As some of you may or may not know, H and I are trying to travel south. While in Panama this means that at some point we need to commit to either getting on a plane (expensive sounding, right?) or on a boat (you would not believe how expensive this is) to get around the Darien Gap.
We have been headquartered in Panama City for a week now, chasing down leads to try to get us aboard a boat. Our belongings (and at times we) were staying at Panama by Luis, as we did before when G was with us. Mostly, however, we were on the road back and forth to various yacht clubs. We have one outfit a piece for these endeavors, because everything else we packed to bring on this trip with us is starting to look like a backpacker/shipwrecked sort of style; not the best for trying to impress ship captains at yacht clubs.
We march right into the yacht clubs and try to make friends with the local staff who talk with and serve booze to the captains when they come ashore. So far we have found that the people who get to work a boat to Columbia are either 1) the girlfriend of the captain or 2) the person who worked at the bar for months, got to know the captains, and then waited until one had a wild hair and took a pleasure cruise down to Columbia. Neither of these options are very convenient for us at the moment (we just don’t want to commit that kind of time to Panama).
So far here has been our path: 1) Panama City Yacht Club on Balboa Avenue where they sent us to 2) the Yacht Club on the Amador Causeway. Here they are trying to hook us up with captains so we can clean and cook for them while they are south of the Canal in hopes that they will take us if they go to, say, the Galapagos. This area has an awesome view of both the Canal and the city, but to get there we had to get to the Cinco de Mayo shopping area, find the secret local taxi waiting spot behind a column, and then hike down the sun drenched Causeway to find the boats. It’s a long day for us, but definitely worth the views!
Then we headed north to the 3) Portobelo Yacht Club, also known as Captain Jack’s, on the advice of some French pirates we met in Santa Catalina. Up on the Caribbean side it turns out the their yacht clubs are bars, often located at the nicest hotel/hostel in town. Portobelo is an old Spanish city, with the ruins mixed right into the rest of the city. It’s amazingly beautiful spot, with the crystal blue Caribbean running right up to the jungle on both sides of the bay, all watched over by old stone forts and walls. Absolutely worth a visit, even if we hadn’t been in a desperate need for transport! We chatted with one of the owner of the bar, and while he said he has no idea how people keep turning up at his place looking to work a boat, he did say that, in theory, it was possible to get it done. Just not at all likely.
From there Captains Jack’s owner told us to check out the Puerto Lindo area and see how the captains were handling the new Colombian rules regarding taxes. However, we had a job interview back in the Amador Causeway Yacht Club we had to get back to. That job would be awesome, 4) cleaning a young Spaniard’s yacht and hopefully convincing him that a trip to the Galapagos sounds like fun… Unlikely to work out since I threw out a cost that was insanely high for Panama. But we shall see.
While we were in town we decided 5) to email a posting we had seen up at Panama by Luis for a cook and stewardess aboard a ship headed to Columbia. We sent info highlighting our experiences on our respective University sailing teams, how we lived on a ship for 4 months that even crossed the Cape of Good Hope without loosing our lunch, and H’s Marine Biology/surfing habits. With any luck we could be working on a boat for a few weeks/months to earn our passage south!
Then, to save money and hedge our current bets, we went back north to find more yacht clubs and captains, if possible. We started with a quick stop in Colon’s 6) Caribbean Yacht Club. We were then sent to the 7) Colon 2000 embarkation port. The most useful information we gleaned here was that we should really be going to Shelter Bay to search out more information. So we quickly jumped back on a bus along the coast to Puerto Lindo and added Shelter Bay onto our list.
Turns out, the captains in Puerto Lindo are not handling the new Columbian taxes at all well. In fact, the only boat still doing the trek is the Delfin Solo, while the rest grow anxious and slightly desperate. 8) We chatted with the first mate (and wife) of the Delfin Solo, and she said she would ask around and see if anyone would be willing to take us, discount, down to Columbia or at least the border. She implied that they are getting to the point where it is definitely possible (good for us, bad for them I guess)!
We also chatted with the owner of the local yacht club/bar/restaurant/nicest hotel in the area, Hans, and he said 9) he would keep his ears open. He even let me literally glue up our friends info to his wall! He told us to go and stay at the Casa Blanca, which is new and only $5 a night for a dorm room. There are some small problems with the place, but we are quite sure they will be ironed out over time. The Russian/American running the place is wonderful and it just so happens that 10) her boyfriend is planning on doing a run down to Columbia the second week of September. They are willing to give us a deal if we can fill the boat with at least 7 people, where everyone only needs to pay $350, including 4 days, 3 nights, 3 meals a day, and leaving us at the border so that we can cross in a lancha to one of the most beautiful areas of Caribbean Columbia, Sapzurro.
So that’s 10 boat contacts and such in a week. We are tired and a little worn out (and there’s only so many times you can hand wash the same outfit and wear it before you start to loose your mind) and we decided to take a vacation to El Valle de Anton. Please stand by for another update shortly.
H
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Rule #2: Don't Die. 