It's been a hectic few days. On Tuesday Neil cleared in with customs here at Shelter Bay marina but we had to go into Colon to get our passports stamped with immigration. There is a free bus service from the marina to Colon but we missed it! We were waiting in the wrong place and it went without us. So we had to resort to a taxi, which although expensive, worked out well in the end.
The drive into Colon was quite an experience - windy narrow road with potholes and then we had to go across the canal on the car ferry. Guards with guns everywhere and checkpoints in and out the marina perimeter. Colon seemed like a war zone, or a post apocalyptic site - broken down buildings, graffiti, burglar bars and armed guards everywhere. We checked in at immigration while our taxi waited and he then took us to the shopping area where there was a large supermarket and he waited for us there. We had to draw a lot of cash at the ATM's to pay for antifoul paint and a new 8hp outboard engine so Neil had worn two pairs of pants and all the money we drew he stuffed into his inner pants pockets while I scanned around making sure no one was watching. It was all $20 bills so his pockets were literally bulging by the time we finished! It all felt a bit edgy around us and we were very happy and relieved to get back in the taxi, after our shopping, and head back to the marina.
Wednesday morning we were expecting to be hauled out at 10 am but the boatyard asked us to be ready at 8am so that took us by surprise, as we had just got up and hadn't even had breakfast yet. The haulout went smoothly after which we reglued the rubber gasket around the saildrive, scraped a few barnacles off and slapped a coat of antifoul on. A well needed shower and then joined the other cruisers for sundowners at the BBQ area. We were pleased to meet up with Ted and Jenny from Elixir who arrived that morning.
This morning we were back in the water promptly at 8.30 and have been cleaning the boat inside and out. Tomorrow we have to go back into Colon to buy a new starter and windlass battery, and we plan to head to the San Blas on Sunday now.
Oh yes, we had our boat measured by the canal inspector and we should hear soon when our transit date is. We are hoping for the 11th of April giving us a good amount of time in the San Blas.