Today we say good-bye to Northern Panama and head for the Las Perlas Islands. The trip will take approximately 36 to 40 hours and put us into the heart of the Panama shipping lanes. To make sure we reach Punta Mala during the day light, we are leaving the anchorage we are in sometime just after dark. This will make for a two night passage. We wish we could do it in one night but there are too many variables. We have only seen a handful of AIS targets on our chart plotter since leaving El Salvador, but from here there is always a ship or two marking our chart plotter. Once we round the corner, I'm sure the screen will be full. Becky has promised to not read her book or listen to music on her IPod on tonight's watch. Stay tuned for reports on how it is to be in the Panama Canals shipping lanes.

Before leaving the anchorage, we took one last trip to the beach. Instead of young glistening males coming to greet us at shore, we were welcomed by barbed wire fences and barking dogs. Oh how 14 years will change things. We still walked the beach that was covered in brown sand and hermit crabs. We are always amazed at how peaceful the beaches in Central America are.

Life is good on Kokomo!

Denny