SWIMMING LIZARD

My swimming companion this afternoon!
It was a female Basilisk lizard, nicknamed the “Jesus Christ” lizard for its ability to run on water.  They can sprint at about 1.5m or 5 feet per second but this one was swimming steadily from the island to the mainland! She was only a juvenile as they grow up to 2 feet including the long black-striped tail.

THE SKIES CLEAR

We finally woke up to sunshine today after days of dark grey overcast skies and a lot of torrential rain.  We left the marina on Thursday evening and anchored after dark at Portobelo.  This anchorage used to be the hub of the Spanish gold trade but now is a sleepy town boasting one or two colonial buildings.  Apparently Sir Francis Drake was buried at sea in a lead coffin just off the coast.  Portobelo is also home to "Jesus Nazarena", a statue of a black Christ associated with a number of miracles.

Murky water sent us further up the coast to Isla Linton.  Surrounded by jungle, only the sound of howler monkeys and birds interrupt the tranquillity of this pretty spot.  In the evening we visited the monkeys on the uninhabited island, captivated by their antics and human-like expressions.  Today we explored the waterfront of Puerto Lindo and had a much welcome snorkel out on the reefs, not much to see but a refreshing swim and our first in ages.  We are surprised to see a large number of boats anchored here and what appears to be a fairly settled cruising community.  It seems the western Caribbean is becoming more and more popular.

STEAMY PANAMA

Yesterday the measurer came to do the paperwork for our Canal transfer and we are confirmed to go through on 22^nd May.  We headed off for a walk in the afternoon in the expectation of seeing sloths (apparently fairly common) but they remained elusive.  We did see lots of howler monkeys, colourful birds, leaf cutter ants, an agouti (sort of over-sized guinea pig) and a huge spider!

We had a massive electrical storm overnight and have had torrential rain all morning, not so unusual I suppose for the tropical rain belt!  Nic and I went to Colon and a shopping centre to organise local phone chips for ourselves and Spiip.  We crossed the canal and the Gatun Locks which gave us a chance to see the layout; they are huge!  The shopping centre was very cheap but very downmarket.

We’re now hoping to set off for nearby Portobelo to anchor for a few days.

THE GOOD NEWS AND THE BAD NEWS

After an arrival drink and setting our watches to Panama time (GMT -5 hours) we all fell into bed only to be up a few short hours later at 06:30.  We radioed for permission to manoeuvre in the anchorage so that we could raise the mainsail and genoa and check them for damage.  With the boom tied off to one side we were concerned this might be difficult but it all went smoothly and we were very happy to find no damage to either sail.  We headed into Shelter Bay Marina and moored alongside.  Our first shock was to find that due to being 86’ instead of 85’ we were in the next price bracket and would have the pleasure of paying an eye-watering 70% more for our berth for those extra 12 inches.  Heavy negotiations with the marina fell on deaf ears.

With the benefit of internet and telephone communication again, Miranda and Robin immediately set about obtaining all the parts we need to get Spiip back in full action.  The first bad news was to be told that Harken had no winches in stock anywhere in the world and that it would be a minimum of 16 weeks to get them made up and delivered.  We were all astonished that these winches cannot be easily replaced and can only imagine that racing yachts must have to keep their own stock at hand.  We were gutted and feeling that the whole Pacific trip was in jeopardy.  Not to be defeated the lines were hot and our luck turned when we discovered a friend of the owner knows “Mr Harken” and he is trying help.

Halls Spars are flying someone in to check the rigging on Tuesday.  There is no apparent damage but safer to be sure when we are about to cover so many thousands of miles.   All other necessary parts are being sourced and so we are hoping our trip is still a go.