Well, we made it from the Panama Canal (challenging!!!!!) to the Las Perlas Islands of Panama known for the quality of their pearls (hence the name). We anchored in the lee of Contadora (Spanish for accountant or ‘counter’) Island where the pirates used to divide their booty.

The next morning our merry band (photo attached), Daniel & Stacey, Karen, Thomas, MJ & I weighed anchor (sailing requires myriad nautical terms - once the anchor leaves the bottom it is “aweigh”….and there are only “lines” aboard, no ropes….but I digress 😬 [as is my wont 😎 as my sister would say]).

Our overnight passage was a bit rough in 20-25 knot winds & 6-8’ seas on the beam (hitting the middle of the ship - “abeam”), but dawn found us nearing Isla Coiba, still in Panamanian waters.

We discovered a PERFECT BLUE LAGOON setting on the southern island of Jicarita and did lots of snorkeling and exploring, gathering more shells that we could carry in one trip...very refreshing, relaxing, re-energizing!! We all want to return to this beautiful paradise on Earth!!

Forcing ourselves to say goodbye to this idyllic anchorage we headed for the huge bay of Golfo, Costa Rica and the smaller “little gulf” of Golfito inside……the sunrise greeting us on arrival was breath-taking (there were lots of those moments that take your breath away: Life isn’t about the number of breaths you take, it’s about cherishing the moments that take your breath away)…..helm photo attached (with Thomas).

We found a ‘home’ at Fish Hook Marina in Golfito.

After the crew headed home, MJ & I set about cleaning the boat, preparing it for Transport (Sevenstar Yacht Transport - two photos below) & exploring Golfito…..most interesting tree with pelicans and vultures in third photo below. Luna Sea is docked at Fish Hook Marina about 100 yards to the right (North) in the picture.

Morning dawns on the coast of Golfo, Costa Rica
Interesting “bird tree” south of our Marina in Golfito (near the “fish docks” where commercial fishermen off-load their catch every morning)


Sevenstar Transport which will hoist Luna Sea aboard March 18:


So, fast forward 10 days….Millicent (who has pleasantly discovered she loves living aboard Luna Sea) and I have planned a side-trip for Monday-Wednesday…...

http://www.bosquedelcabo.com/

After that side-trip we’ll finalize prepping the boat for Transport and ready ourselves to shift gears again and return to the US….

Thanks for your prayers, encouragement and support!!

Well, we made it to GOLFITO, Costa Rica... Hooray!!

Quite an adventure! The Adventure of a Lifetime for the crew of Luna Sea!!

We began with 10 days of no wind and glassy seas with the exception of the first day and a half out of Livingston, Guatemala.

We got "stuck" north of Roatan looking for wind going north and south... Finally dropped sails just north of Roatan & motored a wide path around Honduras - "limped" into Providencia Island after 7 days on the starboard engine only...

We had shut down both engines to drift and swim every afternoon and for some reason on the third day the port engine would not start.

Even in shelter Bay Marina in Colon one of the local "experts " (read that as "characters") took a look at it and decided it was a head gasket... (His decision was based on using a compression meter that he could not thread into the glow plug holes unless he wrapped a substantial amount of Teflon tape... Which of course don't allow for a good compression reading.)

The Yanmar dealer in Panama City sent a technician who took almost 4 hours to track down the problem to air in the fuel lines and valve adjustments.


Both engines (& all the line-handlers) really got a work out during our first "Up-lock" in the Canal due to this light boat and lots of inflow of rushing water.

Thankfully we had both engines to work with (as well as dedicated line handlers) and stayed off the wall. The amount of strength it took to wrestle 7/8 inch diameter line 75 feet long was super human and I am forever indebted to Millicent, Karen, Thomas and Daniel for their ability to reach deep inside and come up with the strength and endurance necessary!!

Each successive lock, both up and down, became much easier.

We moored overnight in Lake Gatun & a couple of my crazier crewmates took a dip in spite of the crocodile warnings.


Upon exiting the Panama Canal into the first taste of the Pacific Ocean, Luna Sea docked in Panama City (Las Playitas Marina) overnight for R & R, then went South to the Las Perlas island of Contadora. The island chain is named for the pearls found there and Contadora which means "Accountant" or "counter" in Spanish was so named because that's the (largest) island where the Pirates would divide and tally up their booty...

From Contadora we made a two day, one night run in 15-20 knot beam wind and seas to the southern end of the Cohiba island chain. We found a "Blue Lagoon" anchorage on the south east side of Jacarita Island... An idyllic place none of us will ever forget!

There was crystal clear warm water, a variety of shells on the beach not to be believed, the perfect overnight Anchorage with jungle trails for the adventurous hikers.

From Jacarita we danced with pods of dolphin often during a day and a night run in moderate beam to following wind and seas heading north to leave Panamanian waters. Just after sunset, when we all witnessed the " Green Flash", a "rogue" sail fish jumped 8 or 10 times close aboard our starboard side heading south.....unusual behavior...

Sunrise after this overnight run found us entering Golfo, Costa Rica, Monday February 24, 2020.

Receiving very poor communications/response from Banana Bay Marina, we have been happily docked at the Fish Hook Marina for two days now.

The crew have headed home and Millicent and I are mostly cleaning house and enjoying our quiet time.

The 7StarTransport ship will be here in Golfito, Costa Rica to crane Luna Sea aboard for the 11-day transit north to Ensenada March 18 (supposedly)....They are notoriously behind schedule, mostly due to weather...

Millicent has scheduled a plane flight home to Portland for the 18th and I will be taking " Planes, trains and automobiles..." north to El Salvador to visit friends.

Until then we plan to explore the unbelievable natural beauty & national parks, birds, butterflies, sloths, several monkey varieties & countless other species available to the hiker/traveler.

Thank you for following our blog & stay tuned for "The Rest of the Story..."

WE MADE IT!!!

Panama Canal took 20 hours - we were moored for half of that time & underway with both engines at top speed (3,200 rpm) of 7 knots over the freshwater Lake Gatun for almost 9 hours.....mostly during daylight.

Our first experience, “locking-up”, was tumultuous - the inrush of water moved 8 Ton Luna Sea like a cork putting all line-handlers to the task. Millicent & Karen controlled keeping the boat in the center of each “chamber” through coordination & sheer muscle-power at the stern, while Daniel & Thomas hauled in or slacked the bow-lines for what seemed an eternity at the beginning....
We successfully transited the first 3 (Gatun) Locks in about two hours...hard work and CREW COORDINATION!!!
Well done Team!!

From Roy Bravo, a Christian brother who owns Emmanuel Agencies (what a wonderful name EMMANUEL...!!). Roy is our Panama Canal Agent:

Please see your canal transit schedule up to Gatun lake as follows :

Adviser boarding time 1800/Feb 16th
Arriving Gatun locks 1931/Feb 16th
Clearing Gatun locks 2050/Feb 16th
Anchoring Gatun lake 2115/Feb 16th

Based on this you should sail from Shelter Bay, at 1715 hours and
proceed to the flats anchorage to receive adviser also, ensure to
contact "Cristobal Signal Station" on channel 12 (VHF range).

Hola....
So many activities and so little time....until you're in port and then it's catch-up time :-)
Thanks to Chris for the prompt to update this blog...WE'RE IN PANAMA!!!
Leaving Rio Dulce via Livingston, Guatemala, you may have noticed some "detours" in our route...(grin). First, a sailboat must 'follow the wind'....Jimmy Buffett says "the life of a sailor is a wandering course..." and he's right! At one point due to winds in our face we headed directly north, then back toward Roatan (considered a stop) and finally motored onward as the winds died and calm water was the order of the day. What a beautiful 10 days we had, trolling along (no bites until a couple days ago when we caught a bonito).
We stopped daily for "swim call" the first time following Thomas' question: "hey - are we going backwards?" LOL!!! [we were...kinda not funny considering the time it took to unwind the fishing lines from the prop.....]. Looking down it almost seemed you could see the bottom (only 3,290 feet below....). So clear and cool!!!

Anyway, miles and miles of smiles, time for Daniel to finish several books and we all got into the rhythm of watch schedules, daily chores and enjoyment of God's glorious ocean!!

Oh yes, and 'racing' with the porpoise....for over an hour!!! :-) What JOY!!!

We stopped at Isla Providencia and enjoyed about a week in that small town/island. The crew treated me to a birthday dinner at The Lionfish Restaurant as suggested by a friend of Daniel's [he knows people EVERYWHERE!!]. I'm grateful he has come along to help crew the Luna Sea.

Thomas' fishing efforts have been relentless....I think he's tried every lure in existence (it seems so...). The biggest one got away (as he and I were cleaning the bonito a LEVIATHAN rolled lazily about 10' behind the boat - the distance between his dorsal and tail-fins was approximately 3-4'.....that was just the back 30% of him.....the teeth-end was busy looking to pick the bonito off our lines....and one did "get away" (the biggest one, of course).

Well, we're preparing for the Panama Canal passage and will have more to report from Panama City on the other end in a couple weeks....doing some touring here (Daniel and Thomas are in Panama City as I write....staying at Trump Towers - sold to a popular chain a few years ago).

We'll dock nearby for a couple days after transiting the Canal and hopefully update this blog on our progress more frequently....from there we visit Las Perlas Islands and then Golfito, Costa Rica hopefully by March 1.

Thanks for the prayers,
Moo & Crew

OK...OK...I've heard from several of you...

I am humbly (sort of 😎 ) posting this RETRACTION....[ it is here I have been taught to say:
"1. You're right...
2. I'm wrong...
3. I'm sorry...
4. What can I do next time to make it better..."]🤣

Apparently there are several of you reading these Blog-posts in a timely manner....Yesterday I mis-quoted "...until we meet again"....{and, yes, I was a bit cocky in my dotage...}. It should have read "ask your parents" when referring to the quote from ROY ROGERS, not Gene Autry.

Another request from Luna Sea followers:
It appears if you click on View Tracking (attached screen-shot above) in the right-hand column under the map you will be directed to a Google map giving the CURRENT Latitude and Longitude of Luna Sea. HOWEVER, several clicks of your browser's Back Button will return you to your Search Engine Homepage.