01:0S 80:40W Drifting In The Pacific!
Audaciter
ItchyFingers
Wed 15 Feb 2012 15:55
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So,
We got through the Canal. It cost us around
$1000 through our agent Roy, who looked like a young Forest Whittaker,
which was a pretty good deal considering what other yachts paid. It was all done
very smoothly and we can book in advance on our way back and we should be able
to get through in a day. Apparently they lose money on yachts going
through and considering they charge up to half a million dollars for the
huge super tankers that is not surprising. I guess it costs the tankers the same
amount in fuel if they had to go all the way around the cape and back up
again.
Unfortunately we couldn't get into the Balboa Yacht Club
the other side because it was rammed full of yachts that had just come through,
a lot being with the WARC (World Rally For Cruisers). It was annoying
because it had all the amenities we needed and looked
rather nice. We ended up at La Playita Marina which was tiny, had no space so we
had to anchor and had no showers or water. You had to order the water in
advance and they said it would take 5 days to get the amount required to put in
our tanks. Righto! So we stayed their for a night, got our supplies in and
buggered off.
So off we headed to Ecuador. I have never seen
a calmer ocean. Like glass. Luckily for us though there was a little bit of
a breeze because after 12 hours, guess what, a horrible whirring noise came
from our engine and the smell of burning. Joy. You have to leave her to cool
down before you check everything so we put the sails up and managed 6 knots
for another 12 hours. When we did check her we found that the alternator belt
had worn down and was really loose. So we tightened it up. All good...No. It was
then that we realised that the battery switch had been on
setting two since we left Balboa. The battery switch should always be
on one. You only put it on two when you want to link the domestic and
starter batteries for a boost of power if the engine won't start., Leave them on
two for more than half an hour I believe the engineer said and you will
'boil the bloody things' quote unquote. On a modern yacht you would have an
alarm but on ours we haven't. Anyway, it's a page one error and shouldn't
have happened. There was no blame to be put on anyone as that is not good for
morale but it was our very own sheepish looking but loveable Dickon who fucking
did it!
Ok. So we have around 48 hours to our destination and
already nothing is charging and the batteries are running low. Wonderful. What
else could go wrong....Ok, well about 5 hours later the same noise and smell
from the engine. For fuck sake, this is getting long. Turn the engine off and
change the belt. We decide to leave this until morning to properly assess it as
it might be much more than just the belt. This engine, albeit a Mercedes was
built in 1943 (It's a marinized truck engine from the war. Hardcore, but still
75 years old). This leads to a night of drifting thanks to no wind, with none
predicted for days I hasten to add, in the biggest ocean in the fucking
world. Not good for ones head space I can tell you. That was a dark night if
ever there was one. If we couldn't fix it we would be properly up the proverbial
creek without a paddle.
I started to dislike the Pacific and felt a very long
way from home. It was okay when we were drifting without an engine in The Bay of
Biscay because we knew there would be wind, and a lot of it,
soon. This time of year in this part of the Pacific there is generally bugger
all. So much for our nice jaunt motoring down to Ecuador and then on to the
Galapagos after the hellish sailing we had on the way to Panama. How silly of
us to think that.
Anyway, the next morning we realised that it was the
middle one of three belts that had to be changed. This was the first time we
have had to do this, but we have all the spares so it was just going to be a
long sweaty job (it is hot, sooooo hot here. 90 miles from the equator. Sorry, I
know it's snowing at home!), and hopefully all would be good.
I should have mentioned before that we have doubled
the living space on our yacht. All the fuel cans and sails used
to be in the forepeak so nobody could sleep in there but we had a massive purge
of useless stuff and managed to pack the sails elsewhere and the fuel cans live
in the aft lockers and a few are lashed on deck. It makes for a much happier
boat. It's more like a flat than a bedsit now. So, while Gareth was down in the
basement digging out the relevant tools and belt Dickon and I took a stroll
Uptown (bow) to stretch our legs. It's good to get out for a walk now
and again. When we looked towards the east of town we saw some Dolphins doing
spectacular things. We have seen some Dolphin action on this adventure but this
was second to none. They were somersaulting in mid air and doing crazy
twirls. I shit you not. One jumped out and in mid air did a backward 360
and dived back in. By this time Gareth had hopped in a cab and joined us
uptown and proceeded to give it a 9.2 out of 10. I would say that was a bit
generous as the landing was a bit off but maybe I was being harsh with my 8.5.
Dickon gave a 10 but he just loves Dolphins. I have never seen anything like it.
Maybe they were practicing for the Olympics. Who knows, but it was
amazing.
Anyway, back at the
ranch. You can only fit two people in the space to fix the engine so I
sunbathed. I cannot big those two up enough, especially Gareth as it was a tough
job in horrible sweaty cramped conditions but they got it done. That is what it
is all about. DAY! So we were now firing on all cylinders Fingers crossed
anyway because as I am writing this we are off the wrong coast of Colombia.
Bandit country. If things were to go properly wrong in this part of the world
and someone helps say, tow you in, they can claim half the value of your boat in
salvage rights. This is old school maritime law to the point where in Greece, as
they are so skint they move buoys so people ground their boats and low and
behold they come out to save you and claim salvage. No RNLI round here I tells
you.
Anyway, we are in good fishing territory. The Humboldt
current which runs down this coast of South America produces 20% of the worlds
fish, plus we are above a volcanic trench which goes from 1900 meters' to 3500
meters. Tuna and Marlin territory! The volcanic trench also gives off methane
and CO2 which bubbles to the surface. It's crazy because one minute the sea is
flat as you like, the next it is literally boiling. You can hear it fizzing and
bubbling and quite disturbing. Boats do not stay buoyant when floating on
bubbles! Needless to say the rods are back out and we nearly caught two huge
Dorado today.
For some reason the sat phone will not let me send this
blog so as long as nothing else goes wrong we should be in Ecuador in 36 odd
hours (it's the 11th now) and you shall know we are safe then. Fingers
crossed eh!
Got here safe now. Longest 4 days of my life. Will
update you soon.
Love to all xxx
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