Ola,
Thirty minutes after the anchor went down – my head went down upon the pillow. An hour later, somewhat refreshed I went ashore to contact my Panama Canal agent. Going thro the Canal it definitely pays to hire an agent as they handle all of the reams of paperwork that is required plus your visa and boat clearance. Both Cristobel on the Atlantic side and Balboa on the Pacific are the crossroad of the sailing world. Here there are Australians, French, Swiss, New Zealanders, British, one American boat and of course quite a few Canadians. With the San Blass islands close by a number of yachts end up staying a number of years instead of days.
Colon the city on the Atlantic side is like walking into a Mad Max movie. The crime is extremely high and everybody drives as if they are in a Formula 1 race. You cannot leave the Yacht Club unless you go via cab. Luckily the cabs are very cheap - $1 a ride. All of the beautiful old buildings are in a total state of disrepair and there is obviously a lot of poverty. The good side of the coin was that food and beer was very cheap. At the Panama Yacht Club you could get an entrée and salad for $5 and with beers at a $1 you couldn’t afford to stay sober. You see quite a few Kuna Indians in Colon with their colourful clothing and their molas are works of art.