In Summary.
10 June 2012 | Discovery Bay, Bocas del Toro, Panama
Mark
This cruise was quite different from our previous in many ways. It was the first time we traveled with other boats. That in itself was quite an experience. It began with trying to decide WHEN to leave. The number of boats potentially traveling together was upwards of a half dozen and everyone had a different idea of what constituted the perfect (or even acceptable) weather window. We missed the first window as we were in David buying provisions and visiting with our friends Larry & Dottie Thompson. Silver Sea grabbed the window and had a nice trip North only to get pinned San Andres for several weeks unable to go anywhere or do anything. After that, there were a number of narrow windows that I might have taken, but others were reluctant. After about two weeks we were all getting antsy. A window appeared to be opening. Sunnyside Up took off early with a couple others. Salida and we waited another day to avoid traveling in rain and ended up having a good trip. We stayed with Salida all the way to Honduras and really enjoyed their company. We met up with and parted from a variety of other boats as we went. Silver Sea stayed with us from Providencia to Roatan. We really never had a night alone until one day on Guanaja when we switched anchorages and Albatross decided to stay put. Initially we agreed to plans that were not what we would have done (like skipping Vivarillos because of supposed weather that never came), but eventually we learned to share info and discuss decisions but make our own choice even if it meant splitting up. We usually got back together again anyway as we were all going the same way. That made the “buddy system” more enjoyable and less tyrannical. The buddy system certainly was important when Craig had his seizure! Not only were there several of us there to respond to the immediate emergency, but we were able to talk about it later and help them arrive at what I felt was a good decision to investigate further before continuing. We also traveled together for the overnight passage so they would not be alone if something else happened. In the past, we have always traveled alone and enjoyed it. I think another time we would like to achieve a better balance of time with other boats and time alone as we still cherish that, but we probably would have had it this time if other (see below) factors had not intervened. Weather seemed to play a bigger role in this trip. It is always an factor, but this time it really dictated changes that resulted in our missing places we wanted to visit and things we wanted to do. Weather can have impact in many ways: too much wind or waves, too little wind, threatening storms that may or may not develop, etc. We had all of it. We started off waiting nearly three weeks for the wind and waves to recede to an acceptable level. Then we waited another day to avoid rain, but ended up with too little wind and had to motor more than we wanted. The real problem was “threatened storms” including a possible hurricane. Traveling over in the San Blas the last couple years, we did not have to deal with such. We also had gone earlier in the season which was different. This was certainly a strange season for weather as well. We had gale force winds for nearly two weeks in February when the pilot charts show <5% chance of gale. It was the first time since the 1800's that we had two named tropical storms before June 1. What is going on? The other issue was Chris Parker's forecasts which seemed to be way too “chicken hearted.” True, one would not want to get caught unaware, but when your weather guru gives such dire forecasts that you change plans and miss things unnecessarily, it is not so good. I have subsequently discovered Rob Lightbown of Crown Weather who seems much more realistic while still discussing potential storms. Provisioning and cash management were also different this year. In the past we have tried to provision for the entire trip except fruit & veggies that we pick up as we can. We have also traveled with a fairly large amount of cash on board even though that was quite uncomfortable. This time, we discovered that ATMs are everywhere and give you cash in the local currency without the issue of exchange. We returned with most of the money we left with. We also returned with a lot of our provisions – especially booze! Part of what was different was that we ate out or at least went to shore for happy hour quite a bit. This was partly due to traveling in company and partly that the areas we visited were more developed and had more opportunity to eat ashore. Equipment failures were also more of an issue this time – Deb wanted to call it “The Breakdown Cruise.” Cruising has been called “boat repairs in paradise” and failures and repairs are, indeed, a fact of life. But this trip did seem excessive. The microwave died before we even left Bocas. We lived without it. The coffeemaker died near the end. I “repaired” (jury rigged) it to get us home. We had minor issues with our diesel – nothing unusual really – clogged fuel filter, broken fan belt, reluctant started solenoid, erroneous alarm, etc. They did not really impact the trip. The failure of the hookah, however, was a major setback. It was very lucky it happened in Roatan where we were able to get parts flown in easily and quickly. The failure of the outboard water pump also severely impacted the trip and that is my fault for not carrying a spare. We missed the Vivarillos and Hobbies (for the second time – the first due to “weather”) because of it. The failure of the harness on the dinghy davit could have had disastrous results. Fortunately it happened during the day, I recognized it immediately, and we were able to repair it underway. Losing the kellet two years in a row was very aggravating. I'll make another, but I have no idea how I can attach it so it won't come off! The failure of the watermaker – also two years in a row – was even more aggravating and definitely shortened our trip. Had we had water, we might well have waited out the bad weather in Albuquerque Cays to enjoy that area again. I don't know what I am going to do about the watermaker. It is a very expensive item so replacing it with another brand is hard to consider, but the expense – and disruption - of yearly failure is intolerable. The final minor irritation failure was our Olympus underwater camera. The first one failed with snorkeling and was replaced under warranty. This one failed again, but is no longer covered. Oh well, it was sort of in the “too good to be true” category anyway. I think one way to avoid some of the failures is to spread them out. We need to take 2-3 day trips in the local area during the hurricane season - maybe even just going to our island and spending a couple days. This will give the failures a chance to happen while we are still at home and can deal with them more easily. So what next? We have talked of going to Cartegena and Cuba. Looking at the pilot charts (which were SO WRONG this year), November might actually be a good time to go. It is the height of rainy season here so good to get away and the winds are fairly calm across the Caribbean basin. The other option would be a “reef tour.” There are several reef systems off the coast of Central America that all have potential for great diving and most offer at least reasonable protection from weather. They are all uninhabited except for occasional fishermen. Many of them are owned by Columbia which put us off in the past, but now seems like a plus as the Columbian Navy is quite aggressive about patrolling them and that makes us feel safer. Hey, we just got back. There is plenty of time to decide. Note that this will probably be the last blog post for a while as we will be at our home in Bocas and then traveling by air to the US to see family & friends.