We just got back from Colon,(Tuesday) taking the free bus that runs twice a day from the marina. A 0745 bus that returns about noon and a 1300 bus that's back about 1600. Since we had to talk to the haul out folks this morning, I scheduled us for the afternoon bus. As for the yard, I was at the office at 0745 and we were already on the schedule to get hauled out tomorrow(Wednesday) about 1000. Only problem is that they want the charges for the haul out put on a credit card and their machine doesn't work as of this morning and hasn't for several days. Even the restaurant requires cash for what ever you want to eat. We've been assured that there is no problem and that we will get hauled out.

As for our trip to town and the local "4 Altos" market, well Tracy went late last week and came back with less than stellar reviews. I was lucky to get on the 1300 bus as the driver decided to leave early and I was one of the last people to get on. Tracy had jumped off trying to find me. As for the trip in, well lets just say that Panama doesn't put a lot of money into maintaining their roads. Leaving the marina and heading in, the jungle(yes, jungle) is slowly taking over the road. It looks like a two lane road but about a third of each side has been swallowed by the growth making passing cars a bit of a thrill. Who's going to give space for the other car/bus. About half way in, you get on a ferry that takes you across the river that leads to the locks and has freighters coming and going as well as other small craft going up and down the river. We had to wait for a big freighter to come by on the way in and other traffic delays on the way back. Lots of cars and trucks and buses are all over the road. Driving down the road into town, I was struck by all the abandoned buildings along the way. All made of concrete block, they are slowly crumbling, all appear to have never been completed, each getting about 80% of the way and then construction just appears to have stopped. Then there are lots of abandoned building slowly falling apart as well with shattered windows and rusted out roofs.

Once at the shopping center, it's like what we have seen in most countries around the world. Once built, no maintenance is ever done to the outside with rust and crumbling concrete all over the outsides of the building. The market we went to "4 Altos", appears to be an old market from the early 1950s again, with little done to modernize it. Narrow aisles and not much of a selection of goods. Darn few from the US but at least they carry Hellmans Mayonnaise. We left with few items and a couple of packets of cat food as there were no cans of any cat food available. Not even any kitty litter!! The bus was scheduled to leave at 1455 so we made sure to be outside waiting long before it was due and he didn't even show up till after 1500, getting us back about 1610. Twenty people took the bus in but only 13 came back. Those that bought lots normally take a cab back as there is no way to get it all on the bus.

Panama isn't what we had expected it to be. We'd envisioned big grocery stores with lots of items to choose from and it's just not that way in Colon. Now Panama City may be better and has a better reputation so we will see once we get over there but the marinas are more expensive and anchoring can be quite rollie with swells coming into the bay. Right now, it's get hauled out, clean the bottom and put on a couple coats of paint and $195 per gallon of paint. Aren't you glad you don't have to paint your house each year like we do on boats?

It's now Wednesday morning and we've gotten our bill paid for our short one week stay here at the marina as well as the initial fees for our haul out. The marina finally got their credit card problems fixed. We took the "PAID" slip to the boat yard so they know we've paid our bill and we can get on with the haul out. We're supposed to be hauled out at 1000 and it's now 0945 and Victor, the man who oversees the lifting hasn't yet been by to tell us what he needs done to our boat for getting hauled out. Sometimes, we need to disconnect the back stay but in looking at their lift, it's so huge that I doubt it needs to be done. In the mean time, I've added to our charts the location of a big reef that is just outside the entrance to the marina. It's claimed numerous boats over the years and while the charts say it's 14 feet deep, well I'd say that's not an accurate reading if boats keep going up on it. It's not marked by any buoys so with the lat/longs we had and have entered on our plotters we should be just fine plus we got in here alright. We need to exit the marina area to dump what we have in our black water tanks and then come back in for the haul out.

One thing we've learned over the years is to close the thru hulls for the sinks. When the workers do the high pressure washes on the bottom, they love to stick the wand up through the opening and it can really make a mess of the heads inside. Both are now closed just incase. Still have to close the one for the galley sinks.

We are all set and just sitting around waiting with the temps and the humidity growing by the hour. I doubt we will be out and ready for us to start in on our work till at least noon.

One thing we learned yesterday is that the fuel boat(no fixed position on land so it can come out to boats in the harbor) has broken it's measuring system of how much fuel they actually put into your boat. They now use a stick of wood for measuring. Yesterday, a big mega yacht came in to get 3,000 gallons of fuel. There was a difference of 145 gallons between what the fuel boat says they pumped and what the yacht with it's high-tech gauges says they got. We're talking a good $500 difference in the bill. The fuel boat captain says his system of using a stick is more accurate then the yachts and is standing by his figures. The yacht is refusing to pay for what they say they didn't get Haven't heard yet on the resolution and sort of doubt I will.

It's now 1240 and we are still at the dock. Victor, the lift manager never showed up to let us know what we needed to do to get ready for the lift so at 1100, I walked over to see what was going on only to find that a motor cruiser was in the lift having just been taken out of the water!! They were power spraying it so it had just come out. I walked up to the office and waited another 30 minutes for someone who knew what was going on to show up. They really had no excuse as to what had happened but thought that we could still be hauled out sometime in the afternoon. That would mean that at best, we could maybe start work on Zephyr about 1600 making the day just about a total waste. We'd be paying for the day and not getting anything out of it. Stefanie(assistant to the yard manager) told me she would call us on VHF 74 once they figured out what to do. I hiked back to the boat and waited. A few minutes later, I got their call and was advised that they would be hauling us out tomorrow at 0800. Fine by me. I've already paid for my stay through last night so this should be a "Free" day. At least I'd like to think so but we will see. Most marinas and yards will get their pound of flesh somehow. I know it's going to end up being my fault. We will wait and see.