Pacific Crossing 2010-11
 

February Pictures

Wing and Wing from Portobello to Colon and the Canal.

The breakwater leading to the Canal staging area

This guy and many others were coming and going through the same entrance

Here's Amy's AIS view.......all the green triangles are Big ships like the one above. We're the red icon.

Amy  let him enter first

Shelter Bay Marina. Boats from all over the world. Many like us were doing all the logistics to get approvals to
go through the canal to the Pacific

We passed our inspections, paid our money, and got our ticket. Now waiting for a date.

For Jim, Hilda, and Gabriela

All kinds of boats

in all kinds of price ranges

doing different kinds of things

With different qualities of fit and finish

Budgets big

and small

Shango successfully negotiated her transit date for Feb 9 and we then dove into our project list

Amy's first completed project, recovering the sunbrella cushions
with Naugahyde for salty passages

We met Reality from San Francisco last winter in Grenada. They are also heading across the
Pacific and putting on a fresh coat of bottom paint. 

It's February 9th and we're headed for our date with the Canal

Up we go, rafted with Elbe

Elbe's forward line handlers in the first Gatun Lock

One down five to go

Elbe's aft crew

Rudolfo and Homero, our forward line handlers

Canal sights

Fernando, our aft line handler.

Goodbye Atlantic

Day one ends in Gatun Lake

Elbe begins day two with Shango not far behind

Rudolfo takes the helm

Large company

Hamming it up

Take cover!

Welcome to the Pacific

Panama City

Ivan, our Transit Adviser getting ready to depart. Over 1000 transits.

The Crew celebrates

Done in time for sunset

Our anchorage and the Panama City skyline

Quicksilver departs for Las Perlas and beyond

Time to provision. Our wonderful taxi driver/guide, Juan,  took us to the huge veggie/fruit market, Habistos

Amy was in her element

Making sure she got everything on her list

My beer provisioning was easier. 5 months X 2 beers a day = 14 cases
$10 per case made it even easier

Juan took us sightseeing one day as well. Balboa Yacht Club and the Pacific entrance to the canal

The camera is plumb the new bank building is not

The unusual topped building is Donald Trump's

The old city. Very much like Cartagena

Many historic churches

Grand old residential architecture

Ultra modern Frank Gehry museum

We came to really enjoy Panama and its friendly people

and its wide variety of things boating

Provisioning complete. We sailed to the Las Perlas islands for some R&R before heading for
the Galapagos.

We had a beautiful anchorage with no boats or houses visible in any direction.

18 foot tides reminded us of Maine in the tropics. An episode of  The Survivor series was filmed here.

Beautiful empty beaches

Amy beachcombed

and I worked on other important issues

Everyday a little more planning

Las Perlas was so rich with birds and fish

Probably a bit like the Galapagos to come

Heading south in the Las Perlas we caught up with Pyewacket at Espiritu Santo

A tri using the tide to clean his bottom

March Pictures

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