Temp CLODS

Vessel Name: Norts & Crosses
Vessel Make/Model: Beneteau First 345
Hailing Port: Cape Town South Africa
Crew: Avril & Derek
About: We are tried and tested and are old salts, lived aboard for fifteen years and raised two boys aboard. We are preparing our floating home of twenty years for another adventure. We are currently living in a remote mountain village in Panama while completing a refit.
Extra: We would like to share this amazing journey with fellow adventurers, the trials and tests are a challenge to be embraced.
27 January 2016 | Boca Chica Panama
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27 January 2016 | Boca Chica Panama

A FORTUNATE DISASTER

27 January 2016 | Boca Chica Panama
A FORTUNATE DISASTER


My wife and I had decided to stop “cruising”, for want of a better word, and find work shore- based to replenish the kitty, not just for cruising but for the life kitty.
We had found paradise for us in the rural outlying areas of Panama and thought that this small population and growing economy would be a good place to re establish a land base. We found work that suited us as a couple, me with my limited background in construction and tourist services and Avril with her accounting and hotel experience. The job, by good fortune, was located in an upcoming but remote area on the Pacific coast of Panama in an area with pristine coastal islands and laid back local culture. An upmarket, recently completed small boutique hotel with 5 separate bungalows and an on site established restaurant, was a dream come true. Our room above the restaurant overlooked the beautiful bay and we could see our boat from the luxury of our bed. We were excited to begin this new adventure.
We were glad to finally have an income to save for the repairs needed to bring our trusted 34’ sailboat up to scratch and work began in earnest at the hotel in the high tourist season. One of the most pressing needs was a safe mooring in the bay as anchoring in the tidal estuary was not safe with strong currents. I ordered a sand screw to be shipped in that I could install when time allowed. I had extensive experience with this method of mooring while working for the charter industry in the Caribbean and found this to be the safest most reliable method for a long term mooring.
The season was hectic and no time was had to work on the boat except for the quick visit to charge the batteries between dealing with guests. I got into the habit of checking her out from our bedroom every morning and even at night with a spotlight just to make sure she was still hanging in there and not going walk about.
It was inevitably destined to happen, one morning I checked her out and gave her my silent greeting, and slowly began dressing. I checked again just as I pulled my pants on and she was no longer in sight… panic struck. I changed my vantage point and sure enough she had decided that the lack of attention was unacceptable and she was leaving home on her own!!
With Avril close on my heals, we scrambled half dressed down the long flight of stairs to the dock below and jumped into our company launch to chase after our disgruntled sailboat. We caught up to her just as the dragging anchor attached itself to another cruisers chain, and she gave the cruisers sailboat a gentle little wake up bump.
Avril on the bow of our rescue launch holding the painter in her hand ready to tie off onto the stern cleat so we could pull ourselves clear, a completely starkers, bewildered cruiser with dingle dangle flapping in the breeze at convenient eye level to my darling wife came charging down the deck
It seemed like a week before we managed to extricate ourselves from boat and to re set the anchor.
A new urgency to set our mooring began in earnest and was completed in just a couple of days with the help of some very dear cruising friends and their floating work raft.
We breathed a sigh of relief knowing she was now secure in the twice turning daily current of the anchorage, even concrete blocks have been known to be lifted from the seabed with the turning of the chain around the block resulting in the inadvertent shortening of scope from the ensuing knots and the significant rising tide.
Work continued through the season at the hotel and I began a new construction project for the owners of the hotel in a nearby location. All the views in the area are spectacular and made even better by the interruption of offshore islands and bays just begging to be explored. About once a month I managed to get to the boat to clean her out and run the engine and generally inspect things and let her know she might be alone but was definitely not forgotten. Dreams of completing the repairs needed were slowly coming together. We had ordered the new windlass and fore hatch, a chart plotter that would really come in handy for exploring the local area and also for future plans, the list grew longer and the savings began to improve. We were definitely making good progress towards our goals and enjoying the task at hand in making sure our guests enjoyed their time exploring our area.
The new items were strewn around our room eagerly awaiting time to make progress, but working on the mooring in the bay makes for a challenging task for sure. One screw dropped overboard in murky water or one tool needed not available would inevitably lead to a serious interruption. So I decided work would have to be put on hold until we were in a more suitable location, or at the next haul out, too far in the future to contemplate just yet.
Our focus remained on making the hotel a success and the construction progressed. Between these two projects free time was not an option anyway.
Our location is in a pristine natural area with no stores or provisions available near by, all provisions have to be purchased about an hours drive from this location, so planning is essential for anything, lists abound and trips to buy supplies are kept to a minimum, usually once a week unless something is critical. There are no marine stores at all locally, mainly fishing tackle and bait shops but no facilities for yachts at all. Even provisioning is a mission for the occasional cruiser. The nearest haul out facility is in Panama City about 100 miles away or Costa Rica about 40 miles away, so self-sufficiency is imperative.

On one occasion I had gone for a general check and engine run for battery charge and had decided to clear some of the crud grass build up on the prop by briefly engaging forward gear. As I engaged forward, I heard a loud banging and vibration under water. I disengaged and immediately assumed a problem with the propeller. Donning my snorkel gear I went over to check it out and to my horror I found a small log had lodged itself between the strut and the prop and engaging gear had produced enough torque to rip one of the two blades off and snap the strut flush with the hull clean off.
Disaster for sure, a dilemma and the dire consequences this situation is hard to describe.
Deep depression first, and then desperation to find a solution. Every problem has a solution, I can hear myself telling my boys that all the time, now I am put to the test so I can’t let them down.
Fortunately we have a good steady income and a great place to work.
Slowly a solution began to show itself. I went to the local “marina” to ask around. I say marina but it’s only a place that stores small fishing boats on land and has a ramp where they haul out these small boats with a tractor on their own trailers which are stored on land for safekeeping. Yes they could pull me out if I had a trailer. So all I needed was a trailer. A short investigation tells me that there are no trailers to be had that can pull out a boat with a 6.5” draft anywhere in Panama.
I started by searching a profile of my boat, a popular production boat in the mid 80s. With that in hand I designed a trailer with adjustable arms and extending pads to fit my hull shape. This did take some considerable time and money, so I had to be confident enough that the design would work before I eventually found someone who had enough welding experience to help me put my plan together. The best guy I found was a tiny engineering shop with one welder who had made trailers for moving pineapple’s for the agricultural industry. Six months later the trailer was complete and our cruising kitty was seriously depleted, but we were ecstatic to see our home finally safe on land and ready to make the repairs that were so badly needed.






I began by cutting the bulkhead so we could removing the diesel tank over the broken strut in the hull and discovered that the bronze shaft tube had corroded so badly, as I removed the shaft seal, it disintegrated completely in my hand, If that had happened while in the water, it would have resulted in a sinking for sure. Even if I had discovered it in time, it would have been impossible to repair it in the water. Very lucky that we made the trailer after all. The timing of the disaster of the strut breaking could not have been more fortunate.
Now I could make a proper repair of the strut and the stern tube at my leisure without the stress of paying for lay days etc. We were just paying a monthly fee to our friendly marina owner for the space occupied.
I searched on line for a tube replacement to discover that most boats don’t use bronze tubes any longer and they are made in carbon or fiberglass, of course I would have to make one to fit my boat as parts were not available and I didn’t want to fit a bronze one that would corrode later anyway.
I made a new strut from 316 stainless plate and welded a tube to carry the cutlass bearing, all glassed in to the hull and finally happy with a job completed better than factory spec. I was even able to convince my good lady that a new folding prop was easier to obtain than the original two blade fixed one. Something that will please the heart of any sailor.
We quit work to concentrate on the completion of a major refit and to establish a land base in Panama in the cool mountains in the province of Veraguas, where we decided we needed a place to call home once cruising was completed. Dreams of a small cottage in the hills sounded appealing after living on the water for 15 years. Our cruising was going to be put on hold for a while and we were going to be CLOD’s for a short time. (cruisers living on dirt) After a short cruise exploring the local waters with our new and improved floating home, we came back to the marina to be pulled out by the tractor once again. Every thing went smoothly and we were thrilled that we could keep our dreams alive in a secure safe spot.
The decision to drop the mast for work and maintenance was made when hearing the slapping of cables that were no longer inside the long ago broken conduit. Before we came to own her, the mast was damaged in the devastating Hurricane Luis in the Caribbean in 1995 when our own classic wooden boat was so badly damaged that we could no longer live aboard her.
That saga deserves a separate story.
But now, how to drop our mast, no cranes available in this remote location, or at least not for a significant transport cost, so another plan was devised. The plan was to double up bamboo poles, a little higher than half the height of the mast. All was set and the rigging loosened, the mast lifted off the shoe by using the windlass to carry the weight. Once all the rigging was loosened and the weight of the mast taken by the blocks rigged on the bamboo poles, all was going well, the point of no return hastened by darkening skies and lightning approaching closer. With daylight fading and stress building the full weight of the mast taking up and the first couple of inches now off the shoe, all hell broke loose. The base of the wet bamboo poles slipped sideways at the most critical moment and the mast came down a little faster than we would have liked. Snapping the mast at the lower spreaders, exactly where the previous damage was. I was surprised that was the only place it broke considering the force from the height it hit the ground.







Many hours of research later, a method for repair was devised requiring much ingenuity and improvising. Now completed, I am very happy with the result.
An improved method of lifting the now repaired mast without a crane and limited assistance is in the final stages and I am keeping a record for future reference to share with any one interested.
Who would have guessed how many obstacles had to be overcome before heading over the horizon,
Oh! the challenges will make the tasting so much sweeter.

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