Alcedo of Ryme - Blog 12, Panamá. 08.54.45N 79.31.65W

Thursday, 4 February. For a night in a Marina, this has to have been one of the least restful. Before moving the boat, the female members of crew set off for the Mall again to do another supermarket shop, while Anthony went walking and the Skipper did skipperly things. Shopping sorted for everything except cereals and meat, which were disappointing, the latter was fine if all you wanted was chicken and the former was devoid of anything not coated in sugar, a bit disappointing as this would be the last shop before the Galapagos. Fruit and vegetables left a lot to be desired as well, but we were planning to go to the market tomorrow. Back to the boat in good time for the move to the Marina, with Anthony still enjoying a walk somewhere, while the Skipper and wife helped the boys from "Into The Blue" and "Wishanger" rescue "Take Off"' who was dragging towards a boat on a buoy. "Take Off" sorted and after a quick lunch, with Anthony on the fuel dock to receive warps, thank goodness as there was a hell of a surge at the dock and the whole operation was pretty hairy. Getting into the slip vacated by Spirit was exciting as well, but we made it with a lot of help from the marina staff and Stuart from Time Bandit. Than we had 24 hours of groaning warps and speaking fenders as Alcedo was pushed and pulled on and off the dock by the surge and no one got much sleep.

Friday 5 Feb and the female crew members go to market with Nelson, taxi driver, escort and "donkey" and a real gem. The market was just fantastic, with loads of stalls, some selling multiple items, others specialising in just one or two products, with sacks of oranges at 4 dollars a sack, fabulous pineapples at 75cents each, zillions of paw paws, bananas and plantains, etc. etc., herbs and really fresh vegetables. It was catering heaven. Then back to the boat and out of the marina, no easy manoeuvre with a near miss for the port topsides and back onto anchor, a blessed relief to be away from the squeaking and groaning, even if it was rough at times in the anchorage. The afternoon was spent washing all the market produce in Milton's, before stowing it in the nets and bilges, a process that takes hours but was completed in good time for the evening's entertainment at The Beirute Restaurant with food and Venezuelan belly dancer who had pretty much everyone up on their feet and trying to shake their stuff, some with more success than others. On the way back to the boat, the outboard motor died, not in itself too much a problem as the oars took over, but not good.

Saturday 6 Feb and all our plans for leaving this morning to find a lovely anchorage were stymied by the outboard refusing to respond to the skipper's best efforts to get it going. He managed to find a mechanic who diagnosed a fault with the electronic starter controls and the need for a replacement part, but Carnival started yesterday and everything is shut until next Wednesday lunchtime. Carango to the rescue, lending us her spare outboard, bless them, so we will go tomorrow.