Friday 25th May

Colon,
Panama.

9 20.716 N
79 54.555 W

Well today came in a hurry, it was to be our last day in Colon as the scheduler had brought forward out transit date and we were going to be going through the canal on Saturday evening instead of Tuesday. Gerry pickled the water maker today as we haven’t run it for over 2 weeks. Once that was done we fiddled around doing clearing up on the boat until almost lunchtime when we called a taxi and set off for the supermarket complex. Once there we wandered around the complex, which is huge but unfortunately is mostly empty. We weren’t sure if the place is in the process of being built or is too expensive for most shops and is being left to run to rack and ruin, either way it was a shame to see such an enormous complex so empty. We found a small pizza place and went in and ordered lunch which went down very well. Then it was on to the supermarket to purchase the final things that we needed for our transit. I hate to say it but I know that Dale and Lorie at least will appreciate it; half of the shopping trolley was filled with Gerry’s favourite food – chocolate. Honestly I can’t begin to imagine what the check out chick thought but we won’t run out of chocolate this side of Christmas! Having stocked up it was time to head back to the boat and stash everything away – always a fun job. On the way back we passed lots of buses that were the old yellow American school buses in a previous life, they certainly look different now with their paint jobs. I thought that some of the artwork was incredible and took photos as we zoomed past at a rapid rate; the photos aren’t great but they give you an idea. I looked out for the ladies selling the craft stuff as I wanted to make further purchases but they weren’t there today. We made our last trip to the bar for happy hour and a cheap meal then visited with one of the other boats that are transiting with us to impart some “knowledge about fishing” – what a hoot, we’ve caught exactly 2 fish and people are asking our advice! Still we parted with what little knowledge we have gleaned plus a copy of the “cheat sheet” (thanks Dale and Lorie). Really it was just an excuse to drink wine and chat, we eventually left them as they still hadn’t had dinner.
Back on the boat we watched Black Adder for the millionth time – it never fails to make us laugh, before going to bed for the last night (hopefully) in Colon.