Neither of us slept well. We were up with the first rays of light on the horizon and pulled up anchor shortly after the sun rose. Today’s ride was much better than yesterday’s. We were in a little more protected of an area and it made a huge difference. This morning, as Eric was walking into the kitchen, a wave came and threw him off balance. Somehow he managed to crunch his little toe against the wall. He heard his toe crack, and thinks it is broken. Sigh.
Eric also noticed the gauges didn’t seem to be working properly again. He went into the engine room and saw the connector was loose. He cleaned it and made sure it was firmly reconnected and all was good with the gauges again.
Well before Colon was visible, we could see some AIS targets on the edge of the radar screen that we knew were probably anchored around Colon. We could barely see the outlines of the ships up ahead. As we got closer, more and more targets appeared until the entire the screen was full of them. The ships went from distant outlines to intimidating masses anchored quite a way outside the bay. Eric has said at least 10 dozen times that he loves AIS. Thanks to AIS, we can tell which ships are anchored and which are moving, and if they are moving, what direction and speed they are moving at so we can stay out of their way. Fortunately, most of the ships here are anchored, and getting in looks to be fairly easy and straightforward. But not knowing if the ships were coming at us or not would have stressed us out to no end.
As the ships came into clear focus, we could vaguely see the outline of a huge industrial complex and a few skyscrapers on the shore. At 1100, Eric called port control on the radio and asked permission to enter Bahia Limon (Lemon Bay). We were told to proceed. We lined ourselves up behind a tanker on its way in and followed him through the opening in the breakwater wall at 1110. As soon as the tanker started through the opening, a pilot boat appeared from behind the breakwater wall and approached the tanker ahead of us. The tanker slowed down and dropped a rope ladder and the pilot climbed up the rickety ladder a good 20 feet to the deck. The pilot boat pulled away. We wonder if they are about to transit the canal right now.
We were gaining on them as the pilot boarded, so we veered southwest towards the marina. The breakwater wall for Bahia Limon is quite a long ways away from land and the harbor is really big, so there was plenty of room to maneuver. We watched as the pilot got himself situated and the vessel started moving again. On shore, we noticed another big industrial complex in addition to the towers and complex we had seen before. From here, it looks like a gritty kind of city, but maybe our judgment is clouded by what we have read about it. The day was hazy, so visibility wasn’t all that great, but we could clearly see we were moving away from the city.
The area where we were going is about 10 miles west of the city, at the far west end of the bay. It looked like beyond the city the land is completely undeveloped except for the marina area at the end of the bay. The marina complex looked to be a group of 6 four story blocky buildings with big red roofs with a bunch of sailboat masts sticking up behind the buildings. The buildings must be high end condos or a big hotel. There were a couple more low buildings along the shore and a lighthouse, and that is all. The undeveloped land is green and lush and hilly. Because the bay is so big, we didn’t actually get to the marina until noon.
We rounded the little peninsula the red roof buildings are on and entered Shelter Bay Marina. We were directed to a spot close to the entrance and told to back in. The wind was blowing at 18 knots. Eric tried four times but could not get properly lined up to back in with the wind blowing so hard. They told us to pull in forward instead, but it was clear that we couldn’t get into the double berth without crashing into the sailboat next to us. We were told to go to the back row of slips, deeper inside the marina. As we neared the slip, we passed a Nordhavn 57 and two Nordhavn 40’s, and one is from San Diego! It is a Nordhavn convention here!
The two sets of 40 owners came out to greet us as we pulled in, along with the couple on the boat next to us and another couple on a Grand Banks also berthed on this dock. We felt special having so many people waiting to welcome us. We all made introductions. It turns out that we have a mutual friend with the couple on the Grand Banks. Talk about a small world! Everyone was really nice and helpful. They told us that the spot we were originally assigned to is rolly and that back here it is flat as a pancake. Thank God. Christi might have had a breakdown if we were in a rolly slip. We were thrilled to find out that it is 120 volt 60hz power, so we can plug in and be energy hogs, with long hot showers and air conditioning whenever we want. And, there is wifi, it is a decent connection and it is free! Ahhhhh! We are in heaven right now. Here are a couple shots of the marina. The first is the slips with the red roofed buildings on the peninsula in the background and the second is the marina building and a storage shed.
We got lunch in the marina restaurant. The 20 step walk was killing Eric. His toe is totally swollen and black and every step was painful. The restaurant’s menu is similar to a Denny’s or a Coco’s, with similar prices. We have read that in Panama food is incredibly cheap, so this is actually an expensive restaurant by Panamanian standards.
After lunch, Eric took care of all the check in paperwork at the marina office, right next door to the restaurant. Panama is one of those countries where you have to check in and out at every port. The paperwork was simple and straightforward, but their copier was broken, so Eric had to go back and forth from the marina office to the boat twice to print copies of assorted things, which was painful for his toe. In Panama there is a fee for every port you take your boat into, and the port fee for here in Colon is $20.
Eric asked the clerk at the marina office who she recommended that we use as an agent to set up our canal transit. There are two bonded agents in the area, both of whom are supposed to be very good and can get the transit paperwork completed in no time, like as fast as 12 hours if need be. The rest of the agents are not bonded and can’t get the paperwork done as fast, but have significantly lower fees. She said that she had someone who she would send over to our boat at 1600.
While in the office, Eric met one of the crew members on the Nordhavn 57, Ralph. They were having problems with starting their wing engine and asked Eric to come and see if he could help. Eric went over to their boat to take a look, but unfortunately, Eric wasn’t able to help them out. They already tried the trick of hotwiring the starter motor. Anyway, they invited us to come back to visit later in the evening.
When the agent arrived, Eric was surprised to find that he is the marina’s bus driver. His name is Victor and he is just starting to do business as an agent. He has already gotten a few boats through and gave Eric two references. Eric was still a little dubious about using someone who wasn’t bonded and told Victor he’d think about it and get back to him. After Victor left, Eric tried calling one of the bonded agents, who said he couldn’t answer any questions regarding fees until we filled out a form and emailed or faxed it in. We knew the other bonded agent only accepted wire transfers, no cash or credit cards, which was a pain we didn’t want to deal with.
And for those of you wondering if an agent is required, it is not. You can do the paperwork yourself, and we are told it is simple and straightforward. If we were going the other way, from Panama City, we might have done the paperwork ourselves. There are two problems on this side, though. One, it is difficult to get transportation out of the marina. Two, Colon is a notoriously dangerous city and it is unsafe for us to be wandering the streets in search of the multiple offices that have to be visited. We wanted safe, simple, fast and hassle free, which is why we are opting for an agent.
The evening was quite social. We visited with the 57 and chatted with many other yachties around the marina. We asked everyone what they thought of using Victor as opposed to another unbonded agent. No one seemed to think it was a bad idea. The only real con is he is new, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t do a good job. And there were some big pros to using him. Pro one is that he works here so we can talk to him face to face. Most everyone else deals with their agent over the phone, which can be hard with the language barrier. We are required to have extra long ropes and tires (to use as extra fenders) for the transit, and Victor will rent them and deliver them right to the boat. The other agents have you go somewhere to pick them up, and the idea of not having to move Kosmos again was enticing. And, he was the cheapest of all the agents, another bonus. The marina is not supposed to know about his moonlighting endeavors, so hopefully no one at the marina will ever read this post! After some debating, we decided Victor was probably our best bet.