After arriving in Panama and having won the first of three races of leg seven, we quickly refuelled, did a mini deep clean then indulged in some hard-earned local cocktails. We had an embassy event to attend on the final evening hence our need to stop over in Panama. A few of us headed into Panama City and checked into The Bristol Hotel – a world away from the stinking cramped conditions on-board a racing yacht.

Simon and Jake sourced some resin and once again repaired our patched-up bowsprit. The navigation station was also found flooded. Only three boats stopped in Panama, the others prepared to transit in threes through the Panama Canal.

We wined and dined, treated ourselves to some spa treatments and had a fantastic time. Despite driving like hooligans, Panama City is a vibrant place full of culture, atmosphere and fun. It suited GREAT Britain down to the ground and we certainly let off some much needed steam without the presence of the usual gossip spies on the prowl looking to fabricate their next pathetic story.

The part we’d all been looking forward to, though, was the transit through one of the world’s greatest engineering masterpieces: the Panama Canal.

We motored out of the marina early that morning to a designated area accompanied by Invest Africa and Mission Performance. There we were to await the arrival of our own canal pilot who came aboard each yacht and assisted with the transit. As we approached the first lock we rafted the boats together and made our way through lock one positioned behind the tanker from Hong Kong ‘Atlantic Canyon’.

After transiting through the first three gates, the canal opens out into a scenic lake where we motored for hours to our second designated position. We attached a mooring line to a buoy while we awaited our second slot. It seemed like perfect time to water bomb the other two boats until they radioed us over the VHF and asked us to stop. At least we had fun for a short time. I think they were annoyed we had disturbed them while they were busy taking themselves too seriously.

Shortly after 9pm our new pilot arrived and we continued the transit alone through the next stage of the lock. The organization of the entire delivery was flawless and executed with military precision. It was a memorable experience, more so for our round-the-worlder Jim, who lives and breathes everything shipping.

WATCH THIS VIDEO OF WHAT IT IS LIKE TO SURF DOWN HUGE WAVES IN THE OPEN OCEAN AT 27 KNOTS!!