Bocas Town to Shelter Bay Marina, Panama
22 November 2013
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Bocas del Toro to Shelter Bay Marina, Colon, Panama
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Sometimes I like to just stay in one place for quite awhile. Familiar surroundings, familiar faces, and familiar places. Grounded - or more like "putting down roots".
Well, for the past est 5 months plus we literally did. Despite some weeks of travel to other nearby countries, we nestled into Bocas Town where everybody knows your name. We walk the safe streets with very little auto traffic, mostly pedestrians, bikers and hikers, seeing those familiar faces and places - the Squirrel man, the Weed man, water taxi drivers, ex-Pat shop owners, open air craft markets, the Super Gourmet Market, backpackers, long haired hippies, Restos where it takes an hour plus to get your meal, the salty, friendly sailing community of Bocas Marina with weekly get-togethers at the Cantina, never-ending fresh fruit smoothie stands, and the very hot, humid, sunny weather, with daily calm winds and seas.
But it was time to move on.
By now, aVida had really grown roots. We had her bottom hulls scoured of all the growing algae and mussels, and prepped for our move on eastward to Shelter Bay Marina, close to Colon, Panama. We orchestrated a birthday party at the BBQ night for Alina's 25th (the charming wife and co-manager of the Cantina we have grown fond of) revisited some of our favorite markets for provisioning, had a last day of swimming and dining at Playa Bluff with local live music and dancing, and several crazy, fun, late nights with the sailors and workers at the Cantina, including some interesting lively conversations and "Peyton Place" drama. On Friday Nov 15 we said our goodbyes to all the friendly sailors we had come to know and enjoy, and to our resident dog Josito. It was a bit sentimental for me, as I am a passionate animal/wildlife lover, now again without a pet to love.
It was 3 day sails over with night stops at two anchorages we had been to 3 years ago (Isla Escudo de Veraguas and Punta Limon). We were surrounded by up to 10 foot long rollers and the winds were quite squirrely, with some passing rain. Mark passed the time reading yet another Clive Cussler book, and I began another crocheted shawl to give to poor old women, keeping constant watch for freighters from the Panama Canal and drug runners we had been warned of. Unlike the quiet coves I envisioned, both anchorages were quite bumpy and rolly throughout the nights, so we set our anchor alarm to ensure we did not slip.
We arrived safely in Shelter Bay Marina, Panama about 170 nm east of Bocas town, to lift aVida and put her on the hard and get some work done. We pulled into a nice slip for several days until the boat yard freed up to haul her out. Shelter Bay Marina is safe, fairly large, clean, accommodating large yachts, and the only one nearby to us on Panama's Caribbean side with a lift wide enough for aVida, feasibly that is. It has a nice pool, Jacuzzi, a Mini-market, chandlery, hotel rooms, but not much else, as it is surrounded by jungle, with about a 30 minute taxi ride to unsafe Colon.
The yachties here are mostly transient, on their way to/from the Canal, stopping for boat maintenance issues or just a good mid-way point stop while cruising to/from the borders of Colombia and Costa Rica. Therefore, most all do not "wanna to get to know your name"; they are here for business not socializing. The indoor/outdoor restaurant's staff, unlike our attentive Dr. John and wife Alina back at Bocas Marina, are unresponsive, move slowww, are not so friendly, and do not know the meaning of the word multi-tasking at all. We sit for many many minutes with no service, and have go inside to the bar to request a menu, our drinks, and food. Despite the poor service from the staff, the quality of the food is quite good - with some creative inventions from a young Mater Chef from Boquete. Eventually, we managed to acquaint ourselves with the Master Chef, and even a friendly sailing couple, sharing ideas on how to resolve our lost Spinnaker halyard issue.
Well, there was some question that the lift would or would not damage aVida because there was only less than half a foot clearance on each side. The Lift Manager said "You gonna break ur boat"- he is not a problem solver. With Mark being a good engineer, he arranged for several rectangular foam fenders and several larger fenders on the bow strategically placed along the hulls for protection. As we slowly motored bow first into the narrow lift out ramp, we noticed the lift would hit our forestay, and there was no way to remove it. So we exited out and turned around to try again, this time stern first. Mark eased the topping lift on the boom to avoid interference with the lift, about 8 staff members secured the lift lines to the hull, and the Lift Manager dove under aVida to clear the lifting straps from the saildrives and rudders. Lifting was successful. Then we needed to move the fenders to keep aVida from hitting the metal legs of the travel lift when it travels over the uneven ground. The plan was successful. No damage to her hull. Mark's careful engineering certainly paid off.
So, for the coming weeks, there's much maintenance work to be done before we voyage to Cayman Islands est mid-December- a rigger will need to go up to the mast with a snake and camera to resolve our Spinnaker halyard line stuck in the mast, the sail drive leaking water needs to be fixed, bottom paint needs applied to the hulls, all rigging checked, stainless steel polished, limited areas of the hull require painting, etc. etc.
Now that aVida is grounded, we will put up roots again and reside in the Marina hotel until the coming weeks, hoping to make a short side trip to Aruba, but probably not as we will have to oversee all the work to be done. BTW - Here in Panama nothing gets done with a sense of urgency - such is the way of life in the Caribbean.