FROM PORTOBELO THROUGH THE PANAMA CANAL

 The view from the fort of the harbor.

 The Spanish built 2 forts, one on each side of the harbor, and a walled city. 

Portobello - quoting Eric Bauhaus, Cruise Guide author extraordinaire - “The Bay of Portobello was discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1502 and was chosen as the Caribbean transshipment center because of its magnificent harbor and convenient location. From this port tons of gold and silver flowed to the commercial capital of the Spanish empire, Seville. Between 1574 - 1702,  45 fleets of galleons were sent forth, none of which carried less than 30 million pesos of riches. The wealth that arrived was a strong temptation for pirates like Henry Morgan. With his troop of 460 men he took over Portobello and while the defenders tried their best, they were overcome and unsuccessful with their negotiations, they eventually gave in and paid Morgan 100,000 pesos in order for him to not destroy the population.” (thanks Wayne!)

On Sunday, March 10th after a week in Portobelo, we sailed to Shelter Bay Marina to prepare for our passage through the Panama Canal.

This marina is top notch – beautifully tiled restrooms with rain forest shower heads, restaurant, pool, hot tub, mini market and a launderia.  May not sound like a big deal to you, but to me it was HEAVEN!  First things first – laundry.  Five loads.  Next we were awaiting the Admeasurer to measure the boat.

Pedro Lopez, Admeasurer

Then our agent Erick to complete our paperwork with all the vessel info, submit it to the Canal authority so we will then be given a day and time for our passage.    Fortunately, the canal is not that busy now so our dates were Saturday and Sunday, the 16th and 17th.   You are required to provide or hire line handlers.  Our friends Allen and Patricia on Nauti-Nauti joined us for the trip as well as Nicole a nice Austrian gal we met in the marina.

The hungry crew!

Tires hanging are the fenders required!  Attractive, hey?

Colon is the nearest town to get cash and provisions, i.e. food and beer!  The marina provides a free shuttle bus daily for the 30-40 minute ride into Quartro Altos Mall.  So off we go.  It’s a beautiful drive through the jungle once we depart the marina property which is on the abandoned military base, Ft. Sherman.  There are now a few new buildings under construction for barracks and administration as there are humanitarian troops here to aid in the construction of schools in Panama.  The road crosses the canal – a swing bridge that is just above water level is used when the locks have been closed.  Depending on the number of ships going through, you could have quite a long wait for the bridge!

 Here we go..........sharing a lock with a big freighter.

 The lines are from the boat to the top of the lock.  As the water recedes, you let out the line, and pull in the lines when the water enters the locks.

 Our helpful Advisor, Francisco, napping! lol

 Locks closing behind us.

Dave Wood saw us on the canal's live cam.  There we are tied up to a mono hull, L'Espirit de la Mer.

VERY COOL

A little history lesson:  “There are mountains but there are also hands, and for the king of Spain few things are impossible.”  This was the imaginative rationale of a Catholic priest in 1534, after having studied the feasibility of a canal through the isthmus of Panama.  Presumably wiser minds prevailed, as King Charles V of Spain realized that picks and shovels were wholly inadequate (duh?).  Instead, the Spanish did pave extensive cobblestone mule trails over which tons of gold from the conquest of Peru traveled on their way to Spain……..it’s always about the MONEY!  In 1850 construction began on the Panama Railway with 10,000 casualties and $8 million later.  The railway was successful but the Colombian government granted a French company the exclusive privilege, valid for 99 years, to construct a waterway across the isthmus of Panama.  The considerable skills of the French engineers could not overcome the diseases or the harsh geographic and climatic conditions they encountered, nor the fiscal mismanagement that brought the enterprise to ruin in 1889.  In 1894 a second French company emerged to resume work on the canal but due to lack of funds from the French government they were forced into bankruptcy.  They sold their rights, ownership and equipment to the United States.    In 1903, following Panama’s declaration of independence from Colombia, Panama and the U.S. signed the Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty.  It took 10 years, labor of 75,000 men and women and @ $400 million to complete the task.  As you can imagine, the builders faced unprecedented problems:  geology, enormity of the locks, excavation (where do we put all the dirt?), establishing new communities to house the workers, importing all the equipment and supplies down to the nails, and tropical diseases.  Colonel Williams Crawford Gorgas and his  medical team are credited with eradicating yellow fever and bringing malaria under control.  The canal opened to traffic on August 15, 1914.
The new canals and locks under construction are mainly for the use of Panamax ships – which are so big they are unable to go through the present canal – and must go around Cape Horn.  Lots of money and time will be saved.  Scheduled to open 2014-2015.   Plan your cruise NOW!!!
Enough of that.

 Unusual architecture in Panama City (Guess jeans billboard).  The women in Central America wear the tightest jeans I have ever seen (more like leggings)and the tallest heels. Short, tall, thin, fat - they all wear them!!!  Don't know how they do it in this heat.  The men.......blah!   Saw a cute 15 year old!

I found the city of Panama, population @ 1 million, very attractive, high energy and booming.  There is mucho construction going on downtown.  They have a Trump Tower and a Hard Rock Hotel.  Very metropolitan.   Oh, and traffic to match the chaos.  Most of the businesses close at lunch time, and for some dumb reason, everyone gets in their autos.  Go take a nap and stay away from the traffic until after lunch.

.Another BIG shop.  There's an escalator to accommodate the shopping cart down to the parking garage!

(NOTE:  4 cases of beer on the bottom!)

In the next day or so,  we will go south @ 30 miles to the Las Perlas Islands where we hope to do some diving.  By the way, the water is COLD here!  Then we’ll start banging our way up the coast of Panama to Costa Rica, Mexico and finally California.

Kuna Yala

Kuna Yala, San Blas Islands, Panama

 After being sea sick for most of the trip from San Andres, Colombia, we FINALLY arrived in the San Blas.    The San Blas Islands is home to the indigenous Kuna Indians, who have best preserved their culture and traditions out of all the tribes in the Americas.   Physically they are small and rivaled only by the pygmies.  Very peaceful, non-aggressive and crime is extremely rare making this a very safe area to be in.   They are accepting of visitors, but prohibit any non-Kuna from permanently settling or intermarrying.  

Kunas in ulu

This is how we wash our clothes!   Eat your hearts out!

This is how we fix the auto pilot!

 Fort in Portobelo where Capt. Henry Morgan stole the GOLD......

 Kuna Chief Alberto and his wife., Isla de Gerti

Coco Bandero Cays 

And this is how we buy lobsters............yum yum.

Local market .......it's NOT a Publix!

The Kuna number @ 55,000 or about 10 percent of what they were before the invasion of the Spanish conquistadors.  The women wear their traditional clothing while the men wear shorts, tee shirts, and baseball caps from all over the world!  There is electricity on only a FEW islands, WIFI is rare, no ATMs, simple grocery stores.  The locals and Kunas row their ulu (long wooden craved out canoes) out to your boat to sell vegetables and chickens, along with their famous “molas”.   When you come here, you come prepared and when everything runs out – you leave!!!  We were able to stay a month.  Temps @ mid 80’s.  Little or no rain.

Kuna women create and sell their unique “molas” – 3, 4 or 5 layer fabric panels embellished with reverse applique’ and embroidery – made by sewing and cutting different layers of colorful cloths.  The designs depict their daily lives showing fish, flowers, birds, religion and children.  Molas are made in pairs intended to become the front and back bodice panels of a Kuna blouse, to which a yoke and puffy sleeves of different fabrics will be added.  The Kuna are a matriarchal society – women are the traders and hold most financial power.  Anthropologists believe Kuna women have been tattooing designs on their faces, arms and legs since at least the 1300’s.  During the 1800’s Christian missionaries hoping to clothe and domesticate the “rebel” women taught them the European fabric art of the molas.  They still wear gold rings through the nose, and wrap their legs in strings of beads.

 Mola by Venancio, a Master Mola Maker

Molas - they are sold unfinished.  I'll be making colorful pillows.

San Blas is an archipelago composed of over 340 islands (very few inhabited) and stretches about 175 -200 miles.  Other than the physical beauty of these islands, the other beauty is that they are close to each other allowing you to move onto another island within a short sail.  Scuba diving is not allowed, so we snorkeled.   And we did a lot of that in pristine waters and once with nurse sharks – they were napping!

NEXT CHAPTER - the Panama Canal