2-3 March - "Nereida" is moved to get a keel - and become a 'complete boat'!

Holes drilled  Nearly! 

(Pipe is being held close by to collect dust)
 

 Nuts tightened                Pretty!       

Spring seemed to have arrived, ...the snow melted away.... and then, one day, winter returned again - thick snow fell....and several cars skidded off into the ditch beside the road.... who said the Swedes can cope with the weather??

Unfortunately, progress on the boat slowed right down with a long list of items not arriving as expected from suppliers.... with plenty still to be installed, I found it difficult not to get increasingly impatient, with delivery being delayed until early April, rather than early -mid March, as I'd been hoping for last month....  "It's a boat, what do you expect?" my friends keep telling me.....!! 

One important safety item I have organized in the meantime is a Jordan Series Drogue from Ace Sailmakers in Connecticut, USA, to attach to the strong points on the stern quarters in times of expected bad storms, ready for deployment in really heavy conditions.  
i've also arranged for a second autopilot  drive unit to be installed 'ready to go' - nothing like being prepared for the worst, although I'd hope to be mainly using my Hydrovane windsteering on my long passages.

The good news, as of 18th March, is that most of the outstanding items have finally arrived, so we're hoping for completion by 2nd April.... arriving in England around 7th April - just before Easter weekend .... I'm keeping my fingers crossed for no more delays....

More photos of lead keel being fitted can be found on Flickr ....  http://www.flickr.com/photos/nereida/sets/72157615499503947/

The snow is finally melting here...! Photos show a free ferry between Orust and Lysekil en route to Smögen from Henån...

Wintry Najardvarvet (Najad Yard), Henan, Sweden - where I'm spending a lot of my time now, keeping a good eye on the fitting out of the new "Nereida" in between discussions on some remaining issues - stern steelwork, strongpoints for a drogue, windsteering fixing points, electronics, sails, 2nd alternator on the engine, etc...   I'm really appreciating a heated car driving seat  (warm & relaxing!) as I drive to and from the Stenungsund Y.C. where I'm staying - a very pleasant, friendly place.  Every Friday and Saturday night, it's really 'hopping' as the only place around where the locals can dance to live music and forget the short, often overcast & dark, cold days.   It gets a good mix of ages (and quite a few really good dancers) and  it's great to see so many people clearly having a good time - plus I get to dance occasionally to 'Abba'  (or at least, to their music!) in Sweden....!!

The boat started out in December being worked on with the deck alongside the hull - but by January, the deck was in place and the boat was soon moved to its new 'home' (see photos below) where it will stay until it is almost ready to truck down to England in early March.
Moving of the boat gave me a chance to get a good first overall view of her -  she looks pretty, don't you think?  And I know she'll sail well, maybe even better than the old 'Nereida' ...  It was a freezing cold Friday night and they took quite a time manoevring her to a precise position - the working platform/floor around in her new 'home' is a very close fit!

I had a busy time at the London Boat Show, meeting lots of people, many of whom were very supportive of my sailing plans with the new boat.  Prior to the Show, I'd already had very welcome help from both Lopolight (their new stainless steel LED navigation lights) & Whale Pumps (fresh water foot pump and sea water manual  pump - both very reliable & used  in my previous boat) - as mentioned in my previous 'blog'.  Andersen (winches) are continuing to be very helpful and, as a result of talking to IMP Ltd about that, I was delighted to find Cantalupi Lighting offering to send me as many overhead LED cabin lights as I need - a big 'Thank you' to Susannah (IMP in UK) and to Giovanni (Cantalupi in Italy)!  That will really help keep my power usage down both on passage and at anchor.   Terry Smallwood of Kelvin Hughes has very kindly offered to help me with my buying of books and charts etc - I lost so many....

Not far from Henan is Smogen where the sail loft of UK-Syversen (sailmaker for Najad) is based, amid dramatic, enormous, granite boulders and bare outcrops,  rounded and smoothed by Ice Age glacier action, overlooking a sea littered with low, bare, granite islands - so unlike the tree-covered Gulf Islands of B.C.  Here I met 'Dallas' who will be making my sails.  I found it difficult not to accept his very tempting  offer of sails in a woven Spectra/polyester 7:3 mix, his price was so good.  It'll be interesting to see how they wear - I've been given conflicting reports on that.  He is convinced that the cloth will do me fine - and it will obviously keep its shape well.   Of course, there'll be a deep third reef in the mainsail and I've asked for reflective tape on the furling genoa 'reef marks' - that has proved so useful overnight when it's really dark.

As part of the stern arch steelwork design problem that's been on my mind for some time now, I've been looking at  using Scanstrut's self-levelling radar mount, with a simple GPS support on it, which can hang to one side of my solar panels (so minimal shadowing) .   It looks like a really neat  well-designed solution and should work well.     This can be combined with other antennae (for AIS, Navtex, weatherfax, Iridium, etc) mounted on a plate above, with all wires leading down into the supporting tube.   I'm not keen to use aluminium if it can be avoided - I prefer to use steel -  so we'll see how it works out in practice.  I'll use a standard SS 2-inch pole instead of their 3-inch powder-coated aluminium pole, which requires the wires all to be led outside near the hinged base, rather than being led down  below decks from inside the tube as I want to do.  I'm hoping to lead the wires directly down into a self-draining lazarette before routeing them forward, to avoid problems of water ingress.   Scanstrut have been very helpful in discussions on the details of their products.

I started the year well by winning a little competition run by Sealevel Systems (USB-serial adaptors etc) - the answer to their December quiz seemed to me to be so obvious, I replied - and won!!  As a result of the direct contact, they have said they are very happy to provide me with  the USB to serial communications   hardware that I will need to connect boat equipment to my laptop - nice of them, since their products are well-known for being very reliable.
The 'good feelings' continued with the news that the Ocean Cruising Club are to award me their Rose Medal for a 'meritorious short-handed passage' (clearly not my very last one...!).  They must have been very short on contenders this year!  But seriously, I feel honoured ... and a bit fraudulent for being given an award for simply doing something I enjoy so much!!   It seems to me that it's the starting out that is difficult for so many... afterwards, all you have to do is to keep going.

A short entry - just to wish you all the best of health and happiness in 2009! May your seas be calm, your winds be warm and pleasant and your current be a favourable one!

November/December: Travelling/seeing friends,..Swedish Olympic sailors,..new BC ferry,..dinghy racing,..more planning for new boat: finally being fitted out.

November: More travel... starting in British Columbia (Canada) where I enjoyed catching up with several friends. I was fortunate enough to be given a detailed tour of the bridge & its instruments by the Captain of the spanking new 'Coastal Inspiration', plying between Nanaimo, on Vancouver Island, & Tawwassen, on the B.C. mainland.... & was able to compare that with the much older 'Queen of Oak Bay' whose bridge I had also been shown over the day before between Horseshoe Bay (N. Vancouver) and Nanaimo. I couldn't get over the lack of any steering wheel or traditional compass... and so many electronic 'bells & whistles' on the new ferry, distinctive in its '2010 Winter Olympics' livery...!

I flew via London to Sweden for further discussions on the new boat... not yet in the yard (the hull was being laid up in Denmark) but needing lots of detailed planning and organizing of equipment in readiness for its arrival and subsequent fitting out. It's due to be completed & trucked to England in Feb/March '09, sailing it south not being a viable option at that time of year. I'm having to make sure nothing has been overlooked on the 'joblist' ... it's so easy for items to get 'lost' and disappear from my lengthy list of changes and additions. As I was stepping off a 380 in winter storage at the yard, I suddenly realized, for instance, that in order to place windsteering gear on the stern (I'm considering a Hydrovane for that), the swim ladder needed to be reduced in width and moved to one side of the 'sugarscoop' if I'm to stand any chance of being able to use it (unlike on my previous boat where that was impossible). It also occurred to me that the 'gates' I'd requested in August to be fitted in the lifelines on either side had gone missing off the list.

Various firms are being very helpful to me on their pricing of the new equipment being fitted, for which I'm grateful... None of it is cheap so "every little bit helps":
Icom UK have helped with a new 801 SSB radio and tuner etc and have donated a spare mic - always useful 'just in case'...! I'm incorporating a line isolator between the ATU and the radio (supposed to cut out interference) & a large sheet of copper will act as an additional ground ... I'm really hoping for a good radio signal- nothing more frustrating than hearing but not being heard properly...!
Raymarine organized sending out an autopilot drive unit and rudder reference unit so they could be properly fitted in the new hull. (A lot of the rest of my instruments will be fitted in England, with much of the cabling being laid, while it is easy to do so, in the yard in Sweden).
Lopolight are helping with masthead and bow & stern navigation lights, anchor light and steaming light - all to be LED. I was delighted when I saw they had introduced a stainless steel version of their aluminium LED bow & stern lights recently - the design is so neat, compared with my previous navlights which I frequently found dangling (or missing!) from the pulpit in big seas... - but there was no way I was going to fix the aluminium fittings of theirs which I'd seen previously onto my stainless steel pulpit or pushpit...!! I'm looking forward to the power saving of having LED lights in as many places as possible. The masthead anchorlight will also 'double' as a strobe light.
I'm putting in lots of power outlets (12V and some 220V) and fitting fans permanently in several places. Furniture is being 'adjusted' in many places to give more useful stowage, with a dedicated tools, spares & workshop area in the forepeak, incorporating accessible 'sailbins'.

While in Sweden, I stayed at the Stenungsund Y.C. - more a hotel than a yacht club, since it mainly seems to cater for local and visiting people on business. But I did hear of a meeting of sailors one Saturday & thought it would be nice to make contact ... which I did, as they paused for lunch, only to discover I was talking to members of the Swedish Olympic sailing team from the Royal Gothenburg Sailing Club (an hour's drive away) who sail from Stenungsund (but not over the winter months!!) They were discussing ideas for future plans to try to improve on their sailing performance, looking ahead to the Olympics four summers away. They were quite envious of the RYA's well-funded, excellent training schemes for British sailors (who did so very well at Quingdao !)

I returned to England and had useful discussions with several people - it's often very useful to hear what ideas other people come up with. Unfortunately, I went down with a heavy cold soon after arriving which rather put me out of commission for several days but I still managed to catch up with a few friends, although nothing like as many as I'd hoped... I was expecting my salvaged gear from 'Nereida' to arrive - but it turned out to have been loaded onto a later ship and, most inconveniently, not expected until early December.. so much for my planning...

Using airmiles (!), I flew to Toronto - I'd last seen Ron & Lena of 'Jacobite' in Trinidad in 2002 and they'd been trying to get me to visit for some time! It was very interesting seeing the old 'Loyalist' area around Picton and Kingston near to Wellington, on Lake Ontario, where they now live. While back in Canada, I spoke to Dickinson Marine/Sigmarine (now all the same company, who have also just taken over the cabin heater side of Force 10) about their Sigmar 120 cabin heater. It's a nice-looking, good-performing, diesel heater used by several boat-friends and I'd been fancying it for some time but restraining myself...! They were also really helpful, both with advice and on price, and sent the heater and all necessary parts for the complete installation to Phoenix, Arizona (my next stop, early in December - on airmiles again!), ready for me to take on to Sweden.

.... and so to December...

After snowy Toronto, Phoenix was warm enough when the sun shone out of a clear blue sky and I was delighted to be able to join in the weekend Arizona Y.C. (!!!) dinghy-racing on a lake formed by a dam in the middle of lovely, hilly, cactus-strewn, desert scenery, but I was frozen on the Sunday, despite wearing lots of layers and a warm woolly hat. "It IS December," Tony pointed out, "& we do have winter weather, even here!" His Viper dinghy is one-year old, great fun to race... and he was very forgiving of my helming errors! (We managed NOT to come last in two of three races - and we stayed dry!!)   I even managed a quick 'side-trip' to San Diego to enjoy catching up with several friends there.... among them Jack Sutphen who kindly presented me with a copy of his newly- published autobiography.

Back to the Najad yard in Sweden, with brief stops in London and then Amsterdam - an unexpectedly enjoyable stopover in COLD weather. With the Rijks Museum & the Concertgebouw both within easy walking distance of my hotel, I was able to wander around & enjoy lots of art from the 'Golden Age', ...including beautiful paintings by Rembrandt, Vermeer & others, often with amazing light effects & detail. I also got to see Damien Hirst's spectacular platinum skull covered in over 8,000 diamonds .... Was this really art, I wondered?? The next day, I went to a thoroughly relaxing, pleasant evening concert, after taking a canal tour and ambling around a very icy, 'Christmassy' city, before catching a tram & then a train to Schipol airport, ready for an early flight the next morning....

So, finally, the newly-completed hull of the new "Nereida" is in the Production Hall at Najadvarvet in Henan with fitting-out in full swing. I took lots of photos of the empty hull, showing its construction details, bilges and limber holes... I've had them raise the water-line ready for the gear that will soon be added to her. (It had been raised twice over the years on the previous boat!) Much of the cabinetry is already complete but a lot of wiring and plumbing will be laid down before that goes in...

A major discussion has concerned the steel arch on the stern to take the radar scanner, wind-generator & solar panels plus GPS and other antennae - it will incorporate the pushpit to make a stronger, more unified fitting. I dispensed with the usual seats on the quarters as being pointless and thereby gained more straight runs for fixing gear to!! I'm also placing the gas-tanks (propane/butane for cooking) in an aft lazarette, instead of forward where they constantly get doused in seawater - I never liked them there and was determined to change their position as a priority. Using horizontal US tanks has made that a simple proposition, with an adapter to convert from the usual Camping Gaz (butane) system.   Whale Pumps have very kindly just agreed to give me the stainless steel version of their manual pump to act as a seawater pump in the galley and I'm looking into using their new Twist Deck Shower on the stern - it looks like a neat fitting.

I'll have to keep in constant contact & make regular visits while production is underway to keep an eye on everything.... Maybe one day next year, I'll be able actually to relax on board ... that will be nice....!

Back in B.C. from San Francisco.... Happy Hallowe'en to one & all!

October turned into a mix of stress and enjoyment.  The stress was mainly due to two complications: organizing a tinned wire shipment to Sweden and shipping of the salvaged gear from the old 'Nereida' from San Francisco to the U.K.  But the enjoyment was in meeting up with & visiting so many welcoming friends from the San Francisco Bay area and, towards the end of the month, in Washington (state) and back in B.C.

Arranging for a tinned wire shipment to Sweden for the complete wiring of the new 'Nereida' in Ancor tinned wire of the correct gauge, type, colour and requisite spool length (involving changing from metric to AWG gauge and from metres to feet in all applications.... ugh!) ... all took me way longer than it should have done, the boatyard not being anywhere near as helpful as they could have been.  Then the actual ordering and shipping via an export agent also became far more convoluted than I expected (although I'd like to thank Alicia Roberts of Marinco in San Francisco for her help on the pricing of the wire).  At one point, the 'skid' had to be retrieved from inside a container truck as it paused in Tennessee on its way from N. Carolina to Michigan....!  (My grateful thanks to Alan at the Knoxville depot who went out of his way overnight to locate it & retrieve it...!!) But it finally arrived in Sweden this week in good time for the wiring to be started in preparation for the newly completed hull to arrive in the yard for fitting out in early November.

I also had to finish with the sorting through, packing and organizing of the shipping of old boatgear salvaged from Mexico - now on its way to the Port of London from San Francisco and due in England on 22nd November. I can't thank Ruben Gabriel (of 'Sparky') enough - I couldn't have managed it all without his help.  Not only did he help me by letting me store my gear in his house in Benicia after transferring it there in his truck from 'Annamarina' in Richmond in August, but he also later helped me in emptying & rinsing out a heavy, sand-filled spinnaker pole as well as with packing all my gear onto his truck again so I could take everything down to Daly City (on the south side of San Francisco, near the airport) where the shipping agent had their office.

I foolishly thought that all I had to do was to turn up with my load at the shippers' at 8.30 a.m., having got up at 5.30 a.m. in order to avoid a major hold-up crossing the Bay Bridge around sunrise in the early morning rush-hour into and out of San Francisco, and that would be the end of my involvement .... not so...!  Booked on a flight out of Oakland at 2.30 p.m. that same day, I found I had to take my load down to another place just outside SFO airport - where I met with a completely unhelpful "No, we don't offload - that's up to you."  Presented with two empty pallets, I then had to offload everything onto them and decided that, given their unfriendly attitude, more labelling on all the boxes and packages would be a good idea in order to try to reduce the chances of losing anything....  At midday, I was still busy as they brought down the shutter-doors for their hour-long lunch-break ... and I still had a few more boxes to finish with, in the heat of a lovely, sunny day.  Just in time, I drove to the nearby airport to change my flight to 6.30 p.m. .... a kind Alaska Airlines lady printed off my boarding pass (at my request, to give me more chance of making the flight) and didn't charge me for the change....   I actually managed to find my way back to my pallets without getting too lost (I had no  decent map!) - but they weren't there!!  Smilingly, a guy joked about the fact that they had been taken inside when they had opened up again after lunch.  To my relief, I now found I was dealing with friendly, helpful guys who gave me good advice and obviously knew what they were doing - they actually 'palletized' my boxes using just one pallet, not the two I was expecting, saving me money.  I felt much happier when I finally left the warehouse that I might actually get to see all my gear again, intact, in London!!

Then I had to make a mad dash to Benicia (over 50mls away!) in the empty truck to return it to Ruben's house and then pick up my hire car and luggage to get to Oakland airport (another long distance away ...) in time to catch my flight to Seattle. It was great to be able to relax and get some sleep on the plane!  Having postponed my flight, I'd missed a convenient, reserved, direct bus connection from SeaTac to Port Townsend but I got a bus to the 10pm Bainbridge ferry and then stayed overnight at Suquamish, just north of Paulsbo.   I'd accepted a lunch invitation to the Port Ludlow Amateur Radio Club's weekly Wednesday get-together and their President John came to collect me and later drove me up to Pt Townsend after I'd talked to them about my sailing, following on a lovely Mexican lunch in a Chimacum restaurant.  It was good to see friend Ed Sherman, K7UEN, again - he'd helped with my radio problems two years earlier when I'd spent the winter in Port Townsend -  and it was a very enjoyable meeting.

I was very lucky with the weather last week, having had hot sunshine in the San Francisco area (definitely to my liking!) and seeing no rain until late Thursday and into Hallowe'en Friday (and then the rain wasn't too heavy!).  The  foliage colours of the many different trees looked really beautiful in the sunshine of Washington as I drove or walked in and around Pt Townsend and on Whidbey and Orcas Islands (I made good use of the Washington State Ferry system!).  I visited several boat friends I'd not seen for some time and ended up on the Anacortes ferry to Sidney - what an excellent way to cross into Canada from the U.S. ... so easy!!

At the beginning of the month, I'd flown down to the S.F. Bay area for the wedding of Ruben to Robbie.  It was great to be able to share in such a happy occasion and the setting, high up in the hills of San Rafael with San Francisco Bay in the distance, was beautiful.  There were quite a few Single-Handed Sailing Society (SSS) friends there, so we all had a very sociable evening together - another 'Tree' in fact!  After a quick visit to Alameda that same weekend for a Dock Party in Marina Village, I settled down in Benicia to my gear-sorting.  Later in the month, I managed to look around Old Benicia one afternoon - and was pleasantly surprised by the lovely old waterside area with interesting houses surrounded by lots of trees and bushes overlooking Suisin Bay.  Another day, I went with friends to China Camp which has an interesting, but rather sad, prawn-fishing history relating to Chinese immigrants.  It's now a lovely marine park with a good anchorage (except in Easterlies) in the shallow waters of the bay.  I later drove north from Sausalito along the coast towards Pt Reyes, visiting Stinson Beach and the interesting 'hippy' town of Bolinas before returning via Muir Woods.  A very enjoyable day in beautiful scenery with some good company.

I'm now getting ready to fly to Sweden on 9/10th November from Vancouver, to oversee the start of the new boat fitting-out.  Still lots to check on, with queries on many items yet to be resolved to my satisfaction... hopefully, it can all be dealt with easily.... we shall see!

(See 'Articles&Interviews' page for Latitude 38 August 2008 report of my sad grounding in Mexico in June)

August was a busy month, with thoughts of a new boat taking up a lot of my time!
The return upwind sail to San Francisco on "Islander" that I'd been looking forward to turned into a bit of a nightmare & had to be aborted just over a day out from Kauai due to water leaking in from several unseen places & eventually reaching to above the cabin sole, despite my efforts at baling out. With no bilge pumps working and a 3 week passage ahead, it was clearly not sensible to continue on. On closing the coast of Kauai after dawn, the Monitor wind-steering (which had been working quite well up to that point) came adrift from the steering wheel due to broken hose-clamps - mendable, given time & plenty of patience, but since I was then sailing nicely within 6 hrs of Hanalei Bay I decided it was simpler & safer just to handsteer the remaining distance in to the anchorage and hope the slowly-rising, oily bilge-water wouldn't cause me a major problem - I got in safely, after heaving to while I baled out a bit more & checked my position and course to steer ...
I then flew to London for a few days, celebrating my birthday by signing a contract for a new boat - a Najad 380, just over a foot longer than my old Najad 361. I had lots of small but important (to me) changes I wanted, so I then flew to Sweden to discuss these in detail with the Najad yard at Henan, north of Gothenburg, on the island of Orust- traditionally, a centre of Swedish boat-building since Viking times. By focussing on thoughts of the new boat, I'm avoiding the sadness of remembering the last painful days of my old 'Nereida'. There's certainly lots to think about for 'Nereida II' & I feel quite excited over the thought of sailing her by next Spring - she looks a lovely boat, is similar in many ways to the Najad 361 I know so well, is designed to sail well, and with my changes she should work well for me. I was even more cheerful last week when I saw the insurance money come into my account!!
I'm now in San Francisco where I've been both looking for new items for the new boat and also looking over & sorting out the salvaged items from Mexico, brought up by Skip Weahunt on 'Annamarina' - a big "Thank you" to Skip for his kindness there. Quite a lot has had to be thrown away as being too water-damaged to be worthwhile keeping and I have to figure out how to get the remainder to the U.K. I was fortunate to be offered the use of space on shore by Ruben of 'Sparky', while I sort it all out - a slow process. Ruben also gave me a lot of help yesterday, moving the gear using his old truck - perfect!
I have a few more days here in the Bay area of San Francisco, sorting old gear and researching/buying new gear, as well as catching up with friends here, before going up to British Columbia this weekend to join the Ocean Cruising Club Desolation Sound Rally for some sailing in those lovely waters.
I was very sorry this morning to hear the sad news of Skip Allen on 'Wildflower' who is himself safe on a freighter but had to abandon and scuttle his boat after damage during 40-50 knot winds on Sunday on his return passage towards Santa Cruz - he had been expecting to make landfall on Monday or Tuesday. I hope that Ken on 'Harrier' and Rob & Aaron on 'Feolena' all make landfall safely soon. (For news, see www.sfbaysss.org)

27th July 08
I'm writing this as I fly to Kauai from Ealing for the finish of the SHTP08 Race - a mix of sad & happy feelings - sad not to have been racing myself in "Nereida", as I was meant to be, and happy at the thought that I'll soon be meeting up with the racers, most of whom are now coming to the end of their ocean passage from SF - a mix for them of light winds near the start and overnight strong squalls nearing Hawaii, with lovely constant Trades over the last week's run towards Hawaii. I'm really looking forward to seeing them all - especially under the 'tree' in the evenings of the coming week - somehow it will be more meaningful from this perspective, having followed the race via the website but knowing just how it will have been for them after my own race experience two years ago.

I've been so busy over my short time in the U.K., what with the usual 'catching up' on paperwork, trying to see or speak to friends, answering the many emails I've had when the news of Nereida's end reached both friends and strangers via my website or mutual friends .. and looking for the new 'Nereida II' .... The more I think about
that, the more I appreciate how it took eleven years to get her into good 'cruising mode' ... and now I have to start all over.. and try to do it all within a few months or so.... a lot to think about! At present, I'm looking at the Najad 380 and the Hallberg Rassy 37 - very similar in size and performance, although the Najad, with the new design, would probably 'pip' the HR37 on speed and definitely has a lot of improved design & detail features over the N361 - which I'm happy to see.

I went for a sail a week ago on a N380 and it felt fine - very similar to 'Nereida' but clearly a touch larger and also a touch more lively - the rig is definitely bigger although the displacement is in proportion. I'm not inclined to go for in-mast furling, so that cuts the second-hand options down tremendously since it seems most boats these days come with that option - it's almost a standard. I've got quite used to slab reefing downwind, with lines back to the cockpit & taking my time as the wind builds... very occasionally, it gets a bit fraught, but mostly I just take my time, knowing that we might be heeling a touch initially but that's OK ... we'll be fine after reefing. I keep being told that in-mast furling is now so much more reliable than it used to be - but I have this vision of a HR36 at the dock in Hamble Point Marina some years back, with three guys (one up the mast!) cursing and struggling for several hours to free a creased, semi-furled mains'l...!!! Not something I relish mid-ocean!!

Some of my priorities for the new boat are: tinned, labelled wires throughout (tinned wire still NOT standard practice in Europe!) and good engine access (especially for regular routine maintenance such as oil & filter changes) sensible, organized stowage of spares and tools - preferably in a dedicated area (I'm fed up with having spares scattered all over the boat!), over-sized wiring to prevent (hopefully!) voltage-drop problems,... But I also want a boat that will happily give 150+ mile days in good wind and sea conditions - yes, I love being out on the ocean on long passages, but why prolong the passage when I could be enjoying my landfall sooner, after a really good sail, exploring a new place while getting ready for the
next passage? One of the racers wrote last week something to the effect that 'any two boats within sight of each other instantly make a race' - how true!! I vividly remember the passage from Bali to Christmas Island in the S. Indian Ocean last year when 'Trudel' had left the day before me ... There was something very satisfying about slowly overhauling, and then overtaking, them well before making landfall!! Brings out the competitive streak in me, I suppose! But it's also nice to see my boat performing well in reasonable wind conditions, despite building seas.

I got no sleep last night with all I was trying to do as I was packing... My new laptop was misbehaving so badly that I ended up spending over one-and-a-half hours on the phone to Sony support - but having re-formatted the hard drive, all seems to be OK now - but, of course, that meant I've had to update and re-load so many items... Also, the 'beta' version of Airmail within Vista really 'hangs up' the laptop - I've had to abandon it and go for the previous version - a pity, since the beta version has some excellent features.

I'm hoping for some sleep before landing at L.A. where I change on to a direct flight to Lihue airport on Kauai, arriving Sunday evening - it will have been a very long day & night for me since local time there is 11 hours behind London time... think I'll sleep in tomorrow!

Mon 28th July

Last night I slept really well after arriving in Hanalei with Gayle & Ilana Kirschbaum, wife and daughter of Tom who's racing on 'Feral', who had so very kindly met me at Lihue airport and taken me out for dinner before the drive to the north of Kauai Island.

I just missed seeing the finish of Skip on 'Wildflower' (very likely overall winner this year after a superb sail) but did manage to see Don cross the line on 'Warrior's Wish' from the viewpoint on the 'Bluff' above Hanalei Bay. Then I was taken out in a dinghy to congratulate both racers and help with some re-anchoring ... so many boats in the bay, some on very long rodes which ended up under other boats, hence the need to move. Later I met up with everyone under the 'Tree' by the lovely beach, to catch up on news and listen in on the remaining racers' evening rollcall and chat session - they seem to be having a good final sail in, although not all without problems. We all feel for Ruben on tiny 'Sparky' who had been doing so well - dismasted 600 miles out but making fair progress under jury rig. (See www.sfbaysss.org for the racers own logs and position reports during the Single-Handed Trans Pac race).

The weather has been typically full of heavy showers, with warm sunshine in between. It's a lovely place and I'm enjoying the sociable atmosphere and the chance to get back out on the water from time to time!

Tuesday 15th July 2008

I should have been on the Start Line with "Nereida" for the Single-Handed TransPac Race to Kauai, Hawaii, which started last Saturday 12th July ... so I joined the racers several days beforehand in San Francisco and was able to enjoy their company firstly at Marina Village and Encinal Y.C. in Alameda & then at the Corinthian Y.C. in Tiburon from where I saw them off literally on the Start Line ... from the 'Latitude 38' photo boat - thank you for that kind thought, LaDonna!! The photo boat went out beyond the Golden Gate Bridge and got close to each boat in turn which was great fun... and it was nice to see the racers on a 'high' in good wind just after the start - smiling and waving at us! I have to admit it was also painful for me to see them starting and not to be sailing with them on poor 'Nereida'...
A few days earlier, Barbara Euser on 'Islander' was looking for someone to bring her boat back from Kauai after the race - I jumped at the chance - so I'll be single-handing 'Islander' back on the 2 1/2 - 3 week 'Return' from Kauai to San Francisco - I'm really looking forward to that and was very happy when Barbara accepted my offer! 'Islander' is a Bristol 34, quite different from Nereida, although similar in size, so it will be an interesting trip....!
I'm now back in London, trying to sort out various things... like my insurance claim, replacing lost items, trying to retrieve computer data (photos, emails, etc) from damaged hard drives, writing up my story, catching up with friends and family & several months' post... and looking for "Nereida II".
On July 27th, I'll fly out to Kauai to see the racers finish over the following week, and get in a bit of R&R, and I expect to start the return sail to San Francisco on 'Islander' on 5th August.
Plans after that are unclear, although I'm hoping to get to B.C. in September for some more sailing... the thought of being off the water for a long time is not one I enjoy! But I have greatly appreciated the many kind offers from friends to join them both on & off the water ... and, of course, there's 'Annamarina' down in Manzanillo, waiting for the hurricane season to pass or at least diminish, before being brought up to San Francisco at some point.... "watch this space!" 

P.S. Have lost all phone/address details for all my friends with loss of my laptops and papers - so please email me with that info... thanks.
  
   Jeanne

Wed 2nd July 08
Problems never come singly!!...  I'm writing this from Las Hadas Marina, Manzanillo, where "Annamarina" is berthed now.  We got going yesterday morning, as planned, after my overnight bus ride to Manzanillo from Acapulco...but her prop suddenly lost a blade (we now know it was badly cracked due to electrolysis) and we had  to come limping back after two hrs headed north to Puerto Vallarta (a 'hurricane hole') where we'd hoped to leave her while we both flew back to San Francisco, the original plan being to come back down to sail north again fairly soon after 12th July.

Trying to find a replacement propellor (or someone to repair it) is a problem here - it's likely only to be available from the US - so we're flying to San Francisco very soon and Skip will get a prop whilst there - he needs to be in SF at the same time as I want to be, so that works well.

I'm still half with "Nereida" - and remembering so many good people who helped me:

...Javier and Isaiah, the two local fishermen on the beach after daybreak, who went to such efforts to help with my anchors, digging holes to bed them in the sand to try to prevent them from being dragged as "Nereida" was flipped over from one side to the other by the surge on the surf-ridden beach, while we tried to stop her from moving so she could be saved with a tow off the beach - an outside hope in that remote location but I refused to give up hope too soon ....

...The two students, Esteban & Miguel, from Mexico City, who spent many hours during the first day with me, trying to help me as much as they could and translating to everyone I needed to communicate with, despite this being part of only a very short camping holiday for them.  They had excellent English and were a great support at a difficult time for me....

...The Captain of the Marines who tried his best to help  - taking me to the town via his base camp to make phone calls and posting guards over "Nereida" for several days in an attempt to stop stealing from her while I was away from her overnight.....

...The family of Jose Maria Marquez in Acapulco who cared for me and tried to find people to help me in different ways... and their neighbours who also welcomed me and tried to cheer me up when one of them celebrated his birthday with a big party on the Saturday night....

...Several families who would come over during the daytime from the nearest village of Tenexpa to serve food and drinks from the beach 'palapas' (shelters) and insisted on giving me food and drink in between my frantic efforts to save what possessions I could as poor "Nereida" got more damaged, took on more and more sand and water and sank lower and lower into the beach just below the high water mark... so very sad for me ... 

The photo shows the lovely lagoon (Laguna Tenexpa) full of birds and waterlife behind Nereida's beach (on Playa Michigan) with the 'palapas' catering for occasional campers and day visitors to the reserve area where she lies - her mast is visible above the palapas.

Then there were the opposite happenings.... I would find strangers turning over my possessions which had ended up in the sand with seemingly no thought for my feelings ....  I tried to explain that she was "mi casita, mi vida" (my home, my life)... which for some of them finally got through... but there were also 'vultures' who descended and took advantage of my situation, cutting so many lines and taking things which they had no right to take .... painful....

I didn't mind so much giving whatever food and anything else of use to them to the local families - they were clearly quite poor and I felt it was the least I could do for them in return for all their help.

Today in Las Hadas, Manzanillo, was a good example of the summer weather hereabouts.... very strong winds and heavy rain caused by a tropical storm passing close by.... we were assured Manzanillo is safe to leave 'Annamarina' for the time being - but we're not convinced of that - there's always the chance, however remote, of a hurricane hitting over the next few months.  So we hope she'll be safe here until she can be moved to somewhere further north and finally to San Francisco - at which point I'll be able to sort out what I've salvaged.

Difficult times.... but I've had so many emails of support and kind offers of help from so many people - both good friends, acquaintances and total strangers - thank you all so very much for that.. I've very much appreciated those emails from you all...

 
"Nereida" was grounded halfway from Acapulco to Zihuatanejo in a desolate, mainly uninhabited part of the coast, after the autopilot remote control lost power which put the autopilot into 'standby' just before first light on Thursday 19th June.  I was taking my usual timed nap - stopwatch set for forty-five minutes - which looked fine in the situation ... full moon, some swell and waves, but not much, motoring in very little wind, a good distance from a long sandy shore.  Because I was motoring in calm conditions, the resultant change of course resulting from our usual slight heel to starboard was not obvious enough to wake me up in time - as it would have done had I been sailing.

Sunday 15th June 08

Just shook out 2nd reef I put in mid-morning when the wind and seas got up quite strongly - thought I was in for a 'Tehuantepecker' but the most apparent wind I saw, close-reaching, was 26-28 knots (I began to think of putting in 3rd reef but it was not quite needed). The seas were really short and steep - and still are, even though the wind is right down now - makes for a very uncomfortable motion although at least we're not pitching headlong into the waves as we had been quite violently before, with seas regularly madly washing the decks. The wind has veered from the West of yesterday, when I had to tack several times to make headway against the seas, more towards the North and has now died down so much that we're back into motoring with a pretence of sailing.

This morning was full of incident - the asymmetric spinnaker/cruising chute/gennaker (call it what you like!!), that I had carefully tied down on deck since before my Canal Transit, decided to become a full-blown drogue. Just before the wind really got up, I noticed the sailbag dangling half over the side - ripped & empty! Then I realized that part of the reason we were heeling over so much just then (apart from building wind and seas) was that the sail was streaming down the leeward side of the boat, attached to the sailbag which was in turn well attached to the lifelines, a shroud and a stanchion.... and the sock was streaming astern near the surface, acting like a sea-anchor or drogue.... no wonder our speed was down! I'd been down below just before, downloading and looking at weatherfaxes, when I'd heard an odd noise & had come up on top to investigate. The sail in the bag had been getting regularly doused with water as waves broke on deck with our pitching motion in the short seas and had presumably become so heavy it had moved with the rushing water, managed to go over the side and its weight must have torn the bag apart!! Incredible!

The big problem for me then was getting the sock (full of water and very heavy, with our forward speed not helping) and chute back on board with the sailbag (all being tied together with the 'chute & sock lines) without getting it all hopelessly entangled in the lifelines while I was at it. The main chute wasn't too difficult to get up handful by handful, because it was loose enough not to hold too much water, but I had to leave it on the side deck while I dealt with the sock and bag & pray it stayed there! Luckily, I was able to reach down part way along the sock and tie a line around it to help me get it slowly back on board - I thought initially it was never going to come, there was such a force on it.. but eventually I got the sock into the cockpit and then finally managed to deal with the bag (which I'd tied on really well!). So now I have one very salty, wet spinnaker & torn bag on the cockpit floor - hopefully draining and drying so I can dispose of it some time soon. At least I didn't lose the sail (luckily, it was tied well to the sailbag inside or I would certainly have lost it), nor did I have to cut any of the lines to retrieve it!

With having had to tack regularly in the veering wind overnight, trying to make our best course, I'd not slept much anyway.. so by now I was really tired and lay down for a lovely snooze until my midday log!! Breakfast/lunch could wait!

I'd made the decision to go for the 'direct' route across the Tehuantepec, as opposed to staying in shallow water almost on the beach all around this enormous Gulf, after much deliberation - not a decision to be made lightly here... But weatherfaxes and grib files all consistently showed light winds for several days, almost no pressure gradient - which is what gives rise to the notorious Tehuantepec strong wind out of nowhere (despite high pressure in the Gulf of Mexico and Texas, it was fairly high here also),.... and the nearest Tropical Wave heading this way across the Caribbean was several days away - so no tropical storm/hurricane-formation fears for now, either. Of course, I'd not appreciated that even with just the sustained 15-20 knots that built up this morning, the fairly shallow waters kick up nasty seas in no time - but hopefully, that's finished with now - certainly the seas are far calmer with the wind having died down. (I wonder if that's partly due to the 'land-heating' effect - on-shore thermal effect over the day opposing the otherwise offshore (N/NW) pressure-gradient wind - or did we just experience a 'mini T-pecker'?)

I left Quetzal on Friday 13th (!!), after refuelling, 'desayuno' and a lovely long shower, and stayed fairly close to shore in just 10-12m depth almost all the way. As night fell, there was the smell of wood fires coming from the typical Mayan groups of thatched-roofed structures which occurred at intervals among the greenery backing onto the long brown/grey sandy shore with surf breaking onto it. The current was foul for nearly 100 mls but gradually reduced, and soon after midnight, it had turned and was fair from then on all through Saturday when my course was not far from the coast. Today, it was foul all day but now it's weak but fair yet again - I wonder if the west-going current follows the coastline and, by cutting across, that's why I lost it. Now, at sunset on Sunday, I'm 50 mls from Huatulco, whose passing will mark the end of this Tehuantepec crossing, and just under two days from Acapulco.

Yesterday also had its incidents, but pleasanter ones, over a very relaxed, sunny, calm day of motorsailing. I kept seeing turtles passing by going the opposite way - several large brown ones with a long, high shell (leatherbacks??) and a couple of smaller ones, light-greenish and cream in colour. As I passed the border from Guatemala into Mexico, I heard the Puerto Madero Costa Garda calling repeatedly on VHF - in Spanish. Eventually, after listening carefully to the position of the boat they were hailing, I decided to respond - maybe it was me they were trying to talk to..? It was! They were some distance away (nearly 20 miles) but must have seen me on their radar. In response to their questions, I gave my position, British sailing yacht "Nereida", told them where I was from (Panama & Quetzal) & going to (Acapulco) in a mix of English and Spanish. There was also a US Navy vessel heading in to that port but otherwise I felt I was the only boat in this part of the ocean. Soon after that, I was visited by a playful group of five dolphins and later on I actually enjoyed relaxing and lying in the warmth of the cockpit... - haven't done that for quite a time!

Thursday 12th June

Some wind - but from astern so still had to motorsail to make sure of Guatemala landfall in daylight. In fact, with such light winds, apart from when rain clouds were around, the onshore/offshore cycle due to the land heating/cooling effect was noticeable both yesterday and today. Got a fright early this morning during the rain when there was a clap of thunder and a lightning flash right by us.... but it was an isolated one, TG.

As I was getting closer to Quetzal, angling closer to the low-lying coast, I suddenly saw a small fast boat astern of me - 17 miles offshore... with 30 miles to go still. Later I saw two more - both clearly small open fishing boats, each with 3 fishermen - seemed to be checking out pots marked with clearly-flagged buoys and seemed perfectly friendly.

When I made my entry through the breakwaters and called the Port Captain on the VHF, he directed me toward a marina - to my surprise - obviously a new one not in my pilot! I finally found it & moored up - despite his misleading directions.... and was soon visited by a marina guy for moorage fees and also by an agent for my check in & out paperwork ... Despite my protests at the expense, I gathered it was going to cost me, for just one night, in order to re-fuel the next morning: US$72 for the night
at the marina and US$150 for the check-in & out (five copies of all documents are needed!).... I couldn't believe how expensive this stop for fuel is turning out!!! And I haven't got to the fuel dock yet!!

I've been busily reading up on Mexican weather and getting familiar with timings for weather fax downloads ready for my imminent passage across the dreaded Tehuantepec & on up the Mexican coast ... the more I read, the more worried I get - I knew this was not a good time to be headed north but hadn't realized that mid-June hurricanes are not unusual... and the season here often seems to start with a bang and end with a whimper rather than the other way around, as in the Caribbean. "Don't go offshore,
that's where the hurricanes form... stay inshore for safety"! So please keep your fingers (and everything else!) crossed for me - VERY tightly!! Crossing the Tehuantepec will take two and a half days and another day on up the coast to Acapulco (where I was thinking I should refuel since it looks very easy there). Another day to Zihuatanejo and four to Cabo San Lucas, over two to Turtle Bay, assuming sailing up the Baja is feasible - I could well find strong northerly winds there & will either have
to wait for them to diminish or have to head out to sea instead - but at least the hurricane threat should be far less once I get up towards the top of the Baja peninsula - just 'normal' gales from then on!!!

Having acquired an agent for my check-in & out here, he appeared later to ask if I would accept my 'official' visit tonight rather than the morning - so at about 9.30pm local time (one hour ahead of the time I've been keeping!) I found the Port Captain, Customs official and Immigration officer all on board with my 'agent' to check things out (actually just sat around and chatted pleasantly, insofar as my Spanish would allow, since they had almost no English!) and I found my passport had been already
stamped for 'in' today and 'out' tomorrow, with the essential Clearance Certificate promised for the morning whilst I'm refuelling - I was also only charged $100, not $150 - so a reduction had been negotiated by my agent as a result of my pleadings - my Spanish can't be so very bad, perhaps!!

Looking at a fax that downloaded while they were here, I can see a Tropical Wave in the Gulf of Mexico - those are what can develop a 'wiggle' & give rise to Tropical Storms and Hurricanes so I must keep an eye on that wave - and others coming after. Usually, they're three days apart.... hey ho... can't complain life is boring, that's for sure!! My trysail and storm staysail are already hanked on, almost ready to go... let's hope I won't need them - or if I do, that I can handle them!

Calm sunny day ended in a fabulous, spectacular sunset tonight - blood-orange colours contrasting with light turquoise blue-green calm sea, with bright, half-moon high over head & Southern Cross up in S. sky. Lightning flickered continually in towering clouds well away in the distance over land, off to starboard. A big fish jumped out of the sea, chasing after flying fish, a handsome black-chested booby flew around boat trying to roost in the rigging. Calm sea with surface ripples... long, slow, low SSE swell...

Having a welcome mug of tea with cheese and biscuits around five o'clock after finishing refuelling tanks from jerry cans - over five hours by time all cleared away and cockpit locker back together again...

Later, I stood in the bow listening to the water swishing past & watching three dolphins play around the boat, leaping and swerving together, clearly visible in the moonlight, under the stars. .... And people wonder why I want to keep sailing..?!!!

I've been studying the pilot chart for June - looks as though I might manage to cross the Gulf of Tehuantepec without strong winds if I'm very lucky, after leaving Quetzal (Guatemala) for Mexico in 3-4 days' time. Definite chance of getting a tropical storm until I reach Baja. The fair current I'm getting right now is such good news - it's giving me a good 'push' of over one knot - and I usually complain that all currents seem to be foul.. this is such a nice change! Might be lucky with light northerlies rather than strong ones up Baja - may have to head out on starboard tack for a bit and then tack back in (or keep tacking) to make San Francisco - depending on strength/direction of winds I find - all very vague until I get nearer there - "What you see is what you get!"...... Will try to keep tanks topped up ready for use in light winds later if needed. Certainly, I've no reservation about helping our speed to get north by using motor at present - the sooner I'm out of this hurricane/tropical storm area, the happier I'll be!! But it would also be lovely to get up to SF in time for the race - the thought of using no motor for three or more weeks is very appealing right now - the bonus of motor use is no power shortage, but the downside is that perpetual NOISE!! Sailing is so much more peaceful and enjoyable!

Monday 9th June 08

For several days now, I've been studying the daily grib files which I've been getting, showing 5 days of wind forecasts for the area from Panama up to San Francisco and several hundred miles out to sea. I'd hoped to have maybe just a week or so of needing to use the motor to get through the expected area of light winds W-NW of the Panama Canal before getting to more useful winds and then the NE Trades. But from what I can see, I'd run out of diesel, even motoring gently, well before getting to
any useful breeze - in fact, as the days have progressed, the forecasts seemed to be showing the Doldrums extending on my course.... I've already had to motor/motorsail all the way from Balboa, with one period of 4 hrs yesterday and today's period of just 1hr when I could actually cut the motor to sail properly in decent breezze - in both cases due to rainclouds around.

Not wanting to get caught in the Doldrums with no fuel left, hundreds of miles from anywhere, I decided my only option was the alternative route up the coast, also in light winds for quite a distance but with the possibility of picking up fuel at regular intervals, rather than continuing to head out to sea in an effort to catch the Trades (the 'Clipper' route of old).... So, after seeing the usual 3-4 knots of true wind from astern yet again, on writing up my log at 0130 this morning, I decided
to change course & head NW, instead of due W, and make for Guatemala to refuel, with a fair current heading in the same direction to help. Port Quetzal seemed a good choice - about 500 miles away, so still within reach under motor, & a small but modern port with Navy presence. I was so pleased to have 'The Forgotten Middle' on board to help in the decision-making - a pilot book on Guatemala, Honduras & Nicaragua W coasts I'd picked up some time ago and had thought recently I'd never use...! I've
even got the courtesy flag! So I'm unexpectedly going to visit Guatemala again (last time was 2004 when I sailed up the Rio Dulce to see friends and later went overland from Belize to the impressive Mayan site of Tikal)!! Talk about plans 'set in jello'! All rather exciting... did I say the adventure was just starting again??!

My present plan in the forecast light winds & calms is to continue motorsailing up to Mexico in the fair current that the pilot chart shows extending as far as Cabo San Lucas at the S tip of the Baja. Conveniently, Zihuatanejo, where I started from on March 26th last year, looks like the next useful stop for refuelling after Quetzal if needs be. .... It would certainly be nice to 'tie the knot' properly on my circumnavigation by pausing at Zihuat... even though it would be a one-person party to
celebrate there! I know fuel is availabe at next-door Ixtapa easily - no need for jerrycans. Then, depending on the wind, I could either go on up to Cabo San Lucas and then hop on up the Baja coast or possibly head out to sea sooner to get offshore in stronger winds (which I'd need to do, probably, to round Pt Conception if the usual strong N wind is blowing there). Then I'll beat north to make for San Francisco and the start of the SHTP08 (Single-Handed TransPac Race) out to Hawaii, starting
12th July. I'm officially entered but will have a problem making the start line in time at this rate - it's a long way north against north winds & current!! Of particular concern down south here between Panama and Mexico is the fact that I'm right in the hurricane area - & in hurricane season as of 1st June... so another very good reason for not dawdling offshore or inshore but motorsailing northwest as fast as I can to get out of the risk zone! Hopefully, I'll be able to sail properly from Mexico
to San Francisco in decent winds but time will tell. It will almost certainly be an uncomfortable, wet beat upwind.. but I'll have to wait to see what the winds are doing when I get nearer!

Talk about wet.... I watched a dirty dark grey raincloud inshore for most of the morning, and then, by midday, it was clearly about to come our way so I hurriedly closed all hatches and took in two reefs, expecting strong winds in the squall. In fact, not too much wind came with the very heavy rain - which gave the boat a good wash down - but there was only one hour of nice (wet!) sailing without the need to motor, unfortunately.

Distances: To Quetzal (from now): 445ml (13/14th), on to Zihuatanejo: 675ml (19/20th), on to Cabo S.L.(25th): 680ml, on to Turtle Bay: 360ml (28th), on to Pt Conception: 540ml (2nd), on to Golden Gate: 210ml ...SF (4th July!) Ho, ho..!! In my dreams...!!!

Sunday 8th June 08

As I write this, the sea has a glassy surface, although plenty of small wavelets.. not much wind in these parts: 2-3 knots, whether from dead astern as now or from any other direction, doesn't make for good sailing! I'm motoring, changing course very slightly, trying to keep some wind in the mains'l, and have just been forced to furl in the genoa.

I'm presently trying to eke out my fuel while trying to get West. I was expecting to motorsail in not much wind initially, before heading NW, tacking N & then NE ..!! Had a rainsquall up to 27-30kn yesterday early (boat heeling woke me up just beforehand...as wind built!) Got totally drenched as I reefed hurriedly and had to towel off & get some warm dry clothes on. Similarly this morning, I sensed the boat heeling slightly & found the wind rising so we got sailing nicely & switched off the motor
for a bit. Gribs not looking too hopeful for wind over next five days - but they've been completely wrong for today's wind - so maybe things will be better than they are predicting.

I'm on Day 3 now of the Great Trek North - hoping not to have TD/TS/hurricane problems while I'm down this way....!!

Actually ended up with four blissful hours of pure sailing this morning! Was so nice to be sailing in peace & quiet but didn't last long enough & had to keep resisting the urge to turn on motor again as boatspeed dipped down to below 5 kn. If this continues for very long (as in over 2 weeks!) there's no way I'll get to SF in time... At this moment, I've 2-3 knots of wind from the SE, boatspeed (at 1000revs - minimum) is 4.7 knots and SOG is just over 5.2 knots. It looks as though I've still got
the favourable current I experienced along the Panama coast around Punta Mala yesterday - the Equatorial Current, maybe?? Long may it continue!! I keep gazing at grib files, trying to decide what to do for the best - present plan is to make a course of 275-280 in hope of sailing in gentle breeze in a week's time...

Unusually, apart from carrots (in fridge), I've very little fresh fruit & veg - just some apples,bananas & grapefruit and onions & potatoes. Tomatoes I bought in the Rey supermarket in Colon lasted about 3-4 days before disintegrating into a wet mess - must have been chilled.

I tried to raise Don Anderson yesterday - heard him on 16534 kHz frequency but couldn't make sense of what he said, despite another English-sounding boat trying to relay for me - pity, since he usually provides good weather info. I'd emailed him so he was expecting me & swung his antenna my way - I'll try again Monday.

Both day's runs so far (trying to motorsail & economize on fuel consumption) have been around 130 ml - with 4000 ml total to SF.... a long haul!! I keep gazing at the fuel gauge (in the red!), wondering if I dare let it run for a bit longer - I'll have to switch tanks soon, if only for peace of mind - and to save myself unnecessary fuel line bleeding!! (Just did it... just over 50hrs of minimal engine use so far..)

We're in the Pacific once more!!
I feel as though I'm about to start a new adventure, rather than finishing an 'old' one..... with trying to get up to San Francisco for the start of the SHTP08, against the odds. As I pass the latitude of Mexico, I will be waving in the direction of Zihuatanejo as I 'tie the knot' on my present solo circumnavigation, having tied it near Trinidad for my non-solo one.

The Canal Transit went very well after a day of stress leading up to leaving, due to the Windpilot repair not being ready and back on the boat until an hour or so before I was due to leave my berth!! (Karl and Kirk kindly stopped off to help with adjusting the supports so that it is now ready for use again.) Lines were organized on board and my bill paid, Internet wi-fi access suddenly proved impossible (more computer problems!!) so I used a computer on board nearby 'Annamarina' courtesy Skip.. I made a dash into town with the help of a friendly taxi-driver to buy another serial/USB adapter, did some laundry, tied cushions and pillows in plastic bags over the solar panels to protect them from possible badly-aimed 'monkey fists', tied more tyres in place - five in total on each side, my line-handlers from 'Mandarin' turned up: Keith, Tim & Bernd, hot food was collected (Chow Mein noodles for dinner from the restaurant, with enough for the Advisor also), a quick last shower and off we went to the 'Flats' to raft up to 'Salsa' - so that Kirk, my fourth line-handler, could step on board and also avoiding anchoring in the fine mud. We ate as darkness fell, while we waited for the Pilot Boat to arrive with our Transit Advisor.

I had spent quite a bit of time clearing four berths the previous day, while a friendly Kuna guy cleaned the hull and propeller, and had put some sails on deck (the trysail has been hanked on ready, just in case of need) I also had to provide plenty of food and drink for my helpers, so the boat was not exactly in passage-making mode!

The Advisor arrived after 7pm and we immediately left at speed, trying to make an early Locking-in - but we missed it & so slowed down and circled around with 'Odyssey' the second boat going through with us, while the third boat, a big motor yacht, went on through ahead of us. The two sailing yachts ended up rafting to each other near the Lock entrance and moving into the Lock together each time. There are three locks up and three down, with enormous, strong gates and very high walls seen on entering, when the water was low in the Lock. It didn't seem to take long at all for the locks to fill with a vast amount of water after we had received thin lines from the shore line-handlers who threw them with a 'monkey-fist' initially & then pulled our thick lines up to the wall tops to attach them to big bollards while we made tight onto cleats at our end. It was important to maintain tension on the lines as we rose up with the locks filling with Rio Chagres water. We were only going up as far as Lake Gatun where we'd sleep overnight. At the lake, we tied up to one of two enormous red rubber buoys, sat chatting on deck for a bit under a starry sky and then turned in - to be awoken by a heavy rainstorm in the night.

Next morning, while Tim & Bernd enjoyed a swim in the fresh water of the lake, I withdrew the log/speed impellor (a paddle wheel) since we had had no log all the way from the marina to the lake - I wanted it working when I took off on passage later. It was completely coated in a thick calcareous growth & took quite a bit of effort to clean - no wonder it hadn't wanted to turn! While we waited for the new Advisor to arrive (he was far later than the 6.15 a.m. we had been told to expect), we had breakfast: gtrapefruit juice, fresh melon, scrambled eggs, muffins and/or doughnuts and coffee. Because he was so late, we had to try to keep up a speed of 7 knots across the lake to try to make a 12.20 'lock-in' 28mls away. It's a beautiful area and the sun was out, so we all enjoyed the journey through the 'Banana Cut' and on, with kingfishers darting about, cormorants on the buoys nearby and lots of unspoilt greenery on the many islands everywhere. The water-level is quite low still, since the rainy season has only just begun, so we could see the remains of drowned trees all around the channels. Just before the Pedro Miguel Lock was the area dredging & dynamiting of the Canal & its sides where they are widening the Canal to allow the passage of the larger modern ships. We didn't spot any alligators, although they are around.... a fisherman was taken by one just a month ago.

This time, we ended up with a sturdy tug ('Morrow) 'side-tied' to the lock wall, 'Odyssey' tied alongside it and 'Nereida' tied to 'Odyssey' with our starboard side clear. Each time we moved to the next lock, we had to let the lines go and motor independently and then tie up again.

In the main Miraflores Lock, we seemed to spend a long time & both boats waved madly at the live camera/webcam high above the Visitor Centre whilst phoning various friends & family. On letting go our lines to move on, we ended up touching the wall..... the lines were let go too soon, to my mind, with a wind blowing onto our port side after heavy rain and our astern gear having a starboard kick ..... so things got a bit exciting for a time - but all ended OK with all five tyres on our starboard side protecting us - no damage but the incident kept our entire crew & Advisor busy!! The time now was just after 1.30p.m. local time (1930 BST/ 1130 PDT). On to the final lock... and then on to the Pacific side with the Bridge of the Americas not far away, where the Advisor was picked up by the Pilot Boat and bid us farewell.

I'm now sitting off a buoy at Balboa overnight, after refuelling, and with 'free' 'wi-fi' Internet acess from the Y.C. The heavy rain over the afternoon made everything VERY WET so it took me quite a time, after landing crew, tyres and lines, to remove the protective plastic-covered cushions and pillows from on top of the solar panels & try to dry off a bit and then stow things properly, ready for passage after having had five extra bodies on board... four of them having to sleep somewhere!

The plan is to set off tomorrow at first light after a good sleep in my own bunk! Not many boats head north this time of year due to hurricane concerns - but I will be trying to keep a 'sched' with one boat, Annamarina', transiting in about 5-6 days' time, headed also to SF (for 12th July). I've emailed Don Anderson so will be hoping to talk to him soon on SSB for weather info - propagation & my radio system permitting!

Jeanne
"Nereida"
Balboa Y.C.

 

Well - it's finally happening - assuming my Windpilot is back on my stern - that guy has really taken ages to complete trhe repair - I hope it's OK!!

The website for the live video cam is www.pancanal. com

If you'd like to see 'Nereida' in the locks at Gatun or Miraflores, it's tonight (Wednesday) at Gatun Locks around 11pm local time (5am BST/ 9pm PDT), then on to Gatun Lake for sleep overnight and on to
Miraflores Locks around midday-1pm local time on Thursday (6-7pm BST/ 10-11am PDT)

Go to www.pancanal. com >multimedia > live cameras > then (Gatun or) Miraflores > Go to Hi res and use magnifying glass to see the boats in the lock better - I'll ask the advisor to get them to point the
camera at us and I'll be waving !!

If anyone wants to phone me close to the time, my local tel. number here (mobile/cell) is +507-677-12534 - feel free to call me & I hope some of you manage to see us - let me know if you do...!!!

Once I get to Balboa, I'll fuel up and then get on my way .... It's a long haul to San Francisco and I'll have to wave in the general direction of Zihuatanejo as I complete my solo circumnavigation & pass it by - 300-400 miles off!!!

Wish me luck and do email me from time to time - lovely to hear from my friends while at sea!!

Cheers for now - must get back to checking the 125 ft lines are ready (i.e. untangled!) on board

Jeanne

"Nereida"

Colon, Panama

4.15pm local time (UTC-5) Wednesday 4th June 08

  Wed 28th May08
Got back from an unexpected linehandling for Canadian couple Seth & Jaime on their Gemini catamaran 'Slapdash' over Tuesday night. They found themselves short of a 4th linehandler close to 5.30 p.m. when their Advisor was due on board to start their transit & when I heard, I said I'd help out - it would be tough to be refused your transit, after six weeks of waiting, just for the lack of one more body on board!!  It was a good, if very wet, transit, with no mishaps, good food and company, but a very disturbed night sharing a mooring buoy with 'Blue Jay' on Lake Gatun, with reflected, short wind-chop making a lot of noise against the hulls of the catamaran -and some splashing in through my tiny open hatch to make the bunk wet where I was lying... 

Wind on the nose meant no sailing was possible across the lake to  get to the 'down' locks of Pedro Miguel and Miraflores where the live videocam overlooking the last lock is positioned (see www.pancanal.com for the live video shots it gives).  I was interested to see the pleasant, almost-complete, new premises of the Balboa Y.C., replacing the old building burned down some years ago, as I went to get a taxi in to the bus terminal.  Unfortunately for cruisers like myself, most of the Y.C. mooring buoys seem to be taken up with local boats, so it's difficult to get a buoy on completing a transit - most boats seem to be making for the anchorages further on.

The last few days have been very rainy, with the wet season well under way!  On Monday, I'd caught the bus in to Panama City to find a shop I'd been told about selling glass mat and filler for my Windpilot rudder repair, after having had no luck over Thursday to Saturday trying to find what was needed here in Colon.  They had the fine glass mat I wanted but no filler - except for talc..! It was interesting to see Panama City - so much pleasanter than Colon.  I went in with Maria who was expecting to see her husband Karl in hospital where he'd been transferred from Colon on Friday night - but, to her disbelief, they said they'd 'lost him' - nightmare!  She searched the hospital looking at the occupants of all their beds...   All eventually turned out OK when it transpired that he'd discharged himself and taken the bus back to Colon and the Y.C. to get back on board his boat after getting little sleep and being given no food or water for two days....  He seems to be making a good recovery from his stab wounds and pierced lungs now that he's getting Maria's home cooking and TLC.
 
One success was finally fixing the freshwater leak  over the weekend when it wasn't raining (cockpit locker having to be emptied for access)- the polybutylene pipe from the hot water tank had a pin prick hole in it (don't ask me how that can happen!) so I cut it at that point and used a through connector I had in my spares kit to re-join the two ends - so, hopefully, now is all OK (and the cockpit locker is, yet again, re-packed!!).  Another job was fixing mosquito netting in place over all openings - lots of flies, mosquitoes and noseeums around!

Torrential rain Tuesday morning meant heavy flooding in the streets nearby - and a taxi I was in claimed not to be able to get me back through the deep water with a big load of heavy shopping - so I was forced to try to walk back with it through deep puddles - impossible...  A local 4-wheel drive car stopped and helped me back finally.. but not before I was soaked through... and 'Nereida' had a couple of partly open hatches... oops!!  We're still trying to dry out - hoping for some sun on Thursday to help things along - and also to help get the Windpilot repair completed which was held up due to rain, lack of materials and the repair guy going off to Cartagena for several days...

I've been having a major problem with credit/debit cards - but think it may now be sorted after several lengthy, expensive phone calls.  I became aware of the problem when the Canal Transit deposit ('buffer') was due to be renewed after ten days and the Bank found my cards were rejected - without a deposit, a transit is not possible!

I'm getting the boat ready now for that elusive transit (4th June, or before if I'm lucky) and the onward passage north, hoping the Windpilot repair will soon be complete .... everything seems to be taking such a long time, with the continual rain not helping.