Arriving in Panama

So yesterday we arrived in Panama! As we approached the break wall (entrance) we noticed all of the huge ships surrounding us, so many that we stopped counting. Since the trip here was really rocky and rolly with 15 foot seas and 25 knots of wind, we were ready for some calm water. First we decided to go through the little entrance and sail across the inside, but that was soon changed. As we looked at the entrance we noticed a 500 to 600 foot ship barreling at full speed out the entrance. This, we thought, is not the place for tiny boats like us to go through. So we took a hard right and headed for the main entrance. Using AIS, Daddy looked at all the ships around us to make sure that they were not heading towards the entrance also. Since everything looked okay, he pulled out the video camera. As soon as he walked out the door, he spotted another ship and went in to check it out. Apparently it was 500 feet long, heading towards the entrance and, if it kept it's course, it would enter three minutes after us. Since that wasn't a problem, we just put up the jib and took out the video camera. After making a big seen about how scary it is to be chased by a ship, Mommy made a joke and said that there was a ship coming out of the entrance. Daddy freaked out and turned off the camera. Then we all laughed and put the camera back on. Soon we were thought the break wall and on our way to Shelter Bay Marina (the place that the boat will be staying at for the next month while we are away). I must say that it was pretty scary passing through all those ships so close to their bows. After talking to an American man (this was a big deal since anyone we talked to on the radio for the past couple months was all Spanish except for our cruising friends) on the radio who told us where to go on the dock, it was a frantic rush to get out all the fenders and lines. Once everything was out and ready we all stood on the bow and looked at all the ships, still amazed. Soon we were at the dock and exploring the marina. It's really nice and there is a pool and a good restaurant. Oh yeah, and the people who helped us dock live on a boat here and have two daughters ages 13 and 15! They are really nice and I played with them and a couple other kids until around 6:00 last night. Anyways, after an American lunch at the restaurant, Cole and I hung out with all the kids for a while. So today we basically swam at the pool with all the kids for the whole day. It was really fun, and even though four of them speak Spanish we still kind of understand what they are talking about. Tonight is pot luck at the restaurant, yum! bye!