In case you are just now tuning in, the canal transit marks a very significant event for Astor. This is the first time the boat has been in Atlantic waters since she was launched and sailed over to Australia. That was about 86 years ago.
	Ship's NEWS: Atlantic Tour
	November 20, 2008 - Aruba We arrived in Aruba yesterday at 9AM Local time (one hour later than Colombia), and spent the morning checking in with Customs, Immigration, etc. All the cruisers told us not go to Aruba because the check in was hard and you had to tie to the big cruise ship wharf. Well, you do have to tie to the wharf with the big tires but it is only 4 ft tall so no problem. The check in was easy and pleasant as all the officials come to the boat. I had to personally go to the customs office but they drove me there and back and there is no cost to check in or out. After we moved Astor to the anchorage and tidied ship we spent the afternoon in town and had dinner at a local restaurant. We are in culture shock, as it is very US here with Fast food chains and all manner of designer shops, and the new Bond is playing in the theater. Aruba is a cruise ship paradise and there are 2 here this morning to prove that. Today we will explore more if the rain stops. We think we will spend about a week here before heading to Cuarcao which is about 50 miles to windward. Cheers, Richard
	November 18, 2008 - Hard to Weather We spent the last 24 hours tacking up the final section of the Colombian coast dodging squalls here and there. The conditions are much better that the first leg with 12-14 kts of breeze and calmer seas so even though it is on the nose- the sailing is pleasant. The wind quit at 1Am and we have been motoring since. We are 80 miles from Aruba. This is a notorious stretch of water that usually produces 25-35 kts on the nose, so motoring in flat conditions is the better choice. The forecast says that it will stay light, time will tell. All is well on board. Position:  12.33N, 71.30W, 7kts of breeze on the nose, 40% cloud, 3' swell from the east. Cheers, Richard
	November 15, 2008 - Santa Marta, Columbia   We left Gayraca Bay (bay # 3 in 5 bays) yesterday morning about 9AM and tacked north in lighter winds, 12-14kts, until the after noon when it went light. We motor sailed and sailed the rest of the day. Evening brought thunder storms so we spent the night playing dodgem running offshore and back to avoid the cells. The good news is that we missed all the lighting and most of the rain. Early morning things settled down and we motored up coast on a favorable east wind, still hard to weather but almost making our waypoint. It is now 10AM and we are sailing under plain sail tacking up coast in an 11kt breeze with the sun out. We have 170 miles to go to Aruba as the tuna swims but it will hard to weather all the way. The forecast is for 10-12 kts from the east which would be as good as you can get on this passage. All is well on board. Cheers, Richard
	November 14, 2008 - Santa Marta, Columbia Hi to all, We arrived at 8 am and are anchor down in 5 bay point by Santa Marta, Colombia. We have sailed 260 miles, tacking into a head wind to move 127 miles towards the ABC islands. We have 270 to go as the dolphin swims but he does not have to buck a head wind. It's a good thing that Astor goes to weather well. The bay here is a beautiful fiord with tall mountains behind. The water is crystal clear and warm. We will probably leave tomorrow AM for the next leg. Cheers, Richard
	November 13, 2008 - Headed for Curacao Hi to all: Thurs. 11/13, 1500 hr: Lat: 11 29 W, Long: 75 22, Course: 111, speed: 6 kts, wind: 17.1 true NNE. We got underway yesterday at about 1100 hr.  We have not made much way as of course the wind is on the nose, so we are tacking our way up and now are half way up Columbia.(The good news is that we are really sailing)  The wind is supposed to go lighter tomorrow (we hope) & we will press on to Curacao as we hear Aruba has a rough check in policy.  Otherwise we may anchor at 5 Bays in north Columbia (70 miles a way).  We have excellent crew David Frankel (22)has returned after a walk about in Venezuela.  We are also joined by James Kroger(20) from Rhode Island & Rainer Jooss (44) from Germany. Cheers, Lani
	October 2008 - Columbia We sailed away from Panama and the San blas on Tuesday the 30th of September headed for Cartagena, Colombia. It's a 200 mile passage straight across. It's easy this time of year as the trade winds have not kicked in yet, so we had a light following breeze. We sailed for about 5 hours and motored the rest of the way arriving in the anchorage at 1:30AM. I never like to enter a new place at night but Cartagena is a huge well marked harbor (easier to enter than San Diego) so we slowly came in in the dark of the night. We had 3 crew for the passage, Nils & Meredith-a well qualified couple with captains licensees, and David- 22 years old with a masters degree who has been backpacking around Mexico and Central America since completing his studies. He had sailed a lot with his father when he was younger. They were all great crew and we had a good passage. Nils & Meredith have left the boat to travel back to the Caribbean where Nils has a racing cat that he charters. David is currently backpacking around South America before returning for the sail north to the islands-first part of November. Cartagena is a beautiful city, very clean and safe, much better that any other city so far on this trip. The old walled city is restored and lovely. The stone wall is complete with its original cannons. There are many small restaurants and shops along with restored hotels. It is very clean and safe, it's almost like a movie set. We are anchored outside of Club Nautico, the cruiser hangout, and use their dingy dock for a nominal fee which includes safe water and showers along with a restaurant and bar. The harbor water is too murky to make water here so we are jugging water out to the boat. Here it is low 90s everyday with rain occasionally, much nicer than Costa Rica or Panama. We have been doing some varnish and a little touring, mostly waiting for the hurricane season to end. We will stay anchored here until November 1-? getting some boat projects done. The next port will be either Jamaica or Aruba depending on the wind.  We have crew that is supposed to show up the first week of Nov for the sail into the Caribbean. Cheers, Richard
	September 20, 2008 - On to San Blas Out brief stayover in Shelter bay provided us a well sheltered marina with great docks but a very average restaurant. After 3 nights there we could not eat there again so we took off to Isla Grande.   We left Shelter Bay Marina Sunday morning the 14 for Isla Grande, about 28 miles.  The island is about a mile off the mainland with a 30 foot deep channel between to anchor in. The island has a lovely little town all painted up in bright Caribbean colors. We stayed 2 nights and enjoyed lunch out every day at a waterfront restaurant. There is almost no tide on the Caribbean side so you just tie up to the patio rail and step on. The food was great and inexpensive. On Tuesday morning after a big rain squall we up anchored for Porvenir. We arrived just in time to get the hook down before it was too dark to see the reefs. The San Blas is a series of small white sand islands with palm trees and lots of reefs and shoals. It only safe to move around when the sun is high in the sky so you can see into the water. Thursday we moved to Lemon Cay which is a series of small palm isles almost reef locked. As with all the San Blas the Kuna Indians come by in their dug out canoes selling Molas (beautiful hand stitched tapestry) and lobster & large crabs. The ultimate shopping for the girls, everything comes to the boat. We spent 4 hours yesterday cooking and cleaning crab and lobster, now we are trying to figure out how many different ways to prepare it. The trials of cruising! Cheers, Richard
	September 13, 2008 - Dockside in Shelter Bay We made fast time through the Canal, motored at 7 kts and even motor sailed for a while. It was a very quiet day in the locks so we had to get to the Gatun locks as they were going to close down for the day with the green ship just ahead of us. We got there just in time to sneak in front of the green monster for the down locking. The good news was that we were tied up at Shelter Bay Marina before dark which is unheard of. All the locks went without incident. Peter Stevens, our ships agent, Got us 4 of the best line handlers and they did a great job. Tito the the lead man has been through the Canal about 350 times. Because of Astor's size we were assigned a pilot. I drove Astor while he gave me very exact instructions. He made drawings of each lock and the currents in and out. He told me where to place Astor to avoid being pushed by these currents. He was very much the gentleman at the same time and a great asset to the Canal process. The only down side to the trip was that the pilot boat that brought him bent a stanchion (already repaired) . Other than that we had no damage not even a scratch or tire mark. The weather was perfect with no rain, very uncommon. and little breeze. The trip across Panama through the Canal and across the lake is very beautiful, very lush jungle, complete with monkeys and crocodiles. This morning, while tied to the marina dock, we had a squall go through with heavy rain and a peak of 52 kts of wind, so we feel very lucky about our Transit. We have been  in the marina for a couple of days to get our stress level down. Tomorrow AM, weather permitting, we will leave for Isla Grande, our one stop on the way to the San Blas. Cheers, Richard
	September 10, 2008 - Astor in Canal System At 9:11 am Local time (7:11 am Pacific) Astor entered the Miraflores Locks and made the first step in the path to the Atlantic. A few of us watched the website cams as the boat cycled through the locks and continued on. At 9:46 the second set of doors in this set opened and the Miraflores locks were cleared. Continuing to watch the next camera at the Centennial bridge, Astor came into view at around 11:34 local time. Estimates are about 8 hours to get through to the other side. If timing is right, they will be going through the Gatun locks near the end of the day. ** UPDATE ** Astor Cleared the last locks well ahead of projected schedule. Around 4:30 (2:30pm Cal Time) the boat was seen on the Gatun Locks Camera. All went very well and everone is pleased. (Pictures will be up shortly)
	September 7, 2008 - Canal Preparations With the canal transit in just a few days we are in last minute prep and stow for the big event. Guests/Crew are arriving and their gear is being shuffled around to fit. Assorted projects are being completed and most of all, the big mooring lines are all being brought up on deck. We are scheduled for Wednesday 10th in the early am. We won't know the exact time until that morning, but we will try to get a message out as soon as we know. If you want to watch for us, there are several webcams available along the canal. On the pacific side are the Miraflores Locks. You can access that camera here: Miraflores Locks Camera Along the journey is the Bridge Camera Centennial Bridge And on the Caribbean Side are the Gatun Locks Gatun Locks Camera Remember- Canal time is 2 hours ahead of all of you West Coasters so we may be well into the transit before you all go to work!
	August 28, 2008 - Jump to Panama We are in Balboa, Panama-the canal zone. We had a great trip down, stopping every night except the last. we anchored at Isla Parida first night, Islas Secas the second with heavy rain and lightning a bit too close for comfort, Our third stop found us at Isla Canal de Afuera. This island is part of Coiba Nat park and the park boat stopped by and demanded $100 to anchor for one night, it was raining heavily on the main land sooo we paid (welcome to Panama). The forth night we anchored in Ensenada Naranjo bay behind Punta Mariato with a little rain, On day five we planned to stop behind Punta Guanico but found only a marginal anchorage and decided to push on because the weather was very settled (odd). The following morning we had a beautiful offshore of 10-12 kts so we could sail on a beam reach (almost forgot what sailing was) all the way to the Canal Zone. We are currently berthed at the Flamenco marina on the tip of the Amador causeway. There are at least 6 restaurants within walking distance so Lani is Very Happy. We spent Tues & Wed with our canal representative Peter Stevens getting checked in to the country and getting Astor Add Measured for the Canal. Mark Randall (found him through FindaCrew) has just left for the airport to fly home to Seattle and Colin flys out tomorrow. We are going to tour the town today with our adopted cab driver Mario. Jim & Marion and Ross & Lynette arrive on the 6th and stay until the 24th. We are scheduled to transit the Canal on the 10th so it will be a busy time until then. Once we are through the Canal we are going to the San Blas Islands with the group. Jim & Marion and Ross & Lynette fly home from there. We will be doing more San Blas and next stop will be Cartagena. Cheers, Richard