A RELAXING INTERLUDE

Our interlude anchored at Isla Linton was wonderful.   In a short time we began to meet some of the cruisers at anchor and I can imagine we would have known more or less everyone had we stayed a few days longer.  A girl on a neighbouring boat even painted a watercolour of Spiip and brought it around.  The local restaurant serves good inexpensive food and dangerously cheap beers (6 for $4.50).  The crowd is very different to the eastern Caribbean – younger and largely from Spain and France.  Lots of sailors are offering trips from Columbia to Panama to keep themselves afloat.

Sunday we scrubbed the decks, literally!  A six-monthly job, we attacked the teak with scrubbing pads and a layer came off like papier mache.  It felt like we were exfoliating the decks.   

On Monday afternoon we had to move back to Portobelo, a more accessible location for the arriving rigger and insurance assessor.  Happily the water in the anchorage is much clearer now with the lack of rain and we are able to swim here.  We explored up the river and into the mangroves with the dinghy at sunset and saw lots of birds and some capuchin monkeys.  Still no sloths!  On our return to Spiip we found a whole flock of tiny birds had taken up residence and were very reluctant to be shooed away.

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.