A walk along the Panama Canal

Today is Monday, I can walk! Tomorrow I will be confined to the docks, but today I am free to walk along the causeway at the entrance to the Panama Canal. Panama is still in lockdown and in the province containing Panama City women are allowed out to shop and exercise on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, so let me show you some of the things I see along my path.

Lightning update- Two weeks in

 "Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!" 

The Red Queen talking to Alice in Alice in Wonderland

Can you find Rhapsody? The little sailboat, dwarfed by the massive Powerboats. She is the mast to the furthest left.

The Tale of a Sail - Part II

It is amazing how quickly things can happen if you have some leverage. 

"Can I have my correct sail?"

"Well..."

"I'll give you your sail back if I can have a mine"

"Be right there"

(If you missed part one of the tale of the sail click here)

FlashBang!!!

Bob: "Was that us?"

Sarah: "No it couldn't have been"

Bob: "I felt a tingling in my arm"

"Let's check"

"I smell smoke"

"Sarah- there's a fire!"

The Tale of a Sail - Part I

"We are heading across the South Pacific. There will be a lot of downwind sailing. We should get a new sail for that. We can have it made and shipped to Panama where we can pick it up. It will be so convenient."

Or so we thought.

We're Freeeee! (Sort of)

After 2 1/2 months in the marina we are headed out to bluer seas. Destination- Las Perlas Islands, about 65 miles from Vista Mar Marina, where we have been in limbo, and about 45 miles from Panama City. Raising the dinghy, casting off the lines and waving goodbye to our dockmates felt so liberating.

What day is it? Where am I?

Cooped up at home it is easy to forget what day it is. Something that is the norm for cruisers has made its way to land life. But added to that, as a cruisers we often have to ask- "What country am I in?" On more than one occasion I have opened my eyes in the morning only to realize I don't know exactly where I am. Now we are here in Panama, a country with many interesting areas, the Panama Canal, the San Blas Islands, and a variety of interesting landscapes to explore. Sitting in the marina now for two months we are not allowed to explore any of it. How do we know we are in Panama? Here we are in a marina surrounded by English speakers, we walk the nearby golf course seeing generic scenery. It could be the ninth hole in any tropical country.