Shelter Bay marina is across the bay from Colon and the Panama Canal needs to be crossed every time we go to town. Thankfully the marina has a free shuttle bus daily. There is a car ferry that goes across the bay, but when it is not working, the bus goes around the bridge by the Gatun locks. This can cause delays up to 2 hours for there are ships coming and going. Since this was a first for us, I was impressed to see one of these big ships pass by in front of my eyes and watch the large lock doors close behind it. Even better was seeing the new locks that take the even bigger Panamax boats. It gives sitting on a bus a while new meaning as we wait for the canal business to carry on right in front of us. Soon it will be us on the other side. I only hope that we do not have to be behind anything that is even half the size of what we see up close. We did get to see the Hoku'lea; a vessel modeled off the original Polynesian vessel that crossed the pacific with the first Polynesians to settle Hawaii and beyond. To think that this particular sailing vessel had sailed around the world on an odyssey to bring awareness to the world of the effects humans are having on the ocean. Up close, it is amazing that the 21 people on board this small craft managed to cross oceans. They are nearly home as they go though the canal as make their way back to Hawaii.