The anchorage here at La Playita is not the most ideal. While it is close to some nice restaurants and access to taxis to take us into town (once you have paid the $35 to use the dinghy dock, that is), it has some serious disadvantages.
The anchorage is within the channel that heads towards the canal, and right next to a power boat marina where some of the pilot boats are kept. During the day power and pilot boats go in and out of the marina going at least 10 knots kicking up massive wakes that send all the boats in the anchorage rolling, and occupants of said boats running to catch falling items around the boat. Every so often a cargo ship is running late for their spot in the canal and goes full speed past the anchorage with an impressive wake resembling some of the waves we were getting of the Colombian coast.
This would be well and good if it relented once you went to sleep at night. But the canal doesn't sleep, which means that cargo ships are still running late for their 4am slots and pilot boats are still required throughout the night. One night I wake up at 3am to a huge wake coming through, and thought that the world was in fact ending. The view from my cabin looking into the saloon was of the kettle falling off the stove, cupboards falling open and disposing of their contents on the floor, and books, fishing rods and rolls of plastic wrap falling from their shelves. It resembled the survival video we had watched on Al's advanced survival course of what happens when a boat rolls completely through 360 degrees.
Another day, I arrive home after yet another trip to the supermarket, with more provisions to put away. I decide it is time to reshuffle our provisions, so pull all the crates out of the back cabin and re arrange the cans, bottles etc. Midway through this task, a gigantic wake comes through. Cans fall over and slide around the boat, banging the cupboards as they go, the 5 litre water bottles sitting on the table fall off directly onto the boxes of juice which then explode dramatically splattering every visible surface. It takes a good hour to clean up and requires taking up the floor boards and cleaning between the water tanks to try and mop up the juice that oozed between them. The next morning on the local radio "net", the lost and found section took longer than usual, with boats trying to locate items lost overboard during "The Wake".
After spending 3 weeks at La Playita, we couldn't move on a moment too soon. Onwards to the Las Perlas Islands!
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