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.
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.
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.
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.
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 13th, 2017 at 19:25
Oh, poor Bokkum – and poor you! But what an amazingly resilient dinghy you have. In a way it’s quite reassuring to see what it can handle. When you get to NZ, we’ll bring her into my shed, saw out the old transom and fit a new one for you and your lovely dinghy will be good as new!
December 14th, 2017 at 15:30
I long to live in a world inhabited only by persons like Shirley and Annie, persons whose response to events such as this does not begin with an angry word (though privately some may be felt) but rather a simple reporting of facts and an expression of willingness to help. How civilized.
January 12th, 2018 at 05:07
Spent the day catching up , realized I had missed you , and viola – a tale with a happy ending…
Shirlz , I wish on you a splendid recovery from the festive season , a brilliant 2018 , and more fun than you can comfortably handle …. big hugz ….
Kris
Ps… will email more personal stuff shortly….
January 12th, 2019 at 20:05
Shiriz, so great to finally see how you are doing. Loved reading about your trip through the Panama canal. Wow, you are amazing! We did sell our boat (I cried but I love Trey more than that always broken boat. I really do miss you. We are adjusting to cold winters here in CO, started skiing again! Take care. I think of you often