SailBlog

Good morning, everyone.

INSPIRED INSANIY continues sailing north to the Panama Canal this morning. Donna's position is:14.89 S, 84.35 W, which is 1456 nautical miles from the Panama Canal. She is more than half way there from the events that caused this new adventure! The Canal is at 8.54 N and 79.31 W, so you can tell how far she still has to go.

Flying fish are more abundant now and these are on the breakfast menu regularly. The ocean provides the fish overnight on the deck. No fishing pole required! Donna has sighted new birds as well now that she is closing in on the coast of Peru and then Equador. No plans to stop either place.

Donna was able to make VHF radio contact with a passing ship late yesterday. That is good. It is a relief to know that the VHF radio is working and the antennae is still atop the mast. We speculated that it may have been damaged in the knockdown that took the wind instruments off.

INSPIRED INSANITY will encounter many more ships as she approaches the canal until, finally, the ships will be everywhere. More than 14,000 ships transit the canal each year. That's about 40 each and every day. II's radar reflector is aboard and hoisted in the rigging to make the 28 foot sailboat a bit more visible to each and every ship. The reflector and the VHF radio are her tools as she nears the shipping lanes.

Canal fees and transit logistics are still to be determined. Every ship, even the 28-ft INSPIRED INSANITY, is required to pay a fee based upon its size and cargo. Big ships can pay as much as $500,000 to transit the canal and the smallest fee every paid was in 1928 by American Adventurer, Richard Halliburton. He swam through the canal and paid 36 cents! All things are possible with persistence.

"Apparently, there is nothing that cannot happen today." -Mark Twain.

I know Donna will make this happen and get her ship back into the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea safely.

Thanks, everyone.

Bob