Needless to say, by the time I had explained the procedure for getting a scheduled transit time, and trying to get Doris’s mobile phone to work, we arrived at the bank in time to see it closing for the day.  We had hired a car earlier on in order to be able to drive to Panama to pick up Jane and Willem, so we decided to return the following morning when the bank opened for business.

With the transit fees paid we set off for Panama and located the port and shopping malls.  Our guests arrived on time together with their luggage having had a very long day transiting via Madrid and Guatemala.  The following morning I telephoned the scheduler and was offered a transit on Sunday 11th February, in three days time, which we were delighted to accept.  We needed to alert Tito for delivery of the warps and fenders and as we had the hire car for another day we went into Colon and explored the municipal market before having lunch once more at the Yacht Club.

On our way back we decided to follow the signs to Lorenzo fort and so began the first of what were to become known as the ‘Westermann Adventures’.  The drive to the fort was through a tropical rain forest forming part of a national park.  The fort itself, originally built by the Spaniards to defend the mouth of the Gatun river and hence Panama itself commands a fantastic view over the approaches.  Although the fort itself has been sacked and re-built a number of times the ruined remains are spectacular.

 The last use of the fortifications was by the Americans in WW2 and the gun emplacement still exists (it was never fired in anger).  We discovered a George the First canon amongst the Spanish armoury around the fort – no doubt a left over from one of the English occupations.  After tiring of this we then went for a walkabout in the rain forest under Jane and Willem’s expert guidance.  We were rewarded with a troupe of howler monkeys crossing from tree to tree over our heads.  Later on amongst the fascinating flora we found leaf-eater ants and an agoti.


We returned to Moonbeam to find a note announcing that Doris and Alethea would be joining us at 1700 on Saturday.  True to his word, Tito arrived bearing tyre-fenders and warps and we set about protecting our topsides from the possible damage in the locks.  Our line-handlers pitched up as promised and we installed them in Tom’s cabin and over dinner we started to get to know our new guests.  Doris and been through the canal before on a cruise ship and as we were later to discover thought she was going to repeat the experience.  She had a heart of gold and gave birth to a new Moonbeam expression – ‘being Dorissed’.  We were left with the impression that we were a charter crew and Sarah and I should really have vacated the owner’s stateroom for the duration of her visit!

 


Page 12

Home
Journal
Pictures
Links
Email
Journal

Into the Pacific

When we arrived in Shelter Bay Marina we were advised that they could only put us up for a couple of nights because they were expecting the ARC boats.  The Panama Yacht Club was full and so it looked as though we would have to move to the assigned anchorage off Colon.  However, with the departure of the Blue Water Rally boats and the non or late arrival of the ARC boats, we were able to stay until our own transit was scheduled.

The downside of Shelter Bay Marina is that it is 15km from Colon.  The road routes via the Gatun locks which have to be crossed so if a ship is arriving or departing the locks up to 45 minutes could be spent watching them.  This, of course was fascinating to observe how the lines were attached to the locomotives and how they manoeuvred them into the lock.  The marina ran a courtesy bus at 0800 every morning to the main shopping area and supermarket on the outskirts of Colon.  It returned at about 1130 but the taxi fare was only $15 and was more convenient when laden with provisions. 

We were determined not to use an agent if we could avoid doing so.  Consequently, we reported to the Port Captain’s office and duly waited whilst a new Zarpe was hand written.  This was free of charge, but only got us as far as Balboa, the other end of the canal.

The general advice not to wander around in downtown Colon was probably well founded because much of the area appears to be very poor and rundown.  As a result we went everywhere by taxi which was a very cheap form of transport.  Anywhere within the city cost $1.  Lunch at the Panama Yacht Club enabled us to meet Tito who was to hire us 4 x warps for $60 and 12 tyre fenders at $3 each although a collection charge at the other end in Balboa was a further $1.  He advised us that we would have to have the warps on board for the Admeasurer’s inspection. 

 Duly laden with the warps we set off next day in search of the Admeasurer’s office.  Now it would not be unfair to say that both the sailing guides we have for Panama are a bit short of useful information regarding the location of the Port Captain, Admeasurer and Immigration offices.  This was no doubt because most people give up and use the (expensive) services of an agent, and they know where to go!  Anyhow, after several wrong turns and misdirection, we finally found the Admeasurer’s office located in the Cristobal Signal Station.  A very helpful American black woman who manned the counter took our details and told us to expect the Admeasurer on the following day, Saturday.

 He turned up as promised and determined us to be 60’ from pulpit to davits which meant that we were to have an advisor rather than a pilot which would have been assigned if we were more than 65’.  He spent an hour on board, mainly filling out forms, but he did ask to hear the horn blast even though he did not look at Tito’s warps.  Having passed muster, we then needed to present ourselves at Citibank just across from the Port Captain’s office and pay the transit fees; a job planned for Tuesday.

 However the banks were closed on Tuesday for carnival and were not due to open again until midday Wednesday.  I had already returned the warps to Tito pending confirmation of our transit, but we decided to have lunch at the Panama Yacht Club in any case and go to the bank afterwards when it had re-opened.  Towards the end of our lunch we were approached by two mature American ladies, hailing from Texas, who introduced themselves as Doris and Alethea, and who enquired if we needed line-handlers.  Now it is a requirement for the transit that there are on board a minimum of four line-handlers plus the skipper, so given that when Jane and Willem arrived we would still be one short.  They appeared very pleasant and were clearly very keen to join us for the transit.  Alethea had her own sailing boat so we agreed.  It would be true to say that I wasn’t really expecting to need them as the Admeasurer had indicated that we would almost certainly go through ’nested’, or alongside a tug.  In either of these events only two line-handlers would be active. 

 


Back to Page 10