January 31, 2023

The Canal

“A man, a plan, a canal, Panama!” is a well-known palindrome (a word or phrase that reads the same forwards or backwards). The phrase might be used to describe Teddy Roosevelt who was the driving force for its successful completion. Following the construction of the Suez Canal by the French in the late 19th Century, the same French team attempted to replicate the process on the Isthmus of Panama using the same strategy of a lockless continuous ditch. The attempt was abandoned after the loss of over 10,000 men to yellow fever, malaria, snakebites, and exposure. Moreover, it became clear that due to the significant inland elevation (90 feet above sea level), long rainy season, and soil characteristics, the Suez strategy would not be successful, and the attempt was abandoned. Teddy Roosevelt saw the strategic geopolitical imperative of joining the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and he provided the driving force for its construction which restarted in 1904. Special attention was given to provide adequate public health measures to eradicate yellow fever and control malaria. The central isthmus was converted to a lake by damming rivers and a total of six locks (three on either side of the lake) were constructed to allow boats to make the passage. The canal was ultimately completed in 1914 and its operation was overseen by the United States until 1999 when it was passed to the Panamanian Canal Authority, an independent entity responsible for its management. The original canal was 110 feet wide, and a second set of wider canal locks (180 foot width) was completed in 2006 to accommodate the wider neopanamax container ships. The Panama Canal is an engineering marvel, and we are about to go through it!

Leviathan has been given a transit date of February 1-2. Small private sailing vessels are usually scheduled to traverse the first set of locks on one day, spend the night anchored to a mooring buoy in the lake overnight, and then traverse the final set of locks on the second day (in rare cases, the entire transit is permitted in a single day). Preference is given to the large vessels, and we squeeze in when we are allowed. Since we are part of a large rally, we have been given permission to transit the locks in four groups of three vessels rafted together. Each boat is required to have a skipper and four line handlers for the canal transit. The line handlers maintain the position of the boat in the lock as the water rises or falls. The lines are connected to large cleats (bollards) at the canal edges. My friend Scott who sailed with us on the Atlantic crossing has joined us for our Canal adventure. In order to gain more experience, Scott and I volunteered as line handlers for Matilda, another sailboat in our rally. Yong will stay on Leviathan and watch the dogs. We made the passage with Matilda on January 29 and 30. We ascended through the Gatun locks after sunset and then spent the night in Lake Gatun. The following morning, we motored twenty miles through the lake to the second set of locks, where we descended to the Pacific Ocean. We then made a short hop to a marina in Panama City and took a shuttle back to Shelter Bay. We had a great time on Matilda and greatly appreciate the hospitality of our hosts Matt and Fiona! It will be our turn soon!

January 26, 2023

Shelter Bay

After a relaxing hiatus in the San Blas Islands, we made our way to Shelter Bay Marina near Colon which is only a stone’s throw to the northern (Atlantic) entrance to the Panama Canal. We had a beautiful night sail from the San Blas with a fresh breeze to cover the eighty some miles to Shelter Bay. As we neared our destination, our path was strewn with tankers and container ships that were anchored and waiting their turn to pass through the canal. We lowered sails and weaved our way through the maze under motor. Shortly before dawn, we passed through the breakwater marking the entrance harbor to the canal and anchored in “The Flats” just outside Shelter Bay. Once the sun had risen and we had a few cups of coffee in our systems, we made our way to our assigned slip in the marina. We will spend the next several days getting ready for our transit through the Canal.

January 24, 2023

San Blas

If you are like me, you might have never heard of the San Blas Islands. This archipelago is located off the Northern coast of Panama, approximately 90 miles east of the Panama Canal. There are over 340 picturesque, palm tree-studded tropical islands surrounded by unspoiled coral reefs. The islands are autonomously governed by the indigenous Guna Indians who have maintained many of their old cultural traditions. The San Blas Islands are a playground for visiting yachts due to the excellent sailing, swimming, snorkeling, and scuba diving. The Gunas augment their income by selling “molas” which are colorful and intricate hand-sew quilts depicting local animals and complex geometric designs. Coconuts and fish are also available from the locals who approach the anchored yachts in dugout canoes often paddled by hand. Quite a unique experience for us.

We have hopped our way through the island chain from one spectacular anchorage to another. As well as enjoying some down time, we are staging for our approach to Shelter Bay Marina which lies at the entrance of the aforementioned Canal. There are a number of formalities which are required before the Canal passage. We plan to arrive on January 27, which will give us plenty of time before our scheduled transit on February 1 and 2 (yes, it usually takes two days, but more on that later).

January 20, 2023

Sprint to San Blas

We left Santa Marta on January 18 for the San Blas Islands of Panama 285 miles distant. As previously described, each leg of our rally starts like a race, and this time we were not left behind for repairs. Quite the contrary, after pre-start maneuvering, we launched across the starting line in first place! We lengthened our lead sailing in strong winds with full jib and main on a broad reach heading west-southwest towards Panama. As winds continued to build, we placed a single reef in the main and continued to stretch out our lead. We experienced large following seas which contributed to our velocity. As we crossed the mouth of the large Magdalena River, the sea turned from Caribbean blue to Mississippi mud brown. Fortunately, we did not encounter any debris and we continued to rocket onward. As night fell, we added a second reef to the main and experienced an uneventful evening. By morning, we changed to a spinnaker, dropped the main, and angled directly towards our destination. Frustratingly, the winds lightened, but we held our lead into the next evening, finally crossing the finish line in first place! Now the hard part. We need to find a place to anchor in the nearby islands which are littered with unmarked coral reefs which can destroy a boat. After taking down the sails, we motored slowly through the pitch-black minefields using our electronic charts as our only guide. Ultimately, we picked our way safely through the maze, dropped anchor, and celebrated our victory – both the race and the successful mooring! We are anxious for daylight so we can see where we are!

Daylight did not disappoint. We have found paradise yet again.

January 17, 2023

Santa Marta

Santa Marta is the oldest city in Columbia, founded in 1525. It is best known as the birthplace of legendary Colombian footballer Carlos Valderrama (if you don’t remember the name, you will recall his blonde afro) and the site of Simon Bolivar’s death. Venezuelan-born, Simon Bolivar devoted his military career to the elimination of Spanish rule in South America and his efforts resulted in the liberation of six countries - Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Panama, and Peru – and the abolition of slavery. He is known as the “George Washington of South America,” and he is revered in this part of the world. He died of tuberculosis in 1830 in a villa in the outskirts of Santa Marta. On a tour of the city, we visited this villa which has been converted to a museum honoring Bolivar. The city tour also included a viewing of a statue of Carlos Valderrama near the sports arena and other museums highlighting the ample historical relevance of the region. We were especially interested in the exhibits describing the advanced Tayrona pre-Colombian civilization.

A highlight of our time in Colombia was meeting local businessman Nick Giroldo, owner of Tayrona Sailing. Nick also operates land-based tours, and he led us up the nearby Sierra Nevada Mountain (the world’s highest coastal mountain) to the La Victoria organic coffee plantation. Picking of the coffee beans is manual (the mountainsides are too steep for any machinery) and the subsequent processing is accomplished using technology that is over 100 years old! The efficiency of the system is quite impressive. The arabica coffee is excellent, and we bought 4 pounds of roasted beans.

The old part of town surrounding the marina is quite festive on weekends with blocks of restaurants, bars, and shops choked with visitors. We really enjoyed our time in Santa Marta. Our next stop will be in the San Blas Islands off the Northern coast of Panama. We are ready to sail again.

January 14, 2023

Viva Colombia!

In our last episode, we were halfway to our destination of Santa Marta, Colombia. The squalls we had seen in the days previous were replaced by light trade winds which pushed us along at moderate speeds. As we drew close to our goal, night fell, and we adjusted full sails to carry us home. At the five mile point, the winds became brisker and then steadily grew to 35 knots. In the darkness, we lined Leviathan up for the narrow finish line which ran between two large rocky islands visible on our chart plotter (our electronic map) but invisible to our naked eyes. In these high winds, Leviathan literally flew from wave to wave like a rampaging bull. We regretted that we had not reduced sails earlier. I remind the reader that when there is too much wind, we need to have less sail area, otherwise the boat is out of control. Yong had previously suggested that we reef the main about an hour earlier, but she was overruled by the arrogant skipper. Now, we were experiencing white-knuckle sailing as we hurtled onward through the blackness. It felt like a video game trying to align our course on the monitor to stay between Scylla and Charybdis. Under these conditions, the boat was impossible to control, careening with every increasing gust. At the point of no return, we realized the folly of our actions: we are at the beginning of a long circumnavigation, and we are putting the boat at unnecessary risk entering an unfamiliar harbor with navigational hazards in an uncontrolled fashion. Upon this realization, we simply veered the boat away from the finish and out towards the open ocean, whereupon we dropped all the sails (with great difficulty given the wind and sea state), started both engines, and simply motored across the finish line. Running the engines would violate the rules of a sailboat race, but we started this leg a day late anyway. Better to be safe than sorry. We crept into the harbor of Santa Marta, navigated into the marina, and parked Leviathan safely with the help of the able shore team. Whew! What a way to finish. We were quite humbled by the experience. We will now enjoy some shore time as we recover from the adrenaline overdose.

January 10, 2023

And They're Off!

(Without Us)

The day finally arrived for our departure from St. Lucia and the official beginning of our 14-month circumnavigation with the World ARC rally. The boat and crew were ready, but a last-minute house call by the local veterinarian was necessary to satisfy entry requirements to Colombia (our next stop) for Jake and Pogo. Following this, we cast off and motored to the starting line in the outlying harbor. Even though this is an informal “rally,” the organizers run each start like a typical sailboat race with an official starting line, signal flags, countdown, and start. We raised our sails at the 5-minute warning and suddenly lost steering control with our wheel! Clearly, the steering cable (mechanical linkage between the wheel and the rudder) had failed. We frantically lowered the sails, notified rally control and dropped an anchor while the other participants bolted across the start line to begin their long journeys. Well, that was anticlimactic. We began the diagnostic process of determining the failure. This required emptying cabinets and removing panels. The steering wheel has a sprocket like a bicycle wheel around which a length of heavy-duty bicycle chain normally hangs. Each chain end then transitions to a cable via linkages, and the cables transit a pulley system which engages the steering system. The starboard end of the chain had separated from the cable due to a popped link. At this point, the cavalry arrived. Rally Control (Ryan) kindly delivered ace mechanic Egbert to us. Egbert scavenged a replacement from his motorbike (as the stores were closed on Saturday afternoon) and effected the repair. Good as new! We are continuing our postgraduate course in boat repair!

Given the now late hour, we elected to spend the night at anchor and leave on Sunday morning. We departed at 0730 along with FAR, another boat that was starting late. Conditions were initially light. We started with jib and main, and then changed the jib to gennaker as we jibed along the coast of St. Lucia. Once the breeze settled, we took down the main and gennaker and flew the symmetric spinnaker alone. This sail allows us to sail at a true wind angle of 160 degrees and lower. Given the consistent easterly trade winds, that allows us to sail westward towards our destination of Santa Marta, Colombia. The first evening was uneventful. Since we are doublehanding Leviathan, we elected to change our night shifts to four hours in duration (I take 6 to 10, then Yong handles 10 to 2, and I follow with 2 to 6). I was initially apprehensive, but this arrangement seems to work quite well for us.

During the first night, we noticed an unusual celestial body in the low southern sky. There was a bright spherical central body with a wide trailing flare. The image persisted for at least an hour before fading from sight. We figured it was a rocket or a comet. According to Google, there were no known rockets launched that evening (January 8), so we guess that it was a comet. There is a comet named E3 ZTF that is in the vicinity of earth, so we think that is what we saw.

By the morning of day 2, we began to encounter squalls which peppered us with strong winds for most of the day. The evening was light and by the dawn of day 3, we find ourselves at the halfway point. It is nice to be back on the water. The sailing is beautiful and warm. We miss our old crew, but we are doing well!

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