March 19, 2018
8 40.5'N 077 24.8'W

Mountains rise along the Isthmus of Panama, shrouded in clouds and haze for most of our visit. The rainforests look unexplored. If there is a road, it is only a trail that leads from Panama to Colombia. Obaldia, the military outpost where we cleared into the country, provides a show of force. It was established to help halt drug trafficking. Today illegal immigrants are the primary focus. I saw several nonfunctioning Gator type vehicles and one off road motorcycle. The mules pulling small carts were busy.

Clearing into Panama was challenging. The official process is not difficult, but the conditions in the anchorage are often untenable. Protection from winds and waves is minimal. Slow Dancing rode up and down the swells like a hobbyhorse in the anchorage at Obaldia. The dinghy motor lock broke with the force of the bounce. The dinghy dock requires climbing up on truck tires. A rain shower soaked us just as we arrived at the police station. Ninety minutes later, we were out of there!