Monday, February 9, 2015

PANAMA! belted like Van Halen, of course...

We had a great passage to Panama! (okay, sing it everyone). We then spent 10 days in the San Blas islands cruising around and checking out the deserted islands, Kuna culture and local reefs. Contrary to some comments (yeah, Megan, you!) I won't be adopting the dress of the Kuna women. Though colorful & tempting, this girl's sticking with J Crew.

Watching Martin & Steven reel in the 2 mahi mahi and the tuna was a real kick. I haven't eaten that much fish in my entire life! We got pretty good at pouring rum in their gills (a bit of chemical sedation to abbreviate the thrashing) by the 3rd one... and the Caribbean tuna rolls were a definite highlight of the trip. We were happy to have our friend Steven along for the passage and some island hopping.

Yesterday we left the San Blas and sailed overnight into Colon, the northern entrance to the Panama Canal. We had fantastic, windy conditions, and the boat sailed beautifully. At about 3 am the shipping traffic picked up and we had to maintain constant surveillance and maneuvering to avoid the ships. When we approached the breakwater there were more than 15 huge ships moving around on our surveillance system. The fact that we only got honked at twice was a total victory.

Pau Hana is now in a slip in a marina with many other boats preparing to go through the Canal. Tomorrow we'll get measured and start the process officially.

Cheers,
Lexi
Anchored next to a reef in San Blas Islands
The good students prepare for what's to come




the master snorkeler finds an awesome conch shell


we kayaked out to this metropolitan island to check out the reef


last night on anchor in the San Blas


one of the 50+ ships we encountered on our sail to the entrance of the Panama Canal
captain cutie

6 comments:

  1. Sounds like you guys are having a delightful time, and you ain't missing much in Bozeman except 50+ degrees and the sad mournful experience of watching all of our snow evaporate 2-3 months too early. Point of fact: Boulder Mountain Tour was cancelled this year after it RAINED all night in Hailey the eve of the race. First time ever. We enjoyed a lovey drive to Ketchum and nice dinner out but NO racing and no skiing. Thank god for West. I saw a guy out of the corner of my eye at the Rendezvous trails who I would have sworn was Martin, but of course it was just another Nordic skier since you were probably reeling in an Ahi at the time. Miss you guys!

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  2. This is what Bozeman looks like right now! Haha! Looks like you all are having a great time. Hope the trip through the canal goes well!

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  3. Panama! If anybody in Bozeman is looking for snow come to Hanover. The pile a the end of our driveway is 10 feet tall. Between shoveling and skiing I got no more time! Miss that Mahi though!

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  4. Oh, and just because we never settled it....https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ

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  5. I never even heard of the San Blas Islands until you said you were going there. I immediately googled them. Well, now my 2 younger girls are going there this summer for service work. I am trying to read a message into this and hopefully, it say " Megan, get your hiney on a plane and go meet Lexi and Martin."

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