Haul out at Shelter Bay Marina, Panama

 Talaria being lifted out of the water is a creepy moment. But the fun thing about working so hard on your boat is friends like Maureen, Dick and Pierre. We all have a good work ethic and pitched in to help one another with sanding and painting. Dick is the most knowledgeable and provided everyone with consultations on work being done. Being smart sailors we also know how to eat and drink well together after a day in the work yard. As each boat took it's turn out of the water, the crew of the other boats hosted dinner to restore our strength for the next day.

blisters in the gelcoat

hard working yard boy

Rick filling blisters with epoxy

Talaria with black bottom paint

Shelter Bay Marina has a great staff working the lift and in the yard. When the boat is out of the water it is called "on the hard". One of the reasons is that it is hard to climb up and down the ladder multiple times a day to get in and out of the boat. At least that is my take on it. Another hard thing is that the boats rocked slightly in high winds 2 of the nights and I didn't like that at all. We stayed in the luxurious hotel rooms for a couple of nights for a break, pampering ourselves. Another hard thing is sanding and painting the bottom and washing and waxing the sides. Rick sweated over cutting a new hole in the boat - I couldn't watch - to put in a second depth sounder. In the end the boat went back into the water with no leaks. It is always great to be back in the water after several days "on the HARD".

Shelter Bay Marina, Colon, Panama

 Arrival at Shelter Bay Marina was so sweet. Tides are only 1 to 3 feet on this Atlantic side of the canal compared to 16 feet on the Pacific side. The water is calm and you can see our view of the palm trees and mangroves from the cockpit. We are happy to be here even if Rick is working on deck under big storm clouds.

sanded and oiled the teak

The view from our cockpit

snoball fell asleep studying Spanish

Rick on the docks

Marina has a gym, pool, hotel, restaurant and store

the marina is empty at this time of year

The restaurant had a pig roast

crocodile living in the marina

view from the pool area

looking out into the Caribbean from the beach

nearby beach

Rick swims laps

huge moth

wonderful lounge for the cruisers

the book exchange is GREAT

Shelter Bay Marina is a very nice place with a safe harbor. We love it here.

It's not WHERE you are, but WHO you are with

Still best friends after 34 years of marriage.

 Dick ( left of Deena) had a Birthday party at a great German restaurant called Rincon Aleman. You can tell we were having a great time! Maureen is left of Dick from s/v Blue

 Balboa Yacht Club has a resaturant bar with happy hour. You can tell we were happy. The guy with rabbit ears is Pierre from s/v Palm, Next to him is Dick and Maureen from s/v Blue, behind is Lynn and Howard from s/v Swift Current. Rick is no longer the photographer after cutting off half of Maureen's face.

 Rick and Liz from s/v Espiritu are way too serious here

Steve and Marie s/v Saben, Pierre

Liz demonstrates to the guys how to walk with a backpack converted to a man purse

Pizza and beer with Dick, Maureen and Pierre

 We have been buddy boating with these 3 sailors.

Dinner at Shelter Bay Marina after a sucessful transit on Talaria

Talaria transits the Panama Canal

Talaria under the Bridge of 

Americas

August 5 was the day we began the canal transit with Dick, Maureen and Pierre to help us. Everyone was aboard by 5:30 AM for a departure of 6:15. We were lucky to have cinnamon rolls from Maureen and Dick to munch while we waited until 9:30 for the advisor to come aboard. Time is relative for a small vessel transiting the canal. Vessels under 125 ft cost the canal more than they pay. An advisor is needed aboard to guide us through the canal and arrange the configuration of boats that go into a lock with a ship. Most ships are too large to have small vessels in the canal with them so we had to wait until a ship with a length of around 750 ft was going through the canal.

Our 'buddy ship' under the Bridge of the Americas

Pierre and I relaxing before we have to work the lines

Maureen never gets to relax as she is an excellent skipper

moving toward the first locks, Miraflores

 We tied off to a Canal tug  for the first lock going up. This is a good arrangement for us and the reason we needed so many tires to protect our boat from the huge rubber fenders on the tug.

locks closing before the water level rises

aboe Ricks head, you can see the steel cable from the train to the ship

Pierre and Dick

Rick and Maureen at the helm

This pict doesn't capture the turbulence of the water as the lock fills

Miraflores visitors center

between the locks we separate from the tug and move forward

the train that moves the big ships through and makes certain they don't crash into the sides of the locks

Pedro Miguel is the 3rd lock up, 3 tugs, a small port a potty transporter and Talaria going up together

It is a long way to the top of the lock

Canal Tug, small working vessel (pota potty on the back) and Talaria all tied off together.

we all move apart after the lock is filled

Rick at the helm leaving the locks

8/6 we begin to down lock in Gatun locks after spending the night on Lake Gatun

down locking tied to the portapotty boat

We spent the night tied to a mooring on Lake Gatun and were prepared to leave at 09:00 on 8/6. Again we had to wait until 3 PM for an advisor and the right size boat for us to go through the locks with. It was windless, sunny and hot waiting in the lake. But the worst part was all our ice melted.  The small working boat with the port a potty didn't have food or water for the next day and had to receive a delivery from canal authorities. They say this is hugely expensive.

Pierre ready with lines as we move between the locks

 Looking back in the Gatun Locks. A nice entry from the Atlantic side. There are 3 locks on the Gatun side.

looking over the second lock down into the third lock and on towards the Atlantic Ocean

the 3 boats tied together while the water level goes down

a huge ship goes through the other side of the locks

 OOPs some big ship lost it's paint on the Gatun locks

the gates open toward the Atlantic

We are in the Atlantic Ocean!!!

Our 'buddy ship' for Gatun locks

'buddy ship' with a life raft mounted like a rocket launcher on the back

Shipyard at Colon

 

Canal Launch boat coming for our advisor, Moses

Moses jumps off Talaria

Dinner at Shelter Bay Marina with our crew.  We had a great passage and we are so happy to be in the Caribbean.