Waiting in Panama City 08:54.50N 79:31.60W

Five Islands
John & Sue
Fri 4 May 2012 13:53
Well we haven't updated the blog for a while so will try and update on what we have been doing since the last post. We spent 3 nights in the Chages River over the Easter weekend, and completed 3 more Panama Canal crossings, on Virgo's Child, Liseron and a kiwi boat called Awaroa, making a total of 5 crossings so far. It is now 1 year since we bought Five Islands at Shelter Bay marina, and Sue has just had her second birthday in Panama. Last year we were doing our first canal crossing and this year we celebrated in a nice restaurant in Panama City with Nigel Heath and Miss Kitty.
We are currently aboard a Leopard 45 catamaran called Liseron owned by a fellow Queenslander from Yeppoon, anchored at La Playita anchorage near the Pacific entrance to the canal just off the Amador causeway. The opportunity to join Liseron for the trip to Australia came unexpectedly when the owner had to return to Australia and needed to have it delivered home for him. He engaged a South African friend of ours, Nigel Heath, to do the delivery, and we are coming along as crew to get some more experience and to get a Pacific crossing under our belt. We have been joined by Miss Kitty, a Texan currently living on her boat in either Trinidad or Grenada in the Caribbean. We have been on Liseron since 23rd of April, and have been getting her ready for the crossing. She is a nice boat, 45 feet long, four double cabins each with its own bathroom, air-conditioned, large generator, massive water maker (around 200 litres an hour), but she needed a good clean up and a bit of maintenance. We also have a resident rat on board, which Sue and a friend from Belgium (Isabel) found when they discovered its nest when cleaning out one of the cabins which had been used as a storeroom. It has managed to outsmart us so far despite out best efforts to catch it but its days as a sailing rat are numbered. We got close a couple of nights ago when it managed to get stuck to a sticky bait trap and run around the boat in the middle of the night with this trap stuck to its bum but managed to get free before we could get it. We even borrowed a cat called Mitzi from a kiwi boat for a few hours but we think she was too well fed to spend any time chasing rats around.
Our plan with the trip home is to do it as quickly as possible with very few stops. It is about 8000 nautical miles or so, and we hope to do it in around 9 weeks, instead of the 7 months most people take when you stop at all of the islands and enjoy the sights. We have our satellite phone with us and plan on updating the blog and position tracker as we go so you can follow our progress.

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'Virgo's Child' rafted to 'Cat Weazel' in the lock Terry & Laine 'Virgo's Child' The misty Chagres River Howler monkeys, just hanging around

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Sloth also hanging out Flowers in the Chagres New leaves on a plant in the Chagres Throwing the 'Monkey fist' to the boat Looking back toward the 'Atlantic'

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Bruce, Joe & John watching proceedings Locks rising up to lake from the Atlantic John, Nigel & Isabelle Keith & Joe - line handlers on 'Liseron'

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Lock gates open to the Pacific Our 'Adviser' jumping onto his ride home Sunset at La Playita John, Captain of 'Awaroa'

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Helen, co-captain of 'Awaroa' & John on watch on the bow Bouy in the lake - site of the night long 'Buoy Party' The four other boats we did the Canal crossing with entering Panama City.