After a night crossing from San Blas Islands to Shelter Bay in Panama, the
adrenaline rose to my head. The crossing was great with only a little swell
and wind speeds of 10 to 15 knots [18 to 28 kilometres or 11 to 17 miles per
hour; force 3 to 4 on the Beaufort scale]. Early this morning I arrived in
Panama, right into the thick of crowds of people and cargo ships. I have been
busy non-stop since. The press people stood immediately in front of my nose,
and because the Shelter Bay Marina sponsors me, I could not ignore them.
They always ask me the same questions over and over again and are often
clueless about me. This time, I even was asked my name……! She really did
not know, and I was so perplexed it took me a while before I could utter that
my name is Laura. Sure I was tired after the night crossing, and now I really
felt very tired of all the people around me pretending to be interested and
knowledgeable about me. My good mood slowly faded to an inner anger that I
always feel when people treat me like a celebrity. And then they often come
up with the most mind boggling or stupid questions.
Enough negativity, I should try to look at the bright side of things as I always
do. I have a berth in harbour again and I have already managed many things
for the passage [through the Panama Canal]. Besides I have met again with
the great people I was with in the San Blas Islands for a week. I wanted to
write earlier but because of all the hustle and bustle, I only got around to do
so now. So now I will take some rest and I will also try to keep my Blogs up to
date in the future.

Laura