Sabbatical3 Blog

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

We spent a second night anchored in front of Yansaladup in the
Limon Cays before moving to our current location yesterday. We
are now in the Western Holandes Cays, anchored in front of
Waisaladup just east of Acuakargana. There is only one hut on
each island. The families care for the coconut trees on the
islands, fish, and make molas. They get 10 cents from Columbian
traders for each husked coconut. This is also a very beautiful
setting. There is a bit of a roll as there is no protection
from the west and south, and less breeze than we would like
because the high coconut palms shade us from the wind. Our
position is N 9 degrees 35.7 minutes, W 78 degrees 46.4 minutes.

Friday afternoon, while in anchored at Yansaladup, some
fisherman sailed up to us in their ulu. They said that they
needed cooking oil to cook up their catch and would be willing
to trade a cup of cooking oil for fish. They had a large pile
of different fish in the bottom of the ulu. We had seen them
haul in these fish from nets attached to poles in the water
where there is a shallow sand bar a few hundred yards away. The
deal was struck and they filleted two fish for us and seemed
pleased with the cup of sunflower oil. What a nice dinner that
made. As they departed, we marveled at how well these ulus,
carved from a single tree trunk, sailed in any direction.

The sail out of the Limon Cays on Saturday was trickly as we
had to wind our way through a myriad of reefs and sand bars. We
timed the sail for 10 am when the sun was high but still behind
us. Laura stood at the bow as lookout. Once through we had a
delightful sail to the Holandes Cays. The seas were flat as we
were behind the reef, but the wind was strong as these small low
islands do little to stop the wind once you are more than 100
yards away. We anchored in 45 feet of water but did not dare
move closer to the island given the steep drop off from the
beach and the protuding coral heads just in front of us. After
a quick lunch, we snorkeled the reef and found it to be one of
the best snorkeling spots that we have every encountered. The
water was very clear and the reef stretched the length of the
island except for a small gap that opened to a white sand beach.
There were many fish including some types that we had not seen
before. We also swam up to the beach and walked the 200 feet to
the other side of the island.

We snorkeled more of the reef today. This afternoon the
German boat “Vera”, who we encountered on our passage from
Bonaire, anchored nearby and we all went to shore to walk the
cicumference of the island. Then Laura and I spent some
cleaning the underside of the boat before taking the dinghy out
to “Vera” for “sundowners.” Britta and Michael and both
interesting people and it was fun to share a bottle of wine and
swap sailing stories.

We may stay here one more day before heading deeper into Kuna
Yala, although we have not yet picked our next island.

M.

Porvenir to Yansaladup.

We are now anchored just outside of the tiny island of
Yansaladup in the San Blas Archipelego. Where exactly is that,
you might ask? Well, to tell the truth I am there, and even I
am not really sure of where it is. We are really truly in the
middle of nowhere – but it is an amazingly beautiful and
tranquil nowhere. We are the only boat here – in front of us is
a small palm covered island with one family living in their hut.
The family tends coconuts and sells molas whenever they can to
passing tourists. There is another even tinier island just to
our right with just two huts – no palm trees at all ( see
photo). There is a large reef extending for miles – just in
front of us which blocks us completely from the rough seas
outside. It is pretty much a constant 87 degrees with a steady
breeze blowing. It is very calm and comfortable in the
anchorage, the boat barely moving at all in the gentle seas
behind the reef. We spent most of the day yesterday at the
Chichime Cays – mentioned in our previous blog with the little
islands of Uchutupu Pippi and Uchutupu Dumat. Claus and I had an
amazing morning swim off the boat and then later in the day the
three of us took the dinghy over to the reef and spent an hour
or so snorkeling in a beautiful coral garden. Lots of fish,
beautiful coral of all kinds, and very warm water. We really
enjoyed it. By 3:00 P.M. we had to head back to Porvenir so we
would be ready to take Claus to the airport in the morning.
When we got to Porvenir we decided to go see if the customs and
immigration office was open. We had been told a few days
earlier that it was closed until February 26th, but we didn’t
think that sounded right and we noticed that most of the boats
around us had their Panamanian flags up so we thought it was
best to check. You don’t want to ignore any rules when you come
to a new country. It turned out that the office was open, but
as it was nearly 5:00 P.M. by the time we got there, no one was
actually in the office. Someone sitting outside saw us and ran
to find the official for us. It was an incredibly shabby office
– even by Caribbean standards. The islands are so beautiful
here that it is easy to forget how poor it is. One room was
absolutely filled with heaps of papers – copies of previous
boater’s documentation – all mildewed and yellowed – just
sitting in big piles. It would be impossible to find anything in
those piles of paper, but they need to collect the information
anyway. The entrance way had two chairs, each completely
broken, with all of the insides sticking out. The somewhat
unfriendly looking official offered to help us – including
getting the necessary cruising permit – the Zarpe He asked our
boat size, did some calculations on his little calculator and
told us it would cost $80 – which sounded just fine to us as
that was what we expected. Then he said there was a $20 charge
for his overtime. Not wanting to be cheap, but also not wanting
to get ripped off, Mark asked if there would be an overtime
charge if we just came in and did the paperwork in the morning
during regular office hours. He got very quiet and then said
that it would actually take two weeks to get the Zarpe, so we
would need to come back again then. The deal was, if we paid him
$100, the Zarpe could miraculously be obtained right then and
there ( no receipts available). If we paid him only $80, the
Zarpe could not be obtained for another two weeks because it was
so complicated. Very interesting, don’t you think? Anyways, it
didn’t take us more than a minute to agree readily that $100 and
no receipt would be absolutely fine with us. We were soon
officially checked in, and even got a free Kuna calendar. After
checking in we celebrated our trip with Claus by eating again at
the little restaurant that sits next to the airstrip here. We
were the only guests, and this time the menu had chicken and
chips – no fish had been caught that day, so there was no fish
on the menu. It was great. It was relatively expensive
compared to our meal at Raouls shack the night before ($4 a
person), but still incredibly cheap at $7 a person including not
only the chicken and chips, but a beer and a soda each.
This mornng we had to bring Claus to the airport for a 6:40 a.m.
flight.
Since we were anchored just 100 feet from the dock; and the
rickety airport gate is another 50 to 100 feet away, we didn’t
have to get up too early to get him there on time. In fact we
got up at ten to six and were at the airport gate at 6:00. It
was another 15 minutes before the other passengers arrived –
many of them coming to the dock on the little dug-out canoes
that the locals use for just about everything, including their
taxi service. A few showed up at 6:30. At 6:35 the plane
arrived – landing just in front of us, turning sharply at the
end of the run-way, then taxiing back to the waiting
passengers.The plane stopped about 25 feet from where we were
standing. By 6:45 everyone arriving on the flight had
de-planed, all the luggage and packages were unloaded , the new
passengers were on ( each one called by name by the captain),
the luggage stowed, and the plane took off. Really the most
amazing airport we have seen. Claus waved goodbye to us from
his seat near the front of the plane and Mark and I went back to
the boat to sleep again before starting our day here. We are
tired, but thrilled to be here!

Kuna Yala: Porvenir and Uchutupu Pippi.

We are currently anchored in Chichime Cays, between Uchutupu
Pippi and Uchutupu Dumat. The position is N 9 degrees 35
minutes, W 78 degrees 53 minutes. These are tiny little
islands, almost totally flat and covered in palm trees with only
two huts on each cay. We just returned from supper at the home
of Raoul on Uchutupu Pippi. Raoul and other members of his
family paddled out to us in their wooden dugout canoe this
afternoon and asked us to dinner — adding that it would cost $4
per person and that the Americans on the catamaran further east
would be joining. We had red snapper and coconut rice while
sitting next to his thatched hut on rough hewn logs. Luckily
the folks on the other boat (“Sol Mate”) brought plates and
forks because that was not supplied. We knew the fish was fresh
because two hours before we ate, Raoul came by in his canoe with
the fish he had caught. It was a great meal under the palms and
we toasted Raoul and his family for their hospitality. But this
is jumping ahead. Let me quickly review that past few days.

Our last two days on the passage from Bonaire were as great as
the first two days. It was windy on Saturday night, as
predicted, but that caused no problems for us as we had reefed
the sails down well before the wind piped up. Sunday morning
the wind eased and shifted north, making our two head sail
configuration inappropriate. So we took down the ballooner
(spinnaker) and big genoa and put away the poles. The boat
slowed considerably but we paid no attention since we were ahead
of schedule. We did not want to come through the opening in the
reefs (“Canal de San Blas”) before 10 am Monday since we need
the sun to be high enough in the sky to illuminate the reefs
hidden just below the surface. After a big lunch we sat in the
cockpit reading the New Yorkers and Newsweeks that my sister
Naomi sent us, not really paying attention to the fact that our
boat speed had dropped to less than 5 knots. Around 5 pm we
spotted a sailboat on the horizon off to starboard and we
conjectured that this could be the German boat “Vera” that we
passed one day out of Bonaire. Laura called on the VHF and sure
enough it was Vera and she was also planning a 10 am entry
though the reefs. I suddenly realized that as we were
pleasantly engaged in reading we had ignored our boat speed. A
quick calculation on the plotter revealed that at our current
speed we would not get to the reef passage until 3 pm!! Thank
goodness the appearance of “Vera” shook us out of our lethargy.
We quickly put the genoa on a pole to windward so that we were
sailing wing-on-wing. That gained us 2 knots immediately and
none too soon as the sun was setting and setting poles on the
foredeck in the dark is not something I relish. The wind picked
up strongly after dark and we sped along briskly, but the
direction was bad and we had to sail well to the south of our
desired course with the sail plan that we had.

The wind stayed strong all night and the seas built, making
sleeping difficult. Early in the morning, we rolled up the
genoa in order to head north towards our destination, sailing
with main and mizzen alone. The wind was so strong, that was
sail enough. We came to the reef opening just after 10 am and
by 11:15 am we were anchored off Porvenir Island, joining “Vera”
in the anchorage. It is hard to believe that Porvenir has an
airport since the island is so tiny. There is a runway the full
length of the island. The runway is a bit wider than a
residential street and it seems to take up about one-third of
the area of the island. There is not only an airport on this
island, but the island is an airport! As we admired the scene a
tiny Cessna wove its way through the sail boat masts and landed.
It is not a good idea to anchor in front of the runway, and
another boat moved when they saw this.

After lunch and a quick snooze, we started to put the dinghy in
the water in order to go ashore and check-in. There is nothing
else to do in Porvenir — just check-in or catch a flight.
There is no village, nor room for one. Britta and Michael
Adlkofer of “Vera” came by to introduce themselves and tell us
not to bother to rush ashore to check-in. This is carnival week
in Panama and the boat check-in agent is off for the week. Come
back on the 26th they were told. We had Britta and Michael
aboard for drinks and snacks. Michael is a professor of
architecture at the University of Hanover, although they live in
Berlin. They are also on a circumnavigation on their 1976 Swan 47.

We finally went ashore just to stretch our legs. We strolled
down the runway, nervously looking back on occasion to check on
landing aircraft. We were surprised to find the “Hotel Porvenir”
and its associated restaurant. To say this was a modest
establishment would be an understatement. We ordered supper —
the only dish available was fish, rice, and beans — and it was
delicious, as was the local brew, Balboa. With drinks, dinner
was $6 per person.

Laura and I slept 10 hours last night. We went to bed as Claus
was starting the movie “Groundhog Day” on the laptop. Perhaps
it is his youth that permits him to get by with so much less
sleep. We motored upwind to Chichime Cay late in the morning.
This is a very pretty place and quiet — the surrounding cays
are too small to have a runway even if they were completely
paved over. We snorkeled the reef in the afternoon (Laura saw a
big spotted ray), and then I went up the mast in the bosuns
chair to fix the foredeck light that had come out of the mast
when we brought the ballooner down. It was nice to have both
Laura and Claus on deck when I went up since I could then have
one of them tend a safety line. It was a great view from up
there and I got the light fixture back in its place and secured
with a wire tie, but the bulb was dead from all the knocking
around and I had forgotten to bring one up with me.

We will return to Porvenir tomorrow afternoon. Thursday, Claus
has a 6:35 am departure from the Porvenir airport to Panama
City. We will he sorry to see him go. Then Laura and I will
explore the dozens of tiny islands of the San Blas archipelago
that lie to the east. This area is known as “Kuna Yala” to its
Kuna Indian inhabitants.

M.

We arrived in Panama about three hours ago. We are anchored
behind Porvenir Island in the San Blas Islands. The location is
North 9 degrees 33 minutes, West 78 degrees 57 minutes. The
passage went very well although we had some stronger winds and
bigger seas on Saturday night and last night. After dropping
anchor, we had a quick lunch and then spent a couple of hours in
our bunks resting. We are still tired but have to get the
dinghy in the water and go through the check-in procedure. Just
now two Kuna Indian women paddled up in a canoe to sell
something. I wish once of us knew Kuna or Spanish. We will
fill in some more details later today or tomorrow.

M.

Saturday February 17th, 4:30 P.M. EST
Position: N 12 08 43
W74 54 36

It is now day 3 of our passage from Bonaire to the San Blas
Islands. We continue to be very fortunate with both wind and
seas – it is quite literally “smooth sailing”. We have had
winds from the east north-east somewhere in the 14 to 20 nm per
hour range – making for a very comfortable sail. We had huge
bunches of flying fish hopping out of the water all morning and
sailing past us – big groups of 10 to 30 fish at a time – all
silvery and smooth. Some of them are out of the water for a
hundred feet or more, sometimes turning directions in
mid-flight. One of them took a left just in front of the forward
sail and crashed into it. He must have been as surprised as we
were. Just as we were getting bored of them, a fantastic school
of dolphins appeared at the side of the boat and they dove and
jumped all around us for about a half an hour. They must send
out calls to their friends when they find a boat to follow for
as we watched them playing in the waves around us, we could see
many of them cruising up to the boat from way behind – coming at
such a fast speed it was startling. Claus had been wanting to
see dolphins so we were all very glad that they visited us. We
hope we will see more of them before the trip is over. There is
lots of shade in the cockpit from about 11:00 a.m. onwards so we
are all comfortable. It is a good idea to stay out of the
direct sun here as it is incredibly intense starting from about
8:00 a.m. We have had two nights at sea so far, both of them
moonless, which I thought would make it quite dark. Guess I was
wrong, as the stars are so intensely bright that we have lots of
light at sea. The stars have really been amazing – the whole
milky way is visible – and we watch the big dipper rise out of
the horizon behind us as the night progresses. We saw a tiny
sliver of moon yesterday, just before the sun rose.
Lots of boiled eggs, chicken, Dutch cheese, fruit and chocolate
to eat on board – plus good old diet Coke and lots of water.
Claus is a welcome addition to our trip – he balances out the
Pitt sleeping equation, as he doesn’t seem to need any sleep,
and Mark and I can never seem to get enough sleep.
L.

First day of passage to Panama.

We left Bonaire yesterday morning at 09:20 am EST. To my
surprise, the trip northwest to get around Curacao and Aruba was
still sufficiently downwind that we did not have to take down
the balloner, which we had left furled on the head stay on
arrival to Bonaire, or remove the downwind poles. We sailed
north of our plotted course in anticipation of an evening wind
shift. Seas were quite rolly and confused at first, making for
an uncomfortable ride, but then became more regular. On leaving
Bonaire, we found ourselves about 10 miles behind another
sailboat seemingly headed in the same direction. A Netherlands
Antilles patrol plane made a couple of low passes to check us
out in the waters east of Curacao. (When we approached Bonaire
last week, a patrol helicopter dropped down off of our stern to
check us out as well). We saw much less tanker traffic than
anticipated as we crossed the shipping lanes into Venezuela’s
oil ports.

We made excellent speed last night and the ride was decidedly
more comfortable. This morning we passed that other sail boat
and quickly left him behind. He called me on the VHF at about 8
am to tell me that we looked good with our “spinnaker” out and
that he was envious of our speed. His vessel is “Vera” out of
Germany and is heading to the exact same place that we are —
Provenir, in the San Blas Islands of Panama. We agreed that we
would try and meet when we arrived. We have had the balloner
set to starboard and the big 155% genoa set to port on identical
poles that whole way and expect that this sail configuration may
take us all the way to the San Blas Channel.

It is great to have Claus Portner with us as crew. He is
easy-going and fun to be with, not to mention a very competent
sailor. His presence also enhances our rest. Instead of a “3
hours on, 3 hours off” watch schedule, we have a “3 hours on, 6
hours off” schedule. Having 6 hours to sleep or whatever is way
better than 3 hours.

It is now 11:10 am EST (16:10 Z) and we are making about 7.5
knots (down from the low 8’s) at a heading of 276 degrees
magnetic in about 5-6 foot following seas. Our position is
North 12 degrees 59 minutes, West 71 degrees 22 minutes. The
crew is well-fed and feeling fine and the boat is making easy
miles. Our professional weather router, Commanders Weather, has
warned us of 30-40 knot winds Saturday night into Sunday morning
when we are off the coast of Colombia, so we may see a few
raucous hours before we make landfall in Panama on Monday.

PS. Claus (pictured above) sends special birthday greetings to
this mother and little sister.

M.