Max turned seven years old on the sixteenths of June. He was so excited about his upcoming birthday and we really wanted to make it special for him. We organised to meet his new friends in Shelter Bay and have a small party for him there. On THE day Max woke up already at sx, I made pancakes for breakfast which the boys drenched in honey and jam. Following that was present opening time, he got two bionickles and some starwars characters and was extremely pleased. After a while of playing we jumped in the rental car and made the two hour drive to Shelter Bay. All the new friends were waiting, the kids had a blast swimming in the pool, eating french fries, Calamares and cupcakes and blowing soap bubbles. The day was a success and according to the kids the best birthday party ever.

The next day we drove to Isla Grande to retrieve our sails. It was a long way and the whole day dissapeared in the process. When we came back to the boat the sky was black and looked very threatening. It did not take long before the thuder struck, the boat vibtared with the force of the roaring sound and the sky was lit from all directions with lightning. This continued all night, when morning came the storm quieted down but the rain poured down even harder, visibility was zero and we had to stay inside all day. Even though it was a bit boring to spend the whole day on the boat we did catch up on school work so the day did not go to waste.

During the weekend we received new parts for our water maker, the guys spent time putting in the new parts and we all waited in excitement when they turned it on. Increadible enough it worked, Finally!!!! The guys also fixed some new found leaks in the windows, hopefully they will now be more water tight.

On Sunday we did the Panama City tour, the old town was lovely still very run down but we could imagine how it will look like in ten years time. We walked around for hours and had a tasty lunch at the local fish market.

Yesterday, Monday we did some heavy duty provisioning, everyone was exhausted afterwards. In the evening we had pizzaz with our Australian friends who had just come through the canal. The kids were overjoyed and the pizzaz were excellent.

Hopefully we can leave for the Galapagos on Thursday or latest by Friday, there seems to be a relative weather window during the weekend and we would not have to beat directli in toi the wind. It is definately time to move on, Panama is lovely but Drwin and new adventures await us.

We have a new crew member, Sarah, great sailor girl who line handled for us transiting the canal. This will make our passages easier, basically more sleep for everyone. I will update again before we head out to sea, HEY HOY, to everyone.

MF