When the monkeys roar

At six in the morning, the haze still lies over the tops of the trees. It has rained again overnight and the rising sun draws the moisture upwards. A light streak of fog lies over the jungle. The forest is full of monkeys that greet the day with a huge roar. One sees them only rarely and if, then they hang mostly in the crowns of the highest trees, in the rain forest.

Shelter Bay Marina, Panama

Gaby also got up early today. She has to go to the dentist. Last week she bit out a tooth when she took a bite of homemade bread. Not that the bread was too hard, the tooth, with an old amalgam filling, just gave way and broke off. The fact that this is age-related, it lets apply only under protest. Only good that it happened now and not in the middle of the Pacific on the way to the Marquesas. Today a root canal treatment is announced and next week a crown will be put over it. Of course, we have to pay in advance, otherwise no one will lift a finger. The monkeys let out another roar as if they had heard it. Since the cab becomes too expensive, we use the bus to the city the next day, a shuttle service that costs nothing. The minibus leaves for Colon at 8:00 in the morning and returns at 11:00. Then at noon at 12:00 it goes in again and comes back at 15:00. Now, for once, I'm yelling. A great service. So we are at the bus shortly before eight in the morning and are checked off from a list we signed up for the day before. We've pretty much used up our supplies and are due for another day of shopping. 

On the way to the bus shuttle

The bus takes us across the huge bridge over the Panama Canal. On one side you can see the Atlantic Ocean, on the other side the locks to Lake Gatún. The bridge, on the western side, actually leads to nowhere. Amazing because it is very high, so that the big ships fit under it, and must have been quite expensive. But the main artery leads to Costa Rica on the Pacific side. On the Atlantic side there are a few small settlements, but basically the road, towards the west is a dead end. Obviously the traffic over the locks was so disturbing that one decided to build the bridge. On the Colon side we are then, towards the city, in a traffic jam. Half an hour later we stop in front of the big supermarket Rey. If you haven't seen such a huge supermarket for a long time, you stand in front of it with big children's eyes at first. Since Aruba, and that was more than three months ago, we haven't seen such a big temple of consumption. Fortunately, the prices are moderate and the shopping frenzy is only limited by the carrying capacity of the donkey. Whereby, which concerns the carrying capacity, quite different views prevail. Gaby is of the opinion, there is upward quite still air. I hear the monkeys roar all the way to the supermarket, until I realize that it's me. Somehow the scene reminds me of Chubaka from Starwars, and the people are already making a big circle around us. In the meat department we agree again. After many meat-free days, steak and goulash are the order of the day. Two New York strips go into the shopping cart. The steak comes from the hindquarter of the beef, between the rump and the high rib. It's slightly marbled and has a strip of fat around the edge. My mouth is watering and I'm looking forward to tonight. We also find some wonderful goulash pieces that end up in the cart as well. At the register, I look in the cart and swallow hard once. This is going to be heavy. The backpack fills and I refrain from yelling while unbuckling it until I'm out of the supermarket.

Every now and then a crocodile gets lost here

Back in the marina we meet Reinhold from the Mare. The Mare also wants to go through the channel, but Reinhold is in a much bigger hurry. We offer ourselves as line handlers to gain first lock experiences. Reinhold is enthusiastic and so we will accompany the Mare through the canal on January 17th. With Joachim and Greg we are then four line handlers plus skipper Reinhold and a pilot.

Leaking hydraulic pump

In the meantime we prepare the Katinka for the Pacific. I order various parts via a delivery address in Miami, which was given to me by the marina office. Once a week the warehouse in Miami will be emptied and sent to Panama. I am curious to see how this works. The hydraulic pumps, which had been leaking slightly and fouling the engine compartment since Carriacou, are now also tight again. Two new O-rings work wonders. The pulley in the mast for the mainsail still needs to be replaced. However, it is not so easy to get a replacement pulley. In the meantime, three people are on the line to get me such a pulley. The agent for the canal passage has also been commissioned and has received all the data from me. The ship must now be measured and then we also need an appointment. Since here rather the monkeys roar before something does itself here, I will inquire next week times with the agent. Until then, we wish you fair winds and keep a stiff upper lip.