After transiting the Panama Canal we headed to La Playita Marina in Panama City to continue preparing Wanderlust to sail 4,000 miles across the Pacific Ocean. We have quite the list to tackle and we’re hoping to set sail in just over a week.

Today we are transiting the Panama Canal and motoring our own vessel from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean in less than 12 hours!!

We are scheduled to go through the Panama Canal tomorrow morning, so we’re embarking on our last sail on the Atlantic side of the world for the last time in what may be years. It’s the end of a chapter and the beginning of a grand adventure.

Today we’re starting the first page of a new chapter, of a grand adventure we’ve dreamed of for years, sailing across the Pacific Ocean to French Polynesia.

Seeing men with guns and hearing shots fired from what you thought was a safe anchorage is never what you want but that’s what we experienced in Rio Chagres.

Today we’re sailing 90nm east to Rio Chagres, a tropical river meandering through pristine jungle. The weather is not in our favor and the entrance to Rio Chagres is shallow and flanked by reef on both sides. We’ve been warned not to enter unless the conditions are ideal and with daylight.

Out here things can become dangerous in the blink of an eye. One moment you’re cruising along and the next your world is flipped upside down. Literally.

In this episode we’re sharing how our performance catamaran sails itself, without autopilot, and of course the latest hurdle we have to jump. Watch now to see how it’s done!

This week we’re continuing our journey in San Blas, sailing 50 nautical miles east to Mamitupu, reputed to be one of the most traditional Kuna villages. Most cruisers do not visit this area, just 50 miles from the Colombian border at the foothills of the Darien Forest. Turns out our biggest challenge didn’t have anything to do with nature.