The Wilder Side of Panama

Having saturated ourselves in palm tree covered islands, turquoise waters and sandy beaches, it was time to explore a different side of Panama. Our next port of call was to be Shelter Bay Marina, via a stop over in Linton Bay to sleep and refuel, which is at the entrance to the Panama Canal. After a frisky sail down (I now hold the speed record of 11.7 knots !!) towards the Cristobel breakwater we radioed in to check which tankers, cargo ships and cruise liners we needed to dodge between to enter the canal area and Shelter Bay. We were advised to proceed and just keep out of the way of the 'big boats', but had an exciting moment when one of the 'big boats' decided he didn't want yachts in the way and radioed to say “clear the area now” - a command that we 'small boats' were very willing to obey !

Safely tied up in the marina we immediately switched into shoreside life and headed for the bar. It was a little bit of a culture shock after Guna Yala to see a 'normal' bar, restaurant, swimming pool etc... and so many people in one place. Shelter Bay Marina is a little out on a limb, but I rather enjoyed the fact we had to cross the Panama Canal via ferry when we wanted to go to the shopping centre. The pay-off for being out of town was the incredible wildlife that surrounded the marina. It was amazing to simply stroll for a few minutes in the early morning and be surrounded by birds and monkeys and other unusual animals. We woke each morning to the sound of the howler monkeys and checked for the resident crocodile in the afternoons. Absolutely wonderful. ​

A colourful woodpeck

Capuchin monkey

The resident marina crocodile

A coati

A visit to Panama City was a must for us and our visit luckily coincided with carnival time. The marina had kindly arranged the trip to take in a visit to Fort Lorenzo and the new Panama Canal locks en-route, so we had a fascinating day exploring old and new in Panama. Once in Panama City, we returned to the world of high rise buildings and traffic, with a great hotel on the waterfront. After a sundowner in the hotel bar with our fellow cruisers, we headed out to see what the carnival had to offer. We had been advised to carry very little with us in case of pickpockets, but found that it was so safely guarded we couldn't get in ! Steve spent a while negotiating with the police and army about our lack of id cards and passports, explaining that they were all locked up in the safe at the hotel, and eventually our group was allowed to enter. We then had to go through a very thorough pat down/search and at last we were in. It was a fun event with music, costumes and floats, but seemed a little low key compared to some of the Caribbean carnivals we have been to. At least the beer was very cheap.

We spent a couple of days exploring the old city and catching up with our friends who had done their canal transit and were about to sail off to the South Pacific, with a little carnival activity thrown in. It seemed strange to see some of the Guna Yala ladies walking around the city in their full tribal costume and they were certainly a contrast to some of the more risqué carnival costumes we saw.

One of the moats around Fort Lorenzo

A cruise liner entering the new locks at Colon

Modern Panama City

Old Panama City

Back in Shelter Bay and we were finally able to get our new wind turbine fitted after many hours of frustrating hammering to get the old turbine off the pole, with much assistance from our wonderfully helpful rally chums. Apparently the previous owner had decided adding “Locktight” was a good move. I also found the marina to be a fascinating place to see yachts getting ready for their Panama Canal transits. Activities included getting the yacht measured, hiring huge lines and fenders, and stocking up with provisions. A vital element was to obtain additional people on board for a couple of days as mooring line handlers and a number of our rally friends were able to volunteer for this. Some had a night time transit and some a daytime transit, but they all seemed to enjoy the experience. Something we will have to try another time.

The key highlight for our time in Colon has to be a visit to see Steve's son on board the super yacht he works on as 2nd officer. It seems incredible that we were all at the Panama Canal at the same time, but we always say that sailing is a small world. The captain had kindly agreed to us being allowed on board and our dinghy certainly looked very tiny as we tied up to the huge super yacht platform. The yacht was beautiful and our visit was all too brief, but how fantastic to be able to snatch a couple of hours together. Who knows when and where in the world we will meet again.

We really enjoyed our time at Shelter Bay, but felt that we had only scraped the surface of Panama the country. Still, the sea beckoned and having stocked up, we said goodbye to the helpful staff and headed north for San Andres.

The wonderful howler monkey