Leaving Panama City by boat ⛵️ is always a bit of an adventure.
Just outside the canal entrance, the ocean is filled with massive ships 🚢 waiting their turn to transit to the Atlantic. They seem to be everywhere. Tankers, container ships, bulk carriers… an entire floating city of steel. As a small sailboat, you carefully weave your way through them, constantly watching radar and AIS, keeping your head on a swivel, and making sure you stay well clear of these giants.
Once we finally passed through the maze of ships, the water opened up and the calm returned. The peaceful ocean just beyond felt like a deep exhale.
Panama has been such a special place for us. The diversity, the incredible food, the abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables, the endless blue skies, calm waters, and the stunning mountain views ⛰️ that seem to appear out of nowhere. It’s a place that keeps pulling you back. 🇵🇦
Suzette Wallace Chris B Wallace
Squid & Jelly's Great Adventure
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Welcome to Squid & Jelly's Great Adventure! 🦑🌊 Join Chris and Su as they embark on an epic journey retrofitting and sailing their 2008 Leopard 40 Catamaran around the world!
14/04/2026
When I first started sewing projects for our Leopard 40, I basically lived on Sailrite’s YouTube channel. 💻 I watched video after video to learn and ordered exactly what they recommended because, honestly, I didn’t even know there were other options.
For our helm cover and sunshades I used DOT snap fasteners. The ones on the sunshades were government black so they would blend with the black Phifertex Plus fabric, and the helm ones were the standard silver. At the time I thought I had it all figured out since they looked great. 🙂
Well… Caribbean sun had other ideas. ☀️
Within about a year the black snaps started discoloring, and I also realized something else. Those snaps are tough on your hands. And every now and then a wave would hit the boat just right and pop… some of the snaps would let go. 🌊 Suddenly the sunshade is flapping and trying to make a break for freedom.
After doing a little more research I decided to upgrade to stainless steel Loxx fasteners from Sailrite. I drilled out the DOT snap studs and replaced them with the Loxx hardware. 🔩
Game changer. 🙌
They are so much easier to put on and take off, and there is no chance wind or a rogue wave is going to pop them open. You actually have to pull the cap to release them.
Not a cheap upgrade 💸 but one of those boat improvements that makes you wonder why you didn’t do it sooner.
Totally worth it. ⛵
13/04/2026
Since we have a Leopard 40 owner’s version, the port forward cabin has become Chris’s workshop. It’s where we store most of his tools 🧰 🛠️and spare parts, which makes that side of the boat a bit heavier. My sewing 🪡 🧵supplies live in the port aft cabin, so that side of the boat carries quite a bit of our “working gear.”
We also converted the port head shower into a laundry 🧺 area with a washer 🫧 and dryer, which has been a fantastic upgrade for life aboard.
The problem was that the doors to the port forward cabin and the head were in the way, took up space, and they added unnecessary weight to the port side. We decided to remove them. The only downside was that you could now see everything in those rooms. 😒
My solution was to make sliding curtains for the doorways. I used Flex-A-Rail track and curtain ball carriers from Sailrite, which made the install simple and clean.
Now we can open or close the spaces whenever we want, and the fabric adds a nice tropical 🐚 feel that complements the wood and colors inside the boat. Functional, lighter, and it looks great too. 😊
13/04/2026
There were so many mackerel circling the boat that Chris decided it was time to try a new technique… fishing with a net.
And guess what… it worked! He actually caught one.
What he didn’t plan on was doing it completely naked. 🤣
Island life keeps things interesting out here. We’re anchored ⚓️ off Isla Chapera in Las Perlas, surrounded by fish 🐟 , sunshine 🌞 , and just enough privacy for some very “natural” fishing techniques. 🏝️
Sometimes the best catches happen when you least expect them!😉
The only thing you need to worry about, is how you're going to find time to leave this amazing suite 💫
Fully equiped 1 bedroom with outdoor rain shower, fully loaded kitchen and not one but two private teraces. This unit can also be combined with the studio next door making it the perfect option for family or couples traveling together. Peace, privacy and togetherness all in one.
Reserve this suite online and get your vacation mode on 😎
Boat ⛵️ projects are never simple . . . and apparently neither are boat mattresses!
It was time to make a new mattress 🛏️ for the guest cabin on our Leopard 40. We ordered custom foam from The Foam Factory and materials from Sailrite, then turned the boat into a full blown upholstery shop.
I made the mattress for our cabin about six months ago, but when I started this one I realized I could not remember exactly how I did it. Apparently my memory is shorter than a piece of scrap fabric. So this time I started adding sticky notes to the photos on my phone with reminders for each step. Future me will hopefully be very thankful.
When we were in Curaçao, Cliff helped me glue, cut and wrestle the foam into shape. The mattress is so big and heavy there is absolutely no way one person could handle it alone. It was a workout trying to get it in and out of the boat. 💪
And of course, because it is a boat, the mattress is not a normal size. It is larger than a queen, smaller than a king, and one side is angled with about a 4 inch difference from head to foot. Nothing on a boat is square!
For the build I used Outdora fabric for the cover, added Phifertex Plus on the bottom for ventilation, and made a covered zipper flap so the zipper stays hidden and tidy. We also decided to make the mattress in three pieces so it would be easier to lift off and access the lockers underneath. The foot section was cut into two pieces, which makes the whole setup much more manageable.
The Sailrite fabric calculator was a lifesaver. Using the nesting panels feature helped me lay out the pattern and make the most of the fabric.
And of course no project of mine is complete without at least one mistake that makes me question all my life choices. This time I cut the top plate the same size as the bottom plate, when it actually needed to be 4 inches wider to account for the angle. 📐 That was a frustrating moment. 😫 But as always, figuring out how to fix the mistake and keep going was part of the adventure.
Best part is the timing. We finished just in time for our friends Patrick and Darnell to arrive and help us transit the Panama Canal 🇵🇦. The guest cabin is now officially ready for friends and family to visit us! 🌎
22/03/2026
Today’s the day we’ve been waiting for! 🎉 We’re officially crossing the Panama Canal and heading out to the Pacific Ocean.
Our awesome friends Patrick and Darnell flew down to join the adventure as line handlers, and we’ve also got two seasoned pros, Gutti and Jose, on board to help with the lines. Our canal advisor Ricardo just stepped aboard, and we’re about to raft up with two other boats before entering the locks.
Next stop: lifting 85 feet up through one of the most incredible engineering marvels in the world.
If you want to follow along in real time, you can watch the action on the Panama Canal webcams here:
https://multimedia.panama-canal.com/
Pacific bound — let’s go! 🌊⛵🌎
18/03/2026
Such ripe sweet watermelon 🍉 in Panama! 🇵🇦 I buy these from the local fruit ladies Kathy & Amilia at Shelter Bay Marina.
08/01/2026
Four days of downwind sailing carried us from Curaçao to Green Island in the San Blas — effortless, exhilarating, and everything we love about being under sail. 🌊⛵️
As the sun dipped and we prepared to anchor for the night, the adventure shifted gears. Our windlass decided to take a break, giving us a first real time lesson in manually dropping the anchor. ⚓️ We put out more chain than intended, but we were soon settled in, secure and relieved - another new skill added to the logbook.
After every sail we seem to find a little water in the bilges (still a mystery 🤔), and since we love dry bilges, we needed to take care of this right away before we could relax. A quick workout with the manual dinghy pump and the bilges were dry in no time.
Then came the reward: hot showers, 🚿 a homemade dinner of Butter Chicken 😋, and finally stretching out together in our cabin. The air was cool, the breeze steady, and sleep came easily. 🥱
Morning greeted us with soft light, fresh air, and this breathtaking view of Waisaladup — a quiet reminder that every challenge is just part of the journey, and every day brings something beautiful. 💙🌴
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