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5. MG HINTON - 2012-01-23 17:23:04 |
| good info thanks |
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4. Chantal Gromont - 2012-01-15 22:48:49 |
A super yacht owner sailing through the beautiful waters of the San Blas Islands of Panama had once a craving for “cuisses de grenouilles” (frog legs). What was he to do? Arrange for a refrigerated box of the French delicacy to be flown over by private plane to him on his yacht, of course. This is one of the most extravagant requests that I have received, but did nonetheless carry out, says Chantal Gromont.
"My Clients want it now. So everything has to be done as quickly as possible. With a two-minute phone call, an entire evening can be arranged anywhere in the world”. My clients want activities organized for them once they reach their destination, whether they’re in Panama, or anywhere else in the world... Restaurant bookings, car rentals, flight and hotel bookings are the most common kind of requests, but some Clients want a mooring reservation, a dentist appointment and of course qualified technicians for yacht repairs and maintenance.
“While I profess to never say no, there are some client requirements I will not adhere to”. I’ll do anything, providing it’s legal and ethical”, says Chantal Gromont.
Dealing with demanding clients who expect exceptional things is not unusual in the concierge business.
Everyone wants the best table at the best restaurant. I contact the yachts to see what they want before they arrive at port. However forward planning can only help so much, with super yacht travelers likely to have a change of mind in just a matter of hours from wanting to have dinner on the boat to wanting a limousine to take them to the best restaurant in town.
“I charge a subscription fee of $500 a year, plus a $50 fee every time my Clients call me for services. My clients are cash rich and time poor", so I dedicate my time to save theirs and make a living in the process”, says Chantal Gromont of |
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3. John Adams - 2011-12-11 03:24:18 |
Docking / Mooring / Anchoring on the Pacific side of the Panama Canal
Last updated December 8, 2011
Balboa Yacht Club
Miller Road, Amador, Balboa (next to the Country Inn & Suites Hotel and the Friday’s Restaurant)
Manager; Mr. David Cooper - Tel; (+507) 228-5794 & 211-0827, VHF Channel 6 - - Position 8°56.09N, 79°33.28W. The club offers good facilities to visiting yachtsmen. The fee for obtaining a temporary mooring is +/-US$0.65 per foot per day, but if you remain more than 6 months the fee might be slightly reduced. There is also a slipway, WC, showers, laundry, WiFi, fueling station, 24/7 water taxi and, last but not least, a thatched covered bar-restaurant with a huge wooden deck overlooking the breathtaking view of the Panama Canal and the Bridge of the Americas. This is Panama’s best water hole for watching the sunset, while enjoying the conversation of yachtsmen from around the world blowing their horn and drinking Balboa beer by the bucket. It is definitely the favorite hangout for English speaking cosmopolites residing, or just visiting Panama.
Flamenco Marina
Isla Flamenco, At the end of the Amador Causeway, or Calizada de Amador, Panama
Manager; Mr. Miguel Lopez-Pineiro Tel; (+507) 314-0665 & 314-1980, VHF Channel 10 -
This is Panama’s largest marina, but 99% of the yachts docked in this marina are fishing powerboats – not sailboats. As a result, transient sailing yachtsmen tend to spend as little time as possible in this unfriendly environment... Water, shore power, fueling station, WiFi, landing dock, 150 ton travelift and shipyard are all available, but expensive. The office is situated near the fueling dock. There are many restaurants, shops and bars around the marina and also behind the parking lot.
La Playita Marina & Free Anchorage
Manager; Ms. Carmen Garcia de Paredes - Tel;(+507) 314-1730 -
This is a 40 berths mini-marina. 36 berths are permanently occupied by local yachts and the remaining 4 are available for transient yachts (!)
West of the Causeway, North of Isla Flamenco and South of Isla Naos/Isla Culebra is La Playita’s Anchorage, which is free of charge and quite popular during the dry season, but is not good at all during the rainy season... It is relatively comfortable anchorage between January and April, although sometimes subject to wash from the many passing vessels. At the “Mi Playita” Marina there is a dock where you may take fuel and water and tie down your dinghy. The charge for using that dock is US$ 30 per week, or US$ 100 per month. If you stay only for 1 or 2 days a charge of +/-US$ 5 per day can be negotiated (!) There is a hotel nearby called “The Beach House” and also a restaurant called “Mi Ranchito”, which is the area’s most successful eating place for tourists, as well as for locals.
Brisas de Amador – Free Anchorage
This Free Anchorage is located East of the Causeway – North of Flamenco and Perico Islands. It is now owned and operated by the Government of Panama. It is a well protected anchorage during the rainy season (from May to December), but it is not recommended during the windy dry season... Disgracefully, the floating (Government) landing dock sunk in May 2011 and as of December 8, 2011 it has still not been repaired (!) |
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2. Carla del Agua - 2011-09-20 02:40:00 |
Carla del Agua
Around the world, we have heard it said, “If you have a problem, you probably have a boat.”
All boat-lovers know that there is no such thing as a boat without at least one pending problem that needs immediate attention. Fortunately, self-proclaimed boat-experts can be found in every yacht club water hole around the world, giving unsolicited advice to yachtsmen in despair.
Around 5;00 PM every evening at the Balboa Yacht Club, a wide range of experts from North America, Europe and New Zealand gather around buckets filled with six bottles of Balboa beer (“cubetazos” in Spanish) to prove that this spot is no exception.
As the sun begins to set behind the Bridge of the Americas and those few beers start to soak in, the horns begin to blow… The guys go on about the amazing sailing skills and experience they have acquired in their many years afloat, they propose unique services for the troubled yachtsmen in transit through the Canal, and they always have a “perfect” solution at hand. The troubled transients will often try to fix their own problems themselves, only to soon realize that it is not as easy as they thought. After days of shopping around unsuccessfully and hearing “no hay” hundreds of times, they will come to the conclusion that perhaps it’s not such a bad idea to hire one of those “know-it-all” to help them find the missing link to get the job done.
In Panama, it is said that a good worker is one that shows up; although that may sound obvious in Switzerland, in Panama it is a rather rare occurrence. Actually, only a handful of our foreign specialists are capable of committing to a schedule and sticking to a budget. Only they get the job done right – eventually. Thank God Panama is blessed with the presence of a bunch of extremely skilled foreign experts, including but not limited to a Swiss sail-maker, a Kiwi shipwright, an American can-do-it-all, a Maori rigger, an Irish pub owner, a bunch of Caucasian bar flies and even a token Panamanian engineer.
We wish the best of luck to the yachtsmen passing through the Panama Canal, and sincerely hope that they will find the most serene path through the wide sea of experts with a perfect advice. But if, by shear bad luck, they did not find the right solution here in Panama, let’s hope that their boating problem will hold-off until they arrive at the next port of call…  |
 1. Panama Yacht Club - 2009-10-26 04:29:46 |
Bienvenido al Portal del Yachting en Panamá
Este sitio es el punto de encuentro de todos aquellos que están involucrados en el Yachting en Panamá.
Algunos de nuestros Miembros están interesados en la compra de un catamarán Lagoon, con todos los servicios relacionados a la compra de un yate nuevo (astillero post-producción, transporte trasatlántico, abanderamiento, seguro marítimo, garantía, servicio post-venta), etc. Otros Miembros son dueños de yates en tránsito por Panamá buscando referencias de mecánicos e ingenieros electrónicos fiables, reparadores de fibra de vidrio, fabricantes de velas, agentes de tránsito por el Canal, etc.
También tenemos Miembros interesados en invertir en nuestro proyecto de marina “pro mundi beneficio”.
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