Chagras River, Panama

Entrance to the Chagras River was gentle.  The seas were absolutely calm, the light was good, coming in around 10 a.m..  We were rested and prepared for the maneuvers required, by reading and re-reading all information we had derived from other cruiser's emails or books.  The entrance was flawless.

The river itself, was virtually still.

Quiet was the norm as we slowly motored up river from it's entrance.  At the 2nd major turn to the left was the first boat we had seen.  She was a catamaran owned by a French couple and sitting in a primo spot..

they could see up river one way and down river another...with a small tropical mountain to their side.  We, anchored a 1/4 mile downstream from them but still under the afternoon shade of the mountain and withing earshot of the howler and white faced monkeys vocalizations.  Did I mention macaws, parrots etc.?  Well, they and fish around us kept us amused.

We did run upriver to the dam but the waters just before the dam were not navigable nor did I feel I wanted to sit in the lagoon off to the right.

I opted to turn around and go back to the sounds of nature available here. Photos do not do justice to this 'park'. Sights were wonderful and the sounds of monkeys and birds were better.

We also opted to bring out our new washer and clean some clothes.  After doing so and hanging the laundry, dorothy decides to taste the water.  Salty!!

Oh well, nice clean salty clothes.  They didn't feel too bad, but then they didn't feel too good either.  Mind games?

We have re washed them since arriving here at Shelter Bay and now the world is wonderful.

Also;  we have become accustomed to living by sun for power needs and rain for water.  This has been the norm for 5 years.  Here, near the ITZ Inter Tropical Zone, we seem to be in a cloudy overcast environment with rain added to the equation more than normal.  "i" don't understand it all, and neither do others, but you gotta go with the flow, so yesterday, I ordered a Honda eu2000i generator to act as our backup power source.  IF it gets cloudy and stays that way, I'll crank up the gasoline generatore stored on deck/kept safe and dry in a 22 gallon Rubbermaid/Roughneck container with snap on lid.  IT, can produce plenty of current to run our battery charger aboard, while our 12v refer Seafrost system is needing amps.  It is a whole lot cheaper to fuel a little bitty Honda generator when needed, rather than a 90 hp diesel/our main propulsion engine. If the Honda quits, I can go back to the Lehman 90, or Solar or Holding Plate System designed for carry over.  NOW, I really have backups.. Love it!

The unit is reasonably quiet.  No, it's not unnoticeable , it's just reasonably quiet.. Under the loads we should ask of it, it should be quite efficient.

After laundry, we opted to take our dingy

up the Indio river and the other small river that leads into the chagras river a bit further up.  They were sometimes shallow, but always, fun to explore.

The birds and vegetation were cool and we saw some fish that would be really nice to view in our frying pan ;)  Fun trip.

We got rained on, but the captain is used to that.

 The photographer used her umbrella and stayed half dry........

Shelter Bay?  Expensive but OK.  It would be nice if there was some competition to keep things at its best, but for now and I think for a season or 2, we can handle this. 

Might add, coming out of the Chagras River was 'white knuckled'.

Wind up river seemed mild, but I should have paid more attention to the clouds above us scooting past.   Down river and outside in the Caribbean sea, the seas were nasty and maybe dangerous.  I felt I could deal with it, but others might not feel the same.  It's a conditions/boat/skills package..add luck to that!  At one point, when I was below, auto pilot on, the boat was tripped by a wave and she fell on her starboard side hard; green water up to her pilothouse windows.

The seas were unusually steep walls, stacked with deep troths.  Nice to have a good boat though!  We understand the strength of these CSY's and it eased our minds as we pushed onward to the Panama Canal only 7 or so miles upwind.

This ship was heading out of the Canal and you can see by the spray, the strong winds of the day.

Cruisers beware, the Chagras entry/exit can be dangerous.  I advise to only attempt it in gentile conditions.  Our photos did not do justice to the size of the waves that stopped us in our tracks and swallowed our bow on several occasions.  "We", are here telling the tale, but recommend caution for Chagres entrance/exit.