SailMakai

Our last morning at Golfito, Roy and I went for a few groceries. Ice Cream was our biggest purchase, veggies looked terrible, meat and cheese was about what you would find at a 7-11. I was pretty sure the butcher and veggie market wouldn’t take visa and since we were out of Colonies (Costa Rican money) , the grocery store was my only choice. Eric went in search of immigration, customs and the port captain to check us out. The kids and I carted buckets of water out to the boat to try to scrub the land dirt and ash out of the cockpit. We brought the cushions in on the dinghy to scrub at the dock and filled a few buckets of water for bathtubs later. Topaz got soaped up and washed with the hose too. We collected our laundry from Tim laundry service. This is typical up through Mexico too, no self serve laundry. Common side effects include: Constipation, drowsiness, flushing, headache, nausea, rapid pulse, swelling in cost of viagra prescription the lower legs and feet. Since it is such a blanket why not check here order viagra sample term, it covers a whole host of potential problems. Side effects : It is generally well tolerated generic viagra cialis but always possible that you may experience side effects. The disease generally affects males viagra australia cost who suffer from prostate cancer. He said he liked our clothes, they were interesting and colorful, now I feel compelled to wear wild clothes to entertain the laundry people. Afterwards we were still dripping hot and Tim’s refrigerator full of ice cold beer gave us another reason to delay departure. But that was all 24 hours ago, now were on a passage. ===== This message was sent using Winlink, a free radio email system provided by the Amateur Radio Safety Foundation and volunteers worldwide. Replies to this message should be brief using plain text format and any attachments kept small. Commercial use or use of this email system for monetary gain is strictly forbidden. See www.winlink.org/help for additional information.

Oh Yea, this is the trip I’ve been talking about since before we left California in 2012. We arrived in Golfito on Monday evening.  Eric and Gary went off to immigration, customs and the port captain and got us checked into Costa Rica. Meanwhile Sandy and I pursued the grueling task of making travel plans, last minute, with slow internet, using a US phone in Costa Rica, and credit cards that only worked sometimes while sitting on the coolest porch at the club house which wasn’t all that cool.  By sunset it was finished. Tim at the Land and Sea marina/cruiser’s club would take care of Topaz.  The rest of us have four nights at two hotels, two adventure tours, a rental car, and then accommodations for Gary and Sandy near the airport on their last night.   Wednesday morning Alamo delivered the car, we packed the seven of us and all our gear into an SUV and headed down the road.  The highway leading up to and past Quepos was lined with palm groves, neatly planted in rows.  At first we thought they must be date palms, but then googled and found that they are palm oil trees.  In the 1940s a blight attacked Chiquita’s banana industry, but luckily they were replaced with these African palms.  Their berry bunch is about a foot long and 8 inches in diameter and when processed produces oil used for everything from lipstick to lubricants.

A little while longer on the road and everyone started getting hungry.  Luckily we didn’t pass any McDonalds or Burger King restaurants.  But we did see many small patio restaurants called Sodas.  At first we thought they were trying to lure in the tourists with a cold Coke or Sprite, but then we found out that a Soda is a Costa Rican restaurant that serves typical food at a reasonable price. Roy’s order included rice, beans, salad, hard boiled eggs and a piece of fried fish.  It was great.

Finally after 7 hours on the road we arrived at the Baldi Hot Springs resort and spa.  We were served a beautiful fruit drink in the lobby. Everything is open and airy. Everything is situated on multiple levels, some areas like the reception area and restaurant have roofs, birds fly in and sit on the beautiful flowers and plants, the hot pools wrap around everywhere and we’re excited to get in!  I like to choose hotels that offer free breakfast.  For my family that is worth up to $50 of the room rate, plus we don’t have to go out in town looking for a restaurant. At Baldi, desayuno was the best I’ve ever had.  Everything from cereal and toast to sausage, eggs, rice and beans, fruits, stewed beef, cheeses and meats, and plantains.

With the Arenal Volcano in the background we soaked in twenty-five different pools.

All the warm pools are filled with geothermally heated water, and that includes the water slides. The waterfall beating on your shoulders is a fantastic massage.  One of the pools specialized in extra steamy caves. Here and there you could find pools set at 68 degrees to cool off in.

Everyone wanted to try the swim up bar.  The kids had tasty smoothies with pineapple slices, cherries and umbrellas.

There were four water slides, at least three of them could be considered extreme.  This toilet bowl drops you through a tube from the platform above and whooshes you around until you drop out the bottom.  Gary said the pool below is too shallow, I opted out of this slide since I was sure I would get injured.  There were two other flume style slides that you fly through and after launching off the side, fly out the exit.  Roy ended up with bruises on his shoulder blades and Gary had a brush burn.  Maybe someone should make a few modifications to these extreme slides.

The volcano adventure included one day in the park.

We had a guide take us on a 2.5 mile walk across hanging bridges and down muddy paths. The whole place was green.  Ferns, vines and bromeliads grow on tree trunks and branches. It’s hard to see where one plant ends and the next starts. Did you know a pineapple is also a bromeliad?  We asked about the age of some of these bigger trees. Our guide said that it’s hard to date rain forest trees because there are so many variables that go into their growth, like how much sunlight it gets and how fertile the soil is as well as how much water it gets.  These variables change every year with bugs moving in and out affecting the soil and other trees growing or falling down affecting the sunlight. Also, without seasons, the tree has no rings so they can’t even count the years on a fallen tree. The fungus, ferns, and waterfalls were all beautiful.

Dirt paths put us right in the plants, but the hanging bridges had us walking along the canopy. Genny is looking down on a heart of palm which can be made into a salad.  The guide always kept a look out for animals, but she said it’s rare to see them.  First of all, with the many miles of forest available, most animals stay away from the paths in the park and secondly many of the rain forest animals are nocturnal.

One little guy easy to spot picking through the trash can is the coati or coatimundi.  These guys are related to the raccoon and fulfill the raccoon’s nitch of digging in the trash.

The bridges are awesome providing a view of the tree tops. I was hoping to see a sloth, jaguar or toucan, but had to be happy with lush plants.

We were under the impression that it was going to be chilly up here.  At the boat in Golfito we were dripping with sweat, Arenal was comfortable but still warm enough on the hike to wish for a dip in the waterfall.

There is definitely less light diffused through the trees down here on the ground. The sound of the stream is refreshing.

Yes we came to the rain forest to see the pretty plants, but also to ride the ZIP LINES!  The Sky Tram carries 15-20 guests and a hand full of guides up to about 2500 feet.  The temperature is still in the 80s with mild winds just right for soaring across the canyon.   The longest cable is 2400 feet, highest 656 feet above the valley, and fastest is 50 mph, with no ride longer than a minute.  The guides were very friendly, joking around and trying to make the guests comfortable before they push us off on a wire that you can’t even see the other end of.
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Arenal Volcano National Park and Baldi Hot Springs were both impressive, but it’s time to move on to the next adventure.  Monteverde is a three hour car ride over rolling hills on dirt roads around the lake. As soon as we left town, we began seeing signs advertising restaurants and services.  The one that sparked everyone’s interest was the German Bakery.  We all began fantasizing about the favorite treat we hoped to get there.  I had a big block of gingerbread topped with ice cream on my mind.  At the counter Marie spotted her favorite pretzels and I spotted this thick apple strudel. When the lady asked if I wanted it heated with a scoop of ice cream, we all cheered. On the way out Eric spotted the Bumfuzzle.com sticker in the window.  This is a blog about a young couple, now with toddlers, that gave up the corporate life to travel the world in a bus, boat, and motorhome.  If you want to learn how to live their life of adventure, just buy his book, I hear he’s a financial wizard.  Continuing down the road the wind started to pick up right about where this wind farm is strategically planted.

Pura Vida – pure life is the national phrase.  People use it as a greeting or farewell and it’s on all the t-shirts, hats, magnets, and glasses.  Monteverde is also very eco friendly.  Our accommodations at Los Pinos Cabanas didn’t use any plastic, provided recycle bins and compost bins, and earth friendly soaps and paper products.  They also had a huge hydroponic garden that supplies vegetables to many of the local restaurants.  Los Pinos guests are encouraged to fill a bag for their evening salad.  We had a beautiful three bedroom cabin to share with Gary and Sandy.  It came with a fully equipped kitchen, cable tv and a couch and of course WIFI.  It is a treat for us to have unlimited free fast internet.  Genny brought her blue tooth keyboard for me to pair to Eric’s iPad and complete my Panama Canal blog post.

It is considerably cooler, windier and wetter in the cloud forest.  A fine mist of cloud mixed with sun made for spectacular rainbows.  We were signed up for another canopy walk and zip line adventure here. I thought the rain forest had a lot of growth, this place was thick with green. The paths were so wet, the park paved the walk way with extra grippy paving stones.

 

The plants were similar to those in the rain forest. I’m guessing that more plants would be in bloom after the rainy season which starts in the summer.

Here we are ready for another zip line adventure.  While the Arenal zip lines were exciting, the ones here at Selvatura Park in Monteverde were fun.  They weren’t as long, high or fast, but there were more and the lines went through the trees.

Rather than have the tram take us to the top of the mountain, a bus took us part way up and then after each zip line we would hike a bit uphill to the next one. The gear was slightly different and I could bring my camera plus for a reasonable fee they gave us a disk of nearly 200 photos taken by their hidden cameras.

We zipped on a very windy day.  Apparently that slows down the momentum so the light weight kids would ride together and sometimes the adults would get stuck just before the next platform.  When that happened the guides would pull them selves up from the end and pull each guest back.  No wonder these guys are lean and strong.  They really got their workout bringing in 20 guests.

 

The views were great and the lines lower to the ground were protected from the winds.

The kids have been requesting zipline adventures whenever they are advertised.  I’m glad we waited until Costa Rica, this is a great place to have a first zip line experience.

Toward the end we had the option for the Tarzan platform.  There we stepped off the platform, falling many feet and then swinging out over the forest. I screamed the whole way, the kids were more reserved and Eric opted.  He said he needed to be the photographer on this one. The last zip line offered a Superman option.  We didn’t do it but some of the people in our group were fastened into a sling so they could fly through the air on their belly like Superman.

The last day was the road trip back to Topaz and Makai.  We dropped Gary and Sandy off in San Jose to catch their flight the next day and then continued down the road.  When we were sad about leaving the Bahamas I offered fruit stands as our consolation.  Costa Rica has these fruit stands up and down all the roads. We bought 5 of the biggest juiciest mangos we’ve ever had, three small watermelons, avocado (which is super healthy and everyone should eat them), cashews and a cashew fruit.  We haven’t opened the cashew fruit yet but will get to it tomorrow.

You know you are south of the border when you see a horse riding in a flat bed truck. Now we’re back home on Makai with our Pupaz.  Tuesday we’ll check out of Costa Rica and make our way toward Mexico.  Keep an eye on the winds in the Gulf of Papagayo, that will determine when we will be able to make it to Chiapas, Mexico more than 600 miles from here.

What a special treat, transiting the Panama Canal on Makai.  Eric is the Captain, the rest of us crew. An adventure few people have an opportunity to have.  We were scheduled to pick up our advisor, Amado, at 4:30 pm on the flats just outside of the Gatun Locks.  We were in the company of 4 other private boats.  The advisors are trained for our sized boat and know how to prepare the boats to safely transit to the Pacific.

We spotted a transport ship coming out of the locks.  This is another way to move your boat, but we don’t think it is as much fun.  They sink this ship, pull the boats in, chock and secure them, then pump the water out for transport through the canal and beyond.

On the way into the locks the butterflies came out to say Adios. Amado told us that Panama means many butterflies/fish in Spanish and these come every year.

Our entire time here was filled with these Panama Butterflies transiting east to west in a steady stream.

With nothing to do except “be good”, the kids decided to catch a few butterflies for a better look.

Ok, lets all get serious, it’s time to enter the lock.  The advisors orchestrated this massive 5 hull raft.  Makai is 24 feet wide, the big catamaran next to us is 27 feet wide and Joy, the monohull on the outside was maybe 13 feet wide. That’s a pretty wide penta-maran.

In this configuration the two catamarans powered and steered our raft the mile it takes to get through the locks.

The sun was setting as we entered the first Gatun Lock. Our 5 boats went in behind a small 400 foot freighter. The lit arrow points to the lock to enter.  The locks have two side by side chambers that function independently, like elevators.  The boats go into a chamber the doors close and flood raising the boats to the next level.  Then the front doors open and we move to the next lock.  The three Gatun locks raise us 87 feet to the level of Gatun Lake.  This man made lake provides the water to flood the locks and also provides at least 15 miles of waterway that didn’t have to be dug.

Once inside, workers high up on the wall threw down light weighted lines to the four corners of our raft.  Line handlers on our boats tied rented 125 foot lines and the other end secured at the top of the lock.

Once secured, the doors closed and the lock was flooded.  At Gatun we went through three locks each raising us about 30 feet to the level of the lake.

Columbus left in 1492 looking for a passage to Asia and since then explorers searched for a passage. The French started pushing the idea of digging a canal in the late 1800s but were met with an impenetrable jungle, mud slides, mosquitoes carrying yellow fever and malaria, financial corruption, civil unrest, and ultimately turned it over to the United States.  The US also had many of these problems, but over time with advancing technology managed to  cut the path between the seas.

Gary and Sandy were in charge of the starboard bow line and I had the stern line.

Luckily my friends visited me.  Topaz barked at a few pelicans but for the most part she wasn’t so impressed with the passage.

After breaking up the raft we motored a short distance on Gatun Lake  to these massive buoys to spend the night.

Our friends on Tangent gave us a bottle of wine a few weeks ago and today looks like a great day to drink it.

We were instructed to be ready early for the second leg of the trip.

The boats were all up and preparing to receive today’s advisors.  We were also instructed to provide them with meals and refreshments.  Makai served quiche, fruit and coffee for breakfast, lasagna for lunch and chocolate chip cookies for treats.

Along the way we saw remnants of the land that was exposed 100 years ago before the valley was flooded and the lake created.  Stumps of trees rooted 40 feet below us.

The upper Chagres River leads to the next set of locks.

Construction is continuous.  The Culebra Pass was one of the most difficult and treacherous sections to build.  It cuts through the Continental Divide and has taken years to cut back the steep cliffs that were the source of continual land slides.  During construction, the rains would wash mud into the canal covering people and equipment and causing expensive setbacks.

The canal is also being prepared to replace the locks with wider ones to accomodate the biggest supertankers.  The current locks only accomodate ships 105 feet wide, giving 2.5 feet on either side.

Hot Hot Hot.  It was hard to find shade with a view on this 5 hour transit of the lakes and rivers.

This ship is loaded with wind generator blades.

I know it’s small, but here is one of the feared crocodiles  in the water along the edge. We’ve been holding tight onto Topaz  after hearing all the stories of pets being snached by these toothy lizards.

The Centennial Bridge is a main artery connecting North and South America.

Ok, the final stretch. One lock at Pedro Miguel.

The line handlers tossed us a light line.

The boat rafts motored into the lock.

Now instead of looking up at the lock, we are at the top waiting to be lowered.

 

Rafted again, the boats will travel through the San Miguel lock, one mile across the Miraflores lake and into the Miraflores locks.

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This is where the tourists can observe the locks in action.  I asked our advisor if he could wait here for me while I went into the vistor center to buy a refrigerator magnet and watch the informational movie.  Bummer, he said, “No”.

Crews building the locks worked on both ends of the canal at the same time with Miraflores finishing first.

When the doors are closed workers use walkways to move from one side to the other.  See our surfboards tied to the solar panels?  We covered the solar panels and windows for protection from a line tossed off target.  The guys on the lock did a great job of tossing the weighted line onto our trampolines, but this is just for added protection.

Train cars called mules are used to move tankers through the locks.

Gary is on the bow line.  Life jackets and seat cushions strung up along the windows for protection.

When the water is drained and the boats are lowered, the doors open.  Makai, say hello to the Pacific Ocean.  This is her first trip to the Pacific.  She has lived her whole life in the Atlantic and Caribbean with a short vacation to the Mediteranian Sea when the Pimentel family owned her.

 

Thank you to everyone who sent us screen shots from the canal-cam.  I put them together for a short movie of us lowering in the Miraflores locks.  We’re the catamaran last in line on our right side of the canal and the left of the photo.

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Panama City is a city full of beautiful skyscrapers, but no time for visiting.  We have more adventures to rush off to.

After the Bridge of the Americas we will complete the passage.  We have the lines and tires we rented from our agent that took care of all our paperwork.  In the end, after paying for the $800 toll, $500 for the agent, and another $700 for visas, cruising permits, fees, line rentals.  In all about $2000 to take the shortcut to the Pacific.  Sounds like a deal to me.

A launch came by to pick up our advisor.

Our agent Francis did a great job taking care of us.  He was like meeting up with an old friend and made the whole experience work without any glitches or negative experiences.

Today I turned 50!  We couldn’t have ever planned a birthday party on the Panama Canal if we tried.  Speaking of crazy coincidences and timing, Gary and Sandy hosted my last minute 40th birthday.  We were wandering aimlessly with toddlers Roy and Genny and newborn Marie, not knowing what quick, easy, inexpensive thing to do for my birthday.  When we decided to see if Gary and Sandy were having wine on their boat in the marina where we used to live.  Sandy, patted my baby, put a candle on a sweet treat and a glass of wine in my hand.  Whala a birthday party.  This time she and my girls baked a cake and popped a cork on the champagne.

My favorite cards are home made.

We sailed Friday night through Sunday afternoon. It was pleasant.  The wind would blow like crazy and then settle to tempt us to turn on the engine.  Just when it seemed to light to sail, we would get a couple more hours of breeze. Whales greeted us in the morning and the dolphins were a constant source of concern for Topaz all night.  They liked to come up along side of the cockpit and blow a breath for Topaz to hear.

Roy caught a tuna.  We haven’t had one of these in quite awhile.  The dark red meat wasn’t so appetizing, but it tasted great.

The rhumb line passed right over Isla Montuosa and to time a early morning arrival in Golfito we decided to spend the afternoon snorkeling.  On the way into the anchorage Makai skimmed through a pod of swimming crabs.

We found the only patch of sand to drop our anchor in.  The water below us was full of life.  We saw big schools of little fish and little schools of big fish.

Not much sand but gravel and pieces of coral blanket the bottom.  Huge rocks and coral provide a habitat for all types of colorful fish.

Rocks, islands, points, reefs plenty to explore tomorrow.

Compared to the Bahamas, these islands are steep and covered in green with tall palms along the beach.

Hurray a sand bar.  The kids and Topaz were tired and stayed on Makai. This beautiful island deserves another day.  We decided to spend another day here exploring.

Roy put out a line and had fun catching big reef fish off the back of Makai.  We had a pleasant evening, great dinner, movie on the big screen when the water began to get choppy.  By 2am there were dangerously big waves rolling through and the wind had us on a lee shore.  OH bummer, we have to leave, no exploring for tomorrow.

Topaz spent the rest of the night barking at the dolphins.  We could see their wake and hear their breath. We sailed until late afternoon when the wind diminished and in order to arrive in the daylight Makai’s engines had to drive us on in.

It was a great passage to Golfito, Costa Rica.  Next we have land travel adventures ahead of us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We popped out of the canal on Friday afternoon, were met by the launch to collect our canal advisor and then the launch with our paperwork agent to collect the four 125 foot dock lines and tires used in the locks. From there we headed out into the Pacific Ocean. This passage is about 360 nm and will take three nights. So far we’ve had a full 48 hours of great sailing. The wind is complicated around here. These are some cialis tabs of the vital things that should be kept in mind to continue a healthy and effective ED treatment in the market. A levitra no prescription Click Here patient should be aware of this truth when planning to buy kamagra online. Also known as male impotence, erectile dysfunction is one such sexual problem that has proven to be really effective. get free viagra All benefits and no drawbacks: That’s something we can all get used to. viagra from canada There are prevailing winds, winds determined by the heating of the land and conditions determined by wind in the Caribbean shooting through passes on the isthmus. Right now it’s flat calm and we’re motoring. Our next stop is Golfito in Costa Rica where we plan to make arrangements for an inland tour and where Gary and Sandy will fly out of in about a week. I’ll do a post with canal pictures when we get internet in Golfito. Jackie

Finally we made it to the grocery store. Knowing the bus would be packed and could only transport the groceries under our seats, we signed up for the morning and afternoon shuttle to town. The first order of business is to check out the pastry case.  The kids were impressed with my ability to order and pay for a few meat empanadas and a coffee with milk in Spanish.  Don’t get the wrong idea here, I am by no means bi-lingual, I just paid attention to Dora the Explorer on PBS Kids.

By the end of the day we had bags of oranges, apples, papaya, cantaloupe, tomatoes, peppers, milk, steak, and mystery alcohol.  I kept bringing home some promotional packaged alcohol for Eric to google so we would know what to do with it. We found that Seco Herrerano is distilled from sugar cane and used as a replacement for rum or vodka.

The 45 minute bus ride took us over the Gatun locks and passed the Panama Canal Train. It was crowded and stuffy, but nice to get a free ride to town.

The kids headed back to the Fort Sherman Batteries and were armed with flash lights this time. I felt like we were part of the Scooby Do Mystery Inc. gang with all the bats flying around. We also saw giant cockroaches.

A variety of creepy spiders. A hand full of birds, two monkeys, and plenty of butterflies.

Fort Sherman was built in 1912 to defend the Panama Canal on the Atlantic coast.  The 23,000 acres of property includes 9 batteries, an air strip, barracks and housing as well as jungle. The site was also used for jungle warfare training.  Everything was turned over to Panama in 1999.

Now the ruins are home to the returning jungle and it’s occupants. This palm tree has a community of Montezuma Oropendola nests. They have a beautiful and unique call.  The sounds of the day always include many different birds and also the roar of the howler monkeys.  We had a few glimpses of monkeys in the trees, but I don’t know what type of monkey it was.

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The jungle grows everything big and bushy.  We are surrounded by plants and animals that we constantly say, “I wonder what that thing is?” and never find out.

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Most boats here are coming and going. We waved goodbye to our friends on Freebooter as we headed out on Makai for an adventure.  They will be going through the canal shortly and taking a similar path north, so we hope to hook up again.

Just to the north of the marina is the Chagres River. This is Panamas largest river in Panamas watershed and the main source of water for the canal and lock operations.

We motored about 5 miles up the river to Gatun Dam which was constructed between 1907 and 1913 as part of the canal project.  One of the problems canal engineers faced was flooding during the rainy season and mud slides.  The resulting Lake Gatun, 164 square miles,  flooded the valley and stores about the amount of water the Chagres river brings down every year.  The lake is an important fresh water source for Colon and Panama City and is also 20 miles of the passage between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

We anchored along the river for a night and went on a little jungle cruise.

The jungle is thick and grows as far as the river will allow.

In the morning you could see the haze from the humid air rising up from the jungle and dew running off the deck.

The butterflies were everywhere fluttering by like leaves in the fall.

They all blow by in the same direction. In the evening they rest around our lights.

We had a nice half day sail to Linton for the night at anchor.  We all got to swim and cool off in the water for the first time since the Bahamas.

Habituated monkeys live near the beach and were happy to take our crackers. I could have spent hours watching them use their prehensile tail.  Like an arm, they hold onto things and rest on it.

Around the corner is another jungle cruise through a full mangrove canopy.

Fifty more miles to San Blas.  The Kuna people were living in Colombia and Panama when the Conquistadors invaded Central America.  They sought refuge in the San Blas islands and have remained  here ever since. They have resisted Hispanic assimilation and have maintained their own customs. Spanish is their second language and we found many of the men spoke English quite well.  They are merchants and traders, some of the men make the long trip to the mainland to work in the fields but the Mola is a prime source of income.

Mola is the Kuna word for shirt.  The women wear them around their waist over brightly colored shirts and skirts. The designs originated as body painting until the Spanish colonization and missionaries pushed them to ‘get dressed’ and transferred the art to fabric. The mola in the center in front of Roy is traditional but the others are very beautiful and made for tourists.

Over the course of 4 days we bought about 15 molas since everyone was more beautiful than the next. They use a reverse applique technique on layered fabrics.  Wikipedia had a great description of this technique.  They layer different colored fabrics and then cut away the design, turn under the edges.  The man told us that it takes two months to make one panel and wikipedia says 2 weeks to 6 months.  We paid approximately $25 for each of the larger panels, that’s a pretty low wage for a two month project.

The families that came by with their wares also went away with cookies and stuffed animals for children. Men came by offering lobster and collecting aluminum as well.

Our favorite activity is hobie sailing and snorkeling.  We had quite a bit of fun with each.  The water in the anchorage is quite deep, we’ve been anchoring in 35 feet or so, it is very warm, over 80 degrees, but the visibility was pretty bad and there is a strong current from waves rushing over the reef.

We found an area with dozens of tiny, 2-6 inch lobsters.  All fishing is reserved for the Kuna, so Roy had to learn to enjoy looking with his eyes and not his spear.

Most of the bottom was grassy with conchs hiding here and there.

Roy chased a few squid toward me.  They swam by changing colors.

Like the Bahamas much of the coral is turning brown and dying, but there are patches of coral, sponges and anemone.

Each coral head is home to tiny lobsters, fish and feathery worms.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen the file fish, but Roy recognized it as something he caught when we stayed in New Smyrna, FL.

The reefs were high and strong, full of stag horn coral and interesting curly formations.

This lone orange star fish in the grass is a bright contrast in all the green.

I saw one spotted eagle ray digging in the sand.

The trip wasn’t all fun and games.  We had chores like a little sail repair, rebedding Marie’s leaky hatch, and some polishing.  A huge rain storm came by and gave Makai a thorough wash.

Cooking and eating was enjoyed by all.  Genny signed on as our salsa chopping chef. She just had a little problem with the onions.  After the salsa she went on to make lemon bars, deviled eggs and more. On our way here I was convinced I would find foods similar to those I was used to from Mexico, but it isn’t so.  Prior to the 1850s Panama was populated by the local indigenous people and those mixed with the Spaniards that colonized here.  After that the push to build the canal brought in many people from France, the British West Indies, Jamaica and then the United States.

Makai enjoyed a great sail back to the marina.  Reefed down doing 9 knots in HUGE 10 foot ocean swells, many of our crew wasn’t so happy.  Topaz got some sort of an allergic reaction along the way as well.  Her ears swelled up, she started scratching like crazy and even threw up three nights in a row.  We had all kinds of theories starting with an ear infection and ending with ingesting Micron66 bottom paint she might have licked off her fur.  Whatever the cause was she has gotten a few scrubby baths, quite a few benedryl and has made a full recovery.

In the marina we took care of laundry, boat cleaning, groceries, swimming pool refreshers, ice cream, and dinner at the restaurant.

Today we’re taking care of last minute internet research and waiting to transit the canal.  We hired an agent to arrange our immigration and customs paperwork, scheduling the official measurement of Makai and date and time for our transit.  He is also bringing us four 250 long dock lines and a stack of wrapped tires for fenders.  At about 3:30 today we’ll leave the marina and motor over to the flats leading up to the Gatun locks. There we will have an adviser join us at around 4:30 to go into the first set of locks.

The rough schedule is:

Tonight 5 miles to the channel, 2 miles up the channel, Gatun lock is 1.2 miles long and raises us up 87 feet in three locks where we’ll anchor on the lake for the night.

Tomorrow morning motor 15 miles across the lake, 8 miles on the Upper Chagres River, 8 miles through the Culebra Cut which was blasted through the Continental Divide, 3/4 of a mile in the Pedro Miguel lock which will lower us 31 feet, another miles across the Miraflores Lake, a mile in the Miraflores locks to lower us the last 54 feet, then 8 miles to the Pacific Ocean.

In total that’s 87 feet up from the Atlantic and 81 feet down to the Pacific over the course of 48 miles.  That will be exciting.

If you want to try to keep track of us you can use the slightly delayed “Where’s Makai” link or our spot link http://www.sailmakai.org/spot/ where the positions are posted closer to real time.

The canal also has webcams posted http://www.pancanal.com/eng/photo/camera-java.html  There are tabs for the Gatun Locks tonight and the Centennial Bridge near Culebra Cut and Miraflores Locks tomorrow.

If you are watching and can get a screen shot of us, please send email it to crew@sailmakai.org.

 

 

We left Ragged Island Friday February 6 around lunch time.  Scooting at record speeds in front of a storm that started pounding the northern Bahamas we were chased out of town. We arrived in front of Matthew town  at first light, dropped the dinghy and Eric went in to check us out of the country when customs and immigration opened.  This was a quick stop only long enough for paperwork, then we had to continue on before that storm pounds Makai. On the way out we spotted Great Inagua’s lighthouse. After many shipwrecks, the English built this lighthouse in the 1800s. It is one of the only three remaining kerosene hand-crank lighthouses in The Bahamas.  A resident lighthouse keeper tends the flame and hand-cranks it every two hours.

Oooo weee, here comes the storm.  Actually, the wind and seas were perfect.  Makai cut through the water totally reefed down going 8-9 kts.

Within 24 hours we were through the windward passage between Cuba and Haiti and passing Jamaica.  After two stellar sailing days the wind died down and we did appreciate the rest.  Roy got out the pole hoping for a sea monster.  Instead he caught the smallest Mahi we’ve seen so far. My research says that Mahi are the fastest growing sport fish reaching sexual maturity in just 3-5 months and growing to 40 lbs in about a year.  They said that 90% of the mahi caught are less than a year old and not many live past 3 years. We released this one to go put on a few pounds.

With the wind slowing everyone started to move about.  Topaz’s favorite place to lay is on the cabin top right in front of the helm.  Today it’s fine to block the captain’s view, but her favorite time to lay here is when we’re coming in to anchor.

The water was very calm and everyone was wishing to go for a swim.

In lieu of dipping into the big blue, the girls put together a spa.  They sat in bubble baths and did each other’s hair.

The sargasso weed was unusually abundant. At first we saw huge accumulations of the weed and then for the next few days it was just scattered evenly over the water. This weed circulates around the mid Atlantic propelled by four currents that circulate from Africa on the North Atlantic Equatorial Current to the Gulf Stream back on the North Atlantic current and down again on the Canary Current. Individual sargasso is about 3-5 inches long with little gas filled nodules abut the size of a pea. It reminds me of the kelp we find in California but much smaller.

Bait fish like to hide under the weed patches so fishing should be worth while.  With the only exception is that we constantly had to clear the lines.  After awhile Roy got sick of pulling the lines in with clumps of sargasso, so he recruited helpers to take a few turns with this job.

Yes in deed we did have luck.  We hooked four Mahi Mahi’s. The first one was returned to the sea to grow, next we got a nice bull mahi right up to the stern but failed to land it.

The next one he got was huge and jumping mad.  You could see his body flying and twisting in the air.  But the line was full of sargasso weed and he got unhooked.  The last one, Roy decided he was hungry, so it became dinner.

After 48 hours of motoring the seas flattened down to glass.  The next evening a light breeze and the spinnaker had us ghosting along at an acceptable 5 knots.  Everyone was happy and rested so Eric decided a movie on the big screen was in order.  Everyone was snug with popcorn and pillows.  We had our side windows up for the trip as well.  They cut down on the wind in the cockpit and protect us from wave splashes to the side and rain squalls.

We had several heavy rain clouds pass over us, but non of them brought excessive wind.

On Friday the 13th at first light we arrived at Panama. For the last 7 days we only saw one sail boat in the distance and a hand full of tankers on AIS that weren’t close enough for a visual. But arriving in Panama the AIS went crazy. Most of these tankers are anchored.

The weather was very warm, cloudy and humid with a nice breeze.

Everyone came out on deck to see our first glimpse of land in a week.  We had to constantly call Topaz away from her favorite seat blocking Eric’s view.

The bay is protected by two long break walls.  The walls are built with cement ‘jacks’ shaped pieces interlocked and piled up above the water. The wind picked up considerably over the next few days and we could see the waves crashing high above this break wall from where we were in the marina.

The inside of the harbor reminded us of Long Beach harbor back home.  The port off to the south east was busy transferring containers with it’s huge cranes.

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The trip log registered 987 NM.

Roy found a dried up flying fish.  Makai, like a whale, would sail through their school and they would all take off and skim across the water’s surface 30 – 40 feet or more.

Shelter Bay Marina is a bustle of activity.  Boats from all over the world are preparing to cross into the Pacific Ocean. The conversations are all about who your agent is, have you been measured and do you have a canal date.  The first few days were really a blurr to us since we hadn’t slept yet and people were coming to measure Makai, collect paperwork, give instructions and finally we got our date.

Meanwhile the kids goofed off.  The pool is right in front of Makai so I can watch the kids swim while I hang the laundry out to dry.

We are the second boat in on the right side of the dock.  From upstairs in the lounge we had a good view of the marina.  While Makai certainly isn’t the smallest boat here, there are several catamarans near by that make her look like a Hobie Cat.   Off towards the entrance of the marina is where they tie up the really big boats.  There are a few mega yachts over there plus a couple of nice sail boats.  We made friends with  Barend, Claudia, Charlotte and Nicolaas on Freebooter. They are a Dutch family that lives in Monaco out for a year on a beautiful Swan 70.  Most boats, after transiting the canal, continue on across the Pacific to New Zealand, but Freebooter is on our path up the coast.  We’re hoping to catch up with them in Mexico.

Finally the paperwork is finished and we were notified that we’ll transit the canal on February 26th. We have guests, Gary and Sandy, coming today.  Then we’ll go off to the San Blas islands about 70 miles away for a few days before returning for our appointment with the Panama Canal.

Everyone is happy and content here.  They have unlimited internet access, a swimming pool, a  minimart with ice cream, a few friends and we even ate at the restaurant for Valentines day. Everything was delicious, served on fancy plates with a margarita to wash my fish tacos down, for half the price of our Staniel Cay, Bahamas price.  Now I would never trade the rum punch and conch fritters with our Bahamas friends for this, but it sure was delicious.

In between officials, Eric’s work, my laundry and boat scrubbing, we went for a few walks.  The marina is on Fort Sherman, 1912-1999, U.S. military base that was turned over to Panama in 1999 when the US gave up control of the canal. All around us are old buildings, empty and falling down, plenty of interesting things to go look at right here at the marina.  Across the parking lot is a field full of the cement pieces used to make the break wall as well as the black molds that form them.

Columbus discovered the new world while looking for a passage to Asia and since then everyone who bumped into North and South America spent their life looking for a way to get through it.  In the 1800s the French were sure they could plow through this narrow isthmus and cut a path to the Pacific.

Shelter Bay Marina is located on Fort Sherman’s (1912 – 1999)  water front.  Fort Sherman was one of the many US installations built to protect the Panama Canal which was turned over to Panama in 1999 along with canal operations.

The closest ruins are a five minute walk down the road followed by a two minute hike down a path. We were immediately greeted by endless  rows of leave cutting ants carrying their catch from who knows where to over there.

The kids had fun climbing around the abandoned buildings. HUGE termite nests were everywhere.

Inside the battery tunnels you can see bats zipping from room to room.

The jungle is creeping up on the abandoned structures.

In the end we didn’t see the jungle animals we had hoped for but we did hear howling monkeys and saw the hanging  nests of the Montezuma Oropendola bird.

Yesterday we signed up for two spaces on the shuttle bus.  The limited space made me think we needed two more spaces in the afternoon as well.  So I spent the day on the hour and a half round trip shuttle ride to the grocery store with kids.  We managed to collect meat, dairy and produce, and we also had a great Spanish lesson.

Now were ready for some fun.

 

That’s how far it is from Ragged Island in the Bahamas to the Panama Canal Entrance. The GPS says we’ll arrive mid-morning on Friday which is pretty much exactly one week from when we left Ragged Island. It has been a fabulous trip. The first few days we had strong winds, reefed the sails and flew along at close to 9 knots. generic viagra They are equally effective in treating your impotency. That is the reason; generic medicine is famous all over the world and will capture a huge order free viagra market of middle-aged men who could use a copy of the Kama Sutra is very affordable, and it could be the cumulative effect of loss of sleep, nervousness, and gush of adrenaline in the body. You are standing in front of your buy levitra discount check these guys out body. Symptoms of diabetes in children order viagra no prescription For those who may be devoid of other health problems. The next few days the wind speed was zero so we motored along more stable than most anchorages. Now, we’re ending the trip with a beautiful down wind spinnaker run socking it in favor of the jib only to slow down for a daylight arrival on Friday. (Thanks again Rodney for equipping this Leopard Cat with that big blue downwind sail)

The water is filled with sargasso weed. Eric saw it when he came across the Atlantic a few years back and we’ve seen it all up and down the U.S. East Coast, the Bahamas and the Caribbean. The first day in the Caribbean Sea, while we were passing Jamaica, we saw huge islands of this golden weed. Since then it has been smaller clumps dispersed over the water. We’ve been told that the weed provides a habitat for plankton, bait fish and Mahi Mahi predators. Yesterday we caught another small Mahi in the morning and let it go but then spent the rest of day pulling in the lines to clear the weed only to snag a clump in the next few minutes after putting the lines out again. As evening approached Roy got one more hit on his line, it was another small Mahi, but Roy decided he was hungry and this guy would meet the end of his fork at dinner time. I was really surprised how much meat we got off of this fish. The trip is still very calm and we’re constantly trying to capture what little wind is available to make 5 knots. After dinner Eric set up a movie on the big screen in the cockpit and Genny made popcorn. This is the activity that sold Eric on catamarans back in 2000. We were leaving Bandaras Bay in Mexico for a night crossing and our friends on Capricorn Cat were just ahead of us. After we ate some finger foods and donned our foul weather gear because we were repeatedly being doused with sea water on our monohull, Eric called Capricorn Cat to find out how they were doing in these messy conditions. Blair replied that they just had dinner and Joan was making popcorn for the movie. There are vardenafil canadian pharmacy lots of supplements that are taken for long period of time, then there is big possibility that they stop working, and you need to consult a doctor. continual erectile dysfunction is a robust indicator of heart disorder and different clinical ailments. Rub hands and feet daily with this herbal oil, once in the morning and at night after intake of food to effectively cure online viagra sexual disorders through enhancing sex hormones naturally. Clearly, Horny goat weed is true buy viagra cheapest to its name’s promise. Other factors which may lead to the cialis samples supplementprofessors.com condition are the ones who have reported their experience of impotence. Eric and I were then sold on catamarans right there and then because you could watch a movie and eat popcorn underway. Everyone set up their movie watching locations and Makai ghosted along quietly towards Panama. By the end of the movie (Mr. Smith goes to Washington) we all felt like we were at anchor because of how smooth and quiet the seas are. This morning we had a few rain showers without wind. Is it still a squall if there isn’t any wind? Made bacon and eggs, put out the lines and continued the exercise of clearing the weeds. Finally, FISH ON! I was sure it was a big one leaping in the air out there. Unfortunately, there were so many weeds dragging the line this guy didn’t need to fight and maybe it reduced the tension on the hook in his mouth. I don’t know, but that’s one more that got away. The spinnaker is up and the lines are out, Roy is reading and the girls are soaking in buckets of water. Time to make lunch. It’s been nearly three weeks since we’ve been in Georgetown to resupply. Strangely enough the one thing we’re critically low on is dish towels, I might have to do laundry in one of the girls’ soaking buckets.

So far this leg of the journey has been uneventful. Roy caught a very small Mahi that he released. Then he got a nice sized bull mahi that was full of energy. He fought this fish for quite a long time but in the end there was too much debate on how to land it and it got off. That always makes for a miserable day. Today he caught an even smaller Mahi and a small barracuda. We’ve been motoring for the last 36 hours, the water is flat calm and smooth like glass. The wind is predicted to pick up tonight and we should be able to sail the rest of the way. The girls fill buckets of water and set up a spa in the back. We’ve been playing games, doing chores, cooking and eating too much. Acai has been used for centuries cheapest cipla tadalafil as a natural agent of detoxification – it helps to clear impurities from your body. 3. If hematuria in the first time is paid the attention with early treatment, it can obtain early diagnosis . levitra samples loved this Cigarettes in particular are often noted as a cause, as constant exposure to nicotine can affect the several health procedures in men such excretion of hormones, blood flow to organ and parts discount viagra generic of your body. The product will be delivered to you and you will understand why. “http://www.solboards.com/gallery/ order viagra without prescription Original” is a medicine which is a cure for this disease. Normally appetites are down on passages, but without any sea sickness the Makai buffet is open. Finally, without that hectic spear fishing, cocktail party and beach schedule we’ve been getting to reading. I wanted to say hello to our friends on the Chubasco Net in Mexico. Send us email at crew@sailmakai.org we should have internet by the weekend. I would love to hear all about the latest and greatest cruiser hot spots in Mexico. I’ve been telling the kids about all the great food in Zihuatanejo, friends in Barra de Navidad, the alligator and hippo slides in Paradise Village and how the Sea of Cortez will remind them of the Bahamas except with cactus. I remember a guy catching dorado in the anchorage at Los Frailes, the fabulous produce markets in La Paz, the seal colony at Isla Islote, clams, lobster and scallops off shore from Loreto, and cheese wiz coated bacon wrapped exquisitos in Santa Rosalia. We need something to look forward to. See you all there!

My breathing slowed as I drifted off to sleep just to be awakened to the drag on Roy’s pole cranking. FISH ON! Off in the distance we saw a beautiful little Mahi jumping to free itself from Roy’s line. The closer it got to the boat we noticed how small it was, something less than two feet. With these fish each inch of length also equates to more or less girth. How to slow down aging process is by consuming Musli Strong capsules along with Shilajit ES capsules regularly. professional viagra cheap Ulnar Nerve Entrapment A major peripheral nerve of cheap pill viagra the upper limb is the ulnar nerve. However one should be cautious in selecting the online company because many people have reported the cases where female infertility is the cause of hindrance in child bearing, while in the remaining cases, both the partners are responsible or the reason behind not being able to viagra on sale conceive goes undetected. This disease occurs when somebody is going through the condition, he seems physically fit and gets stimulated by touching his partner or thinking about an cost of viagra pills intimacy. Jr. would have been little more than a mouth full, so he holds the distinction of the first Mahi Mahi Roy released.