We are off again (not as in smell) - actually tis very hot and oppressive here - always sweaty, drippy and uncomfortable - will be glad to be moving and hopefully find some breeze. This part of the coast is known for light winds so looks like lots of motoring in the next week or so to reach Panama city.
There is a definite corner in Costa Rica's Pacific coast that once rounded the weather changes from dry and hot to the very typical rain forest/jungle type atmosphere and we did notice the difference - it was like an invisible line we crossed. The thick humid jungle is the other side of the road from us - only metres away and too thick to walk through. Animals cry out at night (and dogs).
There is a definite corner in Costa Rica's Pacific coast that once rounded the weather changes from dry and hot to the very typical rain forest/jungle type atmosphere and we did notice the difference - it was like an invisible line we crossed. The thick humid jungle is the other side of the road from us - only metres away and too thick to walk through. Animals cry out at night (and dogs).
Our sail down to Panama was uneventful in the beginning - we motored each day (not much wind in these parts) and anchored overnight - sometimes we got lucky and got a quiet, still anchorage but mostly rolly which didn't matter too much when all we did was have dinner and go to bed - we were up at 5am each morning.
One particular bay in which we stopped for the night was entertaining Bahia Honda - the locals here had it all worked out – first came grandpa in his dugout canoe – he wanted rice, milk etc – he has his two very cute granddaughters with him – the eldest was obviously embarrassed by the ploy and kept her head hung just the same as our young teenagers do when they are not sure of their bodies, ability to put two intelligent words together or whether their hair and pretty face pass muster – I felt for her, especially as the grandfather was laying it on very thick. We gave the little one some exercise books and pencils with a sharpener and some crayons for colouring in. The teenager received pens and books. They were very grateful and off they went – they were followed in a very short time by the son (dad to the girls) he had his son with him. Now they wanted fuel for their outboard and fishing gear for the boy – humm they must think we are a floating gift shop – as we compared notes with other cruisers we found this was the usual system applied to their bay (Grandad's notoriety has even made it into one of our Cruising Guides). We did have a laugh when one cruiser offered expensive fishing lures – the dad looked at them with a ungrateful sign indicated that they were no good – he required smaller lures for the smaller variety of fish in the bay. New lures were shown for his approval and blow me dead if he didn't want those either – he wanted red ones not yellow – for goodness sake !!!! He was told to paint them or go without by a frustrated cruiser. These people are extremely poor, they are a proud people but in order to survive they have to request food from the yachties, who in their eyes must be very very rich.
There was one other yacht anchored in the bay - “Al” on the boat Sailfisher called us up on the VHF radio and chatted for a while - I think Al now regrets ever having spoken to us. Both going in the same direction we decided to “buddy boat”. At the next overnight anchorage we again chatted on the radio, still not having met face to face as neither of us had our dinghy in the water.
Whilst underway the following day our engine began making noises which progressively got worse. Don called Al and told him what was happening and he agreed to keep in contact. A few hours later Don was telling Al how all seems fine - the noise disappeared at lower revs so we will just travel slower when all hell broke loose - loud screeching and lots of billowing smoke - not a good thing to see when miles away from land on a floating piece of !!##@@!!!!. (that was Don's terminology – not mine – I wouldn't be brave enough to insult the very vessel that our immediate survival depended on -but Don felt what the heck and let it rip!)
Black rubber smoke and stink filled the boat, it was the fanbelts slipping that caused the screeching and the stinky black smoke was the rubber belts melting when the water pump seized.. What that all means is we did not have a functioning motor and little or no wind. Sailfisher stayed with us on the long slow journey and eventually we picked up the wind and began to move at a reasonable rate. We lost Sailfisher during the night - they went on ahead. Sailfisher had battery problems, they would not hold their charge, so they had to keep their motor running in order to have some juice in the batteries. Punta Mala is the point of land before entering the Gulf of Panama. This point is notorious for bad cross winds, confused seas and terrible currents. Everyone dreads the trip around the corner and many hide in the bay before the point until the weather is favourable. Sailfisher had a good sail around the point and up towards Panama city - we lost all wind and wallowed in the big seas and in self pity. We were in no danger as Don had made sure we were way off land therefore could not drift onto rocks etc - it was just uncomfortable and we were at the mercy of the wind and seas like in the olden days. Sailfisher called up and said they were going on ahead to Panama and would make enquiries as to a marina slip for us. They later called up and said they were heading back to us as Al said he couldn't sleep at night knowing that he had left us out there.
Whilst underway the following day our engine began making noises which progressively got worse. Don called Al and told him what was happening and he agreed to keep in contact. A few hours later Don was telling Al how all seems fine - the noise disappeared at lower revs so we will just travel slower when all hell broke loose - loud screeching and lots of billowing smoke - not a good thing to see when miles away from land on a floating piece of !!##@@!!!!. (that was Don's terminology – not mine – I wouldn't be brave enough to insult the very vessel that our immediate survival depended on -but Don felt what the heck and let it rip!)
Black rubber smoke and stink filled the boat, it was the fanbelts slipping that caused the screeching and the stinky black smoke was the rubber belts melting when the water pump seized.. What that all means is we did not have a functioning motor and little or no wind. Sailfisher stayed with us on the long slow journey and eventually we picked up the wind and began to move at a reasonable rate. We lost Sailfisher during the night - they went on ahead. Sailfisher had battery problems, they would not hold their charge, so they had to keep their motor running in order to have some juice in the batteries. Punta Mala is the point of land before entering the Gulf of Panama. This point is notorious for bad cross winds, confused seas and terrible currents. Everyone dreads the trip around the corner and many hide in the bay before the point until the weather is favourable. Sailfisher had a good sail around the point and up towards Panama city - we lost all wind and wallowed in the big seas and in self pity. We were in no danger as Don had made sure we were way off land therefore could not drift onto rocks etc - it was just uncomfortable and we were at the mercy of the wind and seas like in the olden days. Sailfisher called up and said they were going on ahead to Panama and would make enquiries as to a marina slip for us. They later called up and said they were heading back to us as Al said he couldn't sleep at night knowing that he had left us out there.
There really wasn't anything he could do apart from towing us, which we had discussed. We were both reluctant to do this as it can put a lot of pressure on the boats in big seas. We went around Punta Mala in relatively calm conditions with Sailfisher off to the side (their third trip past this point). The wind picked up and we were doing a great speed - the only drawback is the wind was normally associated with a thunder storm so lots of very heavy rain, no visibility, no radar so we had to keep constant lookout for ships etc and lots of lightning - a bit frightening. As we could not recharge our batteries we shut down all the electrical equipment and just left the navigation equipment on. This meant hand steering - I now have a new appreciation of the Sydney-Hobart racers. We began with 2 hrs steering then changed places for a bed, it got down to 15 mins changeover as our hands and arms became increasingly painful. After 54hrs of hand steering we were very stinky, dirty and exhausted. The wind died at night and the current was so strong that we lost ground ie went back the way we had come - the islands we had passed were now in front of us - bugger!!! Sailfisher again was far ahead of us and once again decided he couldn't leave us wallowing in the seas without any control so back he came again - this time the seas were calm and no wind so after long discussions the Captains decided that towing was an option and set about getting the equipment ready. Luckily for us Al had a number of lines, small bouys and an untried design to make a bridle attached to a cleat either side of his vessel – giving equal drag on his boat. Al towed us to the island “Taboga where we are at the time of writing this. Fortunately for both the boats the weather stayed calm and the tow to Taboga took about 6 hours and was easy – the only difference on Sailfisher was a slight increase in revs. Our boat is solid and heavy so we were concerned about the pressure towing could put on Sailfisher.
We have pulled the motor apart, got the bearing out which caused the problem in the first place and now have to wait a few days to get a ferry over to the mainland and try to get a replacement. The island is lovely - every house a different colour and everyone very friendly. Chuey and wife Susan own some mooring balls in the bay and directed our disabled boat to the closest one. Chuey and Susan are great fun – always a cold beer waiting in their fridge with our name on it.
We still do not have any battery power therefore no electrical equipment. All the food in the refrigerator had to be thrown out, the worst being - no cold beer or water. We are living on canned foods and pasta or rice and it is fine - no water pressure so no showers. A bucket and cloth does the job - and people think sailing is romantic !!!!
One sad/funny thing did happen whilst we were out in one of the strong thunderstorms - Don was steering and I was asleep when he yelled at me to come up as a panga was approaching. A small fishing boat - about 16ft long tried to pull alongside and yell to us - the drumming of the rain was so loud we couldn't hear them so they came closer which meant they were in danger of ramming our boat with the pointy end of theirs. They kept asking where we were going and where Playa Tierra was - we could not understand them mostly because of the noise from the wind and rain, eventually Don went downstairs to look at the chart to see if he could recognise a location similar to what they were enquiring about. We were embarrassed to find the poor totally sodden fellas were actually asking where land was !!! They were lost in the dark overcast seas and did not have enough fuel to make it back to land. Don filled up their jerry can - not an easy task in a thunder storm with large swell - he rocked and rolled over the deck but didn't spill a drop. Handing the drum back to the panga was a scary afair - it nearly ended up in the sea a few times as a wave rolled by and swept us away from them. They were not aware that our motor was disabled therefore could not control our boat - we could only change course within a limited margin or risk tacking the sails. They were very grateful and headed off to land - I wished we had had some chocolate bars and canned drinks to give them - they did look a sorry sight.
We finally got to meet Al and Yvette his wife - they are both lovely people and the disaster is all a big joke now. Remember the boat that was towed into Golfito - with the same problem - I was a little annoyed with the boat as it looked untidy, unkept, dirty etc and the owners were a bit rough - having a boat towed puts strain on both the boats and can be dangerous in heavy seas - I thought "why didn't these people know their waterpump was faulty - their engine lights must have shown a rise in temperature" but ours certainly didn't - there was no warning at all so I am eating humble pie !!!
We finally got to meet Al and Yvette his wife - they are both lovely people and the disaster is all a big joke now. Remember the boat that was towed into Golfito - with the same problem - I was a little annoyed with the boat as it looked untidy, unkept, dirty etc and the owners were a bit rough - having a boat towed puts strain on both the boats and can be dangerous in heavy seas - I thought "why didn't these people know their waterpump was faulty - their engine lights must have shown a rise in temperature" but ours certainly didn't - there was no warning at all so I am eating humble pie !!!
I think we will be here for a while - both the marinas in Panama are full and there appears to be quiet a lengthy wait list for transiting the Canal. I hope to be a line handler on another boat so I get to see what it is like before we transit.
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