Rode Orm; a Laurin 32 ketch

[maxiSwede]

Hi Guys, it's been a long time and lots of tacos since I had enough time on internet to 'check in' here.

We have cruised Mexico (Pacific Side) for over a year and are bout to leave for El Salvador. We'll spend the next 11 or so months exploring down to Panama before heading out in the southern Pacific in Feb/March next year.

Lots of updates - but not as many as we would like - on our blog:

svnanna.wordpress.com

A new venture for us is also that we now accept 'paying crew' onboard for a few weeks at a time. This is an onboard school really, where we teach sailing, navigation, snorkeling, fishing and whatever it takes to live  life afloat.

Inquiries always welcome if you happen to know someone who might be in for a 'trial' period before buying and outfitting their own boat.

Cheers, Magnus & Isabelle

[Jim_ME]

Good to get an update and reminder to go catch up on your blog. Awhile back, in response to my saying that I was interested in going to the Sea of Cortez sometime, someone advised me against it, which was the first negative report that I had heard. So I am looking forward to learning what your experience has been.

Congrats on your new venture. Seems like it will provide a good opportunity for others to learn from your experience and boat and be able to make more knowledgeable choices for their own--as you say.

Fair winds,
Jim

[maxiSwede]

Awhile back, in response to my saying that I was interested in going to the Sea of Cortez sometime, someone advised me against it, which was the first negative report that I had heard. So I am looking forward to learning what your experience has been.


Jim

We loved the Sea of Cortez and are missing it already. As always (?) it{s about what kinda stuff you prefer in life...

The things we loved:

Desolated anchorages - beautiful desert nature - incredible fishing- great snorkeling and freindly locals - reasonable prices on everything but marinas and yards

What we think might put people off:

Same as above, Far between stores, not much enertainment, certainly not the best spot for {party people)
HOT and dry in the summer - a lsight possibility of getting hit by a weakend hurricane, holes DO exist though

Fair winds//Magnus

[Jim_ME]

Glad to hear that you enjoyed it, and to learn more about what to expect there. I believe that I would share your appreciation for the natural beauty of the area.

A few years ago my sister and her family stayed at Puerto Vallarta, in a simple hut near the shore. One of the experiences that they enjoyed was to hang out with the locals in the public square in the evening and get some food from venders there...it reminded me of what I had heard or read about the Piazza in Italy or the sidewalk bistros in France.

Maybe this hypothetical trip to Louisiana and Texas could be extended to The Sea of Cortez and even to Ojai, where that sister and family live.

That should be an interesting place to visit--the West coast of Central America. Seems well off the beaten path (at least to someone based in New England). Look forward to hearing about your experiences there.

Again, Fair winds (and many photos)
-Jim

[maxiSwede]

Long time since last posting here.... we're currently in Golfito, Costa Rica after a year and a half in Mexico. It's very clean here, reminds a bit of Europe at times and about twice as expensive as Mexico which came as a shock.

We're way south of 'Hurricane Alley' so no worries about that, but the Thunderstorms almost eery afternoon/evening are just crazy. We know of 3 boats already that got a direct hit from a lightning rod. The boats all came out o it unscathed (as - thank god- their crew) but all electronics fried.... Since we travel w/o insurance (simply cannot afford those premiums) we are currently in the process of reconsidering our plan to spend the rest of the 'Wet' (i.e. LIGHTNING) season in Panama. Instead we'll probably do a straight shot to Equdor where we would be safe and wait there until it's time to head ut in the Southern Pacific beginnin o next year...

svnanna.wordpress.com

[Tim]

Hi Magnus and Isabelle!

I have been following the blog, imagining being back down there. Skipping Guatemala and El Salvador was probably a good thing. 40 years ago Guatemala was a sketchy place and I don't think it has changed much, and El Salvador for the most part was boring. Sorry to hear you may not hang around Costa Rica more.

Just keep blogging wherever you go  :D

[maxiSwede]

I just posted this on our blog, and add it here, might be interesting to someone...

We are currently in Ecuador; Bah?a de Car?quez, a sheltered spot in a river estuary where it is safe to leave the boat for land travel (to Quito, the capital and the Andes highlands) and fly back home to see family and friends. This is exactly what we are planning to do and also do some work on the boat until jan/feb next year it's time to head out the Southern Pacific to French Polynesia.

Here comes an unedited account o the nine day passage across the Gulf of Panam?, beating to windward to get here.
Unedited? -yes, because it's a log of sorts done hour by hour and reflects the mood I was in at each time, with fatigue and a certain amount of discomfort. No strong winds, but always on the nose, and the seas usually a bit confused, short and steep due to the Humboldt current that also were 'on the nose' making a slow passage despite making pretty good speed most of the time.
We chose to slow the boat down on several occassions since going to windward days on end is hard not only on the crew....but also on the boat.
Hope you'll find it an interesting read.
******************************************

Day 1: 103 miles

Woke up already at 5.15 AM so got an early start. Overcast skies and no wind unless 0-3 knots from all over the compass counts. Dropped the mooring line around 7 Pm and motored out of Golfito while we prepared 'Nanna' for a 6-8 days overseas passage again. This includes unshackling the bow anchors and plugging the hawse pipes (through which the anchor chain goes down the foremost part of the bilge (deepest part of the hull) attaching our jack-lines (from Dacron straps; one goes from the bow to the cockpit on each side of the cabin topside decks. To these lines we hook the tether on our safety harness whenever we go forward. At least in rough weather- and at least in theory but the skipper's reptile brain still most often makes him rush forward whenever I see something that needs attention. Working on it, to be better I mean. Since I've done the vast majority of my sailing on smaller boats, I am completely programmed to always hold on to something when moving around the boat, even in flat calm and at anchor. When rougher I generally don't 'stroll' on deck but crouch to make my center of gravity low, and if it's really rough..... well, let me tell you I crawl on all four and I would like to see the person who walks around. Anyway I AM working on my mindset, to always use the tether (First Mate sleeps better at night if she knows I am solidly attached to the boat if I do a sail change on my watch.)

On a boat there ?'is a place for everything, and everything (should be) in it's place'. That said we are all human with our weaker sides and after a few weeks at anchor or in port, it's amazing how ruddy it can get both on deck and down below.

We spent most of this first day at sea trying to rest, doze, catnap in between turning the engine off: 'The wind is picking up!' hoisting sail, changing course, adjusting the windvane that steers faithfully as long as the wind is reasonably constant in speed. And then 15 minutes later...this process goes in reverse order, 'cause the wind died' and then so on. A bit tiring and sometimes even boring, especially when we are making a modest 3,3 knots of boat speed in 5-6 knots of wind and since the wind is on the nose we are not able to point the way we want to go, but rather some 40-50 degrees off  towards Panama, maybe this country still want us to come there? An hour or two later we are pointing towards Australia, despite it's a couple years too early according to our plans. Then firing up the engine to point on our 'rhumb line' again but still slow progress.

I've said it before, but it's well worth repeating ? This is the doldrums/calms/ intra tropical convergence zone (this puppy goes under many names) In fact, right here, these conditions are dominant almost the entire year round. Gulf of Panam?, we want to get across ? some 585 miles from Golfito and our fuel will last a bit more than 300 miles so we've GOT to sail the boat, take advantage of every wind shift, adjust our sail configuration and area as well as if we were racing. In fact we are racing against spending time merely drifting with no more fuel left than we will need to enter the estuary at Bah?a de Car?quez. We'll get there, but we don't know when. Plenty of food and water on board, no storms in this area, some squalls with stronger winds and heavy rain with thunder to be expected the first couple days out. But thereafter very light winds, mostly on the nose and then the Humboldt current following the south American coastline and hence slow our progress a bit more.

Hanging in there! More tomorrow...

Day 2: 25 nmiles

The night was uneventful. No thunderstorms nearby. Unfortunately no winds over 5 knots either and always from the south which is where we want to go. Hence the engine did the work all night long until 5.30 AM on my watch when a nice 11 knot breeze (yeah, still from south) picked up. Sails up- motor put to rest and we scooted along at almost 6 knots close-hauled for a little more than half an hour. A couple of squall-looking clouds, one in front of us and one on the starboard quarter may be the cause for the sudden wind. Grateful are Nanna and her crew since we've already motored 20 out of the possible 66 hours. Indeed we are racing against being becalmed and using up all our precious diesel.

On a positive note, my work on our old Autohelm windvane seems to pay off, it's been fairly reliable as long as the wind is stable. As you've taken notice of by now it isn't. Good news anyway since the autopilot can get a break too. Grey skies, a bit of  a drizzle around 7AM.

Doldrums. At 2.15 PM we had moved about 12 miles to SW, since this morning. With 2-4 knots apparent wind, Nanna somehow manage to make a couple of knots even though it feels more like drifting than sailing the boat. 480 odd miles to go and about 180 miles worth of diesel left so the rest have to be done under sail. A boat that did this passage a couple years ago, and introduced us to the idea of sailing to Ecuador, took 15 days to cross the Gulf. They didn't want to motor! And he's the guy who labeled me a purist when we first met, though in my mind he is the purest purist.

It could be a lot worse, The swell isn't bad at all, we are warm and snug and it?s actually beautiful at sea and we like to be here. On my night watch I could admire a starry sky for a bit over an hour with the Milky Way like a highway across the vast blackness.

Back to here and now, around sunset the wind had died completely so we furled the head sails, let the main hang there sheeted flat to reduce the rolling and went down below to wait for wind.

Midnight, still no wind. According to the GPS we have drifted less than 200 meters in 7 hours. So much for the current in the area. Beautiful starry sky again with the Milky way right on top of us.

At 2 AM at last some wind! On Isabelle's watch a faint wind of 2-3 knots allowed Nanna to leave a visible wake in the water again. Close to 24 hours like a dead duck floating. May it continue to blow.
The forecast; computer generated GRIB-files 'suggests' a steady 10 knot breeze from WSW for the next 5 days. Do one have to be religious to see that happen?

Day 3: 102 nmiles

Noon, we are able to steer a course straight toward our destination. Boat speed topped a bit over 5 knots but is now down to 3,5-4 in 5-7 knots apparent wind, still close-hauled. As long as we are moving all is good. In fact the ever changing sea-scape is pristine; the dark blue deep ocean water, no shipping sighted since that first night and we both sit long periods in the cockpit, in awe of the serene beauty. No signs of man nor his civilization....errhm, well, sad to have to say so, but out here, more than 200 miles from Terra Firma there is quite a bit of flotsam and jetsam. Sadly, man leaves their track of plastic junk that kills Sea Turtles, who eat it taking it for jellyfish. They must be nearsighted those shellbacks. 444 miles to go to the approach WP approximately 460 to our destination.

3PM Still doing good. 5 knots the wind has picked up a bit. If this would go on, who believes that? We'll arrive Friday at Bah?a de Car?quez.

At 5PM we encountered some squalls and reefed down and continued on our course but at little more than 2 knots. 8.30 PM I shook the reefs out, the wind by then down to 8 knots and we kept going.

It didn?t take that long until we could shake out the reefs. No strong winds associated with the squalls.

Made good progress until midnight, on average 4,5 knots. Apparent wind mostly 6-10 knots. This went on until 4.30 AM when a bad looking squall approached with thunder and lightning. I furled the genoa and hove-to under stay sail and reefed main ant went below decks. Turned out not too bad, not much wind in this one either and the center of it was a few miles off. Still the static  was enough for the anemometer(wind instrument showing speed and direction) to go 'bananas'. Turned off ALL electrics and lashed the wheel. Old school always works! :-D we're really looking forward to get out of 'Lightning Alley'.  We didn't do too bad the last 24 hours, but a long way to go and hard on the wind.

Day 4 ? 109 miles

What a morning. Squalls all around us until noon. Lightning, thunder and LOTS of rain. Good to be on a boat that floats, with all that rain. On a less pleasant note, we've got a leak somewhere. Freshwater in the bilge. Adds another to the ever growing list of boat projects. With a bit of luck, it's a hose fitting and not the tank itself. We still have enough water (remember I said it's raining? ) Despite all the sail- and course changes we made reasonable progress a bit over 4 knots average  in everything from calm to 14 knots of wind. At noon we are moving at just shy of 4 knots with a moderate rain. The heavy rain stopped -at least for a while, the skies are a mixed lead gray and white ? and the wind died out too. A couple of hours motoring and charging the batteries is a welcome break. As an added benefit, it helps to dry out the cabin. Amazing how humid it gets down below with these torrential tropical downpours.

The motoring came to a natural ending. After taking a nap I discovered that we had a nice 8 knot wind on the beam, so enough battery charging. The next few hours were pure magic. Nanna moved along at 5,5 knots almost without a sound. Smooth; even the seas had laid down, almost flat. This is one of the reasons nothing beats being at sea on a sailboat. In a single day you can experience misery, horror, worries and then divine existence and all the rest is washed out of the mind. It's like Life in Technicolor compared to the low resolution Black&White regular landbased 9-5 variety of life in the modern society.

I sat for a good half an hour before sunset  in awe of the infinite landscape of Sea and Skies and the rendezvous between the two. I simply love the light at sunset, I guess it reminds me of the Magic Nordic summer nights where I grew up at 63 degrees North.

Obviously there is an end to moments like that too,and for the rest of the evening the wind was very light and pushed Nanna south at a couple of knots. 350 miles to go and we still have an 'emergency' cache of diesel worth 190 miles. That said we are not even halfway 'home' yet. 'Isla  de Malpelo' a tiny island in the middle of nowhere...excuuuuse me,,, the ocean. It is Colombian territory and reportedly a Navy Base so no place to go for a walk.

More or less becalmed until 9 PM, conveniently for my watch the wind picked up again to 8 knots average. A couple hours ago we had sheeted the main and stay sail amidships, furled genoa, to reduce the banging and flogging. But now the genoa went out and sheets eased to -that's right ? closed hauled position again. So far the grib-files haven't been that far off actually. About 60 miles before we pass Isla Malpelo but way too far off to see it. Tomorrow morning if the wind keeps up the good work?

Midnight. I've never seen the Milky Way as crystal clear as tonight and the stars are twinkling at us. Need to learn the constellations of the southern hemisphere. 4 degrees North now 55 miles from Malpelo and of course we are pointing right at it. Can't point higher so will have to tack some 15 miles from it unless the wind decides to veer a bit. 5 knots on the boat in 8-9 of wind. Back 3 AM, time to hit the bunk, we do 3 hours on- 3 off.
6AM it's pretty smooth sailing. 6-10 knots of wind but unfortunately right on the nose so we're on our way to Isla Malpelo. Will tack 20miles off it if the wind doesn't change. No wish to get involved with the Colombian Navy at this point. 109 miles made good the last 24 hours so not too bad considering. Of course we've sailed more, our track in the GPS is far from a straight line, but that's what comes with these conditions. We simply choose what's best for the moment and take it from there.
And so to the GOOD news ? Right now we are just shy of 300 miles from our approach way point at our planned landfall. Getting there albeit slowly.

[maxiSwede]

Day 5 ? 112 miles

Getting too close to the island we made a 3 hour tack to west which means pretty much away from where we want to go. Sailing indeed is a slow means of traveling. The wind is still in the 6-11 knot range, fairly stable but from the southwest. Completely overcast skies but no heavy thunderclouds in sight  which is highly appeciated. Just before noon we tacked again on a course close to our rhumbline.

Turns out today provided the best sailing so far on this passage. 10-15 knots of wind, close-hauled as ever we scooted along at 6 knots average, not bad for a heavy loaded cruising boat with a 29 foot waterline. Even some clear skies in the afternoon to cheer us up and provide the always welcomed charge on the batteries. All afternoon our course hard on the wind is 144 degrees true and the rhumbline 166 so not that far from ideal. We passed the high (258 m) Isla Malpelo, a ragged rock with steep to sides and we certainly couldn't detect any Naval installations or signs of human activity but on the other hand we stayed a healthy 14 miles offshore of it.

One milestone done with, 252 miles to go as the crow flies. Unlike the crow, we have to tack (zigzag) back and forth to take us to windward so more likely 320-ish miles to sail. We already covered a bit over 350 so we're getting there!. If the winds stay this way we'll continue 120 miles on this course and tack outside the Colombia/Ecuadorian border. Then 150 miles south to the approach of the Bah?a.

9  PM . We do want to get some sleep at night and all the stars disappeared shortly after nightfall. Meaning there is a certain risk for squalls. Some of them have violent wind but so far we have been lucky enoug not to experience more than 16-18 knots maximum. Anyway we decided to be conservative during the dark hours, so furled the genoa and still close-hauled on stay sail and mainsail. Slowed us down about a knot, and I confess I grunted  a little bit but the motion gets so much more tolerable. Especially forward of the mast. I tried to get some sleep in the v-berth but that didn't work out that well. Listening to our 240 ft of anchor chain 'jumping up and down? in the chain locker is not my idea of peace and quiet. Weird that we don't hear it in the salon, Nanna is a quiet hull as such with a cored sandwich construction, This also makes for a very stiff hull,

If it seems like we do not quite know the boat yet it?s perfectly correct. During the 18 months we've had her we hardly ever encountered more than 10 knots of wind. Mostly we've had to practice how to keep the boat moving in zephyrs and winds in the 2-7 knot range. Beating to windward for some 600 miles off shore is a decent 'shake-down' cruise. We get to discover what works well and some little details we'll want to change. Talking about shake-down cruises....the Swedish/American couple Deborah Shapiro/Rolf Bjelke on their steel Joshua  'Northern Light' did a North Atlantic circle as  shake-down after re-rigging the boat and equipping it with furling head- , mizzen, and mainsail. Hats off to those folks who lately spent 4-5 years circumnavigating Antarctica and the sub antarctic islands. No,no, I truly admire their voyages but not the cold and stormy stuff for us!

Day 6 ? 97 miles

The wind kept about the same speed overnight and we made progress while taking turns getting some important sleep too. 6 AM with the current GPS position and on the working hypothesis that the wind direction and speed will stay the same ? does that ever happen, hah?!- we have 200 miles to go but given the extra tack or dogleg out at sea again we will have to cover approx.300 miles. Current is an unknown in this simple calculation, but we know it's there. We also know it sets northward thus against our desired path. That's the sum up....we lost some 12 miles by reducing sail during the night but we were just too tired to keep pushing the boat hard. Still deadly tired actually, it takes some practice to be able to sleep when you regularly levitate from the bunk and then land again fractions of a second later. Between 3-6 I slept though, simply exhausted.  Oh, do we like this? You bet! :-D

Now there is a slim possibility this last leg will turn out easier. I just downloaded grib-files on the HF radio and they suggest that the wind will pick up a bit today but also turn slightly more favorable in direction....we'll see.

1 PM- Making good speed under main, stay sail and partially furled genoa. Considering all the shipping from the Panama Canal we haven't seen too many freighters. 3 during the first night out of Golfito and half an hour ago another containership. More interesting was the almost surreal encounter with two open boats(pangas) with twin outboards and 3-4 uniformed guys in each. Since the wave height is about 2 meters they seemingly popped out of nowhere a quarter of a mile off our port beam. The guys looked at us and we took the opportunity to inspect them through binoculars. The pangas were painted 'Navy style' with a star in a circle. Nothing more came out of this unexpected encounter, so much more unexpected since they were 130 miles off shore. The nearest shore being the border between Colombia and Ecuador. Really weird, sitting there bobbing up and down quite wildly on the choppy seas waiting for....who knows? Not us apparently and we appreciate that.

The wind has started to pick up a bit and the genoa is furled. This slowed us down from 5ish to 3,5ish knots but at a slightly better angle towards Bah?a. This of course comes at the price of going head on the seas, which is far from comfy. Expect them to settle down shortly. The gribs have been surprisingly correct so far suggesting 15-20 knots from a more westerly direction then down to 10 knots tomorrow. Will see about that.

9 PM the wind is a steady 20 knots which is manageable but the seas are surprisingly short and square and spray is flying over the entire length of the boat and now and then solid water wipes the foredeck clean. Still flying full main- and stay sail and are fore-reaching at about 4 knots to stay reasonably comfortable. Sleeping when off-watch is difficult but we rest and doze as much as possible.
165 miles to 'goal' but tomorrow morning we'll have to make another tack to west to stay clear of the coastline with a healthy 40 miles or so. The wind should lay down a bit during the night and tomorrow if the grib is correct and thus make life a lot better.

The wind kept up at 17-22 knots over night and we kept fore-reaching at 4 knots average under our reduced sailconfiguration.

Day 7 ? 123 miles

Just after breakfast the wind dropped to 12-15 knots and we unfurled most of the genoa(which has a high cut yankee style clew and is essentially an enlarged yankee jib)and the speed raised to 5,7-5,9 and a smoother ride too when the waves successively lost part of their bite and became more rounded and friendly-looking. As a crow flies, we've now got 124 miles to the approach WP (plus another 20 to the 'waiting room' where a pilot (mandatory) is called upon to safely pilot us through the tricky, reef strung entrance channel over the bar to the estuary. Or so the book says. This has to be done at high tide, so unless we can manage a perfect timing for the high tide, we'll have to drop the anchor and wait or  just sail around in the area until it's time for us to sneak into the shelter of the peninsula where the little town of Bah?a de Caraquez is situated. If the wind direction stays the way it is now, we will have to tack a couple times and sail a total  distance of 230 miles which indicates arrival Sunday afternoon. Early this morning I downloaded (on the HF radio) the latest version of the GRIB-files and it suggests that the wind will die out a bit more AND veer towards west. That would be great, since we could steer a more direct course and gain distance and time. Or if the wind would die out altogether, we?d motor the last few hours and make some water.(remember the leak?)

A few unknown factors, as always, which makes sailing always interesting, often rewarding and sometimes frustrating. Patience is a good feature in a sailor, and I am working on it! ;-)

11 PM Unknown factors...oh yes. Off Punta Galera and Cabo San Lorenzo an unknown( or just forgotten) factor showed us small humans just how much our plans are worth. The Humboldt Current -pushing colder water from Cape Horn all the way to British Columbia and Alaska. This ocean current meant serious business and it turned out to be a huge mistake to get in close (if 25 miles is close) to shore outside these places where this current turns right along the coast into the Gulf of Panama and encircles the Gulf to be 'spit out' southward off Punta Mala close to Costa Rica. 1-3 knots is serious business for a little sailboat tacking back and forth to make it's way against it. Long story short, we kept busy most part of the day and the night just to make it around to then be able to steer to our destination.
It would have been indefinitely better to have made enough westing a day or two ago.

3 AM At least we are moving on quite fast, even if the distance to go is about the same as 5 hours ago and despite sailing  longer distance than any of the other days, we made good less than ever except that day we were bacalmcd for most part. Anyway, next change of watch we'll tack again and hopefully we will be able to point a straight line from there on. This last(?) detour leg is already over 30 miles and we'll add another 15 on this watch. The wind? Still around 10+ knots so according to the gribs. They've been accurate on everything except that it didn't turn westerly.

6 AM ? finally time to tack and make way south. We.ve now sailed 50 miles on a course 274 hard on the wind port tack. Gray skies, 10 knots of breeze,6,2 knots boatspeed and almost flat seas as daylight arrives. Too overcast to sea the sunrise.

Day 8 ? 113 miles

Started in a lot more positive way. We got 60miles done in less than 9 hours. Finally the wind decided to obey the GRIB models and veer slightly west. Enough for us to steer 145-150 true and make a long leg and clear the Cabo de Fransisco with reefs and other 'obstacles'. From here on ( 5 PM) we've got 75 miles to go course 169 degrees. We'll stay on this tack until we get on the shelf closer to land and then motorsail (given the wind comes down a bit more) and if so arrive at our destination tomorrow afternoon.

Did I mention I am a born optimist? Yeah, in my dreams the above would happen, we kept on making a longer leg along the shore, then a slightly shorter one off-shore. Kept repeating this so by now we've got some practice on the drill.

Day 9 ? 95 miles

Came alight with skies as lead gray as in November at 63 deg N where I grew up. What happened to the tropics? In all honesty it has to be added that yesterday provided a bright blue sky for most of it. For once. Anyhow, we are now 14 miles north of the magical line, the Equator, and 50 from the- by now almost illusive Bah?a ? but with our zigzagging path on the chart, we'll need to cover another 85 or so before 6.30 AM tomorrow morning when the tide is high and the pilot called in.

4 PM quite constant wind 10-18 knots and also constant in direction. But by now, we've gotten used to it! ;-) Anyhow, we'll cross the equator within an hour and be 'in place' well before the high tide tomorrow morning. Hope we will 'have to' slow down not to arrive several hours in advance.

4.45PM ? We crossed the equator! A life long dream is fulfilled. That is to sail on my own keel to the Southern Pacific. Technically we are in it now. A toast -in a good sipping Tequila ? with the powers of the sea (Neptune, Manannan, and the old Norse variety)where of course both the ocean and Nanna had their share. My first crossing 'the line' and Isabelle's second.Yeeehah!
6.30PM   Fired up the engine to run the watermaker for a bit since it won't get used in Bah?a's silted river water. As an added advantage we could now steer right toward the last little cape to pass. Punta Pasado S 00.23 W 80.33 and save us a few miles. We intend to sail a bit back and forth just outside the area where the pilot will meet us tomorrow morning since anchoring in the ocean swell is too uncomfortable.


After a quite uneventful night slowly sailing, even slowing the boat down not to arrive to early to the waitingroom at Bah?a, we arrived at 5.30 AM as confirmed by e-mail correspondence with the staff at 'Puerto Amistad' (port of friendship) ran by a US/Colombian couple we found the spot empty except for  a couple of pangas coming in from a night's fishing. Called them on VHF radio several times but no answer. Then tried again a bit after 6 just to find out that Ecuador is an hour ahead of us -still on CostaRican time- so the pilot had already been at the spot but turned back in just before we arrived.

The irony of this is that we really tried to 'kill' 5-6 hours last night not to arrive tooooo early ;-/. Well mistakes are easily made, we were not informed about the local time being different, but neither did I ask. Since the longitude is about the same as CR I had no reason to believe Ecuador would be an hour ahead and in fact on the same time zone as Panam? which is quite a bit eastwards of us. No big deal, we'll be busy cleaning up the boat and get some well needed sleep.

Some short facts of the passage:

Time from departure to arrival: 9 days minus 1 hour (not counting the numerous hours spent slowing                   the boat down or being becalmed
Hours motoring:       26
Miles:            Approximately 600 for the charted route
            covered miles over ground 844 (gps tripmeter) due to tacking
Average speed over ground:   3,9 knots. Unimpressive for sure but includes 20 hours becalmed.

Conclusion:         Passages against prevailing wind and current better be avoided, but are probably the most effective way of really get to no your boat and reveal potential problems that needs attention.

We're looking forward to explore Ecuador the next few months and also deal with everything on the boat that should be checked, replaced etc. before heading out to French Polynesia in the early months of the coming year. A haul-out to replace the cutlass bearing and stuffing box(keeps the propeller shaft in place and keeps it from leaking) and another few coats of bottom paint.

Questions and comments always welcome! Cheers...

[Tim]

What a wonderful read, thanks for taking us along  :)

Been wondering how you two were doing, congrats on getting to the other hemisphere.

[Tim]

Thought I would throw the link to their blog in here;

http://svnanna.wordpress.com/2013/04/18/paradise-found/

[maxiSwede]

In the Gambiers, french Polynesia since 9 months. The tranny borke down shortly after we arrived, and that led to a complete rebuild in situ. Then we really started to love the place, made friends with locals etcetera. Hurricane season down here right now so we'll wait here until late MArch to move on. Isabelle just return from a 3 month spell in France with her dying Father

We are now looking at enjoying snorkeling and freediving on the various motus until it's time to leave the Gambiers. Internet is very slow and extremely pricy here, that's why my blog entrys are text only and not many log-ins to forums either.

We wish everyone on Sailfar a happy 2014, with as many sea miles as you'd like!
Magnus & isabelle on NANNA
svnanna.wordpress.com

[Tim]

Hi Magnus and Isabelle, good to hear from you. I have been following the blog, and am glad to see that Isabelle is back. Glad to here also that you are enjoying your forced stay in Gambiers, what a terrible place to get stuck.  :P

[Frank]

Great to hear from you Magnus!!!  Have fun!!!