Colombian island, San Andres.

Somewhat disconcerting to find this beside the narrow entry channel.

Again we went ashore to meet our agent at the rough local "marina".

San Andres is a popular tourist destination for Central and South American tourists.

JT at anchor off the marina

where we again dinghied ashore for supplies

San Andres tourists

On leaving San Andres, we had another vigorous sail south to Panama.

It was an overnight sail and we achieved our very first 24 hr sail of over 200 nm averaging 8.7 kts.

Conditions were just right.

Shelter Bay marina is a lovely facility somewhat removed from the city of Colon, parts of which are not safe for gringos.

So for the moment we are happy to relax and gather our thoughts before transitting the canal.

Arriving at Providencia. The blog publisher still does funny things.