Change in Latitude, Change in Attitude

30 January 2008 | Moraga, Ca.
23 January 2008 | San Diego, Ca.
20 January 2008 | Pacific Beach, San Diego
18 January 2008 | San Diego, California
17 January 2008 | 7 Miles South of the San Diego/Tijuana Border
15 January 2008 | Ensenada, Mexico
15 January 2008 | 100 MIles South of Ensenada
13 January 2008 | Isla Benitos
09 January 2008 | Bahia Santa Maria
08 January 2008 | 100 Miles South of Magdalena Bay
07 January 2008 | Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
06 January 2008 | Rounding Cabo Pulmo
05 January 2008 | La Paz, Mexico
25 December 2007 | Moraga, Ca.
15 December 2007 | Ensenada de Los Muertos, Mexico
10 December 2007 | Los Frailes, Mexico
05 December 2007 | Smack Dab' In The Middle
02 December 2007 | Mazatlan, Mexico
30 November 2007 | 128 Miles South of Mazatlan, 28 Miles Offshore
27 November 2007 | 15 miles Northwest of Manzanillo, Mexico

Taking Care of Business in Panama City, Or At Least Trying

21 August 2007 | Panama City, Panama
Andrew
We are currently back in Panama City for a few days to secure the new parts for the water-maker, do a few projects, and run some errands here in town. Panama City is quite a neat city and reminds me very much of Miami. There are lots of fancy high-rise condominium buildings with beautiful and friendly people everywhere. Pastel colored dress shirts and white slacks or linen pants are the norm, which continues to provide a healthy inner chuckle. Cabs are dirt cheap (haven't paid over $2 for a ride to date) and get you places quickly and fairly efficiently. However, yesterday my cabbie home from the mall (I'll explain later why I was at a mall), thought he was some sort of amateur racer in his beat up Toyota Tercel, which had dents all over it, yet a racing steering wheel, seat, and of course, muffler. He drove so incredibly fast and aggressive that I actually asked him to slow down which is rare for me, "Uh, pardon mi amigo, el rapido es no importante!" My excellente Spanish is working absolute wonders down here and I get the most interesting and fun facial expressions when I ask for directions or something specific. I just might photograph one next time around and post it to the blog. Fortunately the cabbie got me back to the boat safely and without incident.

Yesterday morning I attempted to extend my tourist visa as we were planning on staying in Panama waters for a good while longer. I headed out to the Migracion office in khaki shorts, a t-shirt (Phoenix Coyotes shirt & visor, compliments of a dear friend), flip flops, visor, and sunglasses. After all, I do live on a boat in the tropics and do not particularly enjoy wearing shoes if I don't have to. I rolled up to the building's front entrance and was quickly greeted by a Panamanian dude with a machine gun, decked out in camo-green everything, except for his knee-high boots, which were nicely polished and shining black. I can't imagine the boots were comfortable and I thought to myself, "Athlete's foot nightmare!" The guard wasn't wearing any green face paint, but might as well have, as it would have brought the whole ensemble together nicely. I approached the man with a friendly and gringo-esque, "Hola, Buenos Dias". He immediately said, "NO SHORTS", and pointed to a laminated piece of paper directly above the white door frame. The sign read, "NO SHORTS". I politely asked for an exception once, but didn't feel like fussing with a Panamanian guard, or police officer, or whatever he was. Bottom line is that he wore seriously legit, ass-kicking, jungle running boots, hot and non-breathable army fatigues, and a high-powered rifle, most likely sold to him by the U.S. I was hot and a little cranky dressed in shorts and flip flops and could have only imagined what this guy felt like.

So, I turned around, hopped in another taxi and asked to be taken to the nearest mall, where I could purchase a cheap pair of pants, hopefully to Mr. Machinegun's satisfaction. I arrived at the Multi-Centro mall and was immediately overjoyed by how wonderful the air-conditioning felt on my moist and darkened skin. As many of you know, I am not much of a mall-goer, and in fact, I actually hate them and avoid them all possible costs. Paying retail for anything drives me mad, and I greatly prefer to buy things at wholesale and in bulk, at places such as Costco. However, finding a Costco is next to impossible in Panama, so I settled for the mall. After roaming around for a bit and stopping for lunch in the "Food Court" (which deserves an entirely different blog post), I quickly realized it was getting late in the afternoon. The Migricion office closes at 3 pm, so the visa extension would just have to wait until tomorrow. To my pleasant surprise a movie theater was located within the mall, so I wondered over there and looked into seeing a Hollywood film. A dark and cold movie theater sounded great!! Harry Potter was being shown, so I checked the time and returned a few hours later to purchase my ticket. As I purchased the ticket I figured I better "double check" about the film's language and confirm that it was, indeed, in English. I was under the impression it was in English with Spanish subtitles as my previous experience with seeing movies abroad has always been like this. Nope, the move was dubbed over in Spanish and had English subtitles. I didn't feel like seeing "Harrito Poteras" anyway. Well, I called it a day after striking out twice, and caught my crazy cab home.
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Vessel Name: Cisnecito
Vessel Make/Model: 46 ft Nautor Swan
Crew: Andrew Roberts
About:
After working in the insurance industry for 4 years, I jumped at the opportunity to join Cisnecito, a 46 foot Nautor Swan. She currently lays in Colon, Panama preparing for her last extended cruise back to Newport, Ca. [...]

Checked Out and Headed to Central America

Who: Andrew Roberts