in this update ..

Remember your Panama Posse season with gear from the online shop

Isla Otoque, Panama

Special Summer Rate in Marina Puerto de la Navidad

Chiapas, MX

Alert Entering Panama

Alert Mexican Fuel “shortages”

Panama Posse Party at Banana Bay Marina Golfito, Costa Rica

Picture of the Week
Mango Festival, El Salvador
Shipwreck found in Zihuatanejo, MX

END OF SEASON PANAMA POSSE PARTY AT VISTA MAR MARINA 

Santa Teresa Hot Springs, Bahía del Sol, El Salvador

1) Shop Panama Posse



The online shop is open for a limited time (open till July 5th only )
To celebrate the end of the season so get your swag 
http://shop.panamaposse.com

Several shirts will have your vessel name on the back.
All profits will be donated to the future development of Good Nautical the 501(c)3
non-profit organization focused on preserving maritime knowledge.

2) Isla Otoque, Panama

We anchored at Isla Bona (just south of Otoque) AFTER transiting the canal and used it as a head start for Punta Mala and beyond. The bay on the west side was an attractive, calm anchorage, but remote-feeling with no services. Prior to transiting the canal it would be helpful to be closer to Panama City for the required measuring and other paperwork, plus provisioning. Canal transits are often crack of dawn starts, another reason to be in the anchorage at Playita or the Balboa Yacht Club. Hope this helps. S/V
Bill & Katy

KLICKITAT II

3) Special Summer  Rate @ Marina Puerto de la Navidad, Barra de Navidad, MX
For your info  Secundino Álvarez has extended a special low rate to all Panama Posse vessels.

$10.40 x foot + taxes and electricity x month
plus as an added benefit  Alaska Air flies non-stop between LAX and Manzanillo twice a week
at a ~ $330 pp summer rate round-trip.

Reserve your summer slip

Harbormaster Secundino Alvarez






4) Chiapas, MX

The entire staff at Marina Chiapas are all helpful and most accommodating. There is a small convenience store and one higher end restaurant on site. The estuary and wooded areas provide a birdwatcher many interesting specimens. The marina is a bit isolated from town, but it is easy to catch a taxi or van by walking to the main road at the marina entrance. If you go south, you’ll find “Playa Linda” with some small eateries and some small hotels along the beach. One of the first you will encounter is Villa Veleros and the Canadian owner allows you to come in to order food and drinks for use of their pool or beach. If you go north on the main road, you can choose to go to the airport, Puerto Madero or Tapachula.

Madero is a small town with the usual small hardware stores, fishing supply, restaurants, and markets. You can buy seafood directly from the boats at the fishing dock (also Pemex fuel dock-so accessible from your boat or dinghy) or from stores in town. It’s difficult to walk between the port and town so you’ll have to catch another van if you stop to buy at the port.

In Tapachula, you will first encounter the Sam’s Club and then WalMart shopping mall with a Telcel for phone service, auto parts store, fabric store and a bank. Further into town there is an Office Deport then another large market called Chadraui and next door is a Bodega warehouse market. In the area are many papelerias where you can get copies and office supplies. Besides the restaurants in the mall, in the neighborhood are some small eateries. There are other services such as FedEx and cooking gas. Just ask the marina staff for info on whatever you need. Good seafood is found at what’s called a Cocteleria. Our taxi took us to Mariscos de Tiberon near the bicentennial park. They had excellent food and drinks. There were other similar places along the same street.

In order to get back to the marina, as two people, the cost was 300 pesos for a taxi or grab a van for 15 pesos to get back to Chadraui, then a van 50 pesos to the marina (should say either Playa Linda or Zona Naval). You decide what your time and hassle is worth.

As many other Posse members before us, we partook of some tours while at the marina. Both guides, Luis and Miguel, do similar tours for similar prices. We chose Miguel and were very pleased. Tours are actually his hobby but he is very passionate and knowledgeable. On our Chocolate Tour, we were with two other boats staying at the marina for a total of 6 people, so he rented a tour van. It was modern and comfortable.

We first visited two sites of Mayan ruins. Miguel had many interesting stories regarding the discovery, history and local impact.

After the archeological sites, we went to the town of Tuxla Chica where many families harvest Chocolate, so the town is nicknamed “Chocolate Town”. In many of the family homes, they have a chocolate retail store.  We were shown how they harvest and process the cocoa beans to make different varieties of chocolate, along with peanut treats, all done on a wood fire.


The chocolate ladies also prepared an excellent meal for us that included home made tortillas, quesadillas, black refried beans, cheese, salsa, and tamales. For beverages, they served a refreshing drink of combined spices including cinnamon and achoite (commonly used as a red coloring) and of course, hot chocolate! There were sweet breads to dip in the chocolate. The ladies kept making more of everything until we said to stop.

Next stop was just down the street from where we ate, to visit the ladies who made the tamales we were served. They had enclosed in the corn masa; stewed chicken meat, hard boiled egg, olive, prune, mole seasoning all wrapped and steamed in a green banana leaf. Everyone rated them as the best they had ever tasted.

We then returned to Tapachula and spent an hour provisioning at WalMart. It’s obvious Miguel knows cruisers. It was an enjoyable and interesting day, all included for $40 US per person. Prices will vary depending on the details of your tour and number of people. There are tours to coffee plantations and other sites, and some that cover a span of days, so talk to one of the guides and decide what works for you. We highly recommend Miguel, Discover Chiapas 962 133 6820 toursdiscoverchiapas@hotmail.com. We also did a self planned tour to Mexico City and the mountains near Morelia to see the monarch butterflies. Let us know if you would like details of our trip.


Laura & Jim

NILAYA




5) Alert Entering Panama

Please be advised that you are obliged to check into Panama at the first possible port of entry .
You can not put this off for 3 weeks after checking out from Costa Rica and hang out go ashore etc.
The authorities may let it slide if you come directly to Vista Mar after having left Golfito with a few stops along the way.
But to be certain and avoid fines check in in Puerto Armueles or Pedigral on a weekday –
announcing your arrival with the port captain in advance following the well outline protocol in Good Nautical.

The recent presidential elections in Panama will most likely bring changes to these procedures.

6) Alert Mexican Fuel “shortages”

If you feel like you are not getting all the gas you pay for in Mexico – you may be right – according to several recent articles in Mexico News Daily

Around 10% of all Pemex stations use plug-in to distort sales volumes and sell stolen fuel
Scores of gas stations in Mexico allegedly use an illegal software plug-in that allows them to manipulate the sales figures they
report to Pemex and tax authorities, and conceal the sale of stolen fuel. Known as El Rastrillo (The Razor)
the plug-in allows the pumps’ volume controls to be altered, with gas station owners choosing
between options that enable them to report sales that are 5%, 10% or 15% below their real level.
Ask the local taxi drivers which gas stations they use to avoid them.

7) Golfito, Costa Rica

Looks like a great gathering in Golfito –
A big Thanks to Maikol, Claudia and the staff at Banana Bay Marina for hosting the Panama Posse
ATA MARIE, SHEARWATER, PARADISEA, SONAMARA, SECRET WATER, TALIESIN ROSE, a.m.o.






8) PICTURE OF THE WEEK

r-c

Ay Caramaba selfie checking out the Locks at the Panama Canal.

Michelle & Juan

AY CARAMABA !








9) Mango Festival, El Salvador
Two weeks in El Salvador, local food, land travel, get togethers with the small  but amazing cruiser community here in Bahia del Sol. Today Bill and Jean organized a bus for the cruisers to attend the Mango festival. We were the only gringos I saw. Packed with people, swimming pools, entertainment and of course everything Mango, plus Chocolate filled Churos , this is @SeaGlub’s kind of event. $10pp for the luxury air conditioned bus. $3 to get into the festival. Beer $1
Annual event…plan on a stop next  year if you missed this one.

Festival Grounds

Mangos and fruits

Mango Queen

Live Music

And delicacies

Barry & Kathy

BLUE OASIS





10) Shipwreck found in Zihuatanejo, MX

Here’s a moment of frustration, sorry, but this is a true side of cruising. We have been more than disappointed in Zihuatanejo, there’s just so much trash everywhere and the ocean water is disgusting and we’re so anxious to leave that we were going to do so starting tonight…. Until we learned our anchor had fouled a sunken panga. Our friend and great crew mate took in on himself to dive and try to figure it all out but alas our underwater light didn’t last long enough and now we’re stuck here until the sun comes up and we can try to free the anchor again. The best part is the water is so filthy and polluted I begged my friend to not try this but he insisted. Fingers crossed he doesn’t contract some disease or virus or bacteria. #zihuatneveragain
90 minutes of swimming around with our holiday hookah. The chain had wrapped three times arrive what’s left of a sunken sailboat hull and keel. Then the chain got wedged under the keel. So for 90 minutes I was (thankfully only 15′) under water digging around the rocks and gravel to get the chain loose.  Then in order to avoid it happening again before we could pull it up I went and found the anchor, picked it up and walked it (underwater) about 30 feet past the the wreck… I should’ve taken pictures but the clarity was only about two feet and I was just more interested in getting out of there
SEAGLUB

Chris, Monica & Penny





11) MARK YOUR CALENDARS May 25th, 2019 
END OF SEASON PANAMA POSSE PARTY AT VISTA MAR MARINA 
Please RSVP Suzy Carmody <suzy@carmody-clan.com> FROM SV DISTANT DRUMMER

12) Santa Teresa Hot Springs, Bahía del Sol, El Salvador
– One of the highlights of El Salvador is the hot springs near the volcanos in the country.  The best place to enjoy the hot springs is probably “Termales de Santa Teresa” http://www.termalesdesantateresa.com

While it *might* be possible to get there by bus from Bahía del Sol, we rented a car through the hotel for $30/day and visited the springs as part of a 5-day, big circle drive around the country.  When you arrive at the springs, the first person you meet tries to get $10 per person from you as payment for a day visit to the pools.  If that’s what you want, then fine, but if you plan to stay at the resort, then you’ll have to insist that you’re only going to the “restaurant”.  For some reason, he understands a visit to the restaurant better than the hotel.  Anyway, the best room in the place is only $75/person per night.  For that you get a room in a duplex suite with two semi-private pools and lounge.  It’s great for a single couple and would be fabulous for two couples to chill-out in the private outdoor lounge and hot pools.

The public pools between the suites are a terraced series of 7 or 8 pools beginning with scalding hot at the top and overflowing from one to the next until tepid is reached at the bottom.  So it’s easy to be Goldilocks and find just the right temperature.

The rooms include a dinner and breakfast for each person and we found the meals to be above average.  We really enjoyed our stay there.

Robert & Carol

SINGULARITY







13) WEEKLY 2018-2019 PANAMA POSSE FLEET CHECK IN and MORNING NET on MONDAY’S at 16:00 UTC via LINE

Please download and install LINE  https://line.me/en-US/ 
Works on Android / ios / Windows / MAC OS



– Register using your vessel name as the USERNAME ie     MY CROSSROADS

– Next
search for panamaposse and befriend us –

– wait and accept your PANAMAPOSSE GROUP INVITE

Connect every Monday at 16:00 UTC and send us your position via the message
system and listen to the vessel check ins
(all free as long you have IP connectivity
which we now know is pretty much all along the coast)
The LINE system allows for up to 200 live conference call participants.

14) Please reply to this email with any updates – your vessel location –
contenders for picture of the week –



Dietmar & Suzanne
SV Carinthia


15) opt-out from the Fleet Updates simply reply with “REMOVE