Part deux

We spend the evening on Lake Gatun chatting, eating a delicious grilled chicken, rice, turnip greens and baked beans meal, and enjoying the cool, night air from the roof. Lightning flared in the distance and a huge halo encircled the moon. Luckily for us, Panama is not in a hurricane zone :c) We went to bed tired but happy from the good company and the amazing experience we had all had.

In the morning Eric and I were up with the sun, as always, and while everyone else was snoozing we read, watched the morning mix of clouds and light and water, and I took some fun photos of the boat. Once everyone was moving about coffee and later pancakes got underway. Pancakes - what a luxury! Once the canal adviser was onboard we headed out to finish the last set of locks - going down this time. We pulled in first, and then slowly, slowly a massive car carrier lumbered up behind us. Right behind us! We kept making joking gestures to the people on the decks, "Stop!" Once they were in snug behind us the bells rang, the valves were opened, and the water began rushing out. We slowly eased our ropes out, lowering our position in the canal. Once we were done being lowering the gates were opened, and we cruised slowly toward the next set of locks. Three sets later we were through, we pulled in our lines, and cheered. Holy shit, we just went through the Panama Canal. What a monumental event - so simple and commonplace, yet so rare that I may never see it again.

We cruised about 5 miles toward the Atlantic before turning West into Shelter Bay Marina. We pulled into the most beautiful, amazing dock ever, and the crew immediately began working to get Persistence ready for the journey up to Florida, it's next scheduled stopping place. We all noshed on cheeseburgers and fries for lunch, and Eric and I tried to stay out of everyone's way while they did important things like pump diesel and work on the clutch. In the evening I took a hot shower, in spite of the heat, just for the luxury of it. The fan in the room created enough of a breeze that the hot water felt wonderful and, combined with a good scrub, I finally felt clean after 3 days of sunscreen, sweat and saltwater. We all met up for dinner and beers at the yacht club, and I even raided the book exchange (I'll finally get to read Guns, Germs and Steel!) After 2 months with the boat the delivery crew was excited to toss back a few Panamas and chill in front of the flat screen TV - Drillbit Taylor was on the menu. By the time 11:30 rolled around, though, we were all beat, so we headed back to the boat to get some well-earned sleep.

The morning brought a beautiful day and a delicious breakfast. Up at dawn, again, Eric and I packed up the bikes and then waited for everyone to wake up on their own schedule. Once we were all ready, we headed back to the boathouse for pancakes, toast, bacon, and LATTES. LATTES!!! I was in complete heaven! We loved spending a leisurely morning with everyone, but if we were going to make it anywhere we had to get going. So, we took a round of photos, exchanged contact info, and wished each other well. It was so wonderful to have experienced everything with such great people. Chris, Tiffany, and Patrick were awesome - funny, warm, inviting, and always ready to share a good moment over a beer. Bob, the owner of the catamaran, was also great - incredibly generous, open and friendly. We were grateful to have been welcomed us in as crew and friends. It is truly an experience that was a highlight of this trip, and I genuinely wish that our paths may cross again in the future. Cheers!

We had a beautiful ride from the marina to the canal. There was very little traffic, and we got to see a sloth! I saw it from a distance, and seeing this creature dragging itself across the road I thought for sure it was some soon-to-be roadkill miserably trying to make it to safe ground. Luckily, for both me and the sloth, it was just trekking from one side to the other. We hung out with it until it was safely concealed in the vegetation and then continued on. After a brief stop at the supermarket to eat lunch and wait out a short downpour we continued on. We made it as far as Maria Chiquita, and given the drunken drivers, crazy Diablo Rojos* and narrow winding road we decided to stop. The town was very closed to us, but we eventually worked out a place to stay next to the police station. We pitched the tent in a light but steady rain, and crossed the road to dine on 1/4 chicken each along with fried plantains - $1.75 a person. Dark, drizzly, and with nothing to do we crawled into the tent, chatted for a while, and soon fell asleep.

Today we were up before dawn. We packed up our campsite, ate oatmeal (no surprise there), and had a much more pleasant ride on to Portobelo. Portobelo is a really cool, tiny little town tucked right along the water behind an island. We found Portobelo Hostel, walked in to check it out, and found Captain Jack. His place is full of great tilework and good atmosphere. Right away he was helping us out on our quest to find a boat to Colombia giving us everything from advice to a checklist to make sure the boat we choose is up for seafaring safely. We still don't know exactly how we'll be getting there, we just know we will. We'll keep y'all informed!

*Diablo Rojos are in their mid-life crisis. What started as an innocent existence ferrying school children to and fro, these yellow Blue Birds were hauled south as soon as they were outdated, sold into Panamanian hands, and are now living large. Adorned with sweeping pastoral scenes, feather boas, rims, dual chrome exhaust systems and names like "Terrorist" and "Tupac," these bullies on 6 wheels don't take crap from anyone. But they like to dish it. Revving their engines at stop signs and around blind curves, their drivers peer through the tiny 1 foot unpainted, untinted slit in the windshield, blaring the horn at anything that gets in the way without taking their foot off the accelerator. I'm not exaggerating.