Today was a day of contrasts. I awoke to a shower that lasted only briefly and then the sun came up. The river was like glass and then we motored out to the mouth and found 30+ kts of wind and 5-8' seas - right on the nose. Nonetheless Deb went out on the bow to guide us through the rocks and reef by Fort San Lorenzo. Yes, we had waypoints, but we both still feel better with a bow watch when navigating tricky passages around reefs. We made it out without incident and just as Deb was about to head back to the cockpit, we hit a wave dramatically bigger than the rest. It broke over the forward beam - and, of course, over Deb as well, coming down on her from above and up from through the net at the same time. She was totally soaked! I didn't really dare to put up any sail in 30 kts of wind because if it was doing any good, it would increase our speed AND the apparent wind. One of the main reasons for this haul-out is to replace our rigging (which in theory is 4 years over-due). I didn't want to stress test it the day of our haul-out. So we motored into the wind and the waves at times making only 3 kts despite both engines at cruising rpm. Fortunately it was only 13 nm to Shelter Bay and some of that would be inside the breakwater. As we were approaching the breakwater, we watched a couple of container ships go in and another come out. When we were ~15 min out, I called Cristobal Control to request permission to enter the breakwater. A very pleasant voice came back saying we were free to enter as she had no traffic entering or leaving. At least THAT was a plus. Now to go through the entrance of the breakwater, we had to turn and run with the waves and wind. I could just see us surfing the waves with little steerage, but of course the entrance is big enough for container ships and tankers, so we had lots of room for error. It turned out to be a non-issue. We went through as nice as you please. Inside, it was calm, flat seas and even the wind was partly blocked by the high breakwater. We radioed Shelter Bay Marina, got instructions on where to tie up pending our haul-out, and readied lines and fenders. As we approached the dock, wind was again an issue trying to blow us off the dock, but the marina had good line handlers and we docked without incident. After completing all the paperwork, we were told to bring the boat around to the haul-out. That involved coming off the dock, doing a 180* turn and maneuvering into the narrow (for our boat) bay for the Travel-lift. The wind was certainly not helping. To do the 180, I had the line handler release the stern while keeping the bow tied. I let the stern swing around and when we were 90* to the dock, release the bow so I could motor around into the wind and complete the turn. It worked like a charm. Entering the Travel lift, the wind was on our starboard bow. At least that meant it was slowing us down instead of pushing us so I could use my engines to steer. Slow, slow, slow. We eased in and everything went fine. Once the boat was in the slings, we all got off (Goldie too) while the boat was lifted, power washed and set on the hard with lots of blocking and jack stands. Goldie was VERY happy to have nice firm solid ground with grass and everything! After everything was settled, we went and found Bill & Katy on Clikitat - the boat I am going to help transit the canal. Their other two line handlers had arrived and were staying on the boat with them. We ended up all having dinner together which was a lot of fun. I think the canal transit will be great. These really seem to be good folks to do it with.