- A special thank you to our sponsors
- Add comments while you are sheltering in place and bored
- Country Updates
- Vessel Locations and plans
- Lighting Mitigation
- Pictures of the Week
- Exiting Panama – en route to Nicaragua
- Long term plans – heading to Chile
- PANAMA – Burning a “stuffed man” in effigy – the traditions is that of the Muñecos
- Reply to this email
- One season ends but 38 vessels have already signed up for next Panama Posse
- Opt-out
1) A special thank you to our sponsors
- Marina Puerto Vallarta, Puerto Vallarta – Mexico
- Marina Puerto de La Navidad – Barra de Navidad – Mexico
- Marina Ixtapa, Ixtapa – Mexico
- La Marina Acapulco, Acapulco – Mexico
- Marina Chiapas – Mexico
- 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
- Banana Bay Marina – Costa Rica
- Vista Mar Marina – Panama
- Shelter Bay Marina – Panama
- Red Frog Marina – Panama
- Bocas Marina – Panama
Official Panama Canal Agent
Official Panama Posse Ambassadors
- Jaime Figueroa Navarro – Panama
- Bill & Jean – El Salvador Rally, El Salvador
- Ralph Hewitt – Nicaragua
Panama Posse Partners
- Vicente’s Moorings – Acapulco – Mexico
- Discover Tours Chiapas – Mexico
- Park Avenue Villas – San Juan del Sur – Nicaragua
- Coconutz – Annual Papagayo Victory Party – Playa Cocos – Costa Rica
- Abernathy – Chandlery – Panama
- Advertising Partners – Las Vegas
- Safe-Esteem.com – Delaware
2) Things you can do while sheltering in place … Add you comments !!!
Log into Good Nautical and make your relevant comments in any of the places you have been
Please make your reports – simply ADD A NEW COMMENT in Good Nautical for each spot
2) Country Updates
Mexico 7,497 650†
– border closings between USA and Mexico but commercial entry permitted – outbound and inbound vessels still possible
– certain ports are closed or locking down and exit zarpes are issued electronically for a fee via agents if required this
includes Puerto Vallarta and Areas of the Sea of Cortes
Mexico has implemented temperature-screening measures at all airports and many road checks. Reduced flights and Capacity.
Passengers with abnormal temperatures and travel to high-risk areas might be subject to additional health screening.
The Mexican government declared a national health emergency on March 30 and imposed restrictions on non-essential activities in the public, private, and social sectors until April 30. On April 16, the Mexican government extended the health emergency and the accompanying restrictions in most municipalities until May 30. Essential activities include medical services and supplies, grocery delivery services and stores, restaurants (for delivery and carry out only), public safety, fundamental economic functions, government social programs, and critical infrastructure.
Mexico Visa Extensions
Cruisers with visas expiring in April were able to renew for 180 days in La Paz Mexico yesterday.
Those with visas expiring in May were told they would have to wait until next month
Mexico Port Closings
This is direct from Antonio at Marina Fonatur San Blas as of 4/14/2020.
The marina is not letting any new boats in. Boats currently inside are allowed to depart.
The port captain is not allowing anchoring in the estuary in front of the marina. Anchoring in Bahia de Matanchen is just fine.
The fuel dock at Marina Fonatur San Blas is open, and they will sell you fuel (diesel and unleaded are available). No one is allowed off the boat though, and you must immediately leave after fueling up. If it helps, at low tide the shallowest we saw was about 7′ deep when entering the river.”
Jalisco, Mexico new requirements
The Governor of Jalisco announced today that beginning tomorrow, wearing a mask will be required whenever you leave your home. He also stated that parks, etc. are all closed to recreational activities. Whereas up to now the preventative measures have been voluntary, now they are obligatory and people can be fined for being out for anything but essential business. 
*People may leave their homes only for essential business. *A mask must be worn any time one leaves the home. *The use of public spaces for sport or recreational purposes is prohibited.
The following groups are not permitted to leave the home at all:
– over age 60 – pregnant – high blood pressure – diabetes – chronic cardiac or pulmonary disease – liver or kidney dysfunction – suppressed immune system
Guatemala 257 7†
– full lock down – no entry permitted – Curfew extended to April 28th
It also banned cruise ships from docking. All nationals, residents and diplomats are required to be quarantined upon arrival.
President Alejandro Giammattei also banned travel between the different departments inside of the Central American country before and during Easter.
El Salvador 201 7†
– full lock down – no entry permitted †
El Salvador’s Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that the government
cannot arrest people accused of having failed to comply with a mandatory household quarantine nor confiscate vehicles or property.
But El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele said on Wednesday he would not accept several Supreme Court rulings
meant to stop him from enforcing some measures to curb the spread
Honduras 472 46†
Honduras – full lock down – no entry permitted – all borders closed except for cargo.
Nicaragua – 10 2†
Check in with Marina Puesta del Sol ahead of time – they will coordinate to send a health inspector out – after which customs, immigration will clear you in
Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega said Wednesday that the country “has not stopped working” and that it will maintain its vision of responding to the emergency without social confinement.
Costa Rica 660 4†
– full lock down – no entry permitted – Curfew expected to be extended
Panama 4,273 120†Panama – no entry permitted 14 day quarantine has been obtained by some in internal movements
– curfew w/ 1 hour movement x certain day for with 30 minutes based on ID number and day and gender – no alcohol sales –
Fines for curfew violations
4) Vessel Locations and plans from the Saturday 18th Extraordinary 6th Line call ( these calls will continue every Saturday at 16 UTC until further notice
| NUMBER | NAME | LOCATION | STAY IN PLACE | MOVE ON TO | LOGISTICAL ISSUES |
| 1 | BAJA FOG | Barra de Navidad, MX | |||
| John & Monique | |||||
| 4 | THISLDU | Puesta del Sol, Nicaragua | |||
| Garrett & Audrey | |||||
| 10 | SEAGLUB | San Jose del Cabo | |||
| Chris | |||||
| 12 | JEAN ANNE | Chiapas, MX | |||
| Steve & Chelsea | |||||
| 13 | SINGULARITY | Vista Mar, Panama | because so many people violating | ||
| Robert & Carol | |||||
| 14 | SLOW DANCER | bocas marina | no lifting of restrictions | ||
| Dale & Kenneth | |||||
| 19 © | KNOT RIGHT | Vista Mar Marina, Panama | all good – | ||
| Walt & Jeariene | |||||
| 20 © | COMPROMISE | chiappas, mx – co | |||
| Ronald & Karen | |||||
| 23 | TOP CIDER | isla ixtapa will sail further | good snorkeling | ||
| Chuck & Sharon | |||||
| 29 | DELTA SWIZZLER | tenecatitia, | making water | alge | |
| Mark & Cindy | |||||
| 30 | FIREFLY | las hadas | everything the ame | 3 boats beaches are empty patrol boat comes around | |
| Brenda & Ted | |||||
| 40 | AVANT | Shelter Bay, Panama | in canada – 3 western states are coordianting openings – boats are free to move | ||
| Rob & Debra | |||||
| 43 | RHAPSODY | vista mar marina, Panama | |||
| Sarah & Bob | |||||
| 50 | ANDURIL | Chiapas, MX | |||
| Alice & Greg | |||||
| 51 | GREEN FLASH | san clemente , wet and well and cold | away – to get to panama | ||
| Bob & Joan | |||||
| 67 | CHIMERA | Costa Rica – have not seen enough – really don’t have we will wait it out – | |||
| Dennis & Margaret | |||||
| 88 © | SEA LARKS | en route to nicaragua – puesta del sol | may go to chiapas | ||
| Jeffrey & Paula | |||||
| 95 | WAVE DANCER | florida in costa rica | |||
| Vladimir & Galinda | |||||
| 96 | MALOLO | isla grande – been here – quiet – propane dingy ashore – | leaving to | ||
| Matt & Britt | |||||
| 99 | HO’OKIPA | Barra de Navidad, MX | |||
| Lisa & Lucky | |||||
| 100 | VOLARE | Chiapas, MX | |||
| Jessica & Adam | |||||
| 101 © | KIANGA | in la cruz marina – everything very quiet waiting | |||
| Beat & Daniela | |||||
| 117 | PILIALOHA | we are in hawai’i vessel is in marina chahue | longing | ||
| Rick & Maria | |||||
| 124 © | INDEPENDENCE | barefoot cay honduras | boat maintenance – boat in perfect shape – varnished – | ||
| Larry & Jamie | |||||
| 129 © | NESHUMA | on the hard at mazatlan marina | |||
| Carl & Cynthia | |||||
| 131 | MAR Y SOL | Marina Vallarta, MX | |||
| Bob & Marisol | |||||
| 138 | BLESSED LIFE | how is the vessel clearing in from | weather in costa rica | ||
| Bob and Margie | |||||
| 144 © | ELSKA | vista mar marina – shut down | 4 boys – bring the boat | ||
| Ben & Mary Jane | |||||
| 147 | GRASSHOPPER | Chiappas, | remain here – few months – comfortable – but restaurat baos is closed | ||
| Jeffrey & Cheri | |||||
| 152 © | SUSIMI | tenecatita | 10 – 15 boats – since Thursday hoping to head north | ||
| Paul & Hazel | |||||
| 173 © | BISOU | bocas del toro | |||
| Robin and Tad | |||||
| 176 | REEF DANCER | barra de navidad, MX | |||
| Jerry & Debra | |||||
| 178 | HAPPY DANCE | playa samara | have a leak on the prop shaft – limping to puesta del sol thunder storm |
5) Lighting Mitigation
Lightning mitigation and preparation: what we did on Avant.
When in lightning prone areas, we buy jumper cables at an auto parts store and connect them to the upper shrouds and drop the loose end (in the water) or connect to jack stands (when on the hard). This increased the grounding of the vessel and may help make you less of a target or mitigate a strike.
Open flat areas are worse than areas with prominent tall geographic features.
Being next to a larger boat with a taller mast, or a catamaran or other lightning friendly target is also a good strategy if you can arrange it.
Rob & Debra
AVANT
Carinthia (Cat) spend the summer of 2018 in Vista Mar Marina in Panama and we deployed the following lighting mitigation
– top of mast has a lighting rod – taller and thicker than the VHF antenna
– base of the mast ( deck stepped) has a attachment point and a thick electric cable is lowered into the water below the keels
– we dropped our anchor in the marina in our slip and wrapped a short chain around the base of the mast and connected this chain to the deployed anchor chain
– at the shroud deck-plates just below the turnbuckles we attached truck battery charging cables and dropped them into the water below the keels
– disconnected most electronics from power and all network connections
– 2 catamarans did get hit that season with a lighting strike – Wine’n’Down ( lateral hit ) & Samara Explorer (direct hit 800 K damage )
– 1 catamaran Sugar Shack got hit in the Southern Costa Rica the following season (direct hit)
– check your insurance policy
Dietmar & Suzanne
CARINTHIA
6) Pictures of the Week
Samara, CR
Samara, CR
Bob & Margie
BLESSED LIFE
Still life – Two fish, cutting board and knife
Garrett & Audrey
THISLDU
7) Exiting Panama – en route to Nicaragua
An update from Happy Dance traveling with Candine. We left Punta Balsa yesterday planning on a three day run to Nica. When we reached the Gulf of Nicoya we started seeing squalls. This soon turned into major thunderstorms that wrapped around us even as we tried to change course. Long story short we eventually escaped by heading toward shore. We tried anchoring in Domicelito but the swells were running straight in. We then went to the southern Manuel Antonio anchorage and planned to wait out the afternoon storms. Unfortunately we ended up with the wind blowing onshore and big thunderstorms over us. That’s also when the GuardaCostas arrived! They politely asked for our passports and papers and went off to look them over. In the meantime the anchorage was deteriorating rapidly. The GC then came back and said to raise anchor and follow them. We didn’t know why, but since they had our passports we thought it might be a good idea to go. 🤣 Getting out of the anchorage was a challenge now that it was a dangerous lee shore with large rollers coming in, blinding rain and a headwind. Not fun. They led us to the northern Antonio anchorage where we are now. Much safer and tranquillo.
The GC guys were very friendly and asked many questions about our health, where we’d been, etc. After a good hour of them talking on the phone they finally brought our passports and paperwork back and told us we were not allowed to go to shore. We’d already tried to explain that we had no intention of going to shore, that we only stopped due to weather. Since the weather was pretty bad right then, I think they got it! All this to say that they were helpful and polite and gave us their phone number in case we needed it. We’re leaving in the morning to continue towards Nicaragua. Hopefully the rest of the GC are as easy going if/when we stop again. Just wanted to share our experience in case others are planning to travel through Costa Rica while their borders are closed. Cheers!⛵
Nora decided to go on today and is heading to Chiapas. We’re going to be stopping at night the rest of the way…
Update on the drip! The grease helped slow down the flow substantially! We sailed most of the day so that helped too. The weather is great, slight onshore breeze, thunderclouds over the mountains. Mucho mejor !!!
We’re staying at anchor for now and have the leak wrapped up and slowed down substantially. We’re setting up the boat to be ready for a major fail 😬 but will hopefully get to Puesta and then to Chiapas. We’re waiting for Wildest Dreams to get here so we’ll also have a buddy boat if needed. Fingers crossed!!!🥴⛵️
Marty & Sue
HAPPY DANCE
8) Long term plans – heading to Chile
SV Sänna plan to head down the Pacific coast to Ushuaia Chile beginning around October-ish for the southern hemisphere spring and summer. They’re teaming up with Jimmy Cornell to route-plan. Sänna are happy to forward their route planning to any Pacific-side boat who might be interested in making this passage. You can contact Dave at dave@sanna-uk.com.
Dave & Marie
SANNA
9) PANAMA – Burning a “stuffed man” in effigy – the traditions is that of the Muñecos
These life sized effigies are an old Panamanian tradition Muñecos or Judas Dolls
They are stuffed with firecrackers and are lit and beaten at the stroke of midnight on new years eve.
According to folklore, by beating and setting the effigies aflame, the sins and evil spirits of the old year are destroyed.
Making way for good fortune in the new year. The fire crackers are said to help drive the evil forces away, since ghosts are afraid of light and noise.
The Muñecos are usually made to look like well-known politicians or movie stars from the outgoing year….
10) Please reply to this email with
– your updates – self quarantine info
– contenders for picture of the week –
– relevant blog posts – and of course your valuable suggestions
and we’ll include it in the next FLEET UPDATE – Keep em ‘coming
Dietmar & Suzanne
Sheltering in place in Barra de Navidad
SV Carinthia
11) This 2019-2020 Panama – officially ends on May 31st
but you can already sign up for next season and
here is the list of valiant entrants, explorers and adventurers
https://panamaposse.com/2020-2021-vessels
12) Opt-out from Fleet Updates simply reply with “REMOVE“
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