Panama – 07/11/19 – 09/11/19 Day 2-4

(I am combining these days because there is not a lot of things to talk about, mostly eating, drinking, sleeping, napping, bathing, sweating, then repeat. Your getting the highlights.)

I awoke from hibernation next morning dripping in sweat. I forgot how humid it can be in the high single digits of North Latitude. It reminded me of my early days in the military when I was stationed in M.C.A.S. Futenma Okinawa. The air there was so thick from the humidity, you could drink it through a straw.

Breakfast was toast and coffee. Than on to the days events, continue my tour of the marina, begin planning our departure, learn the systems on the boat, and take her on a shakedown sail. Simple enough.

The Shelter Bay marina is tucked away on the furthest Northeastern portion of the Limon Bay. The Bay itself servers as the point of embarkation and debarkation for the famous Panama Canal.  

If you want to find it using Google Earth you can use these coordinates 9°21’59″N 79°56’59″W to do so. If your not inclined you can just take look at this photo.

Shelter Bay marina

The Bay looks like this.

The marina is perfectly located for cruisers who have just transited the canal or are waiting to do so. It affords them the opportunity to rest up and prepare for their next portion of there voyage. It is also perfectly situated for the local transportation industry (i.e. my driver Olmedo). 

The closest place to really get provisioning supplies are the super markets in Colon, directly across the bay from the marina. Before the completion of the bridge this past August there were only two ways to get there, by ferry or a scenic 5 hour tour around the canal. Now, there are still 2 ways to get to Colon, by shuttle bus which runs twice a week or Olmedo.

A little backstory on Olmedo. He is mid 40’s, married with one son. He is resident of Colon and has worked at the marina 8 years. Everyone knows Olmedo, from the Port Captain to the servers at the restaurant. I found out Olmedo is “the guy” to talk to when you need something done. He has helped us a number of times with transportation, negotiations on pricing, and as translator when speaking with Immigration’s and the Port Caption.

Here are a few photos of the marina for your viewing pleasure.

The first couple of days were not eventful. I mostly familiarized myself with the restaurant and bar, mostly the bar. Panama has 2 local brews Balboa (coincidently also the name of the currency) and Panama (not very original if you ask me). I prefer Balboa, my friend Scott may like Panama better, a touch more hoppy. My friend Steve would say “I can brew something ten times better than this stuff” (and he probably could).  However the food should not be discounted. I found the roasted half chicken absolutely delicious. I know for a fact that it was free range because I saw a couple of them running around the dry dock earlier in the day!

During this time Dave and I started to put the plan together for our departure to Jamaica. Dave was going to contact the weather service to get a 5 day detailed forecast for a Friday departure. We would provision the boat Thursday, top off the fuel and Water, and clear immigrations for a Friday departure. The plan was perfect!

There is a saying in the military, that ever plan is perfect, until the first shot is fired. And so it was with us. The first shot came with the weather report, it could have been better. A tropical low hovering over Columbia (ironic, Columbia is not known for lows) was going to give us winds in 20 knot range.

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The next shot, and the biggest setback came when we tried to clear immigrations, the permits had expired while Dave was in the U.S. waiting out hurricane season. He will have to reapply for them again. Well needless to say this plan became fish wrap! Now it looks like Wednesday the 13th is the next window to depart. In the meantime I picked up a job as a line handler for a German couple going through the canal heading for the marquesas Islands . No pay, I am fed, get a place to sleep ( their boat), and bus fare back to the marina when their through the canal. I start Monday.  Stay tuned!