Well, the provisioning went well. We can no longer see our water line so we MUST be full. No
way anyone on Imagine can go hungry! We know the places to buy all the necessary goods for
a long passage and we have been to them at least once and some 3 times. We are ready to leave
Panama. No more will we have to battle with the cabbies and their gringo prices for trips into
Panama City or this dingy dock from hell at La Playita yacht (used loosely) Club.
It has been quite an eventful week in the anchorage. Tuesday evening the 23rd we were having
dinner on a fellow boat when the wind turned around south and 6' rollers began breaking into
the anchorage. We sat in the cockpit of 'The Road' watching as other boats began picking up
their anchors and leaving the anchorage. Taffy, Captain on The Road, could see our boat
and said we looked fine, however, we were uncomfortable, so we got in our dingy and raced
to Imagine. The dingy was bucking as we neared her and was extremely hard getting on
board but we managed and Imagine was in peril. We were just within feet of the boat behind
us so we started the engine and weighed anchor. We had a miserable night anchored out close to the canal as the winds did not abate and we were rocking and rolling and pitching back and forth
the entire night. Early the next morning we motored back into the anchorage and re-anchored. Exhausted from no sleep but happy we and our boat were safe. We learned that at least 5 otherboats had drug anchor and several boats had come into contact causing damage to their hulls. The weather had settled and we stayed on board to make sure our anchor was dug in. The southerly winds we experienced are also referred to as 'lift your anchor winds' because they come from the opposite direction you anchored and will pull it out. Like Stuart said, "we have been
cruising for 5 years and only 2nd time we have drug anchor". We hope the last!
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