Las Brisas Anchorage, Panama Bay, Panam

2nd May 2012 I found a tyre from the canal transit hanging at the front of the boat which the boys forgot to take with them to return to the agent

and also noticed that they had nicely ‘cheesed’ (coiled) our ropes on the foredeck!

The pelicans are still diving for fish but there are also a few egrets, which are actually wading birds, who like to rest on the stern bathing platform. It’s far too deep, about 30ft, for them to do their feeding so I’m not sure what it is that drives them away from the shore line where they normally feed. We spotted a jellyfish passing by the boat this morning. Not sure what kind it was But it was about 8-10 inches across. It has been very calm for the last couple of days so we’ve been able to leave the boat on the anchorage and go into town for provisions. We left the dinghy at the marina dock as the anchorage dock is what one might call ‘precipitous’ and not at all suitable for transferring anything but oneself! If you can imagine a floating concrete pontoon, about 4 metres from the shore, to which you tie the dinghy up and scramble off it onto the aged and cracking concrete. Then at one end is a tiny little plastic boat, bit like a large washing up bowl, usually with some water in it, attached to a skinny, fraying line by which you pull yourself from the pontoon to the shore.

Where you land depends on the state of the tide! There are some steep concrete steps to step out onto if you’re lucky, or large slippery rocks over which you have to clamber to the steps if you’re not! It made me very nervous the first time I negotiated it!

The Boat folk had a Pizza night every Tuesday at one of the local restaurants.



Some of the boat folk - we seem to be centre stage!!!


 The other side of the causeway is the entrance to the Canal and we can see all the huge container ships making their way up and down the channel. It is a very busy waterway and we hear that the fees for transit are about to double! it’s a money maker for the country’s economy. They are constructing/digging out a new channel for a second set of locks at Gatun Lake down to the Atlantic side of the canal in order to increase the flow of traffic so I guess the extra fees are funding that project.

A dressed Brigantine on it’s way up the channel to Miraflores Locks.
 We were treated to a spectacular lightening display the other night a few miles to the south east over by Las Perlas islands. Apparently it was accompanied by gusts of wind up to 70 knots and boats dragged their anchors. We have had some thunder and lightening here but without the wind thank goodness! I guess they would be tropical storms as we are in the tropics! Well, this morning clouds of smoke came from the exhaust when the generator was turned on to charge up the batteries! More problems methinks……watch this space……