We have enjoyed spending a couple days at Shelter Bay Marina. The rain subsided late Monday morning, and we decided to take the free shuttle bus into Colón to re-provision. The bus was full of other cruisers with the same intentions. At El Rey, we were able to buy every item of food on our list. This was the first time we had been in a supermarket since we left Cartagena. It's not that I like grocery shopping, but it was a pleasure to be able to find everything I needed in one place. We are now ready for another couple months of cruising.
We chatted with people on the bus on the way back. Some are waiting to go through the Panamá Canal, others are in passage to other places and some are having work done on their boats. We were invited to continue getting to know people during happy hour at the bar, so we did. At the bar, we sat beside an American couple formally from San Francisco. Lorenzo is a gregarious guy, and after he insisted on buying us a second round of the wine we were drinking, he and I, with some imput and a lot of amusement on the parts of Peter and Joyce, had a lively conversation on various topics from human evolution to the rise and fall of empires. Then, holding Peter's hand so as not to veer into the water along the dock, I made my way back to Mantra in a happy, pleasant haze. Peter had to cook dinner.
Yesterday (Tuesday, Oct. 1), the weather was beautiful--sunny but not oppressively hot, with only a couple very brief and light rainshowers in the afternoon. I was able to hang out the load of laundry I had done two days previously on the life lines. It had been hanging in the bathroom (where the washing machine is), and our boat was beginning to smell like a musty basement.
While Peter slaved away on alternator belts, engine mounts and repairs to bilge pumps, I alternated between studying Spanish for hours and relaxing by the lovely pool, taking occasional dips in the refreshing water and reading a book. Then, we spent time together having dinner al fresco on the deck of the restaurant overlooking the boats.
This morning, after a few tasks, we will leave here and continue on to Río Chagres, motoring up into the jungle to see what sort of flora and fauna we can find.
We chatted with people on the bus on the way back. Some are waiting to go through the Panamá Canal, others are in passage to other places and some are having work done on their boats. We were invited to continue getting to know people during happy hour at the bar, so we did. At the bar, we sat beside an American couple formally from San Francisco. Lorenzo is a gregarious guy, and after he insisted on buying us a second round of the wine we were drinking, he and I, with some imput and a lot of amusement on the parts of Peter and Joyce, had a lively conversation on various topics from human evolution to the rise and fall of empires. Then, holding Peter's hand so as not to veer into the water along the dock, I made my way back to Mantra in a happy, pleasant haze. Peter had to cook dinner.
Yesterday (Tuesday, Oct. 1), the weather was beautiful--sunny but not oppressively hot, with only a couple very brief and light rainshowers in the afternoon. I was able to hang out the load of laundry I had done two days previously on the life lines. It had been hanging in the bathroom (where the washing machine is), and our boat was beginning to smell like a musty basement.
While Peter slaved away on alternator belts, engine mounts and repairs to bilge pumps, I alternated between studying Spanish for hours and relaxing by the lovely pool, taking occasional dips in the refreshing water and reading a book. Then, we spent time together having dinner al fresco on the deck of the restaurant overlooking the boats.
 |
| Sherri in the pool at Shelter Bay Marina |
No comments:
Post a Comment