After all we had read about shipping our car to Columbia, we have been relieved(so far) with how easy its been. We lucked out and found a great couple to share a 40' shipping container with. Zachary and Sachi have been driving south from Los Angeles for about 8 months in a '94 Tacoma loaded down with surfboards(literally, they have 6 or 7 with them). After a car inspection in Panama City, we took to Portobelo and checked into a diveshop/hotel for a week. On the Caribbean side of Panama, Portobelo is an old Spanish port that was frequently raided by pirates (the Spanish stored and counted their stolen gold here so who can blame em?). Henry Morgan sacked the port in the 1600's and Sir Francis Drake's ship was sunk about a kilometer off shore. The dive hotel has been a great spot to hang out and snorkel and read while waiting to load the van at a shipping port in Colon. We went in yesterday to hammer out all the rest of the paperwork drop the car and though it took about 8 hours to make all the stops and get our paperwork completed, it was easier than anticipated. Any readers interested in the specifics of the process, please email- we have a great contact at the booking agency and can explain in detail the process. And so we left the van and Zachary's truck(the "marshmallow") at the port and bussed it back to Portobelo. We'll see her again in Columbia!
When I got my PADI open water certification for diving a few years ago, it took an online course, several hours of classroom instruction, weekly trips to a Gresham swimming pool and a weekend in the Puget Sound. Before they took Lindsay to 45 feet today she was taught a few hand signals and how to clear her mask. The lesson took all of 8 minutes. She demonstrated her calm, calculating manner when after the mouthpiece became separated from her regulator 30' she found her safe second almost immediately. We dove down to a line of reef and checked out the remains of a 400 year old wreck that is suspected to be Drake's ship. Not a bad way to spend a morning.
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| huge! |
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| The Marshmellow & Claudette. |
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| official business, Zachary recording every word |
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| get off the cannon, Linds. |
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| Zachary & Sachi |
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| This is Boris- our booking agent for shipping the rigs. so far so good... |
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| when the construction @ the panama canal is finshed, it'll be able to handle a single ship loaded with over 10,000 of these bad boys. |
I wish I could scubadive with you and see that shipwreck!! Wait up for me!! Love and miss you both, Grandma D
ReplyDeleteSon, I can't help but notice there is a beer in your hand in almost every picture!!! I miss you and wish you a fantastic diving trip with Ms. Linds!! Love you both! Stay safe!
ReplyDeleteScuba and skiing... "What if she's an expert and doesn't even know it?". Only you, Linds! We're anxious to hear about the great sailing adventure!
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