Panama Canal!

Well, so much has happened since our last post. After my dad left, we jumped headlong into some overdue boat projects. When returning from the Perlas, our roller furling headsail became jammed several times when we needed to bring it in and our single sideband radio was not transmitting. After several trips into town, we located most of the parts and service we needed and stopped at a local firehouse along the way. I met Jose Rodriguez of the Panama City Fire Department and traded several DFD shirts for a Panama City Fire hat and shirt. We became instant amigos and have since had dinner at his place and had him out to the boat for a visit as well. We were planning to take him and his family over to Isla Taboga for a day trip when Brady, the kids and I were offered a trip through the Panama Canal if we served as line handlers in the locks. The boat was a beautiful 65' steel ketch called "White Falcon". Andreas, the captain, needed one more set of hands, so I offered it up to our new friend Jose, who was thrilled at the opportunity to see his country's beautiful canal by boat. We started the trip at 0600 and headed into the first, of two, Miraflores Locks around 9. We held the boat in the middle of the chambers with four lines and could feel the rush of water lifting us from below. After going through the locks, we crossed Miraflores Lake to the final up lock. The Pedro Miguel Locks were the only thing separating us from Gatun Lake and our brief trip to the Caribbean. We traversed 30 miles or so of the freshwater lake and arrived at the 3 Gatun "down locks" around 3 P.M. The story gets a bit interesting at this point. Every sailboat that goes through the canal has an "advisor", or canal employee, on board. Ours failed to mention a few important details on how to tie up alongside a tug boat. We were joined in the locks by a giant container ship behind us and a tug boat next to us. Usually, this is much easier because you only need to manage lines on one side. In our case, we got the bow line to the tug, but could not get the stern line attached before the White Falcon drifted helplessly sideways with no steerage and a lot of cussing. We managed to get the boat into position backwards in the lock and secure for the trip down. A we were lowered, we were informed that the boat still had to turn around before moving into the next chamber. This was also a bit tricky since sailboats do not steer well until they have forward motion and most do not steer at all in reverse. After pushing off the bow and drifting sideways through the locks for a bit, the captain did get the boat turned around and we were once again secured to the tug boat. We opted to leave the lines attached at this point and let the tugboat drag us alongside into the final chamber. We were finally through and without a scratch, despite the small mishap. What lay ahead-the sunny skies and crystal clear water of el caribe? Nope, we never got to the other side of the giant breakwater and headed straight for the Shelter Bay Marina in lots of rain. From here, we got a glimpse of post U.S. control of the Panama Canal and the consequences of our withdrawal on the local community. As sometimes happens when a major military base is removed, the local economy struggles and Colon, Panama is a prime example of this. We were always told that Colon is dangerous, but I did not realize that when the U.S. military base was closed, there was a political power play in Panama City that basically decided to let Colon go, so to speak. What we found was a lawless, grungy and rather scary place. It was a $20 ride from the marina to the city and we were told to pay very inconspicuously to avoid being seen with any money, cameras, phones, anything basically. I asked why and the reply was that if you are seen with any money, there will be an armed robbery. That being said, we did not stick around to see any more of the city and took the direct express bus back to Panama City. The experience was a grand one and today I fixed the headsail, installed a new bowlight, and reattached the radio tuner behind the girls bathroom wall. Hopefully, we are headed to the Perlas in the next few days for some clean water in the islands, snorkeling and R&R. Ta-Ta for now,

Los Vagabundos Medinas

WOW!

Where do I begin on this one? Panama is absolutely fabulous by boat. I am trying to picture how we would vacation here by land and I think it would be a bit difficult if we were expecting a resort experience. I have yet to see a large resort complex and love this place for it. My dad and sister just left after a two week visit and we treated them to all manner of local experiences. After a $.25 pp bus ride toward the city proper, we walked to Casco Viejo. This is an area of recently refurbished, but very old historical buildings including churches, houses, businesses and a theater. After that, it was off to a local fonda (restaurant) which set us back all of $17 for the seven of us including drinks. One torrential downpour and another bus ride and we were back to the boat. We opted to take our first sail the next day and ended up motoring over to Isla Taboga in 26 knots of wind and driving rain...no fun at all really. From there it was off to Las Islas de Las Perlas with our friend Greg, who sailed over on his boat Sweet Dreams. Only 35 or so miles from Panama City are about 200 islands that boast beautiful beaches, clean water and very local villages. Isla Contadora is a weekend retreat for wealthy panamanians and has a nice calm anchorage. The town has a few small stores and not much else. We introduced my sister to snorkeling, which was an instant hit. After this, we hopped around several other islands looking for towns and snorkeling spots. The next town was really a few houses with nothing else. Brady and I tried to strike up a conversation with little luck, but saw some local women shredding coconut for "coco rice". We headed back to the boat and a few hours later were visited by two young boys offering a container of coco rice for us to try. I donated some gas for their return trip and Brady gave a necklace as a gift for their mother. The hospitality and graciousness of these folks is impressing me daily. Our best stop by far was Isla Pedro Gonzales. We met another local kid on the beach who seemed to be enthralled with the gringo visitors. It turns out his mother was killed in a fiery bus crash, that left him scarred as well. With our new 15hp outboard, I towed our kids, my sister, Greg, and our new friend Juan David behind the dinghy on both the boogie and surfboard. I think we may have made not just Juan David's day, but possibly his life up to that point. He may still be smiling. In return, he rounded up a 25 lb. tuna as a gift and offered to show us where to dive for fresh lobster. Greg and I jumped at that opportunity and found the best snorkeling experience of our trip.

Around the Northeastern point of the island, we snorkeled in about 25 feet of water and saw thousands of fish, a beautiful starfish, manta rays, 5 sharks (four bottom feeding nurse sharks and a white tipped reef shark), and lobster. If that wasn't enough, we saw a whale about 100 yards away playing in a pile of floating trash of all things. We coasted up a little closer and killed the motor to watch. I suggested that we get in the water to get a better look, but Greg was not to savvy on that plan so I went solo. The next thing I heard was, "Troy, it's getting pretty close!". Out of the deep blue about 25 feet in front of me emerged a giant humpback whale headed in our direction. My bravery gave way as well and I made haste back into the dinghy. The whale headed away when Greg fired up the motor and we hurried back to get my dad and the girls for another round of snorkeling. Two weeks flew by and we had to get back to the city, but we all visited the Miraflores Locks Museum to learn about the canal and watch a ship head through the locks toward the Atlantic. One cruiser pizza night later and my dad and sis were off again to Colorado. Back to normal for us as well with laundry, grocery shopping, and boat projects to be done although we treated ourselves to a grand mall experience complete with Taco Bell and a movie before resuming school for the ladies. Oh, and Brady needs feedback on the blog. Think of sad Brady face and post a comment or two please :) Until next time...Troy

A word from Emily

I love Panama so far it is awesome. We have seen a lot of dolphins in Panama. I love the towns in Panama. There are a lot of islands in Panama too. Panama city is so big it is bigger then Denver. We all love Panama. We have done a lot of school. Panama has a lot of pretty towns. There are a lot of boats. There are a lot of trees in Panama. There are a lot cars driving by in Panama city. We are in Panama city anchored in a giant anchorage. We have met a lot of boaters in Panama. There are a lot of big buildings in Panama city across the anchorage we can see them but not even close to all of them. There are long beaches in Panama. We see a lot of buses and trucks in Panama city. We see a lot of big rocks in Panama city. It also is clean water in Panama city.

PANAMA CITY!!!

VIEW OF PANAMA CITY FROM THE BOAT.

BRIDGE OF AMERICAS AND THE PANAMA CANAL.

THE ANCHORAGE.

WE LOVE PANAMA!!!!!

Golfito and Panama!

After Isla del Cano was Puerto Jimenez. This was a sleepy little town with a calm anchorage. The people were once again very friendly and inviting. After several days our approaching visa expiration could not be put off any further and we were off to Golfito the last port of entry/exit on the southern pacific side of Costa Rica. We ran into our friend Greg from sweet dreams again in this perfectly flat calm ancorage. As it turns out, we wished we could have spent more time here since the anchorage was full of sailboats and the shore services were great. Tim and Katy from Tierra Mar (former cruisers) provide a dinghy dock, laundry service, showers, and internet. We met Julio, Livia, Theo, and Valeria a family on Ilha do mel, who had sailed from Brazil and several other colorful characters. We filled our propane tank, got groceries, cleared out of the country, fueled the boat, and had a great potluck dinner before setting sail for Panama. We were hoping to travel with Greg until Panama City, but 2 hours into our trip he radioed to tell us that “something big broke” in his engine. We offered to help, but he turned around solo and we hoped all was well. The setting sail part was rather optimistic since we motored all day to Punta Balsa, which was surprisingly calm. Our first experience with the locals was a breath of fresh air. An elderly man greeted us at the beach to welcome us and shake my hand. After a walk down the beach in a torrential downpour, it was back to the boat and off to Isla Parida the following morning. After a 2 hour sail, a 6 hour motor and another downpour, we rounded the corner of the island towards our anchorage to find a dinghy headed right at us. Lo and behold, it was Greg! His big problem turned out to be an alternator bearing that only held him up for a day and $60. He left overnight and headed straight for the island and we managed to pick the same anchorage. Isla Parida is a picturesque location with clear water, beautiful beach and lush jungle. There are several other islands within dinghy range and we enjoyed snorkeling, hiking and a picnic lunch. After Isla Parida was Isla Cavada in the Secas Islands. This Island was as beautiful as the last and we finally found what we have been looking for all along: countless islands, pristine beaches and endless snorkeling reefs with an abundance of fish. We next headed to Ensenada Pixvae which was a small local town. There was one phone in the whole town and more kids than we have ever seen in one place. We walked through the town with a local who kindly offered his guide services. We were actually looking for some produce, but found only fruits...on the trees! So, we got a few cokes, beers, 45 bananas on the bunch (still not ripe a week later by the way) with some fresh limes thrown in, 4 coconuts including a how to open with a machete demo, fresh sugarcane, and some locally grown and hand separated brown rice (very, very whole grain...read tasted like dirt)-all for about 10 bucks including a bag of candy that we passed out to the local kids. Greg has been having more luck at the fishing than Brady although she did catch a 3 foot spanish mackerel. Greg, meanwhile, has reeled in three tunas and some mahi mahi. Next was Playa Benao, which was where we were supposed to wait for a weather window to pass around Punta Mala (bad point) towards Panama City. This was a terrible rocky rolly anchorage, but ashore was more paradise. There we found a beautiful beach side restaurant owned by a great couple with four kids. Their family recently sold everything in California and bought the entire beach for a different life. They now have a bar/restaurant along with some rooms to rent in a little boutique hotel. Our kids played for hours with theirs on the beach and the trampoline. We took a bus to the next town called Pedasi and Brady is officially ready to put Panama at the top of our list. One more sleepless night and we opted to head for Punta Mala with a favorable weather picture. This turned out to be the best sail of our trip. As we rounded the point the wind came around behind us at around 25 knots, and with spinnaker alone we managed to sail for 14 hours straight at up to 10.5 knots. We covered the 130 miles to Isla Tobago in about 20 hours. This anchorage is also beautiful and has a pretty big town on the island. From the boat we can see all the ships at anchor waiting to transit the canal and the very dramatic Panama City skyline. We will be moving over to the city in the next day or two and will get our fill of all that it has to offer before my dad and sister visit for two weeks.

SHARKS

After leaving Drakes Bay we thought we should take a little detour to Isla Del Cano, a famous diving island. This area is infamous for having a large population of sharks so I ran the idea of snorkeling at the island by the kids. We read that the reef sharks are non-aggressive and as a family we decided to risk the sharks for the beautiful snorkeling, hoping that the guide books were indeed correct about the sharks.
The guide books were wrong about one thing. We didn’t see a single shark. Not that I was sad about the missing sharp toothed fish, and it was definitely nice to have made it out of there with all my limbs attached. I did keep a good look out for them though, left, right, behind my back, kind of manically. What we did get to swim with were graceful turtles, lobsters, brain coral, parrotfish, clown fish, and all of Nemo’s other friends. The reef was amazing and active with colorful schools of fish.
I am glad in the end that we didn’t let our shark fears get the best of us and that we were able to explore the beautiful reefs of Isla Del Cano. This trip was about seeing the world on and off land and this island was an important part of the journey. So, we are reminded every day why you look past your fears and embrace the incredible life that you have been given.

-Brady


PMS ALERT

I know many of you have expressed concerns for the close quarters that we live in and the affects that it can have on a relationship. Well, I have to admit the certain times of the month can be quite challenging to say the least, but I am so lucky to have a wonderful, understanding husband. The tip of the week- if you are ever sailing on a boat with PMS, a patient spouse is a must.

-the less sane spouse of the week

Drakes Bay

We have started heading south and have found ourselves in the prettiest part of Costa Rica, Drakes Bay on the Osa Peninsula. If you come to Costa Rica this is a must visit spot. This area is filled with scarlet macaws soaring over head, hiking trails with the most fragrant flowers, wildlife peaking out of the rainforest, beautiful beaches, and friendly folks. The town isn’t huge, but the houses are adorable stilt houses with views of the gorgeous bay. This is the Costa Rica that I had envisioned before we came down here. I am just sorry that none of our visitors got to see this amazingly unique area. -Brady

Ditto, on all of that. We heard that this was the place to see and so far, we have not been disappointed. After my mom left, we did some grocery shopping and headed south. The trip here took about 18 hours and we managed to avoid every thunderstorm that surrounded us. The water at the anchorage is crystal clear, the houses are beautiful, the beach is long and sandy, the trails leading to and through the Corcovado National Park are seemingly endless, and all in all a paradise. We are going to take the dinghy up a local river to check out the wildlife and then head to Isla del Cano for some snorkeling. Supposedly, this is second only to the likes of the Galapagos and Isla del Coco for snorkeling on the Pacific. Then it is off to the Golfo Dulce (Sweet Gulf) to clear out of the country and head for Panama. We can’t wait to see my dad and little sister, who are coming for their second visit in July. This will hopefully be followed by Suzi’s (Brady’s mom) second visit in as many months. We are truly thankful to our wonderful families for their love and (sometimes reluctant :) support and their continued efforts to visit us in tropical paradise.

-Troy-