Month: March 2007

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First five days in the Galapagos

We have been in the Galapagos for nearly a week now and are loving it. The only way to really get to see the whole range of wildlife here is to join one of the organized tours. There are dozens of them everyday, and it seems that for cruisers like us, the best option is to join one of the many day tours that run out of Puerto Ayora where we are anchored. We did tours the last two days – and had a great time.

Our first tour was to the Island of Floreana which is about 40 nm away from us. We got on board a small motor boat along with 12 other people, our guide, and the captain for a two hour high speed motor to the island. Most of us napped along the way and the seas were flat and calm so it was a pleasant ride. Once there we had a very hot hike over a lava path to a beautiful bay where we could snorkel. The path was very easy except for the last 50 yards where you had to grip onto a hot black lava rock cliff face and inch yourself over the edge of the cliff onto the beach. If you fell you would just go into the water, but still, it was a bit hair raising. On the beach was a huge male sea lion who came roaring over to anyone who came too near. In the water were dozens of small sea lion pups, all frolicking in the water, and diving around us as we came in for a swim. Mark saw an incredibly huge manta ray in the water – and caught a glimpse of a big sea turtle as well.

Then we went back to the boat and motored over to the next spot – an area called the Devils Crown ,”Corona del Diablo” – a fallen volcanic crater which has some incredible snorkeling. Just before we got in they gave us lunch – a huge pot of rice and chicken. I guess they don’t know the rule about waiting after you eat before you swim. When we got there the tour guide suddenly stripped down to his shorts and told everyone to hurry, hurry, hurry. We had to all get in the water at the same time because the current was so strong it would just pull us along the Crown and he wanted us to be together. We all leapt into the water from the boat. The guide failed to mention that it was like being in a tidal wave. It just picked you up and swept you along for at least 500 feet. Along the way were more beautiful fish than we have seen anywhere else – along with a few sharks! It was scary, but very fun. When we rounded the side of the crown we were out of the current and could enjoy the incredible fish there. Some sea lions were sliding off the cliffs into the water around us as well. Then once again the tour guide was suddenly shouting directions:”Ok, now everyone swim across this lagoon very very fast – the current is very strong here!” Not everyone heard him since some people were a little far away, so it was really up to each person to figure out what to do. Mark and I swam harder than we ever have in our lives. It was exhausting. After that swim we were once again in a calm spot and we were treated to seeing 4 or 5 white tipped sharks swimming in circles under us (they are supposed to be vegetarians). When we got back to the boat we were absolutely exhausted. Everyone was laughing because it was just not the type of tour that they would do in the U.S. without signing legal consent forms. I guess they haven’t lost too many people yet! That night we were in bed by 8:00 p.m. and slept for 10 hours.

The next day we did another tour, this one a lot more sedate. We started out with a bus ride across the island of Santa Cruz which took about an hour. Then we got into a nice motor boat for a nice calm 1 hour trip to the island of North Seymour. This is an incredible island just filled with frigate birds, blue footed boobies, and marine iguanas. As someone on our trip said, it felt like you were watching a national geographic movie, but you were in it. The male frigate birds have these huge red heart-shaped sacks under their necks and when they want to attract the females they puff them out so they look like a huge red balloon heart just under their beaks. It is so beautiful. The blue footed boobies are incredible and we saw some of them doing their mating dance, an elaborate ritual which includes them picking up and putting down little pieces of straw in front of each other, and the males singing out and ruffling all their feathers out in a big show. The males and females have different sounds and the whole island is filled with the sounds of all the birds putting on their shows. Since it is mating season now for both of these birds we were able to see dozens of them strutting their stuff, incubating eggs, and we even saw a few baby frigates. The marine iguanas are a different story – silent and still – they sit on the rocks and in the bushes looking like prehistoric animals. After a couple of hours watching this incredible display we went back to the boat to motor over to our next stop on the tour. This time we had a very delicious fish lunch, prepared for us on the boat. Once again, as soon as lunch was over it was time to snorkel. The snorkeling was off of a beautiful white sand beach, Las Bachas, and was much less wild than the day before. The snorkeling was good, but the best show was over our heads. There were thousands of boobies and other birds on the rocks beside the beach, and they all decided to fly off the rocks together and dive for fish. Since the fish they were diving for were basically just a few yards away from us, it was quite a sight to see them all rise from the rocks and come flying over us in a huge mass- really beautiful – but also very funny as you know what birds tend to do when they fly overhead! Luckily we could just dive under the water to wash off.

Today we are just hanging out on the boat – attending to boat business. We will spend the afternoon at the internet cafe in town posting our pictures to the blog ( if the internet is working that is – it has not been for the past couple of days) and then have dinner with Craig (from “Patriot”), whom we met in Panama.

L.

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Safe Arrival in the Galapagos

It is now Saturday, March 24 (Hannah’s B-Day!), and we are spending some time on the boat today to organize ourselves, sort through 2000 photos for possible inclusion in our web page slide show, and finish administrative arrangements. Our agent, Johnny Romero, is due on the boat any minute with our passports and some tour information. We are anchored in Academy Bay, off of the town of Puerto Ayora on the island of Santa Cruz right in the middle of the Galapagos. Our location is South 00 degrees, 44.90 minutes, West 90 degrees, 18.40 minutes.

Our passsge to the Galapagos was faster and easier than we anticipated. It took less than 6 days from Balboa, Panama to San Cristobal Island, the eastern most of the Galapagos, and then a few more hours to Isla Santa Cruz. We arrived in Academy Bay at about 0920 local time on Thursday to crystal clear water and pelicans and other birds dive-bombing fish all around us. There was only notable event in our last hours of the passage. After being visited by the pod of whales, crossing the equator and going for a swim, and watching a stunning sunset, we had a strange encounter with two Spanish speaking men in an open boat about 40 miles northeast of San Cristobal. As soon as we turned on our navigation lights, a 25 foot boat with a large outboard suddenly appeared out of the dark and headed for our starboard side. I was down below when Annabelle called to me and I immediately came on deck and took the helm and powered up the engine to about 8 knots. The other boat ran parallel to us and told us a confused story about how their two compatriots had fallen overboard and they needed our help to find them. For some time, the seas were almost flat and there was no wind so it is hard to imagine how anyone could fall overboard, much less become “lost” to a highly manueverable small boat. Nonetheless, we wanted to provide assistance if someone was in danger. The men said they were fishing but I noticed that the boat had no fishing gear nor were the two men dressed like fishermen. I kept us at 8 knots as we conducted a shouted conversation in Spanish, with Matt translating. The other boat did not seem sufficiently distressed over their missing compatriots, was not interested in having us call the Ecuadorian Navy on our VHF, nor did they seem concerned that during our conversation we had moved at least one mile further away (in pitch darkness) from their lost friends. We asked if they had a GPS fix on the location where the men went overboard. They hesitated and then said they did, and then provided a location that was some distance away. They had a bright light on an arch, and if they knew the location of the men overboard, what help could we possibly render? They asked us irrelevant questions, such as what port we were heading towards for. They asked us to put our foredeck light, which makes us even more visible in the dark, and to follow them. We turned on the light and I said that I would follow, but with no intent of doing so. The whole thing seemed fishy to me and I had read that there had been “incidents” on this very route in which banditos had faked an emergency in order to board sailing yachts. The faked emergencies that I had read about were smoky fires set in barrels on small boats followed by a request to “rescue” the boat’s occupants from an uncontrolled fire aboard. This seemed like a new variation on that theme. After I agreed to follow, they turned in the wrong direction require to get to the location of the “lost” men in the water. After starting a turn to follow, we turned off every light on the boat, even covering the radar screen and turning off instrument lights, and I turned the other way at full power. We could see their light in the distance and it was hard to tell if they were trying to follow us. They did not have radar and in the dark it was very unlikely that they would be able to see us. If they did see us, they could motor at three times our speed and could be on us in a minute. Fortunately, it was a very dark night. We motored a zig-zag course at high speed and without any lights for about seven hours. When we arrived in Academy Bay we asked if there had been any reports of men lost overboard and there seemed to be no such reports. We were also told that outboard powered open boats would not be in that location at night. Moreover, we had monitored marine VHF channel 16 all night listening for emergency calls and there were none. We can only conclude that these the two men in this boat were up to no good and that we made the right decision to darken the boat and power away.

We had to spent most of Thursday on the boat waiting for clearance from the authorities. Thursday night we relearned to walk and have become pretty good at it again. We had a nice Ecuadorian supper and founds some phones to call home with. Yesterday, Laura and I checked out stores and chandleries, visited the fish market (which a center of activity with the pelicans, sea lions, and iguanas looking for fish gut handouts), and spent the afternoon broiling at the Charles Darwin Research Station where we saw huge tortoises, land iguanas, and Darwin’s finches in between trips to the kiosk for bottles of water. Fortunately, it is always cool on the boat. At night we need a light blanket when sleeping. Last night, Annabelle and Matt treated us to supper at the nicest restaurant in the archipelago. They leave the boat tomorrow for a three day tour that ends at the airport for their flights home. There is much more to say but that will have to wait for a day or two. We hope to post some slide shows as well very soon. We will be in the Galapagos for about three weeks before Laura and I begin the nonstop 3000 nautical mile passage to the Marquesas island chain of French Polynesia.

M.

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Passage to the Galapagos – Day 6



Passage to the Galapagos – Day 6.

5:25 P.M. EST Position: North 00.00.00 (that’s no typo- we are
at the equator!) W 88 degrees 32.6 minutes

Yep, we are at the equator. Actually we just crossed it and are
now in the Southern Hemisphere. We crossed the equator while
listening to Neil Young’s great sailing song ” Southern Cross”,
then we turned the boat around and crossed it again. There is
only the smallest distance where the latitude actually reads
00.00.00. We decided to stop the boat and go for a swim just to
mark the occasion. There was some wind all day, but when we got
to the equator it was down to pretty much nothing, so the boat
just bobbled in the swell while Matt and Annabelle jumped in.
I decided to join them for a QUICK swim at 8,500 feet of depth
while Mark stayed on board to make sure the boat didn’t float
away from us all. ( Don’t worry we would never leave the boat if
it was just the two of us). The water was cool and it was
exciting to think about where we were. A couple of tiny
jellyfish found us in the water and quickened our exit. They
must have been excited and surprised to see humans out there in
the middle of their ocean.
Earlier today we had some more excitement when a large pod of
pilot whales ( we think) caught up to our boat and swam and dove
next to us for at least a half an hour. They were so beautiful –
very sleek and smooth in the water – each about 15 feet long.
There were at least 16 of them. Some of them swam under the boat
and then emerged right next to us, while others just swam next
to us in groups of three or four, blowing out of their
blow-holes before arching and dipping back underwater. It was
amazing. We hope we will see more tomorrow as we reach the
Galapagos.
Just a note: Last night on the boat we were all freezing. I had
to wear a winter hat during my watch. The water temperature has
dropped from the mid-80’s in Panama to only about 70 degrees,
and you can really feel the difference. Tonight we dig out the
blankets. Not exactly what one would expect at the equator!
L.

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Passage to Galapagos – Day 5

Time: 6:00 P.M. EST, Position: North 1degree 15.3 minutes West
86 degrees 43.6 minutes. Heading 231 degrees

Here we are in day 5 of our passage already. The wind has
increased to a nice 10 or 12 knots, but since about 10:00 a.m.
today it has been pretty much in our face so we had to pull down
our sails and motor. We hope the wind will switch to a better
direction soon so we can put up the sails again. It is so much
nicer sailing than motoring. It is interesting to note the
weather changes – although we are getting closer and closer to
the equator it is actually feeling much cooler. That is because
the ocean temperature has been dropping steadily as the Humboldt
current brings in cool water as we approach the Galapagos and
the resulting wind blowing off the water is significantly cooler
than before. It felt comfortably cool all day long, and we will
have to put on long pants and sweatshirts for our night watches.
We have had some seagulls following us for the past few days
and we were enjoying their company until we realized they have
been using our deck for target practice. We also found another
squid on the deck this morning. I guess this is all just a
little bit of a teaser for the wildlife we are about to see once
we reach the Galapagos.
Last night we saw a few ships – early in the evening we went by
three fishing boats ( how and why they were fishing hundreds of
miles from shore is unknown) and later a big cargo ship passed
in front of us.
Our crew, Annabelle and Matt are great helps – keeping watches,
helping with sail changes, cleaning dishes and being good sports
about everything. Matt has a fantastic set of music on his IPOD
which will help augment the 17 gigabytes of great music I have
on my IPOD. We plan on listening to every note during the coming
months. Tomorrow we cross the equator! We haven’t decided yet
how to celebrate, but my guess is it will involve food.

L.

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Pasage to the Galapagos: Day 4

5:00 P.M. EST: N 2 degrees 48.0 seconds W 84 degrees
57.seconds1 Course direction 230 magnetic, speed 6.5 knots

We are now well into day 4 of our trip to the Galapagos. Had a
windless night and had to motor. It was as smooth as glass on
the ocean. Saw the Southern Cross constellation. This morning
the breeze picked up and we have been sailing all day. It is
very nice. We are not doing much – lots of napping as the heat
makes you very tired – plus the odd sleeping schedules. We all
like the watch schedule we are keeping with three 4 hour watches
between the hours of 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. and 4 three hour watches
the rest of the day. Everyone gets a chance to experience
keeping watch at different times of the day that way. Last
night I had the 3:00 a.m. to 6: a.m. shift. It was really hard
to stay awake. We have only seen one boat in the past 3 days-
it was a huge tanker that passed us about 5:00 P.M. last
evening. Kind of shocking to see it there after so many miles
of completely empty ocean. This morning there was a good size
squid on the deck. I didn’t know they could fly up to the deck
of a boat. Maybe it was dropped there by one of the 3 birds
that was circling our boat last night. In any event the little
bugger kind of made a purple gooey stain on the deck. Yuck.

Keep watching our blog to see when we reach the equator….. we
are only 2 degrees north of there right now!
L.

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Another day sailing en route to Galapagos

5:00 PM EST: N 2 degrees 48 seconds W 84 degrees 57 seconds Course direction 230 magnetic, speed 6.5 knots. We are now well into day 4 of our trip to the Galapagos. Had a windless night and had to motor. It was as smooth as glass on the ocean. Saw the Southern Cross constellation.

This morning the breeze picked up and we have been sailing all day. It is very nice. We are not doing much – lots of napping as the heat makes you very tired – plus the odd sleeping schedules. We all like the watch schedule we are keeping with three 4 hour watches between the hours of 6 am and 6 p and 4 three hour watches the rest of the day. Everyone gets a chance to experience keeping watch at different times of the day that way. Last night I had the 3:00 am to 6: am shift. It was really hard to stay awake. We have only seen one boat in the past 3 days- it was a huge tanker that passed us about 5:00 PM last evening. Kind of shocking to see it there after so many miles of completely empty ocean. This morning there was a good size squid on the deck. I didn’t know they could fly up to the deck of a boat. Maybe it was dropped there by one of the 3 birds that was circling our boat last night. In any event the little bugger kind of made a purple gooey stain on the deck. Yuck.

Keep watching our blog to see when we reach the equator. We
are only 2 degrees north of there right now!

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Passage to the Galapagos: Day 3

Passage to Galapagos: Day 3

The wind came up last night and we were able to turn off
the engine and sail. The wind is a bit on the light side now
but we continue to sail with two poled out head sails, doing
about 5.8 knots. We are still on schedule for a Thursday
arrival in Academy Bay, Isla Santa Cruz, Galapagos Islands. It
is now 6 pm EST (2300 Z) on March 18, and our position is North
4 degrees 3.03 minutes, West 82 degrees 56.60 minutes. Heading
236 degrees magnetic. Winds are from the northeast at about
10-12 knots and there is a 2-3 foot swell. All in all, pretty
comfortable but a little slow.

We are eating well. Annabelle made shrimp creole and rice
last night. The night before Laura made her famous chicken
curry. We had tomato, cucumber, and feta salad for lunch, and
watermelon for a snack. And, of course, plenty of chocolate
(but. unfortunately, not that good European chocolate). We are
trailing two fishing lines but have had not luck so far. Fresh
tuna would be nice.

M.

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Passage to the Galapagos, Days 1 and 2

Passage to the Galapagos, Days 1 and 2

Yesterday morning (Friday, March 16) we completed
preparations for our passage to the Galapagos, including a
lengthy visit to the fuel dock to fill a 100 gallon fuel bladder
strapped to the aft deck. At 11:20 we left Balboa and headed
out the channel into the Pacific. The forecast was for light
winds and that is just what we have found. We motored until
about 5:30 pm and then found enough wind to sail at a reasonable
pace with the genoa set out on a pole to windward. By 9:30 pm,
we were back to motoring and have only been under sail for 2 1/2
hours today (Saturday). Having that extra 100 gallons of diesel
in the bladder tank is reassuring, as is the 40 gallons in jerry
cans. We have enough fuel to motor all the rest of the way to
the Galapagos if we have to. We have benefited from a favorable
current that added as much as 2 – 3 knots to our speed for most
of the day.

There was quite a bit of large ship traffic coming to and
from the Canal until early this morning. Now we are south of
where the big ships go and have not seen another vessel for
hours. Seas are quite flat with only a gentle swell but it is
very hot inside the boat and difficult to sleep except at night.
We have lots of fruit that is rapidly ripening in the heat and
we need to get busy eating it. The boat is more laden with
provisions, fuel, and water than ever before. Laura and I made
a last trip to the supermarket (“Super 99”) in Balboa plus added
a few cases of drinks at the Balboa Yacht Club. Much of these
provisions have to last us all the way to French Polynesia,
almost 4000 miles of sailing away.

At 5:30pm EST (22:30 Z) we are at North 5 degrees 55.5
minutes, West 80 degrees 57.9 minuted, motoring at 7.9 knots and
heading 238 degrees magnetic.

M.

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Panama Canal Transit

Just an hour before we were scheduled to leave the marina at
Shelter Bay and begin our transit across the Panama Canal we
received a phone call from Naomi, Mark’s sister, telling us that
their beloved mother Kitty (Nana) had just died. We knew that
Kitty’s health had been rapidly deteriorating. Indeed she has
been fading for the past few years… but still, the news was a
terrible blow. Because this blog is not meant as a “personal
diary”, and is open to anyone to read, we are not going to use
this space to write about Kitty or what her loss means to us. We
will save that for personal communication with family. It just
doesn’t feel right to write about the crossing without
acknowledging Kitty’s loss. So here is the story of our
transit……

Within a half an hour after receiving the phone call, and in
fact right in the middle of Mark’s phone call to Ben in Israel
to tell him about Nana, a car pulled up into the marina driven
by our Panama Canal agent Enrique Plummer, and filled with 3
other men (line handlers), 4 huge coils of line for the transit,
and various duffle bags for the men’s overnight stay with us.
Since the Panama transit is tightly scheduled we could not
delay. The captain (Mark) was urgently being called by everyone
to get on board for final preparations and to start moving
towards the canal entrance. We put our overflowing emotions on
hold, and proceeded with the tasks in front of us.

The crossing was an amazing experience. We left the marina and
motored a few miles across the open channel to “the flats” – an
anchorage where all sailboats wait for their turn to do the
transit. About an hour after we arrived there a pilot boat
zoomed over an to us and dropped off our advisor, Marin. Boats
smaller than 65 feet are required to have an “advisor” from the
Panama Canal Authority on board. Larger boats have pilots.
Advisors supposedly only advise the captain what to do, and he
is free to follow that advice or not. If the boat comes to
grief, it is the captain’s (Mark in this case) responsibility.
On the big boats that have pilots, the pilot is in charge and
responsible.

The two other boats that were apparently scheduled to go through
with us got their advisors dropped off and then we all proceeded
closer to the actual canal. By then it was pitch dark and the
task at hand was to get all three boats rafted up together –
ours being the largest of the three we got the prime middle
position. This is a great spot to be in because the other boats
actually work like two huge bumpers for you. If anything goes
wrong in the canal they will hit the wall, not you. The two
other boats keep their engines in neutral, and Sabbatical III
steers the whole way. Our 3 linehandlers, Roberto (talkative,
outgoing, liked to eat), Winston (quiet, handsome) and NG (
looked 30 years old, but had been working on the canal for 25
years), were extremely competent, and it did not take long for
us all to get tied up together properly. Besides our regular
boat bumpers, we had 18 plastic-sheet covered car tires tied
onto the stanchions to protect the sides of the boat. You always
know when a boat is either preparing to go through the canal, or
has just done so, as everyone uses the same “attractive”
protection. Our advisor was great – very calm and knowledgable
and helpful – particular in helping Mark who had the most
critical job of all – steering the boat and controlling its
movement as we motored into and out of each set of locks. Our
two crew, Annabelle and Matt were extremely helpful as well,
Matt taking on the job of 4th line handler (and photographer),
and Annabelle taking a terrific series of photos.

We were rafted up in the middle of two other boats – a French
catamaran ( G-d help us), and an American sailboat named
Euphoria. The French catamaran had about 10 people on board,
including 3 little kids strolling, jumping, crying, and playing
all over the catamaran during the entire crossing while the
parents chatted, smoked and mishandled lines. They had no
professional linehandlers and seemed to be totally unprepared
for the experience. One little girl was nearly hit by the end
of one of the the 120 foot lines that are thrown down from the
top sides of the canal by Panama Canal employees. Her mother
finally made her move under the protection of an awning. Our
fear was that one of the kids would go overboard right in the
middle of the canal. The other boat also did not have
professional linehandlers, relying on their grown sons, who did
a pretty good job for their first time through. The funny thing
was that our linehandlers, who were clearly competent and
experienced after 15 years of 3 or 4 transits a week, really
didn’t have much to do. After the boats get tied together, all
the lines get tossed down to the outside boats from the top of
the locks, so the two totally inexperienced boats were doing all
they could to keep it together, while our guys were just
watching, ready to jump across to their assistance if needed.
Despite their shakiness, everything turned out OK, and we glided
up the three sets of locks to Lake Gatun that first evening.

Going up the locks is an amazing experience. You start out in a
roughly 200 foot long channel with about 80 feet of concrete
wall on either side of you, and Panama Canal employees at the
top of the locks throw lines down to the awaiting boats, who tie
their own lines onto the ones thrown down and cleat them on to
their boat bow and stern. Then the ends are pulled back up to
the top, and with coordination between the people on top of the
locks, and the linehandlers on the boats, plus the steering of
the captain in the center boat, you manage to stay pretty much
in the middle of the locks. It takes about 20 minutes for the
locks to fill and then you are almost to the top of the whole
wall. Then the metal gates in front of you slowly open and you
go through to start the process all over again. It is pretty
overwhelming – especially the first time it happens.

After the third set of locks we were in Lake Gatun where we tied
up to an incredibly huge mooring ball by about 9:00 P.M. and the
advisor got picked up by another pilot boat. Everyone else stays
on the boat for the night during a transit, so now we had 7
people on board. The linehandlers are very used to sleeping
whever they can, and were all prepared to just crash on the deck
for the night with whatever cushions we had for them to lie on.
It started raining really hard so we ended up with everyone
sleeping below – Matt and Annabelle in the forward cabin,
Winston and NG in the saloon, Roberto in the sea-berth, and Mark
and I in back.

One more thing… we ate like kings. We had prepared a huge
dinner of Indonesian chicken, rice, peppers, fruit and cookies
for the crew- everyone loved the Indonesian chicken. Apparently
it is considered bad form to feed your crew poorly, so we spent
a lot of effort getting everything prepared in advance.

By 6:15 the next morning the advisor was back on the boat and we
were off. We spent the next 4 hours just motoring through Lake
Gatun to get to the next set of locks. The advisor asked to
steer the boat through the lake, so Mark got to relax a little
and enjoy the beautiful view. The lake is filled with small
islands and lots of birds. It was very calm as we went through.
We passed under the beautiful Centennial Bridge about 10:30
a.m. and then were told we needed to wait for the other two
boats as they were way behind us. Our motoring speed is about
7.5 knots and theirs was only about 5.5 so we had quite a wait.
Mark docked the boat at a convenient spot and we all sat and
had lunch. By 1:00 p.m. the boats arrived and we re-rafted.
Our advisor was apparently not happy either with the French
catamaran, so they were instructed to proceed through the locks
by themselves while we tied up with the same American boat
again, and a new French boat – “Ciao- Ciao”. Two of the women
on that boat were handling the lines, along with one of their
sons. One women was a bit frazzled and after mishandling a line
she rushed back to the cockpit, lit up a cigarette and then came
back on deck to finish the job. Different strokes for different
folks I guess. We Americans were enjoying popsicles and cold
Fresca as the day was incredibly hot . At one point during the
afternoon I checked the thermometer in the galley and it read
102 degrees – so it must have been even hotter up on deck where
the sun was relentless. Going down the locks was smoother than
going up – no turbulence in the water at all. We had lots of
family watching the Panama Canal webcam which is set up in a few
places along the way . At the last set of locks, the Miraflores,
our advisor actually called the Panama Canal Authority and asked
them to train the camera in on our boat. We were able to
contact both Ben and Hannah by sat phone as we sat in the lock
and we were waving enthusiastically to the camera.

We passed through the last lock, into the Pacific Ocean at about
1:30 p.m. and then untied ourselves from our adjoining boats –
while they all thanked Mark for being such a good captain.
Another pilot boat came by to pick up our advisor. He just
pulled up close to us and our advisor hopped off from our boat
to theirs. The Balboa Yacht Club ( BYC), where we had a mooring
reservation was just 1 nm away, so we turned in and were
assisted to a mooring ball ( tire actually) by one of the club’s
employees in a launch. A minute late the three line-handlers
had gathered up their stuff, taken the bags of donuts and
muffins we gave them, plus some well deserved tips, and hopped
onto the launch. Successful and wonderful experience for all.

Just one more note: Our agent Enrique Plummer was just fantastic
– he made everything totally easy – handling all of our
paperwork, arranging for the lines and the line-handlers, making
multiple trips out to the boat on both sides of the canal. We
would heartily recommend him to all of you planning on crossing
the canal!

L.

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We are in the Pacific Ocean!



We are in the Pacific Ocean!.

Safe Arrival in the Pacific

We completed our transit of the Panama Canal this
afternoon. The photo has Mark and Laura, crew Matt Wall, our
three line handlers Winston, Roberto, and Ng, and Marin, the
advisor provided by the Panama Canal Authority. Missing is crew
Annabelle Bitter, who took this photo.

It was an extremely memorable experience – very overwhelming
in many ways. We are now moored at the Balboa Yacht Club just
past the Bridge of the Americas. Details of our passage will
follow tomorrow when we have rested and had the chance to call
some of you. We were thrilled to talk to Ben and Hannah while
our boat was on the webcam in the locks, and to reach Shirley a
few times en route. We expect to leave for the Galapagos on
Friday. Our current position is N 8 degrees 56.3 minutes, W 79
degrees 33.9 minutes.

L.

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We are going through the Canal today and tomorrow

Today, Tuesday March 13th, we are going to leave the Atlantic ocean – ascending the first set of locks in the Panama Canal. We will be going through the Gatun locks sometime after 6:00 p.m. and then spending the night in Lake Gatun. First thing in the morning on the 14th we will then descend through the Pedro Miguel and Miraflores Locks to reach the Pacific Ocean.There is a webcam that apparently captures all the ships going through both the Gatun and the Miraflores locks all times of the night and day.

Maybe you can see us:  Go to www.pancanal.com  ( NOT www.panamacanal.com which I erroneously told some of you before).  When you get to that website it will probably tell you that you require Micromedia flash player. Click on that to install the free software.

Then scroll through the homepage til you find a little box at the bottom that says: Multimedia Webcams, and then select Miraflores and Gatun locks.
Once you click on one, it will take a few second for the screen image to show up.  You will then see whatever the current boat in the channel is. You can scroll down lower to see a little film strip and you can select “Last 20 images”.

We will let you all know how it goes. We are excited and nervous.

L.

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Gatun Lock, Panama Canal

Gatun Lock, Panama Canal.

This was shot from the mini-bus taking us back from
the supermarket in Colon to the marina. The bus has to
wait for boats to clear the lock before proceeding
over it.

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Mark holds our “Ships Identification Number” from the Canal Authority

Mark holds our “Ships Identification Number” from the Canal Authority.

Mark displays the Ship Identification Number of
Sabbatical III after having completed the
admeasurement and administrative process for
transiting the Panama Canal.

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Laura’s brother Leon’s blog

Leon sent us this blog after his visit to us at the end of January with Ricky.  We can not read it without laughing and nearly crying. It is perfect. My apologies to those of you who don’t get the humor in this – I promise that if you spend a week with us and listen as attentively as Leon and Ricky did to everything the Captain said – you will agree that this about sums it all up. — L.

Leon’s Blog from Sabbatical III

Spending a week in paradise with the two of you and Ricky on Sabbatical III is not only good for the soul; it is also good for pretty much anything that ails you;    With that in mind, I thought I would share a little bit of what I learned in the past week cruising around the island nation of St. Vincent and the Grenandines:

Keep you head down at all times.

Make sure to install your Firdell Blipper below your radome.

“Sea Me’s” are made in England, not Canada, and make your 52.5 foot yacht look like an oil tanker so why bother with a Firdell Blipper in the first     place?

Keep your sea cocks  in an open position, especially in the forward head.

Gen-set and make water as often as you can.

The wind in the Caribbean is always from an easterly direction.

Whatever the Rasta’s have in terms of spirituality, they lack in hygeine.

Sailboat on the windward side has to yield if you are on the same tack – easier for her to manuever you know.

Sailboat on the leeward side has to yield if you are going on opposite tacks

Wrap your lines around the winch at least three times (never just twice) and you are better off with four wraps in January in the Caribbean.

Shower quickly or better yet, don’t shower at all.

Swim your anchor.

Beware of French boaters.

Let out your anchor chain so you have a 4:1 ratio of chain: depth of the water below your keel.

Your bow will head into the wind when you are anchored or moored.

Beware of moorings with empty Clorox bottles as floats.

Lock the hatches or you will certainly get wet.

Do not ever go below for more than 30 seconds when the hatches are closed.

Lock up at night.

Green is on; red is off (Ricky and I are still trying to get that one straight).

Peeing in 6 foot swells is harder than it sounds.

Check the water tank as often as you can so you can watch the stick pop up.

Water made on the boat is cleaner than the water in your tap at home but be sure to use the special drinking spigot since it has only 80 ppms.

Do not let go of the dinghy line until you have secured it to the boat.

Folding a jib sail on the boat is a cause for real celebration.

If your anchor is wet when it comes out of the anchor locker, you have an issue.

Water should not go up a drain pipe but it can…

Two seacocks are not always better than one.

Keep your head down at all times.

Do not leave the mast light on all day.

Do not throw metal locks on the bottom of aluminum dingys.

Sting Rays can fly.

Scorpion fish look like dragons.

You can read by moonlight.

Boats make more noises at night than you can even imagine.

If your boat is moving around a bit too much when you are anchored, let that mizzen sail out just a tad.

Do not close the hatches at night.

“Da sea is good for you maaaan…”

You may want to consider a “gentleman’s jibe” if you have your large jib sail out.

You can never have enough chocolate on a boat.

The “green flash” is for real.

Getting your dingy in the water and keeping it there is no easy task.

Scrubbing the water line can be fun.

If you have water in the boat, get rid of it.

Mr. Amel was a fanatic about water in the boat but he missed a few things along the way.

In case I forgot to mention it, keep your head down.

The boom is harder than any part of your body.

The Weather Channel is nothing compared to what you need on a boat.

Do not use just one clothespin when you hang your laundry to dry.

Chances are pretty good that it going to be 83 and sunny today… and tomorrow… and the next day…

It is not as hard as you think to tell the difference between a wind that blows at 12 v. 18 knots.

Days on a boat just disappear…

You can be very happy without stepping on dry land for very long periods of time.

GPS is the greatest sailing invention since the sexton.

Above all, I learned that if you ever go sailing be sure that your fellow crew is a perfect match for you like my brother is for me and that you have a captain and first mate who are as masterful, knowledgeable and gracious as Mark and Laura (although I seriously doubt you could find any…)

Xo

Leon, your eternally grateful and former crew member of Sabbatical III

P.S.  Also, I believe the 4:1 anchor chain ratio is calculated from the anchor hole on the deck to the bottom, not from the keel to the bottom – what was I thinking???

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Preparing for the Canal transit

We are lucky to be in the Shelter Bay Marina. This place is so new that they put in the cleats to our slip just before we came in. We are the first boat to ever be in this slip. Power and water are not yet availabile. Yesterday, a crane on a barge drove a piling across from us so that a new finger pier could be secured, then two guys installed cleats, and 15 minutes later a boat was tied up in that spot (while the barge moved 30 feet away). Today the barge was dredging the channel right next to us, so it is pretty noisy but in compensation I will have not have to worry about running aground coming out of here. The marina is at the old Fort Sherman US military reservation that has sat abandoned for many years. The roads are still in place but the grounds are totally overrun with trees and jungle growth, and only the foundations of most structure are to be seen. The trees are filled with beautiful birds, howler monkeys, and lots of other animal life that have lived undisturbed for decades. Panama has made it a national park but the only visitors are the few yachtsmen in the new marina.

We have been so busy since we arrived here two days ago that we have not left the marina, even to buy fresh food. We were “admeasured” by the Panal Canal Authority this morning and assigned a number for our transit, tentatively planned for next Tuesday the 13th. The plan is to leave late in the afternoon and do the “up” lock to Gatun Lake, anchor in the lake overnight, and then do the down locks Wednesday morning to the Pacific. In addition to getting admeasured, I have been working on solving our outstanding repair issues. I have had Cristobal Marine Repair out twice to help diagnose problems. Turns out that fresh water accumulator tank is kaput and there is none to be had in Panama. I got on the phone with West Marine in the US and have one on the way. I talked to Cat Pumps in Minneapolis and found a Panamanian distributor who will sell me the special lubricating oil the pump needs. I also am having a new foredeck light fixture and stainless steel guard being fabricated here in Panama. Hopefully, all of this will be in place before we leave on Tuesday.

We have no place to stay on the Pacific side. I hope to get a mooring at the Balboa Yacht Club but that seems unlikely. We will probably have to anchor out. There is lots more to say but we need to go out for a jungle walk before it gets dark.

M.

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Arrival at the entrance to the Panama Canal

Hooray for us. We are at the entrance to the Panama Canal! We arrived here today, Monday, at about 12:30 p.m., having sailed from the nearby island of Isla Grande this morning. We were in Isla Grande just overnight – having sailed there from the San Blas Islands on Sunday. It was a beautiful, very windy sail both days along the coast of Panama. Coming into the harbour at Isla Grande was a bit hair raising as we entered a fairly narrow channel between the small island of Isla Grande and the mainland of Panama. There were big green crashing waves on the shore and huge swells that rocked the boat a lot – then suddenly it was calm and clear and we were in a nice protected anchorage. Apparently Isla Grande is a huge week-end place for Panamanians and the small beach there was packed with locals – swimming and picnicking on the beach. Little water taxis ferried people back and forth constantly and we enjoyed seeing so many people after the solitude of San Blas. We had a nice quiet evening on our boat – dying to go to a restaurant – but not having the energy to set up our dinghy and engine and go to shore. We were very excited to arrive at the Panama Canal today – passing dozens of huge container ships outside the harbour entrance. We are at a very pleasant and clean marina here – called Shelter Bay Marina. It was quite a thrill to have the chance to go for a little walk, and have both lunch and dinner at the marina restaurant. As much as we enjoyed San Blas we were starting to miss some of the amenities of modern civilization. We found a Panama Canal agent right away – someone who is quite well known among “yachties” – and he has already got us set up in the official Panama Canal registration system. Tomorrow he is sending over the official “admeasurer” to get the exact dimensions of the boat – a requirement for the Panama Canal transit. He is also getting us a transit date ( probably about March 13th), with all the required equipment and crew that we need. We will fill you in more about all that as the time progresses. In the meantime just wanted to let you all know that we are safely here, and very thrilled about being here on the Caribbean side of the Panama Canal in our own boat. P.S. We just heard from someone that there were crocodiles in the water near some of the San Blas Islands. Oh, my – sometimes it is better not to know such things.

L.

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Safe arrival outside the Panama Canal!

Hooray for us. We are at the entrance to the Panama Canal! We
arrived here today, Monday, at about 12:30 p.m., having sailed
from the nearby island of Isla Grande this morning. We were in
Isla Grande just overnight – having sailed there from the San
Blas Islands on Sunday. It was a beautiful, very windy sail
both days along the coast of Panama. Coming into the harbour
at Isla Grande was a bit hair raising as we entered a fairly
narrow channel between the small island of Isla Grande and the
mainland of Panama. There were big green crashing waves on the
shore and huge swells that rocked the boat a lot – then suddenly
it was calm and clear and we were in a nice protected anchorage.
Apparently Isla Grande is a huge week-end place for
Panamanians and the small beach there was packed with locals –
swimming and picnicking on the beach. Little water taxis
ferried people back and forth constantly and we enjoyed seeing
so many people after the solitude of San Blas. We had a nice
quiet evening on our boat – dying to go to a restaurant – but
not having the energy to set up our dinghy and engine and go to
shore. We were very excited to arrive at the Panama Canal today
– passing dozens of huge container ships outside the harbour
entrance. We are at a very pleasant and clean marina here –
called Shelter Bay Marina. It was quite a thrill to have the
chance to go for a little walk, and have both lunch and dinner
at the marina restaurant. As much as we enjoyed San Blas we
were starting to miss some of the amenities of modern
civilization. We found a Panama Canal agent right away –
someone who is quite well known among “yachties” – and he has
already got us set up in the official Panama Canal registration
system. Tomorrow he is sending over the official “admeasurer”
to get the exact dimensions of the boat – a requirement for the
Panama Canal transit. He is also getting us a transit date (
probably about March 13th), with all the required equipment and
crew that we need. We will fill you in more about all that as
the time progresses. In the meantime just wanted to let you all
know that we are safely here, and very thrilled about being here
on the Caribbean side of the Panama Canal in our own boat.
P.S. We just heard from someone that there were crocodiles in
the water near some of the San Blas Islands. Oh, my – sometimes
it is better not to know such things.

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Passage to Isla Grande

We returned to Waisladup (in the Holandes Cays of the San Blas
Islands) on Friday. We could not find good swimming or
snorkeling in Kanildup, where we were previously, but we get our
fruits and veggies there. Waisladup is just on the edge of the
Holandes Channel, our preferred passage back into the Caribbean,
and the snorkeling was great when we were their just days ago,
so back we went for our last two days. Unfortunately, we did
not get much snorkeling in. Friday there was a big swell
breaking onto the reef and it was not safe to snorkel or land a
dinghy on the beach. The swell was down a bit on Saturday so we
had one last swim in the Caribbean. Our next swim will be south
of the equator in the Pacific off of one of the Galapagos Islands.

We spent most of the last two days trying to deal with some
recent maintenance issues. We had a water leak from the
watermaker, which once tracked down, was surprisingly easy to
repair. The anchor chain counter stopped working, but a
cleaning of the optics seems to have brought it back to life.
The most trying issue is the sudden failure of the fresh water
pump pressure monitor. Instead of pressuring an accumulator
tank, the fresh water pump cycles continuously when a faucet or
shower is on. I took the pressure sensor apart three times (once
I left a part out) and still cannot get it to work. I was
drenched in sweat each time as I had to kneel between the engine
and generator on the floor of the engine room to take out all of
these little screws. It must have been over 120 degrees in
there. I am hoping that I can get some help fixing it in Canal
area. There seems to be some corrosion in the fresh water system
that is gumming things up.

We are currently anchored between the isthmus of Panama and
the island of Isla Grande, only 20 miles from Puerto Cristobal,
the Caribbean entrance to the Panama Canal. Our location is N 9
degrees 17.6 minutes, W 79 degrees 34.0 minutes. We left the
Holandes Cays this morning in 18 – 20 knots of wind from the NNE
and 6 foot swells. The passage to Isla Grande was surprisingly
fast and comfortable even though the swells built as we got
closer to the mainland. Coincidentily, the German yacht “Vera”,
who left Bonaire at the same time as us and arrived in Porvenir
at the same time as us, also left for the Canal this morning.
We called them on the VHF early in the morning and they told us
that they were heading for Portobella. They changed their minds
and are now anchored just to the side of us here in Isla Grande.
Isla Grande is a weekend destination for Panamanian and since
today is Sunday, the beach was crowded. There were dozens of
small power boats ferrying people from the mainland, where
there is a road to Colon, and Isla Grande — a distance of 1/2
mile. There were a few jet skis as well. Once the sun set,
everyone was gone.

Tomorrow morning we will head into Puerto Cristobal and the
brand new marina just inside the breakwater below Fort San Lorenzo.
Our reservation at the marina (Shelter Bay Marina) does not
begin until March 7, but the marina has allowed us to come early
and tie up to their unfinished dock until then. This dock lacks
water and power, so it might be a hit hot down below, but at
least we have a place to attend to arranging for the transit
through the canal, provisioning for the Pacific crossing, and
getting our maintenance issues resolved.

M.

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Sailing in search of fruit

On Monday the 26th, the lack of a breeze at Waisaladup, coupled
with the uncomfortable roll, led us to move west and anchor next
to Miriadiadup just a few miles away. We stayed far from shore
and enjoyed the cooling breezes anchoring in the open provides.
Nonetheless, it is apparent that the weather pattern has
changed from breezy and comfortable to pretty calm, more humid,
and less comfortable.

Tueday morning we set out for Kanildup island which promised
good snorkelling, protection from swells, and hopefully a
breeze. One hour out we heard someone call in on VHF channel
72, the working channel for cruisers in Panama, that the fresh
fruit and vegetable boat out of Nargana would be coming to Coco
Bandero Cays the next morning. We were down to our last cucumber
and orange, so we changed course for Coco Bandero. We anchored
in front of Orduptarboat Cay, joining one other boat. Two
others came in later. We did not really like this place. The
wind was still calm and the water way murky. An enterprising
Kuna in an outboard powered canoe came by to offer us
langoustine, eggs, and chicken and his willingness to provide us
with fruit and vegetables the next day. His name is Serapio
Deleon. We turned down the langoustine, but bought a cut-up
chicken (“freshly killed” he said), and a dozen unrefrigerated
eggs. He also took away 7 bags of trash that had been
accumulating in the stern locker. We placed an order for a long
list of fruits and vegetables that he would deliver the next
day. We figured that the next day we would get our produce from
him or from the produce boat out of Nargana, or both. One or
both were certain to come through with some fresh food. (The
chicken turned out to be quite tasty).

This morning, Wednesday, we learned two other bits of news
from asking questions of other cruisers on channel 72. First,
Mr. Deleon did not have a reputation for reliability with
everyone, and, second, that the produce boat from Nargana would
also be stopping at Kanildup. So off to Kanildup we went. We
figured that Mr. Deleon would find us there since the channel
from his home town of Rio Azucar to Coco Bandeira took him right
past Kanildup. Kanildup is very pretty and there at 10 boats at
anchor — a real crowd. We were afraid to go snorkelling or
exploring in the dinghy for fear of missing one or both of our
produce guys. By 4:00 pm it seemed that we had been stood up,
and got ready to go snorkelling. Just then Deleon showed up and
said he would return in five minutes. Twenty minutes later the
Nargana produce boat came along side and, since Deleon was still
doing business with another boat at the other end of the
anchorage, we bought what we could from their picked-over stock.
We got a watermelon, an over-ripe canteloupe, three
pineapples, cucumbers, and limes. Deleon never did come back to
talk to us, and we suppose that the fruit that we ordered the
day before was sold to other boaters or never acquired in the
first place. We did not place a deposit on our order, so
nothing was lost except a half of a day of waiting around.

We will hang around here at least another day since we never
did get a chance to snorkel. Our position is N 9 degrees 28.7
minutes, W 78 degrees 38.2 minutes.

M.