Panama

The passage from Negril, Jamaica to Panama was windy and rough, with the average wind at close to 20 knots, and gusts to 30, with seas 10 to 15 feet. We had sea water in the cockpit, and some splashed down into the galley and nav station. 

We arrived in Panama after sailing for four and a half days on February 5, 2018. Puerto Christobal (Colon), our original destination was too far, and we wouldn't make it before night, so we set our course for Puertobello. 

Landfall at Puertobello, Panama

Puertobello was identified as a good harbour by Christopher Columbus, and the Spaniards turned it into a transhipment point for the plunder of the Americas that was being shipped back to Spain.  The harbour has three forts in it to protect the ships laden with valuable cargo, but was still a target by various pirates.

We added our names to the wall, a maritime tradition, permitted by the marina, which brings good luck!

The next morning we raised the anchor, and sailed to Colon, where we made arrangements to meet our agent for the Panama Canal Transit.  Shelter Bay Marina was very well protected, and had great facilities.  Every morning there was a cruiser's net on VHF 77 where important information was exchanged.

Cruiser's BBQ and Potluck Dinner at Shelter Bay Marina, Colon.

The marina provided a free bus into town to selected shopping areas, so we took advantage and saw what the stores had to offer.  Groceries were inexpensive, and a few marine supplies were available. 

Tim buying some fishing gear at Abermarles Marine Store in Colon

One day we met with our agent, Roy Bravo of Emmanuel Agencies, S.A., and there was a backlog of boats due to the just completed ARC race boats, and next week was Carnival, so there would be a shortage of Advisors and line handlers. Advisors are required to be on every vessel transiting the canal less than 65 feet.

Rented oversize fenders to protect Vata during the canal transit.

I climbed the mast to check the boat from top to bottom, a must before any passage.

A web cam pic of us in Gatun lock sent to us from Jessie.

We transited the canal on February 18 and 19th, with an overnight stay at a mooring in Gatun Lake.  The transit was simple, thanks to our professional line handlers, who expertly kept our boat safe in the swirling water of the locks.

Following the GT Star into one of the Gatun Locks, and rafted to a sailboat from Fance.

The Atlantic Venus following us in the descent to the Pacific in the Miraflores Locks.

A container ship passing us in Gatun Lake.

Panama city was, well, a city!  Many tall buildings, traffic jams, and lots of people. We stayed on a mooring at the Balboa Yacht Club, and they provided a free water taxi from the boat to their wharf, and return, 24 hours a day. Taxis were cheap, so we set out to find our long list of marine supplies, with limited success. The list was getting shorter, and I finally had decent charts to use on the up-coming pacific crossing.  A surprise to us, was when we asked to be taken to the "mall", and we ended up in the Albrook Mall, the largest mall in the Americas. Wow. The hustle and bustle of the city, we knew would soon be replaced with a return to nature and tranquillity.

Basic apartments in the older part of town

The food court at the Albrook Mall, Panama City.

Panama City Skyline

Next, we will have a short visit in Panama's Las Perlas Islands, where Survivor was once filmed, and then the long passage to the Marquesas Islands in French Polynesia.

Dusk over the Bridge of the Americas in Balboa (Panama City), Panama.

Jamaica

Before we left the Bahamas, we visited Chat 'n Chill Beach, where there is a tall signpost.  Someone had already posted a sign from Lake Huron's North Channel!

Karen looking at the Chat 'n Chill Beach sign post.

We left Sand Dollar Beach in George Town's Elizabeth Harbour on Saturday, January 13th to begin our passage to Jamaica. The trip would take us northeast around the northern tip of Long Island (Cape Santa Maria, named after Christopher Columbus' main ship on his first expedition to the Americas), and we would turn south -southeasterly by-passing the rest of the Bahamian islands toward the Windward passage between Haiti and Cuba. We passed the Tropic of Cancer, 23 degrees, 30.00' N at 6 p.m.. As we neared the Windward Passage the number of commercial ships increased significantly. We rounded Cuba's Punta Maisi (southeastern tip) at 6 p.m. on Monday January 15th.

Sunset over southeastern Cuba

The southeast trade winds were blowing day and night, and we were making good time, however, it meant if we maintained our speed and direction, we would make landfall in Port Antonio, Jamaica in the middle of the night. We reduced sails to a little patch of jib, and the third reef in our main sail, and we still sailed at 4.5 knots.  Dawn on Wednesday morning, presented the emerging Blue Mountains of Eastern Jamaica! We arrived at Port Antonio's Errol Flynn Marina to clear customs at 10.

Jamaica's Blue Mountains behind Port Antonio!!

We're cleared into Jamaica after piles of paperwork!

The marina was very conveniently located close to downtown, so off we went to check out the town!  It is a small town, but had much more to offer than most of the Bahamas (except for perhaps Marsh Harbour). The vegetation was lush and green  - it was obvious we were in the tropics!  We stopped at Piggy's (World famous jerk chicken) and had some delicious jerk.

The park beside the Errol Flynn Marina

We had to stop at Piggy's world famous Jerk Chicken! 

A surprising number of very small vendors line the streets of Port Antonio

A side street in Port Antonio in need of maintenance.

Abundance of fresh produce was available along streets or at the "market".

We met several other sailors at the marina, some who left George Town on the same day as us, and others who came over from other distant shores. It was like a UN meeting! While we planned to move west across the north coast of Jamaica, we also started making arrangements for transiting the Panama Canal in the near future. There was lots of advice from experienced boaters, that we could not pass up.

The sailors out one night in Port Antonio (US, Germany, Poland, Australia, and Canada).

It's a blurry picture, but everyone was better the next day...

We Left Port Antonio, and sailed to Orcabessa Bay, once home to Ian Flemming who wrote the James Bond books. It is now part of a very expensive resort.  Next we visited Discovery Bay, where Christopher Columbus visited Jamaica in 1490, and now we are anchored close to the Montego Bay Yacht Club.

The Orcabessa Bay fishing fleet. A beautiful, calm bay.

Montego Bay was under a Security Alert to quell some unrest caused by gangs, but by the time we arrived things were more or less under control. We anchored off the Montego Bay Yacht club, and paid to use club facilities. Clean and safe. We saw the odd police check on a roadside, but never felt at risk. Shopping in Montego Bay was excellent, but still a bit expensive, even to Canadian standards, but availability was very good.

The city of Montego Bay - a portion seen from the harbour.

Next, we plan to sail around the corner to Negril.  From Negril, we plan to sail directly to Panama, avioding several shallow banks and a number of small Columbian islands.

Thank you Jamaica! Out of many, one people... and the people are wonderful!

We'll keep you posted!

Exumas, The Bahamas

We crossed the Exuma Sound and made it to an anchorage outside of Highbourne Cay. This was our first taste of the Exumas, and there was a marked difference from Bahamas’ other island groups. First, it was very shallow turquoise water and white sand and dry little limestone islands that don’t support a lot of vegetation. Secondly, and because of the beauty and close proximity to Florida, they are also very popular, and the most obvious difference was the higher number of boats visiting the area. It was actually crowded.  The Highbourne Cay Marina was a very nice, well maintained place, although their store was expensive.  The cheap prices of the Maxwell in Marsh Harbour were now far behind us.

The main highway and church near the government dock at Staniel Cay, Exumas

Bar clock in Staniel Cay Yacht Club. No more needs to be said.

We hopped down the Exumas, staying in one beautiful anchorage after the other, careful to heed the strong tidal currents in the passes between the shallow Exuma Bank and the Deep Exuma Sound!  These islands, their white sand beaches, and clear turquoise waters are perfect calendar page material, and we loved it!  It was here that I started hunting for fresh coconuts, and accessing their sweet milk and meat with my machete.

Anchored near the northern tip of Lee Stocking Island in crystal clear water!

Sand bars visible in 15' of water at Lee Stocking Island

We heard that Georgetown, on Great Exuma Island is a good town for supplies, has a nice harbour, and therefore supports a huge fleet of “snowbirds” from around the world.  These boaters come back here year after year, and there is a great cruiser’s net to get help, and increase awareness of new arrivals, departures, activities, etc run by "Bill" on his ketch "Karisma".  And it is here, in Georgetown’s Elizabeth Harbour, that we work on the boat, go exploring in town and on nearby islands, buy groceries, and wait for a weather window to sail to Jamaica.

A pod of dolphins circled our boat when we were anchored at Crab Cay outside of George Town.

Boater's garbage disposal near the George Town dinghy dock.

A typical garage in George Town. Best on days it doesn't rain!

Free-ranging goats near free wifi at "Da New Eddies Restaurant and Bar"

Tim buying fresh produce from an enterprising gardener.

The beach at Crab Cay

Karen on the path from the ocean beach near our anchorage in Elizabeth Harbour.

at $4.50 per stale  loaf at stores, we started making our own bread - Yummm!

Bare produce shelves at George Town's Exuma Market. The next ship will be in Tuesday...

Exuma Market after the ship came in!

Abaco, Bahamas

From Spanish Cay, we sailed to Green Turtle Cay, where we read there is a grocery store, and we walked around the little village of New Plymouth.

The water taxi to the mainland (Great Abaco Island)

Just to the southeast, was the famous No Name Cay, with it’s main attraction, Piggyville.  We had to visit. The island was fringed with beautiful white sand beaches, and was home to at least a dozen hairy pigs, and at least that many chickens. It was quite an attraction, as the boats arrived throughout the day to feed the “swimming pigs of Abaco”.

From No Name Cay, we transited the feared and treacherous Whale Cay Channel in order to get to the protection of Treasure Cay harbour. Treasure Cay has a crescent beach that is one of the World’s top ten! We caught one of the marina’s moorings and enjoyed benefits such as hot showers and use of their swimming pool. The beach was fantastic, and no one was there!

Next port of call was Marsh Harbour, which is a proper town with two grocery stores and lots of other shopping. We had a wonderful opportunity to visit a special education school called “Every Child Counts” that has a wonderful program that employs its own graduates that wouldn’t be able to find work otherwise. They supply local restaurants with pre-packaged cutlery and bar soap etc.  This school is not funded, so it has to raise its own money throughout the year.

One of the nice homes along the harbour front

It was here in Marsh Harbour that we found a replacement for the bi-colour navigation light we lost off our bow crossing from Charleston. We also purchased charts and guides for the planned Caribbean Sea crossing to Panama, and the South Pacific Islands.

Tim trying to pull down coconuts.

While anchored in Marsh Harbour, we listened to Christmas music over the radio, and were growing nostalgic of the beautiful Canadian Christmases with our family and friends.  We had nothing to purchase or wrap, so we made our own Christmas tree out of collected bits of driftwood and seashells!

Our Christmas Tree!

We also put up a string of lights in the rigging to pass on our cheer to others in the harbour! We miss everyone terribly. 

Merry Christmas, everyone!