Log book
- Port of departure: Boca Chica, Panama
- Departure date and time: Tuesday, January 28, 2014 at 3:00pm
- Port of arrival: Isla Gamez, Panama
- Arrival date and time: Tuesday, January 28, 2013 at 8:00pm
- Total travel time: 5 hours
- Miles traveled: 14.4 nm
- Engine hours: 1214.0 begin – 1216.4 end – 2.4 hours
- Fuel consumption: 33.8 begin – 32.8 end – 1.0 gallons used
- Fuel economy: 14.4 mpg
- Tides and currents: High tide at 1:30, low tide at 7:00pm. Ebb current helping us out of Boca Chica.
- Weather: The week long forecast showed light but regular thermals, with winds from the E/SE in the early morning, W/SW during the late morning and afternoon, shifting to winds from the N/NE after sunset.
We finally left Boca Chica after three weeks of settling in and doing projects around the boat. I finished a final report and a draft paper for my job (it feels so good to press send) and Jeff nearly finished building a wind vane, among many other things. Time to get back out to the islands! With our pantry nearly full and a care package of produce and cookies for our friends on SV Vagabundo (stationed out at Isla Gamez), we hauled anchor.
We exited Boca Chica a different way than we had entered, choosing this time to hug Isla Boca Brava (this is the approach recommended in the SV Sarana Guide). This approach seemed a bit more precarious in terms of water depth and proximity to rocks. We left at the beginning of the ebb tide, so we had sufficient water beneath our keel, but it got down to 9 feet in places. I definitely wouldn’t try this approach without assistance from the tides and currents.
Even though we had the current pushing us, we were only going between 4 and 4.5 knots under motor (compared to 6 knots when we entered Boca Chica). Plus there was a new knocking sound…not a good sign. This made us both anxious to get the sails up. As soon as we cleared Islas Ventanas we raised sails in a fresh S/SW breeze (8-10 knots) and turned on some music. Jeff wrestled with his wind vane and then sat determinedly with paper and pencil to think through the little glitches he discovered in the process. I busied myself by looking at the beautiful scenery and singing my little heart out. Did I mention that it’s stunning here?
The wind died down right after sunset. We bobbed around for 25 minutes, tracing constellations in the night sky, then decided it was time to douse the sails and finish up the passage under motor. Again, progress under motor was slower than expected, something we attributed (more out of hope than of ignorance) to a dirty bottom. SV Vagabundo lit a bonfire on the beach to help guide us in the moon deprived darkness. An obscure figure waved a flaming palm frond at us in the fashion of a lone ship wreck survivor signaling for help. What a welcome.
As Jeff steered us towards the fire I chopped veggies down below and prepared a goulash in tin foil that we could throw on the embers when we arrived. Within moments of dropping the anchor we were in the dinghy en route to a beautiful little beach lined with warm silhouettes of palm trees. Jesse and Colin sat above the high tide line, behind the fire, a nearly finished game of Scrabble waiting to be excavated from the sand. It’s good to be back in the islands and reunited with friends. Let the buddy boating begin!