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Free & BrEasy - Panama Hurrah!



Crossing the main shipping Chanel at the Santa Cristobel entrance to the canal, we knew it was time to go. Shelter Bay Marina had become a home from home and although we would miss the pool, resteraunt, wifi, beers with the fleet, early morning runs with the howler monkeys and much more, the cruiser's itchy wonderlust had been tugging.  The first breeze on our cheeks told us it was good to be going. We anchored briefly and our pilot, Carlos, literally jumped aboard and we were off to the first locks at Gatun. Rafting up with Merlyn of Poole on starboard and Ghost on port, went well. Free and BrEasy had an Oyster 45 and a brand new Xc yacht for fenders against the giant walls of the locks! We had visited the Gatun locks previously and seen the cruise ship Queen Elizabeth slide into the locks with only inches to spare on either side. The locomotives that pulled the ships through looked like toys in the vastness of one of the man made wonders of the world. How would our little fibre glass boats cope with these concrete bound watery caverns?

The catamarans in the centre of each raft were responsible for steering as they could steer with the two engines. Roger steered a straight path, stopping the raft before bashing the raft in front every time, assisted by expert line handling from Ghost and Merlyn. A new career for Roger and the handlers? Carlos kept strict control of the raft and the line handlers ashore. Occasionally there was lots of shouting in Spanish which thankfully we could not understand! Michaels 1 & 2 felt a little guilty as we lounged around enjoying the trip. By the time we left the last lock it was dark and we spent the night anchored close to the shore. Next morning a new pilot, Amoro, jumped aboard at 0615 and we were off through the man made Gatun Lake. This is an area of rain forest and for two hours we past islands with trees down to the water edge and could imagine the forest before the water levels rose. Every 15 minutes or so, a monstrous steel cargo ship would pass by going north, reminding us that we were frivolous cruisers with no place in this artifice that keeps the world's economy going round. Then the scenery became more and more industrial as we went through the Gaillard cut which was carved through a mountain range. Very soon we were through the down hill locks and at the final Miraflores lock. One last wave at the web cam in case anyone at home was watching, and then into the Pacific. The rafts were disassembled,  a quick bite to eat, Amoro jumped off and we were back on our own. We parked the boat off Playita and headed for shore in the dinghy for the world ARC meeting.

Panama City surprised us all with an impressive line up of skyscrapers on the water front. The city tour took us round the different parts revealing strange buildings seemingly designed by children with a set of Lego bricks. The city has gone through several reincarnations and we were able to walk through the different ages which are now being lovingly preserved no matter the cost, including persuading people to leave their homes. 

It was time to motor round to Flamenco Marina to lift out and replace the through hull toilet valve! After all the angst of the ordering problems in Shelter Bay, everything had been delivered thanks to some help from Paul Tetlow at World ARC. The new inverter was successfully installed and we even have a spare low power backup. A storm jib had arrived and after an afternoon's hard work by Roger, the new valve was installed. The only cloud was the Pactor Modem / Sailmail / SSBradio interface which obstinately refused to be solved no matter how hard we tried. But there is still time as we don't leave for the Las Perlas Islands till early next week.

The Michael's had a successful shopping trip for guitar and flute so Roger had better learn to play percussion! We experienced the Dancing Buses of Panama City. Empty old school buses with seats nearly totally removed and equipped with giant throbbing speakers pulsing with disco music. Just add rum punch and you have an instant party. Nobody knew where we were going or cared! How will we cope with the solitude of the Pacific after the the big city? First though the Las Perlas and Galápagos Islands to help us wind down from civilisation accompanied by the Free & BrEasy Trio.



Michael 2

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