Antigua to Panama

Antigua to Panama 9/04/2017 21/04/2017 12 Days 1224 Nm

Panama Canal 28/04/2017 29/04/2017 1 Day 45 Nm

Position Report and other info UTC (-5 Hrs Panama)

Cut and paste the GPS location below into Google earth, you can place mark This position and follow our Progress. Should this page not be updating then updates may be occurring via Satellite phone on the Posts page. You can contact us by sending an SMS (via email) To Satellite Phone. Please Note SMS is a maximum of 160 Characters and you need to leave the subject or message header blank

Saturday April 29, 2017 1730 Hrs

Arrived at a mooring at Balboa Yacht Club. All went well so a huge thank you to my crack team of Danish line handlers. Well done guys was great to have you all on board.

Fri, 28 April 2017, 1645 Hrs

09 21 N, 79 55 W, Anchored in “The Flats” Christobel awaiting the boarding of our Advisor. Panama Canal here we come! What could possibly

Thursday, 27 April 2017

So within hours of being measured and paying the canal fees I receive a message my transit is booked for May 13.

OK that was quick booking us but the timing for the crew (Sorry Dinah) is not looking good. Our Agent says he is working on getting us through sooner. “Yes I will be ready tomorrow” so I have been on the case since then.

PHONE CALL, 1800 HRS THURSDAY, “ARE YOU READY FOR TOMORROW” (FRIDAY) YOU BET. So Its confirmed we are going through the canal transit lunchtime tomorrow. My next job is to find 4 x line handlers by 1300 hrs tomorrow. Onto it so next update will hopefully be after the transit on Saturday / Sunday YEAH HAAA

Tuesday, 25 April 2017

Update from Shelter Bay, Friday we cleared the Port Authority and immigration, bit of a mission as always as a taxi trip to Colon can vary in time by a couple of hours depending on the ships going through the Canal

This morning the “Addmeasurers” came on board to run the tape over to confirm our size, more paperwork and to check that we would look after the advisor with suitable food toilets and sun protection etc. All done, next I have paid the Canal fees through an agent this time.

In the past I have done all of this agency work myself, in fact have right up till now organised it all, however as it seems every time I arrive the talk is of extended delays. I am hoping that an agent will improve our waiting time but who knows around here. Anyway have paid the canal fees now through the agent so will be advised in a day or two of a transit date.

I keep saying we but currently I am in the middle of a crew change so its just me. Thank you very much Pawal and Mia, hopefully you will make your next destinations safely.

So I am off now to start filling the freezer again for the next long haul over the Pacific. Also new for me for his trip is hiring a car instead of taxi’s. Just picked the car up yesterday afternoon, it was my first time on the wrong side of the road driving for years but all went fine. Thank you mister google. Anyway should be considerably cheaper than taxis as each trip is $25 US to colon recommended but the taxi drivers do see you coming and bung it on. Sick of agueing with them so they can miss out for a few days at least.

Will update again when I am advised of some form of transit date.

Friday April 21, 0800 Hrs

09 32 N, 79 50 W, Just 20 Nm from Panama finally. A little slow on the last few days with a short stop over Cayo Holandes, San Blas Islands. Yes Duane I scrubbed the hulls which weren’t actually too bad, I expect the growth will be massive after we sail through the nutrient infested waters near the Galapagos so was good to get a good look and clean underneath whilst we were there. Trying not to arrive in darkness here in Colon, I miss judged the speed to here and still needed to slow down overnight as there are ships everywhere. Not sure how long clearance will take here, hopefully they have lifted their game since my last visit but it usually involves visiting several offices around town carrying photocopies of anything they may ask for. I believe also a second cut for the Canal is now operating. I don’t know if that also will improve waiting time for our transit but am hoping so. it can be a long wait on the wrong side of the canal sometimes. Will update in a day or so once we have been measured (will be interesting to compare no’s ;-)) but once that happens we will probably get a preliminary date for transit.

Tuesday, 18 April 2017, 1100 Hrs

10 35 N, 77 42 W, So much for a couple of good days averages, the wind dropped out quickly yesterday so slowed a bit unfortunately. All well except for the humidity, forgot how the sugar and salt gum up in the wet season. Plenty of zip lock bags to start packing supplies in.

Saturday, 15 April 2017, 1100 Hrs

13 39 N, 72 14 W, That’s probably the best 24 hrs average so far with just on 154 Nm so the increased breese to the south helped

Friday, 14 April 2017, 1100 Hrs

13 04 N, 68 45 W, Approximately half way. Sorry for forgetting to update our position Duane, will sort it out for your return after the weekend. Have headed south for more breese, which is welcome however this is about as close to the coastline as I would like to be so it will be as close to the rhumbline as possible from her.

Wednesday, 12 April 2017, 1000 Hrs

15 09 N, 66 31 W, About 300 Nm behind us and 860 Nm to Panama. A little light on wind since leaving, hopefully it will pick up a bit as the forecast shows. We have been a bit slower than normal as have had an issue with the steering cable, causing us to drift whilst a temporary repair has been made. Thanks Doug for the comprehensive range of tools and supplies on board, it felt like we were on the Apollo 13 mission sifting through what was available to solve the problem. Gaffa tape, chewing gum and a biro. Well not really in fact I suspect we have repaired something that had been repaired earlier, resulting in much less play in the helm and the autopilot not working so hard.

Thanks also Duane for the regular weather updates they have been great, nice and succinct without any messages being truncated. Touch wood but the new satellite system seems to deliver them all in the correct order so maybe you wont need to number them as in the past?

Will update again in a few days.

Sunday, 9 April 2017, 1100 Hrs

16 49 N, 62 22 W Approximately 40 Nm from Antigua, just North of the island of Montserrat not seeing any volcanic action from the island at the moment but its often quite active. Also hearing other boats have spotted a few humpbacks but so far we haven’t been so fortunate to spot them. Just managed to pick up some phone reception which will be our last until arrival in Panama in around 10 days time. Good SE to Easterly winds of around 15 Kts

 

Fri, 7 April 2017 1600 Hrs

All good to go now. Checked out on the system but will need to top up fuel on departure first thing in the morning. Apart from difficulties getting a mechanic to arrive on the boat, once he did however he had the generator running in no time, fortunately it was a minor issue. Thank you to Libby Nicholson from “Pineapple House” for help preserving our frozen food whilst the freezer door was repaired. I’m’ not sure I can thank her for the damage she did to my crew with her rum mixtures shortly after our arrival however.

And to Simon it was great to have you on board for another ocean crossing. Sorry we were delayed in starting from Cape Verde so your time was too short to make Panama in time before returning to work. Hopefully you will join me again somewhere on the blue highway, you are more than welcome anytime. I Will try to get a post up as we depart in the morning before going back to Satellite updates.

Wednesday April 5, 2017, Island Time

Getting there, Partly provisioned whilst we have a shipwright repairing our freezer door. Also waiting on a mechanic to have a look at our generator which had been doing a great job whilst we didn’t need the engines on the last leg. Now its decided to not play fair. We were hoping to be leaving today but now thats not likely. Anyway will see if the mechanic can help tomorrow now but if not we will be able to wait intil Panama to sort anything else out. We need to make a getaway before this place is decended upon by thousands of Yachties arriving for race week at the end of the month. Will be updating on departure.

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