LATEST INFORMATION

FLEET UPDATE 2020-05-10

In this weeks Fleet Update

• Save the Date Panama Posse Awards Finale
• Country Updates C19 Extraordinary Line Call
• Vessel Locations
• Kissing the dock in Costa Rica 
• Termites oh my !
• Puerto Angel, MX
• Marina Chahue, Fuel Dock
• Happy Cinco de Mayo - Taco Tuesdays Pictures from the Fleet 
• Sign up for the next season of the Panama Posse - 50 !
  
• Please reply with updates
  
• Opt out

1) SAVE THE DATE

Saturday May 30th, 2020

is the end of season Panama Posse Awards Finale

LINE CALL at 23:00 UTC

Among other things we announce the following awards

🥥 Picture of the Year
🥥 Biggest Fish caught
🥥 Highest wind recorded
🥥 Biggest Mishap 
🥥 Most un-welcomed visitor onboard
🥥 Speedy Gonzales award
🥥 Panama Posse YODA OF THE YEAR

2) Country Updates C19 Extraordinary Line Call

As of today  here is where each country stands



Mexico  33,460  3,353†
- border closings between USA and Mexico but commercial entry permitted

On April 21, the Mexican government announced the start of Phase 3 of the pandemic, meaning widespread community transmission, thousands of cases of infection, and increased numbers of patients requiring hospitalization.
Schools are closed until May 30 in most municipalities.
Non-essential activities have been suspended.  Essential activities include medical services and supplies, public safety, fundamental economic functions, government social programs, and critical infrastructure.
Meetings of 100 participants or greater have been suspended.
Individuals should practice good hygiene such as frequent hand washing and social distancing.
Those not involved in essential activities should self-isolate at home.
People over age 60 or with high risk medical conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, lung disease, compromised immune system, pregnant, or post-partum should self-isolate at home.
States and municipalities may implement additional closings and restrictions on public gatherings, transportation, business operations, and government operations.
 

Guatemala 967  24†
- full lock down - no entry permitted  - Curfew extended to April 28th 

     
Event: The United States Embassy in Guatemala City advises U.S. citizens that United Airlines has opened multiple flights from Guatemala City to the United States throughout the month of May, including the following flights through Friday, May 8:
Sunday, May 3 – 12:00 departure (Flight 3011) from Guatemala City to Houston, TX.
Tuesday, May 5 –12:00 departure (Flight 3016) from Guatemala City to Houston, TX.
Friday, May 8 –12:00 departure (Flight 3017) from Guatemala City to Houston, TX.



El Salvador 889  17†
- full lock down - no entry permitted 




Honduras 1,830  108†
- full lock down - no entry permitted 


https://hn.usembassy.gov/
Additional Flight Opportunities
The U.S. Embassy has worked with United Airlines and the Government of Honduras to secure the following commercial flights.
Departing from San Pedro Sula to Houston, Texas:
Friday, May 8    Thursday, May 14
Saturday, May 9    Saturday, May 16
Departing from Tegucigalpa to Houston, Texas:
Friday, May 15    Sunday, May 24
Sunday, May 17    Tuesday, May 26
Tuesday, May 19    Thursday, May 28
Thursday, May 21    Saturday, May 30
Saturday, May 23    Sunday, May 31
You should contact United Airlines directly at www.united.com to take advantage of these flights.


Nicaragua - closed as of this week  


Nicaragua   16  5†

Several airlines have extended their suspension of regular service between Nicaragua and the United States. The following dates for resumption of service are current as of April 28, 2020 but could change:
* Aeromexico service suspended until June 01, 2020
* United Airlines service suspended until June 04, 2020
* Avianca Airlines service suspended until June 04, 2020
* Delta Airlines service suspended until June 13, 2020
* American Airlines service suspended until June 04, 2020
* Copa Airlines service suspended until June 01, 2020
* Spirit Airlines service suspended until July 05, 2020


everything is closing -

Costa Rica  780   6†
Costa Rica - Extended their lock-down to June 15th

Costa Rica has announced that it will close its borders (land, air, and sea) to all foreign travelers entering between March 18 and June 15 (at midnight on both dates).

Panama   8,282   237†
          
Panama -  no entry permitted   14 day quarantine has been obtained by some in internal movements - curfew w 1 hour movement x day for mots with 30 minutes based on ID number and day - no alcohol sales - 
restrictions - we do not - in Panama city have been breaking curfew - in particle - the area - show every single infected person - 20 km - from this location - feel rather safe here -  stay on lock down - how - rhapsody - opening up as many curves violations -
The Embassy arranged for a commercially-operated humanitarian flight on May 8 for any U.S. citizen or other qualified traveler able to enter the United States who had expressed wishes to depart Panama.  That flight is now full.  
The Embassy is continuing its efforts to identify future flights.  However, there are no other planned flights at this time.  We encourage you to be prepared to remain in Panama for the next 30-60 days, or perhaps more. 
For now, please closely monitor Spirit’s website (www.Spirit.com) for any openings due to cancelations on the May 8 flight from Panama City, Panama (PTY) to Ft. Lauderdale, FL, USA (FLL).

Sales of alcohol to start up again in Panama!



3) Vessel Locations

NUMBER	NAME	LOCATION
1	BAJA FOG	Barra de Navidad, MX - northern californai is oing fine - finally back to work - back in sales - next
John & Monique
4	THISLDU	Puesta del Sol, Nicaragua
	Garrett & Audrey
5	LUNA	Barra de Navidad, MX
	Bob & Kris
9	CARINTHIA	Barra de Navidad, MX
Dietmar & Suzanne
10	SEAGLUB	boat is in san jose del cabo - driving around - business as usual - live is normal - strict rules in Baja - noone out an about - word is the hotels are going to open on june 1st
Chris
12	JEAN ANNE	Chiapas, MX
	Steve & Chelsea
13	SINGULARITY	Vista Mar, Panama
Robert & Carol
16 ©	ENJOY	we in red frog marina - will be here until
	Don & Nina
19  ©	KNOT RIGHT	Vista Mar Marina, Panama who knows - as far as vista mar - little drizzle everyting is the same - as far a salcohol is concerned - you will obide by rules
Walt & Jeariene
22	DUE WEST	Barra de Navidad, MX
	Kirk & Heidi
23	TOP CIDER	Chiapas, MX
Chuck & Sharon
25	HALF MOON	Puesta del Sol, Nicaragua
Brain & Elizabeth
26	MADELEINE	Vessel in El Salvador
Huibert & Maaike
29	DELTA SWIZZLER	Barra de Navidad - food deliveries - restaurants - staying in barra - has
Mark & Cindy
40	AVANT	incredible bored - broadbad cable - what is yoru thinking at this stage - wait and see - worried about an echo reurgence - at this point -
Rob & Debra
50	ANDURIL	Chiapas, MX
Alice & Greg
51	GREEN FLASH	still in so cal - opening up - boat parts - stock up - return to vista mar - dana point lot;s of sail boats out on day sils
Bob & Joan
52	BONZAI	Miami - picked an Anchorage at belle isle - 1 week worth of weather chris parker - monroe county - we are in dade county - 30 - 50 % of activity ft lauderdale - jump to georgia outside
Don
53	GARGOYLE	half moon wait for Costa Rica -
Kevin & Carla
56	NAMAHANA	Barra de Navidad, MX
	Curtis & Jill
58	KATHLEEN	Barra de Navidad, MX
Robert & Karen
59	RAVEN	Barra de Navidad, MX
	Neil, Tammy, & Jan
60	BLUE OASIS	Shelter Bay Marina, Panama
Barry & Kathy
61  ©	WILDEST DREAMS	Puntarenas, CR
Grant & Michelle
63	SECOND WIND	heading back to the US leaving the boat in NIC
Laurin
67	CHIMERA	Bahia Drake / Quepos Pez Vela
Dennis & Margaret
85	FOLLOW YOU FOLLOW ME	MARINA LA CRUZ, MX
	Allan & Rina
86	CONTEXT	in San Diego
John
87	EL GATO	Northbound from Barra
	Jules & Jeff
88  ©	SEA LARKS	Barra in Navidad - fling back to cali
	Jeffrey & Paula
99	HO’OKIPA	Barra de Navidad, MX
	Lisa & Lucky
100	VOLARE	Chiapas, MX
	Jessica & Adam
109	JOY	Barra de Navidad, MX
	Jeff & Roxanne
117	PILIALOHA	good morning - vessel is in Huatulco - no new cases in Hawaii - looking at partial reopening - 35 % unemployment rate - 2 week quarantine -
	Rick & Maria
121	ANKYRIOS	Barra de Navidad, MX
Dennis, Brandy & Crew
129 ©	NESHUMA	on the hard at Mazatlan marina
	Carl & Cynthia
131	MAR Y SOL	Marina Vallarta, MX
Bob & Marisol
138	BLESSED LIFE	quepos costa rica pez vela - we are going to stay - we got a tip - 2 year used ernesto - 900 for the documents - one could do it on themslves - july 17th - weather is ramoing up - regular thunderstorms - lots of lighting - quepos - aside from the marina - the rest of quepos seems unconceredn - tourism is shot down - 3 days ago - flower in the rain everything is open - place is pumping -
Bob and Margie
143 ©	SEA GLASS	Panama
Chris
152 ©	SUSIMI	la paz marinas are full - anchorage 30 -   50 feets
Paul & Hazel
161 ©	SPREZZATURA	you can move around within the area - the federal govt removed the restrictions on sales but municpailutes contiune to ban it -
Eric
173 ©	BISOU	bocas del toro - rainy season - talking about lifting the ban - rainy season - rumor is that airports will open may 22nd
Robin and Tad
176	REEF DANCER	Barra for the foreseeable future
Jerry & Debra

4) Kissing the dock in Costa Rica

As my wife and I were sitting around this week under California’s stay-at-home orders with spring weather and a cool beverage, we were fondly recounting all that we had experienced on our adventure south before COVID-19 forced an unplanned early departure from Panama on an Air Force C-130. One of the things I really enjoy about Cruising is sitting around with fellow sailors hearing their experiences and sharing ours. Since there is no group fireside chatting these days I thought I would share one of our more memorable stories from this past season via e-mail.

I watched in slow motion as the marina staff on the dock were yelling and waving for us to slow down.  We entered the slip next the large sailing vessel sharing our double wide berth and I still remember the look of disbelief on the faces of our soon to be neighbors; I remember the dock in front of us pushing up high enough to see it above the bow anchor; I remember the pangas on the far side of the dock bouncing violently and I remember the splinters flying. What I do not remember seeing is my wife disappearing from the deck at the mid-ship standing rigging. I had accounted for wind and cross-current and had a perfect line coming into my assigned slip at Banana Bay Marina in Golfito, Costa Rica. There would be no entering at a bad angle and scratching the gel coat, no fending off the neighbor’s boat; the yachtistas sipping their cervesas and tropical drinks at the bayside bar would be disinterested at the clean entry and would be back to their drinks after a quick glance; the way that conversation pauses and all eyes point toward the new boat coming in, waiting to see if any drama is going to unfold. Well, I did not disappoint. The sight of a sailing vessel hitting the dock at 4 or 5 knots was my own version of shock and awe! 

In calculating my entry to the slip I failed to account for a suddenly sheared clevis pin, unbeknownst to me, inside in my all-in-one throttle/shifting lever. When I did not seem to slow down with the first burst of reverse, I gave it a lot more reverse, which only mad me go much faster. By the time I reluctantly grasped what was happening, it was too late to do anything about it except kill the engine. I was already committed and any turn would have me hitting the vessel to port or starboard on my abort attempt. So I held course and yelled to the 3 marina staff on the dock “NO REVERSE! NO REVERSE!”, and braced for impact. Despite the surreal slow motion of the event unfolding before me, I do not remember any actual jolt or impact, though it was enough to catapult my unsuspecting wife onto the dock.  Fortunately nobody on the dock was injured, though my wife had a nasty bruise on her leg for a couple of weeks following. It is the kind of thing that we can laugh about now, but was shocking at the time and caused us both heart palpitations docking at our next marina.

As I jumped off the boat to quickly tie off, things went from slow motion to very rapid motion, my mind was racing and I was imagining the damage done to the dock and boat, the marina manager was yelling at me that I should not be entering a marina without reverse gear (interesting but little known fact), and my wife was giving me a wide-eyed look like “what just happened!?" after getting back up on her feet.

As it turned out, I hit the dock at a joint, which caused a fair amount of local dock damage, but also seemed to absorb a lot of the collision energy. Green Flash, our Beneteau 351, seemed to have only suffered some deep scratches to the bow gel coat where the metal dock hardware dug in and matching gel coat smiles on both sides of the bow where it flexed a bit on impact.

After his initial anger, the manager and his marina staff were very gracious about the whole mishap. I spent a couple of days making trips to the local hardware store to pay for repair materials, but the marina completed the repairs using their own staff. We stayed almost a week, but I did not have the thick skin to ask for the Panama Posse discount rate! First, I felt bad about destroying their dock and felt it would be bad form;  secondly, we were one of the first Posse boats to arrive in Golfito this year and we did not want to give the rest of the unsuspecting 2019-20 Posse, who was yet to arrive, a bad name! So after paying for the final dock repairs we checked out and uneventfully left for Panama. We have had a few laughs about the incident since and it made for a good story sitting around the BBQ with fellow cruisers over a beer before the COVID-19 gauntlet fell on all social events!

 

We are now back home in San Clemente, California longing for things to settle down and open so we can return to Green Flash at Vista Mar Marina, Panama and continue our adventure!
Cheers!

Bob and Joan

GREEN FLASH

5) Termites oh my !

Aaaaahhhh! My neighbor informed me that the “flying ants”are not that. They are flying termites! I have discovered shedded wings. That means that they have flown into our boat, shed their wings and are setting up a taco stand. ANYBODY have a suggestion on how to now trap them and then mitigate! When I asked him he just shook his head. 😱

Bob and Margie

BLESSED LIFE
Friends had termites take residence. Very hard to get off the boat. They fumigated twice and still have them. The damage they can cause is huge if they get a foothold. Keep an eye out and if you see them aboard use any and all means available to get rid of them. Perhaps the best means are either aggressive fumigation or an ozone generator (neither of which is particularly good for humans, either).

Did a deep dig for my friends. Sadly, there is no magic cure. Poison is the only way. Once they get established, poison is very hard to administer effectively because of the nature of their nests. So step one is vigilance, and if you see them (even one), step two is going nuclear with either fumigation or ozone. Both fumigation and ozone have side effects (fumigation typically damages metals like SS due to its chemical nature, and ozone attacks natural rubber and some plastics due to its nature). Ozone is less dangerous to humans overall IF you ventilate well after a treatment because it leaves no residue.

The problem is that once established, they eat wood on your boat from the inside out. All wood, plywood, mahogany, oak, etc. They don’t leave many access points to their nests to use to get the poison of choice in, so it’s hard to reach them. And if you have 1,000s aboard in a big infestation and kill 9,995, the 5 that got away start up the infestation all over again.

Here’s an article with some proposed solutions. Problem is, the poison application(s) they suggest only kill those that go out of the wood and nest(s) aboard. It doesn’t take a very large residual population to do serious damage on a boat or re-infest a boat. Do look at the discarded wings at the top of the article to confirm termites vs. Flying ants.

https://thebugskiller.com/how-to-kill-termites-and-get-rid-of-them-forever/

 

 

AVANT

DEBRA & Rob

6) Puerto Angel, MX

Taliesin Rose anchored briefly in Puerto Angel for fuel transfer and breakfast.

Waiting for sailing eleven-11 and will continue soon to Zihuatanejo with possible stop in Acapulco.

Victoria & Rowan

TALIESIN ROSE

7) Marina Chahue, Fuel Dock

 

 

Yes you can enter to the marina and get diesel, they have a fuel dock, also you can
leave your boat there for a while to get groceries, there is a big grocery store like 1 km from the marina

Jim & Zyanya

LILY ROWAN

8)  Happy Cinco de Mayo - Taco Tuesdays Pictures from the Fleet

 

Cinco de Mayo, or the fifth of May, is a holiday that celebrates the date of the Mexican army’s May 5,
1862 victory over France at the Battle of Puebla during the Franco-Mexican War.
While the French and Spanish did loose Mexico as a dominion they (unfortunately) bequeathed Mexico with their legal structures.
Mexico is working to completely overhaul its justice system...

Tacos by MAISON DE SANTE

 

Keenan & Nicole
MAISON DE SANTE

Tacos by SEALARKS

Jeffrey & Paula

SEALARKS

Tacos by TRANCE

Dan & Marlene
TRANCE

 

Tacos by TRANCE

Dan & Marlene
TRANCE

9) Sign up for the next season of the Panama Posse
- simply reply with "sign me up again"

Registration fees will stay at $100 for those who "re-posse" before July 31st,

50 vessels are already signed up and for our kick of week schedule visit

https://panamaposse.com/2020-2021-panama-posse-kick-off-week

10) Please reply to this email w

 

It all starts Dec 3rd 2020 at Barra de Navidad, MX

50 vessels are already signed up and for our kick of week schedule visit

https://panamaposse.com/2020-2021-panama-posse-kick-off-week

10) Please reply to this email with

– your updates
– contenders for picture of the week – links to your favorite SONGS
– relevant blog posts – and of course your valuable suggestions

 

 

 

The Panama Posse philosophy is to pass on nautical knowledge via the gestalt theory...

Dietmar & Suzanne
SV Carinthia

11) Opt-out from Fleet Updates simply reply with “REMOVE“

 

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by panamaposse

FLEET UPDATE 2020-05-03

• Thank you to our Sponsors
• Logistical company to ship into Mexico
• Country Updates
• Vessel Locations from the extraordinary line call
• Pictures of the week
• Recommended Ship's Agent in Costa Rica for visa extensions and TIP issues
• Birders Report - COSTA RICA
• 2019-2020 Panama Posse Season Finale 
• Tentative dates for Next Season's Kick of Events
• Sign up for next Panama Posse season
• Send in your fleet updates and ideas
• Opt-Out

1) A BIG THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS

• NOVAMAR INSURANCE  
• ULLMAN SAILS PUERTO VALLARTA 
• PREDICT WIND 
• SEVENSTAR YACHT TRANSPORT 

We are delighted to have these key partners and marinas supporting the Panama Posse.

Official Panama Posse  Sponsors, Partners and Ambassadors

• 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

• Centenario & Co.S.A. Eric Galvez – Panama

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) Getting parts into Mexico is sometimes a bit of a customs trouble - yes you can use amazon.com.mx

but for specific boat parts here is a solution - drop ship to an Estafeta office in the US and at ~ $ 3.50
x pounds includes custom fees and shipping they'll get it to you in Mexico

web www.estafetausa.com
email info@estafetausa.com
call +1 866 518 6600 english

3) Country Updates

As of today  here is where each country stands 

Mexico  - border closings between USA and Mexico but commercial entry permitted - outbound and inbound vessels still possible - certain ports are closed

Mexico    22,088    2,061✝
Implemented temperature-screening measures at some of its airports. 
Passengers with abnormal temperatures and travel to high-risk areas might be subject to additional health screening.

Chiapas and Ensenada POE open

Guatemala 688   17✝
Full lock down - no entry permitted  - Curfew extended to April 28th 


El Salvador 490   11✝
Full lock down - no entry permitted 




Honduras 1,010   76✝
Full lock down - no entry permitted 




Nicaragua    14   3✝
Borders closed as of last week  


• Aeromexico service suspended until June 01, 2020
• United Airlines service suspended until June 04, 2020
• Avianca Airlines service suspended until June 04, 2020
• Delta Airlines service suspended until June 13, 2020
• American Airlines service suspended until June 04, 2020
• Copa Airlines service suspended until June 01, 2020
• Spirit Airlines service suspended until July 05, 2020

The U.S. government does not anticipate arranging repatriation flights from Nicaragua at this time. 

However, in the event of any potential future repatriation flight, any U.S. citizens
wishing to be included on a list of passengers fill out this form
https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=dFDPZv5a0UimkaErISH0Sz1tIkltlEdBprPmu1U9pNRUQ01XUDJGN1FSOEk4U1paMUpTNVhPODY3RC4u

Costa Rica 733   6✝
Closed - nighttime vehicular curfew - extended to May 15th
The U.S. Embassy in San Jose and the U.S. State Department have coordinated with United Airlines to offer additional commercial repatriation flights from Juan Santamaria Airport (SJO) in San Jose, Costa Rica to Houston, Texas (IAH) on Monday May 4 and Friday May 8.  These flights will depart SJO at 12:00 pm and arrive at IAH at 4:46 pm.  These flights are open to public booking; you are encouraged to book ASAP as seats are limited. 
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-costa-rica/costa-rica-pushes-back-coronavirus-reducing-current-cases-idUSKCN2253PH

Panama    7,090  197✝
Panama -  Panama enacted nationwide movement restrictions, also referred to as quarantine, effective March 25, 2020. Decree 504 established that people who break health regulations and quarantines could be fined​ between $50,000 to $100,000.

no entry permitted   14 day quarantine has been obtained by some in internal movements - curfew w 1 hour movement x day  with 30 minutes based on ID number and day - no alcohol sales - 
restrictions -

US  Embassy arranged  for  commercially-operated humanitarian flight on May 8 for any U.S. citizen or other qualified traveler able to enter the United States who had expressed wishes to depart Panama.  That flight is now full.  

The Embassy is continuing its efforts to identify future flights.  However, there are no other planned flights at this time.  We encourage you to be prepared to remain in Panama for the next 30-60 days, or perhaps more.  

For now, please closely monitor Spirit’s website (www.Spirit.com) for any openings due to cancellations on the May 8 flight from Panama City, Panama (PTY) to Ft. Lauderdale, FL, USA (FLL).

4) Vessel Locations as per the 8th extraordinary Panama Posse line call Sat May 2 2020

	NAME	LOCATION
1	BAJA FOG	Barra de Navidad, MX
John & Monique
3	TALIESIN ROSE	Chiapas
Victoria & Rowan
4	THISLDU	Puesta del Sol, Nicaragua
Garrett & Audrey
5	LUNA	Barra de Navidad, MX
Bob & Kris
9	CARINTHIA	Barra de Navidad, MX
Dietmar & Suzanne
10	SEAGLUB	boat in san jose de cabo - state of baja - much stricter one person per car -
Chris
11	BONZER	Barra de Navidad, MX
Michael & Vicki
12	JEAN ANNE	Barra de Navidad, MX
Steve & Chelsea
13	SINGULARITY	Vista Mar Marina, Panama
Robert & Carol
19  ©	KNOT RIGHT	Vista Mar Marina, Panama
Walt & Jeariene
20 ©	COMPROMISE	irvine - oc - california - boat on the hard in chiappas
Ronald & Karen
22	DUE WEST	Barra de Navidad, MX
Kirk & Heidi
23	TOP CIDER	Chiapas
Chuck & Sharon
24	RAIREVA	enjoying - US - movment towards life - political - LA / San Pedro - boat in mexico
Marek
26	MADELEINE	Vessel in El Salvador / we ar in the Netherlands
Huibert & Maaike
27	ANGELIQUE	Florida
Dan & Angela
29	DELTA SWIZZLER	Barra de Navidad, MX - safe and sound -
Mark & Cindy
30	FIREFLY	Near Barra de Navidad, MX
Brenda & Ted
31 ©	EL GATO	Barra de Navidad, MX
Eric & Annie
34	ONE LIFE	Barra de Navidad, MX
Doug & Mary
37	WISHLIST	moved to santiago bay - stayed at las hadas - security guard made
Chris
40	AVANT	Shelter Bay, Panama - we are in vancouver
Rob & Debra
43	RHAPSODY	still in vista mar - golf course - the govt put potentially up online shopping - and hardware done
Sarah & Bob
51	GREEN FLASH	boat is in vista mar - we are in sacramento
Bob & Joan
52	BONZAI	working your way up the coast - all well on board - beer and rum sales - in the florida keys
Don
54	STAND DOWN	Vista Mar Marina, Panama
Richard & Nancy
56	NAMAHANA	Barra de Navidad, MX
Curtis & Jill
58	KATHLEEN	Barra de Navidad, MX
Robert & Karen
59	RAVEN	Barra de Navidad, MX
Neil, Tammy, & Jan
64	SECRET WATER	La Paz, MX
Annie & Chris & Crew
66	PARADISE	Barra de Navidad, MX
Sid & Manuela
67	CHIMERA	all well in golfito at banana bay - loosing of - still waiting for the parks to open
Dennis & Margaret
69	ALIZANN	red frog marina - posse boats - locked down for the weekend - spirit had another fligth on may 8th - the flight is full - maybe
Martin & Suzanne
70	FLOATING STONES	Carolinas ?
Bryan & Cheryl
71	MOONRISE	Marina Chahue
Stephen & Ana Veronica
74	MAISON DE SANTE	Barra de navidad - getting back from USA was easy
Keenan & Nicole
80	DAD’S DREAM	Vessel for sale
Rick & Brenda
82	BULA	Barra de Navidad, MX
Kenny & Cari
85	FOLLOW YOU FOLLOW ME	San Diego
Allan & Rina
86	CONTEXT	boat is in panama - we are in san diego -
John
87	EL GATO	Barra de Navidad, MX en route north
Jules & Jeff
88  ©	SEA LARKS	acapulco - with vicente - feels like it's locked down -
Jeffrey & Paula
95	WAVE DANCER	In Florida - restrictions - weather - who cares - boat is in golfito cr
Vladimir & Galinda
99	HO’OKIPA	Barra de Navidad, MX
Lisa & Lucky
100	VOLARE	Barra de Navidad, MX
Jessica & Adam
110	KARVI	isla ixtapa - by taxi a week and a ahlf ago - humming along nicely - and - went back to take the boat back - all is closed in Zihuatanejo - made it back - start moving back -
Dan & Nancy
117	PILIALOHA	vessel is in hautulco - we ar ein hawaii - curve is flat - state is opening up a little - 14 day for vessel arriving with in the state  - no change to the end of may
Rick & Maria
124  ©	INDEPENDENCE	into key west - marina - going into jupiter fl - nice ride left - right of key west -
Larry & Jamie
125	LILY ROWAN	chahue - still lock down passes requirments -
Jim & Zyanya
129 ©	NESHUMA	on the hard at mazatlan marina
Carl & Cynthia
131	MAR Y SOL	Marina Vallarta, MX
Bob & Marisol
138	BLESSED LIFE	tip - visa is good costa rica - july 17th - still quepos -
Bob and Margie
143 ©	SEA GLASS	Vista Mar Marina, Panama
Chris
146	ROSA-LEE	texas - dallas - vessel - el salvador
Gary
157	SOL GOOD	vista mar -
Jeff
171	GenM	la paz - marina de la paz - chore list - pretty quite - jobbers - indicate - leaving at the end of may -
Marvin and Laurie
172 ©	AMEKAYA	red frog marina - - no plans to go anywhere - boat work to stay busy - staying out of the rain
Maris and Linda
173 ©	BISOU	Bocas del Toro, Panama  - next to Sprezzatura - starfish beach - some movement - able to move - overcast and rainy
Robin and Tad
176	REEF DANCER	all doing well in Barra de Navidad Marina, MX
Jerry & Debra

5) Pictures of the week

Duval Street, Key West

Panorama yesterday

Don

BONZAI

Lisa's Happy Birthday BBQ - Barra de Navidad MX

Red Snapper and Dorado

Sticky Rice cooked in Bamboo

Top Panama Posse Chef Lucky Chucky

Birthday Girl Lisa

Lisa & Lucky Chucky
HO’OKIPA

Acapulco, MX , Captain Vicente

Vicente Herrera, phone +52 (1) 744-439-8184.  Acapulco
- a helping hand when you need one ad only $10 x night on one of his moorings

www.goodnautical.com/mexico-pacific/mooring/acapulco-vicentes-moorings

6) Recommended Ships Agent in Costa Rica for visa extensions and TIP issues

Bob & Margie

BLESSED LIFE

7) Birders Report - COSTA RICA
from 2017-2018 Panama Posse Vessel JULIA MAX

While Julia Max is nestled in Papagayo Marina, George and Sue are away in volcano land: Arenal Observatory was rainy but full of magnificent birds.
The zip-line was fun too. Stayed at La Mansion in Nueva Arenal on Lake Arenal. Here are some bird photos:   Saw 40 other species.

Collared Aracari at the Arenal Observatory feeder.

Rufous Motmot on the Hanging Bridges trail. Note the destinctive tail.

Montezuma Oropendola enjoying the melons set out at the Arenal Observatory feeder.

Summer Tanager, one of 7 different species of Tanager sighted.

George & Sue
JULIA MAX 

 

8) 2019-2020 Panama Posse Season Finale

This seasons multi national Panama Posse Finale party will have to be done with certain restrictions in place
but we aim to bring everyone together in small groupings via a live VIDEO LINE call on
May 30th Saturday 2020 starting at sundown  in Panama - EVERYONE regardless  of their location is invited !

And here we will announce the winners of the various awards and give everyone a chance to chime and and give their season goodbyes to everyone.

As always we'll be using the line call format and hopefully we have a few minutes and let everyone chime in to say a few few words

9) Tentative dates for Next Season's Kick of Events

Thursday December 3rd, 2020 @ 13:00
ROUTE PLANNING & NAVIGATION   

Friday December 4th, 2020 @ 13:00
COMMUNICATIONS, WEATHER, SAFETY  

Friday December 4th, 2020 @ 17:30
PANAMA POSSE KICK OFF PARTY

Saturday December 5th, 2020 @ 13:00
SATELLITE CHARTS / OPEN CPN / GOOD NAUTICAL  

Saturday December 5th, 2020 @ 17:30
PANAMA POSSE POT LUCK RED CUP DOCK PARTY

Sunday December 6th, 2020 @ 13:00
PROVISIONING, WHAT TO SEE AND DO, RECAP, Q&A

For additions and changes please follow this page
https://panamaposse.com/2020-2021-panama-posse-kick-off-week

10) The 2020-2021 Panama Posse is forming
and 40+ vessels have signed up already.

This season will with the Finale Party Line and of course the Line group will stay open for a few more months - but not monitored
and we will continue the Saturday extraordinary calls for another few months as well.

Our goal is to expand the Panama Posse route in 2021 with a northbound
leg from Panama to the Keys in the Caribbean a.m.o. stay tuned for details.

To sign up for next Panama Posse season - please reply with - "sign me up".

11) Please reply to this email with any 
updates and we'll include it in the next Fleet Updates

Dietmar & Suzanne
SV Carinthia

12) opt-out from the Fleet Updates simply reply with "REMOVE"

---

by panamaposse

FLEET UPDATE 2020-04-26

in this weeks fleet update

• Pictures of the Week
• Nicaragua to Mexico Notes on Arrival
• Country Updates
• Vessel Locations
• Severe Weather Alert 
• a non-Panama Posse vessel's actions in Costa Rica during the lock down
• Official Dinghy Dock Petition in Zihuatanejo, MX
• A BIG thank you to our Sponsors
• Sign up for next Panama Posse season
• Send in your fleet updates
• Opt-Out
  

Much as our ancestors did ages ago, we thrust forward into the unknown.

Pioneers set forth on an uneasy course, just as we are now facing history and
certain adversity while we aim to thrive.

1) Pictures of the Week

The shark ate my tuna...

Sharks 2 Bonzai 0 for tuna dinner while under passage.

Don

BONZAI

Bob & Margie

BLESSED LIFE

Pool under construction at Chiapas Marina

Bill & Lisanne

ROCINANTE

Catch of the week !

 

Jeffrey & Paula

SEA LARKS

Brian & Tracy

WOODWIND 1

Finding one part on board tearing it all apart aka boat yoga

 

Nick, Gema & crew

MOIRA

Admiral's dress code under stay in place orders

Suzanne & Dietmar

Carinthia

2) Nicaragua to Mexico - Arrival

We just wanted to update you, that Happy Dance arrived in Chiapas Mexico at 0700 April 26. We had an easy 3 day passage from Puesta del Sol, and we're very happy to report that we'll be going to check into Mexico in the morning!!
One funny note, (at least it's funny now), is that an email from the US Embassy was sent to my inbox two hours after we left the dock in Nicaragua, advising us that the Nicaraguan government had agreed to let us stay! Timing is everything..ha!
I should also note that in all the confusion while we were figuring out the situation in Nicaragua, the people at Puesta del Sol couldn't have been nicer. Robert, the owner, was making calls on our behalf, Juanita was keeping us informed, the Navy was friendly, and of course all our fellow cruisers were offering plenty of moral support. Special thanks to Vicki on Taliesin Rose for getting us groceries!
We plan to stay here for the month of May while we fix the prop seal, and wait to see what happens next in Mexico.

All the best,

Sue & Marty

HAPPY DANCE

3) Country Updates

Mexico 13,8421,305†
implemented temperature-screening measures at some of its airports.
Passengers with abnormal temperatures and travel to high-risk areas might be subject to additional health screening.
Several ports have restrictions on movement - clearing in and out of Chiapas and Ensenda is still possible
Guatemala 473 13†
full lock down - no entry permitted - Curfew extended
El Salvador 298 8†
full lock down - no entry permitted

Honduras 627 59†
full lock down - no entry permitted

Nicaragua 13 3†
closed as of this week - no entry permitted
On Wed Apr 22 unofficially
(and not publicly) closed its borders to entry of recreational boats.
From this moment Marina Puesta del Sol will not be able to receive boats.

Costa Rica 695 6†
full lock down - no entry permitted
existing tourist visas have been extended curfew to may 15 th

Panama 5,538 159†
Panama - 14 day quarantine has been obtained by some in internal movements

The Civil Aeronautical Authority (AAC) of Panama extended the suspension of international flights to the country until May 23.
The airports have been closed since the early hours of Monday, March 23, as a sanitary measure due to the advance of the corona-virus. The measure was originally adopted for a month, but this Monday, April 20, the AAC announced that the ban will be extended for an additional month.
The resolution was published in the Official Gazette, and bears the signature of the AAC director, Gustavo Pérez. These actions are based on information provided by the Ministry of Health, regarding the evolution of the coronavirus pandemic in other countries.
Read here AAC Resolution No. 53 of April 14, 2020.
https://www.gacetaoficial.gob.pa/pdfTemp/29006/78214.pdf

4) Vessel Locations

	NAME	LOCATION	STAY IN PLACE	MOVE ON TO	LOGISTICAL ISSUES
1	BAJA FOG	Barra de Navidad, MX
John & Monique
3	TALIESIN ROSE	puesta del Sol, Nicaragua
Victoria & Rowan
4	THISLDU	Puesta del Sol, Nicaragua
Garrett & Audrey
5	LUNA	barra de Navidad, MX
Bob & Kris
9	CARINTHIA	barra de Navidad, MX
Dietmar & Suzanne
10	SEAGLUB	san jose del cabo
Chris
12	JEAN ANNE	Chiapas, MX
Steve & Chelsea
13	SINGULARITY	Vista Mar, Panama			undefined future
Robert & Carol
16 ©	ENJOY	in bocas del toro - hanging well			getting a lot of work
Don & Nina
19  ©	KNOT RIGHT	Vista Mar Marina, Panama			separation - nothing
Walt & Jeariene
20 ©	COMPROMISE	Marina Chiapas, Leave boat on the hard			no issues leave
Ronald & Karen
23	TOP CIDER	Chiapas, MX
Chuck & Sharon
25	HALF MOON	Puesta del Sol, Nicaragua
Brain & Elizabeth
26	MADELEINE	vessel in el salvador
Huibert & Maaike
27	ANGELIQUE	Florida
Dan & Angela
29	DELTA SWIZZLER	Tenecatita - 9 vessels
Mark & Cindy
30	FIREFLY	las hadas
Brenda & Ted
34	ONE LIFE	barra de Navidad, MX
Doug & Mary
37	WISHLIST	las hadas - life copy
Chris Brenda
40	AVANT	Shelter Bay, Panama - vessel is in panama - we are in rainy Canada			linton bay marina - are abel to accept vessels and able to update to -
Rob & Debra
48 ©	DENOVO	Boat is Puerto Pensaco. MX - we are in canada
Andre, Naomi & crew
50	ANDURIL	Chiapas, MX
Alice & Greg
51	GREEN FLASH	California - vista mar in boat
Bob & Joan
52	BONZAI	key west florida - cases are climing in mx - all marinas are closed - anchoring out in key west After 1.5 years from leaving California we have now arrived in Key West Florida.  As Mexico is escalating into a level three for the virus we recognized things in the US were on the back side of the bell curve and found a weather window.  Bonzai utilized an agent that is on staff at Puerto Isla Mujeres Marina and it was worth every penny for efficiency.  450 miles later in 60 hours we are here.			processed thorugh staff - cbp roam app - ke west maintain social distancing
Don
54	STAND DOWN	vista Mar Marina, Panama
Richard & Nancy
58	KATHLEEN	barra de Navidad, MX
Robert & Karen
59	RAVEN	barra de Navidad, MX
Neil, Tammy, & Jan
61  ©	WILDEST DREAMS	chiapas, MX
Grant & Michelle
64	SECRET WATER	la paz, mx
Annie & Chris & Crew
65	WOODWIND 1	paradise village - boat projects - rest down - yacht club does take out - run
Brian & Tracy
67	CHIMERA	costa rica
Dennis & Margaret
69	ALIZANN	still at red frog marina	remain in place		full lock down - week to week decision - keeping the boat top operational
Martin & Suzanne
70	FLOATING STONES	bahamas
Bryan & Cheryl
74	MAISON DE SANTE	barra de Navidad, MX
Keenan & Nicole
85	FOLLOW YOU FOLLOW ME	San Diego
Allan & Rina
88  ©	SEA LARKS	Chiapas - fleet start moving - en route to
Jeffrey & Paula
95	WAVE DANCER	costa rica
Vladimir & Galinda
96	MALOLO	in manzanillo - las hadas from ixtapa
Matt & Britt
99	HO’OKIPA	Barra de Navidad, MX			until further notice all good
Lisa & Lucky
100	VOLARE	Barra de Navidad, MX
Jessica & Adam
109	JOY	Barra de Navidad, MX
Jeff & Roxanne
117	PILIALOHA	maina chahue with a care taker - we are in hawai
Rick & Maria
121	ANKYRIOS	barra de Navidad, MX
Dennis, Brandy & Crew
124  ©	INDEPENDENCE	raotan  barefoot key marina went way for the hotel - west end - smoky -			serious - sneaking in - still on lock-down - people are hanging low
Larry & Jamie
125	LILY ROWAN	marina chahue
Jim & Zyanya
129 ©	NESHUMA	on the hard at mazatlan marina
Carl & Cynthia
131	MAR Y SOL	Marina Vallarta, MX
Bob & Marisol
138	BLESSED LIFE	doing great at marina pez vela - weather rain - contract end of fall			tip with the boat bond -
Bob and Margie
143 ©	SEA GLASS	panama
Chris
149 ©	MOIRA	in bahia ballena - weeks and weeks - plan is weathe r- may to hawai
Nick, Gema & crew
152 ©	SUSIMI	Barra de Navidad, MX
Paul & Hazel
157	SOL GOOD	boat is in vitsta mar - cornado panama			all
Jeff
161 ©	SPREZZATURA	Curfew expanded to the end of may  sat and Sunday closed down
Eric
171	GenM	in marina la paz - maintence - all on lock down			canal not go out after 10 PM -
Marvin and Laurie
176	REEF DANCER	staying put for the foreseable			duffy is very quiet …
Jerry & Debra
178	Happy Dance	Chiapas, MX

5) Severe Weather Alert
...EARLY TROPICAL DEPRESSION FORMS IN THE EASTERN PACIFIC...

NHC is issuing advisories on newly formed Tropical Depression One-E, centered as of 8 a.m. PDT over the open waters of the eastern North Pacific Ocean about 730 miles (1175 km) southwest of the southern tip of Baja California.

This marks the earliest formation of a tropical cyclone in the eastern North Pacific basin since the satellite era began in 1966.

The depression is moving toward the northwest near 7 mph (11 km/h). This general motion is expected for the next day or so, followed by a turn toward the west on Sunday.

Maximum sustained winds are near 35 mph (55 km/h) with higher gusts. Little change in strength is anticipated today. The system is forecast to become a remnant low by late Sunday. It is not a threat to land.

The next advisory will be issued by NHC at 2 p.m. PDT - https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/#One-E

 

Rob & Debra
AVANT

6) a non-Panama Posse vessel's actions in Costa Rica during the lock down

... based on your recent lock down update we spotted a boat named Malolo and his owner /captain Rick Appel. (not Panama-Posse)

...this boat showed up here right before Samana Santa (Easter) directly from Panama.
Borders closed and he landed on our fuel dock. No zarpe no nothing totally illegal in every way.
The agencies and Peninsula management went nuts because Panama is considered a Covid 19 hot spot and the border is closed to prevent these arrivals.
He basically showed up and said I don't care what you have to do,
I am out of fuel and on my way to California. If you have to arrest me then go ahead and arrest me.
.... to say this was a complete fiasco is an understatement. It took our lawyers and all of the agencies working
overtime to workout a solution for this idiot. In the end Immigration, the health ministry, the Port Captain and
Aduana all agreed the best solution was to sell him the fuel and send him away.
We had to suit up one of our guys in haz mat gear to pump the fuel.
... still dealing with the fall-out from this as we still could be fined for allowing the boat into the marina.
This has placed our concession at risk because this was ultimately considered a Health Ministry violation and they have a lot of power in Costa Rica.
The issue is, we didn't allow him to come in. No radio call no nothing he just charged in and dropped lines before my guys could get to the
end of the fuel dock placing the marina, our staff and fellow mariners at risk.

Marina Papagayo

7) Official Dinghy Dock Petition in Zihuatanejo, MX

In 2019 we officially petitioned Zihuatanejo to put in a dinghy dock - this was 14 months ago.

While cruising is severely impacted by the C19 virus our petition still stands.

If you know of any other locations you wish to have a dinghy dock please let us know

DINGHY DOCK

- Well maintained stable floating dock to adjust to tides and water levels protected from waves
- Handrails from shore to the Dinghy Dock with non skid surface on the plank - Small strong galvanized marlin cleats with ability to run chain through
- Long Painters on Each Dinghy & Dipping the Eye Use only one line. Do not tie bow and stern.
- Ability to lock dinghy to dock with a long chain and padlock
- Do not lock out other dinghies - Throw-able Life ring with floating line - No fishing allowed / No Swimming / No fish cleaning - Well lighted area with 24/7 video surveillance - Guarded or in “shouting” range of authorities - In cellphone and VHF rage of the main anchorage
- Nearby road to hail taxis, buses or uber and walking distance to town - Ability to load and unload packages and provisions
- Establish a No Wake Zone
- Potable water spigot to take on fresh water / wash dingy
- Trashcan
- Message Board for relevant announcements
- Do not lift engine up to avoid damage to other dinghies

8) A BIG thank you to our Sponsors

• NOVAMAR INSURANCE  
• ULLMAN SAILS PUERTO VALLARTA 
• PREDICT WIND 
• SEVENSTAR YACHT TRANSPORT 

Official Panama Posse  Sponsors, Partners and Ambassadors

• 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

• Centenario & Co.S.A. Eric Galvez – Panama

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

9) The 2020-2021 Panama Posse is forming
and 38 vessels have signed up already.

This season will end on June 1st - Line group will stay open - but not monitored
and we may continue the Saturday extraordinary calls for another few months.

Our goal is to expand the Panama Posse route in 2021 with a northbound
leg from Panama to the Keys in the Caribbean a.m.o. stay tuned for details.

To sign up for next Panama Posse season - please reply with - "sign me up".

9) Please reply to this email with any
updates and we'll include it in the next Fleet Updates

Dietmar & Suzanne
SV Carinthia

10) opt-out from the Fleet Updates simply reply with "REMOVE"

---

by panamaposse

FLEET UPDATE 2020-04-19

• 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

• NOVAMAR INSURANCE  
• ULLMAN SAILS PUERTO VALLARTA 
• PREDICT WIND 
• SEVENSTAR YACHT TRANSPORT 

• 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

• Centenario & Co.S.A. Eric Galvez – Panama

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“

---

by panamaposse

FLEET UPDATE 2020-04-12

“all that is true is rare and difficult”
― Unknown

We want to thank the 39 vessels which have already
signed up for the next 2020-2021 Panama Posse Season
( to do so reply with "sign me up again" )

1) As a affirmation to LIFE, the camaraderie with fellow seaman
and as a demonstration that we shall overcome this virus as a species
please join us and fellow Panama Posse vessels in your area
at 17:00 LOCAL TIME and emit 3 prolonged (4-6 seconds) blasts know as "show blasts"

A special thank you to
Ho'Okipa, Joy and Dragonfly here in Barra for participating

2) PANAMA CANAL TRANSIT UPDATE FOR VESSELS UNDER 65 FEET

3rd party  Panama Canal update:
Our boat Lazy Travels, with Ohana and Nutmeg just crossed the Panama Canal from Atlantic to Pacific
Here are the details for how it happened for us:
We were allowed to use 4 line handlers for the entire 3 boat raft. Each boat had a transit advisor provided by the canal.
We were not allowed to use Canal line handlers, we had to find boats to transit with us that in combination would provide us with enough crew for the raft (4 line handlers, 3 captains, and if any children onboard someone separate to look after them. Seriously you need all 4 line handlers to be able to give their undivided attention at all times).
We were also unable to rent lines, fenders or tires to reduce contamination. We had to make sure that we had enough to meet the requirements (4 long lines, plus enough fenders for the raft and canal. Personal recommendation is to have a lot of fenders, and a few big round ones).
It seems like you must use an agent at this time, although we only used one to process our payment and paid a reduced fee ($150 USD, name Roger, organized by Shelter Bay Marina).
Shelter Bay Marina with the help of cruisers themselves organized the measurement of the boats. There is currently an excel spread sheet that lists all boats that want to cross the canal with their information. This is not an official document, but makes it easier to coordinate with all the yachts.
Basically we had to organize our own: measurement, crew, lines and fenders. The most difficult part was finding 3 boats who together meet all the requirements and were ready to cross. 
Our transit advisor said HIS OPINION is that the canal will continue to stay open for small vessels.  I think this is based on need, and how smooth everything went using reduced line handlers.

Serious thank you to all the cruisers and staff at Shelter Bay Marina who basically made this happen.

To many more happy canal crossings !!

Posted from FB Panama Cruisers by SV Singularity

3) Country Updates

Mexico    4,219    273†
- 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.

REPORT FROM HUATULCO

A little bit more color on what is occurring in Mexico (from our perspective of being in Huatulco):

1. There was some slowing of the town a month ago (Cruise ships and tourists stopped coming then) but everything has got much tighter in the last week.
2. Restaurants, bars, hotels are all closed. Just the supermarkets, gas stations and Oxxo’s are open.
3. A very few restaurants have switched to take-aways but that is comparatively rare. The city is a ghost town.
4. The mayor has posted municipal police in road blocks at multiple points across the city, questioning the purpose of any trip.
5. The airport is now also closed to domestic flights, with the exception of one single flight a week to/from Mexico City.
6. The Federal Highway remains open but many (if not most) exits are blocked off -  by municipal police in the case of organized towns and by groups of locals (unarmed, so far as we can tell) in the smaller communities – refusing entry to outsiders. That seems to now be the norm, everywhere.
7. It would therefore now be difficult to get out of here by either air or by road (unless you drive non-stop - you would likely find no hotels on route).  
8. The “social distancing” thing seems to be misunderstood – not all police wear face masks when they question you (up close). Moreover, these local groups (they can feel more like mobs) blocking roads are congregating in groups of 20, 30 or more, missing the entire point of the lock down.   
9. The Navy has stationed a vessel at the entrance to the harbor (at least during daylight hours). We haven’t actually seen any boat attempt to leave the harbor (not even one single panga), to know what the navy’s orders are – but we understand the harbor master is instructing vessels not to leave (although we have heard there is an exception for foreign vessels leaving the area or the country but do not have first-hand knowledge on that).
10. While there seems to be no actual restriction on 3^rd party contractors, working on boats, the reality is that many of the local workers voluntarily stopped work. Our mechanic reported that his employees simply abandoned him, some ten days ago, making it hard to continue offering any service.  
11. On a personal note, we are still working on the rebuild of the engine. Getting the parts across the US: Mexico border was challenging (we had to find someone with an essential job who was authorized to travel in both California and across the border). Nonetheless, provided no new restrictions are implemented, we are hopeful it will be complete within a few weeks / a month max. Provided we successfully get away, we will head to Bara Navidad. Please note, however, that we spoke to Miriam today and she advised that she is not certain she can accommodate us, as the marina is nearly full.    

Stephen & Ana Veronica

MOONRISE

Guatemala  155   5†
- full lock down - no entry permitted  - Curfew extended to April 28th

El Salvador    125      6†
-  full lock down - no entry permitted †
 
Honduras    393    25†
Honduras - full lock down - no entry permitted
   
Nicaragua -  9   1†
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

Costa Rica    577  3†
- full lock down - no entry permitted - Curfew extended to end of April

Health Alert – U.S. Embassy San Jose (8 April 2020)
Location:  Costa Rica – Level 4: Do Not Travel
 
Event: Costa Rica has now confirmed 502 cases of COVID-19 in the country.  Costa Rica today announced that the borders will remain closed to non-citizens and residents until April 30, an extension of the previous closure announcement. 

NOTE:Just to let you know that today (6th April) the Costa Rican government announced that they will keep the border closed until 30th April.

The U.S. Embassy will be closed Thursday April 9 - Monday April 13, due to observance of local holidays.  If you have an emergency requiring Consular assistance, please call 506-2519-2000.

The U.S. Embassy in San Jose and the U.S. State Department have coordinated with United Airlines to offer a commercial flight from Juan Santamaria Airport (SJO) in San Jose, Costa Rica to Houston, Texas (IAH) on Friday, April 17.  The flight will depart SJO at 11:30 am and arrive at IAH at 4:30 pm.  This flight is open to public booking; you are encouraged to book ASAP as seats are limited. 

 
 
We have received reports of social media notices purporting to provide assistance in receiving COVID-19-related checks from the U.S. government.  These notices claim immediate support and contain a link which requests personal information. Do NOT provide personal or financial information to businesses you don’t know or haven’t verified.  For official information regarding economic impact payments, see the websites of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Department of Treasury (DOT). 
 
As always, Americans who need assistance can contact us at the numbers or email address below.  
 
Actions to Take: 
-    Follow instructions of Costa Rican authorities. Not doing so could result in arrest and potential fines.
-    Visit the Costa Rican Ministry of Health's Facebook Page for updated information.
-    Visit our Embassy COVID page for information on conditions in Costa Rica.
-    Visit the Department of Homeland Security’s website on the latest travel restrictions to the United States. 
-    Consult the CDC website for the most up-to-date information on COVID-19. 
-    Visit the COVID-19 crisis page on travel.state.gov for the latest information. 
-    Work with your airline, travel provider, or hotel/lodging directly regarding any updated information about your travel plans and/or restrictions.
-    Call Costa Rican emergency number 911 or COVID hotline 1322 right away if you believe you may have COVID-19 (or similar symptoms) or were exposed to someone who may have COVID-19 in the last six weeks.
 
 Assistance:
 U.S. Embassy San Jose
 +506-2519-2000
 ACSSANJOSE@state.gov
https://cr.usembassy.gov/
State Department - Consular Affairs
888-407-4747 or 202-501-4444

 

  
Panama   3,234  79†
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 -

This was posted via email by Marina Pez Vela:

Pursuant to Administrative Resolution DM-RM-0852-2020, issued by the Ministry of Health on April 2, from April 3 at five in the afternoon and until April 12 at midnight, the marina will be closed to the public.
During this period there are to be no offered services including, but not limited to: issuance of zarpes, issuance of floats plans, repairs, haul out or launches, among others.
After April 12, it is expected to be able to return the Marina to operations and therefore apply the following protocols until the Government declares the state of Emergency ended.
We appreciate your understanding and we ask you to abide by the regulations to avoid sanctions and above all in support of this campaign for the health of all concerned.

Marina Pez Vela is a company and a family, which has always distinguished itself by its solidarity and commitment to the social, cultural and environmental causes of the surrounding community. In the past few weeks and foreseeable future, this general commitment also must include meeting the standards of prevention and containment of the global pandemic known as COVID-19. The project not only has a commitment to the health and security of our clients, contractors and staff, whom we care for in all aspects, but also to fulfilling our National Responsibilities as a Marine Concession.  Our concession requires that  we must comply with a series of general provisions, legal parameters old and new, such as those established on March 10, 2020 by the Executive Decree number 42221-MP_S  as well as the National Law on Emergencies and Risk Prevention, Law 8488 of November 22, 2006, both of which outline our legal responsibility to support in the prevention of pandemics and any other health risks, and specifically in reducing the contagion curve of COVID-19.
Therefore, we respectfully request and urge you to take the following steps:
- Minimize and avoid, if possible, the use of your boats for unnecessary purposes, and that the boat remains docked to your respective slip or dry dock (as the case may be). These measures of limited use have been suggested by the Costa Rican Health Ministry in relation to asking everyone to stay home so that the presence of the workers, captain or owners of the boat is only for the purposes of required maintenance, care, and security.

- For all boats that are for private, recreational use: In the event that you are required to navigate due to an emergency, required maintenance, provisioning, or other reason that is of absolute necessity, all navigation must  be done  in accordance with the float plan.  Boat capacity will be restricted to half the normal number of people (including captain and crew) No navigation plans will be authorized to any other port of landing or marina as a point of arrival, except in cases of emergency.

- Always request your due Float Plan at the main office, in the event you are stopped by the Coast Guard, it is important for them to know what your port of Origin is.

- We urge vessels that maintain their operations within the marina (tourist fishing vessels, catamarans, diving vessels) to minimize their operations for a reasonable period, until the authorities remove the national alert and restrictions. Also, please abide by the rules of distance between one person and another to avoid potential exposure to one another, and decrease the number of guests, clients or persons on board by at least 50 percent of the boat's capacity.

- Extreme basic hygiene measures inside your boats should be taken, insuring that any and all aboard can wash with antibacterial soap, alcohol gel, disposable paper towels, and trash cans with lids for disposal.

- In the case of vessels that are under temporary importation, have the National Zarpe issued by the Port Captain Office.

- Additionally, we urge all clients and visitors, workers or collaborators of the Marina to rationally use public services, especially water, since this is a resource that is of utmost importance for sanitary reasons and is already being rationed in many parts of Costa Rica.

- As a Marina, we cannot deny the use of your boats, however, we urge you to stay at home to avoid the spread of the virus.
We are always at your disposal to assist you.

Best regards,
Carter Ludwing TakacsCédula # 18400124735Administrador Marina Pez Vela

From the Panama Canal Authority effective 09 April:

ADVISORY TO SHIPPING No. A-14-2020
TO :
SUBJECT: Temporary Procedures for Small Craft Transits during COVID-19 Pandemic
Due to the current outbreak of Coronavirus (COVID-19) in the Republic of Panama and around the world, through the Ministry of Health (MINSA), the Panamanian government has imposed a total quarantine in the Republic of Panama. Consequently, the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) deems it necessary to implement strict measures to reduce the exposure to COVID-19 and protect the health of its employees, the Panamanian people, as well as vessels’ personnel, in order to prevent further spread of the virus. Therefore, the following procedures will be implemented for all small craft below 20 m (65 feet) in length overall (LOA) effective April 09, 2020:
1. Upon arrival at Balboa Anchorage or Cristobal Breakwater, the small craft shall contact the corresponding signal station announcing its arrival and requesting anchoring instructions, if applicable.
2. All crew and passengers arriving in Canal waters on board pleasure yachts are required to remain aboard under observation and surveillance by Panamanian authorities for a period of not less than 14 calendar days, regardless of port of origin or amount of days at sea.
3. Uponcompletionofthis14dayperiod,theywillbeevaluatedbytheMinistryofHealth (MINSA) to determine if there is any risk of contagion. Likewise, the master/skipper shall report to Canal and Panamanian health authorities if any passenger or crewmember on board shows virus-related symptoms or any other sickness.
4. In order for personnel on board to properly maintain quarantine, all transit arrangements shall be made by a representative ashore, such as a local agent or the corresponding marina where the small craft is anchored or moored.
5. The small craft representative shall call the ACP Admeasurement Unit (tel. 272-4577) in order to provide all the required information.
6. Inaddition,thesmallcraftrepresentativeshallsendtoNTOT-AS@pancanal.comthe following information:
- Yacht SIN number, name, flag, length (m), beam (m), arrival date confirmation (provided by the representative or the marina)
- Arrival crew list
- Yacht’s register
- Profile picture of the yacht
- Signed Release form
- Completed Handline Lockage Request form
- Copy of all crew passports
7. Theagentorrepresentativeshallmakearrangementsforplacementofthetransit guarantee, or payment in cash, which shall include tolls and other maritime services, as well as the buffer.
8. Once the guarantee has been confirmed, the representative or marina shall call the ACP vessel scheduler, at 272-4202 to coordinate their transit date.
9. In addition to the master/skipper, the small craft shall have at least four line handlers available, as required by ACP regulations. These linehandlers must have already been on board the small craft during the quarantine period mentioned in (2) above.
10.All other transit requirements remain the same and are available at:
http://pancanal.com/common/maritime/forms/4352-2020.pdf
11.On the day of transit, only the ACP transit advisor will board the small craft and disembark once his assignment has been completed. Only ACP personnel will be permitted to board or disembark the small craft.
The ACP is continuously monitoring the current situation with the COVID-19 pandemic and will announce any changes to these measures in a timely manner.
ORIGINAL SIGNED
Ilya R. Espino de MarottaActing Vice President for Transit Business

(other destinations)
French Polynesia    51            1 critical case
- full lock down

Colombia    2,709         100†   
- full lock down - Colombia under 19-day nationwide quarantine

Ecuador    7,466         333†    
- full lock down ""

Belize    14       3†  
- full lock down

Cayman Islands    53        1†
- full lock down - able to get fuel and provisions via q dock

Cuba    669       92†

Bahamas    46         8†    
- full lock down

Hawaii  486     8†  
- 14 day Quarantine for US flagged Vessels

Florida 19,347   452†
- reported entry possible via Key West with health checks for US flagged Vessels
For those heading to Key West USA, on return from your Panama adventures, the Stock Island Marina took us in as a temporary safe harbor from overseas on arrival, until we were ready to safely leave in a bit over a week having done our fixes, provisioning, and weather window. A five star facility. Not cheap. But great help in the face of a county government that shut down the Florida Keys.MV ANGELIQUE

California 22,424  634†
- reported entry possible via San Diego t with health checks for US flagged Vessels

4) Pictures of the Week

Ho'okipa - Still Life with Strawberries Kosher Bilge

Lisa & Lucky

HO’OKIPA

PINK MOON PICTURES

Steve & Chelsea

JEAN ANNE

Michael & Vicki

BONZER

Bob and Margie
BLESSED LIFE

Dietmar & Suzanne

CARINTHIA

Nick, Gema & crew

MOIRA

Rick & Maria

PILIALOHA

Dan & Marlene
TRANCE

5) Location of vessels

	NAME	LOCATION	STAY IN PLACE	MOVE ON TO	LOGISTICAL ISSUES
1	BAJA FOG	Barra de Navidad, MX		took a flight on alaska airlines till may 30th	2/3 full - 5 people jet
John & Monique
2	ANGELIQUE OF VANCOUVER	vessel is in mazatlan -	currently back in Canada		mom passed
	Mike & Jacquie
4	THISLDU	Puesta del Sol, Nicaragua
	Garrett & Audrey
5	LUNA	Mexico
	Bob & Kris
9	CARINTHIA	Barra	shelter in place
Dietmar & Suzanne
10	SEAGLUB	Marina Los Cabos
Chris
11	BONZER	Barra
	Michael & Vicki
12	JEAN ANNE	Chiapas, MX
	Steve & Chelsea
13	SINGULARITY	Vista Mar, Panama	shelter in place for 3 more months		our home - do some toolling around
Robert & Carol
14	SLOW DANCER	Bocas del Toro
Dale & Kenneth
16 ©	ENJOY	red frog marina - sheltering in place -	weathe ris rainy
	Don & Nina
19  ©	KNOT RIGHT	Vista Mar Marina, Panama	all is well		did not anounce - curve has not reached apex
Walt & Jeariene
20 ©	COMPROMISE	chiappas - copy heading north ensenada port captain closes at 1 PM
Ronald & Karen
23	TOP CIDER	Zihuatanejo
Chuck & Sharon
25	HALF MOON	Puesta del Sol
Brain & Elizabeth
26	MADELEINE	Vessel in El Salvador - we are in the Netherlands
Huibert & Maaike
27	ANGELIQUE	Florida
Dan & Angela
29	DELTA SWIZZLER	tenecatita - watermaker issues
Mark & Cindy
30	FIREFLY	las hadas - 4 boats today	sheltering in place
	Brenda & Ted
34	ONE LIFE	No change in barra - pandemic	staying in place
Doug & Mary
37	WISHLIST	las hadas bay	stay and boucne around - settle down
Chris
40	AVANT	Shelter Bay, Panama day patrol - able to go out	IN CANADA - glasd to help
Rob & Debra
43	RHAPSODY	vista mar  - walking the golf course	sheltering in place		eyeing french polynesia
Sarah & Bob
50	ANDURIL	Chiapas, MX -	In Vancouver
Alice & Greg
51	GREEN FLASH	San Clement California	getting stuff down at home vessel is vista mar
Bob & Joan
52	BONZAI	isla mujeres - carrebeen	good market nearby -		free to to do anything  still issueing zarpes - 2 week quarantine -
Don
53	GARGOYLE	Puesta del Sol Nicaragua
Kevin & Carla
54	STAND DOWN	Vista Mar Marina Panama
Richard & Nancy
59	RAVEN	Barra de Navidad
	Neil, Tammy, & Jan
60	BLUE OASIS	blue oasis - came to fuel dock - fueld up - arrived in Tamap
Barry & Kathy
61  ©	WILDEST DREAMS	Puntarenas, CR
Grant & Michelle
64	SECRET WATER	La Paz
	Annie & Chris & Crew
67	CHIMERA	bana bay CR - able to walk into town - shelter in place
Dennis & Margaret
69	ALIZANN	Red frog marina bocas de otoro	doing well	plan to stay here - until we have to move - not necessary to move so hoping every one is down - canal is open to small vessel 65 feet - 3 boats went though yesterday successfully - they are slowly alowing boats to transit - requirements
Martin & Suzanne
70	FLOATING STONES	Bahamas
Bryan & Cheryl
74	MAISON DE SANTE	staing in barra	working
Keenan & Nicole
81	AY CARAMBA !	Florida
Juan & Michelle
82	BULA	Mexico
	Kenny & Cari
85	FOLLOW YOU FOLLOW ME	san jose de cabo - victor gives great service all done - U$ 250 digital zarpe
	Allan & Rina
86	CONTEXT	We are in So- Califoria - record rains here
John Jan
87	EL GATO	Mexico
	Jules & Jeff
88  ©	SEA LARKS	Banana Bay Marina, CR
	Jeffrey & Paula
95	WAVE DANCER	Vessel fishhook - golifito we are in Florida
	Vladimir & Galinda
99	HO’OKIPA	Barra de Navidad, MX
	Lisa & Lucky
100	VOLARE	las hadas, 8 boats anchored	motored the holes
	Jessica & Adam
117	PILIALOHA	Vessel is in Marina chahue - we are in Oahu Hawaii - happy to help any vessel en route			q 14 days strict inter island curfew in effect - 11 - 5 AM
	Rick & Maria
119 ©	TRANCE	Shelter Island San Diego
	Dan & Marlene
121	ANKYRIOS	Barra de Navidad, MX
Dennis, Brandy & Crew
124  ©	INDEPENDENCE	barefoot cay in roatan honduras	extendend the lockdown to the 19th of	groceries stores are full of supplies	police chief came back to the island with 12 officers with navy personell and got shipped back to  - civil unrest - had extra security
	Larry & Jamie
125	LILY ROWAN	chahue in marina all is well got fuel - next bay - a cat was thieves - next bay - impossible dream -			local supermarket is open well stocked -
Jim & Zyanya
128 ©	AMANDLA	Marina Pamleira in La Paz	here for the future	port restrictions - in la paz - 96 lock down is a rumor - stores
Lisa & Captain Fabio
129 ©	NESHUMA	on the hard at mazatlan marina
	Carl & Cynthia
131	MAR Y SOL	Marina Vallarta, MX
Bob & Marisol
133	BIG CITY FISH	Barra in Navidad
Rick & Linda
138	BLESSED LIFE	Bahia Herradura, CR
Bob and Margie
143 ©	SEA GLASS	rich boren - cruise hro - was news of a lockdown - lined up with easter weekend	preventing travel	have had problem in the mainland	home depot is open - strictly adherence to the rules
Chris
147	GRASSHOPPER	chiappas marina - plan to shelter in place	pool concrete foundation		local supplies - walmart - and home depot
Jeffrey & Cheri
150	MILAGRO	I'm still at Bahia Ballena CR with no crew planning to stay here for now
Robert & crew
152 ©	SUSIMI	Barra  sheltering in place
Paul & Hazel
155 ©	LEILANI	in shelter bay marina - locked down for easter weekend - well secured -
Richard & Tracy
161 ©	SPREZZATURA	solo again crew left - left for florida - bocas del toro - stay for season			slight wrinkle - boat movement - they are relaxing the movement to allow anchorage to marina
Eric
171	GenM	san blas - mexico			weather window - story from milo -
Marvin and Laurie
172 ©	AMEKAYA	red frog marina - panama down the dock from alizann	planing to stay - had plans to go back to the states
Maris and Linda
173 ©	BISOU	anchored inbocas del toro town	planning to stay unitl Monday morning
Robin and Tad
176	REEF DANCER	Barra  sheltering in place	dive sites in the area
Jerry & Debra
178	HAPPY DANCE	Leaving Panama - En route to Nicaragua
Sue & Marty

6) Line Calls  WEEKLY  PANAMA POSSE FLEET CHECK IN and MORNING NET on MONDAY'S at 16:00 UTC via LINE
These regular Monday call will stay active until May 31st, 2020
We have over 140+ vessels in LINE and the calls are great and very efficient and the Chatroom is open 24/7
It's a new way of doing things - please download and install LINE  https://line.me/en-US/ 
Works on Android / ios / Windows / MAC OS

How to use it ....

- Register using your vessel name as the USERNAME
- Search for dietmarpetutschnig or SV Carinthia and send a message-
- wait and accept your PANAMAPOSSE GROUP INVITE
- join the group chat

7) Hurricane and Lighting Season

From a long-term planning standpoint you now have 7 -12 weeks
before the begging of the North Pacific Hurricane season
- which typically does not have mayor storms starting until the end of July
- and runs through early November

For details and links please visit
https://www.panamaposse.com/weather#Lightning

8) Update departure from Panama , Shelter Bay Marina - to Twinn Dolphin Marina Bradenton, Florida

Tuesday morning we initiated exit paperwork from Panama with SV Litha(also Seattle flagged).
( we had pre-prepped for this push)
Our plan- get our exit paperwork from Panama and sail to Florida.
Step 1.  Quarantined in place minimum of 14 days at Shelter Bay Marina. We did not leave the Marina premises. Although we did walk around the Marina using social distancing protocols.
Step 2. After the quarantine period, Marina manager requested and received a health certificate from the government.
Paraphrasing- it states we have been in a supervised quarantine at SBM in our named vessel, with no c-19 symptoms at any time or at present.
Step 3 - obtain a Zarpe, which required the health certificate.  To get the Zarpe we were in a bit of a quandary. The Colon Port Captain said we needed to go to Colon to obtain the Zarpe. We did not want violate the quarantine so took that option off the table.
Since we had transited the canal, we had an agent Erick Galvez who had all our paperwork. We had previously contacted Erick and he said he couldn’t help us. The port captain suggested that Erick could use a VUMPA ( not sure but this appears to be an electronic request for Zarpe from a system canal agents have access to) Anyway, agent still claimed it was a two day process including a trip to Flamenco. After some additional inquiries and gentle proding and providing all paperwork again and the new health certificate. We received a Zarpe electronically.
Step 4.  Print your Zarpe and present it to immigration. Fortunately SBM has an immigration office and again the SBM marina manager was a hero and requested that immigration return to the office for a second time in the same day to stamp our passports with the marine exit stamp.
Step 5. Now armed with our paperwork and an extra copy in case we are stopped by Aeronaval or other CG entity. Again JuanJo went to discuss our exit with the aeronaval station watch ( at the entrance to SBM) and advised that 2 vessels would be departing the marina and exiting the Canal Zone breakwater. ( there was a patrol at the canal/colon breakwater)
Step6. Execute the departure from the breakwater and head North. ( this was Tuesday 3/31 mid afternoon).

We are grateful and indebted for all the help from JuanJo at SBM for helping Blue Oasis and Litha get out of Panamá officially in one day.

Next Chapter the sail North, Blue Oasis covered 600nm to Grand Cayman arriving last evening 4/4 .
This was our personal longest non-stop double hand. But wait there is more.

Port of Caymans is closed for clearance. We knew this but they are providing fuel to private vessels in transit. The very nice port security also asked if we needled groceries. Barry plans to ask for Beer, Rum and ice!

Of course today is Sunday, no fuel til tomorrow morning Monday.
We plan to top up and proceed to the Yucatán straits then arc north on the gulf loop current towards Tampa. Next update in about a week. Thank you to fellow posse members for support through our satellite comms enroute. You know who you are. We are humbly appreciative.. will be sharing beer, rum, tequila when our paths cross again.

Our buddy boat Litha is out here too, they didn’t need to stop for fuel top up. So we’ll be chasing them tomorrow to the straits.
All the best to everyone on this uncharted journey we are all on.
Be patient, but focused, be kind, smile it goes a long way.

 1400nm 11 nights 12 days at sea. Shelter Bay Marina Panama to Twinn Dolphin Marina Bradenton Florida. Amazing weather windows, nothing significant broke! All our repairs held. We carry 90gal diesel(including Jerry cans) sip it at 1 1/3 gal/ hour. Topped up fuel in Grand Cayman (closed port, but port captain was happy to have us hang on a mooring ball overnight and as long as we stayed on leave our vessel,Saturday the 4th) no fuel on Sunday. Saturday we scrapped our bottom free of barnacles from 5 weeks at SBM.

Monday the 6th we topped up. After a good mix of wind and current between Colon and Grand Cayman,600nm, there was only 4-5 knots directly behind us up to the Yukatan straits. Motor on. So we wanted to make sure we had enough fuel to cross the Gulf of Mexico if the wind continued to be uncooperative.
We swung into Isla Mujeres for literally a 1 hour stop at the fuel dock. Our great buddy boat Bonzai arranged for us to get fuel (va & ven) and few much appreciated fresh fruits and veg.

From Isla Mujeres we caught the emerging Gulf Stream North into the deep part of the Gulf. 10 hour spinnaker run, followed by a fast 13 hour reach. Almost 24 hours with no engine at all. Tremendous. Due to a cold front from south US we angled to Ft Meyers, to foot the knock. We were 3nm from the coast waiting for the knock.... 1am Saturday, there it was , like we ordered it. The wind clocked right around to the North to North East off shore. Tack to the Mark!!!! The rest of the night was a beautiful off shore sail 15-20 app Kts, close reach, with the din of USA starboard. Sunrise over longboat key! We made it!

Barry and Kathy
Blue Oasis

9) Uninvited Visitor of the Week

Barry and Kathy

Blue Oasis

10) Reply to with any updates or pictures /

Dietmar & Suzanne

CARINTHIA

11) opt-out from the Fleet Updates simply reply with "REMOVE"

---

by panamaposse

FLEET UPDATE 2020-03-29

• COUNTRY UPDATES
• Extraordinary C-19 Call log 2020-03-28
• PANAMA - how to figure things out
  
• Panama Logistics - Considerations
• Picture of the Week - active boat quarantine pictures
• Zihuatanejo, MX
• Marina Pez Vela, Quepos, CR
• Mazatlan, MX
• Marina Puesta del Sol - Nicaragua
• Reply
• Opt-Out

"I am not afraid of storms for I am learning how to sail my ship."

Louisa May Alcott

1) COUNTRY UPDATES

Mexico     848 cases 16 †  

Mexico  - vessels can enter and exit in both ports Ensenada & Chiapas
Marina Coral / Ensenada can also drive across the border (US) as they have commercial license plates and pick up and drop off crew.

Mexico has implemented temperature-screening measures at some of its airports.  Passengers with abnormal temperatures and travel to high-risk areas might be subject to additional health screening.

Guatemala    34 cases 1 † 



Guatemala - full lock down - no entry permitted  - Curfew extended to April 28th 

        
The U.S. Embassy has now individually notified all confirmed travelers for the State Department charter flights departing from Guatemala City to Dallas-Ft. Worth (DFW) airport on Saturday, March 28th and Monday, March 30th.  These flights are now fully booked.
There are two additional State Department charter flights scheduled for Tuesday, March 31st. The U.S. Embassy will notify confirmed passengers by Monday, March 30th if they are confirmed for the Tuesday, March 31st flights. 


El Salvador    24 cases   0 †    
El Salvador - full lock down - no entry permitted 

 
Humanitarian Flights
* Saturday, March 28 – Houston, TX (IAH)
* Sunday, March 29 – Houston, TX (IAH)
* Monday, March 30 – Washington, D.C. (IAD)
* Tuesday, March 31 – Los Angeles, CA (LAX)

Honduras    110 cases   2 † 


Honduras - full lock down - no entry permitted 


Nicaragua    4 cases   1 †

Nicaragua - Check in with Marina Puesta del sol 2 days ahead of time
- they will coordinate to send a health inspector out - after which customs, immigration will clear you in 


Costa Rica    295 cases   2 †
Costa Rica - full lock down - no entry permitted 
- exit not possible due to lack of staffing at govt offices


Panama    901 cases  17 †
Panama -  no entry permitted   14 day quarantine has been obtained by some in internal movements
- curfew w 1 hour movement x day for mots with 30 minutes based on ID number - no alcohol sales - 



Total lock down.

“Tue, 03/24/2020 - 18:20
The President of the Republic announced this Tuesday, March 24, that the total quarantine (for 24 hours) will be implemented from tomorrow, from 5:00 in the morning.

"As a government, our responsibility is to preserve the health and integrity of Panamanians at all costs. As of 5:01 am on Wednesday, March 25, I declare total quarantine in the national territory indefinitely, with exceptions," Cortizo.”

People will be allowed out based on the last number of their national id, resident visa or passport. Details to be released shortly.

Planned Military Repatriation Flights (US)
The Embassy is working on two evacuation options via military flights for those U.S. Citizens and Lawful Permanent Residents (LPRs) accompanying U.S. citizen family members wishing to depart Panama. There are no guarantees of these flights or the space available.
There are two U.S. military air flights scheduled for April 2 and 4 with a limited number of seats available; we are in the process of notifying individuals who have already expressed interest in being evacuated from Panama about these flights. 

* April 2, departing Panama Pacifico at 9:05 p.m. and arriving Eglin Air Force Base, Fort Walton Beach, FL, to arrive 1:15 a.m. April 3.
* April 4, departing Panama Pacifico at 4:53 p.m. and arriving Goodfellow Air Force Base, San Angelo, TX, to arrive 8:43 p.m.
Requirements, restrictions, and helpful information:
* The flights are restricted to U.S. citizens and LPRs accompanying U.S. citizen family members.  All passengers must be in possession of a valid U.S. passport or I-551 (green card) in order to qualify for a flight.


FRENCH POLYNESIA 30 cases   0 †
- IS SHUT DOWN / CLOSED 



Colombia 608 cases   6 †
- IS SHUT DOWN
Colombia orders 19-day nationwide quarantine


Ecuador 1,823 cases   48 †
Is Shut Down 


USA 124,683 cases   2237 †
Entry for US vessels only

U.S. Citizen Travelers:

Enroll for alerts at step.state.gov.
In Case of Emergency: Call 1-888-407-4747 (U.S./Canada); +1-202-501-4444 (overseas);
or contact the nearest embassy: go.usa.gov/xduQM

CANADA 5,655 cases   63 †

Dear Canadian,

You are receiving this email because you are registered with the Government of Canada’s Registration of Canadians Abroad (ROCA) service. This notice is to ensure you were informed about the quickly evolving situation related to the Corona Virus (COVID-19).

Panama airspace is closed and there are no new evacuation flights being planned at this time. However our Embassy is preparing a list of Canadians in seeking evacuation to notify them should a flight become available in the future.

To have your name placed on this list, we kindly ask you to please provide the following information for our list if you wish to be notified in case of an available flight:

1. Full name:
2. Valid passport number:
3. Date of birth:
4. Current location in Panama:
5. Telephone number:
6. Transportation means if a flight becomes available:
7. Number of people in group:

The above information is needed for each member of your group. This message is not intended as a guarantee of a flight but the Embassy will do what we can.

Please share the link to register on the ROCA to any Canadians you may be aware of who are still in country
https://travel.gc.ca/travelling/registration

Best regards,

Lilly Nicholls,
Canadian Ambassador in Panama

any one has any additions to this please let us now

2) Extraordinary C-19 Call log 2020-03-28

NUMBER	NAME	LOCATION	STAY IN PLACE	MOVE ON TO	LOGISTICAL ISSUES
1	BAJA FOG	Barra	shelter inplace		maybe fly back
John & Monique
2	ANGELIQUE OF VANCOUVER
Mike & Jacquie
3	TALIESIN ROSE	Puesta del sol			no restrictions
Victoria & Rowan
4	THISLDU
Garrett & Audrey
5	LUNA
Bob & Kris
6	KAI LANI
John
7	EIONE
Darrin & Linda
8	APHRODITE
Thomas & Mike
9	CARINTHIA
Dietmar & Suzanne
10	SEAGLUB	San Jose del Cabo			airport to PV car to ferrry downtown everyting is closed local restaurants are open 1/2 tables
Chris
11	BONZER
Michael & Vicki
12	JEAN ANNE	huatulco		banderas	lu
Steve & Chelsea
13	SINGULARITY	vista mar	shelter in place inde
Robert & Carol
14	SLOW DANCER
Dale & Kenneth
15	ELAN
Paul
16 ©	ENJOY
Don & Nina
17	AVALON
Rick & Karen
18	PERSPECTIVE
Brad, Sarah & Sydney
19  ©	KNOT RIGHT	vista mar	stay in place		play it by ear
Walt & Jeariene
20 ©	COMPROMISE	Chiappas		Huatulco	non
Ronald & Karen
21	BLOOM
Jason & Lisa
22	DUE WEST
Kirk & Heidi
23	TOP CIDER
Chuck & Sharon
24	RAIREVA
Marek
25	HALF MOON
Brain & Elizabeth
26	MADELEINE
Huibert & Maaike
27	ANGELIQUE
Dan & Angela
28	JO
Phillip Jay & Kelley
29	DELTA SWIZZLER	Santiago bay 9 other bay stay i	stay in the area
Mark & Cindy
30	FIREFLY
Brenda & Ted
31 ©	EL GATO
Eric & Annie
32 ©	MORNING STAR
David, Stella & …
33	LITHA
Justin, Kimberly and Crew
34	ONE LIFE	barra	Shelter in Place
Doug & Mary
35  ©	FOOTLOOSE
Michael & Lisa
36  ©	KOKOPELLI
Karen & Ron
37	WISHLIST
Chris
38	ANGELIQUE II
Brian & Hiromi
39	HUMAN HOLIDAY
Alan & Robin
40	AVANT	shelter bay	in canada - vancouver		keep an eye out on colon
Rob & Debra
41	ANDANTE
Kevin
42 ©	ROCINANTE
Bill & Lisanne
43	RHAPSODY	vista shelter	shelter place
Sarah & Bob
44 ©	MAKANI
Frederic
45 ©	XENIA
Tara & Mike
46	SINGLE D
Tod & Donna
47	WIND SWEPT
Scott & Jan
48 ©	DENOVO
Andre, Naomi & crew
49	SIRENA
Greg
50	ANDURIL
Alice & Greg
51	GREEN FLASH	Vista Mar	sheltering in place		watching repatriation  flights
Bob & Joan
52	BONZAI	Isla Mujeres Cancun	sheltering in place	jumping to florida 24 q dock	jumping to florida
Don
53	GARGOYLE
Kevin & Carla
54	STAND DOWN	Vista Mar	sheltering in place		watching repatriation flights legfal to consume drink
Richard & Nancy
55	SONAMARA	Red frog marina	shelter in place		curfew - marina is on lock down
Louis & Patrice
56	NAMAHANA
Curtis & Jill
57	ANTIPODES
Ian & Aldo
58	KATHLEEN
Robert & Karen
59	RAVEN
Neil, Tammy, & Jan
60	BLUE OASIS
Barry & Kathy
61  ©	WILDEST DREAMS	Anchored in Golfito	stay in place - or head back to mexico		deciding - no zarpes - banana bay - shut down april 12 th
Grant & Michelle
62	SHEARWATER
Pati & Eric
63	SECOND WIND
Laurin
64	SECRET WATER
Annie & Chris & Crew
65	WOODWIND 1
Brian & Tracy
66	PARADISE
Sid & Manuela
67	CHIMERA
Dennis & Margaret
68	KACHINA
Robert
69	ALIZANN
Martin & Suzanne
70	FLOATING STONES	Bahama oster island	west coast sitting
Bryan & Cheryl
71	MOONRISE
Stephen & Ana Veronica
72	KOUMBA BANG
Abdoulaye
73	ENTERPRISE III
Martin & Elzane
74	MAISON DE SANTE	barra	sheltering in place
Keenan & Nicole
75	BELLA SIRENA
Bryon
76	ISLAND DRIFTER
Ken
77	EURYBIA
Marie & Jon
78	SALPARE
Jeff & Fran
79	DESTINATION
Chris & Anne
80	DAD’S DREAM
Rick & Brenda
81	AY CARAMBA !
Juan & Michelle
82	BULA
Kenny & Cari
83	SKY POND
Carl & Roxy
84	VENTURE LIBRE
Shane & Karen
85	FOLLOW YOU FOLLOW ME
Allan & Rina
86	CONTEXT
John
87	EL GATO
Jules & Jeff
88  ©	SEA LARKS
Jeffrey & Paula
89	QUE SERA
Rick & Mary
90	QUEST
Daniel
91	DANCES WITH WINDS
Eric & Ana
92	BAIT ‘N SWITCH III
John & Laurie
93	PASEO
Nan & Doug
94  ©	MARIAH
Trish & John
95	WAVE DANCER
Vladimir & Galinda
96	MALOLO
Matt & Britt
97	YOSHAN
Nate
98	DOUBLE DEUCE
	Ron & Karen
99	HO’OKIPA	Barra	stay in place
	Lisa & Lucky
100	VOLARE	huatulco			no issues - some stores closed
	Jessica & Adam
101  ©	KIANGA
Beat & Daniela
102	CELESTIAL
Scott & Donna
103	LILIPAD
Bruce & Kirk
104 ©	MIDNIGHT BREEZE
Richard & Caroline
105	SALISH DRAGON
Steve & Tracey
106	CAYUSE
Brent & Jill
107	CYCLADES
Daniel
108 ©	SEDNA VI
Ken & Cheryl
109	JOY
Jeff & Roxanne
110	KARVI
Dan & Nancy
111	SEAQUEL
Michael
112 ©	SALTAIR 3
Brad, Krista & Cole
113 ©	TAKMOANA
Gary & (Wendy) Louise
114	STRAY CAT
Derick & Barb
115	NOETA
Patrick & Alexa
116	SOUTHERN CROSS III
Stephen & Janet
117	PILIALOHA
Rick & Maria
118	BELLE VIE
Benjamin,Andrea & Emma
119 ©	TRANCE
Dan & Marlene
120	SANNA
Dave & Marie
121	ANKYRIOS	Barra		decision next wek
Dennis, Brandy & Crew
122	HERITAGE
Thomas
123	EPIPHANY
Bill and Julianne
124  ©	INDEPENDENCE
	Larry & Jamie
125	LILY ROWAN
Jim & Zyanya
126	EVIE
Joel, Ane & Crew
127	SHAZAM
Jeanette & Neill
128 ©	AMANDLA
Lisa & Captain Fabio
129 ©	NESHUMA
Carl & Cynthia
130	SIMPLIFY
Randy & Marina
131	MAR Y SOL
Bob & Marisol
132	IMPOSSIBLE DREAM
Tom & Gale
133	BIG CITY FISH
Rick & Linda
134	DOTTIE SUE
Bobbie, Neil & Chuck
135 ©	TIVOLI
Judy and Torben
136 ©	TRYST
Tony and Michelle
137 ©	EMMY KATE
Eric and Sharon
138	BLESSED LIFE	costa rica pez vela	shelter in place	panama	all open - slowed down -
Bob and Margie
139 ©	FALKOR 4.2
Patrick, Sherrie & Crew
140 ©	FIRST LIGHT
Don & Julie
141	NAUTILUS
Michele & Randy
142 ©	AZAYA
Riley, Sharon & Crew
143 ©	SEA GLASS
Chris
144  ©	ELSKA
Ben & Mary Jane
145 ©	ZOE
Sergio & Gemma
146	ROSA-LEE
Gary
147	GRASSHOPPER
Jeffrey & Cheri
148 ©	ELEVEN 11
Tim, Kim &
149 ©	MOIRA
Nick, Gema & crew
150	MILAGRO
Robert & crew
151	ROSA DOS VENTOS
Ted & Barbara
152 ©	SUSIMI	barra laggoon		puerto penasaco	enjoy call
Paul & Hazel
153	ALTERÉ
Terrence
154	YAHTZEE
Andy & Jill
155 ©	LEILANI
Richard & Tracy
156 ©	EVOLIAS
Warren & Erica
157	SOL GOOD
Jeff
158	TIDAL DANCER
Dan & Ella
159 ©	DEVINE DESTINY
Bruce & Barbara
160 ©	TOUCHÉ
Judith & Haakon
161 ©	SPREZZATURA
Eric
162 ©	CHELSEA KRU
Charles
163 ©	LORIEN
Julie & Chris
164 ©	KJALOHA
Jürg & Catherine
165 ©	AD ASTRA
Erik & Daniela
166 ©	MANUREVA
Jon
167 ©	ZARZAGAN
Paul Antoine & Monique
168	CONVERGENCE
Randy
169 ©	WOLFHOUND
Steven, Louise & Sam
170 ©	BAD BUNNY
John & Hye
171	GenM	Chamela Bay			local relaxed once a week - back
Marvin and Laurie
172 ©	AMEKAYA
Maris and Linda
173 ©	BISOU	Bocas del Toro	stay in place		curfew
Robin and Tad
174	ARROW	bahia tenecatitia		bahia chamela	12 boats here calm quiet in la manzanilla
Maurisa & Mike
175	VAGABUNDO DOS	Zihuatenjo		papanoa heading south  chiappas
Grant & Donna
176	REEF DANCER	Barra	shelter in palcae
Jerry & Debra

3) PANAMA - how to figure things out

How to figure out what the he11 is going on

A rough guide by Rob on Avant

I have been pretty diligent at finding and sharing information with the group. Now that we’re back in Canada, I will slow down on my information gathering and sharing. I appreciate the many private messages thanking me for my efforts and thought that I would prepare a rough guide on how I did it so others can step in (and step up).

1. Download and install google’s chrome browser (it auto translates from source languages to your language if it has adequate bandwidth).
2. Find and bookmark links to reliable information in the chrome browser. In Panama, I used la prensa ( https://www.prensa.com ), metro libre (https://www.metrolibre.com/ ), and tele metro ( https://www.telemetro.com/ ). These are (near as I could figure) the three leading reliable news sources in Panama. There will be other local sources in other countries, seek them out. Check them about a couple of times a day. In Panama, the best times are about lunch time and at the end of the day (about 1930). The government seems to schedule press conferences for the end of the day, so that’s when you get the most news. English language expat focussed news sites tend to be both late and light on their coverage.
3. Create a google search for “Panama coronavirus” (or other country as appropriate). Select ‘news’, and under ‘search tools’ select ‘last 24 hours’. Use this search and refresh the page a couple of times a day. 
4. Use Facebook. Search for Panama (or other country) groups (Panama expats, Americans in Panama, Canadians in Panama, Panama cruisers, various embassies in Panama, etc.) and join them. Note the ones you join and visit the pages regularly. All the news will not necessarily show up in your feed.
5. Register with your embassy. If possible, register with other embassies (USA and UK in particular) for email updates. Register with your government’s program for citizens abroad so they push out emails to you. Remember to check your junk mail folder in case stuff they send you lands there. Like and follow their Facebook pages and Twitter accounts as well.
6. Find the locals and local expats who are ‘connected’ and make sure you touch base with them frequently (whether by WhatsApp, face to face, whatever). They often know stuff and don’t share because they’re busy. In shelter bay, that’s Juanjo, elsewhere I don’t know.
7. visit noonsite ( https://www.noonsite.com ) and join it/ create an account. Usually not as up to date as this group, but good for information on nearby areas, where we don’t have Posse ‘feet on the street’.

Then, when you find something out that’s real (as opposed to rumour) and useful, SHARE IT HERE, and SHARE IT ON NOONSITE. Here for obvious reasons, on noonsite because it’s a primary source of information for cruisers coming into this area from elsewhere who aren’t in the Posse yet.

Panama lock down mechanics: you get an hour, plus 30 min on each side for travel.

Departure time per person:

If the ID ends at 7: you can leave at 7:00 am
If the ID ends at 8: you can leave at 8:00 am
If the ID ends at 9: you can leave at 9:00 am
If the ID ends at 0: you can leave at 10:00 am
If the ID ends at 1: you can leave at 1:00 pm
If the ID ends at 2: you can leave at 2:00 pm
If the ID ends at 3: you can leave at 3:00 pm
If the ID ends at 4: you can leave at 4:00 pm
If the ID ends at 5: you can leave at 5:00 pm
If the ID ends at 6: you can leave at 6:00 pm
All adults over 60 years of age, regardless of their ID number, may make their purchases between 11:00 am and 1:00 pm

According to the authorities, each citizen will be allowed to leave 30 minutes before their corresponding time and arrive at their residence 30 minutes later, this means that each person has one hour of mobility, plus an additional hour.

Everybody stay safe and healthy!

Rob & Deb AVANT

4) Panama Logistics - Considerations

Everyone should be made aware of several cases down here.  It may affect decisions.

1. A Canadian citizen and his wife were cruising.  He needed to go back to Canada to work for a couple months but they’re trying to save money so they decided that she would stay on the boat at anchor in Boca Chica.  Two problems.  Panama closed the airport to international travel with very short notice and he couldn’t join her. She’s a German citizen and they’re only common-law married, so even if Canada made available an evac flight, she couldn’t get on it.

2. A different German citizen wanted to catch the German evac flight to Germany.  He thought he had done everything correctly but then the local airport closed to commuter flights and he had to rent a car to get to the main airport. But he didn’t count on needing extra time to get through the road blocks enacted at the provincial borders and wasn’t able to make the evac flight.

3. A sailor who is crewing on boats thought they had a position and traveled to Panama City.  When that gig fell through, they had to spend over 10 hours with the police to get back to Vista Mar because the government was restricting all travel from the capitol city to the outer provinces.

It’s easy to say in hindsight that they should have done this or that but sometimes events override our plans.

The point of these explanations is that even if you think you’re being prudent, it’s best to make decisions VERY early and allow as much time as possible.  If you think that you can wait until the last minute, you may have the rug pulled out from under you by fast moving events.

Bob & Carol
SINGUALIRTY

5) Pictures of the Week -  active boat quarantine pictures

Selfie of Nicole / Maison de Sante in Barra de Navidadwith Carinthia in the Background
Nicole up on the Mizzen Mast  - Barra de Navidad

Keenan & Nicole

MAISON DE SANTE

6) Zihuatanejo , MX
Avalon is currently Zihuatanejo
where the beaches are slightly quiet but with school’s about to double the Easter holiday starting next Friday they could get busy.
Stores (larger) are for the most part fully stocked with lots a customers out, look forward to seeing you as we make our way sloowly back to PV

Rick & Karen
AVALON

7) Quepos, Costa Rica
SV BlessedLife in Quepos marina Pez Vela. Beautiful! We will move on in a few days

Bob & Margie

BLESSED LIFE

8) Mazatlan, MX

SeaGlub anchored, Outer Anchorage 35'

Inner Dock

Inner Anchorage
Chris

SEAGLUB

9) Marina Puesta del Sol - Nicaragua

This is one of the undisputed relaxing gems along this
Panama Posse route and a welcome respite in a serene and tranquil setting.

You can leave your vessel and explore this incredible interesting country.  If you are a political junky there is are a lot of geopolitical  layers to explore here.

Visiting the UNESCO world heritage sites of Leon, Lake Nicaragua and Granada from here is as easy as renting a car and driving on well paved roads.

Plus you get to visit the Flor de Caña Rum Factory nearby.

Clearing in is fairly easy - for south bound vessels - its a short
sail from the Golfo de Fonseca via a well marked entrance into a lovely estuary.

To check out the 27+ anchorages and UNESCO sites visit Good Nautical
http://www.goodnautical.com/gma/nicaragua?field_gma_value=NI

Here is the track
http://www.goodnautical.com/route/marina-puesta-del-sol-puerto-sandino-outer-anchorage

Aerial View of Marina Puesta del Sol

Below are the costs to clear in and out of Nicaragua which can be done at the Marina -
just let them know when you plan to arrive

	CHECK IN	CHECK OUT
IMMIGRATION	U$ 20.00 per boat	U$ 20.00 per boat
	U$ 12.00 per person	U$   2.00 per person
PORT CAPTAIN	U$   FREE	U$ 30.00 International Zarpe
		or U$ 20.00 a National Zarpe ( to San Juan del Sur for example )
CUSTOM	U$ 10.00 per boat	U$ FREE
AQUATIC TRANSPORT FEE	U$ 25.00 per boat	U$ FREE

To book ahead and get your 20% Panama Posse Marina discount contact Juantia Garcia

Tel: + (505) 8880-0013
       +(505) 8880-0019     
       +(505) 8883-0781

email: administracion@marinaps.com

10) Please reply to this email with

– your updates - self quarantine
– 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) Opt-out from Fleet Updates simply reply with “REMOVE“

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by panamaposse