Arrived in Panama

3/23/14 Wandering Dolphin POS

Shelter Bay Marina, Cristobol, Panama

Yep,
We made it!  Leg 1 is done!!   Sorry for the late post today but we spent the morning motoring in behind HUGE ships and getting docked and situated (and showered) at the marina.

Last night was a very pleasant sail only made stressful by the many, many ships we had to dodge.  This was made infinitely easier with the use of our AIS. It makes all the difference in the world when those ships can actually see you on their screens.

Panama is hazy and wet this morning.  It is GREAT to be here.  We have been told that we have the best Canal Agent in the business.  Apparently Roy Bravo can get us through in under a week where many others will actually wait weeks to get through... we hope this is right.  He has already been to the boat and we do not have to check in or out or do any of the canal paperwork.

The boat made the 1200 mile passage from St Thomas with only a few things to fix.  The dingy got a little hole in it from the stays'l track, two plastic sliders broken on the mains'l (but thats why we have plastic ones, they break rather than the sail ripping.)   We also discovered that the watermaker needs a lift pump in order to function while the boat is heeled.  That is my list of "fixits" this week while we wait for our clearance for the canal.  We will also be provisioning the boat for 5 weeks at sea while we are here.

The marina here is very nice but pretty expensive, (still less than Crown Bay though!)  The showers are in their own individual rooms and there is a very nice pool and the food at the restaurant is less than half of Tickles prices.

Thanks for following along!  We will post some pictures later!

Captain Tofer, Rebecca, EmilyAnne, Kanyon, Kaleb, and Benny