Loading ...
« The San Blas Islands | Main | Canal transit tomorrow… »
Colon
By Ewan | March 31, 2009
First of all apologies for doing such a woeful job of keeping this blog up to date. I’ve been posting retrospectively and am just about up to date (they’re all on the website - didn’t want to bombard you with all the posts) and promise to do better in future!!
…and so to Colon and the start of the Panama Canal.
We had a pleasant and uneventful sail with a jury kicker – 15 knots downwind – that’s more like it! (see the San Blas entry for tales of our 40 knot and breaking seas passage)
Unfortunately we came in a little later than planned which meant entering Cristobal harbour at night – quite exciting with all the big ships around. Safely in behind the breakwater we motored into Shelter Bay marina and tied up to the fuel barge for the night.
Colon is a pretty rough town where you can find most stuff but are advised to travel round in taxis and avoid certain areas. Shelter Bay is on the other side of the harbour and is a pretty pleasant place to be. Swimming pool, jacusi, showers, laundry, restaurant and a bar (that closes at 8.30pm!!).
Here we said goodbye to Duncan and Alex who are off to do a couple of months backpacking in South America before heading back to the UK to rejoin real life. This leaves Mairi and Ewan on the boat, plus some extras (tbd) to take the boat through the canal and across the Pacific (we’re still looking so if you’re interested and haven’t sent me an email then do!).
We’re waiting for a new mainsail to be built and delivered (to replace the Kevlar/Mylar one which has been delaminating and isn’t going to make it across 9000 miles of Pacific Ocean to Sydney).
In the meantime we’ve been keeping ourselves busy with maintenance and preparation jobs on the boat, enjoying the Shelter Bay social scene, and helping a few friends get their boats through the canal (see the pictures), and figuring out how we’re going to store 5 months worth of food for 4-6 people onboard!
!!! - Brand new news - Mairi has found a boat with a bigger steering wheel and has jumped ship! She’s working for a month on a super yacht that was in Shelter Bay looking for crew (www.sycelandine.com) - stunning yacht, and a complete contrast to Logic - 250 tonnes and very very luxurious! She’s sailing with them to the Marquesas Islands and we should catch up with her either there, or in the Galapagos.
Topics: Uncategorized |