Bahamas to Jamaica then Panama

We left the Bahamas in late May and headed to Jamaica. We spent a week in Jamaica waiting for good weather for the anticipated crossing to Panama. We eventually got acceptable weather (not really enough wind but at least no BAD weather) and made the 4 day sail to Panama. We arrived in Panama on June 1 in plenty of time for hurricane season. June 1st is technically the beginning of hurricane season but normally no named storms are seen until July. We spent a few days in Shelter Bay Marina which is near Colon and also near an old US military base that is no longer on use. We also spent a night anchored near the Panama Canal itself which made me a bit uneasy. We were only a few yards from the canal and I woke up a few times during the night and looked out the hatch just to make sure our anchor was not dragging our boat into the canal. Seeing the Panama Canal was awesome. It is such a magnificent human accomplishment. Construction on the canal was started by the French in the 1880s but eventually completed by the USA in 1914. By the time we took over construction of the canal there had already been 21,900 lives lost in the building of the canal. The final estimation of lives lost in both the American and French efforts was 27,500 attributed to malaria, yellow fever, landslides, and other accidents.

I spent a total of 3 weeks in Panama before returning to the US for a 3 month visit. Since returning to the US I have been working as a nurse practitioner in the Dallas, TX area. My last day to work before returning to Panama is September 28th and then I leave for Panama on September 30th. I have enjoyed my time in the US seeing my family and working once again. After 2 years of not working, it has been a challenge to be in the workplace again but it has its rewards as well. I am looking forward to returning to the boat in September and have a renewed appreciation for the cruising life, especially now that I feel I have not had to give up my career totally in order to live it. I will return to the US for a few weeks at Christmas and will work once again for the same employer. I am blessed to be able to live in both worlds. There aren't many fields of work where you can successfully blend part time work with cruising, but health care is fortunately one of those fields. I'm not sure how long I will be able to do both or how long Jimmy will put up with it but for now I am content.

I have attached a couple of pictures Jimmy took in the San Blas Islands of Panama. He has spent a lot of time there while I have been in the US. He has promised me that we will spend at least a little time there when I return to Panama before we sail to Cartagena, Columbia in October. The San Blas Islands technically belong to Panama but they are home to the indigenous Kunas who inhabit the islands and who have their own set of laws and government. The Kunas refer to this area as Kuna Yala. Hopefully I will be able to spend a little time there and impart more about the Kunas in my next blog entry.

Donna

---

---