Sailing the Caribbean sea again

S/Y KO-KO
Haakon Dyremyhr / Ellen Bjerknæs
Sun 26 Jan 2014 21:43

 Sailing the Caribbean sea again

Wed 22nd at noon we were finally ready to set sails towards Colòn, Shelter Bay, after saying goodbye to Maren & Karl Otto. 700 nm laid ahead of us. We had to make a detour down to the costums area before leaving. Bureaucracy never fails.. Had to show that we were only 4 persons on board, and then we were cleared to go in less than 5 min (Ellen had already been down there to do the paperwork).
After several excellent sailing instructions led by Maren & Karl Otto, and steering problems solved, spirits were high & winds in our favor. Had an uneventfull first day & night, even though total darkness came upon us with big waves & strong winds. We have experienced beautiful nights with an amazing starry sky.
Eating on board a sailing yacht in action, is for people specially interested. With salad bowls, kettles, cutlery & beverages living their own life on the laid table, you need to become an octopus with 8 arms to survive. And I can inform you, taking a shower with one foot half standing up the wall, spread eagle, takes extra skills & good balance.  
I still suffer from sea sickness, and am happy that Glenn & Haakon still take care of the food department. Ellen & I do the dishes. Hopefully things will get better as we go. 
We're not gonna bore you with everything that happened during this leg, but I can assure you that we had unexpected things popping up. With an unexpected jib, due to (again)
loss of steering for a few minutes & damaging some sailing equipment on board due to heavy winds up to 19 m/s (38 kts), we certainly met some challenges during the passage..
But after 4 days & nights, we finally entered Shelter Bay, where we were met by Paul Tetlow from World ARC. Hans & Liv, friends of Ellen & Haakon, were waiting with champagne to celebrate that we now are officially back in business! 
Tonight we have made reservations at a nice restaurant here in Shelter Bay. Tomorrow Ellen & I will go grocery shopping, while Glenn & Haakon takes care of minor problems still not solved on board. 
We have arranged to go trough the Panama Canal with the last group, starting 30th of Jan, and arriving in Panama City the next day.
We do hope that we are done with problem solving for now, and can look forward to smooth sailing in the Pacific.