Tradewinds Sailing Blog

Hallelujah, I made it. After 33 days at sea, sailing 5,457 nautical miles, I pulled in to Shelter Bay marina in Colon, Panama, at 3am local time and tied to the dock. Whew!

As much as I would have liked a boring end to the trip, with calm winds and seas and a daytime arrival, none of that was to be for me. The winds have blown 15-20 knots for the last two days, and instead of dying close to shore, they increased. And after two days of blowing, the wind waves and swells were up to 6 feet, with occasional 8-footers thrown in, just to see if I am paying attention.

The approach to Colon starts about 20 miles out, when all the big shipping traffic, in and out, starts converging. I took the sails down at 10 miles out, as I was going too fast and needed more control over speed and direction. Dozens of ships anchored outside the breakwater are lit up like christmas trees, making it especially hard to see the dark ships- and those are the ones that are moving, showing only 2 white lights and a red/green.

I made it to the entrance without getting run over, surfed into the relative protection of the breakwater, and headed just a few miles to the right to the narrow marina entrance, with a cross wind still blowing 22 knots. I pulled in to the first vacant slip as instructed, barely missing a few multi-million dollar mega yachts as I drifted sideways down the fairway, and finally got a rope on a cleat.

I think all the big wind and waves of the last few days, rocking and rolling the boat like crazy as I sailed downwind, was designed to ensure that I walked like a drunken sailor when I first stepped off the boat. And it worked!  Trying to walk down the wide stable concrete dock was challenging, and I must have looked drunk.

I’ll go through immigration and customs later today, and tomorrow the boat will be measured for the canal, I’ll pay some fees, and I should get my transit date by the end of the day. But that’s the next chapter in this story. For now, I just need some chocolate and some sleep…

4/16  4am   9.22.12N  79.57.01W    5457nm gone.

Not really, but it seems like I should. At 8:00 this morning I was only 140 miles away from the canal breakwater. After sailing over 5300 miles to get here, it seems reaaalllly close!

But, despite being close, I still have my regular routine for today, and that includes walking the deck at first light to toss the flying fish back into the sea, before they baked onto the fiberglass by the sun. I don’t think a day has gone by since I reached the southern tropics more than 3 weeks ago, that I didn’t have at least one flying fish to toss back. Usually there are 2 or 3, typically from 3 to 6 inches long. Many times I have been tempted to fry them up for breakfast, but I understand they are bony and fishy tasting, and only good when truly starving, which I am not.

I hope I don’t jinx my good luck, but since it is already sunny, I can safely say that I have enjoyed sunshine every single day of this trip. 33 days at sea, and 33 days of sunshine. In fact, the only rain I had was from a few passing squalls near the equator. When you consider I also had a perfect 20 days of sunshine on my last long sail (20 days from Fortaleza Brazil down to Buenos Aires last year), I’m not sure how to account for all this good fortune. I just hope I haven’t ruined my next trip by bragging about it…

I enjoyed good following winds and seas yesterday, and covered 173 miles. So with only 140 to go, I am likely to arrive at the Cristobol breakwater around 2am local time- the dark of night with no moon up yet. We’ll see how today goes, but I am considering intentionally slowing down a bit (which is really hard and unnatural for me), to time my arrival with first light around 5:30am local. Hopefully, tomorrows report will be from the dock at Shelter Bay marina.

P.S. – Happy tax day!

4/15   8am    10.37N   77.55W   5309nm gone,  140nm to go

Yesterday marked a full month, 31 days, at sea for me. Its hard to believe I haven’t worn shoes or pants for a month, and I haven’t passed a comb through my hair for a month! (Yes, I wash it regularly, but just towel it dry and forget it or let the wind do the job).

Yesterday continued light, and then became odd and changeable though the night. The predicted north wind came in the afternoon, but lasted only 3 hours before dying. A few hours later, a SE wind started blowing off the shore, which also lasted a few hours. Finally at 4:30am, the NE trade winds filled in at 12-18 knots, and sailing has been really nice since. But as the sun is coming up now, the wind seems to be getting a bit lighter. Anyway, it all made for a busy night jibing and trimming and changing everything around a few times.

At least there was some entertainment. I have been sailing 40-50 miles off the coast, and had a clear starry night overhead. But on the shoreline, it was dark and cloudy with lots of lightning, which put on a fine show.

I feel like I am on the final countdown now, with likely less than 48 hours to go. Barring any major surprises, I will get into Shelter Bay on Monday, probably early morning.

4/14  8am   11.33N   75.09W    5136nm gone,  313nm to go.

While it is supposed to be an unlucky day in the U.S., in Argentina it means nothing, as their unlucky day is Tuesday the 13th. Go figure. I imagine it will be like most other days.

It was a very light day yesterday, but at least the sea was flat to go with it, so I could take advantage of the light wind without the waves shaking it out of the sails. Although there was wind forecast for the evening and night, it never showed up, and it remains light this morning. To make matters worse, I have run into the counter-current that curls around from Panama and back up the coast of Colombia. I think it is worst at the head of the peninsula I am just getting around, so hopefully that will improve today, and maybe this evening some real wind will show up, too.

Just before sunset yesterday, another school of dolphins came out to play for an hour, and I took more photos and video, but in all honesty it probably looks the same as all the other pictures and video I have taken. Ah well, it is always fun to watch, and lean over the side and interact with them.

I am starting to notice more traffic now, too. Considering some 36 big boats pass through the canal each day, I suppose I will be seeing a lot more traffic as I get closer. So I am trying to stay close enough to shore to be out of the way of the big guys, but in deep enough water to avoid the fisherman and buoys and hazards.

Even with the slow day yesterday I am still looking to arrive on Monday.

4/13 8am   12.24N   72.29W    4973nm gone,  478nm to go

It would appear I am less than 100 hours from Panama, so I have altered my personal countdown to hours now, instead of days. Based on the weather forecast, an early Monday morning arrival looks likely. Interesting to note that I am a few days ahead of the blustery winds this area is known for- the area I am today will be getting 25+ knots in Sunday. I don’t think I’ll wait.

Last night was the glow of Bonaire and Curacao, and this morning I am along the coast of Aruba. I should cross into Colombian waters later this afternoon, and this evening start turning left a bit, to go south towards Panama. I am probably at my northern most point already, latitude 12.40, as I am headed pretty much due west all day.

I know I need to stay focused on handling the boat, and stay in my daily routine, but I find my mind wandering more and more towards getting there, being there, finding out my transit date (5 days delay?  15 days delay? what will it be???) and planning my trip home in between.

4/12   8am   12.40N   69.53W    4818nm gone,  631nm to go.

That’s right, its 4-11, so celebrate some information today.

I celebrated having the spinnaker up all day again yesterday, in similar conditions to Monday- east winds 8-12 knots, and light seas. About 5pm the wind shifted NE and strengthened a bit, so I switched to the genoa for the night.

Although I am 100 miles north of Caracas, Venezuela, I could see the city glow from it last night before the midnight moon came up. Today should see me pass Bonaire and Curcacao, and Aruba during the night, at my northern most latitude this side of the canal. Then tomorrow morning sometime I will start to turn southwest, to follow the coasts of Colombia and Panama.

I still anticipate arriving Monday morning in Panama.

4/11  8am   12.19N   66.53W    4643nm gone,  809nm to go.

I received a fine Caribbean welcome yesterday, with sunny skies, 88 degrees (31C), flat seas and 8-12 knots of wind. After rounding the corner of Trinidad, I turned more west, and that brought the wind back to an apparent 150 degrees- a very deep broad reach. With the main and jib up, I was only getting 6 knots of boatspeed, as the jib was being shadowed by the main. Then I thought, wait, these are perfect spinnaker conditions!

So 10 minutes later, the jib was furled and I was flying the big beautiful purple-navy-and-aqua maxi asymmetrical spinnaker. What was 6 knots boatspeed under the jib became 8 knots under the spinnaker. And more importantly, as I sailed the gap between the islands of Trinidad and Tobago, the rising sun behind me as I entered the Caribbean Sea, I was obeying Rule #4 and Looking Good!

The wind remained steady throughout the day, but went light after the sun set. And then at 3am a strange thing happened. I jibed to port tack. I had been on Starboard tack for the last 3000 miles! I think my left leg had grown an inch in order to reach the slanted deck, so now everything seems mixed up.

I am currently pointed towards Tortuga, and will say “Hi” to Jack Sparrow as I pass. Sorry. *Captain* Jack Sparrow. Actually, I expect to jibe back to starboard later this morning, long before I reach Tortuga. Looking at a Monday arrival, with less than 1000 miles to go! Better to book those Cayman Islands flights than go sailing!

4/10 8am   11.34N   64.05W    4473nm gone,   980nm to go