Week 70: Panama City (6nm)

It was a quiet week in Panama City following the whirlwind of the canal transit. We had fun doing our delayed Christmas shopping in the exceptionally large mall, met new friends in the cruiser-packed anchorage at Las Brisas, and prepped for our Pacific crew’s impending arrival, while reflecting on what a year we had in 2019.

We very deliberately planned a week of laying low in anticipation of the arrival of our new crew. No snake-up-the-mast dramas here! Just a chilled end to 2019. As such, this week’s post is a little shorter – my daily log and a few fun 2019 stats. More exciting stories to come when our crew get here!

First mate’s log:

28th Dec: We had a whirlwind morning of sorting laundry and other “dock” tasks while we had easy access to the shore from the mooring ball at the Balboa Yacht Club (where we’d tied up after completing our canal transit). We were ready to head over to the main Panama City anchorage by about 14:00, but discovered our anchor had become entangled with the mooring. Because there isn’t much space on our bow and our anchor is enormous, we find that when we tie to a mooring ball we normally have to dangle the anchor off the front to make enough space to run the ropes to the mooring. To prevent the anchor banging on the hull, I normally leave it so it’s hanging just under the surface of the water. This has always worked fine in the past, but I think the addition of tides and currents now that we’re in the Pacific changes the game! In all of the moving back and forth with the change of current, the anchor had hooked the mooring’s chain :(. That meant Alec had to jump into the truly disgusting water to wrestle the anchor free. Luckily his efforts were successful – thank goodness for a strong skipper! Finally free, we motored a few miles around the point of the causeway to Las Brisas, which is the main municipal anchorage for Panama City. We were a little bit worried that it would be rolly and uncomfortable there, because the anchorage is open to the prevailing dry season North / Northeast winds. But, we were delighted to find it calm, and filled to the brim with other cruisers – always nice to find a community to tie into! Once we’d found a suitable spot, we dropped the hook and enjoyed a great night’s sleep in the flat water.

29th Dec: Still needing time to recover from the canal, we took the day to nap, read and scope out what we wanted to do this week. A pleasantly restful day that recharged our batteries and left us refreshed and ready to get out into the city.

30th Dec: Found the dinghy dock in the morning, which was totally different to what we’d read about in the online guides – in a good way! We’d heard that the main dock wasn’t attached to the shore and that there was just a small rowboat tied to a rope that you could use to get from the dock to the shore. Luckily, all that’s changed, and there is now a nice, normal dock that is free for cruisers and guarded 24hrs by the Panamanian Coast guard. Much better! Dinghy tied and us safely ashore, we set out for the huge Albrook Mall – one of the largest malls in the Americas – where we intended to complete our Christmas shopping. Colon hadn’t had much shopping available and there was nothing at all in San Blas, so we’d decided to save Christmas until we could access the breadth of Panama City. This mall was nuts. It would easily have taken 45 minutes to walk from one end to the other, not even including the regular off-shoots. I personally only managed to explore 1/4 of it, if that! But, though overwhelming in size, it was delightful in the many things that could be found there. We managed to get all our shopping done in about 2 hours and then celebrated with lunch out. Buoyed by our success thus far, we ventured into the nearby neighbourhood, where Google showed several fishing shops to be located, and had a delightful afternoon sifting through the myriad lures at the shops. We’ve got lots of new ones to try out in the Pacific now!! In the evening, we exchanged gifts and enjoyed a bottle of sparkling cidre while admiring the Panama skyline to top off a super day in the city.

31st Dec: Headed to shore again to find a wifi spot where we could upload our Panama Canal video (a little too big of a file to put through our mobile phone plan!) and decided to enjoy lunch out (why not, its still the holidays! #treatyoself). On the way back to the boat, we drove by Takamoana, a cat we’d seen in Shelter Bay and said hello. They invited us around for sundowners and we had fun getting to know Gary and Louise, who hail from Bundaberg, Australia. They, too, are headed across the Pacific this year, so we hope to run into them in some exotic locales in the coming months! They lived in Tonga for several years and had lots of great advice about sailing there that we look forward to putting into practice. We headed back to Serenity with the intention of making dinner and staying up to watch the New Years fireworks… but… we got sleepy! Cruiser’s midnight is about 9pm, so we were nodding off long before the fireworks. When the new year finally arrived, the boom of the fireworks woke us up and we convened on deck for an amazing show – we could see maybe six different displays all around the city, plus quite a few of the boats in the anchorage let off flares! A very cool sight and a special way to ring in the new year – 2020 will certainly be a big one for us!

1st Jan: After partying all night… I mean, sleeping for 12 hours, we woke ready for a new day and a new year. We figured everything ashore would be closed, so we had a subdued day aboard just doing a few bits and bobs.

2nd Jan: Decided to have a good wander around the local area and check out the local chandleries (we are always in need of a part or two) plus see if we could find a place selling pole spears. Our friends on Hoodoo had one that they used for reef and lobster hunting, and I’d decided that might be the perfect fit for me to dip my toe into fishing, so’d asked for one for Christmas. So far, though, it had proved hard to find one in Panama. There were a ton of small chandleries in the Flamenco area, each with a very slightly different specialty, and of our “parts needed” list we managed to find most items. The spear still seemed elusive, though, but one of the chandlery proprietors pointed us towards a fishing shop, Abernathy, at the nearby La Playita marina complex. There, we finally had success – pole spears! I am now the proud owner of a medium-sized spear and am excited to try it out when we visit Las Perlas soon. The shop also proved to have an amazing selection of fishing gear, which Alec had a great time looking through and salivating over – so many fun lures! On the way home, we grabbed a coffee and were delighted to find an exceptionally well made cappuccino available from Mi Ranchito restaurant, despite it looking like a tourist trap.

3rd Jan: With only two days to go until our crew for the Pacific, Daniel and Camille, would arrive, it was time to buckle down for a last burst of maintenance and critical jobs. We sorted out numerous lingering projects, after which Gary and Louise from Takamoana popped over for a few sundowners and a fun natter. Perhaps not the most story-worthy day on board, but a very rewarding and enjoyable one nonetheless.

4th Jan: Oh dear, our crew come TOMORROW. Time to get Serenity looking ship-shape! We spent the day getting down and dirty – taking up floorboards, scrubbing bilges, airing out cushions in the sun, wiping walls and ceilings, and generally getting the boat looking her best. We wanted to ensure she felt as inviting and welcoming as possible; hopefully, job done! By evening we were out of gas and collapsed to bed early. Tomorrow, the next chapter of life aboard Serenity First starts!

Parting thoughts: A year to remember

Wishing all a happy new year and the very best for 2020. May you have fair winds and following seas wherever this trip around the sun may take you :).

The start of a new year always gives me pause to reflect on the previous. And, for all the challenges we came up against in 2019, there were definitely more successes! We are getting better at boat life, for sure. Here are a few, quick stats to sum up the year:

• Total distance travelled: 3,193 nautical miles
• Countries visited: 16 (US – USVI, BVI, Anguilla, France – St. Martin, Guadeloupe and Martinique, Sint Maarten, Saba, Statia, St. Kitts & Nevis, Antigua & Barbuda, Montserrat, Dominica, St. Lucia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Grenada, Trinidad & Tobago, Panama)
• Visitors hosted: 12 (David & Katrina, Kim & Rick, Mark & Jackie, Tish & Obie, Eddie & Lisa, Lauren & Felix)

Here’s to a great 2019, and an exciting year ahead!