Crew Available: Line handlers end of October

[AnoukPanama]

Hi,

We (Anouk and Jeroen) are a Dutch couple of 31 years old and would like to volunteer as line handlers for crossing the Panama Canal.

We have experience in sailing, Anouk kind of grew up on a sailing boat and Jeroen is happy to play linehandler in the Netherlands for his father in law during weekends in spring and summer. We’re native in Dutch, fluent in English, and are able to have some basic conversations in Spanish, German and French.

Our availability is between October 22 and October 27, so let us you if you’re planning to cross the channel in this week, either from the Caribbean to the Pacific or the other way around.

We would love to see the lakes and the Panama Canal from the water!

[Dsanduril]

Anouk, welcome to CF. There is an old thread about linehandling for the Panama Canal that you may find useful. The easiest place to find a vessel is probably Shelter Bay Marina, but it is a bit out of the way by land. I would also suggest Portobelo. But October is probably a bit light in number of transits, it is outside the general season. Still, there will be some people heading through.

[BugzyCan]

There are a bazillion boats around that area right now.

https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais...ery:9.1/zoom:9

I guess finding a sailboat looking for help is the trick.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by BugzyCan

There are a bazillion boats around that area right now.

https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais...ery:9.1/zoom:9

I guess finding a sailboat looking for help is the trick.

Ha! There's always a "bazillion" boats (ships) there...its the Panama Canal! [emoji6]

If you change the filter settings to only show "Pleasure Craft" then you will see only about 12 right now on the Atlantic end...all but 2 in Shelter Bay Marina.

Shelter Bay on the Atlantic side or Balboa Yacht Club on the Pacific side are the places to look for a ride...but October is still hurricane season so not many boats transiting now. OP would be best to wait till after November.

[catchaser]

There is a Facebook group - Panama cruisers - we posted on this and found a ride last year