First, thanks to Shary for defining our anteater. He was cool - probably in the 20-30# range. We left Chagres yesterday morning. It was overcast and a very light rain fell as we were leaving. It somehow seemed appropriate - the mists rising from the land added tot he mystery of the place. As we worked our way down river, our engine noise offended the wildlife. Birds took flight and the howlers set up a great cacophony - only to be answered by the tribe (is that what a group of them is called?) on the other side of the river. At the mouth, we very carefully followed out "bread crumbs" that we left going in with good watches all around. This time we could see the reef a little better, but it is still a tight passage - literally between a rock and a hard place! Once safely beyond the reefs, we headed for the Atlantic Anchorage for the Panama canal. It must have been a slow day as we only counted about a dozen ships at anchor - we have seen over 100 in the past. For some reason, our AIS was not working so we never got a real count. I looked at the unit and it was flashing away indicating it was receiving signals, but it would not display on the chartplotter - another thing to look at later. The wind was less than 5kts, so we motored, made water and charged batteries. By noon there was a bit of a breeze - still only 7 kts - but we raised sail and at least motor sailed. The sails were full and drawing well even if I still had to listen to the engine. As we approached Portobelo, we noticed what seemed like a lot of boats in the harbor for this time of year. It is a BIG harbor, however, and there was plenty of room. The harbor is deep (50') until you get to the river delta at its source, then it shoals very rapidly. The first time we tried to get too far in. We dropped in 18' of water, but by the time we had 100' of chain out, we were hanging in 6' and might have swung into even shallower water. We picked it up (covered in river mud!!) and reset deeper, dropping in 30' and ending in 19' - very comfortable. Just as we were finishing our set, it started pouring. There had been thunder for a while, but all in the surrounding mountains. The shower only lasted briefly and after drying off, we took dink in to town. We will do the tourist thing today, but yesterday we went to Capt Jacks for internet. We got Terrie's departure pics - thanks! and lots of other email. If any of you have things you simply must send us, send it to the gmail acct now. We can get it this afternoon. Today we will go see the old forts that guarded the entrance, the church of the Black Christ, the old Customs House and the rest of this funky town. We need to buy a few more provisions - mostly veggies and beer, and tomorrow we are off on the last leg to the San Blas. Probably a stop at Linton or Turtle Bay, arriving in Chichime on the 8th. Or at least that is as close to a plan as I am willing to commit ;>)