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For several years we talked about going through the Panama Canal and learn first hand what this man-made, torturous piece of real-estate and it's notorious history were all about. There are many luxury cruise ships that go here, but we wanted a small ship again; one that did not drop 2000 passengers off at one port and flood the town with bodies. So in 2005 we booked a cruise on the Wind Star during its passage from Costa Rica to Barbados. 

We boarded the ship in Costa Rica and after a short sail to Golfito, took an excursion to a rainforest.

Before we arrived at the Panama Canal we had an extra day to explore part of Isla San Telmo, a group of islands west of Panama.  A zodiac took us to a beach where sometime ago they had found a relic of an small submarine. This rusted steel wreck turned out to have an interesting piece of history. It is one of the first US submarines built in the 1860's.

What followed was the Panama canal crossing which was exciting and most interesting. My father had done that back in the 1920s when he was a sailor with the Holland America Line and hauled freight to San Francisco. Things have changed a bit since then.

On the Atlantic side we enjoyed a couple of days at sea relaxing, making more friends and gorging ourselves on wonderful food.

Our next port of call was Aruba. We took a catamaran sailing boat to do some snorkeling at a submerged wreck, had a barbeque lunch, and walked along the beach where lots of tourists were baking in the sun.

We stopped at a deserted island, Islas Los Roques, off the coast of Venezuela. The beach was pristine and the snorkeling amongst the boulders and corral was clear as a bell. Besides the passengers of our ship, the only other people there was a family of four with their 45 foot sailboat. They had come from the Mediterranean and were heading for Australia, a one year trip. They wanted to have another person on board, so Jay was ready to sign up, but Sharon wouldn't let him.

Our visit to Grenada was a bit of a downer. A major hurricane had devastated the island a few months earlier and when we toured the island we saw hundreds of homes and churches without roofs, collapsed walls and other destruction. Thousands of nutmeg trees, one of their main export products, had been up-rooted and the population really looked depressed.

The following day, at Bequia, was more relaxing. We stayed at the beach, had a great lunch at a local spot and did a bit of sightseeing. This is one of several islands popular with yachters and there were several nice boats in the harbor.

Our final destination was Barbados. After disembarking most passengers enjoyed one more bus-tour of the island. Then we said goodbye to our many new friends who headed for the airport. We had decided to spend a couple more days and stayed at the Accra, a good hotel right on the beach. When we registered we were surprised with an upgrade to a suite overlooking the ocean and pool below.

Then it was time for us to go home.