Race 11 - Pre-race
Crew Diary - Panama to New York, USA
30 May

NB: Received by the Race Office on 4 June

To Family and Friends,

Hope you are all well - my turn to blog!

I came off watch just as we distinguished lights on the horizon. When I came back on deck for the 0800 watch, the view was amazing. After sailing for 23 days with only sea as our horizon, the marina in Costa Rica was plush with palm trees, green vegetation, chattering birdsong, and a prolific Bougainvillea everywhere .

We refuelled, while the restaurateur on the Marina provided us with delicious fresh fruit platters and the best pancakes with maple syrup. Sadly we could stay only long enough to refuel and were soon on our way motoring towards Panama.

Upon arrival we tied up in a marina for one night before transiting the Panama Canal the following day. There was great excitement and anticipation on board. We were rafted up to two other Clipper 70 yachts, and a Panamanian pilot came on board to guide us through. Each boat had to be measured up, resulting in a cost of $ 1000 per boat. There were enormous vessels waiting in line to go through. Some appeared to have only inches to spare. We moved through the locks slowly with a lot of easing and tensioning of the handling lines, and then we motored through Gatun Lake. The canal itself is the home to crocodiles. We saw one in the distance - not a good place to fall overboard !

After more locks, we arrived at Colon at 2100, about 14 hours later. Having been one of the earlier boats to transit, we were fortunate to enjoy a few days of R and R before the start of the next race to NY.

Great to receive your emails. All is well on DLD. Looking forward to the next leg -New York here we come!!

Love from the high seas,

Siobhan