Category Archives: 4. Key West to Panama

4. Key West to Panama

Time to Go!

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We’ve had more ups and downs. Both engines seem to be running okay. But this morning they were not charging the batteries. An urgent call to the electrician resulted in their working fine when he arrived… Just like taking your car to the mechanic! Then a blockage in a fuel line, but that is something we can track down ourselves. Bottom line…we plan/hope to leave tomorrow.

We borrowed a car today for a major food shopping trip. This afternoon we “stopped work early” to go into town with our fellow BPOers-still-in-Key-West. We checked out the Seafood Festival (artists, rock band, and…seafood), and walked to the sunset pier where the tourists and the street performers mix. It was a fun time, and it felt like the right way to spend the night before departure. A touch of sadness saying goodbye, and hoping we will see them again.

The plan tomorrow is to leave for a “sea trial,” and if all goes well, we won’t return. Instead of not going until we are ready, we’ll try turning things around, and “go unless we have to return.” And do we ever feel ready to go — to complete our escape from the clutches of Key West!

For friends/family wanting to contact me, I won’t be able to receive email at my usual address until we get to a place with WiFi. Most likely that means not until Panama on/about February 10th. We have the ability to send and receive text-only emails via the radio. Hallie knows how to do this, so if you want to contact me, contact her.

I also won’t be able to post my usual blog entries without WiFi. I plan to send short updates to Hallie via the radio, and ask her to post them. Photos will have to wait until Panama.

For those watching the position of the boats on the BPO web site, our position might not show up for a few days, or it might be intermittent, because we may choose not to broadcast where we are initially. Not to worry, it will get straightened out after a few days.

Photo of us with our official BPO number, and photos of 3 “neighbors” on the dock.

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4. Key West to Panama

Watching The Others Go

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Scheduled Start Day +1

It’s hard for us now, looking at the positions of the boats on the BPO tracking web site (http://cornellsailing.com/sail-the-odyssey/blue-planet-odyssey/follow-the-rally/track-the-boats/), while we remain behind. Today had some positive news (the rebuilt engines ran okay for a couple of hours of sea trial) and some setbacks (electrical issues related to wiring the engines into the existing systems). Oh well, one day at a time.

Scheduled Start Day +2

Yesterday, just for a moment, I thought about abandoning our boat/crew and offering to crew aboard Joyful… But no, that’s not the path I am on.

Tonight we have an updated plan to address our remaining issues:
1. “Trade in” our too-small engine that we got in Maine (and just had rebuilt), for another rebuilt engine of the right size. Our mechanic says he can do this in 5 hours on Wednesday! I know this sounds crazy, as it introduces new risks of things going wrong, but we are leaning toward doing it anyway.

2. “Trade in” our two new alternators for a different type that can be wired into the boat’s existing systems, rather than require a different/separate solution. Hopefully this can also be done Wednesday, but we need to verify this.

3. Speak with the service expert about our watermaker, which made bad-sounding noises when we tested it yesterday, even though it successfully produced fresh water. The goal is to either be reassured that the noises are normal, or take it apart again and figure out what we did wrong.

4. See if we can understand why the hydro generator, which we tested yesterday, does not show up on our electrical systems monitor as charging the batteries, despite the fact that it appears to be generating current. We may decide that since it is working (apparently), we won’t worry about the lack of confirmation on the monitor, but it would be nice to eliminate this mystery.

5. Stock up with fresh food and go.

Hoping to be off within one week of the original start date. As I’ve said before, this puts us in a better position than many of the entrants. And the tracking chart on the BPO web site shows that one of the 4 boats that left Saturday for Jamaica has turned back! An email says they have technical issues, but we don’t know any details yet. That puts us currently in “4th place” in our little fleet. But of course it is not a race.

Scheduled Start Day +4

Installed ‘new’ engine today, but the guys didn’t finish before quitting time, so we don’t yet have confirmation that it is wonderful. Electrician has been working on remaining electrical issues. Bill and I took a lot of the day off to bicycle into old Key West and look around at the architecture and eat yummy food.

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Other BPO boats (and “Rally Control”) are contacting us to ask if we’ve left yet. We’re happy that they haven’t forgotten about us. They should be arriving in Jamaica soon.  Gusto is back here after losing most of their electronics as they rounded the west end of Cuba.  Hopefully that will be a relatively simple fix and they will be off again.

4. Key West to Panama

Start Day

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Well, the Blue Planet Odyssey has begun at last. Jimmy left the dock first, to preside over the starting line (but this is not a race, right?), after which he heads north to show his boat at the Miami Boat Show.  He hopes to catch the fleet later in Tahiti.

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Then Tahawus, the boat with the two kids that will be sailing with us into the Pacific.

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Then Chapter Two, the other catamaran in the BPO.

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Next out was Ransom, a Hinckley 49.

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Then Gypsie left, but they are the boat that is hoping they can start in March, when Jimmy sets out to catch the fleet.

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Last out was Gusto, our compatriot from Belfast, Maine.

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Left behind at the dock was Joyful, who now also hopes to start in March.  They are looking for experienced crew.  Contact me if you are qualified and interested in extended sailing!

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And Imagine, withdrawn due to health issues.

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And us, with both mechanic and electrician spending their Saturday doing a lot of swearing and trying to get us going.  Supposedly both engines are now working.  We will be giving them some exercise tomorrow.  There are still some wiring issues that need to be sorted out though.

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The progress of the boats can be seen at the following page of the Blue Planet Odyssey web site:

http://cornellsailing.com/sail-the-odyssey/blue-planet-odyssey/follow-the-rally/track-the-boats/

The positions are not “real time” in the sense that the boats do not keep their trackers reporting constantly.  If you click on an individual boat it will tell you the time of their last position report.

The three stuck-here crews went out to dinner together tonight.  It was a nice way to simply acknowledge that, well, “Here we are,” each for different reasons and each with different plans, but all part of a voyaging community.