SV Panta Rhei Retirement Trip

Vessel Name: Panta Rhei
Vessel Make/Model: Able Apogee 50
Hailing Port: Seattle
Crew: Larry and Karen
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18 September 2017 | Seattle
23 August 2017 | Prince Rupert
15 August 2017 | Anan Bear Observatory
19 July 2017 | Petersburg, AK
17 June 2017 | Hoonah, AK
03 June 2017 | Seward AK
03 June 2017 | Denali
25 April 2017 | Seward AK
23 March 2017 | Seward, AK
11 March 2017 | Seward, AK
23 January 2017 | Seward AK
06 December 2016 | Seward AK
12 November 2016 | Seward Alaska
14 October 2016 | Valdez, AK
21 September 2016
05 August 2016 | Seward, AK
26 July 2016 | Whittier, AK
19 July 2016 | Valdez, Alaska
05 July 2016 | Seward, Alaska
Recent Blog Posts
18 September 2017 | Seattle

We are back in Seattle

It feels like home. Of course we are not in Silshole. Maybe we will be, someday, but there is a list and we are on it. In the meantime we are at Bainbridge Island Marina.

23 August 2017 | Prince Rupert

The dinghy holds air again

It wasn't very nice of the bear to tear the fabric across a seam. We were worried that we couldn't patch it but tried anyway. The glue had a job to do and it did it!

15 August 2017 | Anan Bear Observatory

A Grizzly Bear damaged our dinghy

We were visiting the Anan Bear Observatory south of Wrangell. It is one of the best places to visit in all of SE Alaska BECAUSE it has bears. But (as we learned) there is a dark side to this bear concentration. And of course, there is a story to tell.

19 July 2017 | Petersburg, AK

Moving On

"No matter where you go, there you are" (unknown reference). By now we have been there and done that. Most recently that included Cannery Cove on Admiralty Island. The photo shows the quiet grandeur of the setting with Ron and Suzie's boat SV Tango in the foreground. It has been like that for the last [...]

17 June 2017 | Hoonah, AK

We are in Hoonah, SE Alaska now

We got something resembling a high pressure ridge so we moved expeditously across the Gulf of Alaska. The crossing took three days and weather stayed as forecast. That was a very good thing. The weather changes in the far north far more rapidly and dramatically than we ever experienced in the more southern [...]

03 June 2017 | Seward AK

Crossing the Gulf of Alaska

We are still in Seward, AK. Now that spring has come, why not start south?

Change of Plans

04 March 2012 | enroute to Panama City, Panama
Larry Nelson
Remember those GRIB files that I was going to update? Well, I did update them and what I learned caused a change of plans. According to the old forecast we would have light winds around Punta Mala for the next several days. The new forecast wasn't so rosy. The new forecast revealed that if we left the anchorage immediately we could get around Punta Mala and maybe not get pummeled. If we stay on our original itinerary, things look grim.

So it was time to raise the anchor and sail through the night (and in fact maybe a couple of nights). But the windlass wouldn't move. somehow this always happens just when you are in a hurry and time matters. It turned out that the remote relay that powers the windlass has broken just after we used it to lower the anchor. I rewired it so that now it is always on and voila, the anchor comes up. This costs a little power but otherwise operation is unchanged. You really have to understand that these parts aren't easily accessible in order to understand the significance of this accomplishment. This relay is under the top of the master berth. so the mattress has to come off and the storage bin that is on top of this relay has to also come out. Working together, Karen and I got it fixed in less than 30 minutes.

Now we are approaching Punta Mala. The wind is calm and we are making great time toward our destination. Somehow we caught the tide cycle right. It can get VERY wrong here. We were warned of 3 knot adverse currents by the folks in Golfito. If you have those currents and noserlies of 25 knots, progress stops. So keeping going is looking like a very right decision.

I might also mention that we are now in an area where there are LOTS of ships. We are very glad we have our transmitting AIS (automatic identification system, a vhf radio data relay between ships.)

The picture is the map display coming into Panama City. There are a lot of ships at anchor for us to maneuver through.
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