Dan Literally Saved my Life and A Waiting Game on Caribbean Side…#39

We have been sitting at “Shelter Bay Marina” after our Panama Canal Transit, waiting for the wind, waves and swells to subside. We weren’t planning and certainly didn’t expect this at all, we had hoped to keep traveling within a day or so after our arrival. We wanted to head to the San Blas Islands for a few weeks and couldn’t even leave the Marina. Our friends Ken and Cheryl decided to leave and come back at another time. It was hard to see them go!

Thanks Ken and Cheryl!! 

We were lucky the marina was inside the breakwaters of the Canal, we had very little movement other than the wind blowing. We could actually see the breakwater wall from our slip inside the marina and it wasn’t a pretty sight with large wave lapping over the 9 foot seawall. (of course there is high & low spots along this wall) The 3 pictures I included are from “windy.com”. You can see both side of Panama with the wind blowing over the land (green). The Waves & Swells are the dark pink/Red pictures, which isn’t a good color. Light blue/white is good. Red is not. So we will stay put until it is better.

Shelter Bay Marina is sitting on a piece of land that has old American buildings on it from 1903 – 1980’s. These building were put in place when the USA built and managed the Canal. The Jungle Warfare school was here for some years. We walked around part of it and drove past the other part while in the shuttle bus into town. Most of the buildings are empty and falling down, but it is fun to look at them and think about how they were used. We can also see lots of wildlife here too. Monkeys, parrots, many types of birds, ants, termites, wild cats (one pregnant one), cockroaches, spiders… I’m sure snakes and scorpions too.

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We were also invited to multiple different events with other boaters! It is fun to get to know all these people from all over the world. Scotland, Wales, England, Netherlands, Denmark, & USA were the countries represented. We had events on the “Undaunted” motor yacht and “Super Tramp” sailboat. And you think we have traveled far with our boat… Not as far as some have.

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A Life Saving Event….

One evening Dan and I went to the restaurant for dinner. We don’t go too often but had worked hard that day on some projects and I didn’t want to cook. I got lucky and we sat outside on the patio. Normally it is too hot, but the wind was blowing nicely and the sun had set.  We had ordered our meal and my Daughter Kylie had called me and we were chatting about her Volleyball team. She coaches a club team and they are doing really good this year. They got 1st place on their last tournament and were planning for the next. I was super excited for her. Dinner came and I didn’t want to stop talking, so I put her on speaker and sat the phone down on the table. (okay maybe not the best decision, but we were outside and not near anyone). As I was eating while chatting and I started to choke. I had taken too big of a bite of my steak and it was caught in my throat. I knew I was in trouble as I quickly stood up, hoping Dan would figure out what had just happened. If you have ever seen this happen to a person, they can not talk or breathe. Dan had good situational awareness that evening, he was trying to figure out why I was standing up when Kylie was chatting with me. He quickly saw that I was choking and started to perform the Heimlich maneuver. Two pulls on my stomach and it hadn’t come out yet. He was a bit panicked. I felt it move but it wasn’t hard enough pull. Dan did it again and it popped out onto the ground, just like they say. I was grateful and thanked Dan for saving my life. He was more shook up over it then I was. I was more embarrassed and just processing what had just happened. I certainly had gotten distracted by my phone call and wasn’t really paying attention to what I was doing. (no multitasking when eating, haha) I decided to tell the story in hope that others would learn by my mistake. Please, Please be aware of the signs and how to perform this process, I’ve included the link as a refresher.

CLICK HERE for refresher on how to perform the Heimlich maneuver

When thinking back on this event, it all happened so quickly and I didn’t really have time to think about what could have happened if it didn’t work. Dan and I have chatted multiple times about what happened and I am so very grateful that it turned out well and I didn’t leave this earth earlier than I should. The impact to my family and friends would have be devastating. I have so much yet to do and give to others with this life, I’m just not done yet! I am definitely bless and count them every day.

THANK YOU for being part of my life! To my family, friends, acquaintances and those that are following our adventures that I have never spoken to… THANK YOU for reading and following our adventures!

Love and Blessing to you All.

-Angela ♥