Getting Ready to Depart Panama

Sunrise on Sunday February 23

When we arrived in Shelter Bay Marina on January 19th, we’d expected to move on in the first few days of February. However, the weather has been uncooperative, so we’ve stayed about 3-weeks longer than anticipated. We were happy to see that the weather was finally cooperating and we could leave on Tuesday in the very early morning.

The majority of Sunday was spent getting Kosmos ready to go to sea. Since we’d been at Shelter Bay so long, we’d unpacked a lot of items from the assorted deep, difficult to access storage spaces. Getting it all put away was a Jenga game, as everything needed to be carefully packed so it wouldn’t shift when the boat was rocking. 

Eric also led a kids’ D & D session. In the evening, Christi and Eric went for a walk in the jungle, following the road to Gatun Bridge for about 3/4 mile, until we got to a small bridge over a stream. Unfortunately, there was no walkway for part of the bridge, and being a blind curve, we decided it best to not walk in the road. We turned around and went back to the marina. The expanse between the T-intersection and the bridge where we turned around was mostly jungle. 

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More Exploring the Ruins of Ft. Sherman

On Saturday, February 22, the sun was about to peek over the horizon when the giant black cloud to the left blew in front of it and blocked the sunrise completely. 

This morning, the water was still not working. The dockmaster assured us that this time, he was being more proactive. He was making arrangements for water trucks and working on a strategy on how to get the pressure up enough to ensure that the water made it to the boats. However, the plan didn’t need to come to fruition because water was restored  in the mid-afternoon.

In the afternoon, Eric led another kids D & D session. Afterwards, the kids went to the pool and Eric joined them. 

While they were playing, Christi decided to explore more of the ruins that we’d seen along the road to Gatun Bridge. We’ve already mentioned that the marina was directly northwest of what had been the military air strip, which was now used as a Panamanian Coast Guard base. The majority of the Coast Guard Base was set back from the road, and there were several ruins along the road that were not currently utilized by the Coast Guard.  

Where the road turned south, Christi spotted some birds walking around. What made the species noteworthy were the red, beady eyes, which made them look a little zombie-esque. We’d seen some of them at the beach on Wednesday, and as they walked amongst the trash near the derelict buildings, they’d only added to the creepy feeling of the beach that day. 

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Breakfast at Rume and Lying Low at Shelter Bay Marina

Sunrise on Thursday February 20

The day that we’d gotten pizza and gelato, we’d stopped by the three bakeries to see what they stocked. We’d gotten a loaf of bread from the one called Rume. It turned out to be one of the best sourdoughs we’d ever had. We’d also noticed that they opened at 0730 for breakfast. 

Since the car didn’t have to be returned until 0930, that left us just enough time to get breakfast at Rume. The food was great, and we were thrilled to be able to get out of the marina one more time. 

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The Agua Clara Locks Visitor’s Center

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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More Lying Low at Shelter Bay Marina

On Thursday morning, February 6, Eric finally felt rested enough that he was ready to tackle some not-so-fun engine room projects. While Christi and Keith did school, Eric changed the oil on the generator. 

Eric also arranged to have the bottom cleaned. It $3.50 foot, but considering the guy was literally cleaning with one hand while holding a speargun with the other hand, we agreed that it was worth the money. He was also wearing a full wetsuit, which had to have been hot given the warm water temperatures here. 

In good news, he found one of the mats that had fallen overboard last week. It had a lot of growth given the amount of time in the water, but Eric was able to clean all the growth off. 

It was now day four of no water, and people were getting desperate. The marina had arranged to bring in three tanker trucks of water to fill up the boats. They injected the water into the pipes. When we (and everyone else) turned on the spigot, very little — meaning virtually none — water flowed out. It seemed there wasn’t enough pressure to force the water to flow through the pipes.

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