The Voyage of Padma

Dear readers

I love it here.  It is so bonita. You will never believe what I saw… 16 dolphins, 3 turtles and best of all a whale… soooo cool.  Chris and Anita’s boat is so cool.  They see cool stuff like that all the time!

Click for Baby Dolphin!!!

Since this is it for us sailing-wise this season (until early November) I thought I’d list our stats for the year:

Nautical Miles sailed: 1057

Number of overnight passages: 5

Days with wind > 30 knots: 15

Days sailing in >30 knots: 2

Days with wind >40 knots: +10

Days sailing in >40 knots: 0

Days with wind <10 knots where we motored-sailed: too many to count!

Number of oil changes: 8 (4 per engine)

Number of coolant changes: 1

Sharks seen: 3

Humpback whales spotted: 2 (mom and baby feeding in Panama)

Sea Turtles dodged: 100’s

Leaping Manta Rays spotted: at least 50

Swarms of Killer Bees hosted: 1

Fish caught: 4 (If we had to survive on fishing, we’d likely starve.)

Days with line in the water: every day. (Next season, we may be forced to cheat and carry bait.)

Even though we didn’t get very far this year, I thought some of the places we did get to were spectacular. For us, the highlights included: transiting the Panama Canal, anchoring in the Western Panamanian deserted pacific Islands, picking fruit from the trees in the jungle, and anchoring in San Blas Islands home of the Kuna Yala. But then Costa Rica was beautiful as well for different reasons, and we quite like Nicaragua so far, ah heck, it’s all been fabulous. Beauty really is a relative thing.

Buff, buff, buff

Our spanish teachers

Spanish school and laundry by the teacher’s mom next door.

I love it when things turn out the way they’re supposed to. Our part arrived just as promised. If anyone is in Panama and needs volvo engine parts, call the Volvo Penta dealer in Panama City and talk to Gilberto. He was prompt, professional (actually emailed us, and text messaged us!) and wasn’t expensive –certainly, much less than if we had to order the part from abroad.

Now of course, all we have to do is install it. Easy, right? What could possible go wrong? We’ll let you know.

The Offending Part

Snapper dinner for the next few nights. Yum!

Boy have Chris and I been procrastinating lately! It’s just so easy to start a project in the morning, and by noon you’re drenched in sweat and have to stop for a couple hours. Then of course it’s close dinnertime, and the whole process starts over again the next morning.

We did make a trip to Changuinola to have our visas renewed. Panama changes its visa rules frequently — twice in the past year alone. When we first arrived in Bocas del Toro, we were issued a standard tourist visa, which we found out was not correct. We were supposed to have a ‘Mariner’s Visa’; the friendly immigration officer at the Bocas del Toro airport assured us that it ‘wasn’t our fault’. ..hmm, yeah.

However before we could get the proper visa, we had to renew our Cruiser’s Permit first. This involves talking to the Bocas del Toro, Port Captain. Took us all day, and 60.00 bucks, but hey, it’s Panama, and who’s in a hurry?

Changuinola is only 16 miles from the Costa Rican border

With our cruising permit in hand, we boarded the taxi boat to Changuinola. The boat races across the archipelago and zips down a man-made canal that was once used to transport bananas to the mainland. What an incredible ride, felt like we were in an action film with that plume of water jetting out behind the boat, as we navigated the channel, meadering along the thick tropical forest. Many birds were witnessed along the way: egrets, herons, flocks of green parrots…all kinds. I seriously need to get myself a bird book for these parts.

Tropical forest, mountains in background

Fishing

Changuinola is a town dominated by the Chaquita Banana company. The co. hires migrant workers from all over the world to harvest the bananas. So when we got the “Officina Migracion” there was a huge lineup of people having to reapply for their work permits. It seems as though that the visa rules changed for them as well.

Two women using a stack of cross-referencing ledgers and a manual ‘underwood typewriter’, run the office. They informed us that we need three photos, and of course photocopies of our documents (boat registration, cruising permit and passport pages). Luckily, the town is well equipped. A restaurant across the street photocopies documents for you, and a photo shop is conveniently located a block south.

Thinking that the office would close for two hours over lunch, we ran around and returned before 12. There was no need to worry about that though. These women worked all the way through lunch and processed every single person waiting in that office. And they were incredibly accommodating and friendly. I just love the people in Panama. They’re fantastic!

Our “mariner’s visa” cost us $100.00. It allows us to cruise around the country for six months without having to leave and come back. The only stipulation is that we must check into an ‘Officina Migracion’ every 30 days for a signature. We’ll see how that goes.

Padma needs filters changed on one engine, and then we can actually be mobile again. I should mention that Panama is below the hurricane belt and does not get hurricanes; although, it did happen once in the 1960’s. That’s mainly why we’re docked in Panama for the time being – to wait out hurricane season.

I am itching to go soon though. We’re still on track to see the San Blas islands and then through the canal to cruise the Pacific coast.

Bocas dug-out canoe with motor

Houses remind me of Southeast Asia

Oh look, a portal! Very handy for escaping those +50 dragons

Man at hardware store. Even he's sweating. You can imagine what we looked like!

It turned out that the weather was just fine for hauling out. We’ve been ‘on the hard’ for the last couple of days to replace all of our thru-hulls and seacocks with brass. In fact, the entire boat was ripped apart, and will remain that way until our SSB radio is installed. The wire has been layed in, but needs to be hooked up to the radio. Also a special high voltage cable has to be fed up the backstay and attached to our antenna. Keith’s a few days behind, though not his fault.

We’re oh so close to taking off. Just a few more details to take care of and we’re good to go. We’ve waited this long, so a few more days is not a big deal.

While we were hauled out, Chris and I sanded and gave the bottom a fresh coat of anti-fouling paint. We also cleaned the hulls and buffed them up ourselves with our new $30.00 buffer. Keith managed to get us hauled out at a professional marine centre, which doesn’t allow “do-it-yourself work”. But since we were his clients, we could pretty much do whatever we wanted. Nice. I did feel a twinge of guilt after talking to these Aussies who we met — also off to Panama –they were not allowed to paint their own bottom, and were charged 1500.00 only for it to peel a day later after application! Oy!

Maybe it was a good thing that we were delayed a few days, there are lots of details to take care of before we can cast off. We were very lucky with this boat, an extensive inventory of backup engine parts were left behind by the previous owner. We only have to buy more fuel and oil filters. We decided against purchasing a backup solenoid for the starter and a spare alternator. We figured that with two engines, the likelihood of both failing at the same time is pretty low. Also, stuff can be sent anywhere in the world these days.

I can certainly see now how buying an older boat would take months if not years to outfit and get ready for ocean cruising. Our decision to buy a newer boat, reducing our outfit time and cost, for the most part was a sound one. The only error I think we made was not asking if the boat had a holding tank (A holding tank contains the toilet waste, which when full is pumped-out into the sewer system. In Canada and the US, all pleasure crafts are required to have a holding tank, waste cannot be dumped within three miles of the shoreline and in Ontario waste can’t be dumped into the lakes at all.) To us, it’s like checking to see if the engine has a gas tank. The boat is French, and surprisingly, France does not require pleasure crafts to have a holding tank. If you ever find yourself floating on your back in the Riviera next to those majestic super yachts moored in the bay, remember that they might not have a holding tank!

A cold front is scheduled to sweep through on Sunday night. We are supposed to be hauled out on Monday morning to have our thru-hull fittings replaced with brass. We hope that the winds are not too strong, since the marina will not haul us out in strong wind. The work will take two days to complete, during which Chris and I will sand and paint the bottom with anti-fouling paint. If all goes well, the weather should be perfect for a gulf stream crossing next weekend! I can’t wait. I’m getting so anxious to get going.

Our new Honda generator. Another item in which we saved some cash. A marine-grade generator costs ten times the price of this little guy, and it’s quiet. We need a generator to run our portable air conditioner — pretty much essential for cruising Central America.

Chris on the transom testing out the generator.

Padma from the front.

Fresh herb garden. We’ll see how long we can cruise with these. I understand that once we get to Cuba, they will likely be taken away.

Things are finally coming together. We’re to be hauled out today at 1:00 pm (edit: I just found out that we are now hauling out on Monday! …geesh), where our brass thru-hull fittings and SSB radio will finally be installed. Since we’re hauling out, we decided to paint the bottom as well — hauling out a catamaran in Central America is not so easy. The work never ends. We’ve been running around all week buying last minute supplies we think we need. To be honest, we are sick of spending money. West Marine really likes us, but let me tell you the feeling is not really mutual.

Finally though, we saved some money on something. We have 450 feet of line and a 50-foot bridle used to deploy our sea anchor*(see note below for an explanation). That’s a lot of unruly line that needs to be organized and accessible during adverse conditions. We could have bought specialized marine-grade ‘anchor rode bags’ for $150.00 a piece, but instead, Chris bought three Home Depot Shopping Bags for $1.50 a piece, and they’re brilliant! It’s small victories like these that keep us going.

* A sea anchor is a piece of safety equipment. It looks like a parachute, and is deployed during high seas and storm conditions to stop the boat. Hopefully we’ll never have to use it (we won’t be out in weather like that), but it’s comforting to know that it’s there if we need it. We also have a drogue. Before deploying the sea anchor, the drogues are the first line of defense in slowing the boat down during heavy weather.

Our cheap-o home depot shopping bags, used for anchor rode.

A really cool diner in lauderdale.

Gorgeous deco building with original sixties style furniture inside. The waitresses also wear these great uniforms. I like the old Fort Lauderdale like this. The city has really grown over the last five years, and many of these places are sadly being torn down.

Cream pies.

Happy New Year everybody!

Last night we had a relaxing dinner on the river while we watched boatload after boatload of revellers, all with a beer in one hand, including the captain, motor by. I worried that someone would smash into our boat, but then again, most things worry me, if truth be told.

Ok, so it turns out our t-minus hopeful date was just that. Our man, the Seal, as I call him now, has found an issue that needs to be addressed. He’s rather protective of us, and is fixing everything! Man, I love this guy. Anyway, he doesn’t like some of our thru-hull fittings*. They’re plastic, and he told us that when we’re underway and the floorboards are open, he’s worried about one of us stepping on one and breaking it off. This wasn’t something we’d thought of. He thinks we should replace these with brass. We can get a diver and do this while we’re in the water. But you know, I’m not comfortable with that. So we’re going to haul out next week and replace the thru-hulls with brass fittings. Not a huge job, but it will set our launch date back a couple of days. The goop used to install the fittings needs 24 hours to set. The Seal got us a good deal on a haul-out location and he’ll also do the work for us. He’s been with us all weekend, and even came by today at 8:00 am sharp, on New Year’s day, to finish off our plumbing.

Before we haul out next week, Chris and I will spend our time tying up loose ends, so that once the boat is back in the water, we can go. At least I really hope so…. What else can possibly go wrong? (Many things, I’m sure.)

*Thru-hulls penetrate the hull. The fittings (thru-hull liners) attach to hoses, which either drain or take in water. Some of these thru-hulls are below the water line, so one can image what can happen should a below-the-waterline thru-hull fitting fail.

Bimini from the top and new sailbag.

New cushions and bimini. The cushions go all the way around the cockpit.

We are still at Sailboat Bend on the New River in Fort Lauderdale trying to get work done on our boat. I used to wonder on hearing that people took months outfitting their boats down here, but now I know why. The contractors we have met are all busy, and some of them seem to think mega-yachts are more important than our Padma!

We are making progress getting quotes on the bimini, cockpit cushions and salon curtains. We can’t wait to get this stuff as the current curtains are really garish and a bit mouldy, though that doesn’t come out in the pic below. We also made contact with the Italian watermaker manufacturer and they seem quite helpful, so it should be no problem getting new membranes and filters. We had a good talk with an electrical contractor about voltage transformers, being a Euro boat we are 220v, and 50/60 Hz issues.

Salon with wacky curtains.

We are also loving our little folding bikes. They are pretty cheapo, but seem to be working well. I miss my old bike, but it is great to be rolling again. Fort Lauderdale even has the odd bike lane, but in general you don’t see many bikes or pedestrians. This is really a car culture, a really large car culture.

One of our Citizen folding bikes.

Cockpit in the morning sun with our current cushions.

Broward Centre for the Performing Arts across the river from us.

We are off to a big nautical flea market to see what we can find. Anita is looking forward to the photo op at “Kansas City BBQ Competition” this afternoon at the flea market!

Well, there is no doubt that this boat totally rocks. The more time we spend on board the more we love it. We both independently worried if there would be enough space for the long term and now we are thoroughly reassured. The cockpit is veeery roomy, lots of space on the foredeck to roam about including the comfy trampolines, the salon is really spacious and enough up and down space between the pontoons and the salon that you really feel in different spaces. The owner’s cabin is very cozy and feels almost hidden away forward in the centre nacelle. All that and it still feels like a reasonable size to handle well with the two of us. Some cats we looked at were just enormous, and out of our budget , but this one feels just right.

Anyway, about the “puzzle palace”. Now that we are on board we have to learn all the systems, find out what’s working, what’s broken, what needs maintenance, etc. It’s really important that we understand everything on the boat. For example, we have an amazingly large freezer on board, a Frigoboat 5000. This is a very sleek Italian designed retro looking unit. Everything looked good when we turned it on from the breaker panel but after considerable time it just didn’t get cold. We did test this during the survey and it definitely felt like it was cooling, but I guess it was just ambient coolness in the well insulated box. Not to worry, there are tons of manuals on board. Hauling out the manual for the F5000 we find everything we need, in both French and Italian! Okay, so this is a French manufactured boat, originally owned by an Italian. However, while my French isn’t bad I must admit a certain paucity of refrigeration vocabulary in that tongue. Fortunately the inter-webs turned up an English version, and lo and behold it is necessary to run the engines for the F5000 to work. Tracking wires and tubes about the port engine room it looks like it needs the cooling water from the engine to remove the heat from the condenser. One more small piece of the puzzle in place, but still a lot to learn.