Preparing for the Canal passage

We really needed to get a cruising permit now as they couldn't provide it at Porvenir. While dodging wrecks here and there we were on our way to Linton bay and cut our passage in half by stopping at Bahia Escribanos, just before Santa Isabel. 

Quite different countryside. We see mountains again and less and less palmtrees. 

This bay is quite nerve wrecking to get in and there's only 2 meters of water, but its very very beautiful. We were alone off course.

 
 Not sure if there were crocodiles or not, so no swimming but just a bit of paddle exploring 😉

On my knees off course, to be sure not to fall in. Geoff is confident enough ... there are no crocodiles, not that he never falls in 😂

The next day we're off to Linton Bay. When you get close it's really not such a beautiful bay at all and very hard to find a spot in between fishing grounds, moorings, shallow parts, ... Best is to enter through the northwest and anchor up there or go to the marina. It's not that expensive.
As we arrive on a Saturday and they do not deliver cruising permits on the weekend, we came for nothing... Or did we? We would have missed a very folkloric, completely incomprehensible ex-military American that opened up a restaurant at Linton Bay 😂 There was no light by the time we received our food, so we didn't know what we were eating, but the taste was ok 😋😎

So off to Portobello. The girls are constantly moving their "house" and always seem to find a way to enjoy themselves! 😍

Arrival at the Bay of Portobello:

It was once a beautiful town from where gold was transported around the world. A pity they didn't manage to renovate their heritage as it would attract many tourists ...

   

 

 Our first black black Jesus 😌

While we first thought to take the bus from Portobello and do our shopping from here, on second thought, we decide to leave for Shelter Bay Marina and use it as a base to get the Canal Passage sorted.

It's quite epic to get into Colon Harbour! Just outside the breakwater Geoffrey decides to take a nap and I don't hear the big horn 😲 It starts to horn louder and louder and then I notice this huge cargo ship suddenly storming at us! Honestly they go from 1 to 10 knots in about 10 seconds I think 😳 So my very nice husband is fuming as we need to dodge this ship that has decided to not slow down at all... 😬 

As I'm writing to you today, you can assume all went well, but needless to say, we all opened our eyes now to have a look at boats that suddenly start to move 😏

 As we arrive at Shelter Bay, we feel like we're going to blend in just fine 😏

For those who hesitate to go to Shelter Bay, because comments say its quite expensive, let me sum up the advantages:

1. Staff is very very nice and helpful!
2. The pool is beautiful and a good place to make sure the girls get rid of their energy and sleep like babies 😏 (it can get very hot!)
    
3. You have a free shuttle bus twice a day to do your shopping.
4. You can use the free shuttle bus in the morning to get your passage payment sorted as well as your cruising permit (don't get it at Shelter Bay, it's 50$ more expensive). As the roads towards the bridge are not ready yet, you take the boat over to Colon or sometimes you go through the locks, which is amazing!
    
5. You have a bakery with amazingly good croissants.
6. You are constantly surrounded by amazing jungle noises and you have organised (free) walks or you go on your own off course (!!! The ants are huge, built enormous highways and sting a bit 😬).
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
7. You have a BBQ area and organised BBQ's as to get all sailors together.
8. There are entertaining crocodiles in the marina (sunbathing just in front of our boat 😬).
   
   
9. The sail loft is a good place to get some repairs done or rent a machine to sow Bob's rope together 😁

After we say goodbye to Mamy and Papy, we got our measurement and official Panama Canal crossing document! Oeh oeh exciting!!! 

As we wait for our passage date, we decide to explore the Chagres river. A bit tricky to get into, but the river is about 10m deep everywhere, all up to the dam, straight through the jungle and only two hours sailing from Shelter Bay. 

We stayed 4 magical days, calming our minds and trying to blend into the jungle 😜 Two of them with Sonam and one with Temptation, a french couple from Saint-Barth we met at Shelter Bay.

First anchorage is at the entrance of the river next to the Fuerte de San Lorenzo. 

 

After a very nice evening, we get up early to explore the river and anchor in the jungle. The girls are not so impressed at first, but get outside when they hear the gorilla noises, those small black monkeys make.

 

 The forest colours are amazing and I don't seem to be getting them right on camera 😞

 

Plenty of fruits, animals and side rivers.

 

 So many bends and turns that hide an even more dense forest ...

Beautiful flowers fly off and float nicely on the water surface ... 

When we get to the dam at Gatun lake, the forest gets less impressive, so we decide to turn back and anchor further down.

 As soon as we drop anchor, a set of tiny birds decide LouiseAnna's their new home😀

Base camp for three days 😍

 

After lunch and some school work, we decide it's time to confront the heat and explore two side rivers just next to our boat. They are surprising large at first and very long!

We quickly turn off the engine to absorb the jungle noises. At least for about a minute after which the girls are fed up and start to play around 😏

We tried to go on a hike, but it's just impossible to penetrate. The ants start walking all over you as soon as you wait one second and they even jump on you from the trees 😱

 Geoff tries out his new tool 😏

Tried to figure out what this fruit is, but we didn't find it. Any suggestions?

 

We arrive at the end ...

The water is still quite salty and plenty of small crabs crawl along river.

Still time to explore the other river. More crocodile marks onshore, one splash but no crocodile sighting until now!

 Anna's still up for a nap from time to time 😍

 Just as we spot the monkeys ...

 But we just cannot wake her 😀

In the meantime we get a confirmation on our Panama passage: 9 april! Joehoe !!! The english couple, we met in the Canaries, Coco Banderos at San Blas and again at Shelter Bay will be joining us with their two girls 😄 So cool !!!
For now we say goodbye to Sonam as they pass the canal earlier and they'll be going to the Galapagos. Hopefully we'll meet them again at the Marquises !
While we are alone again, I'm back at my usual morning schedule: wake up before everybody else (6 o'clock) and enjoy some me-time (reading or blog work 😏). Today it's just time to enjoy the jungle waking up. You should hear these noises!

And together with the tiny birds, we also have a tiny bat that lives on the boat. We just scared it, but honestly it just wouldn't leave! And I know its cute, but I have enough with bird poo, bat poo is just too much! 😊

And Geoff takes the time to fly his drone and give you a 360° view.

Hey lets try and fish a crocodile! Ah I forgot to tell you, as we were watching Harry Potter yesterday, we saw a crocodile passing in the moonlight. Just behind our boat!!!

 

This time we did find the trail that was suggested by Eric Bauhaus ("The Panama Cruising Guide"). We put on bandana's so the ants couldn't jump on our hair and we were well prepared, but it was just unwalkable ... too bad. 

So we explored another sideriver, that surely must be the home of so many crocodiles! Maybe they're shy 😉

7th of April 2019. Time to head back to Shelter Bay for the last provisions, to pick up our "handliners" and lines and tires.

It's almost the end of our time at this side of the American continent!