In the afternoon Kate did internet jobs whilst Jonny went to buy us a new gas bottle ($29 for a 12kg aluminium bottle full of gas!).
As it was St Patricks day the irish boat Balu had arranged a pot luck evening ashore which was good fun and a good chance for everyone to ask us questions about our canal experience.
Mon 16th
An early start (5am) as we had been told to expect the next adviser by 6 - 6.30am. He turned up at 7.15!! Another great adviser - Manuel. We motored through the lake and down the pass towards the down locks passing lots of ships coming the other way.
By 12pm we were rafted back up. These locks were abit more challenging because the adviser in control of the raft (middle boat adviser) wasnt as good as the adviser the night before and we came into the locks too quickly and had to stop the boats on the stern lines. Despite this we managed to get through all the locks safely and Calysta is now in the Pacific!
Jonny and I were dropped off at Balboa Yacht Club to get the bus back to Colon. We were lucky and got a taxi straight away to the bus station, then a bus was just about to leave and then we got a taxi easily in Colon so we were back at the boat by 5.30pm.
An early night tonight before a busy couple of days getting Newt ready for the canal on Thurs.
This afternoon we borrowed Vagabond Hearts dinghy to go over to Shelter Bay Marina. We had a drink with Andy (Calysta) who we are line handling for tomorrow, Lucey Blue - my godfathers wife is godparent to the children on Lucey Blue, we met Sea Rover and then had drinks with Silk Sheets.
In the evening we had a meeting with Red Herring, Sunchaser, Vagabond Heart, Balu and Vyndl to discuss the line handling arrangements.
At 12.45pm Jonny and the guys headed ashore but by 2pm Tito still hadnt turned up despite several phone calls so as the bank shut at 3.30pm they decided to get taxis.
By 3.30pm they were back at the yacht club and Brenda and I headed ashore to meet them to go to the Free Zone - a duty free area with the town. The town and free zone were quite scary and trying to get a taxi back from the free zone was hard work as it was 5pm and then the taxi driver (along with all the rest of the drivers) was crazy!
Jonny and Ray went over to Red Herring to sort out who was going with who through the canal then we could ring the measurers - Newtsville, Sunchaser and Vagabond Heart are going through on Thurs 19th, Balu and Red Herring are going through on Sat 21st.
We had a lovely tea on Sunchaser with some fresh meat which we havent had since leaving Bonaire!
The amount of shipping around Colon is amazing. You expect the shipping to increase but to get here and see all the big ships and all the containers is amazing.
We anchored on the Flats around the same time as Sunchaser, Vagabond Heart and Red Herring so Bill (Vagabond Heart) picked up all the guys and they went ashore to start the paperwork. They hire the services of a local guy called Tito for $50. He had been recommended by a number of people and was much cheaper than the other agents we had contacted (who wanted between $200 and $500). The guys went to register at the measurers office - you have to get measured, once measured you can pay your fee at the bank and finally you can ring at get a date for your transit. The measurer is coming either Fri, Sat or Sun between 9am and 1.30pm!
There is a big group of us in Colon now so there should be no problem with line handlers - Red Herring, Vagabond Heart, Sunchaser, Christine Anne, Honeymoon, Calysta, T Rex, Lucey Blue. Silk Sheets are due in any day.
In the afternoon we did some washing and internet and then went over to T Rex for a drink and to catch up as we had last seen them in Grenada.
The sail from Isla Linton to Portobelo was 8 miles so we were there just before lunch. We went ashore for an explore and to try and call the measurers at the canal to make an appointment to get measured - unfortunately you cant make appointments by phone anymore so we will have to wait until we arrive tomorrow. The town of Portobelo is quite run down but there are lots of forts to explore.
Back at the boat we had lunch and Jonny made some bread (using a packet mix). The resulting bread rolls were very yummy.
At 5pm we headed ashore to explore the fort on the north shore which was amazing - you could explore the upper and lower batteries. After exploring we had sundown drinks on the beach with everyone before heading back to the boat for an early night before an early start to Colon and all the canal fun and games start.
Balu and Red Herring had arrived before us so Graham (Red Herring) came to pick us up in his dinghy to take us to Balu for a cup of tea. From Balu we could see the monkeys on the beach so Tristan (Balu guest), Jim (Balu), Graham and us went to visit the monkey. They were really friendly and enjoyed the crackers we had to give them.
From the beach we headed over to Vagabond Heart who had also arrived and had a cup of tea with them. By the time we left it was 6pm and time for tea and a dvd.
In the afternoon we went to Mamitupu - an island with a local village. We were invited into one of the houses and the boys went to the shop and bought all the stock - 7 cans of beer, 2 cans of pop and 20 pieces of bread for $12!! I got some of the local beads put on my arm and then the molas came out. Things quickly got abit overwhelming with lots of molas! The kids were lovely and all wanted their photos taken so they could have a look on the camera. We got taken for a walk round the village.
In the evening we invited Sunchaser, Christine Anne and Honeymoon round for drinks and had a lovely evening. We printed of the pictures we had taken at the village and the others are going to take them over tomorrow.
