Panama 20 February 2024.

We all slept well until a deluge of rain hit us about 2.00am and as we had all the hatches open we were all woken by having what felt like a shower in bed !! There was a rush to shut all hatches. The morning was nice enough but there were jobs to sort out as there often is in port. We took a large amount of washing to the laundrette as a start which we got back later in the day thank goodness. Most of the crew decided to go to Colon to look around and Jonas and I stayed. I started looking at the navigation to and around the San Blas Islands which is quite complicated as the electronic charts are not terribly accurate and therefore you need to use your eyes and forward-looking sonar (this is like a camera under boat and gives you essentially pictures of what is ahead on the bottom. It can show you rocks, coral bomies (columns) which stick up.  The Islands sound idyllic and I will tell you more about them when we go there.

 Jonas looked at the washing machine which is in my shower and which had developed a leak the day before. He managed to fix the leak due to the fact that a drainpipe was not tied up properly. Jonas then cooked an omelette lunch and then I started to service the generator which needed an oil change etc. During this John, an English guy came to see me about some turning blocks (things you put sail lines through) which would be useful for the Red Baron and for the new Parasail. I also talked to him about the pole which we use to pole out a sail when sailing downwind.  It seemed to be far too big for our genoa. He suggested we get the sail out and see if the pole is too big. If so we cut it to the right length. I had not thought about this but it seemed a sensible suggestion.

I had an email from the agent to say that they could not book the canal now for the 18th March as it is too soon. He thought we should be ok but could not guarantee this. I felt in the circumstances that I should take this risk and hope that things will work out. I will just have to see but it seemed too soon to be going tomorrow even though I had got a date so quickly.      

The rest of the crew returned and they had done some provisioning for the trip to the San Blas. David and I had a drink with the couple, Anders and Nilla, who own Yaghan the Hallberg Rassy 62 which is here in Colon. It was interesting to hear about their experiences and knowledge of the boat. They are moving in a similar direction to us and we may well bump into them again on our travels.

We returned to the boat and had a pleasant curry supper with a lovely breeze in the cockpit. We will go to Panama City properly tomorrow and then think of heading off to the San Blas Island.   

The blog will continue as we head off to Panama and beyond.

If you have any comments or suggestions about the blog do email me on hine.nick9@gmail.com  I can only upload one picture a day and visit our website www.stormbirdgoesglobal.co.uk