Panama (Pacific)

I had anchored at La Playita near Causeway de Amador near Olli on “Fagel Bla”, whom I had met in South Africa. It was good to know someone who knew what, where and how things work on the Pacific side of Panama. Instead of my having to find the info out for myself. The charge for using the La Playita dinghy dock is $5 per day. The fee includes garbage disposal. Abernathy marine chandlery was close by the dinghy dock. The Balboa/Panama cruisers net operates at 0800am, 6 days a week on VHF channel 72. 

La Playita anchorage

The Pacific ocean air is dryer with less humidity than on the Atlantic side of the canal. The mornings were crisp and cool. Hopefully, this will help dry out Sadiqi and kill the nasty fungi that was starting to culture on-board. While in Portobelo I had wiped down the wooden surfaces with a concoction of a few drops of oil of clove and citronella in water. It looked and smelled great for a few days. The high humidity around Portobelo effected my electronics and seems to have destroyed my rechargeable drill.

Two days after arriving Olli and I went by bus to Albrook Mall. This has to have been the biggest shopping mall I've ever seen. Then again, remember, I don't get out much. We wondered around and saved an absolute fortune by not spending much. Olli and I consumed a fair quantity of beers in the evenings regaling our tales and travels since parting company in Trinidad a year before. As a result we both decided to go on the wagon (alcohol free) for a few days.

Over the weekend Olli and I taxied into Panama old city for an excursion. The Panama Canal museum was fascinating. The Spanish colonial architecture was similar to Cartagena. 

Panama old city

Panama city and surrounds is a good place to find boat and marine stuff. Olli and I hired a taxi at $15/hour to take us to different marine stores and workshops. We got a lot done. The taxi driver, who spoke good English, was constantly telling us he knew everything and everyone - basically he was full of it and himself. Roger proved to be more informed and a less avaricious taxi driver (Phone: +507 6717 1745).

My order of new batteries, alternator, regulator and stuff arrived in the middle of January. Arturo the local Marine Warehouse representative was very helpful in assisting me getting the batteries to the La Playita dock. I had enquired about using one of La Playita's marina berths for an hour to load and unload batteries - the charge was an extortionate $150 per day! The easiest way to get the batteries to the boat was to bring Sadiqi into the dock to get fuel. This is a service that I had to pay $30 for half an hour of dock use. I was able to load the batteries, fill water at $0.05 per US gallon and fill with diesel at $2.99 per US gallon. I was relieved once the heavy batteries were on-board.

La Playita anchorage is very close to the shipping channel leading to the canal. While having my morning coffee or between boat jobs it was fascinating watching all the different ships plying the waters to and from the canal. Sadiqi rolled around, sometimes not so gently, from the waves of passing ships and pilot boats. On average 50 ships transit the canal a day, in either direction. Apparently, the average charge is $400,000.00 per ship. The 6 billion dollar Panama canal expansion program, due to be completed in 2016, will cater for huge ships. I have seen a good number of ugly car carrying ships pass in both directions. Ships are built to the maximum size that the Panama canal lock can accommodate. These ships are called Panamax. I've watched huge container ships, too big for the current canal, being loaded and unloaded with containers. The containers are trucked or loaded onto trains for the 50 or so mile trip from one side of the isthmus to the other and loaded onto ships to continue their journey.

Fixing the boat in exotic places - again. It took a few days to install the new Balmar alternator, smart regulator and Deka AGM batteries. I had a few beers to celebrate breaking my abstinence. It was good to listen to music or use the computer to get on the internet early in the morning. Instead of waiting for a sunny day and starting the computer at midday. If the fridge compressor kicked in while I was working on the computer at night the lights would dim and I would have to revert to laptop battery until the fridge finished it's cycle. The old Trojan lead acid batteries, that I had replaced in Lankawi just over 4 years earlier, were dying. I gave these to Tito. I also managed to replace the flexible fuel lines that had been leaking for many years.

Boat provisioning. Most of my food shopping would be done in Panama. Fortunately basic food items are inexpensive in Panama. This has meant going through the boats stores and discarding items that have and excessive “Use by date” or look decidedly dodgy. Hauling the provisions from the Rey supermarket by taxi to the La Playita dinghy dock then out to the boat was back breaking. I had gotten soft after 18 months in the Caribbean.

When I first anchored in La Playita there would have been around about 15 to 20 yachts anchored. By the time I pulled up anchor there were around 30 to 40 yachts. More and more yachts were transiting the canal in either direction as the main season commenced in February. 

Panama City

 People and boats I spent time with at La Playita near Balboa:

“Axiom” - Sebastian from Germany.

“Fagel Bla” – Olli from Finland.

“Nirvana Now” - Randy and Dawn from Canada.

Thursday January 29 at 0930 Sadiqi departed La Playita. Engine hours: 1510.1. I was very relieved to finally retrieve my passport and Zarpe (Port Clearance) from Tito. This had been promised on Monday, then Tuesday. The passport was finally delivered on the Wednesday night. It was exasperating dealing with Tito as he appeared to have no concept of time and did not communicate.

I motor sailed passed ships at anchor waiting to transit the canal. By mid morning the winds were 15 to 20 knots from the north. This was a wonderful beam reach as Sadiqi headed south east toward the Las Perlas islands.

At 1630 I dropped anchor, near Olli on “Fagel Bla” in the lee of Isla Contadora, one of the many beautiful islands of the Archipelago de Las Perlas. Isla Contadora is one of the more populated islands, was pleasant and easy to walk around. Being only 35 miles away from Panama City the island was an easy weekend get away. There were daily flights and a ferry service to Contadora and other islands. The climate wss dry with less palm trees. It was an idyllic place to continue fixing the boat. Internet access was extremely slow. Sherman and Judy on “Fair Winds” from USA and Australia finally caught up with me. We had met in Tobago 18 months earlier. Olli and I walked around the island on most days for exercise and visit the local supermarket, where prices were twice that of Panama City.

Isla Contadora

Most mornings at 0900 local time (1400 UTC) I listened to the Pan Pacific net on 8143 MHz. This net covers the Pacific coast of Central America, Ecuador and out to the Galapagos. Fortunately, Chuck on “Jacaranda” in Bahia, Caraquez, Ecuador, where I was hoping to head, quashed rumours of huge price hikes in anchorage and mooring fees in the Bahia. With the rumours of fees and charges in the region of US$1000.00/month I had thought I would skip the Ecuador experience and head west. It was with relief that the rumours were quashed as I had insufficient beer on board for a lengthy sail westward. (The bears would have had to have gone on very stringent rations – like none:)

Repairs to Ken the Autopilot. Duck tape was not enough to hold Ken together. So with hose clamps and a sanitary silicon tube Ken was as good as new - well almost.

Ken the much refurbished Autopilot

With the end of January approaching it was time to move on. On Saturday January 29, I hauled anchor. Engine hours: 1510.1. I followed Fagel Bla, leaving Isla Contadora and heading to the southern Las Perlas islands – Cacique (sounding like kay-see-kay). By 1100 the winds were 15 to 20 knots from the north – a nice beam reach. Boat speed was slow pushing against a half knot current.

I dropped anchor near Rio Cacique at 1630. Engine hours: 1513.8. Olli had arrived a hour before me on his 40 foot S&S Fagel Bla. After all the hustle and bustle of Panama and the weekend boats at Isla Contadora this was paradise. There was no Internet access. Fagel Bla and Sadiqi were the only two boats in the sheltered anchorage near the river mouth.

Fagel Bla anchored off Rio Cacique

The small village of Esmeralda was a couple of miles away. The day after we arrived a local rowed his canoe out to us offering papaya, bananas, and fish. Some kids with dogs on board came out and asked for water and biscuits. They were hunting for iguana near the river mouth. 

The proud catcher of dinner

In the early morning, just before high tide Olli and I took the dinghy up the Cacique river. Indescribably serene sitting in the calm waters among the mangroves listening to the loud chatter of the birds.

Up the Rio Cacique

Rio Cacique

Olli and I were looking for a weather window to leave the las Perlas. Olli heading southwest to the Marquesas and me south to Ecuador. I downloaded weather grib files from saildocs and the OSCAR ocean current files using the SSB radio. What we were looking for was wind, preferably from the northern quadrant. Chuck on the Pan Pacific net confirmed our plans with forecast winds picking up on Thursday. This gave me ample time to square away the boat, clean the crud off the bottom of the dingy and do other innumerable jobs before a lengthy sail.