(Note: The Breakfast Club, was or still is, not sure if it still exists, a Ham Radio chat group of sailors that met at the same time each morning to exchange information. Mom got her Ham Radio license specifically for this trip.)
A few days ago on the Breakfast Club, someone told how easy it had been going through the canal with professional line handlers, so I signed on this morning to get more information. The skipper of Island Trader responded. He recommended someone called Robinson and volunteered to contact him for us.
I radioed Flamenco Signal Station as I'd been instructed to find out what time we were scheduled to go through the canal and was told the Transit Advisor would arrive at our boat at 5:45 a.m. That was good; by getting an early start, we have a chance of completing the transit in one day.
Pretty soon a water taxi pulled up with the Island Trader skipper and Robinson. The water taxi driver is going to be one of our other line handlers, and Robinson will find two more. We'll pay them $50 each plus lunch plus bus fare back to Balboa ($1.75 each). The handlers will be at the boat by 5:15 in the morning.
That settled, we went ashore and set out in pursuit of a chart store. We had the address of a chart store, but the first two taxi drivers we showed it to didn't know where it was. The third didn't know either, but he volunteered to find out. He had a nice new cab with air conditioning and velvety upholstery, so we really enjoyed the ride. First he asked the police and then the fire department. The latter told him where it was, so he took us there. It turned out to be across the street from the Y. We could have walked there.
The chart store was large, immaculate, well-stocked, and well-
organized. We bought four charts and a copy of Sailing Directions for the western Caribbean.
Took a cab to Rey's to buy food and sodas for the line handlers and the Transit Advisor. When we left the store, Roy had his hands full carrying the groceries, so I carried the roll of charts. We stopped just outside the store to load the groceries into our heavy-
duty shopping bags. I leaned the roll of charts against the wall while I helped Roy load the bags.
A taxi pulled up, driven by an old geezer who looked as if he could scarcely walk, let alone drive a cab. We asked him how much to the Balboa Yacht Club, and he said $5. We laughed and walked away.
A few minutes later, another cab pulled up, driven by a much more capable-looking driver, who said $2.50, so we hopped in.
Several miles later, I happened to glance over at Roy. I saw the two shopping bags but didn't see the charts. I asked him where he'd put the charts. The CHARTS?! Yikes, the CHARTS!!! We motioned frantically to the driver to turn around. Fortunately, there was a break in the traffic, so he was able to do so. All the way back to the store, Roy and I were on the edge of the seat, wondering if our $60 worth of charts would still be there. As we approached the store, our eyes scanned the wall. Roy spotted them first. There was our roll of charts, right where I'd left it. By dumb luck, it was right next to a woman at a table, so people undoubtedly thought it was hers. Anyway, a roll of charts doesn't look like anything valuable. I jumped out, grabbed it, hopped happily back into the cab, and we were off again to the Balboa Yacht Club. We paid the driver an extra $1.50 for his trouble and additional miles.
So now we're all set for our transit of the Panama Canal!
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