March 19 and 20, 2010


Today was a day with mixed feelings. Only 50 passengers are staying on, the rest will leave the ship tomorrow.

So it will be the last beach day, the last dip in the pool, the last afternoon snack, the last dinner, followed by the last sailaway tune on the sun deck.

We arrived at the Isla del Pearl early in the morning. I took the first tender to shore, and did some snorkeling. I saw two very big barracuda's and a lot of other fish. One passenger saw a turtle, and another one a ray.

The only time I like the beach, is in winter. When it storms, I love the beach, but in summertime, I just go for a swim. Being a little bit hilly, I decided I would not take the gamble with my knee, so I stayed on the beach.

One of the reason I went back withing an hour was, that there were several Panamees soldiers, carrying machine guns. It did not feel very comfortable.

As soon as I got back on the ship, it looked I had it for myself. Nearly all the passengers were on the beach, and just three passengers stayed on. After a dip in the swimming pool, I spent some time in the sun and in the afternoon I took a two hour nap. Did not get much sleep the previous night.

I again had a beautiful massage by Chutima, and I was just in time to join my tablemates for dinner. This was the last dinner I was going to have with Ross, Rokie, Patrick, Catherine, Alabama John, Jen en John.

At 22.30 the anchor was lifted, and the ship got moving. It again was a very special moment, nearly all the passengers were on the bridge, and there was just the noise of the music, the sails and the wind. It was pitch dark, and for most of us, it was a little bit sad. I went to bed after twelve and was up at six in the morning. My nights are getting shorter and shorter.

Today I was supposed to go on an excursion with Walt, his sister Bone and her husband and Gail. I decided to cancel. The trip involved in total a four hour car ride, a 1 1/2 hour trip with a canoe, a walk through the jungle, and I was sure, my knee would not keep up with it.

Heidi and I went ashore, to do some necessity shopping. The captain asked if we could buy him some shoes, I think we have seen about twenty shoeshops, but no luck. Have to try it in Cartagena or Curacao.

After four o'clock "the newbies" were coming on board. Since the boat was anchored offshore, they had to use the tender.

The old ones all have mixed feelings. It is just that the island hoppers are a different crowd than the transatlantic/pacific crossers. To our surprise a lot of the passengers are even older than the ones that left. We expected a lot of younger ones, so there would be a lot of dancing etc. I don't think this will happen that much.

Since the boat had to be moved about 50 meters backward, otherwise the inspector responsible for the ship's approval to go through the Panama canal, would not come on board, the last tender was at 9. Since there were still about 20 passengers on their way, it worked out they finally came on board at 3.00 in the morning. Brought by a tugboat. At that time the ship had gone under the bridge at about 1.00 hour. This timeline was critical, due to the fact we needed low tide, leaving enough room for the three masts to pass under the bridge. At first I planned to stay awake, but in the end I decided to go to bed. Just before twelve I went to bed, and was rudely awakend at 3.00 because they dropped the anchors.

At 05.30 my alarmclock woke me up, so I was in time on the bridge, so I could see the ship entering the first lock.

The last time I passed the Panama canal it rained the whole day. Today was a beautiful day, lots of sunshine, very, very humid, no swimming pool, because the water in the canal is not suitable. So I decided to hose myself down.

There was a guide on the ship, explaining a lot of details when we were sailing through.

We are now docked just outside the canal. We are bunkering and were allowed to go onshore. There are some shops over here, but everything was closed. We were told they would open in an hour, but it probably will be later, manana is a common word in this part of the world.

I just heard from the Captain, there will be no internet available till we reach Europe. I am quite annoyed by this, since at least four passengers gave me their internet cards with a lot of minutes left on them, so I could use them up. Since the internetcharges are € 12,50 per hour, I was really pleased getting those cards. No good at all. Knowing Star Clippers, there will be no refund.

So, here I am, sitting in my cabin, updating my blog. I will transfer everything onto my memory stick, and will try to find an internet cafe in Cartagena.

Walt, his sister and brother in law and myself, were planning on doing the volcano mudbaths. Leone and Tom have already signed up, Walt and I have not. Since there will be a lot of climbing involved, I have decided, to skip this tour again.

Walt told me the Indian village tour was very nice, but also very tiresome. So in the end I made the right decision, not to go. Again, this will involve a lot of walking and climbing, both I cannot do at the moment.

I better get dressed, the passengers have to be back at 19.00 hours, and perhaps the oldies will meet again on the sundeck. Gossipping about the newbies. We'll see.

Take care, and please leave some messages. I am looking forward to read them.

Ineke