Canal Crossing and Ocean Crossing to Galapagos
Fri the 19th.
The day to make the highly anticipated canal crossing has finally arrived. I have been thinking about this date for a very long time. I'm finally going to get to take my boat thru the world famous Panama Canal. Reality is so much better then dreaming. Captain Al and the Panama Canal, they should write a song about that. Or did they? (see above video)

This is one part of a solo sail around the world that you can't do solo. I had friends and family that wanted to experience this part of the trip, but for one reason or the other the dates the Canal Officials gave me just didn't work out for them. I posted a "crew wanted" note on the bulletin board in the marina office with all the others and no one responded. But a young Frenchman stop by looking for a ride to the other side, I said sure, but at the last minute me and the French boat that was going thru with me made a crew change. I got Nick from the UK and he got the young French guy so he didn't have to speak English. The rest of the crew was professional line handlers, Rick and 3 of his employees. Just a slight communication F.U. Since I had one volunteer I didn't need 4 professionals, so I made a deal to only pay for 3 pros. Why pay for it if you can get it for free? The only problem - got one more mouth to feed.

We managed to get the boat ready and departed the marina on time. Had to spend a few hours anchored in the flats waiting for the "canal adviser" to show up. As soon as the rain stopped he showed up. He gave us (me) a quick briefing and off we went, first lock Gatun. A boat full of black sailors - I betting this was the first time that this has happen since the canal open a hundred years ago.

If a picture is worth a thousand words then the video must be worth a million words. We made it through the first set of locks without incident. It was very nice having professionals doing all the work. I didn't have to give any instructions. They knew what they were doing and was even giving me advice on what to do. Talk about a non stressful situation. Once through the first set of locks we headed for the mooring to tie up for the night. Now I'm not much of a cook but I had to feed 6 men and myself. Glad I had Rick stop by a restaurant and pick up some precook food. But dumb me forgot they needed something to drink. Oh well there went all the beer and sodas and juice and snacks that I was planning on having for the trip to Galapagos.

Early the next morning a different "adviser" showed up for the next leg. I don't know what I was thinking about when I bought food supplies for the crossing, but I wasn't thinking about feeding 6 men for breakfast and lunch on the second day. I'm sure glad they didn't mind eating cereal and milk with coffee and/or tea for breakfast. Sure glad we had leftovers from dinner and sure glad I bought that BBQ chicken for that long leg to Galapagos. Oh well there went another 6 days worth of food and drinks that I was planning on consuming on the way to Galapagos.

The second set of locks went as smoothly as the first. Those guys really knew their jobs. Once we made the last set of locks all tires and lines were removed, coiled and ready to drop off at the dock. And I didn't have to ask anybody to do anything. It just happened. And the price was $100/line handler. I decided that the rookie was working just as hard as everyone else - so he got paid. So much for not paying if you can get it for free. I even had to pay the bus fare for the volunteer. All said to cross the canal cost about $2400. There went my tax return dollars plus.

I even paid a bribe to get a mooring ball at the Balboa Yacht Club, but I didn't get the mooring. Fail to communicate which one to pick up. So I headed to the north side of Flamingo Island and dropped the anchor for the night. Anchorage wasn't bad, but I couldn't pick up any internet signals on the boat, but worst then that the HAM/SSB radio couldn't make a connection. Must be all those high rises in Panama City blocking the signals. So the next morning I moved to the south side of the island. Was able to received and send HAM/SSB signals but no free internet. But there is an internet café within walking distance once I pay $35/wk to tie up to the dinghy dock. What? I'm only there for 3 days, don't matter they charge by the week not the day. And since there is diesel available I filled up. According to the weather report I will more then likely have to motor all the way to Galapagos so I purchase another fuel can from another cruiser making my total fuel capacity 130 gallons.

I only have permission to stay in Panama for one week since checking out of the country in Colon. I used half of that already so I need to resupply quickly. Off to the store to replace all the food 6 men ate in 2 days. Then a stop at the internet café just of get my email address book hacked. Had to spend a whole day updating my virus programs on 3 computers, because I couldn't remember which one I used to get hacked. I'm guessing it was the little one that cause all the problems. I hadn't used it since Texas and it was way out of date, but it was easy to carry.

On Wed. I left the anchorage outside Marina Lafista at 0800 headed for Toboga. When I reach there a nice gentleman came out to help me pick up a mooring. He wanted to make sure he got paid. Asked him if there was anyplace open for dinner. He recommended a couple of places. That's all they had on that island. Time for another Robo route, took the dinghy to the town dock and took off walking. Didn't take long to see the town, it was about half the size of downtown Raywood. They had 4 cars & 10 trucks and a few golf carts. They didn't need any more than that, because everything was closer than a mile. I decided to go to the Chinese restaurant for dinner. Ordered fish, and got the fish I saw the Chinaman catch at the town dock. Well at least it was fresh.

Early the next morning I take off for Isla Contadora and arrive a few hours after lunch. I didn't feel like dropping anchor in 70 feet of water so I asked another cruiser how much and who do I pay for the mooring balls? He said they were free. What something is free in Panama, I must be dreaming. And to top it off I was able to get a free internet signal. Can't remember a day in Panama that I didn't have to pay somebody something, even have to pay to use the restroom in the mall by the internet cafe. Boy I sure wish I could stay here longer and go visit the little town, but I gotta a schedule to keep.

So the next morning I'm off again. Passed by Isla Chapera & Mogomogo, where they filmed a few episodes of the TV show Survivor. Wanted to stop but the anchorage looked a little ruff so I passed it up and went to the South end of Isla Del Rey instead. I needed to clean the boat bottom and this anchorage look like the perfect place to do it. Was able to anchor between the main island and a little island that blocked all the swells.

Early Saturday morning put on the wet suit and snokel gear and scrub brushes and got busy. Plenty of soft growth like algae or slim or grass but very few barnacles. Even took a look at what damage was done when I hit the reef in Roatan. Nothing to worry about, the fiberglass at the bottom of the keel must be 4 inches thick and I only put ¼" deep scratches in a few places. While undressing I notice these little bitty crabs in my boots, no big deal, but then I found them in my wet suit. Dam it - I got the crabs. Hoping a hot shower and a very hot washing of the wet suit will get rid of any future infestations problems.

While at anchor for the past two days several local blacks came by selling stuff like mango's and pineapples and other fruits and veggies. I didn't have enough small change to pay for it all so traded beer and cokes for the kids and a promise that'll go to the village later and pay. A man's word must mean something around here because he added more food to the pile. Later that evening my curiosity got the best of me. Where did these very trustful guys come from? This is not the norm for Panama. So hauled up the anchor and motored over to Emeralda village. Jehol, a big catamaran I met in Shelter Bay marina was also there. Met them in town while I was being escorted around by a bunch of kids. They had a grownup escorting them so we ended up in a bar. Guess who I met there? The guy I owed some money to for the fruit. He seemed very surprise that I actually came to town looking for him to give him the $3 I owed and a beer for interest. The two guys from Jehol had made reservations for dinner at the local restaurant so we stop by to add my name to the list. Fish and salad was the menu, all for $3 a person. Is this really Panama?

The Las Perlas Islands is just as beautiful as the Black Pearls it is named after and it is a gem compared to the Panama Canal area that I visited. Wish I could stay longer but my paperwork said I was supposed to be out of the country by now and it's a long way to the Galapagos, over 900nm as the seagull fly.

April 28th Sunday
The weather is calm and the wind is coming from the direction I want to go. So pulled up anchor and off I go, engine on and all sails out, just in case the wind decides to blow. The first night out - Ships everywhere, no sleep tonight. Radar and AIS alarms constantly going off. Lucky me I missed them all, or better yet they missed me.

The first 350nm of the trip was pretty boring. Caught no fish. No storms. No wind. No rain. No sleep. Just plenty of motoring and ship traffic. Then to wake me up or to give me a little excitement, Mother Nature brings out the storms. Rain in front of me so turn to the north. Rain starts in front of me again, turn back to the west, rain in front of me head south, rain in front of me and to the west. Decided just to head west and before I get to the rain it's gone. I think I got the trick, just head for the rain and by the time you get there it's gone, head for a clearing and by the time you get there it's raining. Done this all day and night, when the sun came up the next morning I could see some sky to the southeast of me. Wrong direction but I decided just to head that way until I get passed this mess. 6hrs. later I'm in the clear but way off course, but I can dry out now. Everything calmed down so emptied the Jerry cans of diesel into the main tank.

On the 6th day the wind finally began to blow with some speed, a whole 10knots, but from the direction I want to go - again. I'm now heading south but I don't need to listen to the motor anymore. Only 300 miles to go, if I can go in the right direction. Then the wind switched to the south so I tacked - now going the direction I want to go, only problem with that it's now blowing over 20kts, time for some reefs.

Then May 6th the most exciting thing happen. I crossed the equator at 10:03:37 local time at longitude 088° 57.308'W. Celebrated by pouring a little Malibu Rum over the side of the boat for King Neptune and then drank a BIG glass for myself. I really enjoyed the after effects. Finally got some sleep. When you drunk who cares if you run into something. 24 hours later I'm entering the anchorage at Isla Isabela in the Galapagos. Wanted some sleep but the local officials wasted no time in coming out to the boat to start the check-in process. Glad I hired an agent to smooth out the process. After that was over - SLEEP, the hot shower will just have to wait.