I arrived in Panama a few days before we transit the canal. We drove from Panama City (Pacific side) to Colon (Atlantic side) and moved aboard Rioleon, a beautiful Outremer 45. Mike and his family sailed her all the way from France. The route back to Oregon is through the canal, French Polynesia, and Hawaii. I’m joining for the leg from Panama to French Polynesia.

I’ve always owned and sailed on monohulls. I’ve been on a few catamarans during our Pacific loop–that’s usually where cruisers gather at anchorages for potlucks and socializing. It’s much easier hosting a dozen people on the big covered aft deck of a cat. Moving aboard Rioleon 4 days before departure allowed me to become familiar with the boat and get acclimatized to the heat. Besides provisioning and some minor boat work, we visited a nearby old fort.

The fort, called Castillo de San Lorenzo has a rich history of war and pirates! It was built in 1595 to protect cargo that was sent overland from Panama City to Colon, destroyed by pirate Henry Morgan in 1671, rebuilt six years later and again in 1740. Then it was destroyed again by the British and rebuilt in 1768. In the 19th century after Panama’s independence from Spain, the fort was used as a barracks and a prison. What remains today is a combination of preserving parts of the 1768 version and reconstructing some of the original. It’s well-worth a visit.

Outremer 45–Rioleon

The Outremer 45 is a 48′ performance catamaran (it was originally 45′ until they added 3′ onto the transom) capable of sailing 95% of the wind speed. Rioleon was completed in early 2023. Here are some pictures of Rioleon.

Colon Jungle

The Shelter Bay Marina is surrounded by jungle, so we took short walks to see the monkeys. We saw lots of Panamanian white-faced capuchins mostly in the high treetops. We also heard howler monkeys from the marina but didn’t see any. Their deep howls can be heard from up to 3 miles away in dense jungles.