Shelter Bay has boats going north (our way), south through the Canal to the Pacific, and many have been here for years. Today we leave for an anchorage area called The Flats inside the breakwater of the northern entrance to Colon. The winds will be dropping from 20 knots down to 10 knots over night. The seas will be dropping slowly from 5-7' to 2-3' as we motor-sail to Isla Providentia 250 miles north. (That's 25% of the way to Florida in a two night transit.) This corner of the Caribbean is known to be rougher. So finding a weather window to move north is a good thing. Sue and I are re-adjusting to being on the boat alone. The last few weeks have been great to have Peter, Bill and Ted on board in preparation for the Transit, and for the actual Transit. Shelter Bay Marina has NO surge, a swimming pool, a good restaurant, paths to walk, a laundry, a small provisioning store, etc. When we return in a year, we will take advantage of some land excursions around the area, such as Gatun Lake, a nearby Fort, and so forth.