Wednesday January 28 – Two days ago we rounded Punta Mariato in Panama, the southernmost point of our voyage at latitude 7º N. We’re now on our way north! The time zone has transitioned into EST which we discovered when one of our out-of-reception cellphones locked onto a stray signal and switched over. Rather than get confused by conflicting timepieces and cellphones, we adjusted our schedule to what Rod named ‘Oven Time’ and agreed to coordinate our day and night watches by the clock on AVATAR’s galley stove!

Our first landfall in Panama was an overnight anchorage in peaceful Bahía Honda. The scenery there was much more verdant than anywhere else on the trip so far. January thru April is the hot dry season in Central America, and it was surprising to see the drought stressed growth all along the coastline when we were expecting steamy green jungles. Panama is starting to catch up with our imaginings.

The anchor had barely set on the bottom when a small wooden local boat came racing out to greet us, a man with his little boy on a trading mission. Supplies are few and far between when you live in a remote and tiny coastal village with no road and many miles by open boat to go shopping in town, assuming you even have cash to spend. Our visitor introduced himself as Kennedy and his son as Octavio, and he was hoping to use his huge sack of slightly over-the-hill lemons as currency for some shopping needs.

Items on his shopping list included cookies or candy for his son and perhaps a Coca Cola for himself. After that, D batteries for his flashlight so he could scare aware the critters preying on his chickens in the night, a backpack for his teenage daughter for her school supplies, fishing line, hooks and lures for catching the small fish in the bay. He also suggested that when we arrived at our destination in Panama City’s Balboa Harbor we could get on the VHF radio on the yachting frequency and spread the word to other boaters that, should they pass near Bahia Honda, they might stop over and ask for Kennedy by name. We scrounged up what we could from ship’s stores and declined the lemons, but bargained for a couple of plantains and grapefruit instead.

We’ve had a pretty benign trip the entire distance from Mexico to Panama, with a following current giving us a speed boost and weather cooperating nicely. But this last leg into Balboa has taken a turn for the worse. We only have about 130 miles to go, but the forecast is for windy conditions for a solid week at least, fueled by cold weather systems in the states that push fronts across the isthmus. In addition we need to round Punta Mala (Bad Point), a true cape named for its strong currents and nasty sea state. And then we need to cross the Gulf of Panama, the third of three gulfs, including Tehuantepec and Papagallo, that share a reputation for strong winds and steep waves, especially this time of year.

We got an early start this morning and hit Punta Mala at daybreak. It’s definitely windy with steep chop, but the forecasts are predicting worse as the week wears on, so this is our window of opportunity. AVATAR is slogging through the rough stuff admirably and Rod is hugging the shore again for protection. The pillow is stuffed back into the china cupboard for only the second time in three weeks. Four sailing yachts that shared last night’s anchorage with us would not be able to handle these conditions so they’ll probably be holed up there for awhile.

We had planned an idyllic week cruising the scenic island group named Las Perlas*, but the weather appears to have scotched that idea, so it’s direct to the canal now. The white towers of Panama City are shimmering on the horizon in the moisture laden air as we approach. We’ll be adjusting our plans as we go and I’ll keep you up to date…more later!

*An interesting side note, Las Perlas were named by the Spanish in the early 1500s for the pearls found there. Seizing them for their own, the Spanish killed off every single native in the archipelago within two years, and then used slaves to dive for the pearls to add to the plundered riches shipped back home to Spain. The most famous was the 31 carat La Peregrina, an enormous pear-shaped white pearl, that earned freedom for the slave pearl diver who found it. King Philip II of Spain gave it to his wife Queen Mary Tudor of England as a wedding gift, and centuries later Richard Burton purchased it for US$37,000 as a gift for his wife, Elizabeth Taylor. It was auctioned off in 2011 as part of her estate for $11 million dollars.

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