Panama: The Seaquel
Due to the Delta flight delays, we got back to Panama a day late, and only one day before my scheduled hysterectomy. I stayed in Panama City while Russ and the kids returned to the boat. The day after my surgery, my friend from Annapolis, Lauren, arrived to help care for me. The surgery went extremely well and Lauren and I were able to spend a few nights in an AirBnB in the jungle above Panama City after I was discharged from the hospital.
Lauren was the right person for the job! She’s great company, an excellent cook, and she’s not afraid of wildlife. Thank goodness, because our house had beautiful views, a stunning pool, days of quiet, and a plethora of bugs and animals. I might have had to leave except that Lauren made sure the lizards stayed out of my room and the frogs stayed out of the pool (not that I was swimming but have you ever seen frog eggs..?). We had a great time together and I think all of the laughter was healing in ways I didn’t even know I needed. I am so lucky to have a friend (or as she likes to refer to herself, ‘the better sister’) who considers traveling to another country to be a caregiver to a post-operative, highly medicated germ- and bug-phobe a vacation!
Meanwhile, I have no doubt Rosie was following all the rules and playing with her friends in the marina. The boys, on the other hand, took every advantage of my absence to do all the things I told them not to: specifically, climbing on rusted, abandoned ships in our anchorage. Apparently, the mouth of the Panama Canal is where ships are left to die. There were plenty of them and Russ loves a ship in any form, Gus likes to fly the drone, and Jordan wants to find all the things people leave behind. We’re all lucky they didn’t end up in the hospital with me.
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My recovery was quick and without incident. I cannot recommend the medical system in Panama enough! I was up and walking around the marina within a week - bored of being alone and needing to get some fresh, albeit humid, air. Gus is an excellent cook and his food - always beautifully plated - was an unexpected perk of recovery. But within two weeks I was back to the galley and for the most part resuming all normal activity. We made friends with two trawler families, Greg and Farah on MV Summer Dreams and MV Next Chapter, with Chris, Shawna, Lexi and Jake. We also met SV Morning Star, our Canadian friends whose son, Dylan, became good friends with Rosie. All of these people helped us celebrate Rosie’s 12th birthday on August 12. We played minute-to-win-it games, watched a movie and ate pasta and cake. The way sailors come together to make celebrations special is truly awesome and one of the things we love about the boating community.
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Panama is known for their lightning in the spring, summer and early fall. It wasn’t uncommon to emerge from the grocery store to torrential downpours and see trees fallen across the road on the drive home. The storms are intense and fierce, particularly over Shelter Bay, which seems to have a concentration of power from all of the ships, port and canal. One night, we were awakened at 4am to a massive thunderstorm that shook the boat and lit up the night with near constant lightning. It sent off the fog horn on a boat nearby, causing further panic in the marina as the WhatsApp group bubbled with questions about what the sound might be. It went off diligently every 20 seconds for over two hours before Russ, who apparently knew what it was, walked over to the empty boat and turned it off. Thanks, Russ? :) Meanwhile, we learned that lightning had struck a boat across the dock from us (the boat was named Thunder - I cannot make this up), but the effects of the power surge were felt throughout the marina. Our friends lost their stabilizers and had to fly to Canada spare parts. A Sunreef near us had electrical issues (and suffered a direct lightning hit only weeks later in the same spot). The storm knocked out our radar, wind indicator, and AIS, and set off our automatic anchor remote which put a pile of anchor chain on deck. We felt lucky our plans were only delayed by a week and a not-crippling amount of money. As soon as we had the necessary fixes, we hurried out of there and decided to get to Bocas Del Toro as soon as possible!
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Luis Carlos and his daughter Jimena joined us for a few days to Bocas and we had a great time with them. We stopped at the beautiful Escudo de Veraguas Island (incorrectly named in the video) where we explored the mangrove creeks. It was like scenes from a deserted island movie. The Bocas del Toro islands are equally beautiful—some with beaches, many of mangroves, and even the aplty named Dolphin Bay where the dolphins play all day long but never become less exciting to see.
We finally met SV Tempus, a Swedish family with two girls, who we had heard wonderful things about. We spent a beach/pool day at Red Frog Beach with them and their guests, and explored the farm and waterfall of an American expat family. The kids and Gus chased the dolphins in the water, and every morning Jordan would paddle board to see how close he could get. It was mesmerizing and meditative. We spent several evenings at the Dolphin Blue Paradise restaurant owned by a Danish/German couple from the US, and loved getting to know them (and their dog). The town of Bocas is a bit coarse, but apparently felt a bit more that way because they were redoing all of the streets while we were there… we did have some great ice cream and the locals are very friendly.
Our first day at anchor in Dolphin Bay, we were visited by a lancha, the local wooden boat, and it turns out we had met the family in Martinique in the winter! They are an American family that bought a small island in Bocas and were living on their catamaran, SV Low Expectations, while building up their island. They already had two dogs, a bunch of chickens and some rabbits, and an entire garden of raised beds. The ultimate farm hosts, they hosted us and Tempus for a bbq and the kids loved all the animals. Later in the week we had everyone for movie night on Big Em.
While the water in Bocas isn’t as clear and the land is shallow mangroves and more jungle, we enjoyed our time there immensely and can see why many boaters stay for months during hurricane season, and even decide to settle there permanently!
When we said goodbye to Luis Carlos and Jimena, it was with plans to host them for our Panama Canal crossing in November. Their family was truly amazing to us the entire time we were in Panama, and we hope to return their generous hospitality soon.
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Did I mention we were in Panama for nearly 3 months? And we’re not done yet! The final leg of our trip started again in Shelter Bay, where we picked up Flo and Fran, who had made their way from Mexico, where we last saw them in May, through central America. Serendipitously, now in August, they needed a way to Colombia, and that’s where we were headed. The universe works in amazing ways.
We spent one night in Linton Bay where we shared some drinks with Sheila, who helped us so much with the haulout work, and Kevin, the boat lift-driver that Gus became friends with during that time. Then we moved on to the San Blas islands, famous for clear blue water, white sand, and the local Kuna people.
We only spent two nights in San Blas but we got fresh locally caught lobsters, bought some beautiful artwork, and spent a day exploring the beaches near our anchorage. It was so much fun to be with Flo and Fran and we all enjoyed the fresh seafood (although we never seem to have the right tools for dispatching and cooking it). After three nights of watches, mexican train, some dancing and lots of eating, we made it to Cartagena.
