First Light III with clean bottom and shiny topsides.

My younger brother Damien and I arrived in Panama on the 28th Feb and made our way to the boat in Shelter Bay on the Atlantic side of the Panama Canal. Simon Noelia and young Max had arrived there the day before and were preparing to leave the boat and hand it over to us. They had enjoyed a few months on the boat crossing the Atlantic and cruising the Caribbean and the coasts of Columbia and Panama.

I had allowed two weeks to prepare and provision the boat for the Pacific crossing back to Australia. It was very soon apparent that Shelter Bay Marina is very isolated and has very few services for the yachtie. A taxi into Colon the nearest town is $25US but there is a free shuttle bus if you can get a seat on it.

Simon, Noe and Max left us and headed off to Cuba for a couple of weeks holiday. It was down to work provisioning and preparing the boat.

Damien undertook the task of provisioning. A detailed stock take was done of the food remaining onboard and a shopping list made of the additional food required for at least 2 months. We plan to re_provision along the way. He has made numerous trips into Colon on the shuttle to shop and arrives back at the boat laden with provisions.

I have been working on the boat, upgrading the GPS system, sorting out some electrical issues and my least favourite job of antifouling.

We plan to visit the Galapagos islands after leaving Panama. The flora and fauna on these islands is completely unique in the world so naturally they want to keep it that way and prevent the introduction of foreign species. For us this means when we arrive there, our hull has to be completely clean, no barnicles or growth. The boat will be inspected by a diver when we arrive and if any barnicles are found we will have to leave and go 40 miles away and clean it at sea before returning. The prospect of trying to clean the boat at sea with sharks looking on was enough motivation for me to haul the boat out there and re antifoul. The job has been done and the boat is now back in the water.

Sounds easy but it was a real battle. Firstly the temperature here is mid 30s most of the time and the humidity 90%, plus there has been a constant 15 to 20 knot wind blowing day and night. So when it comes to painting black antifoul onto a hot hull it is a real challenge. The first attempt resulted in the paint instantly drying and the roller disintegrating and leaving its furry bits stuck to the hull. An impressive non skid finish, but not what we want, so it had to be sanded off. The next day we were up before dawn hoping to start painting before everything heated up, then it started raining. In between showers we managed to get two coats of antifoul on. The paint was still drying very quickly allowing about 10 seconds working time.

We are scheduled to transit through the Panama canal on the 19th March. More on the canal next post.

Bernie