Whoever it was that named the Pacific Ocean must have had a very wry sense of humour. We've skirted all the way round the North Pacific from north of the Philippines, past Japan, to Russia, across the Aleutian Islands, down the west coast of Canada and the United States, past Mexico and a handful of Central American countries over the last month and a half, and it's fought us virtually every inch of the way. Even the last few miles northwards into the Gulf of Panama, normally regarded as relatively placid, today is like driving along the sleepers of a railway track.

The approach to Panama Balboa is rather like Port Said - lots of ships at anchor, waiting their turn to go through. But the surrounding countryside is rather more lush, covered with dense trees and vegetation. Our marina is actually on tiny Flamenco Island, connected to the mainland by a causeway. The sky is heavily overcast, but bright, hot and humid none the less.

Having arrived just before mid-day, the rest of the day is given over to boat maintenance, but we have to wait until high tide before Spirit can be lifted out of the water. That's later on this afternoon. Then we're off to our accommodation in Panama City, the Caesar Park Hotel. Yes, a hotel. We're suffering from Pacific-itis and in serious need of a break.

In the meantime, we have a lot of formalities to complete, including immigration for Panama, and having the boat fumigated. This may seem extreme given that we have actually been taking a sea water shower every day, but the true purpose is to kill off any imported mosquitoes.

We also have a lot to get ready for our transit of the canal on Wednesday morning - it's not just a question of turning up and going through. The boat will be inspected tomorrow to ensure we have our ropes, extra fenders, toilet facilities for the pilot (tricky one, this), and a means of signalling (Alan has bought one of those impressively loud aerosol horns). Tomorrow also promises to be a bit special, with a visit to the boat from the British Ambassador. All in all a little bit busy!

Clive Tully

FACTBOX
Quetzal - Panama Balboa
Time of leg: 2 days 23 hours 37 minutes
Length of leg: 857 nautical miles
Total distance covered: 19,835 nautical miles
Distance to go: 5,620 nautical miles
Average speed over leg: 11.97 knots
Time from Gibraltar: 78 days 6 hours 8 minutes
Fuel consumed: 1,829.2 litres
Average fuel consumption: 2.13 litres / nautical mile
Next stop: Port Antonio, Jamaica
ETA: Friday

Copyright Clive Tully ©2002
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