Tag Archives: cruising to Panama

Passage to Panama City – Our Final Leg on the West Coast

29 Sunday May 2016

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We set out from San Diego on November 19, 2015 with the thought that we would go to Panama. On May 26th after 189 days and 3,256 nautical miles we pulled in at La Playita Marina in Panama City. Oh ya, we made it!

This last leg was part luck and part frustration. The lucky part was with the weather and not getting tangled in a long line. The frustration was having to pass by many pretty anchorages to stay lucky with the weather.

While in Costa Rica the weather was really unsettled with thunder storms occurring daily. When a break in the storms appeared, we quickly checked out of the country and set off right at dinner time enjoying the fresh breeze after being in the hot marina for a few weeks. We crossed into Panama at midnight and had a lightening show with no rain the entire night. The next morning we encountered the first of many long lines put out by the Panamanian fishermen. Apparently fishermen in Panama do not expect boats to be sailing out on the ocean since they don’t hang around to warn off unsuspecting sailors. There was little to no wind so with the engine running luck was on our side several times as we spotted some of these lines within seconds of running them over.

With storms in the area, we decided to stop and anchor our second night at Isla Cebaco. It had been a long time since we were able to enjoy eating outside watching the sunset with a cool breeze.

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We had thunder but the storm passed our anchorage allowing us to keep the hatches open all night. We were up early the next morning for the final overnight leg to Panama City. We knew Punta Mala is reported to be the single most congested point in North America and the Pacific due to shipping traffic going to and from the canal. It also experiences extreme currents that would be going against us and our arrival there would be around midnight. So to fuel us up, Gary spent an hour in the galley cooking up a delicious paella. Right as we sat down in the cockpit to eat, the skies opened up. Ugh!

Paella one of our all time favorite one pot meals

Paella one of our all time favorite one pot meals

As we were nearing Punta Mala, we were at the southern most point Sereno II will be in the Pacific Ocean at approximately 07 08’.876”N latitude 080 43.410”W longitude.

Overlooking another quick downpour of rain, getting the jib sheets tangled, choppy seas, and a drop in boat speed from 6.8 knots down to 3.7, rounding Punta Mala was not bad. Only one ship passed us and he was twenty miles away. From that point we didn’t see any ship traffic in the shipping lanes leading to the canal for another 10 hours. We envisioned something like the I5 freeway in LA at midnight! Had me thinking we screwed up on our navigation and we were in the wrong bay. So while sailing through Panama Bay was a bit more laid back then we imagined, the skies were clear and it was a beautiful day. That is until we were ten miles out from the canal zone. Thats when the clouds rolled in and we got rained on long enough to get us and the boat wet. It was a bummer because we missed out on a great view of the Bridge of the America’s and the downtown skyline.

Upon entering the canal region you must contact Port Control to seek permission to enter. After we were granted permission to head to our marina, we set a course in the general direction we needed to go still an hour away. Thirty minutes later Port Control hailed us to make sure we knew we were heading on the wrong side of the causeway. We still hadn’t made our final course adjustment but we quickly did so. Felt a little creepy having someone watching our every move.

The yellow arrow is pointing to Sereno II and the red line indicates our course. The triangles are ships at anchor waiting to transit or in a few cases were under way. The pink areas represent rain. The red X closest to us is the beginning of the channel to the canal. The red X further away is the marina we were headed to. Okay boring no longer!

The yellow arrow is pointing to Sereno II and the red line indicates our course. The triangles are ships at anchor waiting to transit or in a few cases were under way. The pink areas represent rain. The red X closest to us is the beginning of the channel to the canal. The red X further away is the marina we were headed to. Okay boring no longer!

Before we left Golfito the boats from the Clipper Around the World race came in to fuel up on the Seattle to Panama leg. There are twelve boats total and we saw six. The crew were varied in age many with British and Aussie accents. We had hoped to see them out on the water but I’m sure they set a course for speed while we were setting a course to stay out of a storm brewing offshore.

Yacht from Clipper Around the World Race

Yacht from Clipper Around the World Race

Bahia del Sol, El Salvador

25 Friday Mar 2016

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We spent a nice Sunday afternoon at Casa L & L, the home of Lynn and Lou expats from Carmichael California. They own a lovely casa on the estuary and every Sunday invite cruisers and other expats for a barbecue and some pool time. We bring something to grill and something to share. It is a fun way to meet people and relax away from the boat for a few hours. On Easter Sunday we are all bringing deviled eggs to share. I need to do some internet research to see if I can find something a little different with the ingredients we have on board. There is a fine line between creative and yucky.

Casa L&L

Casa L&L

Casa L&L

Casa L&L

Casa L&L

Casa L&L

I guess we’ve been spoiled in Mexico with a market or grocery store within walking distance or a short bus or taxi ride away. We have a few options here but they take much more effort and in this heat I mean effort! After eating all the protein we had in the freezer, we had no choice but to do one of the options. Our first choice was to take the dinghy four miles up the estuary to La Herradura a small village with a grocery store and a open market. The challenge for us is our outboard is only 6 hp so we have to time going upstream and back with the tide. And if you’ve read previous posts you know our outboard has conked out and refused to start a few times. So with that in mind we took a test run and sure enough we got out in the middle of the estuary and it died and would not start. We were smart enough to head out against the tide so we drifted/rowed back to the boat. On to our second choice. A 1 1/2 hour bus ride to Zacatecoluca. Sounds easy but it also involved a transfer at a place called Arco unless we took the ‘direct’ bus that took two hours. So off we went with directions from fellow cruisers on how to transfer busses. Get off at Arco and walk up the right side of the bridge to the road above and catch the 133. I always write on a piece of paper the name of the place we are trying to get to. With the help of the bus driver and his attendant, we got off at Arco and using hand motions they also told us to walk up the side of the bridge. When we got to the bridge it looked like we were walking into someones backyard. But following someone else willing to help, up the steps we went and sure enough there was a bus stop. We then boarded the most crowded bus we have ever been on. I spent the next half hour sitting beside the driver with my back against the rod that opens and closes the door. Gary was standing on the stairs and when others boarded (yes they let more on), he had to sit up on top of the bars in front of the first row of seats to get out of the way. This is no way to travel even for 50 cents! I can’t say much about Zacatecoluca. We shopped and went in search of the bus station and found the ‘direct’ bus back to the marina. This seemed the best option because we had been warned that the busses at Arco may stop running later in the afternoon. Would not want to be stranded there! We scored seats the whole way back and it took only ten minutes longer than the bus there.

This is the ‘193’ direct bus from Zacatecoluca, El Salvador to Bahia del Sol (the Costa del Sol bus). While we sat at the station and when we pulled in to stops, vendors walk up and down the isle selling everything from food, drinks, and I even saw someone selling toothpaste. This is an old school bus from the USA. The seats are made for little kids!

This is the ‘193’ direct bus from Zacatecoluca, El Salvador to Bahia del Sol (the Costa del Sol bus). While we sat at the station and when we pulled in to stops, vendors walk up and down the isle selling everything from food, drinks, and I even saw someone selling toothpaste. This is an old school bus from the USA. The seats are made for little kids!

So we are set food wise for awhile. The outboard is back running. I’m the one who hooks the gas up and I screwed something up. Which was a bummer because we missed out on an invite to happy hour at Bill and Jean’s.

Passage to El Salvador for the Cruisers Rally

18 Friday Mar 2016

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We crossed into the waters off Guatemala at 1:05 pm on March 15th. We really love Mexico but it felt great to be moving on to a new country. We have plans to tour Guatemala but since the port on the Pacific side is not friendly to cruisers, we sailed a two night passage directly to Bahia del Sol in El Salvador. We had calm seas and light winds the entire time but we did get in some decent sailing without the motor running. A rare occurrence on the pacific coast.

Volcanos line the coast of Guatemala. We were 10 miles offshore trying to get away from the fishing panga’s (no luck there) so while we couldn’t see the outline of them, we did see the smoke and at night the glow.

Bahia del Sol is in an estuary behind a sand bar that requires a local pilot to help you navigate through safely. The pilot will do this only during high slack tide in daylight hours. We timed it so we would arrive well before the scheduled time of 9:40 am so we wouldn’t be late and miss the window. Missing the window means anchoring off a beach open to the pacific ocean well back of the surf but close enough that you have enough chain to hold. Not my idea of a fun night.

Bill and Jean organize the cruisers rally that we will be participating in. For every cruiser entering the bar during the year, Bill comes out with the pilot and relays his instructions to us over the VHF radio. While 99.9% make it safely, the day before an underpowered sailboat sunk (the sole occupant is okay). So when the surf is up as it was on this day, there are risks. At 9:40 with Sereno just a few yards from the surf and the pilot boat right in front of us we put the peddle to the metal and proceed full steam ahead.

I think pictures speak a thousand words so here is our bar adventure.

Sereno II surfing the waves.

Sereno II surfing the waves.

A wave caught our stern pushing our bow to port and Gary temporarily lost steering.

A wave caught our stern pushing our bow to port and Gary temporarily lost steering.

Here we are in a short lull but we had gone way too far to the left heading for shallows. The pilot had us make a sharp turn to starboard to avoid going aground. We got hit broadside by a wave knocking us over about 40 degrees. But Sereno knew what to do and she bobbed back up and Gary quickly brought us around perpendicular to the waves again in time for the next set. All was good and we motored into the estuary.

Here we are in a short lull but we had gone way too far to the left heading for shallows. The pilot had us make a sharp turn to starboard to avoid going aground. We got hit broadside by a wave knocking us over about 40 degrees. But Sereno knew what to do and she bobbed back up and Gary quickly brought us around perpendicular to the waves again in time for the next set. All was good and we motored into the estuary.

I can’t say enough about Bill and the pilot for their directions in getting us safely over.  They are in a panga riding through the surf with a boat coming at them. Yikes! And of course a big thank you to my Captain for piloting us through and keeping us safe.

After a two night passage and a drama filled entry, we decided to relax in the cockpit taking in the scenery.  That is until Gary said ‘Now I know how Tom Hanks felt in Cast Away’.  Oh yea, we have to go back over the bar to leave!