Passage to Panama

Belize and Passage To Panama

The poorly generator has rather dominated our season so far, and at times we have felt it would be easier and cheaper just to throw in the towel and buy a suitcase generator. At the time of writing it still does not work properly. It is 99 percent done and runs sweetly, it just takes a lot of cranking to get it started. We are just as fed up writing about it as you are reading about the endless saga, so let's come back to it at a later date when we have had a chance to garner some more opinions.

Now as places go, Placencia in Belize is ok, especially if you like ice cream. 

It may have a swinging nightlife, but we are usually in bed by nine, curled up with a good book, or listening to music. However, we did do a little exploring by day.

The downside to the anchorage in Placencia, is that in anything except with wind from the North, it is rolly to the point of uncomfortable. Those with shallow drafts could, if they wished, head round into the lagoon behind the town, but we stayed put. Some anchorages afford a gentle rocking motion that eases you into slumber, not always so in Placencia. The rolling from side to side means that you become human conkers in bed, not at all conducive for a good nights sleep. That said, when it is calm, it is wonderful.

We did witness the lunar eclipse, and even managed to take a respectable hand held photo from the moving deck.

It was therefore a relief, or so we thought at the time, to be underway again and heading to Panama, a place that has eluded us for the last two seasons.

All started off fine. We decided to head out of the outer reef system via the Ranguana entrance we came in at. We had the foresight to record a track, so we followed this all the way out.

At first we got lulled into thinking all was rosy. We managed to make some Easting close hauled, and our 1000nm passage did not seem too daunting. Our aim was to stay well clear of the shallows off the coast of Honduras and Nicaragua, as several incidents with pirates had been reported. This meant doing a wide detour.

Our logbook shows that things started to go a little pear-shaped that evening. The winds were light and variable and the swell troublesome, progress became tedious and going anywhere close to the direction we wanted was not an option.

The best course to wind we could make took us North towards Cozumel in Mexico. When the wind did change and we tacked back, we headed just 20 degrees from due South. The only way we could make any gains was to run the engine and beat East into wind at 3.5 knots against the counter current. You know when it is a rough passage when you have seaweed on the side decks! It was looking as though we might have to head to Cuba to make the angle. However, our options narrowed down to just one... Grand Cayman. 

We won't dwell on our time in Grand Cayman, we visited 2 years before and did a blog entry back then. It remains the most expensive place we have encountered in the Caribbean for provisioning.

It was in Grand Cayman we met up with Katherine and Steve on a racy catamaran called Gemini Sunset. We left at the same time and kept in touch each day via a position report using the Sat Comms.

As a small digression, we also had an issue with the Sat Comms. Using the iOS App on our Apple devices, it would send the same email nine times! Using the PC it was fine. A big shout out to our airtime provider GTC, who worked around the clock with helpful support.

Back to the passage to Panama...

We took on much needed fuel in Grand Cayman and finally the North East winds kicked in, allowing us to make a good angle and fast, although not as fast as Gemini Sunset, which is a rocket ship!

We noticed an increase in Merchant Shipping the further South we went, which was to be expected, and kept our AIS transceiver on as well as the active radar. Even then we made at least three ship to ship calls to confirm intentions, better safe than run over. We also had a visitor in the form of a very tired migrating Barn Swallow who made him or herself at home.

After seven days at sea we finally arrived just outside the entrance to Linton Bay. Although we had waypoints around the reefs, we decided to wait until the sun came up, rather than risk an approach in the dark. By 10.00am we had cleared in with the Port Captain at the marina, organised the laundry and said hello to our friends Pamela and Charlie on Castalia.

Linton Bay Marina is going to be very nice when it is finished, and it is not too bad now. No shops, but guys in pick up trucks seem to come round near daily with fish, fruit and veg and sometimes a bread van will turn up.

In order to complete our clearing in process, we had to travel Portobelo to visit Immigration. As we wanted to buy supplies as well, we opted for a taxi at 12 US dollars. We would have needed a bank loan to provision in Grand Cayman.

Portobelo is an interesting place. Not sure the town captivated us in the way the guide books suggested, but we enjoyed walking around the remains of the fort and noted that it was one of the earliest Spanish settlements in the Caribbean. If you have the time and inclination, we enjoyed reading about the exploits of the notorious Henry Morgan in a book called The Buccaneers of America by John Esquemeling. By all accounts, some of the content is contradictory with other sources, but nonetheless, it makes a cracking read, although perhaps not for the squeamish.

All too soon it was once again time to leave the comfortable environs of a marina, and our aim this time was to sail about 40nm East to the San Blas islands.
Many cruisers spend whole seasons in the San Blas, but we will only gain a snapshot. It is on our list of 'must sees' and close by, so we will go.

At some point, perhaps after a week or two in the San Blas, we will head to Shelter Bay Marina and start to make our arrangements to transit the canal. The busy period is now over and we hear it is possible to make arrangements in just a week to ten days.

As WIFI coverage is meant to be hit and miss in the San Blas, our next update will come via Shelter Bay, or close by.