Monthly Archives: February 2025

Portobelo, Colon Province, Panama

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Thanks to cloud cover, the sun itself was not visible on Wednesday, February 19, but it was still a colorful sunrise.

We decided to keep the car for another day to go to the town of Portobelo, which was about 80 km (50 miles) away from the marina. Portobelo was a small town with a nice bay and protected anchorage that was popular with the cruisers. It was a pivotal part of Spain’s colonial rule, so it was historically significant. Since we wouldn’t be going to Portobelo by boat, we thought it would be fun to go by car. 

On our way out of Ft. Sherman, we decided to make a quick stop at the public beach. Since we’d driven by it so many times, we felt like we should at least stop and see it up close. It was a man-made beach, south of the Coast Guard base, along the road to the bridge. It was usually packed on the weekends. The US military had put in, and it was lined with more of the same housing structures that we’d seen at the loop… except these were in much worse shape. 

We parked in the small parking lot and ventured in. Maybe it was the gloomy weather, but the beach felt sad. There were dilapidated buildings, sunken ships and a lot of trash strewn around. Someone had put up a series of palapas, but most of them had fallen apart into hunks of debris that added to the trash.

Taken from the south end of the beach, looking north. The buildings at the tip of the peninsula are the coast guard base
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Running Errands in Panama City

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The half-full moon was visible in dawn’s glow on Tuesday, February 18

While the marina was nice, it was isolated. Getting out was expensive, and given that Colon was a notoriously dangerous city, there weren’t many safe places to go within a reasonably close distance. Just as in Chiapas, we were feeling trapped and anxious to be free. So, like we did in Chiapas, we rented a car just so we could get out. 

The mini-mart in the marina doubles as a car rental agency. The rental paperwork had to be done the day prior, so Christi did it on Monday while Eric and Keith were playing D & D. We were supposed to pick up the car at 0830, but because the mini-mart was busy, the clerk didn’t have a chance to finish up the last bit of paperwork and hand over the keys until closer to 0930. That delay actually turned out to be a blessing in the end. 

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The Agua Clara Locks Visitor’s Center

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There was no visible sunrise on Thursday, February 13.

The day started with a power outage. It lasted less than an hour, and there was another outage later in the day that only lasted for a few minutes. 

On the day that we’d arrived, Eric immediately regretted not backing the boat into the slip. He has been wanting to flip the boat around ever since, but given how shallow the spot was, it has simply been too windy to do so safely. Today the wind finally died. Flipping the boat around went smoothly. We are all happier with the boat backed in – the ventilation is better and its easier to get on and off. 

After lunch, Eric and Keith went for a walk, then Eric ran a kids D & D session. In the early evening, we had dinner with Basik again. After dinner, Eric and Keith played Civilization with the Ocean Posse group online again. 

On Friday morning, the full moon was glowing brightly before the sun rose. 

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Nature Walk in Ft. Sherman

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The sunrise on Tuesday, February 11 again looked like there was a fire in the sky that was giving off a lot of smoke. 

Tuesday was another quiet day. We’ve found another downside to being right in front of the marina. In the morning, the marina mowed the lawn, and the wind blew grass clippings all over the boat. Eric determined that the wind generator was working well, so after he cleaned off the grass, he turned off the wind generator and brought the dinghy back onboard.  

On Wednesday morning, Eric changed the wing engine fuel filter. It was easier than, but also messier than, anticipated. In the early afternoon, Eric led a D & D session with Keith and several of the kids in the marina. 

In the evening, we went on a nature walk with Carlos, who works at the marina. His hobby is botany, and he does these nature walks as a side gig. Several people had recommended that we hire him, but up until now, he’d been booked solid with ARC boats. Now most of the ARC boats were gone and he had time for us. 

Carlos had been a young teen when the US military left Panama (in 1999). His brother had been working at Ft. Sherman as a contractor. Carlos had tagged along with his brother and remembered what the base looked like back then. 

He started the tour by explaining that during canal construction, there was a lot of excess dirt that the military utilized to create land. He said much of the flat area within Ft. Sherman, particularly near the edge of Limon Bay, was man-made, including this cove. While Carlos was talking, the resident lizard came out to say hi.

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