Cruisin’ Through the Crossroads

At this time every year, a diverse international armada of cruising sailboats converges on the Panama Canal. Most of them are headed west to the fabled isles of French Polynesia on the ambitious, weeks-long passage we call the Pacific Puddle Jump. Once on the Pacific side of the famous ‘ditch’, the fleet swells with dozens of additional westbound boats that have worked their way south along the Central American coast.

This week we joined South Pacific partners from Tahiti Tourisme and from New Zealand’s Whangarei Marine Group and Opua Marina in hosting Tahiti Bon Voyage parties on both sides of the Canal. Forty-six crews representing 14 countries attended our event at Shelter Bay Marina Sunday, and 35 crews representing 15 countries turned up Monday for our fiesta at the Balboa Yacht Club.

As you might imagine, the back-stories of these fleet members are as varied as the boats they sail. At least two crews were on their second lap around the planet and several had been ‘out there’ cruising for more than 15 years, contrasted with others who’d recently bought cruise-ready boats and were in their first months of cruising. There were lots of families with kids, too — the youngest being 10-month-old Brian, who was born in Panama to American cruisers Brian and Nok Christianson of Margarita.

We’ll introduce you to dozens of these fascinating folks in an upcoming issue of Latitude 38 magazine. But we warn you, hearing their stories may inspire you to quit your job, load up your boat and follow in their wakes across the western horizon.