Christobel Panama canal entrance
Zepher
Chris & Lyn Darch
Fri 14 Mar 2008 02:24
09:20.65N
79:54.71W
Hi Folks in bloggers land,
Departed Portobello at first light , to the sound
of howler monkeys doing there thing in the trees that surround the bay , along
with the local chicken that didn't know when dawn occurred, he started at about
Three am and was pretty inconsistent in his crowing till about six o/c when he
decided to give it his best shot , that probably woke up the howlers who carried
on whooping till we left the bay.
No wind as per the forecast so we motored for
the remaining fifteen miles to the port entrance of Christobel, our
Automatic ship Identifier which is a trick bit of equipment that picks up
merchant ships giving there position and speed was lit up like a Christmas tree
we logged over forty ships waiting in the outer anchorage's to the canal
entrance it looked like a D Day landing fleet , we called in to the Signal tower
and had to report in at eight , two and one miles prior to entering the
harbour , it was like the flight path to Heathrow ,ship after ship entering the
channel on the way up to the locks , we skirted in front of a large container
ship and into the outer channel before making our way over to the small craft
anchorage , once at anchor we all had to pinch ourselves , we were actual in the
canal zone which marks our half way point to New Zealand.
Once anchored we went to the yacht club ,
something out of Casablanca , just like "Dicks" bar its defiantly seen better
days , the staff were very helpful though and Ike who arrived yesterday on
Rhythm had soughed with the Mr fixit to do all the canal entrance formalities
tomorrow , so that should be fun , a day at the office window and another
mountain of woodpulp to climb .
A note for Sharon Horsey , they are filming
the new bond movie over at the new yacht club and yachts are being paid 100
dollars to park in front of the film set , Lyns thinking of inviting Daniel
Craig over for drinks tomorrow night , and promises to take a pick of his buns
for you Sharon to add to your collection !
The Nohs of Panama
The bad news is that we might have a two week wait
to transit the canal !
Watch this space
!!!!!!!!!
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