PANAMA POSSE 
 
FLEET UPDATE 

December 18, 2022

TOP NEWS

• PORT ANTONIO 🇯🇲 JAMAICA PORT GUIDE
• REVISITING MBTILES FOR OPENCPN 
• UNINVITED VISITORS
• ENTRY INTO CAPTAIN RON AWARD 
• TENECATITA COSTALEGRE 🇲🇽 MEXICO 
• EARLY OFFER FROM PREDICT WIND
• PANAMA POSSE NOW REPORTING LONG LINES
• OCEAN POSSE PARTY @ SHELTER BAY PANAMA
• PANAMAPOSSE.COM/BELIZE 
• VICENTE'S MOORINGS
• TIME TO RELEASE THE BABY TURTLES 

1) PICTURE OF THE WEEK 

LA PAZ SKY in BCS 🇲🇽 Mexico 

SV  FELICITÀ 🇺🇸  Gretchen & Tim - Catalina 42′

 THE HAPPY FACES OF THE 22·23 PANAMA POSSE

 
2) PORT ANTONIO 🇯🇲 JAMAICA 
PORT GUIDE
 

PORT ANTONIO 🇯🇲 JAMAICA PORT GUIDE 

By S/V Kyrie

December 2022

Customs:

-Tie up to the dock at Errol Flynn Marina 18° 10.825'N 076° 27.215'W
and the marina will arrange for customs to come down to you to check in.

-Checking in and out is free, unless you want to go to other Jamaican ports.

-A cruising permit to go to other ports in Jamaica (optional) will cost you $150usd for 3 months.

-Dogs are allowed in the country, but will very likely not be able to step foot off the boat the entire time you’re in Jamaica, even if you’ve had a rabies titer done. (Strict quarantine rules)

Marina:

Errol Flynn Marina is the only choice in Port Antonio. There are a limited number of deep water slips (30-40’) available. When not busy they allow you to side tie to the main face of the dock. I understand when it gets busy it can be med-moor only at the face dock.

-Fees are as follows (with Posse discount as of 12/2022 – prices in USD)

-Moorage $0.70 USD per foot per night. Large cats are 1.5x this rate.

-Mandatory garbage charge of $3 per day

-Water (potable) is $0.25/gallon

-Power (15, 30, and 50a available at most slips) is $0.85 / KWH

-Anchoring $25/day for two people, $2 for each additional person on the boat, plus $3 for garbage. It very well might be cheaper to dock – it was for us. You can anchor for free in the bay in front of the town, but it is rolly, has no dinghy dock; and the bottom is largely filled with sea grass, so be sure you are set well.

-On-site self-serve laundry $8 per load (2 washers and driers are available)

-There is a haul out yard with storage and a travel lift available on the property. We did not use it, so unsure as to the rates or details. I would guess the lift is a 50-75 ton unit, so can handle most mono-hulls, but only smaller cats.

-Showers and restrooms are nice with good hot water.

-On-site small pool is available for guests.

-Complimentary Wi-fi is available. Speed varies by how many people are using it, but is generally ok. Best speed is closer to the marina office.

Fuel:

-Marina has both gas and diesel. Rates as of 12/2022 are:

-Diesel $7.55 per gallon

-Gasoline $7.30 per gallon

-Propane is available in town. Ask the dock workers and they will take care of it for you for cost plus a $1000 JMD fee (about $6 usd)

Grocery:

-There are a great deal of small to mid-sized grocery stores in town. Most normal needs are available but be prepared for island pricing. We found most goods to be 30-50% more expensive than Panama. Locally grown veggies or manufactured items are the exception, and can be pretty reasonable.

-Genuine blue-mountain coffee is available all over, but is quite expensive. Around $25/pound.

-Kamal’s supermarket appeared to be among the best variety and most reasonable prices we saw.

-There is a large outdoor farmers market right outside of the marina with the normal goods available. Our preference was the indoor farmers market straight across from the cenotaph on Williams Street. The prices appeared a bit better and the vegetables were local and good quality.

-Be sure to check out the local bakeries. Both the Ginger Bulla from CC Bakery and the bread from Coronation Bakery are excellent.

WATERFRONT PORT ANTONIO 🇯🇲 JAMAICA 

Restaurants:

-Our budget only allowed the less expensive options, but the Jerk Chicken at Piggy’s is amazing (take out only and $800 JMD for a quarter chicken with festival bread). It is served fairly mild with an optional, amazing brown sauce at the counter to take the heat and flavor up significantly.

-The many shops selling Patties (think a Jamaican take on an empanada or Cornish pasties) are all excellent and a cheap meal out.

-There is a guy selling delicious, but very spicy jerk pork on the waterfront near the corner of Harbour Street and Manning Avenue.

-Great and very inexpensive ice cream (little over $1 per large cone) is available at a little shop near the high school, at the SW corner of Boundbrook and W. Palm Avenue. Ice cream shops in town and near the marina are otherwise quite a bit more expensive.

-Other cruisers reported good experiences from both Roots 21 and 658 Plates, which are sit-down restaurants.

Blue Lagoon in Port Antonio 🇯🇲 Jamaica

Activities:

-Again our budget limited us, but the Blue Lagoon is only a few miles down the road, and the bamboo rafting down the Rio Grande river is supposed to be a lot of fun.

-Local car rentals were around $50-75 USD per day with a 2 day minimum. There is at least one car rental place (Auhsoj car rental) within walking distance of the marina.

-The free self-guided walking tour of the town is certainly worth doing, and is about 2 miles each way if you walk all the way out to the lighthouse. The Folly ruins are a really neat place for some urban exploration along the tour. https://www.visitjamaica.com/listing/port-antonio-walking-tour/466/

General Area Information:

-Kingston is approximately a 1.5-2 hour drive away. A taxi, bus, or rental car can all get you there.

-The nearest international airports are either in Kingston or Montego Bay for flying in or out crew.

Chandleries:

-None in Port Antonio that we found. There are good hardware stores, and a number of auto part stores that might be able to help with basic needs

SY KYRIE 🇺🇸 Joe, Kristen & Crew - Prout 37′ 

3) CHARTS AND AIDS TO NAVIGATION 🇯🇲 JAMAICA

Good Nautical has a collection of 40+ anchorages just for Jamaica
https://goodnautical.com/gma/jamaica

Since Chart accuracy and details are lacking for some of Jamaica coastal areas Panama Posse participants have created 3.7 GIG's of satellite charts to aid your vessel's navigation. 

Here is a screen shot of Glovers Reef Atoll in Open CPN with Sat Chart Overlays
download from https://panamaposse.com/charts

4) REVISITING MBTILES FOR OPENCPN 

by Rob Murray published @ https://currents.bluewatercruising.org/

Back in January 2020, I wrote an article on making MBTiles for use in OpenCPN or other navigation programs. An MBTiles file is a tile-based geographic map; its format allows users to save detailed collections of geo-spatial information as a single map. MBTiles still seem to represent the best way to get satellite images into a GPS-aware chart program, and show any chart offset(s), additional features, and generally get more detail in poorly charted areas in the world. The advice here was written in October 2022, but of course the data sources may change at any time so your mileage may vary.

Since 2020, additional data sources have become available; OpenCPN has changed, and I have learned a bit more that cruisers may find helpful. Thus, I thought I would take a few minutes to share an update of what I’ve learned lately.

Data Sources: it’s who you know (about)

Back a few years, only Google and Bing offered accessible data to download to make MBTiles. Now there are a few more interesting new sources:

ArcGIS

ArcGIS is a family of client, server and online geographic information system (GIS) software and associated data sources developed and maintained by Esri (Environmental Systems Research Institute). Esri is an international supplier of GIS software, web GIS and geo-database management applications and associated data. The image sets available through this data set are less ‘massaged’ than either Bing or Google, and that can be a very good thing.

Bing and Google massage their images to make them pretty and often clip a lot of the image out, replacing actual satellite images of the foreshore and ocean with ersatz ocean views, which contain no real data or value for the navigator. The Esri/ArcGIS images seem to be ‘rawer’ and sometimes that’s a good thing.

Navionics and Navionics SonarChart™

Navionics and Navionics SonarChart™ charts are now available. Of course, you don’t get the data (user notes, light characteristics, etc.) that a real subscription gives you, but you can see what are, in effect, raster versions of their vector charts. Details seem to cap out at around zoom level 16.

C-Map

Various C-Map charts are available. As in Navionics above, it’s just a raster version of a vector chart. Details seem to cap out at about zoom level 16. To gain access, you need to unzip the C-Map_V2.zip file found here into the SASPlanet\Maps folder to add C-Map functionality.

Combining and Comparing Sources

When using cartography based sources to make MBTiles, switch off the ‘Layers-Google-Hybrid’ for making the MBTiles so you don’t get double labeling on geographic features like islands. While the labeling can be useful in satellite image MBTiles, it’s just irritating in most cartography-derived images.

These sources may (probably will) change their access over time, so you may need to update SASPlanet to maintain access. The owners of the data may cut off access, or restrict your ability to download huge amounts of images (throttling) at any time as well.

To see what you might get from these sources, let’s have a look at Pedro Bank (or Petro Bank) south of Jamaica at about 17°00N, 077°48W in the Caribbean. It has an area of a depth to 40 metres (130 feet) in a triangular shape, 70 kilometres (43 miles) long east-west, and 43 kilometres (27 miles) wide. Of that, 2,400 square kilometres (927 square miles) are less than 20 metres (66 feet) deep. It’s pretty big and has four permanent islands and a few more rocks that break the surface. Cruisers want to avoid it, yet know where the edges are. Knowing where it’s sand and where it’s rock would be very useful.

Here’s how a few of the data sources represent it.

Google Satellite shows nothing:

Bing satellite shows two of the four permanent islands (the little white dots on the right):

The ESRI ArcGIS imagery shows the bank, indicates depths visually, shows all islands and rocks, and is generally very useful. But these images are at zoom level 12, and disappear at higher zooms, so any images you captured for MBTiles would need to use these lower zoom levels:

Navionics gives a useful overview, but would not help you find a patch of sand to anchor in:

C-Map offers a similar view to Navionics (not surprising considering they would be based on the same cartography provider):

It’s always worth having a look at multiple sources. Some may not offer as a clear a view (or a view at all) of the ocean floor as others.

Time Marches On (but not at the same pace for all sources)

Some sources are newer than others. For example, they have extended the western breakwater in Ensenada, Mexico. But not every source seems to know this, as you can see below.

Google satellite shows the shorter old breakwater:

Bing shows the new extension:

C-Map doesn’t have the new construction:

Navionics does show it:

Frequency of updates matters! The schedule of updates differs for different providers, so check on who has what available.

Close Enough, But No Closer

Sometimes, image providers use images from different satellite passes for different zoom levels. Different passes may be made at different stages of the tide, with a different angle of the sun, or with clouds blocking the view. While I usually like zoom level 18 for detail, sometimes lower magnifications provide a better view or more detail (zoom level is shown on the vertical slider on the left hand side and in the lower left corner of the screen):

At level 17, you get a pretty good view of Benao Anchorage near Punta Mala in Panama on Google Satellite:

Zooming in to level 18, Google uses a different satellite image that shows no bottom detail at all, lost in the reflection of the sun on the water:

Bing is almost as good as Google at Zoom level 17:

But Bing loses detail to clouds and their shadows at Level 18:

The current practice among many providers seems to be to occasionally use different satellite passes and images for odd and even zoom levels, so it’s always worth a look to see what you’ll get before you download and create your MBTiles. In some cases, a lower zoom may provide more useful detail.

OpenCPN Has Changed Too

OpenCPN now supports zoom levels up to 20 (previously just up to 18), but still suffers lag when indexing very large MBTiles for display. Keeping your files smaller with lower zoom levels and/or smaller coverage areas will give you better performance (less lag) when using them. Doing 100-200 miles of coast, or about 250,000-500,000 tiles or less per MBTiles chart seems to give good display performance on my PCs, but yours may be different, so test a few before you go wild making a ton of charts.

Check Before You Make

It’s always worth a look around to find out what’s new in the neighborhood before an MBTiles chart-making session. Make sure you have an up-to-date version of SASPlanet and OpenCPN, and have a browse in the Maps tab to see what’s new and what suits your need before committing the time to download images and make your MBTiles. Sources change and using the right ones can make a huge difference in the result. Like so many things in the cruising life, curiosity and flexibility are often rewarded in this endeavor.

SY AVANT  🇨🇦 Rob & Debra - Beneteau 43.5′ 

5) ENTRY INTO UNINVITED VISITORS ONBOARD AWARD

An unexpected visitor on the fly bridge. How the heck did he get up there? It was toasty warm for him. We are in slip B9/10 at Barra. My family and friends just left. Time to meet our neighbors.

SY TITS PIERRE Ken and Tina - Bayliner 45′

NOTE: 

I’ve seen them on other boats in the marina - if we leave any food accessible in Barra de Navidad the Coatimundi climb aboard and get into it good too!

6) MEET THE FLEET 
FEATURED PARTICIPANT INSTAGRAM & VIDEOS

https://www.youtube.com/@alwayssummer-svrochambeau3893

Sorry we keep missing the call. We’re still getting used to swapping between the time zone we’re working in versus the local time we cruise on. But, we’re happily tucked away in Careyes. Will head to Tenacatita by Wednesday.

https://www.instagram.com/sailingrochambeau/

SY ROCHAMBEAU 🇺🇸 Rolf & Beverly - Lagoon 39′

7) ENTRIES INTO BIGGEST FISH CAUGHT

SY MEDEA 🇦🇺 Darryl - Bavaria 46′

 44 inch - 5 miles out of Maruata

Picture of the Sunset

RM Godínez (PO 132) (1991) Holzinger-class patrol vessel
in service with the Mexican Navy. They are a Mexican design, based on the Uribe class developed by the Spanish Naval Company Empresa Nacional Bazán in 1982. Holzinger-class patrol vessels have a smaller helicopter deck than the Uribe class and have main armaments (two twin US MK1 Bofors 40 mm AA mounts) at 'A' position. They are able to operate MBB Bo 105 helicopters on board. 

MY NAVIGATOR 🇺🇸 Dave - Nordhavn 46′

SY WONOMA 🇨🇦 Christopher & Jessica - Dufour 37′

MahiMahi tonight !

MV TIDEWALKER 🇨🇦 Alan - Nordhavn 57′

8) ENTRY INTO CAPTAIN RON AWARD 

Nominating ourselves for a Captain Ron award for not clearing into Mexico in Ensenada and clearing in at Cabo without an agent (because they wanted $800 USD-not including other port fees etc). Took 2 days of running around, lots of waiting in lines, creating documents in word, tons of frustration and even a blood draw for health certificate. Cabo may have taken our blood but they won’t take our joy! Looking forward to seeing both old and new faces in Barra soon!

We had 2 hitchhikers. Left Cabo this AM and headed to mainland Mexico

Arrival at Costa Alegre 

SY MAISON DE SANTÉ 🇺🇸 Keenan & Nicole - Cal 46′

9) MORE PICTURES OF THE WEEK 

Sunset in Lameshure Bay St John USVI @ anchor 

SY LADY SLIPPER  🇺🇸 John, Kathryn - Dufour 41′

INDUSTRY surfing into 🇸🇻 EL SALVADOR BAR 

MY INDUSTRY  🇺🇸 Tom - Nichols 40′

Hauling out at Flamenco Marina in Panama 

MY  SEA TRIAL 🇺🇸 David, Toni & Crew - Nordhavn 55′

PANAMA POSSE IMPROMPTU GATHERINGS 

9) TENECATITA COSTALEGRE 🇲🇽 MEXICO 

THE RELAXED ANCHORAGE 
 AND A SEASON IN PERFECT COMPANY 

DINGHY RAFT UPS ARE THE NORM IN TENECATITA MX

SIRENA'S GREG IS THIS SEASON'S MAYOR OF TENECATIA

 Tenecatita - Inner Bay Anchoreg - Mexico Pacific  is in Good Nautical 

10) EARLY OFFER FROM PREDICT WIND

Iridium GO! exec™ Pre-launch

11) PANAMA POSSE NOW
 REPORTING LONG LINES ENCOUNTERS 

Unmarked nets and unlit long lines are a mayor concern to the unencumbered freedom of navigation and catch seat turtles and other endangered species - in an effort to identify areas of concern we are publishing recent and historic sightings of long lines and hope to shed light to these obstacles - to view these past locations or to report long line visit https://panamaposse.com/longlines 

Mexico has close to 100,000 pangas in operation so night time identification of deployed fishing gear is essential. Black flags while visible during daytime and in white capping conditions are not visible at night 

For Mexico - the Fisheries Law (Ley de Pesca) (1992, as amended in 2001) and the Regulation to the Fisheries Law (Reglamento de la Ley de Pesca) (1999, as amended in 2004) are the main legislative documents governing the conservation, preservation, exploitation and management of all aquatic flora and fauna. The Fisheries Law has been amended in 2001 and the Regulation has been amended in 2004. In addition, various Official Mexican Standards (Normas Oficiales Mexicanas, NOMs) facilitate the implementation of the Fisheries Law by detailing requirements as to the conduct of activities within and development of fisheries and aquaculture. 

SOURCE https://www.fao.org/publications/sofia/2022/en/

The US based Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council initiated a six-month emergency rule prohibiting longline fishing gear in waters where sea turtles forage. According to recent government data, nearly 1,000 sea turtles were caught by bottom longlines In the U.S. every species of sea turtle in the United States is threatened or endangered by extinction.

Entry into Picture of the Year 21-22 - Bocas del Toro - RAINBOW by SHEARWATER 

12) PANAMA POSSE 23' AWARD CATEGORIES

HERE ARE THE CATEGORIES 

• BIGGEST FISH CAUGHT* 
• PICTURE OF THE YEAR 
• YODA OF THE YEAR 
• SPEEDY AWARD – SEVENSTAR AWARD 
• THE CAPTAIN RON AWARD 
• MOST UNWELCOME VISITOR ONBOARD 
• HIGHEST WIND RECORDED 
• SPIRIT OF EXPLORATION 
• GALLEY GOD(ESS) ✔ WINNER HULA KAI 
• GOOD SAMARITAN OF THE YEAR 
• BOAT YOGA POSE OF THE YEAR 
• COURAGE AWARD

*no bill-fish entries ✔winner announced already

13) OCEAN POSSE PARTY 
@ SHELTER BAY PANAMA

 FRI FEB 03 ‘23

SPONSORED BY 
🇧🇿 
BELIZE TOURISM BOARD
 

PANAMA POSSE MEETS PACIFIC POSSE 

Afternoon & Evening of Panama Posse and South Pacific Posse seminars 
Followed by an evening of RUM and MUSIC
Save the date Fri Feb 3rd '23

14) PANAMAPOSSE.COM/BELIZE >>

The Audobon Society has delineated seven Important Bird Areas in 🇧🇿 BELIZE

• Blue Hole Natural Monument
• Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary
• Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary
• Guanacaste National Park
• Half Moon Caye Natural Monument
• St. Herman's Blue Hole National Park
• Victoria Peak Natural Monument

15) 70+ PANAMA POSSE MARINA SPONSORS 

🇺🇸 Safe Harbor South Bay – Chula Vista, USA

🇲🇽 Marina Coral, Ensenada – Mexico

🇲🇽 IGY Marina Cabo San Lucas – Mexico

🇲🇽 Marina Puerto Escondido – Mexico

🇲🇽 Marina Palmira Topolobampo – Mexico

🇲🇽 Marina y Club de Yates Isla Cortes – Mexico

🇲🇽 Marina el Cid – Mazatlan – Mexico

🇲🇽 Marina Vallarta, Puerto Vallarta – Mexico

🇲🇽 PANAMA POSSE HQ – Marina Puerto de La Navidad – Mexico

🇲🇽 Marina Ixtapa, Ixtapa – Mexico 

🇲🇽 La Marina Acapulco, Acapulco – Mexico

🇲🇽 Vicente’s Moorings, Acapulco – Mexico 

🇲🇽 Marina Chiapas – Mexico

🇬🇹 Marina Pez Vela – Guatemala

🇸🇻 Marina Bahia del Sol – El Salvador

🇸🇻 La Palma Moorings – Bahia del Sol - El Salvador

🇳🇮 Marina Puesta del Sol – Nicaragua

🇨🇷 Marina Papagayo – Costa Rica

🇨🇷 Marina Pez Vela – Costa Rica 

🇨🇷 Marina Bahia Golfito – Costa Rica

🇨🇷 Banana Bay Marina – Costa Rica

🇪🇨 Marina Puerto Amistad – Ecuador

🇵🇦 Buenaventura Marina – Panama 

🇵🇦 PANAMA POSSE PACIFIC HQ Vista Mar Marina – Panama 

🇵🇦 Shelter Bay Marina – Panama

🇵🇦 IGY Red Frog Marina – Panama

🇵🇦 Bocas Marina – Panama 

🇵🇦 Linton Bay Marina – Panama 

🇨🇴 ClubNautico Cartagena – Colombia 

🇨🇴 Club de Pesca Marina Cartagena – Colombia 

🇨🇴 Marina Puerto Velero – Colombia

🇨🇴 IGY Marina Santa Marta – Colombia 

🇯🇲 Royal Jamaica Yacht Club – Jamaica 

🇯🇲 Errol Flynn Marina – Jamaica

🇯🇲 Montego Bay Yacht Club –Jamaica 

🇰🇾 The Barcadere Marina –Cayman Islands 

🇭🇳 Barefoot Cay Marina – Roatan – Honduras 

🇭🇳 Fantasy Island Marina – Roatan – Honduras

🇭🇳 Jonesville Point Marina -Roatan – Honduras

🇬🇹 Marina Nana Juana Resort & Boatyard – Guatemala 

🇧🇿 Thunderbirds Marine – Placencia – Belize 

🇲🇽 Marina Makax – Isla Mujeres – Mexico 

🇲🇽 Marina V&V – Quintana Roo – Mexico 

🇲🇽 Marina El Cid – Cancún – Riviera Maya – Mexico

🇨🇺 Marina Marlin Nautica Cayo Largo – Cuba 

🇹🇨 South Bank Marina & Boatyard – Turks and Caicos

🇧🇸 Romora Bay Resort and Marina – Bahamas

🇧🇸 Elizabeth on the Bay Marina – Bahamas 

🇧🇸 Great Harbour Cay Marina – Bahamas

🇧🇸 Blue Marlin Cove Resort & Marina – Bahamas

🇩🇴 Ocean World Marina – Dominican Republic

🇩🇴 Marina Puerto Bahia – Dominican Republic

🇺🇸 Marathon Marina – Marathon Keys 

🇺🇸 Pier 66 Hotel & Marina – Ft. Lauderdale, USA

🇺🇸 IGY Marina at Ortega Landing – Jacksonville, FL , USA 

🇺🇸 Oasis Marinas at Fernandina Harbor Marina – FL , USA

🇺🇸 Morningstar Marinas Golden Isles St. Simons Isl. – Georgia, USA

🇺🇸 Windmill Harbour Marina – Hilton Head South Carolina , USA

🇺🇸 Coffee Bluff Marina – Savannah Georgia , USA

🇺🇸 Hazzard Marine – Gerogetown, North Carolina , USA

🇺🇸 Holden Beach – Town Dock, North Carolina , USA 

🇺🇸 Portside Marina – Morehead City, North Carolina USA

🇺🇸 Tideawater Yacht Marina – Portsmouth, USA

🇺🇸 Ocean Yacht Marina, Portsmouth, USA

🇺🇸 Yorktown Riverwalk Landing – Virginia USA

🇺🇸 Regatta Point Marina – Deltaville, Virginia USA 

🇺🇸 Regent Point Marina – Topping, Virginia USA 

Marina Puerto Bahia 🇩🇴 Sponsors the Panama Posse

16) FLOR DE CAÑA
SUSTAINABLE COCKTAIL SESSIONS

Learn this Flor de Caña Cocktail Recipe 
MIDNIGHT 👄 KISS 

Flor de Caña Rum Bar: Sustainable and Natural

17) PANAMA POSSE SPONSORS 

• PREDICT WIND
• SEVENSTAR YACHT TRANSPORT
• HOME DEPOT PRO MEXICO
• HERTZ RENTAL CARS MEXICO
• YACHT AGENTS GALAPAGOS 
• FLOR DE CAÑA
• SAFE HARBOR SOUTH BAY MARINA EVENT CENTER
• WESTMARINE PRO
• SAILMAIL 
• CHRIS PARKER - MARINE WEATHER CENTER
• SAN DIEGO MARINE EXCHANGE
• DOWNWIND MARINE 

San Diego Marine Exchange Sponsors the Panama Posse

18) SIGN UP FOR FREE VESSEL
TRACKING COURTESY OF PREDICT WIND 

Tracking is voluntary, free and easy. Plus you get to see where your peers are and see where vessels have bee

 Dean's Blue Hole is a blue hole located in The Bahamas 🇧🇸 in a bay west of Clarence Town on Long Island

19) HOLIDAY PICTURES OF THE WEEK 

Holiday Cheers !

Wildflower, Stella Blue, Seas the Day, Stray Cat and Ghillie all anchored in Zihua. Merry Christmas !

MY GHILLIE II 🇨🇦 John & Susan Custom 67′

20) THE BARREL OF HOPE

Track the barrel of hope here >>

21) SEVENSTAR YACHT TRANSPORT

 SPONSORS THE PANAMA POSSE

More info on Sevenstar™s services can be found on 
https://www.sevenstar-yacht-transport.com/

Who is Sevenstar Yacht Transport?

Sevenstar is the world’s leading provider of yacht shipping services on a lift-on, lift-off basis.

For a quote with the Panama Posse discount please contact 
Kris Caren  kris@sevenstar-usa.com sevenstar-usa.com

22) PANAMA CANAL AGENT 
CENTENARIO CONSULTING ERICK GALVEZ

To arrange for transit with the Panama Canal Authority please contact Eric Galvez our dedicated Panama Canal agent and sponsor of the Panama Posse and the Pacific Posse

Erick Gálvez

info@centenarioconsulting.com

www.centenarioconsulting.com

Cellphone +507 6676-1376

WhatsApp +507 6676-1376

23) STRATEGIC PARTNERS

SEVEN SEAS CRUISING ASSOCIATION

Vicente’s Moorings – Acapulco – Mexico

Park Avenue Villas – San Juan del Sur – Nicaragua

Coconutz – Playa Cocos – Costa Rica

Abernathy – Chandlery – Panama

Pacific Posse 

Atlantic Posse

Advertising Partners – Las Vegas

Safe-Esteem.com – Delaware

Vicente has a moorings available in Acapulco 🇲🇽 Mexico 

24 ) TIME TO RELEASE THE BABY TURTLES 

The average stay in the turtle nest is 50 days for a typical egg after which they hatch, then a little creature appears and a mad rush to the sea begins as they attempt to avoid a range of predators lying in wait.

Dusk is usually the best moment for turtles hatching but it can also happen during the day.

There are several turtle species in Mexico 

•  Olive Ridley: go to Escobilla for ‘arribada’, a mass nesting event where an army of little Olive Ridleys make their dash for the beach all at once.
•  Leatherback: these huge beasts are a wonder to behold and can be found in Oaxaca and Michoacan.
• Loggerhead: Along the Yucatan Peninsula
•  Green Turtle: also known in the Pacific (perhaps confusingly) as the black turtle,
• Hawksbill: stay in the Yucatan and look for this species amongst the coral reefs.

SY RAMBLE ON ROSE 🇺🇸 Don & Rosalind - Caliber 40′

25 ) WORK REMOTELY FROM YOUR YACHT
JOIN THE OCEAN POSSE ORGANIZATION 

• HAVE AN IDEA ? 
• SUGGESTIONS ? 
• WANT TO HELP ? 
• CAN YOU HELP WITH GOOD NAUTICAL ?
• PROGRAMMING SKILLS ?
• CAN YOU NEGOTIATE ?
• SALES ?
• LIKE DETAILS ?
• PROJECT MANAGEMENT ? 
• PARTY PLANNING ? 
• DOCUMENTING ?
• ORGANIZING ?
• SPEAK FLUENT FRENCH ? 

We can always improve - so if anything peaks your interest please email registration@panamaposse.com 

the Panama Posse burgee can come apart in just 6 weeks - this free burgee needs mending with a little yarn and a needle
we welcome you pointing out imperfections- but please provide a solution

WE OPERATE UNDER INTERNATIONAL MARITIME LAW

YOUR VESSEL YOUR CREW YOUR RESPONSIBILITY 

ocean posse llc | panama posse communications 
 @ 9811 W Charleston blvd 2262 Summerlin LV NV 89117 USA

© 2022 Ocean Posse LLC

PANAMA POSSE 
 
FLEET UPDATE 

Dec 7, 2022

The Panama Posse Kick off event in Barra de Navidad Mexico Friday Dec 2, 2022 
Picture by Wildflower / Steve

TOP NEWS

• FLOR DE CAÑA RUM 
• 270 VESSELS HAILING FROM 25 ENSIGNS 
• DANGER ⚠️ SOUTH COAST 🇩🇴 DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
• PICTURES OF THE WEEK
• FANTASY ISLAND, ROATAN 🇭🇳 HONDURAS 
• UNINVITED VISITORS
• GALLEY GOD(DESS) WINNER 
• PANAMA POSSE SEASON 6 
• BIGGEST FISH 
• OCEAN POSSE PARTY PANAMA
• PARADISE FOUND SAN BLAS 🇵🇦 PANAMA
• GENNAKERS AND SPINNAKERS AWAY 
• TRADING WITH LOCALS
• EL SALVADOR 🇸🇻 WELCOMINGS

69 BOTTLES 

FLOR DE CAÑA RUM

SPONSORS THE PANAMA POSSE

https://www.instagram.com/flordecana.mx/

Flor de Caña Rum: 
Sustainable and Natural and plenty for the Panama Posse Kick off event

 
1) 270 VESSELS HAILING
 FROM 25 ENSIGNS 
 HAVE JOINED THE 22·23 PANAMA POSSE
 

An ensign is the national flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality and is the largest flag, generally flown at the stern.

2) DANGER ⚠️ SOUTH COAST 
🇩🇴 DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
  

IMPORTANT CAUTION
 IF CRUISING THE SOUTHERN COAST OF THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

Soulmate is a 63’ motor yacht and we are OK.

Soulmate was having a bumpy, but good cruise from Port Antonio, Jamaica bound for Boca Chica DR. Just after we rounded Cabo Beata and turned north Sunday afternoon, both propellers became fouled in a massive bunch of fishing lines and we were dead in the water with 6-8’ waves at 4-5 seconds. 

We issued a MAYDAY call and thankfully a 350’ container ship responded and turned around from about 10 miles out and came to our rescue. 

Even in daylight the rescue was tricky and dangerous in the conditions. They managed to get a line to us, but we collided during rescue and Soulmate suffered some cosmetic damage along her starboard side. 

They towed us through the night in rough seas to the port of Rio Haina. Once there, a pilot boat towed us to a commercial mooring and quickly returned with a scuba diver. He removed a trash bag full of ropes and lines from the props and we got underway to Boca Chica. 

If you are rounding Cabo Beata stay in deep water, which will put you off shore at least two+ miles to avoid fishing lines. We had dodged several and we’re headed to deeper water when we got entangled about 1.5 miles SE of the cape. 

We have incredible appreciation for the captain and crew of the Polynesia and will be forever grateful. The Port Authority at Rio Haina offered to bring us food and water if needed and were extremely kind and helpful as well .

 MY SOULMATE 🇺🇸 Stuart & Robyn - Hatteras 63′

3) PICTURES OF THE WEEK

ICW Morning 

MY RED ROVER  🇺🇸 Kevin & Alison - Nordhavn 55′

Bahia Santa Elena 🇨🇷 Costa Rica 

SY PATHFINDER 🇺🇸 Nicole & Jean-Philippe - Lagoon 39′

Landrail Point Settlement, Crooked Island 🇧🇸 Bahamas

SY NO REGRETS 🇺🇸 Lynette & Bruce - Fast Passage 39′