Sept. 23, 2009

We moved to a mooring at the Balboa Yacht Club after one night at the anchorage, where we dragged in a squall. Michael was not feeling well, and Sue was going to be in FL for a week....hence the move to a 'new' place for us. The mooring field is close to the Bridge of the America's and about a couple of hundred yards off the canal. The shipping traffic is constant, as are the work/ACP pilot boats. Not the most calm place, but convenient to taxi or bus to town. They don't have a dinghy dock, but provide a launcha service to pick up or drop you off at your boat. Sue went to Miami to pick up our extended stay visas for French Polynesia, but being so close to kids, made a trip to Orlando and New Port Richey. Michael tackled a list of projects....even completing a few! We've met more expats who are willing to share local knowledge and show us around....time is flying by.
(Infini is by the stern of the freighter)
For info on BYC: http://www.noonsite.com/Countries/Panama/Balboa

Sept. 10 Back to Amadore Las Brisas

Wow, a week at Espiritu Santo went fast. After getting the engine running again, we tackled the sewing project of a rain 'window' to go between our dodger and bimini. So far so good for amateurs; we fit the complex compound curved piece with zippers (above)and twisties (into the hard dodger). Now just the 'window' part needs to be cut out. It was the first time we used the hand crank option on our Sailrite machine. The stitches look better than if we used the 110!
We enjoyed celebrating Wolfgang's (Lumme) birthday aboard Sea Fury, with a pizza party, and homemade cakes by Ute. Too much food! Grace and BatWing were also there. Dominoes and farkel were played. We left the next day for our 12mi. run to Contadora, then on to the mainland, a 35 mile run. We'll have to pickle our water maker again, as the water isn't clean enough to run it. We've been enjoying fresh fish, as our luck has changed and we've caught a few. We won't talk about the ones that got away!..The whale watching is also a good time passer, and the books we exchange are getting read.
The picture was taken at one of our 'trash burns' on the beach....'hanging out'
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Espiritu Santo Sept. 4

After spending 3 days trying to fix an engine problem at Isla de Cana, (a beautiful protected bay with a waterfall...a great place to celebrate Sue's birthday, but a serious encounter with no see ums!), we got towed about four miles to this beautiful island by Roger & Norma on Sea Fury. They and few other cruisers helped us trouble shoot why we had no salt water flow; and after removing literally every hose from the seacock onwards, removing the oil cooler and heat exchanger to clean them out, changing the alternator belt, removing, inspecting and changing the impeller in the salt water pump...still no flow! Hmmm. As it turns out, Infini has a bypass valve allowing salt water to circulate thru the condenser for the engine driven refrigeration system. We turned the valve, allowing water to flow directly from the salt water pump to the oil cooler, thereby bypassing the condenser, and all's well. It took days to figure all that out! Cleaning out the obstruction in the condenser will be left for another time, as we have a 12 volt reefer unit to cool the boxes we use daily, and don't use the engine driven system that often anyway. At any rate, there are about 5 other cruising boats here, and the fish are abundant. We now appreciate why this is one of the 'favorite' anchorages in the Perlas Islands. Whale sightings continue, and the daily squalls are allowing our water tanks to stay topped off. N08deg25min, W078deg51min

Rio Cacique, Isla Del Rey Aug. 27, 2009

We're tucked into a beautiful bay nearby the mouth of the Cacique River at Isla Del Rey. We actually got to sail over here from Isla Pedro Gonzalez, where we had anchored in a very protected spot with no roll under the lee of Point Zacarilla. Fishing has been good; we caught another beautiful Spanish mackeral on the cedar plug, which has been the most useful lure we have. The scenery has been varied and beautiful; sandy beaches, deserted islands, red colored bluffs, large boulders and rock formations uncovered at low tide. The surf is pounding in the background as the frigates soar overhead. We're enjoying the solitude, as there have been no other boats to share an anchorage with for a while now. Single sideband radio transmissions have been difficult to get here, and there's no cell phone service available.
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Isla Bayoneta, Aug. 24

After provisioning, laundry and getting air for our scuba tanks, we departed Las Brisas anchorage and motor sailed to Isla Contadora, where we had anchored before. There must have been a fishing tournament as 45 sport fishing boats of all sizes and descriptions pulled in throughout the afternoon and evening. For you fishing aficionados out there, admiring the Bertrams, Hatteras', and custom yachts nearby was awesome. In the background, we spotted some humpbacks cavorting around. The weather deteriorated a bit during the evening, and as we rolled, so did the sport fishers. In the morning, a fuel barge showed up to refuel those yachts, and we eventually pulled anchor and motor sailed in about 8 knots of wind to Isla Bayoneta. The currents between these islands in the Perlas are really impressive; the rips are audible as well as visible. We prepared our Spanish mackerel we had caught on the way to Contadora for dinner. In the early evening the sky lit up with innumerable lightening flashes which were occurring so quickly we couldn't count them. At about 2030 a line squall from the NE hit us which we estimated packed 40-45 knots of wind (instruments were off) along with the requisite rain and lightening; scary stuff. The anchor held well but the hour storm gave us some anxious moments in the pitch darkness. This morning the sun's shining, and we're waiting low tide to go exploring some of the beaches. The tides here are about 15-17', so the beaches and reefs are completely covered at high tide. The two small dinghy patches (necessary due to chafe which occurred at the dinghy dock at Las Brisas) placed yesterday morning seem to be fine, so we'll complete our coffee and launch the dinghy in a bit. N08deg29min,W079deg02min

Goodbye Friends! Aug. 18

We're so happy to have shared our entrance and introduction to the Pacific with our good friends Fleur and David. The wind didn't cooperate to let us sail (what else is new), but we were able to experience a few different anchorages, and do some beach combing before heading back to the mainland so they could catch their plane to Florida. Gracias amigos....you will be missed!

Whale sighting in Las Perlas - Aug. 12

We spotted two humpback whales just north of Isla Pacheca. We didn't get too close, but observed their tail slapping behavior for a good half hour. We anchored at Pacheca, but the wind turned strong NNE during the night, putting us on a lee shore and causing a sleepless night. Our snubber just about chafed thru, which would have caused a great deal of surge on our chain, but we effected repairs at 0400 and rested until departure at 0715. Right now we're anchored at Isla Contadora (N08deg37min, W079deg02min), where the water's calm, and breakfast is being made. Later we'll go and explore the island. BTW, for you cruisers out there, our Zarpe was from Cristobal to Balboa, and check-in to Balboa was easy. I went to the Port Captain's Office, where he told me he'd send a Boarding Officer out to the boat. I told him I had a bit of running around to do, and he said not to worry...just call when I got back. The Boarding Officer showed up about 20 minutes after my call and I dinghied him out to Infini. He was extremely courteous, did the necessary paperwork in about 10 minutes, and there was no cost at all involved. The next time we see him or the Port Captain will be to get our Zarpe to Ecuador.

We're in the Pacific!! Aug. 8, 2009

It was a tenuous start to a wonderful transit, as a leak in our manual fuel pump started when we were underway with our adviser Hector to our first set of locks at Gatun. (M says the copper fuel rail snapped off right at the junction of the exit nut of the pump. Michael(Captain McGyver)and David did a fast repair so we were able to make our 1530 time slot. Our first three locks going up we side tied to a bouy tender,(smaller then us!) so Fleur and Sue had it easy. We were behind a small freighter and a fishing seiner from Cartegena. It was great to be locking during daylight, and at our mooring doughnut in Lake Gatun by 7pm. It was a beautiful cool night and we had a pleasant sleep in the Lake. Victor, our new advisor, arrived to a ready crew at 6:45am. The weather was great for our 5 hour motor across the isthmus, and we center tied for the three locks down; with Fleur and Sue on the bow lines, and Art and Dave on the stern lines. (And a big thank you to Dar for taking the pictures!) We were behind two tour boats, so Infini's image is on many a camera. A bottle of champagne was popped when we were safely through and in the Pacific...a double celebration, as it is our 28th wedding anniversary also! A proper libation to Neptune was offered before we all toasted Infini and our successful transit. Right now we're safely anchored (we won't even discuss the white out squall conditions that greeted us just as we were ready to anchor - we waited it out) on the north side of the Amador Causeway (N08deg55min,W079deg39 min), Las Brisas, and are one of about 40 different types of vessels here. We went ashore to celebrate with a meal at the 'Wine Bar', and our friends from the sv Rose of Sharon, Joe & Sharon, joined us. A happy, satisfied and tired crew!