San Andres To Bocas Del Toro Panama

Finally, an easy leg of "only" 190 miles.

Flat oceans, sunny skies and 28 knots the whole way (.46 gallons per mile).

We arrived in Bocas just after five and the customs office was closed.

We were told to anchor out and wait, but of course, the anchor went 2 feet and we looked into the locker to see the rope and rode horribly tangled up, so we held our position with the motors in light winds.

DC and the great staff at the Red Frog marina and resort pulled off a miracle and got the customs and immigration people to get on a panga and meet us at our "anchorage".

Two hours and a bunch of $$ later we had a panga lead us into the marina, as it was pitch black.

The marina is an IGY marina and very nice.  There is a floating galleon style boat that is the restaurant and made some pretty decent food and strong drinks.

The trip from the boat to the villa is a 10 minute golf cart ride through the jungle

Our villa is very, very nice and in the middle of a 1,700 acre jungle on the beach.

As soon as we get through customs (panga ride to Bocas Town) we are going to start exploring.

Right now we are in the middle of the first rain we have seen in weeks.  It is a heavy, tropical downpour, but should pass soon.  The Henriques really needed a good downpour and she finally got it.

The first photo is of the waterfront.  There are lots of bars and hotels built over the water and there are pangas tied up everywhere.

The second photo is the crew, Jenn, Erik, Erin, and Nils.

The third photo is Jenn and I getting completely soaked in a panga.  Once it stopped raining we were dry in 15 minutes.

It is pretty clear that Panama is heavily influenced by the US.  Their currency is USD and everywhere you go, US products dominate the stores, as evidenced by a bottle of the worst hooch ever made, Night Train.

Mike