Panama transit confirmed
Serai
Jason and Emily Willis
Tue 20 Mar 2007 18:20
1. Ems is on board (enough said I feel)
2. We have paid a considerable amount of money to have a professional line handler on board
3. Another of our 'volunteer' line handlers (this is in the same context as navy 'volunteers' in Nelson's day) has been through before, albeit on a cruise ship whilst sat in the all-day restaurant, but I think he got the basic idea of what is required!
So we head through on Thursday evening. We shall navigate the first lock during the course of the evening, before anchoring for the night and tackling the following two the next day. At the end of this, we shall be IN THE PACIFIC! This last bit is the bit that keeps me from being totally beside myself about the transit, as this bit is EVEN MORE SCARY! At this point we will be officially on our way to New Zealand! No turning back.
Everyone at the Panama Yacht Club talks of where they are 'hopping' to after the canal. I have decided this is to make all the distances seem that much smaller - a 'hop' to Galapagos can be said very nonchalantly and seems to hide the fact that its just under a thousand miles. With the current weather, this will take a very, very, very long time - there is no wind at all it seems between Panama and Galapagos, and by none I mean zilch, zero, nada! And then its a hop to the Marquesas - again this suggests a fun event, done in a second, where the distance covered is miniscule...IF ONLY!
Anyway we keep trying to focus on the smaller picture rather than the bigger, so sometime next week we will be on our way to the Galapagos and beyond that we don't contemplate. Someone mentioned that there are blue boobies there, so we may have to put the engines on for that! After 10 days at sea I'll be ready for any coloured boobies, even cold ones!
So till the next time...keep hopping!
Love
J and Ems xx