Cental America
And Back
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The Highly Unlikely Impossible VoyageAs we were preparing to leave the island nation of Curacao a thru-hull cracked open. It was a miracle we weren’t 300 miles at sea when it happened. The repair bill cost us all of our Canal transit fund. We are very lucky to have very good friends that helped us once more to get us back on track and the trip to Panama was back on. We felt truly blessed. We also couldn’t help but ponder what the Universe might be trying to say? Then… the trip to Panama was mostly difficult. There was no wind for the first 4 days, but a lot of waves. Then… way too much wind... from the bow of course. The waves grew into impressive growlers, with just the right amount of roll to scare me. Our wind instrument and auto pilot failed in the first half of this voyage to Panama. The fuel tank clogged in the 2nd half. After 8 days of a 6 day trip we landed in Portobelo and we were feeling extremely lucky to have made it to Panama. (The full story here: https://svashika.weebly.com/the-caribbean/curacao-to-puerto-rico ) PortobeloThen… we went in search of internet data for our phones, where, for the first time in our world cruise we were foiled. We haunted the store until they found a cure. Later that week, as I grew older and more grey, we acquired “H” internet which is not 3G, 4G or 5G, it might be 1G. We’re not in Kansas anymore, Dois. We were finally able to call our canal agent only to discover he no longer worked there. Quit, fired, absconded… pick one, I didn’t dig deeper although he did contact me on his way to Brazil. I wished him a happy life and then fired the agency for hiring him in the first place. Then… our new agent said that our transit date would be set at least a month or maybe more out. Then… the cost to transit the canal was increased, mostly because we didn’t arrive sooner but also because the first agent did not mention all the fees. Shelter Bay3 days later, while we were considering another change of plans, our agent called to tell us we were offered an extraordinary transit date set in just five days. But then we wouldn't have enough money because our payday was in 9 days. If we didn’t take this date, we would not get a date until April. Then our friends helped us again. More than luck, lots of love. Then we had to find 3 guests who wanted to cross the canal with us working to handle the lines. Gratis. Then we had to make sure we had enough food, drink, bedding and beds for extra people that would likely be on board for 2 days. Then we had to get a slip in Shelter Bay Marina to take on crew and long canal lines (rope). Then miracles started coming fast; our agent told us we scored a 1 day transit slot. Then we had 2 savvy sailors volunteer to be line-handlers. And then the third volunteer confirmed he was on his way. Gustaf is from Belgium and is a solo sailor. He left his boat at anchor in Bocas Del Toro then took trains, buses and taxis to reach us in time. He is planning on bringing his boat to the Canal for a crossing in the future. It was an honor to have met him and a real asset aboard. Ethan is from Florida, 19 but skilled beyond his years. He will be crewing on a trans Pacific voyage later this month. He was a joy to have around, helping where ever needed. And he was a monster in the galley, even surprising me with a clean galley after a major mess made by moi! He’s currently working on his Captain’s License and I have no doubt he will succeed with honors. Then we had our 3rd volunteer and it was a Trifecta! Simon was a computer software engineer from Germany and currently backpacking around Central America. He made huge efforts to make it to our boat in the nick of time. Although he didn’t have much boating experience, he was an incredibly fast learner and a valuable addition to our team. Most of the spectacular photos for this blog are made by him and Gustaf. Simon found out that Gustaf was going to trek to the top of 11,400’ tall Baru Volcano in Panama and signed on as trail mate. All three of our volunteers were absolute miracles! Roy was a bonus line-handler from Panama. His father was our agent. He was very professional and worked well with our Advisor. Roy’s presence meant I was free to keep everyone fed and hydrated. Nice. I think we won the Advisor lotto too. Very kind and on top of everything. Our agent and Roy, our 4th line-handler arrived at 4am and delivered the (pretty blue) long lines needed to reach the canal walls. Then we were pulling out of the slip.. turning sideways from current in the most compromising way. I thought “this is going to end before it even starts”. Then… Dois pulled us out safely, missing all boats by at least an inch. It’s a dark and rainy night and once in the fairway Dois started hollering for “direction“. When I heard him say he couldn’t see and we were in a narrow S turn channel, I tried to be his eyes on deck. We missed a million dollar bowsprit by another inch. How many near misses do we get? In the Beginning…And then we had an Advisor on board and we were now a full boat. We were still waiting for our raft up boat, a catamaran. We worried about the raft up for a few reasons;
Another break! Our Advisor was informed by the Canal Authority that the catamaran dropped out because of a faulty engine in one hull. I hope he gets it all worked out, it could have been us. But now Altair Leader would be the only boat joining us for the canal transit. And we would not have to raft to him. The first Gatun Lock came up fairly quickly. There would be three Gatun locks and 3 MirraFlores locks. Ethan made a huge fruit salad. Thankfully. I had cooked up a pound of bacon and 18 eggs and it might have been enough when paired with the salad. There were no leftovers. Gatun LakeMiraFlores LocksReleased into the PacificThe Bridge of the Americas and our Circumnavigation Goal Post
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