Cayucos ahead of the clock .. and some spectators

.Time and tide wait for no man goes the old saying. To that you can add the Panama Canal Locks.

It’s not every day in Panama that an event starts ahead of time. If it starts on time it’s close to heralding a second coming. But starting early?

Well in the case of Panama’s famed cayuco races, with 100 traditional canoes hollowed from trees.competing at various levels,  in the Ocean to Ocean race ,it was not so much  starting early but  finishing. 

Many spectators arrived at  2 p.m near the public Diablo landing, struggled  to park their car blocks away before plodding in the hot March sun to the finishing point of the three day event. But it would all be worth the effort to see the struggles of the competitors, rushing to the finishing line after 50 grueling miles of paddling. 

Instead they, and  the Newsroom photographer found the roads filled with cayucos and were met by crowds streaming away from the ramp. When they arrived at the slipway they found that the last competitors had come ashore at 2.10 p.m.

The confusion arose because of information provided by one of the organizers, and published  in Newsroom that the time to arrive was between 2 and 4 p.m.

What was not taken into account was the timetable and vagaries of the Canal operators. A participating paddler told us that when the canoes were waiting at Miraflores they were told that it was time to enter the watery elevator. They all went in and out together and headed for home …early.

So next year, we will arrive really early,and have time to sample the food items  on sale by teams of volunteers from the Shriners, seeking to raise funds for childrens’ hospitals.

The only discordant note around the festivities was a local radio station van, blasting music at ear-drum breaking decibel levels.. Perhaps they were  getting their kicks in following Noise Pollution Day the week before (March 21). Was anyone listening? {jathumbnail off}