Colon, Panama - Isla Grande
The next morning, Monday, March 19th, we made our way to an Internet café, which charges $3USD/hr (that's twice the price of Panama City). We found an email from Alan dated Saturday at 7 PM. In his email he mentioned he wanted to spend some time with his wife, daughter and two sons at Isla Grande. Isla Grande is about 25 miles south of Colon. Isla Grande is a much more beautiful place than Colon. Who could blame him or his family? So he took the boat to Isla Grande to spend a few days there. His family would be flying out of Panama City on Monday, so he suggested in his email that he just pick us up in Panama City in a car he rented for the week and take us back to the boat at Isla Grande. Rats! It is Monday and we are in Colon. He also mentioned that once he gets to the boat the next morning, he would be returning the car and the following day he would be sailing back to Colon to get ready for the Canal passage. It turns out he never got our email suggesting we meet him in Colon. Alan has no idea that we are already in Colon. So we respond informing him we are in Colon and would wait here until the boat arrives or he contacts us.We are bummed it did not work out. Not because we missed him, but because there is nothing to do in Colon. Oh well, we are ready to wait another couple of days. We have time and we do not have a schedule. Well, we finished the rest of our emails, which took a couple of hours, and noticed that Alan responded to us. He would drop his family off at noon in Panama City, pick up Steve (the other crew member, who is in Panama City), and then he would come over to Colon and pick us up. He figured he would be in Colon around 3 to 4 PM. Wahoo!! It was about noon already. We would be rescued in about three hours. Could this be true? Are we finally going to meet Alan and find a final resting place for our gear (at least for the next three months or so)?
We are very excited now. We bounced back to the Carlton Hotel to pack and eat lunch. With a few hours left to kill we decided to go the "Free Zone", which is the second largest free trading zone behind Hong Kong. The zone was a big disappointment. They mostly sell low-end junk goods. There are many famous maker names in the windows, such as Izod, Panasonic, Ray Ban, and Tommy Hilfiger, but the selection is very poor. Also, most of these places deal in wholesale only. For instance, Karen saw a bathing suit that she liked. The salesperson would have been happy to sell it if we were willing to buy 24 dozen along with it. Thanks, but no thanks. I think this is the source for all that junk stuff in the boardwalk stores in Ocean City, Maryland.
OK, once again we have killed some time by walking in the blazing heat in the middle of the day (yes Mom, we are wearing tons of sunscreen). We race back to the hotel for showers before Alan shows up. The nice thing about places like Colon is that rules are rarely followed by anyone. One small example is that the hotel did not even blink when we asked to continue using the room until our friends pick us up in the afternoon. Not a problem here. In the States they practically make you kiss the manager's feet to let you stay an hour past "checkout time".
Alan showed up with his oldest son, Duane, and the cyclist, Steve, who is a family friend. The crew is finally together for the first time. The five of us will be living together on Rhum Punch, a 39-foot boat, for the next three to four months. Alan, aged 47, is an Australian, who met his Canadian wife many years back while he was on an 18-month backpacking trip around the world. They married and settled in Canada and now have three children. Duane, aged 21, recently finished computer school and will be studying to take certification tests during the trip. He plans to take the tests in Australia then look for a job there. Steve, aged 20, is on a little break from his second year in college. He is studying to be a mechanical engineer. Steve recently bicycled with a friend from Calgary, Canada to Acapulco, Mexico. From Mexico he travel by bus, river boats, back of pickup trucks, cargo boat across Lake Nicaragua, logging trucks, cars or anything else that moved and was cheap through Central America - Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and finally Panama.
Alan has sailed Rhum Punch from Canada, down the East coast of the States, and across the Caribbean Sea. Duane has done some of the trip with his father and has been sailing since he was young. Steve describes himself as a "virgin" sailor. He has never been on a sailboat before. WOW! We thought we were taking a big leap by going from the Chesapeake Bay to the Pacific Ocean. Steve takes the cake: cycling North America, backpacking Central America, and now sailing across the Pacific.
All of our stuff barely fit into the trunk of the tiny rental car. We had to hold some of it on our laps during the hour-long car ride to Isla Grande. It should surprise us that Steve's luggage consists of a backpack that is half the size of our smallest backpack. We have either over packed our 130 lbs or we are really prepared. It is probably both. We'll be finding out over the coming months.
Aaaahhh…we arrive at the anchorage. We hire a small local skiff for $1USD each to take us to Rhum Punch, which is anchored across the way at Isla Grande all alone out there. The captain of the skiff is a local boy, who is about 12 years old. Rhum Punch is the most beautiful sight. Not because we are finally at the beginning of our dream trip, but because of the white sandy beach, picturesque palm trees and crystal clear water surrounding it. Alan let us pick our berth first. After picking the forward V-berth as our new home, mostly due to the size, we all went for a short swim. This is the life…swimming in our backyard and enjoying the view. We can see the bottom, which is 20 feet below us.
That night Duane, Steve and I took the dingy to the island and walked through the little island village. We walk along a skinny dirt toe path where most of homes are lined. As we walk along we can see into most of the homes since the doors are open and the windows do not have any glass or screens. Some families are in their one bedroom home watching TV. They are only about 10 feet from us as we walk through. We end the walk at an island resort that does not seem to have any guests. We walk into the main dinning area, which has a pool table. For $3USD we play a few games of cutthroat and buy some Popsicles to cool down.
We did not get much sleep on the boat that first night mostly due to the heat. The next morning we volunteered to help Alan return the rental car. The car had to be driven back to Panama City. From Panama City the three of us take the same air-conditioned bus (by the air conditioning is now a privilege for us) back to Colon. From Colon we took a bus, which is more like a retired school bus that could not pass any vehicle inspections in the States, to Isla Grande. There we meet up with Duane and Steve, who have brought the dingy over to wait to for our arrival. They offer us some locally grilled cheeseburgers that probably are not from a cow. We pass on the wonderful offer and the five of us ride the dingy back Rhum Punch. Once on board we decide to go for another swim.
During the day while we were returning the car and riding buses we learn that Duane and Steve spent the day swimming, snorkeling, and windsurfing. Oh, did we mention that Rhum Punch is equipped with two windsurfing boards? We brought our own snorkeling gear including full body .5MM neoprene suits. Steve and Duane are really sun burnt. Aloe vera to the rescue.
The next morning we pull up anchor about 8am. The windlass has been installed, but still needs to be wired. So Steve and Duane manhandle the 3/4in chain rode and 45lb CQR anchor. It is a short 25 mile sail to Colon with winds blowing about 10-12 from the SE giving us a rolling ride on a broad reach. We use the Windpilot wind vane for the sail. We have never used a wind vane before and this one is a fine example of German engineering. For most of the trip it keeps us within .16 mile of our rhum line to the breakers outside of Colon. The trip was uneventful unless you're Steve. He did not get his sea legs very fast and did not feel well. He lost breakfast over the side of the boat and spent most of the trip concentrating on the horizon or sleeping on the bow deck. Welcome to sailing Steve! Luckily, the rest of us go unscathed.
We sneak into the Panama Canal Yacht Club marina by tying off next to an old rusted out steel cutter. To protect ourselves from the possible invasion of roaches we spray all the lines connecting us to the cutter with Raid. Alan has learned that there really is not a dock master who monitors the piers. So now we have the luxury of being able to come and go from the boat rather than being trapped while at anchor.
Now Alan will need to go through the long process of getting clearance to pass through the Canal. While hanging out at the marina and bar we meet all sorts of people. Some are waiting for clearance and some have clearance but need line handlers. Since the clearance process takes about four or five days, Pete has decided to sign on as a line handler for a very nice couple on their way back to Vancouver after cruising since 1988. Pete will be going through the Canal on Friday. If all goes well with the scheduling you might have an opportunity to see him via a live Internet camera at Mira Flores lock sometime between 3-5 PM on Friday, March 23rd.