april 2 2004 : acklins island, crooked island district, bahamas
We got in yesterday around noon after 29 hours of mainly motoring with a tiny bit of motorsailing mixed in. In fact, after I slept for a couple hours in the middle of the night I came out to find that Ali had put out the jib and all the noise didn’t even wake me up. It managed to give us about an extra half a knot of speed. Unfortunately, the only real wind we got on the entire trip came when we were about 4 miles from the end. Ali was sitting down below reorganizing some books and I was sitting on the back of the boat reeling in one of my trolling lines. All of the sudden within 20 seconds the wind jumped from about 4 knots to over 20. We had the main up still just trying to squeeze out any little bit of extra speed we could. So suddenly the boat took off and veered off course pretty violently. We had just had a downpour a few minutes earlier so I guess the winds must have come from that one line of storms. Luckily the wind died again just as fast as it came up and we just took in the main after that.

We got to our anchorage for the night and when I dove in to set the anchor I found three sand dollars right away. So a little while later Ali and I both went snorkeling and found dozens of them. It was fun since a lot of the water in the Bahamas are just boring sand bottoms with nothing to look at. Instead we got to go on a treasure hunt at this one.

We are off for Matthew Town tonight around five o’clock and we should make it there sometime tomorrow morning. The weather looks good for the passage as well as for the next few days which is good because the anchorage there isn’t protected very well. Also, we found out last night that our anchor light is out. So we need to get that fixed as well while we are there.

april 4 2004 : matthew town, great inagua, bahamas
After another long overnight sail we pulled into Matthew Town yesterday around one o’clock. When we left yesterday the wind was blowing 15 knots and since it was forecast to stay between 10 and 15 we decided to put up just the screecher (our big light air sail) and sit back and enjoy the ride for the night. So when the wind was blowing about 15 knots we were sailing along at 7-8 knots and I was thinking if this keeps up we will get there too early, it’ll still be dark out. Then of course after one hour of this nice fast sailing the wind completely died on us again. Suddenly we had winds between 3 and 7 knots for the rest of the trip, slowing us down to about 3.5 knot. But it was nice out, and we were sailing for once, so we didn’t complain. We took turns on watch and getting some sleep and by morning decided that if we were going to get there before dark we had better fire up an engine and motorsail. The rest of the afternoon passed pretty uneventfully and Ali even made some Rice Krispie bars.

Then about 5 miles out from Matthew Town we had a fish on. A big fish! Before I even started hauling it in I could see that it was a mahi mahi. Ali shut down the engine and grabbed the gaff hook while I pulled him in. He made a couple of jumps but came up to the boat pretty easily. So I had him right up to the boat and was trying to gaff him when he decided he wasn’t having any of that, and started going nuts. I was afraid he’d come unhooked so I yanked him up on to the bottom step where he continued to flap wildly until suddenly the hook came out and he started to slide back into the water. I made a desperate swing with the gaff hook and somehow actually got him, but not very well. Of course he was still going crazy. We tried to pour some vodka down his throat but he was flapping around so much that we couldn’t get it. Then just like that he was gone.

A minute later there was a hit on the other line. I grabbed it and yanked back to set the hook. I could feel another big fish for about two seconds and then he too was gone. When I brought that line in later I found that the wire leader which has a plastic coating on it was shredded a full foot and a half up past the lure. So that was an exciting but also depressing way to end the day. He would have been food for a week for the two of us.

An hour later we pulled into Matthew Town. The problem here is that if the weather is good for sailing to Matthew Town then that means that the weather is terrible for anchoring here. Matthew Town is different from the other Bahamas islands in that it doesn’t have a big shallow shelf extending out a couple of miles to slow down the seas. Instead it goes from 1000 feet deep to 15 feet deep all about 200 yards off shore. So essentially you are anchoring in the middle of the ocean.

When we got here there were swells rolling in that had to be 5 feet high. Luckily the bottom is nice sand that the anchor just buries itself in. But the noise and the motion inside the boat is terrible. The wind has started to shift this morning and is predicted to be from the east by Tuesday which is the only direction that you get protected from here. Today is Sunday so we can’t go into town until tomorrow to get things done.

april 5 2004 : matthew town
Busy day today trying to get everything done that needs to be before the big passage. First thing we did was to head to the BaTelCo office to update the website finally. We got there and found out that they didn’t have facilities for people to plug their computers in, like all the other BaTelCo offices in the Bahamas. But after a quick phone call to the manager we were led back to his office where he cleared space on a table for us and let us plug into his fax line. He was a very nice guy and we swapped fishing stories as if we both knew what the heck we were talking about.

After that he pointed us in the direction of Genavive’s Café where we went and had a nice plate of chicken (the only thing on the menu today) for lunch. Then it was over to the immigration office. We figured after all the trouble in George Town that we would head in early and make sure everything was okay for our departure at the end of the week. Well this guy was a big change from Joyce in George Town. He took a quick look at our paperwork and said we were all set, just check out with customs the day before we go. When we asked, “That’s it?” He said, “Yeah, no problem, we like to make things easy for you cruisers so that you’ll come back and visit us again.” We almost started laughing, but instead just thanked him and walked out.

Next stop was the Inagua General Store where we thought they were supposed to have good provisions. They didn’t. We did manage to find Hormel chili though, so we were back to having our famous chili dogs for dinner. Nice. Then it was over to the gas station where I got 15 gallons of diesel at $3.18 per gallon and 5 gallons of unleaded for the dinghy at nearly $4 a gallon. Ouch, $70 and I still need another 20 gallons to fill up. Still, when I figured out how much we have run the engines since we last filled up I was shocked. I think it was close to 100 hours total between the two engines and only 35 gallons of diesel. We carry 90 gallons onboard, so we could have motored a long way still. I probably should keep a closer eye on those numbers and figure out more exactly what our gallons per hour is.

Next on the list was diving for sand dollars again. There are tons of them, and they are just sitting on top of the nice white sand bottom. I like to go swimming every day, so like I said before, it’s nice to have something to do out there.  A little later we went back into town to drop off our little 4 gallon propane tank that we use for the grill. They only charged us $2.24 for that. I wish the boat ran on propane.

Then we took the long walk down to the Great Inagua Lighthouse located at the southernmost point in the Bahamas. When we got there the gate was open but nobody seemed to be around. I finally walked up to one of the two houses on the property where the lighthouse keeper lives. I knocked on the door and a little boy about 5 years old named Wakeem opened up and said, “You want to go up the lighthouse?!!” And then he proceeded to take us on his own little tour. We climbed the steps while playing little games. He made us tip toe and we couldn’t make a sound. Then he would pretend that he was on a cell phone and he would have these long conversations with his friend while we waited to keep going.

Eventually we got to the top and the amazing view. We took some pictures and of course he wanted to see them immediately on the digital camera. We could see a flock of flamingos off in the distance in the salt ponds. We are going to go to the national park to see them tomorrow. When we were about to head back down to the bottom Wakeem told us to wait a minute while he went back outside onto the catwalk. We waited for about 30 seconds and then I peeked out there to see what he was doing and I found him standing there peeing off the side of the lighthouse. What a character. Back at the bottom he showed us his puppy and then we were off. We never did see an adult. Maybe he really was the lighthouse keeper.

april 7 2004 : matthew town
All of our preparations are done and we are ready to go. Yesterday we spent finishing up filling the tanks, buying a few more groceries, going up the mast to fix the anchor light (twice!), and calling home. Today we went to customs and cleared out of the country. We got our departure form which we have to have to be able to clear in to the next country. They like their paperwork at customs, that’s for sure. And at the end he told us to go next door to the post office and buy a $10 stamp. So we did. And then afterwards, I started wondering what the heck that was for. Was that really something we needed to do, or did this guy just have a package to mail? Oh well, either way we are set to go tomorrow.

This afternoon Ali was busy in the kitchen. Yes, you heard me right. She saw a recipe for potato salad on the side of a mayonnaise jar and decided she was going to make it. So she was slaving away, asking questions like, “What does firm but tender mean?” And then when she was done and she was feeling pretty pleased with herself she looked at me and said, “I can’t believe I’m 30, and this is the first time I’ve ever made potato salad.” We’re becoming so domesticated.

Later we called the park warden to inquire about a tour to go see the flamingos. He was busy with another tour already but said he would send another guy over in 15 minutes. We called up a couple we had met on another boat anchored near us and invited them along. Two minutes later James pulled up in his pickup truck and off we went. First he took us to see a flock of flamingos. It was okay. There were about 200 of them standing around out in the salt ponds. They were pretty cool looking through the binoculars, but they were too far out that you couldn’t really get a good view.

Then we went to the Morton salt factory. That was pretty amazing. What an operation they’ve got going there. But the really cool part was how much it looked like snow. We felt just like we were back in the Midwest winters. The machines that were scooping up the salt looked like Zamboni’s clearing the ice at a hockey game. And they couldn’t keep the trucks coming fast enough to haul it all away.

Back on the boat, we had dinner, chili dogs again, and finished getting the boat all picked up and ready for her big trip.

april 8 2004 : en route to panamá
We left this morning for Panama. It finally feels like a real adventure now. The Bahamas were like putting training wheels on a ten year olds bike. Sure, he could still wipe out, but it’s not very likely. Try as we might, we just couldn’t wreck our boat in the Bahamas. Now we are truly out here in the middle of nowhere with no nice safe anchorages to tuck into when the weather gets bad. It’s exciting.

Right now we are passing about 6 miles off the coast of Cuba on our way through the Windward Passage. It’s 9 o’clock at night and after seeing only 2 ships all day, as soon as it got dark at least 3 popped up on the radar screen. The nice thing along this stretch is that there are specific shipping lanes running north and south. We tucked into the southbound lane as far to the western edge as we could. So far all the ships have been on the same course as us but passing to our east at a safe distance. I guess the only real concern right now would be to have one bear right down on us from behind. What are the chances of that though?

We left this morning at around 8 and had perfect sailing weather. 10-12 knot winds for hours while we averaged around 5 knots. Only caught one fish today and it was a barracuda, so back he went. Aside from that it was pretty uneventful. The forecast still looks good, at least 3 days out, so we’ll just keep our fingers crossed.

april 9 2004 : en route
Today went from very light winds to absolutely no wind at all. Here we are smack dab in the middle of Cuba, Haiti, and Jamaica, in an area called the Windward Passage, and we are completely becalmed. The one upside to that is that dolphins seem to love it when we are motoring in calm weather.

Twice today we were visited by spotted dolphins. The first group this morning came by and swam along with us for about five minutes. But then right before sundown a group of a couple of dozen of them came by to put on a show. These guys were jumping all the way out of the water and zooming from one side of the boat to the other. They always make our day, and since this was the first time we had ever seen these little ones it was even more fun.

The rest of the day we didn’t do much. Ali cut my hair for the first time in 3 months. It was a big shag carpet, and now it’s just a little shag carpet. Last night was pretty quiet as well. Ali saw a Carnival Cruise ship pass close enough that she could see the red of the smokestacks even in the dark. But I hardly saw any ships, which was fine by me.

As of right now we are making some pretty slow progress and are already doing the calculations to see what speed we would have to average to get there by a certain day. Not much we can do about it though, so it’s not really worth worrying about. The first day we made just 92 miles out of the trips 800, today doesn’t look like it will be even that good. You can do the math.

april 11 2004 : en route
2:00 a.m. It’s been three days now and the wind has yet to give us much help. We are averaging just 90 miles a day, or under four knots per hour. That is way slower than we anticipated and we’re now looking at a nine day passage. We did sail all day yesterday which was nice even if it was only at three knots. Late last night we had dolphins show up. It was interesting watching them leave a bioluminescent trail of green behind them as they swam. And just now we had a little bird come land in our sail bag. He probably needs a rest since he is about 100 miles from land at this point. We are still hoping for more wind. It seems like the forecast just keeps pushing it a little bit farther south. Eventually we should catch up with some.

2:00 p.m. Still no wind. It has hardly blown enough to make even our little U.S. flag flap. Right now we are motoring, trying to get south. On the weather maps it looks like there might be some wind about 100 miles south of us. Normally, at least we’d be able to motorsail but right now when we motor we just outrun the wind and the sail ends up limply flapping in the breeze. We have tried about every sail combination we can think of trying to squeeze out an extra half knot, but with no results. It’s starting to dawn on us that this isn’t going to be a 6 or 7 day passage any more. Hopefully we are able to calm down, relax, and enjoy a 9 or 10 day passage instead. Still no fish either.

april 12 2004 : en route
What a difference a day makes. Last night the wind finally began to pick up. We hoisted the main and the screecher and within an hour we were cruising along at six knots. The wind continued to build and by early morning we knew we should have taken the screecher down earlier. We finally tried furling it with the wind around 20 knots and couldn’t get it to wrap up right. We had to let it out and furl it 4 times before we got it right. All the while the boat was swerving all over the place. After much swearing and yelling the ordeal was over. We put out the jib and continued to cruise along nicely after that.

The wind has stayed with us all day and we have averaged over 7 knots on the day. We might still make it to Panama in 6 days after all. We were starting to worry that we would never get the boat moving. Wondering if it was just our lack of sailing skills or if there was a problem with the boat. After today I think we have established that it was just us. But we’re getting the hang of it.

Last night we had a lot of ship traffic. Ali woke up at one point to find me swerving between 3 container ships. I had been in contact with one of the ships that seemed to be coming right up on us from behind. We talked for a minute and he altered course to give us a little more room. However the other two ships seemed determined to run us down and I ended up having to alter course 40 degrees at the last minute to slide behind the ships.

Then Ali woke me up later in the night to ask about a ship that was headed right for us. She had already altered course to make sure we would steer safely by him but was just looking for my reassurance. Of course when I came up I was still half asleep and thought the ship was going the opposite direction of what it actually was and ended up scaring the crap out of both of us. We decided that whoever was awake would have to be the final judge in those instances from now on. It seems we are having to make a lot of new rules for ourselves.

april 13 2004 : en route
“Pat! There’s a ton of water in here.” For some reason on this boat those words are spoken all too often. This time the water was in the bathroom (I don’t think we’ll ever be able to call it a head) and was overflowing the bilge. Luckily, or not, it wasn’t a thru-hull. It was, however, all of our freshwater. Once again. The freshwater feed for the watermaker had somehow slipped it’s fitting and had promptly emptied the contents of our freshwater tanks. All 140 gallons of them.

After getting the water mopped up, which the bilge pumps did a fairly good job of, and refitting the hose, we set to work trying to get the watermaker to make more water. We carry 15 gallons of emergency water in jugs and emptied them into the tanks. As I’m sure I’ve discussed before, the watermaker needs a few gallons of water in the tanks to get itself primed and working. Usually half of our emergency water in the tank will do the trick. This time though, with the boat rocking through 8 foot seas the water must have been sloshing around too much to get a good prime. It wouldn’t start and now we are down to just a couple of gallons of water in the tanks and no emergency water. 200 miles to go.

april 14 2004 : en route
Right now I’m sitting on the couch watching the waves pick up the boat, surf us down the front at 7 knots and then we slide back into the trough and slow to 4 knots. Nice and peaceful. And with only 80 miles to go we are getting excited. This morning at 9:30 Ali made soup for us. We hadn’t eaten anything decent for at least two days and this made us feel a lot better. Our internal clocks are a little screwed up right now since we have been sleeping in 2 1/2 hour shifts at night, and then catching catnaps in the afternoons.

I can hardly believe that we took our one and only sailing lesson a year ago this week on Lake Michigan. Now here we are about to complete a one week, 800 mile passage. I’ll bet there are a lot of people who have been cruising their whole lives who have never been on a passage this long. Anyway, I’m feeling pretty pleased with us. It’s funny to me that out of all the cruisers we’ve met in the Bahamas this year we didn’t meet one other boat that was going this way. And the looks we got from people when we told them what we were doing. Like they wanted to have us committed to the insane asylum.

april 15 2004 : colón, panamá, central america
We made it! Seven days on the dot. What a great feeling it was to drop the anchor. When we got here this morning we had to slow down and wait for the sun to come up before we approached the canal zone entrance. All we could see in the darkness of night was hundreds of lights from ships anchored all over the place. To try to pick our way through there in the dark would have been crazy. Needless to say the three hours or so that we were bobbing around waiting for light lasted forever. Eventually though we were able to weave our way between the dozens of container ships that were anchored out waiting for their turn to transit the canal.

As soon as we got in I headed ashore to start the customs and immigration process. At 9:00 they weren’t open yet and I was told it would be between 10 and 12. So I filled up our water container and headed back to the boat. We still couldn’t get the watermaker to start, so I went back in and filled it up again. Now we had 20 gallons of freshwater in the tanks and I was sure it would work. It didn’t.

So I went through the steps one by one and eventually figured out that we hadn’t reopened the seacock for the saltwater feed to the pump. It’s kind of hard to make freshwater out of seawater if you don’t add seawater first. Problem solved. Ali got right to work cleaning the boat, doing dishes that had piled up, and getting the salt off of everything. Next it was back in to shore to see about immigration. I spent an hour or so with the people there and got a stamp in the passports. But that was just the beginning.

I picked Ali up off the boat and we went to get a taxi to take us around Colón to the different government offices we needed to visit to finish the clearing in process. We got into a taxi with a guy named Ellenton who hangs out outside the yacht club all day and knows exactly what cruisers need to do. He zipped us all over town, constantly warning us about how dangerous a city it is. We found out for ourselves when Ali saw a lady standing in the middle of the street holding a pistol as if it were a cigarette.

It seems that a few years ago when the United States handed over control of the canal to Panama we also took out our military bases and about 15,000 jobs that went along with it. Apparently Panama underestimated how much the disappearance of all of those well paying U.S. government jobs would affect the city of Colón. It has since turned into a city with outrageous unemployment, runaway drug problems, prostitution, and gangs. Usually I wouldn’t be one to believe all the hype of how dangerous a place is, but it is obviously not all hype here.

The buildings we visited today were stripped of everything they once had. Tiles, light furnishings, doors and windows, were all gone just five years later. We won’t be wandering around Colón by ourselves. Anyway, Ellenton knew everybody and had all of our paperwork handled for us in about 2 hours. There is no way we could have even found the offices on our own, and he only charged us $25 for all of his help.

Back at the yacht club we finally went to the bar. We ordered up a pitcher of Atlas beer and got a menu. The waitress probably couldn’t understand why we were so happy. I ordered a hamburger steak with fries and a salad for $4.25 and Ali got a big plate of vegetable chow mein and a side of rice for $3.50. The food was delicious and the servings were huge. We had been talking about food quite a bit since we left last week and this really hit the spot. Then we got the bar tab for the pitcher of beer. $3.50! Yes, we like Panama. Just one beer in the Bahamas was $4.

So the next couple of days we are going to spend trying to find someone who needs line handlers to help them through the canal so we can get a feel for what it is like. Every boat needs to have four line handlers in addition to the captain and a canal pilot. So everybody is looking for help with their boats, usually in exchange for them helping you with your boat.

Notes on the passage: I was thinking the other day that it was like we were given a test every day this week. Here is what our report card would look like after the passage.

Knowing when to furl or reef a sail:  F
Jibing:  D
Reefing the main:  B+
Cooking while under sail:  D
Knowing where all the shut off valves and seacocks for the water lines are:  A-
Nighttime ship direction identification:  B-

I knew grades didn’t matter. They didn’t in high school or college why should they now?

So while we discussed the passage afterwards we decided that we did pretty damn good. Out of 810 miles we managed to sail the boat without engines for over 670 of them. We didn’t eat very well, which we think we will be able to do better next time, now that we have a feel for what it is like out there for that long. We slept pretty well after we got used to our watch schedule. Overall we held up pretty well. There were some times that we were just super tired of being out there, but there were times that we also just sat and enjoyed the immensity of the whole thing. It wasn’t really that bad, and we are not dreading the next big passage, which is what I was afraid might happen. So now we just get to sit back for a few weeks and enjoy ourselves and this incredible country.

april 19 2004 : colón
We have been busy the last few days. A couple nights ago at the yacht club bar a guy approached us and asked if we would be interested in line handling on his boat. We said sure and then he told us it was a very small boat. Maybe we should have asked more questions at this point. So the next morning they were supposed to pick us up at 6 a.m. to get started. We ended up not getting started until 9:30. I should note that if a boat can’t make it through in one day, then they have to anchor out in the middle of Gatun Lake for the night and finish the next day.

So here we were getting started four hours late right off the bat. It actually turned out that there were two boats that each needed one line handler but they would be going through the locks together, so Ali and I agreed to split up. The weird thing was that both of the boats were named Hippocampus and they were both only 27 feet long. These boats were so ridiculously tiny that any time there was a wake from a passing boat they would yell down below to shut all the hatches, and there would be a race to get them closed before these little one foot waves came pouring over the sides and into the boat. A couple of times they weren’t quick enough. I won’t go into to many details on the trip through the canal since I am sure that I will bore you enough later with the blow by blow from our trip through onBum. But I will tell you that we didn’t make it the first day and ended up having to spend the night onboard.

Wow, let me just say that these boats would be extremely cramped with two adults onboard, yet we slept 6 adults and 3 children on one boat and 4 adults on the other. The one with only 4 people was so small inside that 1 of them even had to sleep outside in the cockpit. Ali and I slept smooshed against each other in a tiny little area tucked underneath the steps at the back of the other boat. The group on this boat consisted of the owners who were from Brazil and their son, and their friends from France who are in the middle of touring the world by RV. Oh, and their two children. The other boat was owned by a couple from Poland and they had another couple onboard from somewhere in Europe.

Let’s just say it was an interesting experience, but one that we hope that we never have to repeat. The next morning the canal pilots were supposed to show up at 8, but didn’t arrive until 11. One pilot even brought a bag of ice. Apparently he was none to happy about not even getting a cold drink the day before since neither of the boats had refrigeration or even thought to buy a couple bags of ice for the coolers. Warm Pepsi anyone?

We finally finished the transit around 4 o’clock. We were dropped off at the yacht club and grabbed a taxi to the bus terminal. From there we took the 1 1/2 hour bus ride back to Colón and were safely back onboard the boat at 7. To say that we were excited to be home would be a huge understatement.

This morning we had the Admeasurer onboard to measure the boat and give us the paperwork necessary for us to set up our transit. We then went over to the bank and paid our dues. $600 to transit and a $850 deposit. Ten years ago it would have cost us about $20. They have since changed the fee structure slightly. It used to be based strictly on the weight of the boat. Too bad. Anyway, we will probably head back to Panama City in the next couple of days to get some things done. We need to buy a bunch of stuff for the boat and find out about getting the boat hauled out and the bottom painted.

april 22 2004 : colón
Yesterday we found out there was another fee we needed to pay to transit the canal. This one is $440 and is supposed to be refundable if we don’t hold up the transiting process. We’ll see. So after another trip to the bank we had that taken care of.

Ali gave me another haircut after determining that the last one just wasn’t up to snuff. Now I look like a very pretty little girl. Then we were off to the Super 99 grocery store in downtown Colón. The store was nice and had pretty much everything. The one major thing missing was canned soups. We basically live on these, yet they didn’t have even one can of Campbell’s. So we are a little nervous that we aren’t going to find that. The prices here are great though. Mountain Dew for .35 a can as compared to $1 in the Bahamas. And beer is even cheaper at .33 per can ($8.00/case), way cheaper than the U.S. Looks like the boat is going to be floating a little crooked again soon.

Anyway, today we are off to Panama City again. This time we are going to go to the Flamenco Yacht Club to see about having the boat hauled out and the bottom painted. We also need to find a marine store and start getting that list whittled down.

april 23 2004 : colón
This morning we took a tour with a guide we located through our guidebook. He was a very nice young guy who has a Biology degree and a bottomless source of information about the plants, animals, and birds of the rainforest here. We went to Fuerte San Lorenzo which is a fort that was last reconstructed in 1761 overlooking the Chagres River and is where the famous pirate Captain Henry Morgan was able to gain access to the interior of Panama before he plundered the city of Panama. It was still in remarkable shape and had an amazing view of the ocean and the river.

After that we spent a few hours exploring the rainforest and looking for monkeys. We could hear howler monkeys all over the place. They are super loud and yes, they howl. Eventually we tracked them down and were able to watch them swinging around and eating figs off the fig trees. We also saw a couple of sloths, which look a little like a skinny koala bear with matted hair, and a toucan.

Then this afternoon we went back to the bank again, this time we were trying to track down some of our money. On Monday when we went to the bank we tried to get $500 out of the cash machine. It then printed out a receipt that said $0 on it and didn’t give us any money. So we figured it wasn’t working. Two days later while on the internet we checked our bank account and found out they had taken the $500 out of our account. The people at the bank told us we had to go through our own banks dispute process. So we called them and they told us it would take them 90 days to investigate this. My hopes of seeing that money any time soon are slim to say the least. (Update: Our bank corrected the $500 right after we contacted them and we never heard anything about it again.)

I should also note that the rainy season is in full effect here in Panama. The other night it rained so hard that in the morning the dinghy was nearly submerged. It took 20 minutes of bailing with a bucket to get it emptied. Then today it poured again. When it rains here, it really rains. It’s like having a solid stream of water poured over your head.

We are still scheduled to go through the canal on Monday.

april 25 2004 : colón
Tomorrow is the big day. We just called and were told we are scheduled to leave at 4:30 in the morning. That is like the best time you can get since the earlier you get started the better your chances are of making it through in one day. Yesterday we did another run to the grocery store and then in the afternoon we headed to the bar to find line handlers.

We were talking to a couple of guys at the bar about it and another guy overheard our conversation. Five minutes later he walked into the bar with a guy who needed to go through the canal and we immediately signed him up. Then he said there was another person from his boat who would probably go as well. They are both catching flights in Panama City on Wednesday morning so it works out well. Then a while later another guy approached us about going through with us too. He is a backpacker from Holland and seems nice enough, so that completed our three line handlers. We knew if we just went to the bar early enough that this little problem would take care of itself.

april 26 2004 : colón
Delayed! After waking up at four o’clock in the morning to wait for the pilot that was supposed to arrive at 4:30, we waited until nearly six before being told that our transit was not going to happen today. We were told to call later today to find out what time tomorrow. The worst part was that we watched four other boats leave right in front of us with their pilots. No explanation was even given to why we were cancelled.

We had the backpacker from Holland as a guest last night, and three others from another boat here in the anchorage who had come over this morning at 4:30 to help line handle. Ali made coffee and blueberry muffins, which were all eaten and now have to be made again for tomorrow. Luckily for us, our three line handlers are still able to help us tomorrow. Otherwise we would have to scramble to find new ones by tomorrow morning. And in fact a lot of people hire locals to line handle at $50 per day. That would have really set us off. But oh well, such is life in other countries. Looks like we have to head back into the yacht club bar again tonight to drown our sorrows. Damn.

april 27 2004 : balboa, panamá
Greetings from the Pacific Ocean. After yesterdays fiasco we were really hoping for more luck today, and we got it. Our pilot showed up promptly at 4:30 and we were underway. Actually I should clarify that they aren’t pilots, they are advisors. Pilots are what you have to get if your boat is over 65 feet long. And they cost $2500. So if you’re debating on buying a 64 or a 66 foot boat you may want to go with the 64.

At 3:30 this morning it was absolutely pouring rain, but then it suddenly quit, and we thought how lucky we were. Then at about 5:00 as we were heading towards the first set of locks it started up again.

There were three boats going through this morning and since we were the widest and sturdiest they tied us up side by side with us in the middle. It was fine by me as it meant that we didn’t have to do any of the line handling. A lot of the yachties make a big fuss about how they are going to be tied up in the locks, but frankly, I don’t see what the big deal is all about. It isn’t complicated and there wasn’t any stress on the boat. So we were through the first set of 3 up locks by 8 o’clock which is a new record from what I have heard from others. The rain quit for us during the afternoon motor across Gatun Lake. Ali made Kentucky Fried Chicken, mashed potatoes and peas for lunch which was a big hit. And by noon we were at the down locks.

By now a big 72 foot sailboat had caught up with us, and we were also joined by a small sailboat that hadn’t made it through the day before. So now there were five boats. The 72 footer apparently has some guy on it who thinks he is some big shot famous sailor. You know the type of person that when people are introducing themselves for the first time actually tells you his last name as well. You know, “Good day young man, I am Mr. Montgomery so-and-so.” As if you should immediately know what that means.

Anyway, at these locks the officials were saying there was only room for two rows of boats, which would mean that we would go three in one line and two in the other. Except this guy actually had the gall to say, “Why don’t we tie up those small boats together and I will go alone.” What a wanker, four boats tied up side by side. Yeah, that would work. Eventually they agreed to do three rows and he got to go by himself after all.

By early afternoon we had exited the last lock and entered the Pacific Ocean. I was saying to Ali how cool I thought it was, and how this is one of those unique life experiences not many people get to do. Her response was that she was just glad to be out of Colón. I tell you, nothing impresses this girl.

Actually though, it seems like everybody that goes through the canal is a bit disappointed. It’s not quite as big and majestic as you would think. Everybody expects it to be so much larger in every respect. Guillard Cut, which was the part of the canal that caused the most problems because it was cutting right through mountain and the Continental Divide isn’t nearly as tall as I would have thought from looking at the pictures. But overall it is still pretty cool. For anyone interested in history or who wants to read about the story of the building of the Panama Canal you have to read The Path Between the Seas by David McCullough. It’s excellent.

april 28 2004 : balboa
More Panamanian bureaucracy today. At around 8 this morning we heard a loud thump on the side of the boat. I went out to find some guy holding out a badge and clambering on to the boat. Turns out he is the Agricultural Inspector. Apparently after being in the country for a full two weeks they have now decided that it would be a good time to see if we have pets, bugs, or meats and vegetables from another country onboard. What a sham. The only reason he came aboard was to collect another $15 from us. He couldn’t have cared less what we were smuggling into Panama.

Then when we got into the water taxi we were immediately approached by the port captain. He went on to inform us essentially that we would need to clear into the country again now that we were over here. We are 30 miles away from Colón where we cleared into the country and they are acting as if we are now in a completely different country. I’m sure this will end up costing more money and creating more paperwork. He also mentioned that we would have to visit his office the day before we leave. I guess to get our Zarpe and clear out. You should see the very impressive amount of paper that they have created so far here in Panama. The worst thing is that I know that there will be countries along the way where this will seem like nothing.

I should explain the water taxi thing as well. We are moored at the Balboa Yacht Club, if you can call it a yacht club. The actual clubhouse burned down under suspicious circumstances eight years ago. Now there is just a tiny outdoor bar at the end of a long dock. The thing is, they don’t allow you to land your dinghy anywhere near here. By doing this they force you to use the services of their water taxis. So whenever you want to get off your boat you need to call them on the VHF and then stand outside and try to wave someone down for the next half an hour. We hate it.

So tomorrow we are getting out of here. We’ll go find a place to anchor for a few days. We called about getting the bottom painting set up and it looks like we can’t get things started until next Tuesday. So time just keeps slipping away. Our trip up the coast for surf school is definitely out. We are just running out of time. The main weather window for the next couple legs of the trip are basically from right now through the end of May. So if we are going to spend some time in the Galapagos we need to get moving as soon as we are finished with the haul out.

Today we took the bus back to Colón to return the lines we had to rent to go through the canal. Then back in Panama City we went to the movies for the third time in a week. There is a girl that works there that we see every time. She always recognizes us and seems to be getting a kick out of us. I’m sure she can’t understand what the heck we are doing there. Sorry if it sounds like I am complaining about Panama. I think we are just sick of being stuck in dirty anchorages and being on the run all the time. We just need a little down time on an island again. Something with some clean water and a nice beach. Another week or so. Then we will stop in the Pearl Islands for a few days.

april 29 2004 : balboa
This morning we were heading ashore to drop off garbage and pay for our stay at Balboa Yacht Club. When we got to the docks we saw a bunch of people we knew from the Panama City Yacht Club and they told us that Flamenco Marina had been hailing us on the VHF all morning (we never listen to the VHF like other people, maybe we should start). So we called them up and found out that they would be able to get us in today if we wanted instead of next Tuesday.

So we immediately took off for Flamenco which is actually just a couple miles away at the end of the causeway. The haulout went very smoothly. They are a brand new, high buck facility, and they did a very professional job of getting us safely up on the hard. The guy who will be doing the anti-fouling looked the boat over and found a few signs of osmotic blistering. That’s sort of a major problem, or at least it will turn into a major problem over time. We decided to just proceed as planned and Ali and I will probably end up having the boat hauled again in New Zealand where we will discuss how best to go about fixing that problem. So they start work tomorrow.

Then just now we took a taxi into the city and went to Abernathy’s, which is a marine supply store. We wanted to buy a new grill because the one on the boat currently has been a pain in the butt since we got it. We ended up having to drill out the gas jet on it before and now it doesn’t seem to be working at all. So they had the grill we wanted, but it was about $100 more than West Marine. So we said no thanks. Then they offered us 20% off on it, which brought it down to about $70 more than if we ordered it. We still were unsure, so they offered us 20% off of everything we were buying that day. Now we were talking about a savings of about $80. So we walked out with a new grill. We are working hard at spending lots and lots of money this month. We need to get out of Panama!

april 30 2004 : balboa
Today we spent running around again. This morning we went to the French Embassy to see about getting an extended visa. It seems that if you just show up in French Polynesia they will only issue you a visa for 30 days. Then to extend that you must go to Pape’ete, Tahiti, where they will give you another 60 days. The problem is that Pape’ete is at the far end of the island chain, so it wouldn’t do you any good at that point. So we went to the embassy and got the paperwork for that. They wanted passport photos and a bank statement. We have photos but not a bank statement. So throughout the day we went to 3 internet cafés to print out a statement from the internet. Not one of the cafés were able to do printing however. So we will have to have a statement faxed to us and then we will go back in on Monday.

After the embassy we went to the Panama Canal Museum in the Casco Viejo (old town) neighborhood. It was pretty interesting even though everything was in Spanish. At least the old artifacts and newspaper articles were all in English. Funny thing about the museum was the security. Ali and I felt like shoplifters. We were followed around the entire time by security guards. At no point were we ever out of their site. If they are that worried about things, maybe they should think about putting everything behind glass.

We also went to the big new shopping mall in Panama City. The locals tell us in a hushed tone that it was built by Colombians. It seems that anything nice and expensive here in Panama is said to be owned by Colombians. Apparently they can’t invest their ill-gotten gains in their own country so they come to Panama to invest. I think the Panamanians are happy to accept.

By the time we got back in the afternoon the boat was just about finished being painted. It looks good. I almost forgot about our visitor last night. At 9:15 last night the port authority showed up at our boat. This guy comes onboard and explains to us how now that we are on this side of the canal we need to be checked in by them and will have to visit their office to receive our Zarpe. Amazingly we didn’t have to pay him for this visit. But the funny thing was watching him copy word for word the exact same document that we filled out on the other side. He then asked us for two copies of our crew list. We have handed out 18 crew lists since getting to Panama. 18! I can’t even imagine what they are going to do with all of those. Funny, but I suppose the U.S. government is just as bad.

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