Panama City
Zepher
Chris & Lyn Darch
Wed 9 Apr 2008 15:29
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Panama City
Date 09/04/08
Hi Folks,
Well we finally made the trek to Panama city using
public transport , we boarded the bus in Portobello and took the ride which is
about an hr out to the main highway , the Trans - America route which snakes
down from Mexico to Columbia , we then flagged down the intercity express coach
( I use the term loosely) to wind our way into Panama city, it is a well
presented modern city and a far cry from Colon , we arrived at the main bus
terminal at 11:30 am , we could have been sitting in the US it was a mirror
image !.
We then rang the Raymarine agent and then
took a cab to the location , after a long discussion on options and handing over
the old unit for repair we left with a list of electrical wholesalers to buy
some wire flex to plumb in the new auto pilot , the saga of the Whitlock motor
is as follows , the unit will have to be repaired as the comutator has burn
marks and scours on its face , also the magnetic clutch seems to have ceased to
exist , this in turn burn out the auto pilot controller ! it seem that Lewmar
who now own Whitlock are reluctant to stock replacement motors and have quoted a
six week delivery time , thanks to Roger to has been chasing the Lewmar/Whilock
org , and thanks to Debbie and Carlos for further helpful info , but the long
and the short of it is that there will be no Whitlock replacement in the
near future so we have decided to opt for a hydraulic linnier drive from
Raymarine , they have been equal as unhelpful , a conversation to there UK
office was like speaking to a brick wall , as no real advice was given just a
series of quotes from an out of date manual , the agent was more helpful and we
have sorced a new auto pilot control unit and are now waiting on a delivery date
on the hydraulic unit from the states.
Our agent here seems to be on the ball and
has fabricating facilities for stainless steel and welding gear at his premises
, so hopefully we wont have to much running around to get the unit installed ,up
and running .
We left Panama city after a long day of
industrial supplier trekking , Lyn fell at the last hurdle , tripedover a large
lump of metal protruding from the pavement and Rob walked into a road sign at
eye level , it seems as if they install everything here without a ladder
!
We arrived back at the main highway
junction to Portobello , at 1800 , shopped in the local supermarket , rush
hr was in full swing and by the time we got on the bus it was standing room
only , so we rattled and rolled all the way home , Ike had been looking after
Zepher whilst we had been away , and came to pick up the weary travellers
!
We move back to Colon tomorrow , as transit day
nears , and continue to chase spare parts .....but we have had a pleasant 10
days in Portobello ..
The Crew
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