Panama Canal

Well what an experience!!

We actually left Shelter Bay Marina a day early so arrived here in La Playita on the Pacific side of Panama yesterday and anchored outside the Marina which was full.

The transit started with us leaving the Marina just before 4pm and motoring out to an anchorage called the Flats which is just across the bay from Shelter Bay. We had to wait here until our Adviser for the canal transit boarded at around 5.30pm. We had a guy called Moses who was really good and helpful. Peter then motored towards Gatun Locks which is the start of the canal. This took around 30 minutes so just enough tim for me to cook some spaghetti to feed Moses to go with the mince I had already cooked. Apparently you always have to provide a hot meal and drinks for the Adviser!! Anyway he loved the spaghetti bolognaise and even Peter who is not a big pasta fan said it was good!

The boat arrived just outside Gatun Locks around 7ish and this is where we had to raft up alongside another yacht called Sapphire a larger monohull 67 feet in length who was the centre boat. Trompeta was on the port side and another HR 42 called Matilda was on the starboard side. The centre boat had a Pilot on board as they were over 65 feet in length. It appeared that the Advisers on the two outside boats were giving advice to the pilot on the centre boat as to how lines should be tied. When we entered the first lock chamber a line was thrown from the wall to our stern and bow, you have to watch out as there is a monkey fist on the end of each line!! Dave then attached our bow line ( an extra long one lent to us ) to the line thrown by the line handler and the line handler then pulled his throwing line back to fasten our line to a large concrete bollard at th top of the wall. The stern line was actually given to Sapphire as they were a longer and heavier boat they controlled the stern lines on both sides of the chamber. Both side boats had big tyres attached to the side with ropes tied to the stanchions in case of any impact but we did not come anywhere near the wall at any time. We were probably fortunate that the Skipper on Sapphire was a professional who used to work on a 100 feet yacht so was very competent, a New Zealander called Scott. So Sapphire motored
through to the lock chamber pulling both side boats through using his engine. We had to keep
running our engines as when Sapphire was far enough into the chamber both side boats had to engage reverse to help stop the nest! So then we sat and waited for the two rafts(nests) to
form behind us so we ended up with three rafts inside th lock. The gates closed and we were
then lifted upwards as the chamber filled with water, and the line handlers on the boats
adjusted our lines as needed taking up th slack. Once the lock was full of water the gates
opened again and we proceeded to the next lock chamber and the lines were released back to the
line handlers on the walls to throw to us again once inside the next lock. The whole process
was repeated again for the next lock. There are three locks in total so it was quite late by
the time we got through to Gatun lake on the other side. We then had to anchor the boat here
overnight and our Adviser was picked up by th launch boat at 10 pm.

So day 2 a new Adviser called Oscar joined us just after 7am for the second part of the
Transit. Peter then motored for 28 miles along the lake to the next set of locks. Along the
way there was a lot of dredging taking place so the water was a rather muddy colour instead of being clear/greeny as it was fresh water. The final set of locks are Pedro Miguel with one chamber and Miraflores with two chambers. This was going down so water was drained from the
lock chambers whilst we were inside but the process was the same as for going up Gatun Locks. There was only a mile between these two locks so Scott motored the nest forward to Miraflores
with us still attached. At Miraflores there is a web cam and everyone on the yachts waved at
the cameras just in case anyone back at home was watching!! There were hundreds of spectators
watching us go through standing in the control tower.

After Miraflores second lock (which is a mixture of sea water from the Pacific and fresh
water from the lake) we then entered into the Pacific Ocean!!

So.....we are now on the Pacific side of Panama. Unfortunately the La Playita Marina is full
so we are anchored outside which is OK except when big boats or large tenders drive fast past
us and we get lots of wash and a very rolly boat!!

So whilst here we have a trip to the Ember Indian village and a tour of Panama City. should be able to update you again before we leave to be in Las Perlas islands by 6th Feb.

Panama

Have now arrived in Shelter Bay Marina ready for the next part of the journey through the Panama Canal on Sunday.

Have had a lovely time in the San Blas islands which are quite unique in that they are occupied by the Kuna Indians who refer to the San Blas Islands and the associated mainland territory as Kuna Yala. The land is unspoilt and not developed at all with no fences so tribe members can pass through. The rendezvous lunch we had in Chichime was a chance for the crews to get together after the first leg from St Lucia and we were guests of the Humberto family. It was a pot luck lunch so each boat contributed food. When you anchor in these Islands the local women row out in their Ulu which is a dug out canoe to sell you Molas and beaded jewellery. The Kuna people are all small as they are not allowed to marry foreigners so are all interbred! They wear colourful clothing and women rule the roost here!! The mainstay of the Kuna economy is coconuts which grow in abundance and until a few years ago were the official means of exchange.

The Molas are Panamas most famous handicraft and are beautiful appliqué squares of cloth intricately made by sewing and cutting different layers of colourful cloth. Each Mola is unique and usually show abstracted forms of birds, animals or marine life. I have bought one as a souvenir of Panama.

Whilst in San Blas we met up with Pat & Mary on Go Free and had an entertaining evening with them before they left to head back up to the BVIs again.

First trip to Colon this morning to check out the REY supermarket for provisioning. We all went and the supermarket sent a bus to collect us and our shopping and we were taken back to the Marina free of charge. This is only the drinks run!! We have all the groceries to get still so back on the Marina bus tomorrow again a free service which takes about 30 minutes.

The Marina has a very small chandlery so Peter will have to try and get his spares from the other end of the canal in Panama City. We may not be on the dock at the other end as this Marina has limited space so expect to anchor outside.

We do not find out the results of the first leg until we reach Las Perlas but I expect you have all been watching us on the fleet viewer so can probably tell us how we did?!! Not last we think probably somewhere in the middle of the fleet so quite respectable for an old boat.

World ARC Start Day!!!!

Well it has finally arrived and today is the start of our world trip. The start time is mid day local time which is 4pm UK time. All the boats congregate in the bay outside the Marina and pass through an officially designated start point. Our Yellow Brick tracker device is now fitted and working so you will be able to see exactly where we are at any time by going to the World Cruising website and clicking on World Arc 2012-13 then look at the fleet viewer.

Everyone went to a farewell reception last night hosted by the St Lucia Tourist Board and free drinks and canapes were provided to all the boat crews. A very enjoyable night was had by all.

So.......we are off today and next stop is the San Blas Islands where we check into Panama. The distance is 1100 miles and we have estimated it will take us 7 days (I think this is optimistic but we will see!!). We need to average a boat speed of 6.5 knots to achieve the ETA. Hmmm? Our previous trips have us averaging 5 to 6 knots max. Oh well perhaps there will be lots of wind - the forecast is 20-28 knots which is quite brisk!

Anyway next blog is likely to be before we go through the Panama Canal from Shelter Bay Marina as there is no WiFi in remote San Blas Islands. Our transit date through the canal is 29 Jan and we have to be in Shelter Bay Marina Panama by 28 Jan.

Happy New Year!!

We returned back from Martinique having explored the shops and found decent French wine plus other items for the ships stores. New Years Eve was spent at anchor off Pigeon Island outside Rodney Bay Marina and we saw in the New Year at 8pm local time midnight UK time!! There was a very good display of fireworks on the beach at midnight and the bangs woke me up so it was easy to watch what was happening through my window.

There was quite a bit of rain the following night and the bad news is that the foreward hatch still leaks so the next day it was back into the Marina for Dave to have another go at sealing it again. The bank holiday lasts until 4 Jan so only the supermarkets are open which means the chandlery is not open until tomorrow.

When Dave and Alison were swimming around the boat cleaning off the barnacles after Christmas they noticed the antifoul paint was coming off so we have an appointment to get lifted out of the water at 7.30am tomorrow and will spend 2 days on the hard getting the boat painted again. Dave & Alison are booking into a hotel for 2 nights but Peter and I will stay onboard for security reasons. The boat yard does have good security but we have a lot of valuable gear on board so feel it is best if we are around. We intend to do the painting ourselves to save money.

Tonight is the first official World ARC event which is drinks and nibbles at the Marina Bar. We have already had our safety inspection and everything was OK except Peter could not find the spare VHF aerial so I guess he will buy another tomorrow!

Further briefings take place on Thursday and Saturday then we depart at 12 noon on Sunday 8 January!