Yes there is a place called Colon and to be frank, like its name (sounds like ko-lone), it has a terrible reputation for being stinky, dirty and dangerous. Most cruisers avoid it like the plague. Some tell of personal experience of being robbed and advise us to continue to Portobello and provision from there. Even our cruising guide advises to take a taxi from one place to another, even if it is within ear shot (across the street and 2 doors down). On the flip side, cruisers like Debbie "Sweet Dreams" give us all kinds of information and places that we must see or do, and our friends Mark and Michele "Reach" are in Shelter Bay Marina (outside of Colon) installing new equipment after being struck by lightning this summer.. we are encouraged at the thought of an opportunity to exchange a story or two. So, Steve and I decide to take a chance and we drop anchor near Club Nautico, which is next door to the Cruise Ship Terminal across from the port where all of the container ships come to unload their cargo... and "Oh what an experience it is to witness the ongoing operation of container ships entering the channel, being turned by the tug boats and backed into their unloading dock. We have gained a huge respect for the enormity, efficiency and consistency of this type of logistics...consumerism thrives!
Situated on the Caribbean side of Panama, Colon is among the world's largest ports and the Colon Free Zone is the 2nd largest in the world, surpassed only by one in Singapore. We enjoy the performance so much we end up staying here for almost 2 weeks, going into town every second day and returning relieved that we survived another outing. We walk almost everywhere, taxied when we thought it best or needed too because we couldn't lug all our purchased crap from our "I want/need" list. We found Anna at the Copy Matic and signed up for an Airbox account (another way to buy crap and have it shipped to Panama), caught up with Michele and Mark "Reach" after their dentist visit, found the most talked about Oriental Grocery and enjoyed a jaunt through the Centro Market with another cruiser named Billy on "AnneVeraLynn". Billy, introduced us to many local people and walked around town with huge confidence even though he was robbed this summer while anchored in the Charges River. Odd, "AnneVeraLynn" had just entered the Charges the day we headed for Bocas and Billy stayed there for the 3 months we traveled home. He figures that he was just there to long and made himself a target. Although all home (boat) invasions are traumatic, he was not roughed up and lost only his outboard and some minor items.
Although we were asked to line handle we did not take the opportunity. Most cruisers were looking to exchange the favour, both boats going through the canal, taking one boat at a time. We did manage to ferry crew from one boat to another and we were most helpful to co-ordinate a rescue of sorts. Carmelle and Yvon "Taima" (friends of our friends Lise & Sylvain "Vanilla" were anchored, ready to enter the Panama Canal with crew from another un-named French flagged smaller boat, whom had anchored directly (quite closely) in front of us. A few days later they all returned to take that French flagged boat through the canal. Before they left, two other boats came in and they circled several times to chat to them before heading off. The following day, we received a worrisome call from Carmelle. They had only made it to the 2nd lock and the boat's engine had crapped out. They needed help and hoped to contact us to ask if we would ask if someone going through the canal would provide a tow. To make a long story short, many dollars later; the other boat was towed to the Pacific side of the canal by another sailboat and they were all in Balboa and safe. One thing you do not do is brake down while transiting the Panama canal! You pay to be towed to the nearest mooring ball, pay for the mooring ball, pay to discharge the pilot and crew aboard, pay a fine for using the mooring ball, pay a fine for braking-down and stopping the working of the canal...etc., etc... If you need to be towed, it will cost you $27,000.. and this boat was certainly not worth that!.. and now without an engine.. get the picture?! So, even though we spent almost 2 weeks, getting the bee-gee-bees knocked out of us in this anchorage, life was not that bad. It was fun but time to move on.
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We headed into the anchorage of Portobello after a not so bad day sail and the boys welcomed us. How wonderful it was to hear the familiar sound of the Howler monkeys... we are home! Portobello is one of the most beautiful anchorages we've encountered and as beautiful it is, we always tend to work on the boat. Last time it was the ports, this time it is the interior varnishing and yes, another problem arose and Steve found himself occupied with the fridge again. This time with the help of Lenny and Sue "Windancer" and Patti and Tom "Liberty", the worry was short term.. But, the catch 22.. we had to go back to Colon; and from Portobello, that meant another long bus ride and another day in Colon. From Portobello, you catch a local chicken bus $3.20 and it takes you along the coast to Sabanitas and then one and a half hours later, you arrive Colon. You get off at the Movil store (a telephone company) and last time we took a taxi two blocks to the bus terminal from there as advised. This time we walked across the street towards the Oriental Grocery and headed left to the refrigerant store and a hardware store. Yes, it was a bit scary. After picking up several supplies for us and other friends, we headed back, walked up to the Rey's (grocery store) to pick up some fresh goods, hailed a taxi to the bus station and caught the Costa Arriba meaning "upper coast" bus. It saved us approx. half an hour on the trip back to the boat. Everything in working order, the next day we said good-bye and headed to our next stop...Linton