Nature Walk in Ft. Sherman

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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Going to Shopping Centers and The Secret Beach

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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Castillo de San Lorenzo el Real del Chagres, Panama

Sunrise on Saturday, February 8, 2025

We decided to visit the Castillo de San Lorenzo el Real del Chagres, which are the remains of a Spanish fort from the colonial era. It’s located at the mouth of the Chagres river in the San Lorenzo national forest, just a ten-minute drive from the marina. Taxis hang out at the marina, so catching a taxi to the fort was easy. However, taxis don’t hang out at the fort, so getting a taxi back out would be challenging. We were advised to pay our taxi driver to wait for us at the fort to ensure a ride back out. He charged us $35 for the round trip, including a wait time of up to 1.5 hours. 

The parking lot was situated along the edge of the Chagres river, with lovely views. There were areas that were closed off and covered with tarp that were apparently currently under excavation. A sign said that we were standing on what had been part of the town of Chagres, which had co-existed alongside each iteration of the fort. 

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Exploring the Former Ft. Sherman

On Wednesday, February 5, we decided to start the day off with a walk in the jungle. We took the road that led to the former officer’s housing, but this time, we turned at the intersection where the church was.

The paved portion of the street didn’t extend very far beyond the church. The pavement ended at shed which marked another intersection. Straight ahead was fenced, but the gate was open and we presumed there was a pathway behind the gate. We didn’t go in there.

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Underwater Rescue

Dawn on Tuesday, January 21

We began the day with a minor crisis. Christi’s normal routine is to make a cup of coffee, grab some rags, and go out on deck. She wipes down the exterior of the boat while watching the sunrise and drinking her coffee. She normally finishes her coffee while she’s outside.

Today, for some unknown reason, Christi didn’t drink her coffee. When she went to open the starboard pilot house door to go inside after the sunrise, she had her phone and the rags in one hand and the full cup of coffee in the other. She needed a hand to open the door, so she gingerly transferred the coffee to the hand with the phone and rags — and lost her grip on the phone. The phone dropped onto the walkway and slid into the water! 

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