FRIDAY 26TH JANUARY 2007
NEWS:
Timoneer is in the Atlantic! We had a few quiet days in Panama City tied up in Flamengo Marina which was very nice and gave everyone their shopping fix. Panama City is a great place and is booming with high rises springing up in all directions.
The Pilot came on board at dusk on the 25th and we entered the first lock just before 7pm. There are three locks going up to the Gatun Lake which is fresh water and about 80 feet above sea level. We crossed the lake in perfect weather, clear moonlit night and made very good time to the other side where there are three down locks into the town on Cristobal on the Atlantic ocean. There is huge excavations going on in the canal as they are widening it all to take more ships through faster. Business and the economy here is racing ahead.
We got through the canal, a distance of about 35 miles in total from one side to the other, in 7.5 hours which is the quickest we have ever done. By 0200 we all closed down and at anchor on the Flats in Cristobal. This morning we completed yet more paper work and then were granted permission to proceed to the new marina here called Shelter Bay. The marina is situated on the west side right on the edge of the Chagres National Park. There is no town or population anywhere near and in the evening we can see howler monkeys, toucans and many species of birds within a short walk into the thick tropical jungle nearby.
We will shortly be leaving for San Blas and then to Grenada.
Regards = PHil