Passage notes: Panama City to Isla Chapera, Panama

Log book

• Port of departure: Panama City (Las Brisas), Panama
• Departure date and time: Tuesday, April 29 at 3:30pm (1530)
• Port of arrival: Isla Chapera (Islas Las Perlas), Panama
• Arrival date and time: Wednesday, April 30 at 7:00pm (1900)
• Total travel time: 1 day 3.5 hours (27.5 hours)
• Miles traveled:  48.2 nm
• Average speed: 1.75 knots
• Engine hours: 1262.2.9 begin – 1267.3 end – 5.1 hours
• Fuel consumption: 29.0 begin – 26.4  end – 2.6 gallons used
• Fuel economy: 18.5 mpg
• Maintenance notes: +8 gallons of diesel – repairs to main sail.
• Tides and currents: On Tuesday high tide at 3:53pm and low at 10:07pm. On Wednesday high at 4:23am, low at 10:26am, high at 4:38pm, low at 10:48pm — 17 foot tides — 2.6 knot max current (yikes!) — strong tidal rips North of the Perlas at max flood current.
• Weather: Light and variable.

Tuesday

1530 — Raised anchor and motored out of Las Brisas anchorage past all the freighters at anchor – outgoing current helping us

1600 — Raised sails in SW wind (8-10 knots), up to 4.4 knots – J’s shift

1700 — Wind dying out, little lumpy

1830 — No wind, still lumpy – time to motor – 3.5 knots, which is slower than expected – cloudy, it’s been a long time since we’ve seen a proper sunset

1930 — Fancy Mac ‘n’ Cheese dinner – so glad this meal hasn’t gotten old yet – H’s shift – still motoring

2130 — Bright phosphorescence, visited by a pod of dolphins jumping around and splashing me in the cockpit – it’s hard to be somber and serious around dolphins, they always look like they’re having so much damn fun

2200 — E/SE wind starting? Must it always be on the nose? No stars…too cloudy

2230 — Boiling water for J’s shift, enjoyed a cup of hot tea while assessing the wind – really I was just feeling lazy

2245 — Talked myself into being an actual kind of sailor – sails up in E/NE wind – 1.5-2 knots – feeling good, J’s taking another hour to rest up for night shift

Wednesday

0000 — J’s shift – wind died shortly after he came on watch…traveled 7 miles in 7 hours but only 3.3 miles progress towards our destination – seas are flat, which is nice – seems like we drifted N a little bit – J saw giant rays glide by in the phosphorescence, super cool – super jealous – too bad I’d rather sleep than stay up all night – great night’s sleep probably because it was SO calm

0700 — Light N/NW wind at our back – started at around 0600 – nice to wake up to a boat in motion – I’m usually the one to be becalmed…

0800 — Wind was short lived – bobbing around in calm seas – I always get anxious when we’re just bobbing…I was expecting the current would be stronger, pushing us one way or another – a very slight current pushing us S – already hot…yikes

1030 — Light E/NE wind starting – very slow progress – read my book and worked on writing projects

1400 — J’s up – on a good heading with NE wind, making close to 3 knots – eggs with broccoli for lunch – how do children not LOVE broccoli?

1500 — Strange currents at the very northern tip of the Perlas (rip?) – wind is now more from the E/SE…making it difficult to hit a good angle, especially with the current

1600 — Did “Bart’s haircut” (Jeff’s phrase…to which I responded “Bart who?” – clearly not a Simpson’s fan) for an hour without making much E progress against currents (tidal and non-tidal) – we originally planned to spend time on the East side of Isla Del Rey but given the wind and current, decided that maybe we’d be better off just going to Isla Chapera since that’s where the universe is pushing us – commence operation “go with the flow”…literally

1700 — Cutting through Isla Contadora and Isla Saboga – good wind, but current still seems to be working against us (should be helping us? or at least slack…am I a dunce or is nature @&$#ing with me) – both of us are fishing in our underwear as pristine sports fishing boats from Isla Contadora zoom by…we must be quite a sight to behold – keepin’ it classy

1745 — Wind died, decided to motor the final leg to get the anchor down before dark…not that it really matters

1800 — Huge fish on my line, freaked out and didn’t know what to do, the fish snapped the line…goodbye fancy squid lure! Gigantic SW swell rolling into the islands – biggest we’ve seen since N. Pacific

1830 — Current between Isla Mogo Mogo and Isla Chapera is E-W setting during outgoing tide (W-E during incoming tide)…meaning it’s working against us…crawling towards the anchorage (crawling is a generous assessment)

1900 — We made it! Anchor down in 28 feet of water and dinner is already ready – Salchichas guisadas over rice con fresh pineapple and fried plantain – a true masterpiece – glad we’re not pushing on towards Isla Espiritu Santo – beautiful beaches to enjoy right here and it requires no more travel…love!