Home » Panama » DYED IN THE WOOL - AND THE 15 CAN TRANSIT…

Or is that……died in the wool…..some kinky kiwi sexual asphyxiation fetish….and what inspired that thought?…..I'm just recovering from the 15 can transit, yes, I’ve pulled it off, right thru’ the far canal in a yacht!

Where were we?…..I think leaving Bogota was last up, I’m still trying to summarise the last 6 months in south America, so hard to get my thoughts aligned, so much was there.

DYED IN THE WOOL - AND THE 15 CAN TRANSIT…

Bill Shum
2006-08-21 17:16:49

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this was more like a solid state, visibility down to arm’s length, I couldn’t tell what brand of beer I had if I held my arm out, even the pilot slowed his rate of drinking, (much, much later we heard he had a problem and had been stood down for being pissed on the job!) Todd’s sticking his head out watching the buoys, excellent work, we’re huddled below….like all things, it passed, then we get to the down locks, same thing in reverse, this time we go in first with the tug and the other yacht, then another huge black juggernaut slides in behind us and sleazes up towards us, nowhere for us to go, we’ve got our bow pressed against the doors, this guy could crush us without feeling a thing, of course he stops in time.

Down, along, down, along etc, you get the picture?….then the run to Colon, you’ll remember my previous reflections on Colon?…appropriately named as it really is the arsehole of the world, however, we didn’t have to go there and so neither shall I, we parked about 7pm, a pretty slick transit, as often as not it’s an overnight affair so we were stoked to get straight thru’, had cocktails, pizzas, a bottle of red and crashed out….well done Todd!

Morning time and we passed on the tyres to another boat going west in return for a lift to the yacht club in his rubber ducky, I remember the Panama Yacht Club as the only sane, safe enclave in Colon, we slipped out in an unmarked taxi, jumped a bus and went back to Panama…does this sound like I’m winding up?…right on!…I’ve just showered and shaved, back at the Marbella, I’d left the bike in the carpark at the marina with no cover and a degree of trepidation…all was well tho’…pics follow…

Hey, I have to say, this was special!…I had so wanted to do it on the way down, never thought it would be possible…even now it was a series of coincidences and lucky breaks, and just fantastic to meet such a great bunch of people to share such a special event…..it has happened again! Thanks to any and all of you who get to read this….especially to Todd and Jennifer, wonderful!..I hope to catch up with you in Bocas maybe…or in Oz when you get there.

As I said somewhere back at the start, these parallel universes of travellers……..yachties, bikies, back-packers….so much in common but rarely crossing paths, I’d like to follow that train of thought another time….and if I could sell my bike tomorrow I’d be sorely tempted to jump a yacht for a while!..avast ye lubbers, prepare to come about, hoist the mainsail..etc etc…..yeah, I got it.

Fast connection so lots of pix...