by Judy Handley | Mar 2, 2006 | Panama, Sailing Logs Year 1 |
Day 136, Year 1: Contadora, Las Perlas Islands
Date: Thursday, March 2, 2006
Weather: Clear Blue Skies
Air Temperature: 79 degrees F
Water Temperature: 69 degrees F and Rising Slowly
Location: Contadora, Las Perlas Islands, Panama
We awoke to the sound of birds and clear blue skies. It is really lovely here and very quiet during the week. They say that is not the case on the weekends when the people from Panama City that own homes here come to enjoy their weekend homes. But today, it was perfect. The mooring at the Balboa Yacht Club was great, but there were probably a hundred or so boats there. And you could tell that you were on the edge of a big city. This morning I felt like I was out in the country compared to where we have been. It is a good feeling to get out here where the pace of things is a little slower.
There are a couple of things here that I should mention. One is the tide here. There is a 17 to 20 tide differential. Much more than we have been seeing in the Caribbean. Also, the water temperature is once again rising, although slowly. I guess the cold waters of the Humboldt Current have decided to go elsewhere. And then there are the pelicans. There are so many of them. They fly in group of 5 to 25 and have a fascinating flight pattern. They fly in formation and the pelican in the front leads the group up in the air and back down. They look like an undulating wave in the sky. There are also many frigate birds. They soar more like hawks. I cannot think of many times when I have seen so many birds – except perhaps the geese on the Chesapeake Bay.
We spent the first part of the morning listening to the Panama Pacific Net where other sailors headed our way check in and where there is a daily weather report. We then went to shore and explored the island by foot. There are some beautiful homes and a couple of resort hotels, but not much else. There are a couple of mini supermarkets and one gas pump. People have cars and heavy equipment on the island, but we don’t find a working pier. Not sure how they get things here, but since they will be arriving tomorrow afternoon for the weekend, maybe we will find out.
We will stay here tomorrow and move to another island on Saturday. We will be leaving the Las Perlas by mid or late next week headed for the Galapagos. I am spending free time during the day reading and researching the wildlife we will experience there. I can’t wait.
by Judy Handley | Mar 1, 2006 | Panama, Sailing Logs Year 1 |
Day 135, Year 1: Voyage of Windbird Phase II
Date: Wednesday, March 1, 2006
Weather: Partly Sunny, Enough Wind to Sail
Air Temperature: 79 degrees F
Water Temperature: 67 degrees F
Latitude: 08 degrees 37 minutes
Longitude: 79 degrees 01 minutes
Location: Contadora, Las Perlas Islands, Panama
We started our day early by heading into the Balboa Yacht Club at 0645 via the launch to pick up blocks of ice that Roosevelt, the taxi driver, had promised to bring us. He was right on time and had two big hunks of ice for our on deck cooler. We use this cooler for storage during passages-after the ice has melted. While we have ice, we can store extra vegetables and drinks in the cooler to extend our fresh food life. We have had a very large Igloo aboard since leaving Boston, but while in Panama City, we bought a much smaller Igloo to give us more aft deck working space. This morning we took the bigger cooler to the dock and figured someone would want it. Actually Roosevelt jumped at the chance to get the cooler. When he looked at it, he just said, “Beach party!” We hope he enjoys it.
I stayed on shore while Mark took the ice out to the boat. I had to send Panama pictures to our son Justin so he can get them on the website and I knew this morning would be my last internet connection until we reach the Galapagos. About 0830, Mark came back to get me and we headed down the long Balboa Yacht Club dock to catch the launch back to Windbird. We had been there almost two weeks and it was beginning to feel like home-definitely a sign that it is time to move on. But we met some great people that we hope to see along the way in the Pacific.
By 0900, we were headed out into the Pacific. I called this log, Phase II, as that is how it feels. We completed our trip from Boston through the Caribbean, and now we are beginning the second phase of our adventure in the Pacific. Fitting that it was the first day of a new month for the first day of Phase II. We headed down the long line of channel markers for boats coming into and out of the Panama Canal. The causeway that begins with the Bridge of the Americas continues past the Balboa Yacht Club and follows the channel out into the Pacific. We had a fantastic view of Panama City to our port and huge numbers of cargo ships at anchor in front of us awaiting Canal transit. We worked our way through the maze of big ships, through an area of water littered with trash, and then through another area of water where a red tide was in full bloom. Rusty red clouds of algae billowed beneath us. We were motoring, with Aqua Magic and another boat from the marina behind us.
While things were calm we each did some work on the boat. Mark polished some stainless and I took advantage of the light winds to spray water proofing on the dodger and bimini – canvass that provides us with shade in the cockpit.
Eventually we came to clear water and a fantastic breeze. We had about 20 knots on the beam and were able to sail the rest of the way to Contadora in the Las Perlas islands. We arrived here around 1600 and were pleasantly surprised by clear waters. We had heard on the weather net that the water here was greenish brown and murky from the algae bloom, but evidently it has moved on. We were especially pleased to see Windcastle. Doug had been very ill for a few days before leaving Balboa and it was good to see him well and active.
It was really a good feeling to be in sailing in the Pacific on our first day out. We will island hop here for a few days and then head to the Galapagos. That is about a nine day trip and we will probably not have good sailing. We will be crossing the equator on the way which puts us in the doldrums for most of that trip. But then we thought we would have no wind today and we had a fantastic sail. As I’m sure you are aware, it is impossible to predict the weather, so we just have to be prepared for whatever Mother Nature sends our way.
by Judy Handley | Feb 28, 2006 | Panama, Sailing Logs Year 1 |
Day 134, Year 1: Last Day of Carnival
Date: Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Weather: No Change
Location: Balboa Yacht Club, Balboa, Panama
This was our final day in Balboa. We took advantage of our extra day here to go into Panama City for the final day of Carnival. It was great to see so many families with young children enjoying the parade. The children here are very well behaved and polite. I think Carnival here must be very different from Mardi Gras in New Orleans, but it was a lot of fun. I must say that I enjoyed the parade we saw on Saturday even more than the grand finale today. The traditional dance and music with people in native costume on Saturday was spectacular. The floats today were flashy, but not as interesting to me as the traditional dress.
We leave in the morning for the Las Perlas islands. Tomorrow’s trip is about 40 miles, so we will be there by mid-afternoon. Our first stop is at Contadora. I understand that the Survivor Las Perlas series was filmed at a small island just across from where we will be anchored. I’ll go check it out to see if I could survive there!
by Judy Handley | Feb 27, 2006 | Panama, Sailing Logs Year 1 |
Day 133, Year 1: Slight Delay in Plans
Date: Monday, February 27, 2006
Weather: Continued Sunny and Warm
Location: Balboa Yacht Club, Balboa, Panama
We are ready and waiting to head west, but Carnival is causing us to have a slight delay. The Yacht Club office closed today at noon and will not reopen until Wednesday because of Carnival. That means that mooring fees cannot be paid until then. We are heading out with Aqua Magic and they got to shore just a little too late to catch anyone in the office. Fortunately, we paid on Saturday when we went to the dock to fill up with diesel and water, but we were almost glad for the delay as this will give us the chance to enjoy the last day of Carnival. We should be headed to the Las Perlas early on Wednesday morning and will stay there for a few days to catch our breath before beginning the nine day journey to the Galapagos.
Margaret from Aqua Magic and myself went to shore at 0830 this morning. I called Roosevelt, a taxi driver we had used on Saturday, and had him pick us up at 0900. Roosevelt is from the part of Panama that borders with Costa Rica and speaks great English. He explained to us that everyone in that part of Panama speaks English and that he actually had to go to school to learn Spanish. He is a great asset as he can interpret for us. Besides that, he’s just a great guy and it has been a pleasure doing business with him. He charges us $8.00 an hour and takes us wherever we need to go and goes into the stores with us to interpret and find the best deals. This morning we went into the fresh fruit and vegetable market. It was so big we had to drive from one area to another. No one spoke English, so Roosevelt’s translation skills were most helpful. He also knows how to choose the best of local produce and he knows where to get it. At the end of the hour, I had bought a large stalk of bananas, a huge bag of oranges to share with Aqua Magic, onions, potatoes, tomatoes, celery, lettuce, green peppers, cantaloupe, egg plant, okra, broccoli, limes, Chinese cabbage, Bok Choy, Daikon radish, pineapple, and more. We are not going to starve-that’s for sure. We returned to the marina to take the bounty back to our boats and stow it away before making the second provisioning trip of the day. At 1400, Roosevelt retuned and took Mark and I and Patrick and Margaret to PriceSmart. This is like a Sam’s Club and were we found most of the items on our lists. But not all. So Roosevelt took Patrick and Mark back to the marina and dropped us off at a 24-7 grocery store. There we were able to complete our provisioning. Now we need to find places to store all this food. Then we can rest.
So tomorrow will be a little bit slower than today, we will have to have everything done by 1400 and then head into Via Espana for a little Carnival fun.
by Judy Handley | Feb 26, 2006 | Panama, Sailing Logs Year 1 |
Day 132, Year 1: Ready to Leave Panama
Date: Sunday, February 26, 2006
Air Temperature: 83 degrees F daytime, 76 degrees F nighttime
Water Temperature: 67 degrees F—Still Cool
Location: Balboa Yacht Club, Balboa, Panama
Today in a nutshell-Chico arrives at 0900 to clean the waterline of the boat while Mark polishes stainless on deck and Judy starts a laundry cycle, listens to the Panama Pacific net for weather information, and reviews e-mails received this week; 1030 Judy heads into the Balboa Yacht Club Bar to send e-mails and make phone calls via Skype; 1300 we meet Patrick and Margaret from Aqua Magic for lunch at the Balboa Yacht Club Bar; 1400 Patrick, Margaret, Mark, and I hail a taxi to take us to the Miraflores Lock Panama Canal Visitor Center; 1530 we return to the Yacht Club to drop off Patrick and Margaret, and Mark and I continue with the taxi driver to what is known as “old town” in Panama City to take pictures; 1630 Mark and I return to the Balboa Yacht Club and take the launch out to Windbird; 1700 Judy does the rinse and hang cycle of a laundry begun in the AM; 1750 Mark and I head back into the Yacht Club Bar via launch to send e-mails, search for needed supplies online, and to try and call family on the computer via Skype. We ended up staying at the bar until 1930. While e-mailing, searching the web, and calling family, we talked with other cruisers, danced, and had dinner. What more can you ask for?
In order to use Skype on the computer to make free calls to family, we have to sit on the curb just outside the restaurant/bar on shore. It’s great. We had beer and appetizers delivered curbside, and then when we finished the phone calls, we went back and sat at a table in the bar/restaurant and enjoyed the “live” Sunday night DJ. He was obviously from the US and played 60’s music while all of us danced and had a great time. From here on, I don’t think we will have this sort of gathering area for cruisers, but I’m sure we will find ways to meet on the beach and make our own music and food. I can’t wait, but I will miss the fun times we have had with other cruisers in the yacht clubs and bars along the way. I hope we will be able to recreate the fantastic atmosphere in the South Pacific.
The Panama Canal Visitor’s Center was interesting, but I kept thinking that “I’ve been here and done this.” The history of Canal building was interesting and the interactive displays of transiting were well done. But since se had just done this, much of the Visitor Center display was a repeat of what we have just done while transiting. I’m still glad we went as we were able to learn much about the history of building the Canal. After completing the tour and dropping Patrick and Margaret off at the marina, we had Oscar, our taxi driver to take to us to the old part of town to take pictures.
Before I knew it we were back on Windbird and I finished the laundry begun this morning. We then hailed a launch and went back to shore to talk with other cruisers and complete our e-mails and calls. We ended up having dinner and enjoying the music and dancing.
Tomorrow is the day to go to the fresh fruit and veggie market and to go to food markets for the last time. By the end of the day, we should be provisioned from here to the Galapagos for fresh food and from here to Tahiti for everything else. If all goes as planned, we will be leaving here on Tuesday morning.
by Judy Handley | Feb 25, 2006 | Panama, Sailing Logs Year 1 |
Day 131, Year 1: Carnival in Panama City
Date: Saturday, February 25, 2006
Weather: Changing with Arrival of Humbolt Current
Air Temperature: 83 degrees F daytime, 76 degrees F nighttime
Water Temperature: 67 degrees F—Yikes!
Location: Balboa Yacht Club, Balboa, Panama
Today was the second day of Carnival here and we just returned from a late afternoon, early evening trip to Via Espana to join in some of the fun. We left the Balboa Yacht Club at 4 PM and headed into town via taxi. The taxi took us right to where the action was taking place and before 5 PM we were enjoying the floats in the parade. The Queen and her Court were first in the parade. The theme of tonight’s parade was traditional dress, so each float or group of people walking in the parade were wearing their traditional best. It was great fun with everyone squirting water and throwing confetti.
This morning we moved the boat to the dock to fill up with diesel and water and wash down the boat. Early in the afternoon, we took a taxi into the Albrook Mall near the University of Panama. I went to get more drinks (beer, water, coke) and to buy the plastic baskets I will use to store the fresh fruits and vegetables we will purchase on Monday. We are slowly but surely capturing the necessary items. We plan to leave for Las Perlas Islands on Tuesday and stay there about a week before heading for the Galapagos.
The weather is changing here. The Humbolt current has brought in cold water which has lowered the water temperature seven degrees since we arrived here in Balboa. This has also caused a red tide in Las Perlas. This means we won’t be doing much snorkeling there but hope we will have time to relax and get organized for our passage to the Galapagos.
