We were surprised to see a local panga approaching us at 7 AM. We had scheduled a 7:30 AM ride to town and no one is ever early in Panama. But we were even more surprised to discover that it was a census worker coming to count us. Here we were on a sailboat anchored in the primitive eastern Darien Province of Panama, five miles from the nearest little town and a census worker had managed to find us first thing in the morning...More.

Remy finally elected to join us on the next leg to Garachiné. We targeted 8 AM to go ashore for an early start but before we got away Captain Tom noticed that the anchor chain was straining against a very strong current. I jumped back on the Gloriamaris to help. It took three of us to maneuver the boat around and get the anchor free. Our gear fared well overnight. The covers were wet but everything was high and dry. We put a piece of a plastic trash bag on some driftwood for a wind indicator before we set up our wings but it did not do us any favors...More.

We were running down the Rio Chepo in Alex’s panga at 40mph when he suddenly throttled back the big outboard motor. After exchanging some excited chatter with Quique, his crewmate, Alex pointed to a 12 foot crocodile up ahead of us. He was nearly impossible to pick out swirling in the current with tree branches and other debris but Alex pointed out three more monsters before we reached the river mouth...More.