The Pacific - Finally :-)
Quartermoon
Mike Share & Sammy Byron
Sat 27 Mar 2010 19:41
We are sitting sweltering in no wind on the Pacific! Can't quite believe
it and sorry for the lack of update with regards to our final date for
canal.
We finally transited the canal on Saturday the 20th March and it was
brilliant! It was such a relief to leave the marina and to be on our way
to the flats ( anchorage where you wait for your advisor to board). It was
just the best feeling. We met a great crowd at the marina and everyone was
facing the same frustrations so we all kept ourselves busy with games of
volleyball, swims in the pool and sharing a few beers in the evenings. We
met a another Scottish boat whom hosted a fantastic night on their
gorgeous boat called Rhian Marie. I love meeting fellow Scots,especially
those that are so friendly and generous. It was a great Craic!. We also
met Jo Farquars dad who was sailing with his friend to the Galapagos.It
really is such a small world.
Poor Mum and Dad came all this way for a holiday and spent most of the
time at the marina working hard on our boat. We did manage to treat them
to a night off and explored the Chagres River with them.
So after a great send off from the marina, we headed to the flats to
anchor and meet our advisor. In order to transit the canal you must have a
4 line handlers on board, bottled water for the advisors and a
toilet..thats about it! As it was all a bit last minute, we couldn't call
on anyone to help so we had to hire a line handler for the trip, a Polish
guy called Karol. He is traveling the world and helping people through the
canal for an extra bit of cash. So Dad, Karol and I looked after the lines
and Mum looked after fending the boat and making lots of yummy food for us
all.
We luckily rafted up beside our friends from Shelter Bay, African
Innovation( Catamaran) in the middle and Flash V ( Amel 50) on the other
side. Everyone did a brilliant job keeping the boats central in the lock.
The first lock you enter from the Atlantic side is the Gatun Lock which
consists of 3 chambers. It is the most tricky lock as the water rushes in
and you climb in total about 26 meters up into the lake. Our passage
through was seamless, Mike did a great job looking after QM and ensuring
she didn't hit the sides. We entered the lake at around beer
o'clock...Perfect timming!
The Gatun Lake is stunning and it's quite hard to believe that it is a man
made lake. It is huge and covers a distance of 423 sq Km. There are
hundreds of islands and lots of wildlife including crocodiles. There are 2
buoys placed in the lake for yachts to tie up to overnight so we enjoyed a
great night rafted alongside the other boats and Mike turned 38 at
midnight so there was no holding him back! I think it was a 3 am finish
and a few hangovers felt the next day.
We were told the advisors would be back onboard the next morning between 6
and 7am but I was rudely awakened by a bright search light at 5:30am as
the first advisors boarded. Can we really be in Panama??? No-one is ever
early!!
Unfortunately they were not our advisors and we had to wait another hour
for our guy.
The trip through the lake took us about 4 hours (20.4 mile trip) and as
the advisor rocked up late we had to push QM to her limits. She performed
brilliantly and we managed to get over 7 knots under engine out of her for
the last hour. The advisor kept asking "Can you give it any more??".
aiieeeeee poor QM...
We passed loads of huge tankers and it was such a strange sight turning a
corner in the lake and seeing one massive super structure heading towards
you in such beautiful surroundings.
Pedro Miguel Locks were next and then Miraflores. There were 11 yachts in
total and we all went through in one big lock. All went brilliantly and we
entered the Pacific!! WooooHooooooooooooo...A new adventure begins...So
excited.
We dropped our line handler off at Balboa Yacht Club and after a fight
with our agent ( Tried to charge us $1.00 per tyre) to take them off our
boat....this is after we have paid him over $1000.00 to arrange our
transit for us.
My advice to anyone planning to transit the canal is to organise it
yourself with ACP. We were really disappointed with our Agent Stanley. He
told us different crap everyday and finally we called ACP directly
ourselves to confirm our date / time etc. He never called us to even tell
us our final transit date and then was incredibly abusive when we dropped
off the Tyre's/lines to him. What we paid him for, I am not sure. A number
of other boats had the same experience with him. Very disappointing and it
just leaves a really horrible taste in your mouth when you feel like you
have been ripped off!
We headed straight to an Island 7 miles off Panama City called Isla
Taboga. A really pretty and quiet little place. A chilled rest of day
celebrating Mikes birthday with Champagne, lobster and steak.
Explored the island and even managed to get Dad to hike up a steep hill
through the jungle to look at 3 white crosses which he was obviously
ecstatic about!
The seafood on the island is excellent but unfortunately my pathetic
Spanish ended up with us only receiving 2 out of the 4 dishes we ordered.
We had a great sail back, across the bay to the Playita anchorage off
Panama city. A few last Gin and Tonics on the boat before we headed to the
old city for a great final meal with Mum and Dad.
It was really brilliant having them on-board and we still can't quite
believe how much we managed to get done on the boat. In a way the delay
was a blessing and hopefully it means we will be on our way for Las Perlas
and Galapagos very soon..
So for now we are just sorting more things out and will aim to be out of
here by the weekend.
