Valentine's Day 2017
This morning I met our agent, Erick, and set about trying to get all our paperwork and permits set up to transit the canal. There turns out to be a problem getting the boat officially measured in the marina now and we may have to shift out to the anchorage at The Flats. Then our first chance of a transit could be Sunday or Monday. He organised his driver to pick us up at 13:00 to take us into Colon to deal with Immigration. Then I took our gas bottles to be filled, tracked down the boatyard manager, Edwin Chavez, and arranged for the boat to be lifted, pressure washed, and then sandpapered and anti-fouled with the paint we bought in Curaçao. I also arranged to have the boat fumigated, and got an electrician to look at our charging systems which are defying logic. Meanwhile the boat was a hive of activity, with Emily cleaning fridges out, Mark and Justin sorting out our leaky aft locker and the current leak, and Steve trying to get the washing machine to work again.
Then, once in the cab I phoned sailmakers who agreed to do a couple of repairs on the genoa and spinnaker. Having driven through dense jungle, our driver took us a King Harry style of ferry to cross the water to Colon. Soaring over the river are gigantic concrete pillars on which a great arc of bridge is being built to cross this waterway. Colon itself was run down, and often rather derelict. Our driver took us to the Port offices and Immigration where we were roundly ignored, and only grudgingly signed through.
Our visit finished with a trip to the El Rey super mercado where we stocked up on stores that were running out.
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