Sheltering in place.

When it rains, it pours. When it’s sunny, it heats up. When the wind blows, we’re blown out of our flip flops. And all of the above happens in one single Panamanian afternoon. Praise the lord for Shelter Bay Marina where the vultures soar, the capuchins frolic , the howler monkeys howl and the sloths play dead.

The Marina – with the most appropriate name ever – does not only provide shelter from the storm, but also from the virus. In Panama City Covid 19 is reaching alarming peaks as we speak. But so far, the sailing community bubble has been kept intact thanks to PCR tests, masks, temperature guns and discipline. Lots of discipline.

The isolation and remoteness of the place does help of course to keep matters “bajo control” . It’s surrounded by water and jungle and drenched in history. The Marina used to be an US army base called Fort Sherman. It was there to protect the Caribbean side of the Canal against “assaults”. It was also the center for US jungle warfare training for some time.

As we were wandering around the premises we discovered abandoned housing, a derelict church, an entertainment complex and even a small airstrip. It felt like being on the set of Casablanca, with my Captain posing as Humphrey Bogaert.

One cloudy day we considered ourselves energetic enough to put on our mouldy hiking boots and hit the trails for the 9 km walk to a military base of another era: Fort San Lorenzo. This base – initially built in 1587- was supposed to defend the stolen Peruvian gold that fed the Spanish Crown. The fort itself had seen better days, but the site it is on was simply mindblowing.

Those conquistadores certainly knew how to pick their spots. But the moat and the cannons and the strategic setting where the river Chagres reaches the Caribbean sea couldn’t prevent them from being catastrophically raided thrice (!) by English pirates. It’s the old story of dog eat dog. So in the end, the Spanish abandoned their construction and chose the long way home again, sailing around Cape Horn instead of using their Panamanian short cut.

We on the other hand are getting all juiced up to take the present day short cut of short cuts: The Canal. O2 has been measured up, we have received our SIN ( Ship Identification Number), we have a tentative date ( January 5th or 6th) and our credit cards have been successfully unblocked.

Apparently, the scandal caused by the Panama Papers has traumatised the banks in such way that they are now being overly suspicious of all matters Panamanian. So we had to phone (!) Worldline in Brussels to confirm that the recent attempts for financial transactions in Panama were ours.

“ Yes, we are the ones that wanted to pay 4,99 dollars for WiFi access. Yes we will be staying in Panama for a while . Now that you know our birth dates and our Belgian address can you unblock our cards please ? We have a canal passage to pay.” And they did.

But before we go over to the other side, we still have one sailing trip to complete. We want to indulge ourselves one last time in the Caribbean vibe of snorkelling, diving and general lazing about. So Bocas del Toro, here we come.