Pacific Ocean Eve

Panama, 22/1/2019

Cruising “plans” are perhaps the most flexible of all plans, and where and when we go is pretty much dictated by the weather. Spotting a break in the perpetually strong winds we’d been having, I made the short dash across from Bonaire to Curacao on Boxing Day.

 

Curacao is a Dutch offshoot of Holland in the Lesser Antilles, a vibrant city with that typical Caribbean variety of colour splashed about.

I anchored in a wonderfully protected anchorage, Spanish Waters, about ten miles from the capital of Willemstad. A great many yachts shelter here in this hurricane free area.


Flanked by wealthy Venezuelan homes, an ongoing battle of fireworks’ displays lit the skies every night. New Year’s Eve was more of a crescendo than a finale with the horizon ablaze. Accustomed as we are in well-regulated Australia to seeing organised foci of fireworks, it was incredible to see such a wild profusion of brilliantly coloured explosives all around.

 

On the Queen Emma floating pontoon bridge.

It’s fantastic the way fellow cruisers make you instantly welcome, so I had good company for New Year’s, firstly taking the bus into town, then later sharing some music-making on board a neighbouring yacht until the wee hours.

Wonderfully hospitable hosts on sailing vessel "Dee"

As mentioned in my previous post, my original intention was to visit all 3 of the ABC’s, the next island being Aruba. From there, my course was set for Santa Marta in Colombia, then the San Blas islands before arriving in Panama.
But, as mentioned, weather is the boss. Advice from others who had been before me, warned me of the brutal winds and waves that are common in the Colombian basin, with many saying they faced the scariest conditions of their entire sailing lives. I wasn’t keen on putting Shanti (or me) there, so I watched the forecasts closely for a good weather window.

To go directly to Panama was about 750 nautical miles, about a week of sailing for me. It seemed a shame to miss out on seeing those other places, but there was also the fact that a couple of large rallies were hot on my heels, which would clog up the works in Panama.

I think I prayed too hard for calms because that’s what I got for the first few days, but after that, it was back up to 30 plus knots, which is still a lot better than 50 or 60. The main problem is the waves, which with strong wind against an opposing current can build up to over 4 metres high.

So it did end up taking me the full week to reach Panama and I was pretty tired. There was a lot of shipping and one cut within metres right in front of me, which was completely unnecessary.

I also had a repeat failure of the fitting that "Tilly" the autopilot attaches to, so had to do a fair bit of hand-steering.

Nursing Tilly home.

I had been told that there could be a 4-6 week wait to transit the canal at this time of year. Indeed, with each passing day, the delays increase, so it was fortunate that I arrived when I did, on January 15^th. They are working hard to push boats through quickly before the World ARC rally boats arrive at the end of this month, which will certainly slow things down.

I hired an agent, which I hadn’t planned to do, but it took a lot of pressure off to have all that organised for me. There was plenty enough for me to do besides, preparing for the transit.

I’m staying in Shelter Bay marina, a very secure and friendly place. I think it’s the first marina I’ve been in since Cape Town, so I was amazed that I was able to back Shanti into the tight slip without embarrassment. I received hearty applause from the couples on the catamarans on either side of me. Just lucky.  Today a 54’ Amel pulled in next to me, doing a crash bang collision derby impression on the way in.

The marina provides a free bus twice a day to the supermarket, which can take anywhere from one to two hours each way, depending on how many ships are on the move.  I've never been on such a fascinating bus ride to town before, passing over and under the Canal and right up close to the massive locks and ships.

Not a sight you see every day from  a bus window.

My transit is scheduled for tomorrow, Wednesday, 23^rd January, a remarkably quick turnaround. The large fenders and four lengths of 140’ long ropes have been delivered to Shanti this afternoon.

 

It’s necessary to have 4 line handlers on board, even though only the outside2 will actually be doing anything. Two other yachts will be nested together to go through with me, a 48' Amel, "Kali Mera" and a Polish Cyclades 50, so Shanti will be the outside "bumper" in the raft up.

I am hiring 2 professional line handlers from the agent at $100 each, and getting 2 other cruisers to come along. I have to provide meals for them all for two days - which has been quite a challenge, thinking what and how to cook, accustomed as I am to feeding only one.

For those who are interested (or awake), there is a webcam on the final set of 3 “downlocks”.

Vessels transmitting AIS can be watched at http://www.marinetraffic.com and live cams of the locks viewed at  http://www.pancanal.com/eng/photo/camera-java.html?cam=Gatun%20.

There are 3 “uplocks” from the Atlantic (Caribbean side), leading into Lake Gatun, where we will spend tomorrow night. The following day (Thursday 24^th), we traverse the 40 odd miles across the Lake, then, sometime late in the afternoon, descend the 3 “downlocks” to the Pacific.  All very exciting !!!!