This Ship’s Blog will be a little different. We’ll let the photos and captions tell the story…… After a new set of batteries and working out the final teething issues (we hope) – We’ll be off to the Las Perlas Islands of Panama on the 22nd of March. Shortly thereafter, off to the mysterious island of Malpelo and then the Galapagos!
Thanks to all of you who “live blogged” along with us and sent us screen captures (several of which are in this gallery).
Enjoy and KIT (keep in touch)!
Scott and Nikki
Pacific Puddle Jump – Class of 2016 from Shelter Bay, Colon – Panama. These are the owners and crews of vessels who would soon transit the canal for their journey’s across the Pacific. There was also a smaller group who were already through the canal who would have a party the next day. Other similar groups would be leaving from Mexico and California. Nikki ready to go from the Caribbean to the Pacific Mike and Beth Lonnes joined us and here Nikki an Beth are ready to go Our first “Advisor” Dalton and Mike as we ready to enter Gatun Locks for our trip from the Caribbean to Gatun Lake The last northbound vessel of the day is on the left and our “ship mate’ – Chembulk Minneapolis ready to enter the first lock at Gatun. s/v “Free Wheel” a 55 foot monohull would be our “raft tie” to starboard with Magnus at the helm. s/v “Kristiane” from Australia with Paddy at the helm would be our “raft tie” to port. Making the raft before we entered the first lock. Beach House would be in control as we were the “biggest” boat, though not the longest. I would be responsible for helm and propulsion throughout the transit of each lock. I can still here Dalton saying, “Follow that Ship”.
Note the car bridge is still down as an ambulance suddenly had priority over us. It was lifted to allow us to enter within 5 minutes.Many of the locks were double doors. This one was a single, closing behind us at the first step up. Each step up was 27 feet and there would be three levels into Gatun Lake. Doors closing – our first lock and the excitement was palpable. The “unlock” is supposed to be potentially the most difficult as we are not only getting a mix of salt and fresh water, but Chembulk Minneapolis is using her engine to move through each confined lock. Think Warring Blender! It was getting dark as we started, but completely dark as we finished. We spent the night in Gatun Lake. Chembulk Minneapolis continued on her transit which would take her a total of about 8 hours. For us, a two day affair as we cannot keep up with the big ships on the 40 mile transit to the next set of locks at Pedro Miguel. The sunrise was spectacular. Here we have “Free Wheel” and “Kristiane’ tied together with a rubberized mooring buoy between them. The next day, we were joined by our new advisor, Roy. He and professional line handler Eric were great. The big ships move fast in Gatun Lake for the 40 miles transit from Pedro Miguel to the Gatun Locks. We stopped to wait for our friends and our new ship mate who was 12 miles behind us. This is Gamboa and you can see an ungainly car carrying ship on the left with “Titan” on the right. The crane, Titan, was built by the Germans in WW2 and was then the largest in the world. They used it for making U Boats! Panama bought it in the late 1960’s and use if for canal maintenance right up through the present time. They bought if from the German government for 1 dollar! Club Fed – Panamanian Style. This is where the deposed dictator, Manuel Noriega is spending his last days. Right on the Panama Canal. It’s a former U.S. Military prison. After navigating the very narrow “Galliard (aka: Culebra) Cut”, we finally came to the Centennial Bridge. This opened in 2000 and was a huge traffic buster for the Panamanians. The cut is so narrow that ships cannot pass each other for the better part of 8 miles. As such, the canal traffic more or less moves one direction or the other about half the time each day. The Brain Trust: Getting ready to enter the locks at Pedro Miguel. These locks have two steps down and are about 1 mile before the final step down into the Pacific at Miraflores. Here you can see how it’s done. The small boats only go through in the first trip of the day and usually 4 or less at a time. The guys on the sides, throw monkeys fists at the end of small lines (for weight) and our guys tie off to then with a big loop. They pull them back and just set them on the big bollards (cleats). The crews on the boats adjust the lines, not the guys on the sides. Cowgirl on a boat! Nikki relaxes (rare on this transit) while the guys handle the lines. Nikki was working non stop most of the time. Pedro Miguel Locks. We got here so far ahead of our “ship” that we had time to sit in the canal lock for over an hour by ourselves. A unique view of Pedro Miguel Locks. Mike and I were brainstorming that the view from “on high” would look quite cool. So, in the bosun’s chair I went and Mike hauled me to the top of the mast. Roy cringed a bit….:-) And the view from the top was well worth the ride!
“Kristiane” on the left, “Beach House” in the middle and “Free Wheel” on the rightHere from the top of the mast, you can see the double door system on each side of the control room. That’s me at the top I’m so trendy – my first “selfie”. I might add, a fairly unique one. Cap Ines – a Panamax Vessel. This ship is a container ship and is the absolute maximum size of the current canal. 105 feet wide and 880 feet (more or less long). She’s a moving city. Our ship, “Berkay N”, finally arrived! She sure looks small next to Cap Ines. Note the “Mules” (Electric trains) and cables tied off to the ship. The Mules are only used to center a vessel and keep them off the walls. They are locked to their tracks and manned. They can hear the Pilots, but cannot speak back to avoid confusion. They communicate with lights and bells only back to the Pilot abroad the vessel. In case you want a high paying job btw, the Pilots can make up to $400,000 USD/per year! They are in negotiations for up to $500,000! Nice job, if you can get it. Down we go at Pedro Miguel. This lock was only two steps down and is about one mile from here to the final locks on the Pacific side at Pedro Miguel. Note the cutouts in the wall on the center left. These are outdated cleats originally built when the canal was new. They are no longer used. Nikki waiting for the doors to open. Note the double doors. Originally, these were powered by small electric motors but now are powered by hydraulic rams which can be seen outboard up high on each door. The doors are actually held closed by the water pressure. The doors fold back flush to the walls so the Panamax vessels don’t rip them off the walls! The canals are essentially gravity fed and yes, some freshwater from the lake is lost on every opening. However, the lake is constantly overflowing into the ocean over a spillway and a dam, so this water would be lost anyway. Currently however, there is a drought and the spillways are turned off. The spillways were built at an engineered level to support the lakes constant depth to idealize the locks usage. “Cap (Cape) Ines” is a true moving city with up to 2500 containers. Each container is charged at about 80.00 each. As such, it cost Cap Ines about $200,000.00 USD for this transit. The canal nets about 5 million USD/day. A cruise ship at 140.00/passenger could cost up to $500,000.00 per transit! “Cap (Cape) Ines” is a true moving city with up to 2500 containers. Each container is charged at about 80.00 each. As such, it cost Cap Ines about $200,000.00 USD for this transit. The canal nets about 5 million USD/day. A cruise ship at 140.00/passenger could cost up to $500,000.00 per transit! A reverse view from the Miraflores Camera. Many of you wonderful friends and family sent us screen shots. Thank you all!. Here you see us in the same place as the previous photo with Cap Ines on our left – photo right. “Bekay N” trailing in the distance. Entering Miraflores from the Web Cam ahead of “Berkay N”. Nice and tight shot of the three of us rafted. For our line handler it had been an easy trip. The next lock would change that! (3 steps to the Pacific and the middle one is a doozy). Miraflores Visitors center. You can see all the folks watching the ships (and sailboats) come and go. The Web Cam is on the pole in the upper right off the building. Our advisor called ahead to make sure the camera was aimed at us – cool! MULES! in waiting. We were in just ahead of our Panamax friend – Cap Ines. He had 8 mules connected and you wouldn’t want to put anything like a part of your body between Cap Ines and the sides of the canal. It’s that tight! “Cap Ines” is YUUGE (as it is now popularly written). Look at the perspective of this vessel next to the guys on the dock. We had some time while waiting for “Berkay N” so we hammed a bit for the WebCam while waiting. Mike and Beth. Beth took more photos than I did and Mike ran the GoPro which made a cool time lapse video of the entire trip. I hope to post it soon!!!! Chill time before the last two locks. As we entered the second step of three, Advisor Roy said that due to the salt/fresh water mix in this part of the canal, we could expect a strong current from astern. This causes loss of steerageway and the micro excitement began! At first, I could handle it by literally backing the raft up. Paddy remained calm to port. (I wouldn’t have been!). Then a line handler not to be named, failed to tighten a stern line and we almost had a fiberglass sandwich with “Kristiane” threatening to be scraped off the wall. Believe me, you don’t want to touch that wall while moving in a piece of plastic. Our line handler Eric, quickly put a big fender between Kristiana and the wall averting disaster. And we were only 1000 feet from the end of the trip! Webcam from outside the locks caught us entering the Pacific. The first time Beach House has been here in four years. Our view: This is the last step down and much calmer than the one before it. Beach House returns to the Pacific Ocean. This lock is the highest at 50 feet. The reason is that there can be 28 foot tides on the Pacific side. These are the biggest tides we’ve seen anywhere in the world. In Australia, we had 18 foot tides in Mackay and Darwin. Passing the “Bridge of the America’s” into Balboa with Panama City off to our left. The traffic flows 24/7/365 at the Panama Canal. This dredge is non stop. It continuously makes sure that minimum depth is assured for the big ships. Free Wheel heads toward the anchorage. Beth documented the trip extremely well. Goodbye Roy! The pilot boats themselves are almost as big as we are. Here Roy gets to go home every night and await the next small boats. He told us a story that he actually went on a French 18 footer once. They ran out of gas in Lake Gatun as the “skipper” was told he only needed 5 gallons for the 55 mile trip!… Our agent, whose name was also Roy, came to collect our rented lines and fenders as well as Eric who he hires out as a line handler. Eric and Roy (our agent) were great and we’d use them again in a minute. Frank Gehry designed this “Bio Diversity” Museum that is on the Amador corridor adjacent to the canal in Balboa. The hill you see is called “Ancon” and is the highest point in Panama City. Great view and named for the first official vessel to transit the canal i 1914. A celebratory bottle of Verve Cliquot was shared for our successful transit and return to the Pacific Ocean. Sunrise at the anchorage at La Playita. This anchorage is not really as nice as the photo. The water is dirty,, the tides are extreme and the constant ship traffic causes more than a few crash and bangs. The boat in the photo is “Alcyane”, a fellow California Yacht Club member from Marina del Rey.
TIME: 2016/03/12 22:34
LATITUDE: 08-47.62N
LONGITUDE: 079-32.97W
COMMENT: Beach House – MOORED – Toboga Island – Panama…
A bit of breeze, clean water, but also a bit rollier than advertised.
We may need to replace all our house batteries. We\’ll have a load test done on Monday and see.
Good news is that new AGM batteries are available. The generator had a coolant leak caused by carelessness in Guatemala, however
that has too been resolved.
The anchorages adjacent to the canal entrance on the south (Pacific) side are less than desirable. Rolly, big ship wakes, the water is not clean and the tides are currently 20 FEET! Only Darwin and Mackay, Australia have even approached this kind of tide on our journey around the world.
Still a week away from getting off to the Las Perlas while we finish up the teething issues.
Stand by, I\’ll blog the canal transit soon…. We almost had a boo boo right after many of you saw us in the Miraflores locks.
Thanks for all the photos!
Scott and Nikki
Dear Friends and Family,
We will be entering the Miraflores Locks at approximately 2:15 p.m. US EAST COAST TIME or 11:15 a.m. US WEST COAST TIME.
We are scheduled to exit 50 minutes after we enter. You should be able to see us on one of two cameras and they also have \”hi res cams\” for
those with fast internet. If you can get a photo of us and email it to: beachhouse51@gmail.com, we\’d love it!
We will be in a raft of three sailboats. We will be in the CENTER and the plan is to be IN FRONT of the Cargo Ship – \”Berkay N\”.
You can see us on the Miraflores Lock \”Live Web Cam\” at the following link:
March 7th, 2016 (-5 on UTC) We\’re on US East Coast time….
We\’ll be beginning our transit of the Panama Canal this evening around
7 pm US East Coast Time.
To possibly see us in \”real time\”, go to the following link:
http://www.kroooz-cams.com/portcams/so_america/gatun1.php
We\’ll try and send a last minute blog to refine the time as much as possible!
It will be dark, but the canal should be lit up. We will be raft tied to at least one other sailboat and we will be BEHIND any commercial vessels in the first lock. There is a Camera 1 and Camera 2 selection. I believe camera 1 shows us entering and camera 2 shows us exiting into Gatun Lake. Commercial traffic may block our entry view from the camera today on the the way in, but not the exit. Tomorrow, we go in AHEAD of the commercial traffic and should be easy to see. Stand by for that update.
We\’ll be anchored in the lake overnight and send an update when we\’ll go through on the morning of the 8th, that\’s Tuesday here in the Western Hemisphere.
Tomorrow:
The Miraflores Locks \”Live Webcam\” is at:
http://www.kroooz-cams.com/portcams/so_america/miraflores1.php
REMEMBER, we won\’t be going through the second and third set of locks till tomorrow, the 8th of March (Pedro Miguel and Miraflores) and we\’ll try to send a real time update as we get close to \”shooting through\” into the Pacific.
KIT!!!
Scott, Nikki, Mike and Beth
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I was very pleased to wake up the other day and receive an email that I have been awarded the \”Charles F. Hathaway Long Distance Cruising Trophy\” for 2015 from the California Yacht Club in Marina del Rey, California.
The Charles F Hathaway Long Distance Cruising Trophy may be awarded annually by the California Yacht Club to one of its members in recognition of the skill and courageous act that an individual or couple accomplished while deep water cruising. This award is in honor of late Honorary Commodore Charles F Hathaway who kept the vision of the Club on track while also crossing oceans, racing and cruising for many years. This trophy is not intended as a mileage award, but more for recognizing California Yacht Club owners/skippers for their adventuring spirit that personifies the California Yacht Club mission of excellence in boating activities.
This year, the award is to Dr. Scott Stolnitz, D.D.S.,(Staff Fleet Surgeon, CYC), member since 1975, cruising around the world on his Switch 51 Catamaran, \”Beach House\”.
The Trophy held by (r-l) Mrs. Charles F Hathaway (Patty), Steve and Stephanie Hathaway.
Congratulations on an amazing voyage. Best wishes for a successful conclusion.
Regards – Commodore Richard F. Hamlin – California Yacht Club
We wish we had more time and not so many boat teething issues, as clearly staying in the San Blas Islands would be good for the soul!
With all the various little problems discovered in our 1000 mile (can you believe it?) shakedown cruise and no water maker for the moment, we decided to head toward Shelter Bay and the Panama Canal. A nice stop off en route would be the old port city of Portobelo about 50 miles to our west. What a history this place has.
Looking northeast to main town of Portobello from the southern fortress. Beach House is in the center of the photo, just above the palm tree.
This city was straight out of the “Pirates of the Caribbean”. Portobelo became a very important port on the \”Spanish Main\” (see link here: Spanish Main) and sailors from Christopher Columbus, Sir Francis Drake and Henry Morgan all were here. Francis Drake was buried in a lead coffin just outside the harbor – exact location unknown! Most of the Spanish gold and silver that came from South and southern Central America passed through Portobello. To find more about Portobelo, click on the following link: Portobello, Colon – Panama
Drakes Rock – This is the entrance to Portobello and named for where it is believed Sir Francis Drake was buried at sea in a lead coffin.
Once the Panama Canal was built in 1904, the city of Portobelo lost its’ economic importance. Despite being only 20 miles from Colon (Columbus) on the north shore of the canal and its’ status as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, it’s well off the beaten path. Today only a population of around 4,000 people live here.
The people are mostly locals with a smattering of ex-pats, all of who remind you of escapists from a Jimmy Buffet song. We had plenty of room to anchor and were in the company of around 40 boats, many of which looked like they were semi-permanent residents. The city is in general disrepair, built amongst the ruins of the old fort.
\”Captain Jack\’s will get you high tonight\” – Billy Joel. This was THE local hangout. Jack is an American ex-pat who just sort of threw out his anchor here after sailing around the world.
The natural harbor is quite large and has two walled fortifications on each side. The entrance is fairly narrow and should have been easy for the defenders to protect. Despite this natural advantage, many Pirates were able to take over and sack the city on multiple occasions. See link to Captain Morgan’s sack of Portobelo here: Captain Morgan\’s sack of Portobelo
Looking toward the entrance to the northwest. Drake\’s rock would be just outside to the right. You can see how narrow the bay is and how easy it should have been to protect the town. But alas, that\’s what makes history. The canon and fortifications of the southern fortress looking toward town and the northern fortress.
We also visited a famous local Church of the Black Christ, which on October 21st every year, swells the cities population into the 10’s of thousands. This statue is famous because of the mystery it’s shrouded in. It is perhaps the most important Christian shrine in Panama. The statue, found by fisherman was created in Spain and washed ashore around 1658 – presumably from a lost ship at sea.
The legendary wood statue of the \”Black Christ\” – Cristo de Negro. To see more about the statue and its’ legend, click on the links below:
With one night in the anchorage and anxious to get settled into Shelter Bay, we’d go the final 20 miles tomorrow and get down to the serious “fixits” Miss Piggy (aka: Beach House) would require. The list just keeps getting bigger and we’ve a very long way to go!
Nikki just loves a canoe. This was the place we tied the dinghy up to wander the ruins of the old southern fortress.
We’ll next write you from the north side of the Panama Canal – Shelter Bay Marina.
The home of the Pirates of the Caribbean. Much of the Gold and Silver that made it\’s way to Europe, passed through here.
Sir Francis Drake was buried at sea, just outside this beautiful natural harbor.
We\’ll do a bit of exploring the old Spanish Forts and check out the earthy local scene.
We last left you in Isla Providencia, Columbia as we were about to set sail for the San Blas Islands of Panama.
No matter how we timed our departure, it would be a two day, two night sail to Isla Povenier in San Blas. The first 6 hours were a bit too close to the wind, but finally, the wind backed and we sailed pretty much the rest of the way. One of the things we would have to watch out for, was the possibility of heavy ship traffic heading into and out of the Panama Canal. We were surprised at how little we actually saw.
We arrived at first light and anchored off the small airstrip, which could handle nothing bigger than a large Cessna. We watched the local flight use every bit of the runway to land and most of it to take off!
Our first discovery was that there was no way to get any cash in the San Blas and as such we couldn’t check in with Customs and Immigration at the airfield. Panama is quite pricey at $365.00 USD for two people, the boat and the small local Guna Yala Council fee. Given our water shortage due to both water makers being out of service, we would have to make our stay in the San Blas shorter than we would have liked. Many cruisers spend weeks or even months in this 40 mile by 15 mile area with hundreds of small islands.
A local \”Ula\”. The Guna Yala\’s main method of inter-island transportation. Note the colorful \”Mola\” blouses worn by the locals..
The people of the San Blas are known as the Guna Yala (also: Kuna Yala). They are truly an anachronism to the modern world. They are one of the few peoples of Central America who staunchly refused Christianity. They have a very interesting language. Their society is based on a matriarchal structure. The Guna Yala\’s religious beliefs include village Shamans and they are known for being very superstitious. There are three male chiefs of various geographical areas and one Big Chief for the entire people, but home life is ruled by the women.
Few speak English and few even speak Spanish. There are about 50,000 Guna Yalan people in Eastern Panama. Their Grandparents fought against the Panamanian government and were declared an independent autonomous region in 1925. They seem to have a high natural resistance to disease and are known for extremely long lives. In the jungles of Panama, which were heavily subject to Malaria and Yellow Fever – killing tens of thousands of Westerners – the Guna Yala have evolved to stand up to much of what the ancient tropical jungles could throw at them.
When the Christian Missionary’s arrived, they taught the Guna Yala the art of applique. The Guna didn’t adapt to Christianity but really adapted to the art of making Mola cloth. See the following link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mola_(art_form)
In the boating crowd, it’s an absolute must to buy some Mola Cloth from the Guna Yala. Two of the most famous Mola artists are “Lisa” who is a transvestite and Venancio who is a “Master Mola Maker”.
We didn’t meet Lisa, but she is not unusual amongst the Guna Yala. In many cultures (Tonga comes to mind), if there are too many male children, one is chosen to help in traditional female roles. Amongst the Guna Yala, a matriarchal society, there is no stigma to sexual orientation.
It\’s actually unusual for men to make Mola cloth, but Venancio has been doing so for 35 years.
Nikki and I chose this one after looking at several dozen. It\’s quite intricate and has several layers of hand stitched appliqué
As we were low on cash, we opted to buy an expensive Mola, but were limited to one!
The Islands of the San Blas are very much like the Tuamotus of the South Pacific. Everything here is owned by someone. This includes all the land and ocean surrounding the islands. This includes the fish, the lobster, the conch and the coconuts. As such, technically we need permission to go ashore, but we actually saw few people to on shore to ask. The one small island we did go ashore at was called “Otub” and it’s tiny little neighbor “Little Otub”. There was a sign welcoming visitors in English and French. Quite interestingly, not in Spanish.
Welcome to Ortub Island. There was no one here till the evening when we saw lights from the locals.Nikki taking in the Palm Tree seat. We\’re on the northeast side of Ortub Island. Little Ortub is on the left.Here we are on \”Ortub Island\” in the San Blas. Beach House is anchored just in the lee of \”Little Ortub\”
.
We took some photos, investigated what were clearly transient huts (not permanent homes) where we imagine the owners come to tend their coconuts and perhaps fish. Lobster and Conch abound in the region. At night, we did see what appeared to be Guna Yala ashore. Interestingly, it is not allowed for non Guna Yalan’s to be ashore at night. As well, they strongly discourage intermarriage and any outside influence on their culture.
There were two different huts on the island. Both in great disrepair. Despite this, they seemed to both be used at night.\”Little Ortub\” Island. You could walk across this little piece of heaven in about 10 seconds in one direction and 15 seconds in the other. A classic little oasis in the San Blas Islands of Panama
Water was getting low and knowing we had lots of boat projects to work on, we headed toward our next destination – Portbelo and on to the Panama Canal.
Nikki and I chose this one after looking at several dozen. It\’s quite intricate and has several layers of hand stitched appliqué
