6 February 2019: Panama City

It's been a busy old day today: laundry done, stainless polished, hull cleaned by divers in readiness for the Galapagos, provisioning done, more of which later. We finally escaped the marina at around 1.30pm to head for lunch at Panama City fish market, Merkardo de Mariscos . It's very popular with locals, vibrant and colourful serving ice cold beers and various cerviche. We sampled prawn, octopus and squid dishes all washed down with local Atlas beer. Excellent.

After a delicious lunch of the freshest cerviche we wandered along to the neighbouring market hall to get some fish. Red Snapper today, beautiful big specimens with easily enough flesh to serve 4.

And then the highlight of the day .... a visit to a local supermarket in a rather dodgy area. We'd used a taxi to get to the fish market, driven by a Panamanian named Roosevelt. A great guy who, when we mentioned we needed to provision, said he would collect us after lunch and take us to a local store he knew. So off we went, heading into an apparent ghetto with unmade roads, bullet-scarred walls and stray dogs. Jackie locked the car door on the approach to the car park, a scruffy parking lot surrounded by a 20' high chain link fence with no sign of any supermarket to be seen. We hesitantly climbed out, checking with Roosevelt that he wouldn't leave us (!!) and crossed the street to enter a non-descript doorway. Lo and behold inside it opened into a three-storey, modern supermarket with low prices and good produce. $350 later we climbed into the well-laden taxi to return to the marina but Paul and I hopped out in the old town leaving Dan and Jackie to deal with the groceries. We felt very guilty but wanted to see the historic area before we left.

The old town dates back to the 1600s and there is some lovely architecture. Two or three of the churches and other buildings have suffered the ravages of fire and earthquakes over the centuries but are now preserved as historic monuments.

The beautiful cathedral is studded with mother of pearl, it doesn't really show in the photos, and yes the candlesticks are solid gold! 

It's an attractive and colourful enclave sandwiched between the modern skyscrapers and the poverty-ridden suburbs, full of trendy bars and restaurants. I even treated myself  to a Panama hat while we were there.

We're heading off to the Las Perlas islands tomorrow and may not have decent communications again until the Galapagos in two weeks time. So, our apologies for the lack of posts just in case!

5 February 2019: Ola from Panama City

There was a big celebration party last night in honour of the arrival of the twelve boats to Panama City in the Gulf of Panama, a gulf in the Pacific. Champagne, wine, beers, great fun.

Today we participated in a city cultural tour, learning a lot about Panamanian history starting from the early days of Spanish occupation and the arrival of Captain Morgan and his band of pirates who burnt down the original Panama City four centuries ago. In those pre-canal days the travellers used an ancient cobbled route called Camino de Cruces, and when Captain Morgan traversed it the message got through before his arrival and much of the gold he was after had been shipped back to Peru. In fact the story goes that one church in Panama City old town with a golden altar painted it in tar to protect it from the invaders but that the priest then had the audacity to ask for a donation from Captain Morgan for the upkeep of his church and he got it!

Panama City is growing quickly and is a major financial centre for Central America. There are safe places and those we have been advised to avoid, but the old town and the offshore islands where we are based is lovely. For much of the 20th century the US occupied and operated the canal and the land bordering it, having completed its construction in 1914. In 1975 riots developed out of a peaceful protest by students resulting in 21 deaths, over 500 injuries and the return of the canal zone to Panama. Today the buildings constructed under American occupation have been preserved and reused as government and other buildings. Street art and a memorial commemorate the lives lost.

In the early nineties the highest building was only four stories high. Less than twenty years later 100-storey buildings line the skyline in downtown Panama City, but within a very short distance people are still living in poverty.

4 February 2019: Day two of Panama Canal Transit

We were awake bright and early in readiness for the return of a canal advisor. We got a different one today, slightly easier going than the first guy which was good given we had him on board for 8 hours.

Departing the raft of boats in Gatun Lake we motored 28 miles across the lake in a line to the next lock, Pedro Miguel, in exactly four hours, looking out for crocodiles on the shore but didn't see any. We had to provide the advisor with a hot meal each today so I knocked together a tasty frittata which we ate as brunch. He seemed to approve!

In no time at all we seemed to have reached the next lock and so rafted up alongside the same three boats to transit the lock. The central boat, a catamaran piloted by Helmutt from Germany, was responsible for driving the raft forward under the direction of the chief advisor, manoeuvring us all from one side to the other to pick up lines, with only assistance needed from the outside two boats to slow us down or in any difficulties. Helmut did a sterling job, and this lock went smoothly just like the three yesterday.

8 metres lower we exited the lock into a small lake and motored across this tied together before we entered the final set of two locks, the Miraflores Locks, before our exit out into the Pacific Ocean!

The first of these locks went as smoothly as the previous four, with the possible exception of a lazy line handler on the canal wall working with Paul. While all the others acted quickly, this guy seemed to be in no great hurry, strolling along. This came back to bite our raft in the final lock. The canal line handlers walk between the two locks holding onto our lines as we motor forward into the next line. This guy didn't keep up, no surprise there, and had to drop our stern line into the canal!

The final lock has a strong current running in it, between 4 and 5 knots, because of the mixing of fresh water from Gatun Lake and saltwater from the Pacific. Our raft of boats slewed to the right and in the absence of a stern line on our boat, there was nothing to stop the boat on that side hitting the walk! Fortunately the big fenders we had all been provided with prevented any damage and with all three boats motoring astern we managed to get things under control and the raft centred back in the lock with a new stern line attached to Tumi. A hairy few minutes but the only ones in the entire transit so not too bad!

The admin building at Miraflores has a camera mounted on the roof and so several friends were able to watch our approach and sent us photos! Thank you all! Tumi is the boat on the right closest to the camera. We were out on deck waving but the resolution isn't great.

So now we're tied up in La Playita marina on the outskirts of Panama City having sailed past the spectacular skyline of this modern city yesterday afternoon.

The whole of the Pacific Ocean lies ahead but we feel very proud to have sailed Tumi safely from England this far, and to have brought our own boat through the Panama Canal. Undoubtedly a once in a lifetime experience.

3 February 2019: Day one of our Panama Canal transit

So the big day dawned, the Panama Canal transit! It's a two day process for us with an overnight stop in Gatun Lake. So at 2pm yesterday we left the marina to await our transit advisor. Twelve boats from the WARC fleet are on this transit, each with their own advisor. After receiving our chap we motored over towards the first (of three) locks at Colon, collectively known as the Gatun Locks. We had to circle for over an hour to accommodate a slow vessel already in one of the locks, and then we rafted up with two other boats, us on the port side, and entered. Lines with monkey fist knots in the end were thrown down to the deck and attached to the very long lines we had on board before being hauled back ashore and put around a bollard.

The hard work began for Paul and Dan taking up the slack on the lines as the waters rose from beneath us. I was on the helm helping to keep the raft of three boats square in the lock so no-one hit the walls. Within minutes we had risen over thirty feet as millions of gallons of water flooded in and the gates opened into the second lock and we motored into it and repeated the whole process. And then the same for the third lock before we exited into Gatun Lake, dropped off our advisor and rafted up alongside another boat for the night.

The whole experience was incredible, exhilarating and exciting, and a very slick and efficient process. Well apart from the millions of gallons of water that floods out into the ocean on every transit. It's amazing that Gatun Lake still has any water left in it!

2 February 2019: Shelter Bay Marina, Colon, Panama

We had a great sail down to Colon arriving at midday, exactly on time! After refuelling we proceeded around to our berth only to be greeted by two OCC boats we've met in the past. A sociable couple of hours ensued before we returned to Tumi to wash off the salt and generally give her a good clean.

Our friends and crew for the next few weeks, Dan and Jackie, arrived on Friday afternoon and got settled on board. We also had our official Panama Canal inspection and measurement and passed with flying colours. The skippers briefing later that afternoon outlined the procedure for transiting the canal, handling the lines, rafting alongside the other boats, maintaining adequate speed etc etc. A lot to take in but there's a lot of support so we'll be okay. We will have an official canal advisor on board for the transit and he will instruct us on what to do and when, in return for a hot meal and drinks!

Today saw us heading off inland into the Panamanian jungle to visit an Embero Indian village in a national park. The Embero Indians are one of the native tribes that still have special status in Panama and co-exist with the modern world. After being dropped off on the riverbank we climbed into dug-out canoes for a 45 minute ride up river, crewed by two Indians clad only in loin cloths, beads and tattoos! Despite getting soaked as we sped along, running aground and having to swap boats mid-river, it was an exciting and scenic trip.

The village was primitive but we were greeted by the chief and entertained with dancing and chanting. The village comprises 125 people ranging in age from 2 months to 87 years, all living and working together. The women weave intricate and beautiful baskets while the men carve elaborate figures from local wood. After dining on a lunch of river Tilapia and fried plaintain, we toured the village before climbing back into our canoes for the return journey.

Tomorrow is day one of our transit .We have to be ready by midday when we will be assigned our transit time. We will be the outer portside boat in a raft of three boats and will climb up through a series of three locks to Gaton Lake where we will anchor overnight amidst the crocodiles! Day two will see us motoring around 20 miles to reach the Miraflores locks where we will descend to the Pacific at Panama City.