Day 126, Year 1: Getting Organized
Date: Monday, February 20, 2006
Air Temperature: 78 degrees F
Water Temperature: 76 degrees F
Location: Balboa Yacht Club, Balboa, Panama

We just got home from a meeting of cruisers in the area headed into the South Pacific. Molly and Jeff from Kauila who spent last year in the South Pacific, and Mike and Deirdre of Cheshire Cat who spent last year here and in Ecuador, including the Galapagos, who are now preparing to head into the South Pacific, are the organizers of information. They keep a list of all boats heading out and have a wealth of information for those of us preparing to do this for the first time. It was great to meet others who will be heading our way. One of the main topics of conversation was how to get a cruising permit for the Galapagos. We hope we have that one under control, but we did learn that you can only use Master Cards in ATMs in the Galapagos. Oops! I guess we’ll have to take lots of cash as we are Visa family. The meeting was a few miles from here near the Flamenco Marina. It is at the end of the causeway and has a number of restaurants and shops in the surrounding area. After the meeting, we all went to a two-for-one pizza night at a local restaurant. We sat with Margaret and Patrick of Aqua Magic and a Doug and Sylvia of Windcastle. Doug is from California and Sylvia is from Mexico City. She gave Mark Spanish lessons while we ate, and believe me, we need the help.

We started our day at the French Embassy. We had to leave copies of our credit cards, copies of our health insurance, proof of emergency evacuation insurance, and our passports. Hopefully by Friday of this week, we will have a 3-month Visa for French Polynesia. It was easier than we had heard, but they certainly want to know that you have enough money to get out of French Polynesia if there is a problem. This first stop was in what is referred to as the old part of the city. We saw many beautiful old churches and other buildings that have been gutted and have no roof, but there were also many charming old buildings that have been renovated. We then took at taxi to the Plaza de Cinco de Mayo which is the drop off point for the downtown shopping area. We had directions to a place where we could buy Texalena, a type of plasticized mesh that boaters use as sun shades because it permits air circulation while blocking the most intense rays of the sun. We found the store and bought 10 yards. In this part of the world, finding a way to keep yourself out of the sun is very important. We then took another cab to a totally different part of the city to go to a marine store. By this time, I decided that lugging 10 yards of Texalena around was not my idea of fun, so we came back to the Balboa Yacht Club and dropped off the goods before heading to the afternoon meeting in another totally different part of the city. And we have just barely scratched the surface of seeing the various parts of town. Taxis here are cheap, almost always under $2.00 for up to 4 people, no matter how far we have gone. I’m sure it will cost more to go to the outskirts of the city, but travel is very affordable.

We will probably stay close to the boat tomorrow and work on making sunshades and continuing to read the volumes of cruising information that will help to get us organized for our South Pacific voyage. It feels good to be in one place for a few days, so we plan to stay here until early next week. After a little more research tomorrow, we will have our “flight plan” for our next stop worked out.