At anchorage at La Plaita,Panama City. February 2014

Since Jane left us 18th January life has been quiet here at the anchorage.

Well, we are bobbing up and down all the time due to passing of traffic to and fro the Panama Canal and closer to home the supply vessels and pilots passing close to the boat and giving us a 'wash' every time they pass. Some of them do not slow down going through the anchorage.
When we arrived in beginning of January the anchorage was almost empty, as most boats were anchored on the other side of the causeway, The Amador, which runs from the mainland out between the islands, the last one being Isla Flamenco.The Amador was built with left over material from the canal project 100 years ago. Now the anchorage is full as the season is well under way. Also, this anchorage is protected from the strong northerly winds, which dominate at the moment.

Life here is not boring, but it seems to be slowed down. If you go shopping it is a day-project, as you leave the dinghy  at the dinghy dock,

See theboats at the dinghy dock!

well locked up, and making sure it is not in the way of the Toboga island ferries , or ends up under the pillars to the pontoon on a changing tide. Then you march up to the main road in the Amador to catch the bus ($ 0.25 per person). You get off the bus at the shopping mall, The Albrooks, which is absolutely enormous and the largest mall in the whole of Central America. Inside the building you walk a mile in the air-conditioned atmosphere to the grocery shop, do your shopping, wait in a long queue at the check out  and get back to the bus stop.

Now you wait for the bus in the baking heat. The bus could be there at any time, but mostly you have a long wait. When you get back to the boat it is probably after lunch and you are exhausted and it is steaming hot.The afternoon will be spent relaxing in the cockpit in the breeze under the bimini or on the bed with a fan cooling you down. At sunset , 6.30 pm we have our sundowner.  This is a lovely event of the day, and we always look forward to  watch the sunset with a cool drink at hand.