Las Perlas to the Galapagos

Or – from peace to pieces

Ken’s report

Eileen’s take on Ken’s report

We motored the first hour and half out of La Playita, Panama City… it’s good to have  an engine again.  The wind picked up and we had a wonderful quick sail for the last 35 miles to Contadora Island. I was underwhelmed by the Las Perlas Islands in Panama Bay.  Even though there are some very expensive high end houses, there is a lack of commensurate accompanying accoutrements like nice restaurants and shops, at least we did not find them and we walked most of the island. Yup it is a small island – about 2 miles by 1 mile.  I guess I expected better than San Blas.  Even though the Las Perlas islands are famous for their pearls and pearl divers, neither to be found nor seen anywhere.  The water was clean but filled with algae so you could only see about 6 feet underwater; not enough to bother snorkeling.  We took the dinghy about 2 miles across to the deserted island where they shot the first 3 seasons of Survivor… we found one of their sets but those episodes were over 10 years ago so the jungle has reclaimed the rest.  After 4 days there we were ready to leave.

Maybe we have been spoiled by islands but Las Perlas Islands were pretty but just not equal to San Blas (Guna Yala).  Still we did enjoy the company of the ARC folk and had a wonderful meal on board SANDVITA with Captain Lars, Anne, Bjorn, Carl and Lars.  They had drinks on board AURORA.  A good time

ARC leg 3 started 11:00 Friday February 10^th.  2 boats missed the start and 2 more had to turn back all due to broken stuff.  There was plenty of wind at 30 gusting to 35 knots.  After screwing around trying to get the sails set right (main with one reef and the 130 Genoa reefed in about 4 feet and poled out for dead down wind sailing) we crossed the starting line 3 minutes late.  AURORA was flying along at 8.5 – 9 knots and we blew by most of the pack in the first 4 hours. We had plenty of wind the first night and the next day so we were doing great but then the wind dropped to 10 knots and many of the boats, who had big bags on board - spinnakers and the like (we left ours at home so as to avoid that method of killing ourselves – death by spinnaker), caught up in less than 24 hours.  Most of the time we could see none of the 25 boats on the horizon – that’s about 1256 square miles of ocean to ourselves.  Well, the 3rd night out Eilo was on watch and I was sound asleep.  Around 23:00 I get a fairly frantic wake-up call and I heard a scrambled VHF radio transmission of someone asking what our intensions were.  So up I go, half asleep, no cloths on and I see a big Cat with a huge spinnaker up (in 9 knots of wind) heading directly at us and closing fast from about 300 yards away.  My first thought was I could not believe with 1256 miles of visible ocean and no other boats in sight, why this guy has chosen to mow us down because with all the modern tricks he has on-board such as radar and AIS – each with GPS driven collision warning and avoidance systems, why did he not avoid us.  My second thought was that I should put some cloths on so I shot below, donned some cloth, and shot up to deck.  He was now about 100 yards away, closing fast, heading straight for our port side so I decide not to cut across his bow so I turned to starboard and lost what little wind we had and almost instantly came to a standstill.  Well, the on-coming cat had at the same time turned starboard – now I’m getting pissed – as they are getting real close.  I start our engine and at full throttle turn hard to port and avoid pending disaster, my pulse starts to drop a few minutes later.

We are well aware of the rules as they apply to sail boats and they claimed (on the radio) that we were windward of them…actually not so….but we go by the rule that we should just avoid other boats.  Anyway, everyone has their perspective and we all survived!

We crossed the equator at 88 degrees 32 minutes west.  Here’s Ken & Barbie crossing (photo courtesy of Eilo pics).

As we close on San Cristobal about 176 miles from the leg 3 finish line and harbor, it’s blowing 6 to 11 knots and we are going along at an average of 7.2 miles per hour (as we had a 1.2 knot following current giving us a little kick above our 4.5 knot boat speed – sorry for the mixed units-  for those of you who care)… so we decide we needed to get in during day light and to guarantee that we turned on our engine and ran AURORA into the harbor that way.  It was a good 23 hour test for the engine which checked AOK… not like the 2^nd alternator which worked for about 1 minute after starting the engine before the drive belt started smoking – so I did what all good mechanics do and cut the belt.  I obviously ended up on the south side of that 50:50 fix the 2^nd alternator bet (for the 4^th time)… so that gives me another thing to potentially fix in the future.  Around 3:30 AM a red footed booby landed on our spinnaker pole, confirming we were getting close to the Galapagos, and he balanced there until 7:30, hitch hiking a 40 mile ride back to his island.

We got into the harbor after 5 days and moon-lit nights and dropped anchor. Aside from a large number of black flies which came out to greet us (lucky not the biting kind – just the visually distasteful kind) there are a lot of sea lions around and a few came over and eyed up AURORA as a good sleeping platform

so we let the dinghy down and turned it upside down and pulled it up from the transom frame

to protect the stern steps to our deck which were obviously looking good to the first set of fly-by sea lions.  Invaders and pirates are one thing but sea lions smell and I’m not saying they smell good. 

And if they poop…

The anchorage which looked good for about 2 hours until the wing changed and we swung close to another rally boat so we pulled up and dropped in a “safer” place until the wind changed again and we started to swing on some moored tour boats, so we dropped the dinghy in and set a stern anchor which worked good until the wind changed again but blowing less than 2 knots which was enough to move the tour boats but not enough to move our bow anchor chain so the tour boats started drifting onto us so we pulled up both anchors and were just about to drop them in another “safe” place but some locals coming by in a large rib dinghy told us to tie up to a close by unoccupied mooring.  As we struggled to do that a water taxi came by and offered to tie us to the mooring.  Great!... but a huge mistake (Eilo did not like the knots he tied but I guessed they were plenty and enough).  Here’s why.  I threw a second lasso onto the mooring which covered the first and we sucked both lines in and cleated them off close enough so the large mooring float did not hit the bow.  Nice - and then we ordered a take away pizza, from the water taxi guy (Danny) who tied us up, and it came, we ate late, and went to sleep.  Eilo woke me up around 3:00 in the morning saying what’s that noise (something hitting our hull).  So up I go and to my surprise were were drifting by those tour boats I mentioned earlier and just touching one – enough to make a noise.  So I called Eilo and urgently requested she get dressed and come visit me on deck.  I started the engine and eased AURORA away from the nest of tour boats and then we motored around the harbor for an hour debating where to started to drop in one place but as the wind swings 360 we decided that spot to be no good so back we go to our mooring and I tie her up good-O and we go to sleep, after downing a glass on Glenmorangie single malt, at 4 AM and listened to the sea lions talking for the rest of the night – no doubt having a good laugh about us.

None of this really amused me…I was looking forward to the first good nights sleep and reanchoring/mooring was not fun!  I have never been overly fond of the old anchoring routine!  Every day we see other boats reanchoring as this is a tight anchorage with changing winds and so is a challenge!

So to cap off a “perfect” first 24 hours in Galapagos we were listening to the daily morning ARC radio net Thursday morning we heard, that due to the local elections coming up on Monday)  that ALL of the restaurants and bars will not be serving ALCOHOL Friday, Saturday, or Sunday – PERFECT.  Lara and Christian arrive on Saturday to a dry town – lucky our liquor locker is full… might be some drinking on board – first time that happened!  It’s quite the Opposite from the States, Europe and much of the rest of the world where heavy consumption of liquor before, during and mostly after the elections is the norm.

Customs, immigration, coast guard, navy , police, bureau of tourism, divers, general inspectors, specific inspectors, about 15 people in all came to inspect, question, dissect, detect, reflect, reject and select us to ensure we were good to visit their nature paradise.  They were all extremely nice, friendly, hospitable and very funny and we were cleared in.  

I confess that I was a bag of nerves…I did not want to fail this test!  Now you say..she worries too much.  Well…three other ARC boats were sent back to sea to reclean their hulls.  They had to go 40 miles out in the ocean, then dive and clean their boats (or hire a diver) then 40 miles back for reinspection.  Yep…I had reason to fear.

 Then in we go and are greeted at the town landing by a stairway clogged with sea lions doing what they do best ‘hanging out in the sun’. 

Further in on the wharf I spot a sea iguana with youngster – cool creatures and great swimmers – I guess, as Darwin must have surmised (???ha) swimming is a handy attribute if you live on an island.

Some spectacular red crabs hung out their too making it quite the scene!

So we had lunch and a few drinks and made a quick survey of town and sampled a few more bars, picked up some provisions, supported the tourist trade, and headed back to AURORA to deposit the day’s booty.  Then back to town for ARC happy hours which turned into a mighty session.  We were invited to join the MISTO crew for dinner so over we stagger and have a very tasty meal and more drink and finally head back to the wharf except we take a detour for coffee and internet and finally make it to the water taxi pier around 23:00 and are greeted by a dock full of sea lions so Eilo, fearless from a nights imbibing, heads down to shoo them away.  Eilo gets about 4 feet away from this big male who turns, sticks his head up, growls and shows Eilo his nice large set of chompers.  Well, I’m standing there, minding my own business, and felt this wind go by… had Eilo traveled any faster by me she risked exceeding the speed of light and, as Einstein predicted she would have been converted to energy and sadly I would have had to single hand the rest of the circumnavigation.  

A couple of thoughts on the Galapagos so far.  The people are absolutely wonderful…very friendly and you feel utterly safe and have no concern about prices as they treat visitors like locals.  As for the natural life…they really protect their environment and educate their own citizens.  It is incredible and there is so much to see and appreciate.

I like their concept of bike riding in the Galapagos.  Stick a bunch of bikes in a bunch of pickup trucks and ride to the top of a 2,000 foot mountain and glide down to the sea.

Saw some of their namesake tortoises

…rumor has it they inspired the face of ET???

…. and a blue footed booby on the way.

The Best Laid Plans...

Eilo 

Ken 

There is a reason that I am the reluctant sailor…I like life to go according to plan and am used to a certain amount of certainty…so…I shouldn’t be on a boat. 

Ken and I were safely ensconced in Shelter Bay in Colon waiting for Val and Terry to arrive.  We had the boat ship-shape and were ready for the next stage.  The plan was to spend a day in the marina and then head off for the Panama Canal.  After the canal we would spend a day in Panama City in La Playita del Amorado Marina and then sail on to the Las Perlas Islands for a few days on the beach and in the bars with Terry and Val.

Terry and Val arrived (yep, as planned…but they had their own adventure on the way..their story to tell).  They had their doubts a few times when their journey took unexpected turns and modes of travel that they had not anticipated.  Of course they kept us updated via email (also as planned) but (also of course) we never got the emails as the Panama wifi was iffy at best!  But… they arrived Fort Sherman/Shelter Bay as expected and we were thrilled to see them.  We settled them in their quarters and prepared for our first adventure.  We set off in the jungle, an area of a former American Base known as Fort Sherman.  The jungle has now retaken the area and it is lush with wonderful plants that we attempt to grow in our houses in the States…they are magnificent in their own habitat…split leaf Philodendrons, Rubber Plants, orchids and more.  

Amid ruins of old armories were monkeys – Spiders and Howlers- , Toucans, coatimundi and many birds we could not name and sloths (OK we didn’t see any there but later found one hanging out by the laundry).

The sound of the Howlers was impressive and, at times, eerie.  We walked with sugar cane rods for protection, ever mindful of Ken’s reputation amongst the monkeys but they kept their distance.   The day before Eilo, my chief monkey spotter, saw a mommy spider monkey with a baby hitch hiker.

The next day brought trepidation (at least to me) and excitement we were going to go through the Panama Canal.  Humongous cargo ships are the normal traffic of the canal

and pleasure boats “nest” together to  go through.  We, AURORA, were to be tied up to two other boats, ASHIA and ARABELA and Ken would be the lead boat in center position and drive the nest through.  So we get in place at the anchorage right before the canal entrance, our advisors give us the thumbs up to raise our anchors, blood pressures starts to rise along with the excitement factor, we start heading for the first lock

and the call from canal control comes through – false start – orgasm over, need top head back and anchor again.  Some large boat in front of us got stuck in a lock so we all got out our large crow bars – just kidding – we waited and waited and finally got under way about ½ hour before sunset getting us to the first lock in the dark.

So not only did we not know what we were doing but we could not see what we were doing… which was perfect.   Each boat was required to have an “advisor” (and before we pulled up the anchor our advisor told me of an experience where he had to bring his group through the first locks in the dark – and that was not pretty – I thought about that… note the look of concern on Val’s face) 

from the Canal on board.  Roy Paddy was our advisor and from the start we all got along great!  Each “nest” needed four rope handlers on the corners of the outside boats to handle the lines to go through the canals.  As Ken was on the helm, Terry would help the boat beside us (Terry – the official rope handler - was invited for a vacation –HaHa - but has not worked this hard in 30 years)

with Armin on the helm and his wife Nicole on the stern of the boat handling the lines.

The first task is to raft the boats together and it is not as simple as it sounds.  You slow down and the first boat comes along and you tie it with fenders between so that you don’t damage each other.  Our advisor advised to tie the bow together first – so lines were tossed but the stern lines were caught first and as the bows were being tied up the other advisor told the other boat to drop the stern line so we started to drift apart; kind-of; and a couple of ugly moves later the gang managed to catch the stern line again and get us tied up.  Then you do likewise with the second boat.  It is critical to get it right as they need to be tight and move together seamlessly.  Once that is done you proceed into the Gatun Locks.  It is daunting…the locks are huge and our boats, even in a nest, seem ridiculously diminutive. 

The line handling takes some getting used to and is a very serious task.  The Canal line holders throw lines to the boats, these lines have a “monkey fist” on the end.  That “fist” is shaped like a ball and has lead in it.  Great!  The first hurdle. 

If the so called fist hits your solar panels or your deck…well you own a new problem.  The line handler has to catch the line and tie it around a huge rope on the boat.  Then the canal handler pulls that rope (attached to the boat) to the wall.  The line handlers on the boats tighten and slacken the rope as the boat goes up or down in the locks.  Doesn’t sound so bad…Hah!  Boat owners scurry around worrying that the rope will hit their decks or panels or hatches…once the  rope is attached they worry that the handler will not use the cleat (to which the rope is attached) properly and the cleat may pull out of the deck…yep $$$$$$$.  Not to mention that you don’t want to let go of the rope or have the nest hit the walls.  Terry was having such a great vacation…he was physically abused for hours.

Catch the rope Terry

Quick tie it around the other rope

Tie it off

Send it back to the wall

Slacken it

Tighten it

Can you use that other cleat? (boat owner request)

No it is too close to the anchor chain (Terry) 

Use the cleat you were on Terry (advisor)

And so on …repeat twice….and more tomorrow...

We arrived in Gatun Lake where we untied from our nest and proceeded through the lake to raft with other boats attached to a mooring.  Exhausted…we slept.  We were up at 6 am to welcome back Roy (our advisor) for more fun and games.  We motored through the lake to the Miraflores Locks but en route Ken noticed the engine was overheating and sent his first mate (aka Reluctant Sailor) to check out the engine room.  Oh Holy God….coolant was spewing out onto the engine and there was smoke.  Ken came down to find that the pulley was not spinning the belts which cool the engine, run the alternator etc.  He tried to fix the problem by tightening a bolt but the pulley wouldn’t hold.  I love boats!

So we tied up to the other boats…on the outside now as we couldn’t drive the three of them.  ASHIA was now in the middle.  Terry was once again put to work…same drill except we went down in the locks instead of up…he was an old hand by now and so got to work.  Seemed more like a prison camp then a vacation…our advisor had many jokes about how we would be off the Shlimbaum Christmas list!

Val and I were feeding the crew, taking the photos so that we would never forget (fat chance) and I was trying to help Ken with the engine (fat chance #2).  We exited the locks and all felt this incredible sense of achievement.  We had gotten through the Panama Canal.  Not sure how Terry was feeling…the line handlers had the toughest job and Terry thought he was going on vacation.

Well, we were without an engine.  It was decided that ASHIA (thanks Armin and Nicole) would help by staying attached and getting us to harbor…about 5 miles.  About two miles out from harbor we were being approached by a monstrous cargo vessel and Nicole was nervous about staying rafted so Ken decided it was time to go it alone.  He ran the engine but didn’t want it to overheat so…given the wind direction and our wonderful Bimini and Dodger…(Bimini is over your head in the cockpit and the Dodger is in front of you like a windscreen).  Ken figured we could ‘sail’ with the Dodger and Bimini.  And we did!  We were moving along at about 2 knots an hour and so made it in in about an hour.  Ken got kudos from many sailors for this maneuver!  As we approached the entrance to the harbor he went to turn on the engine…but one of the things that pulley does is charge the battery which was now flat.  Ken and I dove below to lift floor boards and jump the engine battery with the generator battery…just in time to pull in to our slip.  Ah yes….how wonderful it is to sail!  We were now berthed in La Playita del Amador in Panama.

Our intention was to stay one night (31^st) to get our boat cleared to sail to Las Perlas islands but absent an engine that probably wasn’t the best idea!  And so we had to remain in Panama.  Engine diagnosis was that we needed a new main crank shaft seal, new pulley and more work done on the turbo charger…ok to me it just meant we weren’t going anywhere soon and the Shlims were due to leave on the 3^rd.

Fortunately we discovered that the old part of Panama (Casca Viejo/Antiguo) is beautiful, a World Heritage site.   Full of wonderful old buildings, the old city dates back to 1673.  The buildings have red tile roofs and wrought iron railings around balconies. 

There are historic squares and impressive ruins with beautiful churches lit to best show their architectural glory.  It is reminiscent of New Orleans. The old city boasts wonderful bars and restaurants that blend the traditional with trendy and rival those of the best cities worldwide.  We enjoyed Casco Viejo each night and tasted and tested as many bars and restaurants as we could fit in!

Our day trips were adventurous with some highs and lows, we were true explorers!  Val, Terry and I took a trip to a beach (Playa Bonita/ Beautiful Beach) in Veracruz.  About 30 to 45 minutes from the city.  Well…the Pacific enjoys huge tides (14 feet or so on the Pacific side compared to about 14 inches (or less) on the Caribbean).  So when we arrived at the beach there was no water…honestly miles out!  We decided we would walk out…wrong…after the sand there was muck.  We decided this may be due to the huge dredging projects that are part of the ongoing canal work as they build the new canals.  So we sat on the beach, had lunch at a beach restaurant and waited for the water.  When we finally went swimming ….I guess the water was also impacted by huge canal works and traffic and it was none to clean.  We had some laughs and went to shower at the restaurant.  Well…the rest rooms provided the next hilarious moments.  In the back of each gents stall was a picture of a naked lady!!!  Val and I rushed to see what picture would grace the wall of the ladies stalls…wait for it….a picture of puppies.  Omg!

Another trip was to a local swimming pool, this one worked out well and Ken joined us after some boat work on the da** engine!  Stools in the pool at the bar counter made for a fun lunch.  A walk around the Smithsonian Institute introduced us to Panamanian frogs, nurse sharks, tropical fish, starfish and sloths….although we met the sloth at the marina!

On the third day we took a ferry to Tobago Island where Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro set up a base to loot the riches of Peru and South America in general.  Later the island was a pirate hideout.  Paul Gauguin, who worked on the Panama Canal project, recovered from illness (there was a sanatorium for workers with Yellow Fever and Malaria) on the island.  We enjoyed the beach and clean water!  The highlight was a delightful restaurant with a view of the island town and the ocean with liners waiting to use the canal.

Terry and Val left after our island trip and I confess to being more reluctant than normal as they departed.  It was such fun to have friends join us but we are left wondering if they now are convinced we are utter lunatics to have chosen this way of life for the next year. 

Now we are back to cleaning the boat and getting ready to sail…if we fix the engine!  I do have to report on my washing.  That must have excited you the reader….clothes washing at the marina in Panama.  Stay tuned.  It is a small room with two washers and two driers (one of the latter actually works).  I was on my own and it was getting dark. The security guard comes on duty around 6:30pm and sits outside this laundry room.  In he comes and gives me a nod…I nod in return.  He then removes his semi automatic 12 guage (street sweeper/riot gun)

and ammunition belt from his bag and places it on the defunct dryer and leaves.  I sit there considering what I am meant to do???  Am I in charge of this weapon?  May I/should I leave?  But my clothes are still in the washing machine.  He returns after about 10 minutes and now picks up the gun and ammunition….phew relief…wait….he puts them in the dryer that is not working and takes off again.  In comes one of the ARC sailors, a Latvian with no English…I pray he doesn’t open that machine…seems his clothes are in the other dryer.  He exits with his clothes and I breathe a sigh of relief… didn’t know how to explain that.  Another ARC sailor enters.  Karen is her name and she is from the yacht LEXINGTON.  She is next in line for a dryer and I advise her not to open a certain dryer and add that it doesn’t work anyway.  She looks at me and so I am forced into explaining.  I have seldom seen that reaction…HOLY COW.  When I finally leave the room everyone has gone and he (security guard) is nowhere around.  I hesitate a moment wondering if I should wait to make sure he comes back for it but finally decide the responsibility is too great for me.  I am a reluctant sailor but absolutely not a warrior!