Panama Retrospective

Caught a flight out of Bocas Town to Panama City on Monday. Went to the Miraflores locks where there is an excellent museum with exhibits showing the struggle to build the canal, how it works, its impact on Panama and global commerce along with plans for the canal expansion project. The canal runs in a roughly north-south direction. The Atlantic terminus at Colon is actually to the northwest of the Pacific terminus at Panama City. The canal is approximately 88 kilometers from end to end and it takes about 8 hours for a ship make that passage. The Panama Canal was officially opened on August 15th, 1914. Ownership of the canal was transferred from the United States to the Republic of Panama on December 31, 1999.

 In the Honchos home port of Long Beach we are accustomed to seeing very large container ships in the harbor. Those ships are too large to transit the canal, and the trend is toward more of these larger vessels. The Panama Canal Authority recognized the need to expand the canals capacity to accommodate these ships, thus the new enlarged locks, which I believe are scheduled to be opened in 2014.

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Northbound ship moving out of the lower locks at Miraflores

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Here are some interesting stats:
Containers are essentially tractor trailer bodies. They come in a variety of sizes, but are measured in "twenty foot equivalents" (TEU).
The largest container ships currently in service can carry more than 15,000 TEU.
The current locks can handle ships of up to 5,000 TEU capacity (965 feet long, 106 feet wide).
The new canal locks will handle ships of up to 12,000 TEU capacity (1,200 feet long, 160 feet wide).
The busiest container port in the world is Singapore.
Seven of the top ten busiest container ports in the world are located in China.
Los Angeles and Long Beach are ranked 16th and 18th respectively.
The top three US ports (L.A., Long Beach, New York) combined handled approximately 16,500,000 TEU in 2009. Shanghai alone handled 25,000,000 TEU in the same period.
Surprised? I was too.

45 foot cruising catamaran transiting the lower locks at Miraflores

We arrived back in La Cruz to find all well with the Honcho. Over the next few days well reprovision, refuel and prepare for sailing again, then head out around Cabo Corrientes, the southern boundary of Banderas Bay and on to points south.

Barra de Navidad to Ixtapa

We spent three days anchored in the lagoon at beautiful Barra de Navidad, but the days were slipping by and soon it was time to move on, as the Honcho needed to be in Ixtapa no later than February 12th. So we upped the anchor and headed south once again toward Las Hadas, in Bahia Manzanillo, about 25 miles down the coast. The sailing was excellent, with bright sunshine, following seas and a pleasant 15 knot breeze. Alas, the fishing was not as good as the sailing. Trolling the trusty cedar plug, we caught nothing except a 10 pound cavally, which is not good eating, so we released it and sailed on, still hungry for some fresh dorado.

We anchored in a lovely spot at Las Hadas, across the bay from the city of Manzanillo. Manzanillo is an old city, having been a stopover for Spanish galleons en route from Manila to Panama in the 16th century. Today it is Mexicos busiest commercial port, handling over 22 million tons of cargo in 2008. Part of the reason for this commercial success is that it is a convenient alternative to the congested ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach in California. Manzanillo is  located in a beautiful bay with lots of beaches and excellent fishing so its also a popular vacation destination and served about 30 cruise ships in 2008.

Aside from relaxing around the pool at the Las Hadas resort, we made a couple of sorties to the local supermarket and Walmart for some much needed provisons, then sailed for Ixtapa, about 180 miles south. Our course took the Honcho southwest across Bahia Manzanillo and out past Roca Vela (Sail Rock). From there we turned south, then southeast for the long run down the coast. Leaving at 1600, we had a fresh breeze and great sailing until dark when the wind fell light and we were obliged to start the motor. By 1000 the next morning the wind came up again and we hoisted the jib and doused the engine, sailing close inshore so we could enjoy the beautiful scenery of the Mexican coast. By nightfall we were approaching the busy commercial port of Lazaro Cardenas. For several hours we dodged between fast moving freighters as we motored past the harbor. Hurrying to get past Lazaro Cardenas, we crossed Bahia de Peticalco then had to slow down as we approached Isla Grande, also called Isla Ixtapa, to wait for sunrise so we could pick our way through the many rocks around the entrance to Marina Ixtapa, where we planned to stay for a few days. By mid morning the Honcho was tied up in the marina and the crew was enjoying a meal at one of the nearby waterside restaurants.

Ixtapa

Zihuatanejo

The days flew past while we were in Ixtapa. We had not planned to go there but Im really glad we did. While there we toured both Ixtapa and Zihuatanejo, visited Isla Grande, Playa Linda and the Cocodrilario, and perhaps most fun of all, celebrated our friend, Judys 50th birthday. We stayed at the Marina Ixtapa Nautica, a fairly luxurious marina in Ixtapa. We had been at anchor in more remote places for three weeks prior, so it was nice to get into a marina where we could give the Honcho a good freshwater scrub, sleep all night without an anchor watch, and take easy advantage of the great restaurants and stores nearby. I also wanted to get the hull bottom scrubbed, but laughed when I was told that no one is allowed to swim or perform underwater services in the marina because of the crocodile threat. We kept a sharp lookout but saw no crocs.

Hobie Cat

Judys birthday was much more than a simple party, it was an Event, with guests flying in from various points in the States, and as far away as Denmark for five days of festivities. We arrived on Feb. 12th and participated in a day long outing to Isla Grande, then a day of Hobie Cat racing and the grand finale party on the 15th. We met a lot of great people and had a wonderful time at the party, the highlight of which was Torben, Judys husband, shedding his conservative Danish demeanor to grab the mike and belt out an excellent rendition of Blue Suede Shoes. He truly rocked the place. After three days of partying, we spent the next day taking care of boat chores and relaxing. The following day we took some friends out to Isla Grande where we swam and relaxed and I had an opportunity to scrub the bottom of the boat myself. Im glad to report that it was surprisingly clean, with only some serious growth on the speed and depth sensor thru-hulls. I checked the rudder, prop shaft, strut and prop as well as the zincs, all in good shape.

Pina Colada Isla Grande Style

On our last day in Ixtapa we decided to visit the Cocodrilario (Crocodile preserve) in Playa Linda, since we had yet to see any crocs in the wild, except for one poor little duffer in a flood control canal in Puerto Vallarta. Taking the bus, which is our usual mode of land transportation in Mexico, is always interesting. Local  buses charge between 5 and 12 Pesos and if they dont have a music system, a local musician often climbs aboard and serenades the riders with a guitar and song. The cocodrilario is located at the bus stop in Playa Linda so we got to see the crocs, iguanas, turtles and other wildlife up close. I like that theres nothing but a chain link fence between the spectators and the animals, you can get within a few feet of them, so we got lots of up close and personal photos. Playa Linda is a beautiful beach with dozens of vendor stalls selling everything from toy crocs to clothing, along with delicious food and Mexican beer. Isla Grande lies less than a mile off the coast and tourists arrive by the busload to take pangas out to the island for a day of snorkeling, sipping and sun. We wandered around the place for a while, but quickly tired of the tourist crowds and grabbed a bus back to the marina, where we began preparations to leave Ixtapa. Lisa went up to the office to check us out while I loaded the boat with diesel...a few minutes later she came running back, telling me that finally there was a crocodile swimming through the marina, which she got photos of. Frankly, Im a bit crocd out and didnt need to see it myself.

Croc

We cleared the breakwater around 1630, and set a course that would take us out around Punta Ixtapa and northwest, back toward Manzanillo.  I must say I felt a twinge of regret as we rounded the point. Ixtapa marks the furthest south we will go on this voyage, and every mile we travel from now on will be homeward bound. Id rather be headed for the other horizon.