POST

Dusty and Victor arrived about 8:50 just as it began to rain and we were locking up and
heading to dinner. We donned our rain gear and headed to Bennigans. The older crew came
back to Bella Donna around 12 AM. Younger crew stayed to help close the bar.

Our day started at 3:30 AM. Anthony woke up John to report that Victor was nowhere to be
found. He had come back with everybody, but Ant had searched everywhere for Victor without
success. John dress quickly and began the search. Quickly Victor was found sleeping on the
trampoline on the bow. Everyone went back to bed.

Well we are waiting for some parts coming Fed-Ex before noon. We will secure the package,
fuel up and we will be off. It is 10 AM and we are just now having breakfast. We have all
been up since 7 AM visiting and listening to John's plan for the passage ahead. This
consists of the usual speech about watch assignments and under what conditions to wake
John up, when going out on deck is safe, what to do in case of fire, how to flush the
heads, what to put in a grab bag if we have to abandon ship, and many other useful things
to know.

We pick up the parts and fuel right on time, 11 AM. We get our final passport stamps and
papers allowing us to leave. About 12:30 we say our goodbyes to Panama. Our agent, Tina,
who helped us with all planning and paperwork comes by to say goodbye and leaves us some
of her business cards in case we meet someone in Galapagos who needs an agent in Panama.
We are finally on our way. The ocean is flat, no wind and a cloud of humidity rises above
us. We have been hotter, so it is not too bad. The ocean is gently rolling with light
swells about 15 seconds apart. All in all the weather is better than predicted, just no
wind to sail; we are in the doldrums, latitude 8. We have a fishing line out because we
see birds and sea life. Several hundred yards away we spot a killer whale gently coming up
for air and diving again for food. No fish yet.

God Bless Bella Donna