Paddle and Surf Day

March 25, 2010
We had the distinct privilege of being awakened this morning by Rachel at 5 a.m. Since she is not allowed to wake us up at home before 6a.m., she did the time zone conversion, and decided that 5 was the right time.
Rebecca and I left her in our bed, and ran up Ancon Hill. It was a pleasant run spotting niccis on every turn as the road spiraled up to the top. At every new clearing around the hill, a spectacular vista was to be seen including the Causeway, the port of Balboa, Canal, Old Panama, and downtown Panama. Breathless at the top.
After the run, I quickly jumped into Scott’s car to get our last day of paddling in prior to the race tomorrow. We still have some issues to work out, like keeping the boat upright. We worked a lot of the bugs out as a crew, the boat is handling a lot better, and we are paddling well despite some rolls in the water today, tomorrow should be fine. The winds are forecast to be only 5-10 knots, which will help on our first stretch.
Even though we only had a short paddle, the transit to Gamboa, returning the trailered boats to Fort Clayton, and doing our final race preparation errands seemed to take most of the day.
Meanwhile, Rebecca, and Diana took the kids on a tour of old Panama, the church of the Golden Altar, Casca Viejo, and Las Bovedas. Some pretty interesting Panama history, including the site where Henr y Morgan tried to ransack Panama, and the ancient Spanish tunnels where gold was hidden, and prisoners were tortured. All of this after navigating a 16 passenger maxi van through downtown Panama City with driving directions that do not include street signs, but navigation by landmark. It’s a Central American thing.
We all arrived back at the PVQ at a similar mid afternoon time, and since we were well aware that a nice Southern swell was hitting Panama, we loaded up the van to hit the beach. We got our friend Andy, and Richard and I brought Dylan, Carly, Tommy, and Ryan up to the beach named Tits. Yes, it is really called Playa Teta. It is the Zonian home break, and only an hour from our lodging. We left at 4 to hit the incoming tide. We took the new bridge over the canal at Paraiso since the Puente de las Americas had the afternoon traffic flu.
After getting to Playa Teta, we park at the top of the hill, and carry surfboards and gear down the steep dirt path to the beach. The view at sand level is pristine, and there was an ample swell breaking over “Tetas Front”, “Punta Tetas”, and Breshnevs. Dylan paddled right out to the point with Richard and Tommy as I supervised for a while on the beach. Carly and Ryan explored a tidal pool formed in the sand which was teeming with marine life including cangrejo, and many fishes. What a childhood playground. We caught some waves at the point, as Andy scored some long rights at Breshnev’s. Our session lasted until the light ran out, post sunset. We all agreed it was a glorious, relaxing session. A wonderful change for the Floridians to be surfing in wonderful 81 degree water after a chilly winter.
On the ride back to Ancon Hill, all of the pilots on board entertained one another with stories of our profession. One airline pilot, one Panama Canal pilot, and one Port Canaveral pilot. We had a late dinner at TGIFriday’s on the causeway, relating more stories steeped in professional heroism. Certainly a full day was experienced by the Pletch crew in Panama, and bedtime never felt so good, in preparation for the start of tomorrow’s race.