Eric let Victor know we would use him as our agent as soon Victor’s work day started and gave him all the necessary paperwork. In the afternoon Victor showed up at the boat with 4 super long lines and 20 tires. The tires are used and cost $3.00 USD each to buy. The lines cost $100 USD each to rent, which we thought was a lot of money for a rental.
Victor said our measuring appointment was Continue reading
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 Continue reading
Panama is only 79,990 square kilometers big and has a population of 3.36 million people. It is located in Central America between Costa Rica and Colombia, and is the narrowest land point of the isthmus separating the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Many call Panama a land bridge connecting North and South Americas. We expected the history of such a young and small country to be short and simple. Not at all. Panama has an absolutely fascinating and complex saga. In the History of Kuna Yala, we touched on a few key historical events, but there is so much more.
As you may recall, Continue reading
We really would have liked to stay in the San Blas at least two more days to take part in the special events. Today on Carti Suitupo there are festivities for the biggest holiday of the year for the Kuna people, when they won their autonomy from Panama. Mr. G had invited us back for the last day of the puberty party, which is tomorrow, where the girl is unveiled in her newfound glory, with the shaved head, ring in her nose and her body painted. But we were out of time and really needed to get to the canal. We knew from the radio net that between the anticipated festivities and the not so great weather we have been having, not a lot of boats have headed to Colon lately, which means the canal wait is probably short. It sounds like a lot of boats would all be heading out in the next two or three days, when the forecast improves and the holiday is over. We were afraid that if we arrived in the middle of the glut, we’d get caught in a long canal line.
The trip to Colon would take about 13 hours total, an awkward number. Yesterday we had gone back and forth about the best strategy. Strategy one was to Continue reading
Continued from yesterday”¦ After everyone else was served, we were offered the beer. Suddenly, all eyes were on us, intently watching for our reaction. Visually speaking, we would have mistaken it for molasses. It was black and thick, like syrup. They insisted we do the little dance prior to drinking it. Another local joined in to lead us in the dance, which we think we followed along with pretty well. We went to down our beer. It was absolutely disgusting. Mr. G had lied when he said it was non-alcoholic. In those 8 days, it had definitely fermented. It wasn’t a strong alcohol taste, but it was enough to make a gross beverage even grosser. Christi could barely get a small sip down. Eric took one gulp. Everyone insisted we finish our cups. Eric took another sip and said he could drink no more. Everyone was disappointed we wouldn’t drink it, but simultaneously incredibly amused by our reaction. We sat down and held onto our cups for a while people continued to insist we drink it. When it was evident we would drink no more, two guys drank it for us.
We asked where the girl being honored was. Apparently, a special room with a special layout is built for her somewhere, and she is Continue reading