04.00.1N   083.01.9W

Tuesday 05 May  19:15 UTC

 Return to Scotland, Monsoon Trough and a Fridge!

We were in the Las Perlas Islands on the Pacific side of Panama some 36 miles from Panama City. Our satellite based Iridium system had broken down yet again, twice in 10 days. We had to return to Panama City to get another replacement under guarantee. On Monday 23^rd March we sailed back to Panama City. We awoke Tuesday 24^th March to bad e-mail news. Caroline’s mum Mary had been taken seriously ill and was in hospital in Inverness. The situation was not good, we had to get Caroline back to Scotland ASAP. All the flights leaving that day, seemed to route via the USA, so before booking we had to make sure we could get an ESTA, an advance electronic authority to travel to the USA, on the same day. Luckily you could and at 12:50 Caroline was on her way via Miami and London to Inverness.

Sadly, Caroline arrived in Inverness 12 hours too late.  Mary died at 4 in the morning on 25 March. We did our best and relatives were surprised how quick Caroline had got back home. Michael found well-supervised moorings for the yacht at Taboga Island and flew to Scotland two days later. Our voyage round the world was on hold.

We stayed at Mary’s house in the very remote village of Tomich, 17 miles West of Drumnadrochit on the shores of Loch Ness. On three mornings we awoke to find snow on the ground. It was a sharp contrast to the tropical climate we become accustomed to. Despite the sadness of the occasion, the funeral and other arrangements we did manage a few nice walks. The longest walk was 12 miles round Loch Affric. The scenery, with snow on the tops of the mountains was fantastic. The walk involved wading through a freezing cold burn where the water came up to our thighs.  Cold, but we suppose safer than the last time we waded through water!

Back to Panama

On 20 April we flew back to Panama and spent a night in a rather rustic renovated hotel in the old city. The staff at the hotel, were very helpful, but the open plan en-suite rooms, where there is no door between the bathroom, toilet and bedroom was something of a novelty! The next afternoon we took the ferry to Taboga Island, we were back home on our yacht.

After taking the ferry back to Panama city again to do some provisioning and then taking on more fuel and water we set sail for the Las Perlas Islands for a second time.

We finally set off on our Pacific Ocean crossing from the little anchorage at Isla Espiritu Santo in the Las Perlas Islands Panama at 12 noon on 01 May.

Which way do we want to go I asked Caroline, basically SSW. Which way is the wind coming from, you’ve guessed it SSW!

And the wind was less than 10 knots. 

We sailed slowly SE for a bit, then tacked and tacked again until the wind veered and we could at least make a Southerly heading. 

Bit by bit the wind continued veering until we could lay a course for Malpelo Island and then eventually our desired course of 230°T towards Galapagos making over 7 knots. 

Day 2, the wind decreased and then vanished altogether for an hour before picking up a little again. There was not much wind and unless we get 12 knots + this yacht does not really start to move. Progress is slow but steady. We made 139 miles the first day, 83 miles the next and 84 miles the next. Getting to The Marquesas could take some time. We have changed our course to being more Southerly hoping to go West when we meet the Southerly winds.

We don’t want to use the engine so as to conserve fuel. We have 500 litres of diesel on board in the tank and in cans.

We have 700 litres of fresh water, plus the water-maker is working fine.

We have 5 large jars of squeezy marmite, can’t go wrong!

We unfortunately made a decision not to stop at Galapagos, just to pass by. We may regret that one day, but have lost an awful lot of time recently, and cannot justify the expense for a very short stay. It would cost at least $1400US in cruising permits, diving inspections of the hull, fumigation certificates, obligatory customs agents fees and visasHaving paid that, then nearly all the places you can go, you need to pay for a private guide or go on guided tours. You are not allowed, apart from a few places, to wander off for walks on your own or to sail where you want to. The yacht is not allowed to leave the designated anchorage. Plenty of local boats with ‘guides’ are happy to take dollars in cash from you and take you wherever you want. We are told it is all for the sake of the local environment, which we guess it is, but the locals certainly cash in on it!  We calculated even a short stay would cost us at least $3000US! 

Making Galapagos a contingency stop only, which fingers crossed, won’t be required. So Marquesas which is part of French Polynesia, here we come! 

We are sailing on our own, everybody else we met in The Caribbean going trans-Pacific seems to have gone except Australian friends Phil and Pam on the yacht Maranatha who have been stuck in Shelter Bay Marina, Panama for repairs and are transiting the canal this weekend. They will be a few days behind us and are also going to Marquesas direct. 

Reminder of The Sahara Desert, Monsoon Trough and a Fridge

The 3^rd May started with the generator slowing down and then stopping in the early hours of the morning. It sounded like a fuel problem, a blocked filter or worse the electric fuel pump. We had spare filters but not a spare electric fuel pump…should have got one of those to have as spare on board. It was the electric fuel pump!

Michael recounted his story of nearly 40 years ago when driving across The Sahara Desert, an equally remote place to where we were now, the fuel pump broke with no spare available. That time all those years ago, he made a temporary fix by fitting one of the many spare fuel cans on the roof and gravity feeding the engine. All OK on low revs, but try to accelerate and the engine would cough and stop. Michael crossed half way across the desert with his temporary fix and got to Niger.

The fault with this electric fuel pump turned out to be corroded connection terminals, which he fixed.

In the late afternoon we noticed a bank of cloud what appeared to be a squall line some distance away. It was so calm; we played three rounds of backgammon and looked again. It was a squall line, a lot closer and for sure it was going to hit us. Reef in the sails, get all the safety and wet weather gear on. On the Caribbean side tropical disturbances occur quite often, but they are usually relatively small, easy to spot and in most cases you simply navigate out of their way. If a typical tropical disturbance in The Caribbean does hit you, it is usually all over in 10 – 15 minutes. The end of April saw the start of the ‘rainy season’ in Panama. In the weather forecast we had been warned as to the ‘possibility’ of what was termed a monsoon trough or TROF as the American forecaster wrote. It was probably going be well to the North of us, but moving fast and we were going slow and there was no getting out of the way, it was 105 miles long by an estimated 10-12 miles wide! The wind went from 6 knots to 36 knots, 40 mph, gale force 8, in just a few minutes. The seas changed from very calm to very rough and the rain was so intense visibility was no more than a few boats length at best. We had to manually steer, the auto helm would not work correctly in these conditions. Luckily there was no lightning.  We were well prepared but the battering lasted two hours before just as quickly as it arrived, the winds went back to 6 knots and the monsoon trough passed ahead of us.

 On the early morning of Tuesday 05 May, Michael was on watch when he saw something directly ahead in the water. After miles of seeing nothing, this was something to be careful of. First thought, a semi-submerged shipping container, steer well out of the way. Then there was something on the top of this white box and something white floating just in front of it.  Could it be an antenna or light, maybe this is an ocean weather buoy with a float line? Binoculars out, sailed a bit closer, it turned out to be a floating white fridge with a large seagull sitting on it, proudly laying claim to this prize possession, something to perch on in the middle of The Pacific.  The other floating white blob, another seagull trying to lay claim, but ‘no way’ the perching seagull was going to give his floating fridge up. We passed each other uneventfully. Good job, how could I ever put in an insurance damage claim to the paintwork for hitting a fridge!