8 55.15 N  79 31.76 W

All is well here in Panama; there was a Tsunami warning at the time of the Chilean earthquake (early last Saturday morning) and so most of the 100+ boats anchored in 3 spots around Panama City all weighed their anchors and headed out 3 or 4 miles to open water to await the arrival of the surge but nothing was experienced so we returned to again drop  our anchor and carry on with life.

Quite a lot of cleaning and polishing work being done on Sea Mist, major provisioning for our Pacific passages, some catch-up dental work for Ian, etc, etc.  All in all, we now are thinking of early in the week of March 7^th as the most likely timing for us to begin the passage to Galapagos….and that may be slowed down on the front end if we decide to stop for a few days at the Las Perlas Islands in the Bay of Panama. There really isn’t any rush; the last boats participating in 2 rallies are now clearing out of here on their way to Galapagos and we want to stay well behind them so that we don’t end up in crowded anchorages in Galapagos and Marquesas.  And, on March 6^th, there is a Pacific Puddlejump group party here in Panama City for about 25 boats that are in this area awaiting departure for Galapagos. The Puddlejump group is organized by Latitude 48, a San Francisco sailing magazine, and assists all of us who join here on this coast and then in Tahiti when we arrive in French Polynesia.

Will update again as we approach our departure date.