Stephanie and the hammock we left behind on Isla Pedro Gonzalez.
April was a little all over the place, though it did have some pretty key movements. With our brand new propeller, spinning like a champ, we finally decided to round Punta Mala. It took us three separate attempts to get around that dreaded point. On the first attempt the seas were sloppy and our bilge pump decided to stop working so we pulled into the anchorage at Playa Venao. On the second attempt we tore a seam in our sail and returned to Playa Venao. On the third attempt the universe gave us her blessing and we made it to the Perlas Islands after mostly slow and gentle passage (punctuated by one raucous upwind night).
The highlight of the month, without question, was a visit from our friend Stephanie who accompanied us on a quick tour of the islands, followed by a long slog to Panama City, followed by some much needed R&R, exploration and partying in the city. Unfortunately our dinghy decided to take a swim with our outboard motor still attached, so Jeff was called back into action more quickly than anticipated. Following Steph’s visit we put our house back in order, got to know what was left of the Panama City cruising crowd (most had already left for Ecuador or the South Pacific) and resolved to return to Western Panama to wait out rainy season.
Here’s the quick recap in numbers!
319 … miles traveled
5 … passages (Puerto Mutis to Play Venao, Playa Venao to Playa Venao, Playa Venao to Isla Chapera, Tooling around the Islas Las Perlas, Isla Bayoneta to Panama City, and Panama City to Isla Chapera)
145 … hours in motion (that’s about 6 days)
2.2 … knots, average speed
37.9 … engine hours
19 … gallons of diesel used
18 … mpg, fuel economy
3 … nights at sea
24 … nights at anchor
0 … nights at a marina
0 … nights on a mooring
3 … nights in a hostel
$1201 … total April expenses
2 … mothers who may never forgive us for our April Fool’s joke
1,139… number of page visits to our April Fool’s post
93 … usual number of page visits (ha!) – so the lesson I learned from that is have a child to boost blog traffic
13 … feet, what I kept insisting was the size of our sail repair after we tore it approaching Punta Mala (it was THIS BIG)
10 … feet, the max width of our main sail (at it’s widest point)
8.5 … feet, the actual size of the repair (Jeff had to keep reminding me that the tear couldn’t have been 13 feet, unless it was zig zaggy)
32 … hours it took us to complete the repair and reinforce the main in other areas (we took shifts and pretty much worked around the clock)
4 … needles broken over the course of repairing the main sail
7 … islands visited in the Perlas Islands
10 … number of days that our friend Stephanie graced us with her presence
20 … gallons of water onboard when Stephanie came to visit (a very meager amount calling for extreme conservation!)
5 … other cruising sailboats we had a bonfire with on Isla Chapera
60 … pounds of garbage collected from Isla Chapera
1 … hammock abandoned on the beach at Isla Pedro Gonzalez when we had to move anchorages in the middle of the night (damn you sneaky Northers that don’t show up on our gribs!)
2.6 … knots, max tidal current in the Gulf of Panama
2 … knots, max non-tidal current in the Gulf of Panama
17 … feet, max tidal range in the Gulf of Panama while we were there
0.8 … knots, slowest speed clocked on our way to Panama City from the Perlas Islands (yikes)
17 … hours it took us to get from the Perlas Islands to Panama City (which is only 38 miles as the crow flies)
2 … hours it takes the ferry to get from the Perlas Islands to Panama City
4:00am … the time that we stopped partying in Panama City
9:00am … the time that locals stop partying in Panama City
$0.25 … the fare for an air-conditioned city bus in Panama City
$0.00 … the fare for the newly opened metro system (lightrail) for its first three months of operation
2 … microbreweries discovered and thoroughly enjoyed in Panama City
4 … icecream cones savored during our time in Panama City
2 … times Harmony saw the new Captain America movie (once with Stephanie and once with Jeff, she enjoyed the movie both times)
$700 … the monthly salary of a member of the Aeronaval who works 12 hours a day, 6 days a week (this breaks down to only about $2.50 per hour, which is considered decent money)
$12.00 … average daily wage of a working class person in Panama (and it’s not uncommon for them to work long days)
$10.50 … cost of a Caesar salad at one of the many over-priced restaurants in Casco Viejo
$3.50 … cost of chicken, rice with lentils and salad at one of the more reasonably priced comedors in Panama City
2 … boats that we know of that were scuttled (intentionally sunk) in April, SV Evenstar and
2 … chickens aboard SV Evenstar that were rescued along with the three crew members and bikes (the chickens were rescued along with the people…and the bikes)
900 … miles offshore the crew of SV Rebel Heart were when they were rescued by the Navy, causing a storm of controversy over kids on boats
13 … kids we have met on boats (all supremely cool)
2 … kids under 3 years old we have met on boats
3,710 … the number of results that show up when you Google “Rebel Heart Parents” – the top article is titled Raising a Child Dangerously
Please forgive all of the morbid statistics that follow, but I was curious…
10,000 … annual number of deaths by lightning around the world (Source: Buzzfeed)
550 … people who are killed by Black Friday every year in the US (Source: Buzzfeed)
150 … apparently the number of annual deaths by falling coconuts and coconut trees around the world (Source: UniSci, though according to Wikipedia this number is fabricated – we do know of one death this year out at Isla Gamez due to a falling coconut tree)
24 … people killed by champagne corks every year (Source: WNYY Radio)
22 … people killed by cows every year (Source: WNYY Radio)
24 … Americans killed by furniture and TVs every year (Source: Foreign Policy)
2 … Americans killed by vending machine attacks every year (Source: Foreign Policy)
1 … Americans who die from shark attacks every year (Source: Foreign Policy)
100,000,000 … number of sharks killed annually, intentionally or otherwise (Source: National Geographic)
1 : 5 … lifetime risk of dying from heart disease in the US – take care of your hearts people! (Source: Live Science)
1 : 112 … lifetime risk of dying in a car accident in the US (Source: National Security Council)
1 : 10,000 … lifetime risk of dying in a canoeing accident in the US (Source: Best Health Degrees)
1 : 96,000 … lifetime risk of dying from legal execution in the US (Source: National Security Council)
1 : 100,000 … lifetime risk of dying at a dance party in the US (Source: Best Health Degrees)
1 : 21,276 … annual risk of dying in a boating accident in the US (Source: 2013 USCG Boating Safety Statistics – based on people using registered vessels only)
4062 … number of boating accidents in 2013 (Source: 2013 USCG Boating Safety Statistics)
560 … number of boating fatalities in 2013 – alcohol is the leading factor in the majority of boat-related deaths (Source: 2013 USCG Boating Safety Statistics)
333 … number of deaths that occur on open motorboats, cabin motorboats or personal watercrafts (Source: 2013 USCG Boating Safety Statistics)
99 … number of deaths that occur on kayaks or canoes (Source: 2013 USCG Boating Safety Statistics)
19 … number of deaths that occur on sailboats (Source: 2013 USCG Boating Safety Statistics)
5 … number of deaths that occur on SUP boards (Source: 2013 USCG Boating Safety Statistics)
You may or may not be surprised to discover that the majority of boat-related accidents and deaths occur:
- On vessels < 26 feet
- With a higher horsepower motor, usually >75 hp
- In the middle of the afternoon or early evening
- On the weekends
- During the summer months
- On a lake
- In calm conditions, with good visibility and light winds
- After a few drinks
- When an operator isn’t paying attention and runs into another boat…or…
- When someone who is not wearing a life jacket falls overboard and drowns
- (Source: 2013 USCG Boating Safety Statistics)
0 … statistics I was able to find on the internet regarding the likelihood of dying on an ocean crossing (those statistics must exist somewhere)
10,000 … number of shipping containers lost at sea every year – SCARY! (Source: MBARI)
Some caveats:
- I am not a statistician.
- The statistics included in this post could have been calculated any number of ways (annual risk, lifetime risk, risk per x number of participants, etc). Take it all with a grain of salt.
- Rethink that next dance party, eh?
- Risk is inherent in everything that we do – so why not get out there and live a little.