Panama Canal

After three months on the road we left Peru and arrived back at the boatyard. From the simplicity of living out of a backpack with no real worries the reality of the boat set in along with all the chores required to head back out. But our luck held and the boat was in good shape thanks to Moise and the other staff at Shelter Bay. I had some problems with bronze thru hulls or rather lack of them after snapping a piece moving the galley sink while Deb made a new bimini to match the last years dodger project. A new main and mizzen sail from Doyles loft in Barbados complete with matching toast sunbrella sail cradles were added to complement Deb's stuff and will make the old girl preen for her birthday.In 2012 SeaCycle turns 40.
In the midst of all the work we took a break to help our friends on Darramy through the Panama Canal and into the Pacific. Also along were Peter and Sue sailng buddies of Darramys from over home. Deb and I worked the bow lines as we first passed through the three Gatun locks behind a freighter and then out into Lake Gatun for the night tying up to a shipping buoy. After some rum fueled story telling (Shackleton freezing) Peter pulled out his concertina and gave us a brillant little concert. Still it was a sleepless night for me out in the cockpit as the buoy was right next to the new canal construction due to be finished on the hundred year anniversary in 2014. There was a steady stream of truck activity all night and all reports point to them being ready on time. The new locks will be deeper and wider to handle the larger cargo carriers coming on line. Our advisor( all small boats have an advisor rather than a pilot on board during the transit) showed up at six and we were on our way across the lake first to the Pedro Miguel and finally the Miaflores locks and out into the Pacific anchoring off Flamingo point.




The locks going up were a little bit more difficult than the locks on the way down because of the turblence in filling their chambers. At each lock two line handlers on each side throw messenger lines with monkeys paws(heavier knots or rings) at the boat handlers. This proved to be the only real challenge but ours went quite smoothly. The down locks were a breeeze plus the fact we only had a tourist boat for company. As soon as the hook was down Brian and I untied the tire fenders and extra lines and delivered to Eric the canal agent who had provided them as part of his service. After that it was a sad parting. We first met the Darramys three years ago fifty miles up the Orinoco Delta exploring along with Audrey Page when thinking we were alone we came around a bend and saw two British flagged boats Malarkey and Darramy already at anchor off a wilderness lodge. We have run across them every year since somewhere but now they are entering the big pond so only the gods know when we will cross wakes again. Roger gave us a lift back to the Caribbean side and we were back to the marina just in time for the rain to really kick in for a few days. This held up our insurance survey, but in the end fours weeks after arriving, SeaCycle assumed her natural position splashing back into the water.
to be continued