in this update ..
Remember your Panama Posse season with gear from the online
shop
Isla Otoque, Panama
Special Summer Rate in Marina Puerto de la Navidad
Chiapas, MX
Alert Entering Panama
Alert Mexican Fuel “shortages”
Panama Posse Party at
Banana Bay Marina Golfito, Costa Rica
Picture of the Week
Mango
Festival, El Salvador
Shipwreck
found in Zihuatanejo, MX
END
OF SEASON PANAMA POSSE PARTY AT VISTA MAR MARINA
Santa Teresa Hot Springs, Bahรญa del Sol, El Salvador
1) Shop Panama Posse
The online shop is open for a limited time (open till July 5th
only )
To celebrate the end of the season so get your swag
http://shop.panamaposse.com
Several shirts will have your vessel name on the
back.
All profits will be donated to the future development of
Good Nautical the 501(c)3
non-profit organization focused on preserving maritime
knowledge.
2) Isla Otoque, Panama
We anchored at Isla Bona (just south of Otoque) AFTER transiting
the canal and used it as a head start for Punta Mala and beyond.
The bay on the west side was an attractive, calm anchorage, but
remote-feeling with no services. Prior to transiting the canal
it would be helpful to be closer to Panama City for the required
measuring and other paperwork, plus provisioning. Canal transits
are often crack of dawn starts, another reason to be in the
anchorage at Playita or the Balboa Yacht Club. Hope this helps.
S/V
Bill & Katy
KLICKITAT II
3) Special Summer Rate @ Marina Puerto de
la Navidad, Barra de Navidad, MX
For
your info Secundino รlvarez has
extended a special low rate
to all Panama Posse vessels.
$10.40 x foot + taxes and electricity x
month
plus as an added benefit Alaska Air
flies non-stop between LAX and Manzanillo twice a week
at a ~ $330 pp summer rate round-trip.
Reserve
your summer slip
Harbormaster
Secundino Alvarez
4)
Chiapas, MX
The entire staff at Marina Chiapas are all helpful and most
accommodating. There is a small convenience store and one
higher end restaurant on site. The estuary and wooded areas
provide a birdwatcher many interesting specimens. The marina
is a bit isolated from town, but it is easy to catch a taxi or
van by walking to the main road at the marina entrance. If you
go south, you’ll find “Playa Linda” with some small eateries
and some small hotels along the beach. One of the first you
will encounter is Villa Veleros and the Canadian owner allows
you to come in to order food and drinks for use of their pool
or beach. If you go north on the main road, you can choose to
go to the airport, Puerto Madero or Tapachula.
Madero is a small town with the usual small hardware stores,
fishing supply, restaurants, and markets. You can buy seafood
directly from the boats at the fishing dock (also Pemex fuel
dock-so accessible from your boat or dinghy) or from stores in
town. It’s difficult to walk between the port and town so
you’ll have to catch another van if you stop to buy at the
port.
In Tapachula, you will first encounter the Sam’s Club and then
WalMart shopping mall with a Telcel for phone service, auto
parts store, fabric store and a bank. Further into town there
is an Office Deport then another large market called Chadraui
and next door is a Bodega warehouse market. In the area are
many papelerias where you can get copies and office supplies.
Besides the restaurants in the mall, in the neighborhood are
some small eateries. There are other services such as FedEx
and cooking gas. Just ask the marina staff for info on
whatever you need. Good seafood is found at what’s called a
Cocteleria. Our taxi took us to Mariscos de Tiberon near the
bicentennial park. They had excellent food and drinks. There
were other similar places along the same street.
In order to get back to the marina, as two people, the cost
was 300 pesos for a taxi or grab a van for 15 pesos to get
back to Chadraui, then a van 50 pesos to the marina (should
say either Playa Linda or Zona Naval). You decide what your
time and hassle is worth.
As many other Posse members before us, we partook of some
tours while at the marina. Both guides, Luis and Miguel, do
similar tours for similar prices. We chose Miguel and were
very pleased. Tours are actually his hobby but he is very
passionate and knowledgeable. On our Chocolate Tour, we were
with two other boats staying at the marina for a total of 6
people, so he rented a tour van. It was modern and
comfortable.
We first visited two sites of Mayan ruins. Miguel had many
interesting stories regarding the discovery, history and local
impact.
After the archeological sites, we went to the town of Tuxla
Chica where many families harvest Chocolate, so the town is
nicknamed “Chocolate Town”. In many of the family homes, they
have a chocolate retail store. We were shown how they harvest
and process the cocoa beans to make different varieties of
chocolate, along with peanut treats, all done on a wood fire.
The chocolate ladies also prepared an excellent meal for us
that included home made tortillas, quesadillas, black refried
beans, cheese, salsa, and tamales. For beverages, they served
a refreshing drink of combined spices including cinnamon and
achoite (commonly used as a red coloring) and of course, hot
chocolate! There were sweet breads to dip in the chocolate.
The ladies kept making more of everything until we said to
stop.
Next stop was just down the street from where we ate, to visit
the ladies who made the tamales we were served. They had
enclosed in the corn masa; stewed chicken meat, hard boiled
egg, olive, prune, mole seasoning all wrapped and steamed in a
green banana leaf. Everyone rated them as the best they had
ever tasted.
We then returned to Tapachula and spent an hour provisioning
at WalMart. It’s obvious Miguel knows cruisers. It was an
enjoyable and interesting day, all included for $40 US per
person. Prices will vary depending on the details of your tour
and number of people. There are tours to coffee plantations
and other sites, and some that cover a span of days, so talk
to one of the guides and decide what works for you. We highly
recommend Miguel, Discover Chiapas 962 133 6820 toursdiscoverchiapas@hotmail.com.
We also did a self planned tour to Mexico City and the
mountains near Morelia to see the monarch butterflies. Let us
know if you would like details of our trip.
Laura & Jim
NILAYA
5)
Alert Entering Panama
Please be advised that you are obliged to check into Panama at
the first possible port of entry .
You can not put this off for 3 weeks after checking out from
Costa Rica and hang out go ashore etc.
The authorities may let it slide if you come directly to Vista
Mar after having left Golfito with a few stops along the way.
But
to be certain and avoid fines check in in Puerto Armueles or
Pedigral on a weekday –
announcing your arrival with the port captain in advance
following the well outline protocol in Good Nautical.
The recent presidential elections in Panama will most likely
bring changes to these procedures.
6) Alert Mexican Fuel “shortages”
If
you feel like you are not getting all the gas you pay for in
Mexico – you may be right – according to several recent
articles in Mexico News Daily
Around
10% of all Pemex stations use plug-in to distort sales volumes
and sell stolen fuel
Scores of gas stations in Mexico allegedly use an illegal
software plug-in that allows them to manipulate the sales
figures they
report to Pemex and tax authorities, and conceal the sale of
stolen fuel. Known as El Rastrillo (The Razor)
the plug-in allows the pumpsโ volume controls to be altered,
with gas station owners choosing
between options that enable them to report sales that are 5%,
10% or 15% below their real level.
Ask
the local taxi drivers which gas stations they use to avoid
them.
7)
Golfito, Costa Rica
Looks
like a great gathering in Golfito –
A big Thanks to Maikol, Claudia and the staff at Banana Bay
Marina for hosting the Panama Posse
ATA MARIE, SHEARWATER, PARADISEA, SONAMARA, SECRET WATER,
TALIESIN ROSE, a.m.o.
8)
PICTURE OF THE WEEK
Ay
Caramaba selfie checking out the Locks at the Panama Canal.
Michelle & Juan
AY CARAMABA !
9)
Mango Festival, El Salvador
Two
weeks in El Salvador, local food, land travel, get togethers
with the small but amazing cruiser community here in Bahia
del Sol. Today Bill and Jean organized a bus for the cruisers
to attend the Mango festival. We were the only gringos I saw.
Packed with people, swimming pools, entertainment and of
course everything Mango, plus Chocolate filled Churos , this
is @SeaGlubโs kind of event. $10pp for the luxury air
conditioned bus. $3 to get into the festival. Beer $1
Annual event…plan on a stop next year if you missed this
one.
Festival Grounds
Mangos and fruits
Mango Queen
Live Music
And delicacies
Barry
& Kathy
BLUE OASIS
10)
Shipwreck found in
Zihuatanejo, MX
Here’s a moment of frustration, sorry, but this is a true
side of cruising. We have been more than disappointed in
Zihuatanejo, there’s just so much trash everywhere and the
ocean water is disgusting and we’re so anxious to leave that
we were going to do so starting tonight…. Until we learned
our anchor had fouled a sunken panga. Our friend and great
crew mate took in on himself to dive and try to figure it all
out but alas our underwater light didn’t last long enough and
now we’re stuck here until the sun comes up and we can try to
free the anchor again. The best part is the water is so filthy
and polluted I begged my friend to not try this but he
insisted. Fingers crossed he doesn’t contract some disease or
virus or bacteria. #zihuatneveragain
90 minutes of swimming around with our holiday hookah. The
chain had wrapped three times arrive what’s left of a sunken
sailboat hull and keel. Then the chain got wedged under the
keel. So for 90 minutes I was (thankfully only 15′) under
water digging around the rocks and gravel to get the chain
loose. Then in order to avoid it happening again before we
could pull it up I went and found the anchor, picked it up and
walked it (underwater) about 30 feet past the the wreck… I
should’ve taken pictures but the clarity was only about two
feet and I was just more interested in getting out of there
SEAGLUB
Chris, Monica & Penny
11)
MARK YOUR CALENDARS
May 25th, 2019
END OF
SEASON PANAMA POSSE PARTY AT VISTA MAR MARINA
Please RSVP Suzy Carmody <suzy@carmody-clan.com>
FROM SV DISTANT DRUMMER
12)
Santa Teresa Hot Springs, Bahรญa del Sol, El Salvador
–
One of the highlights of El Salvador is the hot springs near
the volcanos in the country. The best place to enjoy the hot
springs is probably โTermales de Santa Teresaโ http://www.termalesdesantateresa.com
While it *might* be possible to get there by bus from Bahรญa
del Sol, we rented a car through the hotel for $30/day and
visited the springs as part of a 5-day, big circle drive
around the country. When you arrive at the springs, the first
person you meet tries to get $10 per person from you as
payment for a day visit to the pools. If thatโs what you
want, then fine, but if you plan to stay at the resort, then
youโll have to insist that youโre only going to the
โrestaurantโ. For some reason, he understands a visit to the
restaurant better than the hotel. Anyway, the best room in
the place is only $75/person per night. For that you get a
room in a duplex suite with two semi-private pools and
lounge. Itโs great for a single couple and would be fabulous
for two couples to chill-out in the private outdoor lounge and
hot pools.
The public pools between the suites are a terraced series of 7
or 8 pools beginning with scalding hot at the top and
overflowing from one to the next until tepid is reached at the
bottom. So itโs easy to be Goldilocks and find just the right
temperature.
The rooms include a dinner and breakfast for each person and
we found the meals to be above average. We really enjoyed our
stay there.
Robert & Carol
SINGULARITY
13)
WEEKLY 2018-2019 PANAMA POSSE FLEET CHECK IN and
MORNING NET on MONDAY’S at 16:00 UTC via LINE
Please download and install LINE https://line.me/en-US/
Works on Android / ios / Windows / MAC OS
– Register using your vessel name as the USERNAME
ie MY CROSSROADS
– Next search for panamaposse and befriend us
–
– wait and accept your PANAMAPOSSE GROUP INVITE
Connect every Monday at 16:00 UTC and send us your
position via the message
system and listen to the vessel check ins (all free
as long you have IP connectivity
which we now know is pretty much all along the coast)
The LINE system allows for up to 200 live conference
call participants.
14) Please reply to this email with any
updates – your vessel location –
contenders for picture of the week –
Dietmar & Suzanne
SV Carinthia
15) opt-out from the Fleet Updates simply
reply with “REMOVE“