01-Jan-2012, Shelter Bay Marina, Panama

A very happy new year to everyone and fair winds for 2012 - or, as they say in Germany: "Immer eine Hand breit Wasser unter dem Kiel!" (always a hand's width of water beneath the keel).

Have started to work down our job list here in Shelter Bay, with fixing the anchor windlass being high on the priority list. Originally, we had also planned to be hauled out here in Shelter Bay to apply some anti-fouling and fix some scrapes on the bottom of the keel (from our grounding in Maine, just after re-launching Namani). But given that the hull still looks clean and that the keel scrapes were minor, we may postpone that until Tahiti.

Luckily, the swimming pool here at the marina and a French boy on the neighbor dock provide sufficient distraction for Nicky. Very interesting to see the two kids play without a common language between them. While we would like to move on a bit quicker, many of the jobs on our list are much easier with Namani tied to a dock here rather than being anchored on the Pacific side. Another plus is the frequent information exchange with other boats, which is always helpful and interesting. Stay tuned ...

PS: The picture above was taken in the San Blas Isands (Hollandes Cays)

08 - In Panama

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Markus
30-Dec-2011, Shelter Bay Marina, Panama

Got a sneak preview of the Canal transit over the past two days on Astarté with Barbara and Michael, and Sue and Lenny from Windancer. A very interesting and fun experience, also very helpful to get a better idea of what to expect for our own transit. Namani was officially measured on Thursday and our transit date has now been set for 14JAN. We have enough boat projects lined up to keep us busy until then...

08 - In Panama

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Markus
27-Dec-2011, Shelter Bay Marina, Panama

Arrived in Shelter Bay (across from Colon at the Atlantic entrance to the Panama Canal) today, after a nice sail from Portobelo and after weaving our way through the cargo ships anchored off the Canal entrance.

Markus will have dry-run through the Canal tomorrow and Thursday as a line handler on Astarté. We still plan on going through during the first half of January. Very nice to be here now - makes the Canal transit feel very real and imminent... stay tuned...

08 - In Panama

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