Category Archives: 5. Panama to Tahiti

5. Panama to Tahiti

Heading South…

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Thursday:

Last the Maggie crew and we took a taxi across Panama City in search of a Whole-Foods-like store someone had described to Tim.  No luck.  But we saw a “gourmet delicatessen” along the way, and a nice-looking restaurant next to it.  So that’s where we went, and we had a delightful dinner, and then bought cold cuts, cheese, chocolate and other goodies.  We don’t have much in the fruits and veggies department; oh well.

Got underway this morning.  Sunny, hot and no wind.  Motored for about three hours until a little breeze came up directly behind us.  Put up the big spinnaker and had a delightful day of sailing.  Mid-afternoon the wind picked up and we started zipping along at nine knots.  Almost immediately we got a bite on the fishing lure we were trailing.  It ran all the line out of our reel before we got to it.  Luckily the fish pulled free of the hook rather than taking our gear.

Within minutes we had another strike. This time we reeled it in and gaffed it, but it got free before we could get it safely aboard and sedate it with some rum. It was a big one — two feet long, at least, and probably ten pounds.

Not to worry… within minutes we had another strike, and this time we successfully landed a small tuna. Maybe twenty inches long and five pounds. Tim and I sampled the sashimi as we filleted it. Very good! We made nori rolls with sticky rice, plus empanadas and salsa on the side. Lots of tuna left over for another meal.

It was a beautiful evening, blowing a comfortable (for going downwind) twenty knots, and we continued to fly the spinnaker into the night. Bad idea… Though the night was beautiful, the wind gradually increased, and with it the waves began to build, and by the middle of my watch (Bill and I switched watches, so I have 7 to 11 now) things were getting hairy. Top wind speed reached 28 knots. Top boat speed hit 17 knots, surfing on the waves. We were hitting 15 knots regularly as we surfed. We were overpowered, but I didn’t want to wake the others (if they were able to sleep in the mayhem), so I tried to wait it out. But the waves were pushing the boat off course faster than the autopilot could adjust, and the spinnaker would occasionally collapse as we headed up too far, and then collapse the other way as we would bear off too far. We were risking breaking something (probably the spinnaker), so finally I called, “All hands,” and we got it down. Now we are ambling along under jib alone, at about 6 knots. MUCH more peaceful! I think I’ll be able to sleep in my berth in the bow.

Wonderful day. Glorious night. I know I’m repeating myself, but I’m SO happy to be moving again.

Friday:

A day of just the sun and the ocean and a few pelagic birds and us. Vast emptiness. Profound aloneness.

5. Panama to Tahiti

Had Enough of Panama Yet…?

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Such is the greeting of the day among the BPOers, as we try to sort out our administrative error that is preventing us from being allowed to leave.  And maybe it applies to my readers as well.  But here in our anchorage we magically have wifi, provided unsecured by we-don’t-know-who, and so I have the opportunity to do another post.

This is one of my favorite photos from the Canal.  It shows a ship going the other way in the adjacent lock.  We started high; he started low (relatively speaking).  Now we are down and he is up.  Maybe you had to be there to appreciate the image, but it tickles me.

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Below is another one I like, even though it isn’t in crisp focus.  When entering the Canal, and going “up” (the Gatun Locks in our case), you pull into an empty lock and you need to get lines to the handlers ashore atop the imposing walls.  This is done by their throwing a light line with a “monkey’s fist” (weight) to your boat.  They are incredibly accurate, invariably hitting the boat (rather hard!) without hitting anyone on the head.  Then you secure your heavy line to their light line, and they pull the heavy line up, as you can see (maybe) in the photo.

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One more that isn’t very clear in the dark, but I can’t resist.  It is the swinging bridge closing behind us, after we entered the Gatun Locks.  Remember the swinging bridge?  We drove across it to get to Colon, and we saw the lock doors closing on a Panamax ship as we went.

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Water now up in Gatun, and you can see a ship waiting to enter the lock behind us.

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In the morning after anchoring for the night in Gatun Lake, we had 3+ hours of motoring to the next set of locks.  Not much for our pilot/advisor to do…

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Okay, no more Panama Canal photos, I promise.  We got our alternator back from the repair shop this morning (no charge, either for the re-work or the shop-to-dockside delivery!).  And while uploading these photos I heard on the radio that Tim managed to get our passports stamped, even though the other boats still have details to be worked out.  Tim is trying to get some fresh food before returning to the boat, but it sounds like we are good to go.  Either tonight or early tomorrow, but I vote for getting out while we can!  Beautiful sailing day, and the Galapagos are waiting.  Next stop Baquerizo Moreno (first of two stops in the Galapagos).

5. Panama to Tahiti

Still Panama

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Linehandler Bill in Gatun Locks.
Linehandler Bill in Gatun Locks.

Screen shots from the web cam at Miraflores Locks.

Miraflores Lock web cam; we are closest to the camera; lock doors just closed.
Miraflores Lock web cam; we are closest to the camera; lock doors just closed.
Going down...and out of sight.
Going down…and out of sight.

New challenge: our Panama cruising permit was issues with a wrong date, and the authorities wouldn’t let us check out last night.  Today we try to get a new cruising permit issued, so we can exit…  Plus there’s our alternator back in the shop, that we hope we can arrange to pick up.  Hoping we can leave today, but that might be wishful thinking…