10 Hours from Panama

by Bob

At Providencia we were supposed to meet customs and the agent (Mr. Bush) on our boat at 10:00. Some of the government people were
busy and they didn't make it until 11:00. They were all very friendly.

There were several other sailboats at Providencia, most of them U.S. Three boats came in while we were there, one with a faulty
engine.

Melinda and I walked around the islands, ate, and surveyed the power plant. We took the dinghy around part of the island. There are
a lot of small caves that I'm pretty sure have pirate gold. Providencia used to be pretty popular with pirates.

The people there seemed pretty normal to me, kind of like a typical small town though the average income is a probably bit lower
than Oklahoma. When we were there, the news of a plane crash, maybe a military plane, spread through town. We never did get the
details, but a lot of people were concerned.

We had planned to take off this morning from Providencia, but we decided to go ahead and head out last night.

Bright and early this morning I rousted Melinda and we had a wild birthday party complete with 21 candles in a can of spam, and
birthday cake. That was the first cake I've ever baked. It was a little messy. OK, OK, a lot messy. But I cleaned up most of it.

We were estimating Panama at about 2:00 pm, but when I called ahead I found out they don't make admeasurer appointments after 1:00
on Sunday. So I sped up. We're running both engines now, and should be there by 8:00 am. Of course, I learned since then that nobody
will be available tomorrow.

An admeasurer is someone who measures the boat so they can decide how much to charge us for using the Panama Canal. It seems a
little redundant, since the boat documentation certificate has the official length, width, and tonnage. But it is a required step
(and so important) for crossing to the Pacific.

There will be a few day's wait once we get all registered, cleared, measured, and visa'd. We're thinking about heading out in the
boat and touring the coast of Panama. After laundry, hopefully.

Melinda got a couple of coconuts at our last stop and has been sanding them to make bowls.

Yesterday a bird landed on the boat, maybe some kind of swallow. This morning it was dead. Tonight another bird landed on the boat.
These land birds should stay closer to home!

We've also had some moths and dragon flies on the boat this evening, 75 miles off shore. I suspect they hitched a ride on a thunder
shower and were attracted by our most excellent navigation lights (bulbs replaced by Brian and I) and steaming light (bulb replaced
by me).

Our air conditioner is not conditioning today. The satphone antenna was getting very flaky, so I overhauled it. This was hard
because the BNC connectors we had require a solid center lead, and ours is stranded. With the aid of two pairs of pliers, a
1,233,231 watt soldering gun, a good amount of electrical tape, and other various and sundry tools, I got it working. It's even
better than when I started!

Tonight's movie was Second Hand Lions (excellent). Last night: Valley of the Dolls (weak) and The Unsinkable Molly Brown (pretty
good). Other recent showings: Key Largo (pretty good), 5 Corners (weak), Sahara (good, but not like the book), Anchors Aweigh
(entertaining), On the Beach (interesting 1959 viewpoint), Hell in the Pacific (I gave up after 15 minutes), CC and Company
(interesting 1970 viewpoint, Joe Namath and Ann Margaret, weak movie).