Tradewinds Sailing Blog

As much as I enjoyed the Atlantic ocean and Caribbean sea, it sure feels good to back in the Pacific. The Atlantic side of Panama was cloudy and rainy with thunder and lightning. But the Pacific side has dawned clear and sunny and wonderful. I am continuing my long journey from Buenos Aires to San Francisco, after a 2 week wait in Panama to transit the canal.

After yesterday’s morning delay, we were re-scheduled to pick up our canal advisor at 3:30pm, and transit straight through, without spending the night on Gatun lake. And it actually worked that way. We have a 32-foot Brazilian sailboat rafter up to us on entering the first Gatun locks, and we transited in the center of the chamber, directly behind a monster tanker. There is indeed some turbulence when the lock fills, and when the tanked engages his propellor, but we handled things fine and locked up the 3 locks without incident.

The Brazilian boat couldn’t re-start his engine though, so we towed him to the Gatun anchorage before continuing on our way across the lake. We had to motor at 8 knots to meet the schedule at the other end, but as it was dark anyway, we didn’t miss much. For the Pedro Miguel and Miraflores locks, we rafted next to a 100-foot motor yacht, who was tied to the sidewall, and locked down that way. The only challenge was that we had to separate after each lock, then he would go first, settle into the new lock, and we would have to cozy up to his side again. Sounds easy, but there was a surprising amount of current running with us, and a bit of wind, which made steering and maneuvering quite challenging. But no harm, no foul, no damage, and all ended well at 1am, when we spilled out under the Bridge of the Americas and officially entered the Pacific Ocean.

At 2am we stopped at the Balboa Yacht Club to allow my crew off, but they wouldn’t allow me stay more than an hour, so at 3am I departed for San Francisco. As soon as I did, the skies cleared, the full moon lit the way, and a 10 knot breeze filled in on my beam. Perfect!

Today I am continuing south for about 100 miles, working my way out of the Bay of Panama so I can turn northwest. What happens then remains to be seen, as a coastal route in still a possibility, as is an offshore route, or perhaps a combination of the two. Its all dependent on the weather. So when you look at the miles to go, it presume an offshore route, which would be longest.

5/5  8am  8.25N  79.36W   5543nm gone,  5065nm to go

Well, the story is that the freighter we were supposed to lock up with this morning got delayed, and the tanker that took its place was a Panamax, meaning there was no room left for me. So now, I am supposed to get the advisor at 3:30pm, and start locking up to Gatun about 4pm. But they are saying I will continue straight through, locking down on the Pacific side at about 1:30am. This would allow my crew to still make their flights home, but may also make the trip a bit more challenging, as we’ll cross the lake at night, lock down at night, and have to find the Balboa yacht Club at night.

Apparently I have some kind of departure/arrival jinx, as the weather can be perfect for weeks on end, but the day I want to leave, or the day I arrive somewhere, all hell breaks loose. Last night was looking great, with a full moon and light breeze. Then at about 1am, dark clouds moved in, and a fierce lightning storm erupted, flashing all around us, knocking out the electricity, and unleashing some torrential rain. It had lessened a bit by the time we left the dock at 5am, but the wind was still 15 knots in the harbor. So we’ll see what this afternoon delivers…

Ah well, it is what it is, and we’ll make the best of it.

5/4  8am   back in Shelter Bay…

We arrived at canal entrance 5:30am per our schedule. No advisor
showed up at 6. At 6:15 I called in and was told we were not going
until the afternoon and to stand by. We have returned to the marina
while the agent tries to confirm yet another schedule. Apparent story
is that the freighter we were to lock through with had issues.

More when I get news…

5/4  7am

We had a slight change of plans this afternoon regarding our transit. Instead of locking up to Gatun lake today and spending the night anchored there, we will lock up at 6am tomorrow morning, then continue straight through, and complete locking down to the Pacific at 3:30pm, arriving about 2 hours later than our original plan.

I am back in Panama, and we are scheduled to transit southbound from the Atlantic to the Pacific starting this afternoon. I have been joined by friends Marianne Wheeler, Steve and Charlene Swierkowski, and Isabelle Deneyer, as I must have 4 line handlers aboard in addition to myself in order to transit.

We are scheduled to pick up our canal advisor ( a requirement) at 3:15pm today, and enter the Gatun locks at 3:45pm. We should complete locking up to Gatun lake at 6pm, and anchor nearby at 6:30pm, spending the night on the lake. At 6am tomorrow, we’ll receive our advisor again, motor some 30 miles across the lake, and enter the Pedro Miguel locks, then the Miraflores locks, locking down to the Pacific ocean, and finish about 1:30pm.

I will drop off the crew at the Balboa Yacht Club on the Pacific side, then continue on my way to San Francisco. They will fly home  in a few hours, while I will sail for about a month. It’s not clear yet whether I will sail a coastal route, an offshore route, and a combination. The weather forecast right now suggests I will start up the coast, at least for the first 5 days, but I’ll talk more about that when I get there.

For now my focus is on starting my transit of the Panama Canal today.

5/3/12   8am Panama time  (6am California)

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.