We got up around 7 am, the plan for the day is attend seminars before lunch and after lunch. Breakfast was included with our reservation, and was among the worst I have ever had. I asked for an omelet with out cheese or cream, the omelet had cheese. I asked for a replacement, and the stuff inside was cold, this one of the best resorts in Mexico (supposedly) they used canned mushrooms in the omelet, hash browns were the freezer variety (triangular). All of the breakfast stuff would have been acceptable, except breakfast for the two of us was $38 per day. We immediately changed our stay to breakfast not included.
The first seminar was an introduction of the Panama Posse and then an introduction of each of the boats represented at the seminars today. There are a lot of power boaters here, many of them are on Nordhavens (BIG expensive power yachts) I think 1 was a 40 foot and the rest were 55 up to over 80 foot. The guy on the biggest had a specific problem he was looking for help with, apparently Panama requires any boat over 80’ to have a dedicated captain, this guy is an owner operator and has found that even getting his captains license is not enough for Panama. Truly a 1st world problem.
The second seminar was an overview of the route from San Diego to Panama and then to the east coast of the US. We learned some interesting things about where we are going, like we need to be out of the band between Costa Rica and Panama between March and October as there is a real threat of lightening. We also learned the best route on the east side of the canal to avoid the trade winds and pirates. Most importantly, we found out that the Panama Posse is associated with Good Nautical which is a 501.c.3 organization dedicated to charting where it is safe to sail/motor. Why this is really important is that means with proper coordination and paperwork Cuba is NOT off limits. So, getting from the Yucatán peninsula to Florida is much easier than I thought!
Lunch was had at a different restaurant in the hotel, with Dan a boat broker from San Diego, and then dinner was in town with Kristen and Joe and their three kids Levi, Rachel & Meghan and their dog Rio. We met them in La Cruz last spring.
Then back to the hotel and bed.
