Author Archives: Eric

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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Keith’s Perspective on Sites Around Ft. Sherman/Le point de vue de Keith sur les sites autour de Fort Sherman

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This week has been interesting. Saturday we went to an old Spanish fort. It was destroyed and rebuilt three times! It was really hot that day, and I wanted to go back pretty soon. 

Tree with a giant branch at the fort

Cette semaine était intéressante. Samedi on a vu un ancien chateau fort espagnol. Il a été cassé et re-construit trois fois! Il faisait très chaud ce jour là, et je voulais rentrer très vite.

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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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Going to Shopping Centers and The Secret Beach

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The sunrise on Sunday February 9 almost looked like there was a fire in the sky that was giving off a lot of smoke. 

Sunday was another quiet day. In the morning, Eric got dinghy down. He went for a ride around the marina, looking for crocodiles, but didn’t see any. He wanted to go out to the anchorage, but it was too windy. With the dinghy down, he turned on the wind generator to make sure it was still working properly. He ran it all day on Sunday and Monday and was pleased that it was working fine.

Some of the cruisers had talked about a secret beach behind the boat yard. On Sunday, Christi decided to look for it. She saw a trail along one of the fences. 

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