Speedwell of Hong Kong

Stormy weather

Author: Shirlz

The Gambier Archipelago is the sort of place where I could happily spend a few months but it was not to be and after picking up a last Passage Weather forecast and dumping my garbage I rowed over to Otter II to say goodbye. I may meet up with them again in New Zealand.

The usual hard work getting the anchor up from 27m below and we motored carefully through the well-marked reef. The wind was quite fresh SW. I wondered if I should be waiting another day. It took 3 hours to cross to the island of Taravai where I planned to spend the night. I tried the Navik and it seems to be OK. The anchorage at Taravai is surrounded by reef and a rather shallow patch has to be crossed to get in. The tide was going out and the light was bad with the sun in my eyes. Second thoughts about going in but I didn’t feel ready to go to sea and wanted a good night’s sleep so I pressed on. The Navionics chart bore little resemblance to reality. At one point I bounced off the bottom where the chart showed 9m.

Taravai anchorage

I carefully explored the area and eventually put the anchor down in 15m close in to beach and shallows but with plenty of swinging room. Overnight the wind picked up a bit but we were comfortable enough. It poured with rain. The primus burner developed a startling leak. I hope I can find a replacement in the morning. Just managed to finish cooking my dinner with help from the emergency gas stove.

25 August

I had to wait until midday for conditions to ease enough for me to venture through the rather unnerving reef. Then it was strong wind and big seas for the first 2 days which had us racing along under the top panel only with the Navik holding us faithfully on course. The wind was from the SE and I used it to get a bit further N where the forecast shows better weather.

Now the wind has dropped a bit and backed to NE. We are moving comfortably and have been doing nearly 90 nm per day.

30 August

A slow slog to windward followed until we came up to a solid bank of cloud and the wind did a sudden 100° shift to the SW. Very gusty and unsettled. Calms and squalls. Very heavy rain. I came up on a port tack and it looked promising for a while but by sundown the wind had strengthened so much that I decided it would be best to heave to for the night. This turned out to be a good decision and I had a reasonably comfortable night’s sleep while we drifted slowly on course. Just two panels up. A dark night with no moon.

31 August

In the morning the wind was still about F7 but now I could at least see what was going on. By 11 the wind had dropped a little and I eased the sail out and set up the Navik to hold the wind on the aft quarter, moving along reasonably easily doing just under 4 knots, but not for long and soon we had to heave-to once again.

1 September

Slight improvement in the weather this morning the pressure is still very high. Waves still too big for me to try sailing again.

Hove-to

After lunch I checked the Navik thinking that we might be able to get going again soonish. The lashing I had tied to hold the paddle on its worn down pivoting pin had broken the steel loop and the paddle was flapping helplessly about. Always something. I managed to get it out of the water and down below. My son, Pete’s wonderfully sharp knife was used to cut the lashing. The problem is that the cone shaped notch that the pivoting pin fits into has worn away and is now too big so the pin keeps slipping out. The lashing had been holding it together but now I no longer had that option. What to do? I decided to try using some steel epoxy gunge to glue two washers over the enlarged hole to make it a better fit for the pin. Now I’ll have to wait 6 hours for it to cure before I can test it. Maybe in the morning the weather will be OK.

I’ve decided to head for Raiatea which is half the distance to Rarotonga. Still in French Polynesia so I’ll have to keep a low profile.

2 September

Weather still too bad to start sailing again. We are slowly moving N which takes us closer to Raiatea and hopefully towards better weather. 4 days hove-to is becoming boring. At times I despair of the weather ever changing and imagine the boat slowly giving up the battle and falling gradually apart. Being overwhelmed by the huge seas and raging wind. On the long passage from Panama there had also been bad times but I had a bottle of champagne in the booze locker and planned to go down sipping the bubbly. Now all I had was rum.

Sail showing fatigue

Quite a lot of water getting into the bilge because of the breaking seas swamping us every now and then. I rigged up the hose so that I can have it ready for pumping without having to remove the engine cover each time. All these small problems start to snowball.

4 September

Tried again this morning to start sailing but still too rough. I need to reinstall the Navik paddle and can’t do it in this sort of sea. So we stay hove-to. Pouring with rain. Every now and then a big wave sweeps us and water pours below. The sliding companionway hatch does little to prevent it. My bunk is sodden. I doze off and cold water splashes me rudely awake. The little bilge pump keeps things under control but will flatten the battery if we don’t get some sun soon.

The primus has been soaked and now is impossible to light. I’ve used up nearly all the alcohol I have for preheating in futile attempts to get it alight. I really need my caffeine fix in the morning so made instant iced coffee with nescafe. Don’t normally have it on board but bought it for the line handlers when we transited the canal. Not too bad actually. Yesterday I discovered that couscous will soak up cold water quite well so I’ll have couscous and canned vegetable salads for a few days. The bananas and almonds that I was given in Mangareva are good for snacking. A trail of banana skins in our wake.

5 September

About 10 in the morning the weather was starting to look reasonable again. Heavy rain seems to flatten the seas a bit but inbetween the rain showers the wind gusted strongly. It was still impossible to perch on the stern and try to install the Navik. I wasn’t happy with my chances if I was washed overboard hooked on with my safety line. Too many things around the stern for it to get caught on and I’d be trapped unable to loosen it and unable to climb back on board. So wait until things calm down a bit more and trust in my ability to hang on.

As soon as the waves lost their overwhelmingly mountainous aspect I loosened the tiller and set up my faithful bungee and rope arrangement to do the steering. It worked pretty well and we were on our way again at last! Wind still strong enough to only need two panels.

I’m getting used to cold coffee but wish I could cook a hot meal. Dried beans, pasta, rice need cooking. When I get desperate enough I’ll mine the storage in the forepeak which is now full of stuff, to find a spare burner. I never throw one away so I have a big collection of old carboned-up ones. Some old stoves too. But it’s a fiddly job and can wait till conditions are easier. Thank goodness for bananas and nuts.

6 September

The wind died completely last night and I hove-to once again this time to stop the sail flopping about. What wind there was moved us ever so slowly in the right direction. Probably a bit of favourable current.

As soon as it was light and I had primed myself with a cold caffeine fix, I was able to re-install the Navik paddle. My repair seems to be working and now we are really sailing again. The wind has backed to N and we are moving happily with it just forward of the beam.

8 September

This morning the wind had dropped and I raised all except the bottom panel. I don’t really trust my repair job and don’t want to hassle with a broken batten again. Wind still forcing us north but I’m hoping it will back more easterly soon.

I took the opportunity to start drying things out and put on fresh clothes. After a bit of a battle I managed to light the primus. Looking forward to a hot meal tonight.

When I checked the Navik I saw that the smaller washer I’d epoxied on had come adrift but the big one is holding and seems to be able to keep the paddle in place.

Went forward to secure the fortress anchor which was coming loose. How much easier everything is in gentle weather.

I’m still hoping to be able to spend some time at Raiatea fixing the sail, etc and stocking up with more food. Not sure if I’m going to make NZ this year.

9 September

Flat calm all day. A chance to start drying things out. Got the primus working again. Made a raisin bread. Had a lovely fresh water wash in the cockpit. Reading Emma.

10 September

First thing in the morning I was able to start sailing again. Dead downwind doing 2 knots. The sea was flat and things were looking up.

Sitting dozing in the cockpit I was suddenly startled by the incredibly loud noise of a plane making a low fly-past just above the mast. I waved thinking it might be sightseers taking a look at us but then it circled and came over again and I read ‘Marine Aircraft’ on its side. Went down to switch the radio on and they called ‘Yellow Sailing Ship….etc’ Their transmission was very clear and their English good. I was able to manage without my hearing aids. They wanted my name and the boat name and asked if I had seen a sailing boat that they were searching for. I didn’t catch the name of the boat, but of course I had seen nothing. They thanked me and flew off. Bit of excitement. I wonder if the boat they were looking for had also been caught in the gale.

11 September

After a frustrating morning of alternating calms and heavy rain showers the wind strengthened a little and we made some progress at last. So wonderful when the weather gives us a break. There was even a bit of sunshine.

Too good to last of course and by sundown the wind had dropped again and was only just able to hold the sail out. I cooked up a tasty brown rice concoction in the pressure cooker and had a proper meal for a change.

The top section of the Navik has started to wobble about and I have had to tie it down with a piece of string to stabilize it. The poor thing really seems ready for retirement.

14 September

Three days of perfect sailing weather took us past Tahiti and Moorea. Only about 5 miles off the craggy coast of Tahiti, it looked quite dramatic. Friendly Tahiti Petrels greeted us and I even spotted some dolphins. A small fishing boat passed close by and waved.

Approaching Raiatea in the morning

We had a fast run all night and arrived at the pass through the reef at Raiatea at 10:30 in the morning. Fast downwind through and then the magical calm of protected water. Quite beautiful. The anchorage off the marina was very deep and all the boats there on moorings. Picked up a free one reasonably close to the marina but found that it was a private one. Richard, from a nearby boat advised me to stay as the owners might not be back for a while.

Started cleaning things up and drying out. Wonderful view across to Bora Bora only a few miles away.

September 19th, 2018  |  Posted in Cruising, South Pacific  |  2 Comments »

Short stop in the Gambier Islands

Author: Shirlz

When I arrived in the anchorage at Rikitea, the beautiful sailing ship ‘Picton Castle” was there. What a romantic sight. As soon as I had settled in they sent over a launch with a big bag of very welcome fruit. They planned to leave the next day but when I told them about my problem with the self-steering gear they had me bring it over and did a great job of fixing the broken bit. So wonderful!

The Picton Castle anchored at Rikitia

The little town stretches along a single coastal road and I had no problem finding the Gendarmerie to clear in. Unfortunately I did not have the necessary visa for French Polynesia and was only granted 15 days. Rather a pity but it would be enough time to sort out the batten, put the Navik together again and restock with food and water. Not the cheapest place to reprovision but the little shop had a good selection of imported French delicacies and I went a bit wild with good cheeses and other treats. Local Rum was a shocking $30 a bottle.

The short stay was probably a blessing as after my slow passage from Panama I needed to keep moving if I wanted to reach New Zealand before the start of the cyclone season. My worst job was cleaning the hull. The bright yellow top sides had become almost completely covered in black and green algae which was very difficult to scrub off. Then I had to tackle the goose barnacle forest on the underwater part of the hull. I had been colonised by a group of voracious remora fish but they seemed to have no appetite for barnacles.

Eventually the boat was starting to look presentable again and I spent a few days repairing the batten between rain showers. Luckily I still had a good supply of fibreglass cloth and epoxy and was able to line the batten up reasonably straight and fashion a sleeve of many layers of glass which seems to be holding it together. When there was a calm day I raised the poor tired sail and used contact glue to stick patches over the chafed area and moved the bottom batten, which looked like a good one, into the slot vacated by the broken one. The repaired batten went down to the bottom panel which will only really be needed in light winds.

Not much chance for sightseeing but the anchorage itself is quite beautiful and I was happy to just be there. People were very friendly and I was showered with gifts of local fruit – pomelos, oranges, bananas, papayas, breadfruit and coconuts. Absolute bliss after weeks of tinned stuff.

There is an enormous church in the village – the result of madly over-zealous missionary activity in the old days. The elaborate altar is entirely decorated with shells. Rather different to the overpowering gold decoration in many South American churches.

As my allotted 15 days is for the whole of French Polynesia I am planning to make my next stop at Rarotonga in The Cook Islands, about 1350nm further along.

August 19th, 2018  |  Posted in Cruising, South Pacific  |  4 Comments »

Slow trip to the Gambier Islands

Author: Shirlz

As soon as the food lockers, water and fuel tanks were full I left the Flamenca anchorage and headed for the Perlas Islands. My first stop was Contadora. It was my final opportunity to use the internet and I was able to settle the last of the outstanding problems I’d been having with my rental property in Hout Bay. A pretty island with an exquisite powdery white sand beach. On 8th May, which happened to be my 70th birthday, Debbie and Bob arrived on the yacht ‘Dakini’ which they are delivering to Australia. The owner, Renata, was with them for the first leg of the trip and I spent the evening with them in their luxurious cockpit.

The beach at Contadora

Then I moved on to a few more beautiful spots among the small islands spending my last night at the southern most tip in a sheltered bay at Punta Cocos.

On 15th May I started the voyage to the Gambier Islands in French Polynesia. 3800 miles to go. I did not plan to stop at the Galapagos Islands but wanted to pass north of them so I headed off in that direction. Winds were variable with calms and squalls. A strong current slowed us down. After a few very slow and uncomfortable days, I changed my tactics and turned south hoping to encounter more favourable winds. This was a good move and we made encouraging progress to the south before turning west again. I had been able to pick up the occasional weather fax using my SSB receiver and the app on my tablet. It showed SW winds until a little south of the equator.

I pressed on, slow and uncomfortable. After nearly a month we were approaching the Galapagos. I stuck to my plan to pass north of them. There was an amazing number of birds in the area. Many boobies, masked and red-footed. The red footed variety decided that Speedwell made an excellent roosting place and at times I had as many as 10 or 12 birds squabbling over the best places to perch. One actually got down below. A big bird. I had to lift him up and put him outside as he was very clumsy with his enormous wings in the confined space down below.

A very persistent booby

I kept heading West for a few more hundred miles and crossed the equator at 95° W. Now I could turn and head directly for the Gambier archipelago. For some days we had really good weather and I thought it was going to be an easy ride. Not so. The weather became very fickle with many days of intermittent squalls and calms. Then there would be a spell of strong NE which I took full advantage of. Unfortunately during one strong blow I heard a loud ‘crack’, which must really have been loud as I wasn’t using my hearing aids and it still startled me. I looked around to see what could have caused it and saw that the second batten from the top had snapped neatly in two about a third of the way from the leech.

I hove to and lowered the sail so that I could reach the broken batten and managed to lash it snugly to the next one down. I left the sail reefed as the wind had strengthened and the sea was quite rough. We carried on like that for a few more days until the weather moderated again and I raised the remaining panels. It looked alright and was not going to be a major problem.

Broken batten lashed to the next one down

But, I had been struggling all along to get the Navik to steer accurately and it wasn’t doing a very good job. There seemed to be a lot of play at the supporting rod and it was wobbling about. Wear and tear I thought. I hung over the stern to get a proper look at it and saw to my horror that the linkage to the paddle had broken off leaving it flopping helplessly about. It was a part that I had had repaired by a welder in Puerto Lindo. I lifted the paddle assembly in and stowed it safely below. I couldn’t see how I could fix it with the tools I have on board so I would have to reconcile myself to managing without it.

Just under 2000 nm to go and mostly dead downwind. I searched around and managed to find a suitable length of sturdy bungee cord which I looped around the tiller and tied off to a handy cleat on the side of the cockpit. Then a rope to the opposite side made it possible to fix the helm in position and balance the sail to hold us on a steady course with the wind roughly on the beam. The sail needed to be sheeted quite tightly in to maintain a reliable heading so we were not sailing very efficiently but it was a workable compromise and freed me from having to sit permanently afixed to the tiller. I had not taken in the wind vane part of the Navik and it made a very useful indicator of our attitude towards the wind which I could see from down below.

Jury rigged self-steering

Day followed interminable day. When we strayed too far off the rhumb line I would gybe and have to spend a while getting the steering settled again. I had plenty of reading material and became addicted to a killer sudoku app. I kept a detailed log and found plenty of small maintenance jobs to do. I had enough water and was managing quite happily on 1.5 liters per day. Using sea water for washing and some of the cooking water. I baked bread and crunchies and tried out new recipes using the pressure cooker on my primus stove. On the good days I was happy to just sit in the cockpit enjoying the endless view of the ocean.

Once past the Galapagos the birds virtually disappeared except for an occasional shearwater or petrel swooping and soaring elegantly about us before disappearing in the distance. I had seen a small group of dolphins soon after leaving Las Perlas but no more for the rest of the trip. A group of Mahi-mahi or dolphin fish stayed companionably with us all the way. They were about a meter long and brilliantly coloured with an iridescent blue body and bright yellow fins. Quite spectacular at night as I had a bright cockpit light which they seemed to be attracted to.

After some weeks the broken batten started to cause problems with the sail and as soon as there was a calm day I hove to and was able to remove it completely and stow the pieces safely below. The sail was chafing badly where it rubbed against the lazy jacks despite having covered them with plastic hose.

All along I had resisted using the engine as it would have not been much help against the awkward currents approaching the Galapagos and I don’t carry enough fuel to do long distances. However, as we were nearing the point where we only had 1000 miles left to go the wind dropped completely and I decided to motor for a few miles just to cross this important psychological threshold. It started easily but, oh dear, no water coming out of the exhaust. The cooling water inlet must have become overgrown with barnacles. I shut it down quickly to avoid overheating. I considered going over the side and trying to clear it but was not brave enough. So we waited for the wind.

I became so accustomed to the leisurely pace of life on board that I was not particularly anxious to arrive but I realised that people might be starting to wonder what had happened to me. With only 50 miles to go we had two days of bad weather which stopped us in our tracks but at last when it cleared I was able to see the islands. A tropic bird flew by. It seemed we had almost arrived.

Land at last!

At 4pm on 4th August I turned in to clear the entrance through the reef. There was just enough wind to keep us moving. Dark comes quickly after sunset in the tropics and we still had about 10 miles to go before the first possible anchorage. Fortunately the Navionics charts on the app I was using are very accurate and I decided to carry on putting my faith in the GPS. The water in the lagoon is deep with coral heads scattered about. Now it was pitch dark and the wind was dying. At last we reached a designated anchorage area where I found depths of just under 20m and decided to stop right there. Dropped the anchor, popped the bubbly and celebrated life.

Early the next morning I found my mask and snorkel and went over the side to clear the cooling water intake and check the prop for barnacles. Got the engine running and we motored the remaining 10 miles to the anchorage at Rikitea.

August 10th, 2018  |  Posted in Birds, Cruising, South Pacific  |  5 Comments »

Up and down the Amador Causeway

Author: Shirlz

It was nearly dark before I was able to leave the Balboa yacht club area where the advisor and line handlers were picked up. I wasted no time in motoring down to the anchorage at Playita.

Playita anchorage – spot the yellow boat

My guidebook recommended it as the better anchorage during the dry season as it is protected from northerly winds. This is true. Unfortunately there is no protection from the frequent high speed ferry traffic which shuttles back and forth between Playita and the small island of Taboga about 5 miles away.

The Causeway

The Amador Causeway was created using rock from the canal excavations. It links 4 small islands on the Pacific side of the canal and provides a breakwater for the canal entrance. The Metrobus runs fairly frequently from Flamenco island at the far end to the big shopping mall and bus terminal at Albrook.

Flamenco anchorage with Panama City skyscrapers

After suffering the ferry boat traffic for a few days I moved round to the other side of the causeway where there is another free anchorage. Here it was much more comfortable but the free dinghy dock was very crowded. There is a 5 meter tidal range which makes an easy floating dock quite a challenge. The dock belongs to the navy and there was always a strong contingent of camouflage-uniformed officials. Wearing a life jacket in the dinghy is obligatory and enforced. Luckily someone had given me one of these things some years ago so I could comply with the regulations. (Thank you Neal).

The dinghy dock with resident Great Egret watchbird

Now I had to do some serious shopping to reduce the risk of starvation on the long voyage to the Gambier Islands. I’m not planning to stop at the Galapagos and need to cater for up to 60 days at sea. Could be more of course.

Part of my can collection

Water is also quite important. I split the shopping into manageable loads for the dinghy as it was quite a long row to where I was anchored and there were fairly frequent rain squalls which made rowing quite exciting. On one particularly nasty occasion I had to resort to a tow.

Part of my water bottle collection firmly anchored between the bunks

My main water tanks hold about 100 liters and I have a vast collection of bottles ranging in size from 1.5 to 10 liters giving me all together a total of 200 liters. At 3 liters per day this should give me a bit more than 60 days.

Crushed cranberry juice bottles

My collection of 1.5 liter bottles was given to me by Hutch in Carriacou who keeps his empty Cranberry juice bottles, rinses and squashes them flat for easy storage. If you have strong lungs they can be reinflated and are great for water as they can be tucked in to any available small nooks and crannies.

Recycled

I loaded up some cans of beer to take up the slack and felt I’d done my best. Just grateful that I was only catering for one.

It’s a pleasant walk along the causeway with wonderful views on either side. I loved watching the never-ending stream of massive container ships, either having just passed through the canal or about to start their transit. I wonder how those precipitously stacked containers would have fared had they been forced to go around Cape Horn.

On the opposite side was a panoramic view of the skyscrapers of Panama City  and all the boats, Speedwell among them, anchored in the sheltered waters.

Bridge of the Americas and Eco Museum seen from the causeway

At last I had done all the provisioning that there was room for on board and the last of my ongoing property nightmares back in South Africa were almost resolved. I cleared out of Panama on Friday, 5th May and after a very last quick shopping spree on Saturday, set off early on Sunday morning heading for the Perlas Islands about 35nm away.

On the way out of the anchorage I passed the Sea Shepherd boat looking quite ferocious and wondered what current campaign it was fighting.

The Sea Shepherd Boat

For most of the morning we enjoyed a light Northerly F3. Pretty much downwind and we were moving nicely. It was lovely to be sailing again. But then the wind slowly and irrevocably faded and soon we were down to a depressing 0.5 knots at best. No way of making it in before dark so as it was going to be a dark moonless night and I wasn’t sure if there would be lights at the island of Contadora where we were heading and I didn’t feel like making a no-sleep overnighter, (all these excuses) I fired up the engine and arrived at Contadora just before dark.

Endless strings of pelicans heading home

Also heading home to roost were many hundreds of seabirds. Mainly pelicans and cormorants with the occasional brown booby.

May 7th, 2018  |  Posted in Cruising, Panama  |  5 Comments »

Canal Transit

Author: Shirlz

My transit was scheduled for Tuesday,  17th April and I had to provide food and water for the 4 line handlers plus the advisor,  all of whom, I had been warned, had hearty appetites. Quite a challenge given my minimalist galley and absence of refrigeration. I decided to cook up a big chicken casserole in the pressure cooker the night before,  to be served with rice. Bringing the cooker back up to pressure before serving it the next day would kill any possible microbes. I also had to provide them with drinking water for two days which had to be in sealed plastic bottles  this rather went against the grain given the current concern with plastic pollution and the fact that the water in my tanks is filtered and perfectly drinkable.

All fendered and ready to go

The long lines needed for locking plus 8 enormous fenders were delivered to the boat the day before while I was out doing the food shopping.

At 1pm on Tuesday the line handlers boarded Speedwell and arranged themselves about the deck as we motored out to the Flats anchorage where the advisor was to join us at 4pm. It was hard going against a strong wind and a choppy sea with the unaccustomed weight on board. We anchored and I was told that they would like their lunch! So I fired up the Primus and dished up 4 hearty servings of chicken and rice which I watched them eat as we waited for the advisor.

New bridge under construction

He arrived at 5 and we motored up to the waiting area before the first set of locks where we rafted up to ‘Little Fish’ a beautiful and anything but ‘little’, Amel 55.  Lots of very big fenders were put to use and we were securely tied together.

Being nested up to a bigger boat meant that all the lines holding us in position in the lock chambers were sent to the big boat and my line handlers had an easy time of it.

Big fenders between the boats

It was dark by the time we moved into the first lock chamber and thin messenger lines with heavy monkey fist knots on the end were thrown across to be attached to the strong mooring lines. The boats are then walked along to their position and tied off to wait for the water to flow in as the gates are opened. The line handlers have to keep the lines tensioned as the water level rises

Approaching Gatun Locks

It was an other-worldly scene with the lights reflecting on the water and showing the strong current making whorls and eddies in the water as it rushed in.

Whirlpools as water rushes in

Once the water has risen all the way up the gates ahead are opened and we were walked into the next chamber for another step up. Gatun Lock has 3 chambers raising the canal a total of 26 meters.

Lock doors closing

Now we separated from ‘Big Fish’ and motored about 2 nm to an enormous mooring buoy where we tied up for the night. A launch came to pick up the advisor who would return in the morning at 8:30. I did my thing with the pressure cooker and rice again and kept everyone fueled up. Had a warm beer myself. The others had to stick to bottled water.

Big Mooring buoy in Gatun Lake

It was not a very comfortable night as there simply is not enough space on Speedwell for 5 people to sleep comfortably. But morning arrived, as it usually does, and with it a new advisor for the next leg of the trip.

We now had to cross Gatun Lake which was formed by damming the Chagres River and provides the water to operate the locks. For the first hour or more we had torrential rain with very limited visibility. The line handlers sheltered below. I had to stay carefully out of the way of the big ship traffic by sticking to the edge of the channel. At one point an enormous barge passed us setting up a big wake which created havoc with the passengers down below. Speedwell was easily able to maintain the required minimum speed of 5.5 knots. The good following wind helped us along and the advisor often had to tell me to slow down!

Miraflores Lock with cruise ship

At last the rain stopped and it was a beautiful day. We motored through the narrow and winding Gaillard cut which is about 7nm long and arrived at the Pedro Miguel Lock. Now the water level had to go down,  so water rushes out of the lock chamber and eventually into the Pacific. Before entering the lock we again rafted up to ‘Little Fish’.

The last gates opening to the Pacific Ocean

There was some concern about the strength of the current rushing out of the chamber and possibly overpowering the engine, but this could be avoided by getting the mooring lines properly attached before the gates were opened. We had no problems.

Soon enough we were through and on our own again motoring towards the Bridge of the Americas.

I had to make a stop at the Balboa Yacht Club to wait for a launch to pick up the advisor and another small boat to take the line handlers, fenders and lines off.

Approaching the Bridge of the Americas

Now I was in the Pacific and alone again at last. I carried on motoring past the yacht club and anchored at Playita a sheltered little bay protected from the prevailing North wind. Time to crack the bottle of bubbly.

April 19th, 2018  |  Posted in Cruising, Panama  |  1 Comment »

Getting ready for the Canal

Author: Shirlz

I left the sheltered bay at Panamarina early on a windy morning. Waves were breaking on the surrounding reefs but the channel is well marked and it was no problem. Then a fast downwind run to Portobelo. While moored at the marina I had taken the sail off and restitched all the batten attachment patches to strengthen them and done a bit of maintenance work on the battens where corrosion of the aluminium poles was showing here and there. Everything held together nicely in the strong wind and the sail was setting well. It had been quite a challenge to re-rig it in the fresh breeze that had blown for days on the mooring, so it was good to have a meaningful shake-down cruise.

Portobelo fishermen in the early morning light

The wind was still blowing hard when I reached Portobelo but I found a good place to anchor on the North side of the bay near to the old fort. With the strong wind from the NE it was quite comfortable but it would be a long row to get across to the village. I had no real need to go ashore so spent the weekend, which I discovered was in fact the long Easter weekend, happily on board doing some of the many jobs still to be done and watching life going on around me.

Ships at sunset waiting for the canal

On Monday I sailed on for another 11nm to a very attractive anchorage behind a small island called Naranjo Abajo (Lower Orange Tree). It was one of a pair and with a long section of reef extending from its southern point formed a beautifully sheltered place to stop. I wasn’t in too much of a hurry to reach the busy harbour at Colon so I spent another peaceful night. Looking out to sea at sunset I was amazed to see how many big ships were anchored off waiting for their chance to transit the canal. I felt quite proud to be part of the impressive fleet.

Speedwell in Shelter Bay Marina

Next day it was time to face reality and I reached the entrance to the harbour at about 10am and prudently motor-sailed the last stretch through the anchored ships and in to Shelter Bay Marina. I hadn’t originally planned on going into the marina which is rather costly, but I had decided to use an agent to organize the canal transit for me and he insisted that I go in there to get measured. He warned me of all the crime and gangs in the town. I listened attentively and thought of the many times I have walked through the town between the supermarket and the bus terminal without any problems. So into the marina. Not my favourite habitat. Surrounded by shiny super yachts and lots of people, many of whom had never seen anything like my little boat before with its strange mast and sail. I found myself doing a lot of explaining about how the junk rig worked. I doubt if I have made any converts.

The admeasurer arrived as promised the next day and I filled in a stack of forms and paid out a stack of money and was given a date for doing the canal. It was to be Tuesday, 17^th April.

Rio Chagres

With nearly two weeks to wait I decided to save some cash and move a further 10 miles along the coast to the Rio Chagres where one can anchor in the river surrounded by virgin rainforest. The Eric Bauhaus charts provided details of the entrance and I had no problems finding my way in. There is a patch of reef and a bit of a sand bar at the mouth of the river but I never experienced less than 4m. Once inside, the river is quite deep and I anchored in a peaceful spot a little way past a small dock. It is possible so sail all the way up to the dam which was built to form the Gatun Lake which supplies water to the locks of the canal. Before the canal was built ships used to go up the river to get as far inland as possible before using the railway to Balboa.

If you look carefully you may see my blue butterfly

I rowed ashore early one morning and walked along the track to have a look at the ruins of the big fort guarding the entrance to the river. As I approached the small beach 3 army guys in camouflage gear came down to meet me and showed me where to tie up the dinghy. Then it was a lovely walk along the road through the jungle. My favourite blue morpho butterflies fluttered by and I managed to actually get a shot of one which is just visible as a blue fleck in the photo.

Entrance to Castillo San Lorenzo

The fort itself, Castillo de San Lorenzo, is well maintained with lots of information posters in Spanish and English detailing its history. Many attacks by marauding famous-name pirates such as Francis Drake and Henry Morgan, caused it to be repeatedly rebuilt. Now it is a good photo-op for tourists and provides a wonderful view of the river. I pottered about happily until the crowds started to arrive and then made it back to Speedwell. I had hoped to get a Wi-Fi signal from the top of the hill but no luck. It would have been good to get a weather forecast as I had been warned that if there was a very big swell the entrance becomes a bit hazardous. I couldn’t afford to miss my canal date.

Chagres River with Speedwell just visible in the distance

I decided to sail back to Portobelo and wait there until nearer to the date. Leaving early the next morning I got the sail up and motored past the sand bar and reef. Once I was in the open sea I switched off the engine and tried to sail. The wind was very light and coming from exactly the direction I was hoping to go. It was about 26 miles to Portobelo and at 1.5 knots it was going to take some time. Having to tack all the way would probably double the distance. I decided to fire up the engine again and use it to help us along. Oh dear. When I turned the key there was only a sad little click and no hearty roar of my 13HP engine starting up. No panic, this had happened before and I had been shown how to give the solenoid a tap which caused whatever was stuck to get moving again. It worked last time, but not today. I had a look at all the connections I could see but everything looked OK. I tried tapping the solenoid again. It wasn’t going to work this time. Well it was a lovely day and the Navik could handle the steering so we sailed slowly along.

By the time we reached the entrance to Colon harbour it was already 14:30 and I thought it might be a better idea to make my way back to Shelter Bay and get things sorted out there. I had managed to pick up a Wi-Fi signal as we neared civilization and the forecast was for less wind not more. I didn’t fancy being becalmed off Portobelo with no engine. Once I was able to turn towards the harbour entrance I had the wind behind me and we sailed gracefully through and up to the entrance to the marina where I anchored off and rowed in to try and organise a tow for the last little bit. I was definitely not brave enough to try tacking in between all the shiny boats.

Now I had to solve the starter motor problem as quickly as possible. Eventually, after two days of groping about getting greasy and checking out connections and getting advice from helpful people the fault was found by Greg, the resident mechanic. It was a tiny connector hidden behind the alternator which only became accessible once I had removed the obstructive alternator. Once identified, it took a few minutes to replace the connector and we were back in business. I had contacted the canal agent to say I might have to delay my transit, but luckily my date for the 17^th is still available so now all I have to do is get the boat organized to accommodate the four required line handlers. Its going to be a tight squeeze finding a place for them to sleep on board if we have to anchor overnight in the lake.

April 12th, 2018  |  Posted in Cruising, Panama  |  2 Comments »

Back in the water

Author: Shirlz

Soon after the dinghy incident I had Speedwell hauled out at Panamarina, a very efficiently run small boatyard close to Puerto Lindo. The village of Cacique is a short walk away but doesn’t have much to offer apart from a small bodega and a tiny kiosk selling the barest of essentials. It does have a pleasant waterfront with a natural swimming pool protected by the reef and provides a nice break from dusty boatyard work.

Looking towards Panamarina from Cacique

With Speedwell safely up on the hard, December was spent re-connecting with my son and his family in England, being reminded of the strange luxuries that most people these days seem to consider the norm. I relaxed and let it happen, enjoying the novelty of big-screen TV, hot showers and automatic ice cubes in my drinks. I was enjoying myself, but too soon, had to fly down to Cape Town to sort out a mounting heap of crises relating to property and banks. Once again a drastic change of climate. It’s warm in Cape Town in January. And not too many showers due to the catastrophic water shortage. Problems were duly sorted out and then another week in England before making my way back to the boatyard and Speedwell.

Speedwell safely stored

My poor little ship was in a sorry state after nine weeks on the hard during a hot and steamy tropical rain-season. Fortunately my friend, Henry, had checked on her after the first month, when it had rained very heavily and he had bailed out the accumulated water from the bilge. Somehow it always seems to find a way in. The first few days back were spent cleaning the mildew from all surfaces and again bailing out. At last the boat was liveable again. The rest of the month of February was spent doing the many, many jobs which had to be done.

The corner shop at the bus stop where many hours were spent waiting.

Panamarina is situated rather remotely on the unspoilt Costa Arriba, about 25km NE of Colon and the entrance to the Panama Canal. It is surrounded by the protected rain forest of a national park and only accessible by land via a winding unpaved road. So any necessary shopping trips are a major expedition entailing a 2 mile walk followed by a 2 hour bus ride. Each way. I have learnt to make a careful shopping list before heading out. In fact I rather enjoy the walk as it is an interesting road and there is usually something eye-catching to be seen.

Monkey in tree

Early in the morning the howler monkeys set up a tremendous roaring and occasionally I have been lucky enough to spot them, high in the branches of big trees. Colourful birds and butterflies. Once I saw a small boa constrictor which had unfortunately been killed, possibly by a car as it tried to cross the road. It still looked very beautiful. In the marina itself I have seen toucans from my land-locked cockpit and sloths, of the non-human variety, quite often make an appearance. One afternoon I watched as one made a slow and painstakingly purposeful crossing of the slipway. For once I had time to stroll back to the boat and fetch my camera and was able to get a shot of him climbing slowly into the mangroves. He seemed sublimely unperturbed by the growing crowd of onlookers and two interested dogs.

Sloth in mangrove

At last, on Wednesday this week, Speedwell was afloat again. I decided to pick up a mooring and relax for a few days before deciding on my next move. What a delight it is to be gently rocked to sleep at night with a cool breeze coming down the fore-hatch. Clean water to swim in whenever I fancy.

Speedwell being returned to her natural element

The plan now is to organize a transit of the canal and then explore the Pacific coast of Panama before setting off to French Polynesia and beyond.

March 17th, 2018  |  Posted in Cruising, Panama  |  4 Comments »

A Bad Day for Bokkom

Author: Shirlz

At the weekend the normally peaceful bay of Puerto Lindo gets ripped apart by a busy stream of ‘lanchas’ taking day-trippers out to a small island at the entrance to the bay where there are some beach bars and a strip of white sand. The boats take about 20 passengers at a time and seem to only know one speed: flat out. They are very solidly built fiberglass boats and their powerful outboards send them crashing over the chop creating a fearsome wake. It seems to be a point of honour to pass as close as they dare to the anchored yachts. Some actually going out of their way to do this at speed, to give the passengers a thrill, I suppose. It creates havoc in the anchorage but one learns to put up with it as the weekend is over soon enough.

A typical lancha (Not the one that did the damage)

However, Panama recently celebrated a spate of public holidays and there was a 4-day long weekend. Unprecedented hordes descended on the bay and the stream of lanchas, racing fully laden to the island, was continuous. Speed was now of the utmost in order to accommodate and profit by as many day-trippers as possible.

On Friday, the first day of the holiday weekend, I was sitting in the cockpit as the sun sank lower in the sky, grateful that the busy day was nearly over, when two lanchas on the return trip from the island, approached from astern.  Obviously a race was in progress.  As they approached one tried to overtake the other and at the last moment realized that Speedwell was in the way. When going fast the bows of these boats lift up so high that it’s impossible for the person steering the boat to see what lies directly ahead. Not a good thing in a busy anchorage when you are moving at something like 20 knots.   For a horrible moment I thought he was going to crash into Speedwell. At the last split-second he swerved sufficiently to avoid us but smashed into my beautiful plywood dinghy, Bokkom, which was hanging off the stern. The dinghy was nearly wrecked.

Look what happened

I shouted at them and the driver slowed down and looked back, aware of what had just happened, then sped off without stopping. I had no time to get the name of the boat or take a photo.

I struggled to haul the remains of my dinghy aboard before it could sink entirely. It was too heavy for me as what was left of it was filled with water. Erwin, from a neighbouring boat cane over in his kayak and helped me get it up on board.

Fortunately the thin fiberglass outer skin had held the broken pieces together and no bits were actually missing. For the next two days the rain held off sufficiently for me to fit the pieces together again like a jigsaw puzzle. I used Gorilla tape to hold things in place while I glued it up with a West system epoxy and microfiber mixture. I smoothed off the surface and put a complete layer of glass over the stern and along the seams where they had been cracked. I had to hang on carefully to everything each time a boat roared past threatening to tip the lot overboard. Two of the more responsible lancha drivers came over to speak to me and I think something must have been said to the others as I have noticed that they seem to have slowed down a little until they are past the anchored boats.

Patching things up

Heavy rain showers slowed things down over the next few days, but at last I’ve been able to cover the scars with a coat of paint and it’s usable again.  I was very grateful to have the inflatable kayak which had been given to me by a generous Australian while I was in Chaguaramas back in 2014. Getting ashore was still possible.

Awful scars

I always carry a supply of epoxy and some fiberglass so was able to get the job done quickly. I just hope that I haven’t added too much extra weight to the dinghy as up to now I have always been able to haul it up on board by hand over the lifelines.

November 12th, 2017  |  Posted in Cruising, Panama, Western Caribbean  |  3 Comments »

Shopping and waiting

Author: Shirlz

I spent a few more weeks in San Blas, reluctant to leave the lovely, thinly populated cruising grounds.

Kuna sailors

During my stay in the Naguargandap Cays I met Joyce and Lorenzo on their big blue shrimp boat, the ‘Eileen Farrell’. They were planning one of their regular shopping trips to Panama City and agreed to let me join them. I had read about the possibility of taking a jeep trip from Cartí through the jungle and was keen to experience it.

Speedwell was safely anchored in a sheltered spot near the small island of Saludupored and as we had weathered two strong (35-40 knot) blows, I felt that the anchor must be well and truly dug in. Joyce had arranged for a water taxi to pick us up at 6:30 am for the roughly 20 mile trip to Carti on the mainland. The weather was  good and we got there in 2 hours making one or two stops along the way to pick up more passengers from the scattering of tiny islands.

Carti

The jetty at Carti was quite busy with backpacker tourists arriving by road to be taken out by taxi boat to spend a few days in paradise. This is the only road connecting Guna Yala to Panama City and ‘civilization’. Cartí is not really a village, just a drop-off and pick-uo point for tourists and traders. There is a good place to have a bite to eat and I sampled my first ‘patecone’ which is a delicious fried plantain snack.

Lorenzo supervising the loading

Soon our ‘jeep’ arrived and I was a little disappointed to find that it was not the rattly,  open sort of vehicle that I had expected, but a luxurious, air-conditioned SUV. Well, it made for a comfortable ride for the long trip through the truly magnificent jungle along a roller-coaster winding road. Again, slight disappointment that it was not the rutted, muddy track described in my obviously out-of-date guide book, but a newly tarred road in good condition. We shared the vehicle with two well-travelled Canadian girls. The jeep drivers offer a great service and we were dropped off right at the entrance to our hotel in the city.

Four days of shopping and sightseeing ensued. I took a day off from the malls and supermarkets to walk around Casco Viejo which is the old part of the city that had been ruined by pirate raids hundreds of years ago. It was a rainy day so the photo-opportunities were limited but the Panama Canal museum provided an interesting place to shelter for a few hours.

Rainy day in Casco Viejo

Back on Speedwell it was a good feeling to be properly stocked up again with all my food lockers filled to the brim. The fairly regular visits from the ‘veggie boat’ would keep me supplied with fresh stuff. I felt I could stay indefinitely. But back to reality…

I planned to visit my son, Pete, and his family during December and for this I, as a lowly South African passport holder, needed a visa. So back we sailed to Puerto Lindo on a moonlit night, narrowly missing the spooky black conical silhouette of the enormous Open Blue fish farm along the way. I needed to get to a place with more reliable internet access to complete the online visa application form. Once this had been painstakingly achieved,  a quick bus trip to the city to have my fingerprints taken and the whole lot, including my precious passport,  sent off to Bogotá where the there is an embassy that actually processes visa applications. Now I resignedly await the outcome and hopeful return of my documents.

Puerto Lindo anchorage

Puerto Lindo is a relaxed little place to be waiting. Just a very small village (actually called Garrote) with one or two tiny ‘tiendas’ selling the barest basics. A happy pig keeps cool by wallowing in one of the small streams that run down from the hillside. Blissfully unaware of his ultimate destiny. Chickens range freely. A veggie truck comes by most days and announces it’s arrival over a megaphone which I, of course, never actually hear. So if I need stuff I row ashore to Casa X, a popular yottie hangout, and nurse a fruit juice until it appears. If I have already missed it it can usually be found further along the way.

It’s Saturday today and usually a good day for the truck but Puerto Lindo, 25km down the only access road, is celebrating the annual ‘Black Christ‘ pilgrimage. Folk walk or sometimes crawl on all fours from Sabanitas,  a distance of 22 miles, hoping for whatever miracle their particular circumstances require. Criminals traditionally take part hoping to atone for their misbehaviour. The town assumes a festive air with many food stalls springing up to feed the masses. It all seems suggestive of the sort of thing that might happen on Discworld.

Well, anyway the upshot was that Puerto Lindo was totally cut off for two days. So no veggie truck or buses and a peaceful day-tripper-free weekend.

October 25th, 2017  |  Posted in Cruising, Panama  |  No Comments »