Sunriser

On the way to the San Blas Islands we passed by Colon, a town at the entrance of the Panama canal. We are staying there a while because of health issues (all under control now) and the vicinity of good medical facilities, before we continue to the San Blas Islands.

The marina where we are staying, Shelter Bay Marina, is on the premises of a military base, which it has been in use for centuries. As it was forbidden terrain for many years it still has one of the best kept tropical forests of Panama. The marina itself is now based in the former military harbor and shares the space with the militaries and the wildlife.

Shelter Bay Marina is for many vessels the last harbour before crossing the Panama Canal, so many ships come and go all the time. We visited the Dutch ship Eendracht but did not visit Jeff Bezos’ support vessel (they were less welcoming than the Dutch sailors).

We have become member of the “Ocean Posse”, a group of people sailing individually, but who like to share ideas and help each other when in need (and it gives a discount in many harbors…).

Also we could test our skills of getting into a life raft (without waves…).

And of course parties (with local youth dancers)

The time in the marina was also used for some projects on the boat. We serviced our life raft, built a rainwater collecting system (which collected 300 liters on a rainy 24 hours) and made preparations to store 300 extra liters of diesel for the long passages to come. We now should be able to do around 1000 miles on engine if necessary (around 1850 kilometers).

We also made some time to visit the locks of the Panama canal on the Atlantic side, which are much more interesting than on the Pacific side.

For now, we are still waiting for a weather window to go on to the San Blas Islands, so for the moment we are staying on the Atlantic side and leave the Panama canal for later.