Reissue of 23 Mar Blog. 06:29.8N 80:54.0W
Meryon.bridges
Fri 2 Apr 2010 15:18
En Route to The Galapagos.
Back to Shelter Bay and Dracula tells us it's now not Monday or Tuesday but maybe Wednesday. Decided to go back to the Chagres river-its delightful, quiet and no cost!
We have a nice sail round and after anchoring at the top take the dinghy ashore and walk about a mile up to the top lock. Freighters and 3 yachts appear and we watch the yachts to see where they anchor.All good info but we feel we should be there.Back to Shelter Bay marina on Weds. Dracula appears and now it could be Friday ..or?
We begin to get the picture on Friday.We have to have an Advisor on each yacht but the advisors are on unofficial strike.By now there are some 20 yachts in the marina like us.The Authority may now decide to fill a lock with yachts to get rid of us...maybe on Saturday! More shopping and a new gas supply and things look promising.We meet 2 Americans who offer to be our extra line handlers and we are ready. Saturday and we are off at last. We motor to the assembly point and are joined at 6.30pm by Ricky who will be our guide through the first 3 locks and into the lake.It is night by now but we enter the first lock in a raft of 3 boats tied together with us on the outside of a large catamaran Another raft ahead of us includes a hospitable crowd from the Cowes RYS! The filling of the locks is quite turbulent but surprisingly quick for a lock 1000ft long. About 15 mins in each of the 3 locks and by 9,30pm we are 120ft higher in the lake. Ricky directs us to an anchorage for the night and then is collected. We may see him tomorrow or another but must be ready to leave by 0630.In fact the new shift appears at 0545 and we must leave now! The new man is Amadi and very knowlegable about the Canal, Panama and much more.We have 30 miles to motor through the lake passing many freighters going the other way.There also seems to be a lot of dredging and widening.We reach the narrow part of the canal and the final 10 miles to the next lock arriving at about 1030 after passing a square rigger and the Bridge of the 20thC-The latter apparently had no connecting roads for several years after it was first completed! Going down is the same as going up but much simpler for us.We are also made aware of the tourist viewing platform adjacent and a webcam.We motor out the last 5 miles to the Bridge of the Americas (Pan-Am Highway) were we say thankyou to Amadi before going on to the Balbao Yacht Club and moor up to a buoy.Our 2 American friends leave us to go back to Shelter Bay and we go ashore to have a look around.
Our mistake is not to take a taxi but start walking. When a cataclysmic rainstorm starts there is no shelter and we get drowned! After a taxi ride to the largest shopping centre I have ever seen we take a guided tour to the old City which is fascinating with a very voluble guide. Probably worth what he charges and we manage to decline his add-ons. After a good meal at the Club we go back on board. Up at 0700 and decide to move on to the next marina to top up with diesel. No luck, the office will not open until 1030 and so, itching to get going, we set sail for Galapagos.
The first hour we pass through waiting freighters and then off. There is no wind so much of the day is motoring but we sail when we can and catch 2 splendid fish. Wind appears in the evening and we make good progress through the night and more today with the Asymmetric. It's warm! At last we are back on track and will be in good time to meet Andrew and Nick at the Galapagos.