Caribbean Cruising, Panama and the Realm of King Neptune

Bonaire was much bigger and more touristy. We were also docked rather than at anchor, so crew could come and go at any time of day or night, convenient but less restful. The dock came in handy though, for sewing a mainsail for a boat called the Mermaid, the Captain being a friend of Captain Moreland and the boat needing a mainsail. This was good fun if quite frustrating as our crazy ancient sewing machines struggled to sew the heavy, stiff Dacron. I´m told sewing our own cotton canvas sails is much easier, so looking forward to when the sail making starts for the ship. The whole operation was under the command of the third made, Rebecca, who learned sail making on the Picton on her first world voyage. Flamingos were a Bonaire highlight for me – we hired a Jeep (held together with duck tape and its own soft top) to get around the Island, and drove into the hills where a huge lake is home to the awesomely pink birds. They look like they’re dressed up for a night out. We had a short windsurfing lesson, which was wicked fun, especially when Georgie and I managed to sail one of them tandem, me surfing on the back of her board. The nightspot was a groovy bar called little Havana, complete with some people other than the crew (shocking to see new faces) and excellent Mojitos.

Our next anchorage was off Colon in Panama, we had not cleared in through immigration so we stayed aboard except for a visit to a shiny yacht club which apparently didn’t count as ashore to the authorities. My favourite thing here was watching all of the ships at dusk and identifying all of the different navigation lights for specific vessels: white over red for pilots, red white red for dredgers, all these things I’ve never noticed except in books before. The canal crossing was more memorable for the sense of history then the actual crossing, although it was fun, and the locks bigger than I´ve ever seen, most of the work was done by professional line handlers and big train things that shunt ships through the locks. Lake Gatun was pretty spectacular with jungle right down to the water. No crocodiles sadly. Glad some of you managed to see us on the webcam, thanks for watching! Panama City was fun and rushed. We were on a dock on the Isle de Flamincos, an island connected to the mainland by a long causeway. Days were mostly spent manically shopping for presents for the families we will stay with on Pitcairn, as well as some supplies for the voyage anda small amount of treasure. There was also a fair amount of wandering around the old town, which looked like a South American version of Spain, and some dancing at Mojitos sin Mojitos, an excellent bar with no roof, its walls just the terraced buildings either side.

I am writing to you Pollywogs all as a Royal Shellback of the Court of King Neptune. Our equator crossing ceremony yesterday was epic, complete with Davey Jones, Aphrodite, Seamonsters galore and of course King Neptune himself. His trident was even used for a spot of pole dancing at one point. My sin against the Deep was being too white (fair, but rectified with tar pretty effectively), and my new Shellback name is Fire Coral, which I think is rather wonderful.

The sail from Panama was good, if short, with the Southern Cross appearing to show us the way, so now a few days to explore Galapagos and then nearly a month at sea before Pitcairn.

written by  Shellback Fire Coral on June 27, 2010 from Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, Ecuador
from the travel blog: Sailing to Rarotonga
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