Panama Canal Transit

Rick, Tammy and Howard

Apologies to all friends and family who were watching the live webcam at Miraflores Locks. We waved and shouted, “Hello England!” and only found out later that the webcam had gone down earlier that day. Perhaps the massive electrical storm that we encountered on our transit caused the problem.

The raft behind us

 Almost everything went according to plan. As it was Easter Sunday, I went to an outdoor, sunrise  service at 6.30am and read a short piece. It was very moving to be singing songs and listening to readings and reflections, whilst thinking about the first Easter Sunday very early in the Garden of Gethsemane. After the service we shared hot cross buns.

Waiting for the gates in pole position!

Back on SD, we kept checking for an email from our agent, Erick. Nothing arrived. About 8.30am one of Erick’s staff delivered 8 large fenders and 4x125ft lines. Soon afterwards Erick stopped by and told us verbally all the information he had been unable to send by email.

Dawn on Gatun Lake

Howard telephoned to say he and Tammy were on their way from Panama City, but it would take a couple of hours. Next to arrive was Gabriel, our “professional” line handler, who proved to be excellent and an invaluable member of the crew.

Howard needed coffee in the morning

By 11.30am, Howard and Tammy had arrived and at mid-day we were all in the Dock Restaurant eating our Easter Brunch out of polystyrene boxes. There had been a misunderstanding and the restaurant thought we wanted takeaways. No worries, the food tasted good anyway.

Gabriel, Rick and Kathy

We left our berth soon after 1.00pm and anchored at The Flats. I made a Bolognese sauce for later. Our Adviser, Rick, arrived at 1540. We passed through Gatun Locks without incident, rafted up to two other yachts. Then we motored in the dark, as individual boats, towards two huge mooring buoys where we tied up for the night. It was almost 1930. Rick had eaten his supper in the locks. He left on a launch along with the other 11 Advisers. The rest of us had our supper and celebratory drinks. As Jeremy cleaned his teeth that night, when everyone else was settled in their bunks, a crown broke off.

Fender Woman

Rick arrived before 0700 on Easter Monday and had breakfast with us. All the yachts left the mooring buoys for the long motor to Gamboa at the start of the Gaillard Cut. Again, we tied up to two massive mooring buoys and our crew had lunch of ham and egg rolls. It started to rain, the temperature dropped, lightning flashed alarmingly close and thunder deafened us for nearly two hours. Rick shouted that we had to wait for a “neo”, which seems to be a pet name for the new, extra-large ships that use the new canal. There is only one Gaillard Cut so all other vessels have to wait at either end until the neo has passed through. We waited for 2½ hours.

Incredible raft survived the lightning storm

The rain stopped as we untied and motored towards Pedro Miguel Locks, where we rafted up three abreast again and the line handlers did their work. Howard worked hard on the bow and Gabriel covered the stern. Tammy was named “Fender Woman” as she roamed the decks with a fender at the ready to cover any gaps. We passed through the last locks, Miraflores, with their broken webcam and continued on towards the Bridge of the Americas. We untied from our raft as the sun set and motored towards Balboa Yacht Club.

Gabriel, going down Miraflores Lock

 A launch arrived to take Rick ashore. We were sorry to see him leave as he had been a great Advisor. Soon afterwards, a tender from Balboa Yacht Club picked up Howard, Tammy, Gabriel, the lines and the fenders for a charge of $12. Suddenly, Sal Darago was bereft of crew and we felt like it was 2.00am and the last of the party guests had just left.

The camera on the building on the left did not work

 Not expecting there to be a mooring available at BYC, Jeremy said there was no harm in giving them a call on VHF 06. I did and a tender arrived to lead us to a mooring, where we spent the next three nights.

The Pacific beckons and NO BROKEN PROP SHAFT

Caribbean Panama

Not the usual Caribbean beach

It’s now 15^th April. We have been told that our date for transiting the Panama Canal is tomorrow, Easter Sunday 16^th April. Happy Easter everyone.

Spot the monkeys

Much has happened since we arrived in Shelter Bay Marina. The Marina contacted an agent called Erick Galvez the day we checked in. He left his email address the same day. We looked at his website and gave him all the information he needed to start the process of transiting the Canal. The next day a Measurer arrived and was a happy man because we had been through the Canal before and he could use the information from last time. After he had gone, two of Erick’s staff arrived and Jeremy paid $1705 (which included $350 agent’s fee) by bank card to these two strangers who worked for a man he’d never met. He was given an itemised receipt on headed paper. At the end of our second day here, Erick emailed us with our transit date of 23^rd April. Our initial excitement changed to disappointment, but there was a chance that our date might be brought forward and it has been.

Abandoned military base

We still had to check in with Immigration in Colon. We had seen someone from the Port Captain’s Office at the Marina on the day of our arrival and paid $20. We caught the Marina’s free bus to a shopping mall called Cuatro Altos and stayed on to the next stop at a mall called Millenium Plaza. From there we took a taxi to yet another mall called Colon 2000 and went to the Immigration Office, but it was the wrong one. Fortunately, the right office at Home Port was only 5 minutes’ walk away and half an hour later our passports had been stamped. There was no charge. Another taxi took us back to 4 Altos, where we bought some groceries and caught the Marina bus back to Shelter Bay.

Restaurant

There are much worse places to be waiting. Here we are in a national park. We can hear howler monkeys and can see other monkeys only a short walk away. The whole area used to be an American air base called Fort Sherman, where soldiers trained for Vietnam and many of the military buildings are still standing but sadly, vandalised. The Marina is also a hotel with a restaurant, swimming pool, gym, shop, laundry and cruisers’ air conditioned lounge. It’s like being on holiday and it’s hot and sunny (27-31C).

Swimming pool

We volunteered to help another yacht transit the Canal by being line handlers and expected to leave with them last Monday. Our Canadians friends, Ann and Barry, from Cat’s Paw IV were also volunteer line handlers on another yacht. The day before we were due to leave we were told another couple were taking our place and we were no longer needed. We were given a half bottle of rum and a chocolate bar as thanks. The next day I met the new line handlers. They were much younger than us and closer in age to the Skipper and his mate.

SD in Shelter Bay Marina

We left the Marina and went to Portobelo for 4 nights on anchor. It was much fresher in the bay anchored under Fuerta San Fernando. We knew that Francis Drake and Henry Morgan had sacked Portobelo in times past, along with Admiral Vernon in later years. There used to be warehouses in Portobelo where gold from Peru was stored prior to shipment  to Spain. However, three forts failed to keep out the British and other Europeans such as the Dutch.

Camera shy monkey

Nowadays, Portobelo is a quiet fishing village, which you can walk around in an hour or less. We explored the remains of the three forts and enjoyed the hospitality of Casa Vela which has a free dinghy dock, café, bar and wifi.

Fuerta Lorenzo

Four people responded to our advert for line handlers for our own transit, which we pinned to the Marina notice board. Two could not help out on our dates, but two others, Howard and Tammy, are keen to help and we are happy to have them aboard. Our third line handler has been arranged by our agent and we have yet to meet him (or her).

Anchored under Fuerta San Fernando

All being well tomorrow we hope to have time for Easter Brunch at the restaurant before setting off for The Flats and anchoring in Cristobal Harbour to await our Advisor, who stays on the boat while we are transiting the Canal (but not overnight in Lake Gatun). You can watch us on the webcam at Miraflores Locks on Monday 17^th April between 8.00 and 10.00pm BST or 1900 to 2100 GMT.

Portobelo

Hasta luego!

Jeremy at Fuerta Jeronimo

Old Custom House, Portobelo

Bonaire to Aruba and Panama

Anchorage at Klein Curacao

We arrived in Aruba on Monday 20^th March after an overnight passage from Bonaire. Bravely, we sailed off our Kralendijk mooring forgetting about the current and narrowly missed the yacht moored nearby. The next hazard was a drifting ship. We have learned that it is quite common for big ships waiting to enter a port to turn off their engines and drift at 0.5-0.9 knots. Naturally, they drift backwards, which makes it very difficult for a small yacht under sail to pass their stern. One ship off Bonaire kindly started their engines and moved away, but the process took 10-15 minutes.

Almost a Green Flash

We had a lunch stop at Klein Curacao, a walk round most of the small island, a swim from the boat and a sleep until 2215. This time we motored away from the anchorage, but were soon sailing gently towards Curacao. Here we encountered more drifting ships as we navigated our way through. Curacao did a good job of blocking the wind and the swell, so we were soon motoring again until we had cleared the shelter of the island.

Cruise ships at Aruba

We tied to the Customs dock at Oranjestaad, Aruba at 1540. The Port Authority, Customs and Immigration came to see us and we filled in all the usual paperwork. By 1700 we were anchored next to Canadian friends, Ann and Barry on Cat’s Paw IV. We had been in contact by email and it was good to see them again. One hour later, we were on board Cat’s Paw IV enjoying sundowners with them and Barry’s cousin, Lucy and husband, Mark.

Keeping cool on passage

The next day, we dropped off our 3 empty cooking gas bottles at Renaissance Marina and left them to be filled. This was done by the following day for a charge of 10USD for the service and 26USD for the gas. Excellent service. I continue to be impressed by the Renaissance complex of hotel, resort, mall, casino, private island and marina. Water taxis take guests to Reception and tie up inside the hotel or they can choose to arrive by car. The Marina Office manager is friendly and helpful and we are not charged for tying the dinghy at their dock.

Surfside Marina, Aruba

Another friendly hotel/marina, called Surfside, located near the anchorage, let us fill our water containers and dispose of our rubbish for no charge.

Lucy, Mark and Ann on SD

We stayed in Aruba for 3 nights and enjoyed having all the crew from Cat’s Paw IV aboard Sal Darago for another sundowner session.

Two kippers

The next day, Thursday 23^rd March, we prepared SD for a 5-6 day passage to Panama and asked permission to go to the Customs dock to clear out. One hour and ten minutes later all the paperwork was done, our passports were stamped and we were free to leave. Soon we had twin poles up flying the full genoa on one side and the no.2 jib on the other. As it went dark, lightning lit up the sky on and off until 0100. It was very hot and muggy but there was no rain and little wind. The rest of the passage was a mix of sail changes, sometimes flying our ghoster and sometimes motoring in fairly calm seas and light winds. Dolphins came by, stars shone as the clouds cleared and most ships passed a safe distance away.

Big genoa and bigger ghoster

There were a few scares such as the ship with no name that set off our CPA (Closest Point of Approach) alarm giving me only 17 minutes before it would be very close as it was dead ahead and doing 21knots. Fortunately, the person on watch answered my call on VHF 16 and the ship passed 1.3 miles away. This might sound like a long way but in the middle of the night, it looks close.

One day the wind unexpectedly blew a bit stronger and we left the ghoster up a bit too long. As we started to take it down a shackle connecting the pole to a downhaul line snapped, the pole swung about madly and the line dropped half on the deck and half in the water. We retrieved the line and Jeremy restrained the pole. As we lowered the ghoster the wind caught it and lifted Jeremy off the deck. Sensibly, he let it go but he had rope burns on his arm and ribs. We struggled once more to haul in the ghoster and finally lowered it under the genoa to the deck and bagged it up.

Ouch!

The weather was hot. Naked sailing was one way of keeping cool. Sleeping on top of sheets with a fan going was another. Motoring only added to the heat, so we tried to avoid it by sailing very slowly at less than 2 knots sometimes.

Aaaahh

The final scare was arriving at the start of the Panama Canal, off Cristobal Harbour in the dark and navigating through the many anchored and moving ships. It’s hard to believe that sometimes you don’t see a huge bulk carrier moving towards you against the lights of anchored ships and the port. As dawn broke, we got permission from Cristobal Signal Station to enter the vast harbour and turn for Shelter Bay Marina. We tied up to berth D29 at 0710 on Wednesday 29^th March. It was our 42^nd Wedding Anniversary, so in the evening we ate out in the cool marina restaurant.

Cheers everyone.

Martinique to Bonaire

Belated Birthday Lunch

A very strange thing happened on the way to Martinique. The dinghy was hauled up on the roof as usual. It has two retractable wheels on its stern so that it can be hauled up slipways or beaches. The last time the wheels had been used was on the River Deben in Suffolk but one of them had a puncture. We had bought a new inner tube in Spain and found the valve had snapped off, while we were crossing the Atlantic Ocean. The hunt for a dinghy wheel began. We must have visited every chandler, hardware shop and tyre centre in Marin with no luck. However, persistence paid off and Jeremy bought a new small wheel complete with inner tube for 9.99 euros. He fitted the new tube in the old tyre.

Checks are in, but what a view

Then there was the strange incident of the French Orange data SIM card. We took our dongle and laptop to the shop and bought a 1gb card. Everything worked in the shop and on board SD that night. The next day, it didn’t work. So, back to the shop we went and the man said we had to top up. We topped up, which took a long time because the Orange shop has the worst signal anywhere in Martinique! Now we had paid 29.99 euros and….you’ve guessed……..it still didn’t work. All we could do was connect the laptop to my mobile phone and, bingo, we had internet on the boat, and it only took two days to get it!

Anse Noire with Sal Darago

We moved from Marin to Anse Noire and the rain began. Dodging squalls, we anchored in the bay and went ashore to a lovely restaurant just a short climb up steps set into the cliff. Here, we belatedly celebrated Jeremy’s birthday while watching sheets of rain obliterate the fine view over the bay.

Caribbean hitchhiker at night

The next day we dodged more squalls on the short motor to Fort de France – directly into the wind. It was Saturday, so we checked out at the chandlery as we were leaving for Bonaire the next day. Then we looked for somewhere for lunch and everywhere was closed. The main town of Martinique was like a ghost town and a wet one at that. Most of the shops were closed and the choices for food were expensive hotels with long waits for service, Macdonalds or KFC. We opted for Macdonalds.

Dreadful weather on arrival in Bonaire

Leader Price supermarket was open and packed. Jeremy had to beg a trolley from the check-out queue. We bought what we needed for our 5 day passage and added 2 bottles of Bordeaux wine. After queueing for ages, we packed our bags and I paid the bill. Then I noticed a trail of red liquid dripping from my rucksack. One bottle of wine had broken. The bottom had sliced off cleanly and 70cl of Bordeaux was sloshing around in my rucksack where I had a beige raincoat and other bits and pieces along with some shopping.

Looks like 5000 visitors got here before us

How do you get red wine out of a jacket and a rucksack? Easy. First you dip the rucksack in the nearest puddle. Then you look for a public toilet only they’re locked on Saturdays. So, you return to your waterlogged dinghy and it is just what you need to rinse the jacket and the rucksack, while passers-by give you strange looks and keep on walking.

Fortunately the sun shone on Sunday 12^th March and we were able to dry everything before setting off for Bonaire. We had a good passage with our usual downwind rig of twin poles with the furling genoa on one side and the no.2 jib hanked on the other side. Mostly, we flew full sails in moderate winds and a low swell.

Fish under Sal Darago, Bonaire

As we approached the south end of Bonaire at 0500 the fair winds increased to 25-31 knots and heavy rain fell. We needed to change course and Jeremy took down the poles and lines getting soaked to the skin in the process. More squalls followed as black night turned into grey dawn. Our destination of Kralendijk disappeared behind sheets of heavy rain. Our cruising guide told us we were in the dry season. That was good to know.

We picked up a mooring managed by Harbour Village Marina, as yachts are not allowed to anchor, and were told by the marina office to check in with Customs and Immigration first and then go to the marina to pay for the mooring. This we did, and arrived by dinghy at the marina with three empty cooking gas bottles and four water containers. Two men were locking the office door as we arrived at midday and we were told to return at 1.30pm. Jeremy asked if our gas bottles could be filled and one man became angry and gave Jeremy a tirade about respect. Then he walked off complaining that we were interfering with his time and told us to go back to our own country. He turned out to be the duty marina manager. We thought this was probably the worst welcome we’d had to any country we’d visited. We returned in the afternoon to pay for the mooring.

What can I say? Beautiful motion

Today has been much better and we have found the people to be very helpful and friendly. I have been able to buy prescription medicine from the hospital pharmacy, our washing has been done in the best laundry we’ve been in and soon we shall snorkel from the boat and see all kinds of colourful tropical fish.

Okay - Find the fish. First correct answer is invited to work the Panama locks.

We leave for Aruba on Sunday  19^th March.