Panama to Galapagos Passage

Post Canal Crossing and Pre-Passage

We were so late after we got through the canal, that we found an anchoring spot the first night we ate onboard but by the second night everyone was ready for a good dinner!

The following day was spent shopping for more stores. Geordie was particularly taken by the size of the T-bone steaks! Then he and Craig found the perfect spot under the cooling system for the flowers – the locals must have wondered what they were up to. The boys are still coming to terms with the heat.

We took the taxi back to the yacht but during the unloading one of the trolleys managed to escape the trolley driver – sadly we were down one bottle of wine!!

After an exhausting day of shopping, it was off to try another bar to recuperate.

The next day was laundry day but after a fine morning it was also very wet – maybe the sign of the wet season coming. We knew that many people in Panama would be particularly glad of the rain. The water in the marina went up about a meter between the rain and the high tide. We were back in the Pacific with tides (1.5 -2.5m) after being in the Mediterranean and Caribbean with very small tides( 10-60cm).

Tortuga Island

We could not get anything done over the weekend so we went to Tortuga Island for a couple of nights – fumigation and a hull inspection were booked for check out on Monday. The island is a favourite weekend day stop for locals, so it was very busy. It has been well laid out in the past and has had quite a lot of money spent on it, but now it is looking run down in many areas. The spit between the main and smaller island is covered over at high tide so many visitors leave after the tide comes in. Most of the food stalls and shops are temporary structures.

We returned to the marina early Monday morning to finalise our checkout from Panama and get final clearances for entry to Galapagos. Craig and Hew went off in an Uber to track down something to fix a small hydraulic leak in the steering, Geordie and Graeme were dispatched to the supermarket for last-minute supplies and Captain Barb dealt with Officialdom and the fumigation man. By late afternoon we were ready to leave but it was so late we decided just to go back to Tortuga for the night, a much more pleasant place than a dirty marina with an unpleasant surge jerking the boat around.

23 April Sunny Day, Fish and Spinnaker ride

We set off early in the morning with the code zero up and very light winds. Geordie soon had two lines out and some time later he caught two tuna at the same time.

Just after lunchtime, the spinnaker went up. It was great to have it flying again and dragging us along in the light weather. Shortly before we had the spinnaker up we had seen a small pod of dolphins – the first since we left Trinidad. Immediately before nightfall, we saw a solo dolphin with two large remoras attached – a very strange sight.

We all had dinner and then discussed taking the spinnaker down. The wind had got up and we decided it was a little dodgy to leave it up with inexperienced crew on watch. Surfing at +15 knots seemed a little extreme on the first night with the breeze increasing.

So we got ready and down it came. We ran the motors to take the wind out of the spinnaker as we had no mainsail up. Unfortunately at some stage in the process, one sheet went overboard and into the starboard engine, and then the port sheet went overboard and into the port engine. Two engines out and two short sheets. With no motors and we would have to leave it until the morning to sort it out. Put up the main and Genoa again.

24 April Cleared Props

In the early morning, the breeze eased with a full moon. Lovely sailing but very slow. After daylight, we found a spare sheet and raised the spinnaker again on the spare and the longer of the now short sheets. Both props were trailing parts of the sheets that had tangled in them the night before.

The wind eased more and after some discussion, we dropped the spinnaker – really easy in daylight – and slowly drifted!! Barb, ever looking for an opportunity for a swim, leapt over and one rope came out of the port engine easily. Then Geordie dived in and helped with the starboard engine which was much more entangled. Craig felt he was missing out so also dived in for a mid-ocean swim.

Finally, with the props free and working with no damage, the swimmers back on board, and we were off again under the spinnaker. By the end of the day, we were down to a Code zero and motoring on one engine. The forecast gave a motoring zone of 200nm as we headed into the doldrums.

25 April Rain

By the early morning of the third day, it was pouring rain. Gusty and very wet. One little bird, a white collared swift came and landed on the back rail and stayed for a couple of hours.

At nightfall we had three Boobys riding on the front of the yacht. One on each seat and one on the bowsprit. Overnight we gained another 3 or 4. They did not seem phased by the pitching and rolling although they had to make several attempts at landing.

26 April

At sunrise the wind was slowly increasing, when we decided to put the sails back up our hitchhikers left. Soon we had one reef on the main and hard on the wind with a cloud line behind us. The sea was getting very rough. Barb, of course, decided to cook in the middle of this with Afghans, Banana Cake, Ginger Crunch, and muesli all being constructed while the boat pitched about.

Cooking efforts on the voyage also extended to the rest of the crew with Craig and Hew experimenting with bread recipes, pastry being made as we had been unable to buy any, and Geordie providing a variety of sashimi and ceviche with his fish catching. We continue to dine well!

By nightfall, we had more Boobies on board and the forecast was looking like we should soon be out of the rain.

27 April More Hitch Hikers

By daylight, we were heading 50 deg off course, and running one engine to push us up, while waiting for the wind to go more east – a very frustrating day. The forecast promised it would happen but it was very slow waiting for the change to happen.

Late afternoon the wind started to swing to the east and we began to head in the right direction at last.

28 April Clean Up

The next day was a big clean-up to remove the Boobie poo and then drying out the spinnaker and the code zero which we had tied on deck.

29th April Early Morning Arrival In The Dark

Early morning we were slowly sailing along the coast with large motorboats coming from all directions. We arrived in Puerto Ayora, Santa Cruz just before daybreak. The anchorage appeared quite crowded in the dark and we had a couple of attempts at anchoring before getting a good grip on the bottom.

The anchor inspection crew dived on the anchor when daylight arrived to find it wedged between a couple of rocks and looking secure so we could relax. Several local cruise boats had arrived just after us so we felt a little surrounded and shortly after sunrise an Australian boat Qi arrived as well, we had crossed paths with them a couple of times on the voyage from Panama.

We had already been given a check-in time for the officials of 1100. They were there about 1030, but we were surprised at the number of “officials”. After supplying water and ginger crunch and an in depth tour around the boat for about 3 of them, an inspection of the major first aid kit, and the filling in of many forms, they went away happy and we had our permits.

The rest of the day we just relaxed and looked at the activity around us.

Next Blog: Santa Cruz, Galapagos