3-18-2015 Panama



OK, turns out we are crazy and being older does not mean being wiser. We forgot that when the weather forecast calls for 20-25 knots of wind and 8-11 foot seas, what they really mean is 30-35 knots of wind and 11-16 foot seas. In our last blog entry I said that now we would go out in these conditions—I am crazy! As a very smart guy once said, “Don't tempt the Lord thy God”--boy was he right!
We left Santa Marta at 0720 with clear skies and wind around 10 knots. The outside channel which had had big white rollers all last week looked calm with only a few white caps. We motor sailed down the coast until we could follow a rhumb line to Panama. The seas and wind kept building until we had winds 30-35 knots and seas around 15 feet. This was still not too bad as the wind and seas were off our starboard aft quarter—nicely pushing us along. We were sailing with half of our jib out doing 7-13 knots of speed. The seas were a bit problematic as the period was about 6 seconds—we would ride up one and slide down the other side only to be picked up again by the next wave and twisted around.
Five miles off the Rio Magdalena we came into a chocolate sea with a clear and definite line in the sea—dark blue on one side, brown on the other. We kept a sharp lookout as we had been warned that the rivers bring debris down into the sea—logs and branches. We did not see any flotsam and continued on in the rolly seas. As the day was getting dark we were off Punta Canoas which is just above Cartagena when we got hit by an unusually large wave which pushed Serenity onto her side ( called a knockdown), and the crest of that wave broke over the aft half of our boat. We took about 25 gallons of sea water into the cockpit! A cockpit floatation cushion, my water bottle (which was in the drink holder in front of the steering wheel), a solar light on the aft rail, and one board on the aft seat all went into the sea. Sherry was sitting on the down side and she stood up with a shocked look on her face as I grabbed for her-- we both had our inflatable life vests on and were attached to a d-ring mounted in the cockpit by our tethers. It was over in a minute and we were upright again. I jumped up to steer but auto was still working. Sea water had gushed down the companionway and soaked the galley and everything else—there was a large skillet on the stove that now was filled with salt water! That was the first time in six years of cruising that we took a full wave into the cockpit—it rattled us. We took inventory and evaluated the situation and everything seemed OK—in fact, Serenity handled the knockdown well, it just scared the heck out of us.
We had a crew meeting and had to decide whether to continue or to head to Cartagena. We decided that if we had another knockdown or got pooped (water over the stern) again we would run for shelter—but we kept on our course.
We continued to have big seas and high winds but did not get knocked down or pooped again. What we did have was a swell from the north that would hit Serenity on her starboard side and soak me. I have never been that wet in our center cockpit. I got sprayed about every three minutes, but once I had about fifteen gallons dumped right onto my lap. I had my tropic foul weather gear on which had water proof jacket and pants—they did not stop the water from soaking me. I had to put on my heavy duty foul weather gear on—full bibs and long jacket, the first time had put them on. I also had to change all of my clothes as even my underwear were soaked. It was a bumpy and wet ride.
One of the worst parts of conditions like these was the night. There was only a sliver of moon so the night was very dark. When a big wave approaches from the stern and starts to break at the crest there is a roar like a train coming at us—you cannot see anything just hear the sounds. The high wind and seas continued through the next day and night and only started to go down the following morning as we approached Panama. As we dodged the dozen or so BIG ships anchored outside the breakwater of Christobal Harbor we had 15 knots of wind and about 6 foot seas—what a difference. We tied up to the fuel dock in Shelter Bay Marina—wetter, but hopefully wiser.