On Tuesday I felt we were being punished for some unknown deed. I woke to a pounding rain. Upon checking everything outside was meant to get wet I discovered that are dinghy was filling with water at an incredible rate, so I got out the ¨Big Guns¨, the hand pump, and spent a good while getting most of the water out so the paddles would no longer be floating from within the boat!
Then I realized the cockpiut could use a good wash and took down all our rain protection as everyone waking up was putting up theirs. I spent the next while sliding around the cockpit soapy and soaked. The rain finally dissapated and the anchorage was a dead calm (which is a highly unusual event due to all the tanker traffic). It was quite pleasant until the second plague hit...
Swarming bugs! Mind you we are anchored out about a third of a mile from land, so my only thought was that somewhere along the way some insect had impregnated our boat with eggs. There was a nice swarm of of winged insects hovering aboud the stern of the boat. They appeared to die pretty quickly leaving their wings everwhere and ruining my clean cockpit, how dare they! Later we learned they were flying termites come all the way from land. Luckily our boat is not wood, but does have word trim and wood interior, so there was some cause for concern. It turns out they come out after the rain and enjoy the calm moments. Our friend Stephen thought them rather James Bond like. Coming from land, landing, dropping their wings, and setting themselves up. In the meantime we have killed a few more and it looks like things for now, are OK (knock on wood- as long as we still have some).
Our transit date is still May 3rd, but we shall see. Apparently if you look at the www.pancanal.com on May 4th in the afternoon you may be able to see some images of us transiting. We are the light blue hulled boat.
Friday, April 28, 2006
Monday, April 24, 2006
TRANSITING
The question on our minds at the moment is when will we trasnit, i.e. go through the canal. There is a considerable waiting period for sailboats as there is no incentive to get us through the canal with any speed. We have been told if you pay for a pilot at a cost of $2500 you only have to wait three days, or if you pay for an agent roughly $800 you get through in less than a week, but as we have more time than money we wait. These prices are on top of the $600 dollars we pay to the canal authority to transit. We were first told our date was May 3rd, but that has since been pushed back to May 6. We are not pleased, as we had been told to call and see if we could move up and not back.
We are told that the back up is becuase there are a limited number of advisors to be on the sailboats and line tenders to walk the boats through. This seems a bit odd for in my limited experience in Panama there seem to be no shortage of individuals looking for work. These jobs while they may require some trainning do not involve skills along the lines of brain surgery or rocket science leaving me to wonder if we aren´t being held hostage. It would make sense to keep sailboats here for a number of weeks. We have to pay the yacht club to use their dinghy dock and then to pay for the priviledge of using their other serives. We all do a lot of shopping here so it does put some money into the Colon economy. It would not be hard for this whole process to be made much faster and effective. All it really does is add to the lore around the canal.
They make each boat have an advisor, which from our one transit experience is a bit excessive especially when the only thing they appear to do is contradict one another. Sailboats transiting southbound from the Caribbean to the Pacific begin the transit at night. You up lock through the Gatum locks, spend the night on Gatum Lake where one advisor leaves and the next morning another advisor arrives. This means that the three extera people you need as line tenders on your boat need to spend the night. This is no easy task for boats of our size. Luckily people are understanding of each other circumstances and everyone makes the best of it.
Our first transit was made more entertaining as one of the couples who came with us brought their three year old daughter. She was very cute and kept all the adults entertained. She even had the advisor playing with PlayDough, which makes me wonder just how necessary he was to have one board for the long stretch of motoring between the locks.
So now I will call and see if we can get our original date back. The only thing that makes this whole process less frustrating is that there are many yachts waiting with us and we have met some very nice people.
Please excuse this entry as I am writing this on a Spanish keyboard.
We are told that the back up is becuase there are a limited number of advisors to be on the sailboats and line tenders to walk the boats through. This seems a bit odd for in my limited experience in Panama there seem to be no shortage of individuals looking for work. These jobs while they may require some trainning do not involve skills along the lines of brain surgery or rocket science leaving me to wonder if we aren´t being held hostage. It would make sense to keep sailboats here for a number of weeks. We have to pay the yacht club to use their dinghy dock and then to pay for the priviledge of using their other serives. We all do a lot of shopping here so it does put some money into the Colon economy. It would not be hard for this whole process to be made much faster and effective. All it really does is add to the lore around the canal.
They make each boat have an advisor, which from our one transit experience is a bit excessive especially when the only thing they appear to do is contradict one another. Sailboats transiting southbound from the Caribbean to the Pacific begin the transit at night. You up lock through the Gatum locks, spend the night on Gatum Lake where one advisor leaves and the next morning another advisor arrives. This means that the three extera people you need as line tenders on your boat need to spend the night. This is no easy task for boats of our size. Luckily people are understanding of each other circumstances and everyone makes the best of it.
Our first transit was made more entertaining as one of the couples who came with us brought their three year old daughter. She was very cute and kept all the adults entertained. She even had the advisor playing with PlayDough, which makes me wonder just how necessary he was to have one board for the long stretch of motoring between the locks.
So now I will call and see if we can get our original date back. The only thing that makes this whole process less frustrating is that there are many yachts waiting with us and we have met some very nice people.
Please excuse this entry as I am writing this on a Spanish keyboard.
THE FLATS
Port Cristobal, Panama
We arrived in Puerto Cristobal after having spent a day in PortoBela, Panama. Cristobal is one of the largest ports in the world. This becomes glaringly obvious when you see all the tankers anchored outside the breakwater. Our entrance was nothing extraordinary except for the Monrovian tanker which appeared to be doing figure eights in front of the entrance waiting for permission and information as to where to anchor.
Once having been cleared to enter and told to stay clear of said tanker the following is was what we heard on the radio as we were about to enter the breakwater.
Tanker: Signal station we are requesting an anchoring position. When will the pilot boat arrive?
Signal Station: The pilot boat is behind you and will arrive shortly. Please remain where you are? You will anchor at position X.
Tanker: Signal Station there appears to be a vessel anchored in that position. Please provide an alternative location, and we still do not see the pilot boat. When will he be arriving?!
Tanker: To the zailing wessle on eastern side of the port entrance, please be advised we will be turning to port (left) upon entering the break water.
Signal Station: (As the tanker is passing us in the area we were told to be in) Tanker would you please slow down as you are entering the extremely fast! Your pilot should be on board, and he shall provide you with an anchoring location.
Tanker: Signal Station! We repeat we do not see any pilot boats in the vicinity and do not have a pilot on board. Would you please provide us with an anchoring location? The engines have been turned off and we are trying to slow down.
We were told to stay east by the signal station, which seemed simple enough until the tanker informed us they were turning to port (or left). So we adjusted accordingly only to then be reproved by the signal station because we were then informed that the tanker was now turning the other way. This just added a bit of excitement to what would have been a routine entrance. We are presently anchored in The Flats as it is called. It’s well known to cruisers as this is where everyone waits in preparation for ones transit through the Canal.
We arrived too late in the day to do begin the paperwork run around for the canal, so we did a little exploring of Colon. It is reported to be quite dangerous, so we have been taking a few taxis. The city itself does not appear to be quite as bad as everyone makes it out to be, although we have only been on the main drag. Our impression of Colon is that the city itself is quite poor, but safety is not nearly the issue people make it out to be. The French sailors appear to take the city in stride while the British sailors all appear to keep themselves behind lock and key, as for the Americans, well we haven’t met that many.
It is quite nice to be in Panama and have Panama prices. We will need to re-supply in order to prepare for the Pacific, so we will need to be doing a lot of shopping. It was funny to see Jamaican rum cheaper than Jamaica.
The paperwork has begun and has been fairly more efficient than anticipated, but we have not received a transit date. It is all very well orchestrated, customs, immigration, admeasurements. Now the boat has been measured, next we wait for the bank to open in order to pay. Then we wait for the date. In the mean time there are projects to be done and maybe a bit more exploration through Panama.
The one change we have seen since our arrival in the flats is that there are many other younger crews. We have met three boats who are all under 40! This is an exciting turn of events. JP is also enjoying having more French boats around in order to speak and trade books with.
The projects have begun! I would like to say in earnest, but in a pace dictated by the heat and our tolerance to noxious gases. We are now nine degrees above the equator. This has become quite obvious as our little solar panel has become 2 -4 times as efficient as it was in more northern latitudes. The noxious gases are due to our recent discovery that one of our water tanks is leaking. We have the ability to car 150 gallons of water. This has recently been reduced to 110-125 as one of our water tanks has developed a crack. Zaya is older than we are so this is not unusual. I will take some photographs of the project, but it has mainly entailed cutting a large opening in the top, sanding, cleaning, and fiberglassing (is this really a verb?) certain areas. We are now in the final throws of the process. We will paint the tank with a 2 part epoxy paint which should sufficiently seal the tank. Then we will fiber glass the cutout piece back on, and (cross your fingers) we will have a “new tank”.
I have to say I am happy we are doing this even if the tank hadn’t cracked. Though I doubt we would ever get so bored that we would find the motivation to do this job otherwise. Upon opening the tank we saw the many blisters which have developed in the fiberglass and all the mineral deposits which have developed over the years (yuck)! I have learned from speaking with people that many boat builders use inferior fiberglass for the water tanks in comparison to the hull fiberglass. The hull (knock on wood) appears to be in much better shape than the water tanks. Now we know we will have at least one very clean tank for drinking water on top of our water filter. If this works, we will eventually redo the other two tanks (when we get bored enough).
Other projects on the list: I will attempt to make a spice rack for the boat. One would think this would not be such a big deal, but it was impossible to find one that met the size specifications of our galley and stability specifications of a sailboat. Try explaining to the women in Bed, Bath, & Beyond why you need your spice rank to be able to be tipped twenty degrees in various directions and with stand hours of pounding up and down. Like many other items on a boat the worst thing you can do to them is put them on a boat near the salt water.
The next big job will be the bottom job. We will haul the boat out of the water and paint the bottom of the boat with antifouling paint. I believe we will have some help as this is some nasty paint full of metals.
We arrived in Puerto Cristobal after having spent a day in PortoBela, Panama. Cristobal is one of the largest ports in the world. This becomes glaringly obvious when you see all the tankers anchored outside the breakwater. Our entrance was nothing extraordinary except for the Monrovian tanker which appeared to be doing figure eights in front of the entrance waiting for permission and information as to where to anchor.
Once having been cleared to enter and told to stay clear of said tanker the following is was what we heard on the radio as we were about to enter the breakwater.
Tanker: Signal station we are requesting an anchoring position. When will the pilot boat arrive?
Signal Station: The pilot boat is behind you and will arrive shortly. Please remain where you are? You will anchor at position X.
Tanker: Signal Station there appears to be a vessel anchored in that position. Please provide an alternative location, and we still do not see the pilot boat. When will he be arriving?!
Tanker: To the zailing wessle on eastern side of the port entrance, please be advised we will be turning to port (left) upon entering the break water.
Signal Station: (As the tanker is passing us in the area we were told to be in) Tanker would you please slow down as you are entering the extremely fast! Your pilot should be on board, and he shall provide you with an anchoring location.
Tanker: Signal Station! We repeat we do not see any pilot boats in the vicinity and do not have a pilot on board. Would you please provide us with an anchoring location? The engines have been turned off and we are trying to slow down.
We were told to stay east by the signal station, which seemed simple enough until the tanker informed us they were turning to port (or left). So we adjusted accordingly only to then be reproved by the signal station because we were then informed that the tanker was now turning the other way. This just added a bit of excitement to what would have been a routine entrance. We are presently anchored in The Flats as it is called. It’s well known to cruisers as this is where everyone waits in preparation for ones transit through the Canal.
We arrived too late in the day to do begin the paperwork run around for the canal, so we did a little exploring of Colon. It is reported to be quite dangerous, so we have been taking a few taxis. The city itself does not appear to be quite as bad as everyone makes it out to be, although we have only been on the main drag. Our impression of Colon is that the city itself is quite poor, but safety is not nearly the issue people make it out to be. The French sailors appear to take the city in stride while the British sailors all appear to keep themselves behind lock and key, as for the Americans, well we haven’t met that many.
It is quite nice to be in Panama and have Panama prices. We will need to re-supply in order to prepare for the Pacific, so we will need to be doing a lot of shopping. It was funny to see Jamaican rum cheaper than Jamaica.
The paperwork has begun and has been fairly more efficient than anticipated, but we have not received a transit date. It is all very well orchestrated, customs, immigration, admeasurements. Now the boat has been measured, next we wait for the bank to open in order to pay. Then we wait for the date. In the mean time there are projects to be done and maybe a bit more exploration through Panama.
The one change we have seen since our arrival in the flats is that there are many other younger crews. We have met three boats who are all under 40! This is an exciting turn of events. JP is also enjoying having more French boats around in order to speak and trade books with.
The projects have begun! I would like to say in earnest, but in a pace dictated by the heat and our tolerance to noxious gases. We are now nine degrees above the equator. This has become quite obvious as our little solar panel has become 2 -4 times as efficient as it was in more northern latitudes. The noxious gases are due to our recent discovery that one of our water tanks is leaking. We have the ability to car 150 gallons of water. This has recently been reduced to 110-125 as one of our water tanks has developed a crack. Zaya is older than we are so this is not unusual. I will take some photographs of the project, but it has mainly entailed cutting a large opening in the top, sanding, cleaning, and fiberglassing (is this really a verb?) certain areas. We are now in the final throws of the process. We will paint the tank with a 2 part epoxy paint which should sufficiently seal the tank. Then we will fiber glass the cutout piece back on, and (cross your fingers) we will have a “new tank”.
I have to say I am happy we are doing this even if the tank hadn’t cracked. Though I doubt we would ever get so bored that we would find the motivation to do this job otherwise. Upon opening the tank we saw the many blisters which have developed in the fiberglass and all the mineral deposits which have developed over the years (yuck)! I have learned from speaking with people that many boat builders use inferior fiberglass for the water tanks in comparison to the hull fiberglass. The hull (knock on wood) appears to be in much better shape than the water tanks. Now we know we will have at least one very clean tank for drinking water on top of our water filter. If this works, we will eventually redo the other two tanks (when we get bored enough).
Other projects on the list: I will attempt to make a spice rack for the boat. One would think this would not be such a big deal, but it was impossible to find one that met the size specifications of our galley and stability specifications of a sailboat. Try explaining to the women in Bed, Bath, & Beyond why you need your spice rank to be able to be tipped twenty degrees in various directions and with stand hours of pounding up and down. Like many other items on a boat the worst thing you can do to them is put them on a boat near the salt water.
The next big job will be the bottom job. We will haul the boat out of the water and paint the bottom of the boat with antifouling paint. I believe we will have some help as this is some nasty paint full of metals.
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