International Cruisers Converge at Panama

You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to conclude that westbound boats of many nations probably pass through the Panama Canal each year. But it wasn’t until last Saturday — while hosting the first-ever Pacific Puddle Jump Kickoff Party at Panama’s Balboa YC — that we realized just how diverse Pacific-bound fleets can be. Boats from nearly a dozen countries attended our little fiesta, which was co-hosted by the Club, Tahiti Tourism and Latitude 38.

There were Aussies who’d bought boats in Europe and were ‘cruising’ them home; Europeans from Ireland, Sweden, Switzerland, Great Britain, The Netherlands and elsewhere; plus British Virgin Islanders and South Africans; as well as a whole slew of Americans. With nearly 50 boatloads of cruisers attending, we were left asking ourselves why we hadn’t staged such an event sooner.

Our Tahitian co-host, Stephanie Betz, endured 48 hours of travel in order to meet members of the fleet and share her expertise on cruising the French Polynesian archipelagos. With free drinks and snacks for all, plus raffle prizes that included a black pearl and a hotel night in a top-rated Tahiti hotel, everyone went home smiling — and we made a whole lot of new friends who will hopefully send us photos, destination reports and other topical info to enhance the pages of Latitude 38. Read more about this amazing fleet — which has now grown to around 225 boats — in the April issue.