Panama City, Panama - WOW!!

Coming in with a Squall....and HUGE Ships !!

GULP! Those are HUGE SHIP!!! Our Radar and Chart plotter ..Radar left, Charts on the  right

     After 6,350 miles since leaving Portland, Oregon, we entered Panama's Las Brisas Anchorage (free) with a heavy squall of rain and 20-30 knot winds...not a great way to enter any anchorage.
    The huge ships anchor out while waiting to go through the canal and we counted 70 targets (ships) on our radar screen to maneuver around! ...we LOVE our Radar!! (You can see in the picture our boat icon, the green triangles are huge ships anchored, and the pink line is the course we set to the anchorage. The green triangles (the top of the radar screen) are ships inside the Panama Canal Locks.
    We are now anchored in the Las Bresis area with a million dollar view of Panama City. At times, Nancy and I will sometimes just look out and admire the view...it's amazing. Many restaurants, hotels, and marinas line the long causeway with a wonderful walking/bike path that goes for miles. The view is so good in fact the road becomes packed with cars driving out just to look at the beautiful city lights  and the massive skyscrapers that line the horizon.
    Each morning we enjoy the Cruisers Net on the VHF radio...anything you need to know, want to know, and don't even care to know are all on the morning "rap session". Oh yes, there are the topics as Lost and Found, "Treasures of the Bilge" (items you want to get rid of), Where to go,Things to do, etc... are all found here at 8am channel 74 VHF. Everyone tunes in to see what's going on in the anchorage. Right now, the center section of the public dock is "Missing"...don't ask, all we know is it was there one night.... and gone the next morning! Some suggest sabotage... but, a pool is being formed as to when it will be repaired...I'm betting they will finish the new Canal Locks (2014) before they replace the dock!

"Hobo" - Larry and Lena bartering for Pineapples ($1.00)

      A local service comes to the dock each morning for laundry service, and they also fill propane, water, and fuel  tanks. It's a nice business for Gente de Mar (People of the Sea) and the cruisers use them here a lot. The laundry service is inexpensive, gas here is about $3.65/gallon, and foods are very reasonable....For example: 8 grapefruits or 20 Oranges for $1, and pineapples are delicious and cheap at the central market...which is over 10 acres in size! It's an amazing place, any fruits or veggies are all here...and I mean a LOTS of fruits and veggies!!

    Nancy and I have been busy repairing some motor issues we had.... a starter solenoid and blown fuse that took a few taxi trips to the parts stores to repair, and our generator would not start...which turned out to be a faulty fuse holder and wiring harness...of course there was little frustration on my part! AGH! I was on the phone with the generator company several hours following my wiring diagram (that we found out that did not match their newer version) and trouble shooting from one end to the other. Only when I pulled on a wire did the fuse holder fall apart in my hand...with a new one installed, and the generator running like a champ, there were jigs being danced around the boat, arms waving in the air, and coldies toasted to the kind Generator Gods!
  We had a "funny incident" where Nancy walked past one of our fire extinguishers and somehow  mysteriously bumped into the little gauge on the top of the extinguisher (that shows if its good or bad)...well, all of a sudden...SSSshhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!...the fire extinguisher began to unload its total contents ALL over and inside Windfall! "Throw it out, throw it out!" I shouted! With the swiftness of a Major League Baseball player, Nancy  hurled the extinguisher out of the boat and into the water!  We stood there with mouths open in disbelief....totally covering everything inside Windfall was a layer of Fire extinguisher yellow powder stuff! After a few choice words not printable, we started to laugh...what else can you do? Oh, and did I mention we were having friends over for dinner that night? Dinner was cancelled to say the least, and Nancy was a trooper for taking it all so well.
    Sure, there is a LOT of cleaning to be done, and a lot of the powder shot right into an open food locker...I teased Nancy how a coroner would later test my body and find I died from the "deadly fire extinguisher stuff"! Hey, I've read how wives have slowly poisoned their husbands to collect the Life Insurance...then she reminded me that body parts sold on the "Black Market" sell better without poison in them...and that I don't have any Life Insurance!!! Gulp!...Let me say, once again, how much I love my wife! (although if I die soon, have them check for "fire extinguisher poisoning"...and check EBay for "slightly used" liver and kidneys)!

    We've been so busy we haven't had time to check out the city, or go to the Panama Canal and it's museum...although we do watch the huge ships pass on their way to the locks...all from the comfort of Windfall's cockpit.
    We have gone grocery shopping, and like kids in a candy store, we loaded up on things we haven't seen since leaving the States! It's like shopping at your local well stocked grocery store...they have everything here! Oh, and I must mention...we purchased a 6 pound whole Filet Minion for $4.95 /lb!  We cut the roast into steaks and froze the remainder,  and thanks to Nancy's culinary skills, it was the absolute best steak we've ever had. It's a tough life out here....pass the Grey Poupon, please!
 
 SEPTEMBER 22nd -  Sorry about the laps...I'm on Day 8 of a High Fever Saga. Nancy has me going to the Doctor (very good) by the way). We didn't know what Tropical Fever Virus I could be spreading throughout Central America....Yellow Jack? Malaria? Dengue Fever?...Nope! Influenza! At least now I know I don't have those viruses to contend with! If I was Nurse Nancy, I would have shoved my body off this boat late at night and slowly sailed away leaving not trace! She has been great taking care of the boat, putting up with me, and keeping her sanity........Ok, I'm not so sure about that last part.
 Good time ahead..... and more coming as there are a LOT to see and do in Panama City! I just have a few more days of this before we can get on with the fun!