Bocas del Toro to Colon, Panama

We left Bocas Marina and the no-seeums (tiny nasty stingy things!) on Sunday, Nov. 26. We motored 24 miles east to Bluefield Lagoon, just east of the Bocas del Toro Archipelago. We dropped anchor for the night and it poured. This place is extremely green and we can see why. The next morning we motor sailed 26 miles east to Escuda de Veraguas, an island 25 miles off the coast and 100 miles from Colon, our destination. It was a little lumpy where we anchored but not bad. Unfortunately, the water was so churned up from the storm a few days ago that the clarity was not good and we didn’t do any snorkeling. We heard on the single side band radio via the Panama Connection Net which “meets” every morning at 8:30 am, that the fierce winds from the storm had caused several sailboats at anchor in Colon and further east to drag anchor. One boat sank when it hit the rocks and several others sustained damage from colliding with other boats or hitting the rocks. This is the storm that kept us in port in Bocas.

At 10:30 pm that night we decided to make a non-stop sail to Shelter Bay Marina in Colon, 106 miles east, leaving at 2 am, just 3.5 hours later. We wanted to make sure we would arrive at the breakwater at the entrance to the Panama Canal in Colon before dark. It was disorienting pulling up anchor at 2 am, in the black of night. The overcast sky provided no moon or stars. Because the island has no electricity, there are no lights on the island and we could not even see an outline of it. Being in very shallow water, 17’ and about 75 yards from the shore, we had to make sure that once the anchor came up we moved directly away from the island. In the complete darkness we could not see which way to go and it was disconcerting. The compass was our trusty guide. We calculated the heading needed to get away from the island to which we headed as soon as the anchor came off the bottom. It worked beautifully. We crept along in shallow water for about 20 minutes before we felt comfortable that we were clear of the island and shoals before we took our direct heading to Colon.

We motor sailed averaging 8 knots and hitting 9.5 knots. The seas were 4-5 feet with winds averaging 12-15 knots from the NE. We arrived at Shelter Bay Marina at 3:30 pm, in 13.5 hours. The marina had room for us and Steve expertly backed Dream Caper into the slip. Within the hour we were connected to the marina’s wireless internet. We had stayed at Shelter Bay Marina in May. It now has a restaurant/bar and has maintained its fancy multi-jet showers and Jacuzzi tubs.

The next day after our arrival, we celebrated Steve’s birthday. The husband and wife managers of the marina, Judy and Dennis, who had befriended us on our last stay, drove us in the marina’s bus to Hotel Melie and Casino in Colon. On the way to Colon, we have to cross the Gatun Locks of the Panama Canal. Usually the wait is 20 minutes while huge ships float past. When the lock gates are closed, we are allowed to drive across a one-way lane metal bridge at the base of the lock gates while the locks are filling with water. We had a fancy dinner in the hotel’s steakhouse and then did a little gambling in the casino. It was definitely a “wild” night for us as we managed to gamble for over an hour before we lost our usual $20 each. Judy was the big winner. She hit a $25 jackpot on the penny machine!!

On Thursday, Nov. 30, we took a taxi to Panama City because Portia had to have her signature notarized on a legal form which had to be FedEx’d to the U.S. The only place to get a U.S. recognized notary outside the U.S. is at the U.S. Embassy in Panama City. We stayed with our cruising friend Chris in Panama City and he was kind enough to let us borrow his car. After an hour and $30 for one signature at the U.S. Embassy our mission was accomplished. We then went shopping. The Albrook Mall is huge, 2-story, modern, indoor and air conditioned with a full food court just like in the U.S. Since it is nearing the Christmas season, it was mobbed. Just by chance we saw some Hobie kayaks in the window of an outdoor clothing store. The tandem one was the exact model that we wanted to buy in the U.S. but we could not figure out the logistics of getting it shipped to Panama. This kayak is 14.5 feet long and is foot pedal powered similar to a recumbent bicycle. It can also be paddled. We had tried out a friend’s pedal kayak when we were in El Salvador last year and loved it. Our friend Chris graciously offered to drive us and the new kayak back to Dream Caper. We accepted and we are now zipping around the marina and out to the bay averaging 4 knots per hour. We topped out at 5.5 knots per hour. Not bad. Our legs are definitely getting stronger. Good for snow skiing when we ski the Sierras in February. This kayak is our birthday and Christmas/Hannakah presents to each other for this year! That took care of any gift-giving dilemma!

We use buoyweather.com for weather reports. The wave and wind report looks good for Dec. 7, when we plan to sail to the San Blas Islands, some 100 miles east of here.