first days at sea once more
01 May 2016 | 10 15'N:79 44'W, 60nm from Shelter bay after 36 hours...
donna
My time in Shelter Bay Marina and in the Anchorage in La Playita and the Balboa Yacht Club has reminded me of the true reason I began sailing�... it wasn�'t about the sailing itself, though I was finding the traditional tall ship experience one that seemed to embrace all that I had become over the years�... It was the sailing community aboard the ship that drew me in; the utter willingness of every crew member to work with all their spirit and energy to make the venture successful; the quality of character of those on board, nearly volunteers as we all made such meager wages; the leadership of my first Captain, Virginia Wagner, a seasoned 5000 ton license and a guru of Celestial Navigation�... It was climbing the rig to the height of over a hundred feet, hauling in sails with the camarades I came to respect so deeply. It was the music and laughter we shared in the late night hours after the decks were cleaned, the huge lines furled in patterns on the deck, the last dish washed by helpi ng hands in the galley, my territory as ship�'s cook.
Once again, it is that same camaraderie I have found midst the sailing community here in Panama, an internationally rich confluence of sailing yachts with their Captains and crews, their cruising itineraries all unique as they continue their journeys�...each different�... each a true adventuring, and ex patriating from the normal lifestyles of those in the communities they long ago left behind, or those they return to during their seasonal shifts from land to sea and back again. Bob and I too, long for the time we will loose the lines from the dock together to embark on a cruising life�... soon to come.
My send off was filled with genuine smiles of those who have been such a support to me, wishing me well, and those who I have met that have so enriched my life�...
As I receive my first email message from Bob since getting back on the water, I am overwhelmed in tears as I hear Bob�'s voice as I read his supportive words, his intrinsic understanding of all that this trip means to me... His patience as he writes, �"Please do not worry about anything and begin to enjoy the time alone once again aboard your boat. Your time in Panama as the �"Unintended Cruiser�" was wonderful and unplanned and unexpected. You touched some many people, as they touched you. It was all part of the grand plan for you and INSPIRED SANITY. Please take as much time as you need to get back to Rhode Island safely. Do not fret over a few days or so. You will arrive when you do and it will be grand. Enjoy your time at sea�".
Once again, my venturing off the dock became an incredibly exciting opportunity, this time for a bit of videography. The amazing couple, Thurston and Laura, who had done the brilliant documentaries I saw the night before, were offering to be the ones to escort me out the Canal breakwater, their cameras in hand. Chris, who had offered his hands several times getting the steering vane together and help while I was aloft fitting the masthead light and new windex, was happy to go along to free up hands so that Thurston and Laura could �'do their thing�' with the camera and a little interview.
I had taken a few minutes to find Edwin, the manager of the Shelter Bay boatyard who had offered to help me with the yard pontoon boat to be towed to the breakwater�... though it turned out that Thurston and Laura were actually going to drive me, it was Edwin�'s overwhelming availability to help me that lead the way. Bill and Valerie from Sv Stella Maris had taken up the task of arranging it all without even worrying me�... it was all set up.
It was very exciting to be finally heading out, yet at the same time, apprehension always seems to come with setting out on a long journey�... what had I forgotten? How would I manage with such a light wind forecast? What was seeming like it should only take 3 weeks is now looking like at least a month�'s journey. Finally the moment came; safely escorted by hip tow out the breakwaters a safe distance to allow me to get underway; a blessing of a gentle breeze to lift my sails for the beginning of this leg of my venture�... Inspired Sanity and I set off, sails trimmed in, Thurston with camera in hand doing some laps of us sailing off, even getting in the water for some neat water level shots�... how cool is that.
As they motored away, arms waving in the air wishing me godspeed and fair winds, I found tears flowing freely down my cheeks, as they do now. I would miss the sense of belonging I had come to feel midst new friends�... like in Southport, South Carolina, on my initial shakedown sail from Florida to Rhode Island�... These are places where sailors come and go but the community remains the same somehow, the faithful ones who stay a bit longer to give us all the sense of having found a refuge where what we need is somehow made available to help us along our journey. I felt lonely at that moment, a solitary being on a huge ocean, but soon the camaraderie of spirit would allow me to once more find my center in aloneness and peace�... Finding my belonging from within once more, though longing to be home, not far, though still a distance away. I would be pleasantly surprised as we had a consistent breeze throughout that first day, though it shifted from the SW to W to N around to the SE�... by nightfall, the breeze waned. It was stifling hot in the noon sun, water dripping from my clothes from sweat.
We had a good first night but it reveals the nature of the progress I will have this next week, the forecast remaining bleakly windless. Having a GPS allowed me to tally my actual miles sailed compared to the distance I covered from start to finish. Yesterday, I sailed 60nm and only 30 of those are miles made good. The winds shifted to all points of the compass rose over the course of the day and night... I had about 5 calmed hours over night when I did get some rest but did end up drifting a bit west... so I will have to be leary of that. The winds are out of the south right now... nearly dead downwind... but for the most part, it seems that steering vane is managing well... Hallelujah!!!
The radio itself is working fine, but reception is spotty... The tuner is not working properly, I am quite sure... I can move it and the reception changes dramatically so there is something amiss inside. I took it apart and did not find anything in particular to clean up, my thought is that the antennae coaxial cable may be damaged. Chris Parker from Caribbean weather did have copy on me last night, though light. This morning, Glenn from the SSCA safety and security net was not able to hear me, but someone did relay that they heard me, but I didn't hear the relay. I heard nothing from my dear friends from the Panama net...My new friends from Nirvana, Mermaid, and Alcyone are all on this side of the Canal enjoying the San Blas Islas, the photos remind me of Sandy Spit off of Jost Van Dyke... I was hoping be able to hear them and maybe we can chat...but it seems that reception was not in my favor, at least today. I will have to be careful with the radio. Without wind for the wi nd generator, I only have the solar panel for charging and need to be able to use the computer for charts as well as the keep the tracker charged.
Unfortunately, I do not have a power cord for the Garmin and I went through an entire set of 2 batteries just using the Garmin yesterday. So I will have to keep it off and only use it occasionally. It won�'t power up using the data cable. I have to have the familiar four prong plug only used by Garmin that plugs into a cigarette lighter plug. It never occurred to me to order one separately. I have to say that it is a disappointment to lose the option of having the data that the GPS would supply for daily numbers of miles actually sailed versus the miles from where I start to finish in a day�... an incredible discrepancy with the amount of tacking I have to do. I am redoing the same easterly and westerly miles hoping to gain a few miles north and eventually, I have to make hundreds of miles of easting to get around the east edge of Cuba.
I am getting settled into a routine though it is hard to go back to eating on board, especially the evening �'spooge�'�... It is just so scorching hot during the days it is hard to want to eat. While landside, I had put back on quite a few of the pounds that I lost during the original 8 months sailing, enjoying cold beers and some local foods, so I have plenty of room to work with.
This morning, my mediation time was remarkable including a quick visit from either a single dolphin or a shark. Just two quick rolls to the surface, which is why it may have been a shark... Dolphins usually are in groups and continue to surface. But, I feel welcomed none the less. Though the obvious lack of wildlife on this side of the canal is concerning�... there are no birds or mammals like on the Pacific side, so rich with whales and dolphins, seabirds of all varieties. A new ocean�... though I have started to see some of the familiar Sargasso weed, it seems to be in normal amounts in this area of the Caribbean sea.
Meditation will take on a great and greater importance this last month at sea, not only because of the challenges of such light winds and all that this last section holds in weather�... This last month at sea will provide a final time of dedicated practice and study in conscious awareness. Speaking with my dear friend Bonnie Blue, we discussed the amazing challenge it is for us as ego driven humanity to truly become centered in our true identity, asking our inward consciousness to actively take a role in our every decision, life energy becoming our source for all we are in presence. I have a bit more time to develop the life skills I have sought.
As night falls, the breeze is again dwindling, the rig now starting that familiar banging when there is just not enough wind to fill the sails. I have had a fair day�'s progress despite the slowness of the way and tacking, making 35nm, I am now 60nm from Shelter bay. I am making only 1.5 to 2kts at this time, but it is on course for Haiti�... a remarkably efficiency just in direction alone, helping that daily tally remarkably in the last few hours.
I am frustrated, as midst the major repairs that were the obvious things that needed to be resolved, I have neglected to resolve some other issues that make life challenging�...the compass light in the cockpit�... and that cord for the Garmin; the little things that make the continual task of making headway more difficult, always needing a flashlight in hand. But we will manage. This first week is going to be almost gravy in a way�... Truthfully, I could have chosen to remain in Shelter Bay to wait until the winds filled in but I was ready to be back at sea, cut the ties to the costs of remaining, and I knew that Inspired Sanity would manage the time at sea�... so whatever progress I do make in these light winds is a head start as it were.
Keepin On Sailin On Caring�... the elegance of the gentle breeze under the starry starry night will keep my spirit engaged through the long nights steering by hand, the winds too light�... even too light to hand steer for now. Fairest of winds and the love of the oceans Only Gratitude Donna