Marquesas Inbound Day 6

Hi everyone,
At noon today we were at 06 31S 106 28W steering 245M, sailing under single-reefed main and full yankee at 5 knots.  The wind was 11G15 from the ESE.  Our noon UTC-6  to noon UTC-7 distances were 125nm by the log and about 150nm over the ground.  Overall we've logged 2013nm and 2160nm respectively.  Our distance to go is 1935nm. We've passed the half way mark!

On the bow

Yesterday afternoon I took a walk around the boat with our Insta360 camera.  It was a good opportunity with lighter winds calming the seas a little.  The photo above is from that expedition.  I disposed of a large number of flying fish and checked rigging, shackles, pins etc and also looked for chafe.  All good.

We had a mostly clear sky overnight.  It was fun watching the constellation Scorpio rotating above us as the night wore on.  We originally understood our boat class was called ST10.4.  Then it became clear it was more widely called a ST34 in Japan and the ST range of boats were called Stingers.  Their logo is a scorpion.

Double-reefed main at night

Sailing into the dark

Today we celebrated passing the half-way mark and also Nicki's birthday.  We had a tot of rum ourselves and gave one to King Neptune in the hope of continuing good weather.

Cheers!

Trust all's well where you are.

Marquesas Inbound Day 5

Hi everyone,
At noon today we were at 06 05S 104 13W steering 260M, sailing under double-reefed main and full yankee at 5.5 knots.  The wind was 13G17 from the ESE.  Our noon to noon distances were 123nm by the log and about 150nm over the ground.  Overall we've logged 1888nm and about 2050nm respectively.  The 'abouts' are because we're in the middle of transitioning to UTC-7.  Our distance to go is 2073nm. Nearly half way!

Go West

Today's colour is blue!  The clouds gradually cleared late yesterday afternoon and in the evening.  For much of the night we had a moon-free star-scape.  Spectacular!  Closer to the water we 'collected' at least 20 flying fish on deck.  Most of them small but a few big 'uns.

This morning the wind eased a little so we've slowed likewise.  But we have a very nice 1+ knot of current with us and are making good ground.  The sunny morning gave us a good opportunity to take a look at the hull with an underwater camera.  Not pretty.  We are a gooseneck barnacle farm.

Uh Oh!

We'll be able to clean the hull once we reach the Marquesas.  In the mean time we're continuing to hold-off sv Xora as the usual screenshot shows.  Zen Again is the dark blue boat in the middle.

PredictWind GPS Tracking

Trust all's well where you are.

Marquesas Inbound Day 4

Hi everyone,
At noon today we were at 06 03S 101 47W steering 260M, sailing under double-reefed main and full yankee at 6 knots.  The wind was 15G20 from the ESE.  Our noon to noon distances were 128nm by the log and 146nm over the ground.  Overall we've logged 1765nm and 1869nm respectively.  Our distance to go is 2216nm.

Still chasing the sunsets

The last 24 hours have been grey.  Overcast with occasional light rain.  Surprisingly little additional wind with the rain clouds - so far!  Despite the grey colour scheme it's great sailing.  We're eating up the miles and staying ahead of sv Xora.  He's blaming the weight of his ice maker.  G&T on the rocks anyone.  :)

PredictWind GPS Tracker

Tomorrow we expect to wind the clocks back to time zone UTC-7.  That's progress!

Trust all's well where you are.

Marquesas Inbound Day 3

Hi everyone,
At noon today we were at 05 48S 099 16W steering 230M, sailing under double-reefed main and full yankee at 6 knots.  The wind was 15G20 from the ESE.  Our noon to noon distances were 127nm by the log and 150nm over the ground.  Overall we've logged 1637nm and 1723nm respectively.  Our distance to go is 2369nm.

Quiche for Lunch

The difference between our logged and over the ground distances shows we have 1 knot of current with us.  Very nice!

Yesterday afternoon and evening clouds gradually built.  In the early hours of the morning we had light-moderate rain.  Throughout the night winds were down to 10G15 which slowed us down a little.  The wind returned to 14G18 in the morning and the clouds cleared.

Our 6 hour watches are working well for us.  Much nicer to get an almost full night's sleep.

This morning I updated the boat manual.  It's a 43 page document intended as a reference for us and an introduction if we ever have crew aboard.  One item needing updating was the electronics system diagram.  It's shown below.  Meanwhile Nic made quiche for lunch.  Yum!

Electronics System Diagram

We continue to shadow sv Xora, the Hallberg Rassy 49.  We just can't get away from each other.  Pretty good considering we've only have a trisail sized main up since reaching the trades.  Here's the usual screenshot...

PredictWind GPS Tracking

Trust all's well where you are.

Marquesas Inbound Day 2

Hi everyone,
At noon today we were at 04 57S 096 51W steering 250M, sailing under double-reefed main and full yankee at 6 knots.  The wind was 12G16 from the SE.  Our noon to noon distances were 135nm by the log and 152nm over the ground.  Overall we've logged 1509nm and 1567nm respectively.  Our distance to go is 2506nm.

Company

The photo above shows a very sneaky hunting strategy.  These birds don't want to land aboard, they hover over our goalpost looking for passing fish.  Bird brain huh?

Yesterday afternoon was partly cloudy.  We bore away onto a run to refill our water tanks with 30 litres from jerries.  Later rain showers built up but didn't come overhead.  At 1800 we changed from 3 to 6 hour watches, initially as a trial.  We've done this before on our longer passages and it usually works in settled weather conditions.

Champagne Sailing (almost)

Chasing the sunset

Overnight it remained cloudy but the wind held in nicely.  It would be champagne sailing conditions if it weren't for the 2m swell with seas on top.  At about 0300 the Moon then Venus rose behind us.  Both very bright.

This morning I did a few odd jobs around the boat - checked the engine, vacuumed the cabin sole, cleaned the booby poo off the solar panels.  Meanwhile Nic baked pizza.

Pizza

Our EBBYC group continues to progress.  The screenshot below is from late this morning.  From left to right are Let's Go, Sea Change, Ohana, Zen Again & Onyx/Xora.  The latter two are buddy boating so indistinguishable.

PredictWind GPS Tracking

Trust all's well where you are.

Marquesas Inbound Day 1

Hi everyone,
At noon today we were at 04 39S 094 22W steering 250M, sailing under double-reefed main and single-furled yankee at 6 knots.  The wind was 15G19 from the SE.  Our noon to noon distance by the log was 136nm.  We've logged 1374nm so far and our distance to go is 2668nm.

Moon and Venus in the pre-dawn  today

Normally we change from outbound to inbound post titles at the half-way mark.  We're varying that here to suits a passage of two distinct parts - reaching the trades, then riding them to the Marquesas.

Yesterday afternoon a set of rainstorms passed us by, starting on our port quarter and disappearing on our stbd bow.  We got only a little drizzle from them and varying wind speed.  Overall it was a nice afternoon's sail with quite a lot of sun before the rainstorms.

The WindPilot is doing the steering work easily.  It needs a balanced sail plan which is why we have the main reefed down to trisail size.  The apparent wind is just aft of the beam so we're not having to gybe down-wind, at least not yet.  If the wind stays in the SE it'll be a single leg all the way to the Marquesas.

The booby on our bow gave us a show of fishing for his dinner around the boat yesterday afternoon.  He returned to preen then off he went.  Later in the evening he (or another booby) took up residence on our goalpost.  Unacceptable.  The super-soaker didn't evict him so we gave our air horn a try.  Success!

The screenshot below shows we're gradually edging away from Onyx and Xora to our N.  Zen Again's loving this weather.  We're enjoying it too.  The main annoyance is the inevitable rolling with wind and swell on our beam.  There's a 2m swell running.

PredictWind GPS Tracking

Trust all's well where you are!

Panama Outbound Day 11

Hi everyone,
At noon today we were at 04 20S 092 03W steering 240M, sailing under double-reefed main and full yankee at 6 knots.  The wind was 12G17 from the SE.  Our noon to noon distance by the log was 124nm.  We've logged 1238nm so far and our distance to go is 2813nm.  30% done, and hopefully most of the hard yards.

Into the rain

Yesterday afternoon and evening we sailed through cloudy and rainy weather.  Looking at the satellite imagery on PredictWind showed an extensive area of cloud with us heading into its S edge.  We went through several rainstorms with steady rain but not much wind.  When we got out from under each the wind died.  At 1600 the engine went on to prevent the sails slatting violently in the confused sea.

At 2300 the engine was turned off.  We had emerged from steady rain into drizzle and the wind had returned.  We could even see a few stars.  Since then the clouds have cleared, apart only from the normal trade wind small cumulus.  Overnight we collected 10 litres of water from the rain - not bad considering the heal we're on.  And we 'collected' a booby.  He's perched on the pulpit which doesn't bother us, yet!

Booby on the pulpit

So we are finally in the trade winds.  At last.  It took 11 days including 117 hours of motoring.  Most of the motoring was while motor-sailing, using the engine to help us point higher into the contrary wind.  Wind and current were against us for 9 of the 11 days.  We used 75% of our 280 litres of diesel.  More than we hoped and less than we feared!

We're now ripping along at 6 knots on a beam reach.  It is fantastic to finally have eased sheets.  The WindPilot vane gear is doing a great job steering.

Below is the usual plot of our nearby friends.  The smallest of them is a 44 foot cat.  We might be able to stay with the 49 foot Hallberg Rassy to our NNW, despite their much longer waterline length.

PredictWind GPS Tracks

Trust all's well where you are.

Panama Outbound Day 10

Hi everyone,
At noon today we were at 03 24S 090 20W steering 215M, sailing under full main and yankee at 5 knots.  The wind was 9G12 from the SE.  Our noon (UTC-5) to noon (UTC-6) distance by the log was 108nm.

Sunset replenishing at sea

Yet again the engine went on yesterday afternoon at 1745.  It stayed so until 0445 this morning.  As soon as we put the engine on we transferred 40 litres of diesel from jerries into the main tanks.  We still have 40 litres more in jerries.

During yesterday afternoon I realised the anchor was coming loose.  In longer passages we've been bolting our anchor to the anchor trough to stop it clanging when a wave hits it.  I went forward and replaced the bolt with our normal pin.

Sunset yesterday was spectacular.  We were treated to a green flash.  Actually it was more of a brief green blob on the upper limb of the sun as it set.  Always fun to see the green flash.

Overnight the seas calmed to the point where they were 'glassed out' - not even a ripple.  We still had a long, low swell but the winds had faded to nothing.  We kept ourselves entertained while on watch by looking out for fishing boats.  We saw one yesterday afternoon and another overnight.  Neither were on AIS of course.

Another dawn

Sailing at dawn

This morning we had a good sail to the SW.  The wind is still fickle but hopefully we're nearing the trades.  Every day we think we're almost there.  Here's our little fleet's disposition today.

PredictWind GPS Tracks

Trust all's well where you are.

Panama Outbound Day 9

Hi everyone,
At noon today we were at 02 17S 089 02W steering 225M, sailing under full main and single-furled yankee at 5 knots.  The wind was 9G12 from the S.  Our noon to noon distance by the log was 113nm.

Rainstorms & Rainbows

At noon yesterday we changed ship's time to UTC-6.  So our noon to noon run will be 25 hours tomorrow.

Yesterday afternoon we motor-sailed into a light SW wind after a line of rainstorms passed overhead.  Behind the line the seas were confused and motoring into them (at an angle) was our best option.  We had begun to hope conditions were settling so it was frustrating to find ourselves motoring yet again.

Motoring into the Sunset

We motored until 2000 and then had a nice sail until 0330 when the motor had to come on again.  More frustration!  At 0445 the wind reappeared and the engine has been shut down since.  That's after 100 hours running on this passage (so far!).

Breakfast at Dawn

This morning we had a great sail, close-hauled on port tack.  We were passing 60nm clear of the Galapagos Islands to our NW.  Onyx and Xora were 45nm to our N.  It's been a tough nine days escaping into the South Pacific.  Way to much motoring for our liking!

We're pretty confident the wind will hold in for us now.  Our next goal is to work our way S into the trades.  We'll probably do that gradually, sailing SW initially.  Where before our goal was 'go south' it is becoming 'go west'.

Trust all's well where you are.

Panama Outbound Day 8

Hi everyone,
At noon today we were at 01 22S 087 16W steering 240M, sailing under full main and yankee at 4 knots.  The wind was 6G9 from the SE.  Our noon to noon distance by the log was 107nm.

It's NOT a race

From noon yesterday we sailed until 1900 in the evening.  Very nice light airs sail with a calm sea only disturbed by a long swell from the SSE.  We then motored through the night under a mostly clear sky until 0300 when a thin bank of fog passed over us.  The fog was clearly at the boundary of a new breeze and the engine was turned off.  Today we sailed until noon when the wind died once more.  

We're gradually approaching the Galapagos.  We'll pass well clear to the S.  In the image above Zen Again is blue.  Lets Go is 120nm ahead and on our stbd quarter are Onyx, Xora and Sea Change.  We're all looking forward to escaping the blue (windless) area into the green.

Today we advanced our clocks one hour to UTC-6.  We've a few more timezones to sail through on this passage.

Trust all's well where you are!

Panama Outbound Day 7

Hi everyone,

At noon today we were at 00 00S 086 07W steering 210M, sailing under full main and yankee at 5 knots.  The wind was 6G8 from the SE.  Our noon to noon distance by the log was 114nm.

Crossing the Line

Yesterday afternoon our sail SW continued under an overcast sky with a few rainstorms about.  But by 1630 the wind had decreased to 3G5 and the engine went back on.  We motored SSW overnight in winds varying from 3 to 6 knots.  We had several periods of drizzle.  The skies eventually cleared somewhat, with a thinner overcast by morning.

The water and air temperatures have been steadily dropping over the last few days.  Last night it actually felt a little chilly on deck.  Water temperature has fallen from 30C to 25C.  This must be due to the Humboldt Current, the flow of cold water up the South American coast.  Some of the weather models even predicted fog but we didn't see any.

This morning the wind gradually returned and as noon approached we set full sail and shut down the engine.  At noon we crossed the equator under a sunny sky!  Rum was offered up to King Neptune and the crew, all of whom accepted.  This was our fourth crossing following two in SE Asia and one in the Atlantic.  It's great to be in the South Pacific.

We're now sailing SW to pass S of the Galapagos.  Let's Go is 150nm ahead and Sea Change, Onyx and Xora are N of us.  We all departed Panama City on the same day, one week ago.

Trust all's well where you are.

Panama Outbound Day 6

 Hi everyone,

At noon today we were at 01 05N 084 51W steering 235M, sailing under full main and yankee at 4.5 knots.  The wind was 6G10 from the S.  Our noon to noon distance by the log was 100nm.

Light wind sailing

Yesterday afternoon we motored onward.  The skies cleared and the sun came out.  We transferred 80 litres of diesel from jerries into the main tank.  This filled the tank and confirmed we're burning diesel at a rate of 1.75 litres/hour.  That's what we've measured before and it's good to know it's unchanged.

By late evening the winds and seas had really calmed.  That improved the ride (less pitching) and our speed.  The stars were out until midnight when high cloud started to move in.  Then at 0300 the predicted new S breeze came in.  We unfurled the yankee and killed the motor.  We've been sailing since.  Soooo much nicer!

This morning the wind held in and actually backed to the SSE, allowing us to get a little further south.  Although we were steering 235 we were tracking 255 due to a strong NE current.  The current is supposed to swing around to the W tomorrow - that'd be nice.  The screenshot from our instruments shows ground wind of 4G7, apparent wind of 6G9 and boat speed of 3.9 knots - not bad!  And a 1.2knot currrent.

Light Wind, Fast Boat, Cross-Current

But the most important event today was Nic baking Hot Cross Buns.

Hot bun and cold juice

Happy Easter everyone!

Panama Outbound Day 5

 Hi everyone,

At noon today we were at 01 46N 083 26W steering 220M, motor-sailing under single-reefed main at 4.5 knots.  The wind was 4G8 from the S.  Our noon to noon distance by the log was 106nm.

Leaving the rainstorm behind?

At times this passage feels brutal.  Ears assaulted by engine noise.  Balance challenged by random pitch and roll.  Brain constantly debating wind prediction accuracy and whether our diesel will last the distance.  It's all about reaching the trade winds, and that's all about getting S.  Through the adverse wind, seas and current.  The trades will be sweet - once we reach them!

Yesterday afternoon the engine went back on at 1500.  We'd had 7 hours of sailing close hauled, half on each tack.  Our track shows we tacked through about 150 degrees.  Adverse current, sloppy seas and light winds account for that.  We won't reach the trades that way so the engine went back on.  We did enjoy the silence.

Since then we've been motor-sailing very close hauled.  The main is giving a little extra drive and we are pointing much higher than when sailing.  Initially we headed S but tacked W when a rainstorm parked directly ahead.  Overnight the SW wind backed slowly to the S, lifting us from W to WSW to SW.  That was nice.

Despite the conditions Nic baked a cake this morning.  Looking forward to getting into it.  And the constant overcast we've had for days is starting to disperse.  Best of all the seas are reducing with the lightening winds, allowing us to head even further south. 

Cake

Our diesel tank is emptying inexorably.  We'll probably need to refill it from jerries later today.  Our two sets of 4 20 litre jerries each give us about two days motoring.  Should be plenty (fingers crossed)!

Trust all's well where you are.

Panama Outbound Day 4

Hi everyone,
At noon today we were at 02 26N 082 02W steering 270M, sailing under single-reefed main and single-furled yankee at 4.5 knots.  The wind was 8G12 from the SSW.  Our noon to noon distance by the log was 95nm.  Sadly we did even less than that towards our goal.  The name of the game today was safety, with big thunderstorms in the area.

Yesterday afternoon we were surrounded by rainstorms.  We were still motoring after resorting to the engine that morning.  By dusk the rain started and it rained heavily for several hours.  The seas were choppy which made progress slow.  We just hunkered down and motored on.

By the morning conditions had improved.  There were no rainstorms nearby and the sky was overcast but less heavy than yesterday.  At 0800 we turned the engine off and resumed sailing.  We made better speed but had to sail lower - probably the same VMG but not burning diesel.  And the quiet was lovely.

We sailed all morning and into this afternoon.  During the morning we again crossed paths with SVs Onyx and Xora.  Apparently they now call us Them Again.

During the day we learned that sv Let's Go split their mainsail from leach to luff just above the third reef line, rendering the sail useless.  They may be able to repair it at sea but that's a big task.  They were caught in a big thunderstorm with lightning touching down very close to them.  Not a fun experience.

Trust all's well where you are!

Panama Outbound Day 3

Hi everyone,

At noon today we were at 03 52N 082 02W steering 220M, motoring under double-reefed main at 4.5 knots. The wind was 9G11 from the N, a brief burst of wind from a nearby rainstorm. Our noon to noon distance by the log was 104nm.

Motoring

Yesterday we sailed quietly SW until 1500 when we gybed S. We continued S into the evening when the wind started to veer E then SE. That took our course around to SW again.

At 0100Z we again did our HF/SSB radio sked. This time we had company and chatted with sv Ohana, an Aussie cat which left Panama yesterday. We also spoke our friends on Metzi who are in St Lucia, 1300nm away. It was great to chat with Wayne and also nice to know our radio is performing well.

The night became cloudy with an almost unbroken layer of low cumulus. The moon still managed to shine through so they can’t have been very thick. To our NW we could see distant lightning and occasionally hear thunder. The SE wind was probably being sucked into that area of convection.

By dawn we were losing speed and SVs Onyx and Xora were motor-sailing up to us from astern. We were all passing Malpelo Island, an isolated small island owned by Colombia. The seabed topography around here is very ‘mountainous’ and this island is the highest peak. The deepest depth is about 4km but there are reported shoals of 30-100m a few miles from those depths.

Malpelo Island

By 0830 our speed was down below 3 knots with little prospect of a sailing wind. So on went our trusty motor and we’ve been motoring since. We expect to be motoring most of the time for the next three days.

SVs Onyx and Xora motored by. They’ll be motoring faster than us so we may not see them until after arrival in the Marquesas. We’ll see. We had a chat with Xora on VHF to wish each-other well.

sv Xora Passing By

From satellite photos downloaded via PredictWind we can see there’s a large cloudy area to our NW. Closest to us were two rainstorms. One passed astern and the other headed off in the opposite direction. Weird. Our radar shows intense rain and both had some good rain in them.

Rainstorms Passing By

We’re not looking forward to the long motor ahead of us. But that’s the name of the game in this passage. A lot of motoring is to be expected. Hence our extra jerries of fuel. By the end of the week we should reach a light S wind which should back SE as we move further SW. And then we’ll be getting into the trades!

Trust all’s well where you are.

Panama Outbound Day 2

Hi everyone,
At noon today we were at 05 03N 081 07W steering 240M, sailing under double-reefed main and single-furled yankee at 5.5 knots.  The wind was 14G18 from the NNE.  Our noon to noon distance by the log was 126nm.

Sunset Yesterday

Yesterday afternoon we gybed S at 1400 since the wind had gradually veered from N to NE.  And the GRIBs indicated we would be running out of wind if we stood on.  We left Onyx and Xora who continued running SW.  Eventually we lost them on AIS.  On our starboard beam was Sea Change, a Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 41, visible under spinnaker about 6nm away and also heading S.  We actually pulled away from them for a while until, perhaps, they got into the better wind we had.

We have sailed S through several area with CAPE over 3000.  PredictWind highlights high CAPE areas as having thunderstorm risk.  Happily we saw no sign of any.  Plenty of high-level cloud but nothing at lower levels.  No doubt we'll encounter thunderstorms eventually.

During the evening the high cloud dispersed leaving us with a lovely full moon with only bright stars visible.  The Southern Cross was bright and clear dead ahead - nice!  At 0345 we gybed back to the W since the wind had backed to NNE.  Since then we've been steering WSW.  Kazi the WindPilot vane gear has been steering us throughout the passage, except only for two short periods with less than 6 knots apparent when Kami the autopilot takes over.

Last night we had a hitchhiker.  A booby took up residence on our goalpost.  What a mess he made!  Eventually I scrubbed off the guano and threw the dirty water over him.  He didn't like that and hasn't returned.  If another turns up they'll get a dose from our toy Super Soaker water gun much sooner than the last!

Super Soaker loaded

This morning we've continued WSW.  We may need to gybe south again if we run into adverse current but we're currently on the leading gybe, with the closest course to our target of SW.  Skies are clear apart from scattered small cumulus.  Seas are 1.5-2.0m with a low NNW swell.

Panama Outbound Day 1

Hi everyone,
At noon today we were at 06 32N 080 08W steering 240M,  sailing under single-reefed main and full yankee at 4.5 knots, 6 knots including current.  The wind was 10G15 from the NNE.  Our noon to noon distance by the log was 129nm.

Departing La Playita

We spent our two days in Panama City topping up fuel and water, shopping for fresh food, cleaning the hull, changing the engine oil & filter and clearing out.  The latter was simple with port/customs & immigration offices in the same building.  We have 300 litres of water and 280 litres of diesel aboard.

The departure from La Playita anchorage is simple.  We stayed E of the Traffic Separation Scheme which is busy with cargo ships coming or going from the canal.  We departed within a few hours of SVs Lets Go, Onyx, Sea Change and Xora - three Aussies and a Pom.  52, 55, 41 and 49 footers respectively.  We 'raced' S beside the TSS all day and into the night.  The wind started 10G15 and ended 25G30.

We were under double-reefed main and triple-furled yankee for most of the afternoon and overnight.  Zen Again loved it, reaching over 9 knots down some waves.  Amazingly we kept up with all except Let's Go.  Onyx and Xora overtook us during the afternoon but we passed them overnight.  This morning we passed on the location of drifting trees from Let's Go to the others.

Yesterday afternoon we were accompanied by a pod of dolphins.  They put on a great show jumping out of the water vertically. Overnight had a lovely full moon above a clear sky.  Very good visibility.

Dawn

This morning winds were light again but we got into a WSW current which is helped us along.  In the early afternoon we gybed S, along with sv Sea Breeze.

Trust all's well where you are!

Panama Canal Transit

Hi everyone,

Today we are anchored at La Playita in the Pacific.  Yesterday was an epic day.  We transited the Panama Canal.

Doors about to close on the Atlantic

Here are the usual images...

Track

Graphs

The morning prior to our transit our lines and fenders were delivered by Stanley.  He is an agent but can provide lines, fenders and line handlers for the transit.  We had arranged a couple of yachties to come along as line handlers, and booked one line handler with Stanley.  Unfortunately the couple booked their transit for the day after ours and so couldn't come with us.  So we ended up with three professionals and that worked out very well.  Two had been aboard UK sv White Malkin with us when we joined Mike as line handlers.

Fendered!

We had dinner at the marina restaurant on our last day.  Twas a nice way to finish our stay.  Then we turned-in early to get some sleep before our 0230 start.

We were up on time and ready for our line handlers arrival at 0300.  We called Cristobal Signal on the VHF and they advised our advisor's boarding time would be 0445.  So we stayed in the pen until 0400.  Then we motored out to the flats off the marina where the advisor came aboard at 0430.

From the flats our group of three boats motored to the first locks.  By the time we arrived it was twilight and we 'nested' into a single three-boat group, secured alongside each-other.  Once nested we motored into the lock.  The canal line handlers and our onboard line handlers did a good job throwing the monkey fist messengers and handling the lines.  Before long we were going up - about 9m per lock in this flight of three.

Getting Nested

Entering the first lock

Gates closing on the Atlantic

Once the 'climb' was complete we motored out of the lock and de-nested.  From there we had a 25nm motor across the lake to the Pacific side.  It was the most sustained workout for our Craftsman CM3.27 engine since installation in 2014.  Five hours at 2000 rpm.  Normally we motor between 1600 and 1800 rpm.  2000 gave us 5.5 knots, avoiding our being the 'laggard' of the group.  And it was good to stress test the motor before a lot of motoring out of the Bay of Panama.

De-nesting

Aussie sv Matahair takes the lead

Nic did a fantastic job cooking for the crew of six.  At the start of the long motor we had a cooked breakfast.  Along the way we had chilled fresh fruit.  And on arrival at the down locks we had lunch of chilli con carne.  Throughout we had an endless supply of cold bottled water on offer. 

Very BIG ships

Constant dredging

On arrival the three boats hadn't been quite fast enough to go through the down locks with the ship we ascended with.  So we had to wait 40 minutes for the next ship - another big car carrier.  In the interim we went alongside the lock wall and nested-up there.  This avoided one of the three monkey fist catching episodes so wasn't all bad!

Company in the down locks

Ready to descend

Pacific Ocean in sight!

Doors opening on the Pacific

Once free of the down locks we de-nested one last time and motored under the Bridge of the Americas to the Balboa YC where the Advisor was collected by a Pilot boat.  Great job Amado!  Then the line handlers Rocky, Alex & Manuel were collected.  Thanks guys!  We'd definitely recommend having at least one professional line handler aboard.  All three knew the drill and made our time in the locks very very easy.

De-nesting

The Bridge of the Americas

Advisor extraction

So here we are in the Pacific Ocean!  The La Playita anchorage is a bit rolly from the wash of passing vessels but less so at night.  The anchorage is off the La Playita Marina and a 10 minute (US$15 return) taxi ride to Panama City.  It's nice to be at anchor again with a good draft through the boat.

Trust all's well where you are.