We will start this day
congratulating our Queen Margrethe II of Denmark (60 years birthday). The weather is perfect
out here, so she must have behaved nicely.
Now we are back with our sport
results:
Team A: René, Rikke and Stefan
defeated by a large margin
Team B: Heidi, Sennels and
Dennis in beach volley. Team A is still waiting for
the prize: an old fashioned ice-cream
wafer.
Isla Grande has been explored from
the lighthouse in the north to the nice beach in the south. Dennis and René
climbed a palm tree and got 3 cocoanuts for the expedition (a native
Indian made a hole in them for us) and we all got chilled coco milk!! In
addition we explored the local bar. In the evening we dined at the taverna
, we had everything from conch to red snapper. But nothing can beat the
day Sennels fished with the boathook as fishing rod. The bate he used was
entrails from some fish we had bought and eaten with great pleasure. The
fish Sennels caught was a cubera snapper and we were not used at catching
fish this size so we all panicked and when Dennis was hanging over the
rail Rikke shouted do not hit it- it is not for nothing that she is a
biologist. But what could we do- we had to kill it before we got it on the
boat. When we finally did it showed up to be a 110 cm long and at about a
25 kilo fish. The fish scales had the size of a 5 kr coin. We took
pictures and video recorded the fish as if it was a fishing contest. Now
the heavy slaughtering started.
Sennels tried as a gynaecologist to
take out the bowels. Our fish knife could not cut it open so we made a
nice cut at the head and tail and then we had to stick our whole arm into
the animal. We had to saw the head off because it had a backbone as a
human being and the bones around the belly were the size of ribs. The fish
was cut into big lumps and the left over was made into fish cakes. We put
a wire through the mouth and placed it in the water in order to get it
cleaned. The tail was hung up to dry out, Stefan is planning to fasten the
dentures and tail to a mahogany plate for the saloon. This scene took the
whole evening and afterwards everything was smeared into blood and scales
and we had to clean it all before we could go to bed.
The next day Karsten dropped in. He
is FTLF´s contact in Panama and Dennis has E-mailed him talked with him
on the phone. He brought a lot of information about Panama and how to sail
a sail ship through the channel. He had been 32 years in the country and
we put all sorts of questions also about USA`s invasion in 1989 when
General Noriega was deposed and judged 40 years of imprisonment for drug
crimes. Lunch of course consisted of fish cakes and fried snapper.
We left Isla Grande and set for
Cristobal in Colon, which is the Atlantic port to the Panama channel
On our way we made a quick stop at
Puerto Bello which is the old disembarkation place of gold from South
America to Spain. The creek is still marked by ruins from the old
fortresses.
In Cristobal the big channel circus
started. René and Dennis hurried around and telephoned all the different
authorities, you must contact, and finally paid the 500 US dollars plus a
deposit of 800US dollars in a bank. This meant trouble because you cannot
draw more than 200 US dollars a day on your VISA card. On their way out
they see the Danish consulate and go there. The speak with the consul
himself, who is British named Adrian Holmes, and then after a few phone
calls everything is taken care of. Now he is our agent. We paid him for
the transit, he makes a banker's guarantee for the deposit – this was
great- It is nice to be a Dane!!
We were to go through the channel
on 10 April. The 10 days until then was spent on making the boat ready for
the Pacific and to get hold of charts from the other sailors, they were
copied for 1 US dollar a piece- cheap
Arrangements were made together
with the other sailors. One day an English couple passed by. They had
heard that we were many persons onboard and that we would act as “line
holders”. You must have 4 “line holders” and a mate on board in
order to go through the Channel. If you do not have that you must get hold
of it. They asked us and of course we agreed. Sennels, René and Heidi got
the task, while the 3 remaining from the crew go together with the crew
from 10 other ships to a “free zone” to buy big amounts of beer and
booze. “Free zone” is a duty-free quarter, the biggest apart from Hong
Kong. They bought 10 cases of beer, a case of wine and 24 bottles of rum-
so now we can do the next couple of weeks!! .Dennis and Stefan were later
on “line holders” on A Australian ship. This ship had 2 mottoes 1: You
only have to grab the crocodile by the mouth and it can do you no harm. 2:
Don’t stand there –have a beer instead!
April 10 at 6 am we are about to
get our pilot on board. 6.15 he arrives and we hit for the first locks. We
were to nest with a 62 foot American sailboat, this means that 2 or 3
boats are tied together and you only throw line to the farthest out.
Through the first locks we were to pass together with a tugboat. This is
the best position because the tug deals the lines and you only have to be
there. Nevertheless Dennis had to reverse twice. In this couple of locks
we are raised 30m to Gatun Lake, which is an artificial lake. Earlier this
area was covered with woods but now it is flooded. Lots of places you can
see the trunks sticking out of the water. The pilot allows us to go by
sail alone and quietly we pass the old peaks, which now are transformed
into small islands. We see monkeys, spider monkeys and some small
alligators at about 120 cm.
The boat draws more water and is
harder to control because it is freshwater. The waterline is all under
water, which means that we stick 10-15 cm deeper.
At 2.30 pm we cast anchor close to
Gamboa now we have 8 miles to the last couple of locks. Now we will wash
everything in freshwater, diving equipments, cordage and even ourselves
were washed in the 28 degree warm unsalted water- just think what it would
be like if every sea was filled with freshwater …
The pilot was to return at 0900 but
did not show up before 10.15. We did not mind because we spent the time
bathing (one was always on the look-out for trunks with eyes and teeth)
Just after Gamboa “the cut” starts. This is the place where they that
have dug a 8 mile long channel by hand and all the material was driven
away on trains to the Pacific and gives subsurface to great parts of
Panama City. Within the first sailed mile we see 4 alligators
additionally- they really exist there!!
In the last pair of locks we nest
with the American again but this time we hold the lines ourselves. 2
lines, 1 in the bow 1 in the stern, we go to the right side of the lock
and the other boat goes to the left. It was in the fist lock you could see
us in the web camera. This time we go 30m down but there is no trouble
doing so because the water just runs out at the bottom of the floodgate.
It was worse coming up because it created a lot of turbulence, which made
a hole, an eddy of 1 m just beside the boat.
When the last lock gate was opened
we yelled and congratulated each other and beers were opened. Now we are
sailing in the Pacific Ocean. The pilot is collected and we are all alone
again.
We sail under a bridge, which is
the only connection between South and North America, and the course is set
for Flamingo Bay just outside Panama City. We call Thomas and Sabina on
the VHF. It is a Swiss/German couple that we met at Cristobal and they
sail the good ship “Evening Star”. We had arranged to meet as soon as
we came through and we thought that they we give a drink or two.
Panama City is a huge city with 1-2 million inhabitants. The
city is divided between an old and a modern part. The modern part grows
rapidly with skyscrapers and modern buildings. In the centre of the old
part it is advisable to take a taxi.
It was in this area that we had to
have our small Honda outboard motor for inspection and the area was not
nice. In spite of the fact that they had never seen a motor like this, and
apart from the fact that they threw away our petrol tap, they managed to
fix the engine. That was very nice!!
Our last shortcomings such as fresh
fruit, puncture outfit for the dingy and a pilot book on Polynesia were
found in the streets of Panama.
Thomas(Sennels) and Rikke are now
making themselves ready to leave the ship. They will continue to Costa
Rica as backpackers. They have used a whole day on sending a bag with
luggage to Denmark. They end up at the local post office and must pay the
nice amount of 200 US Dollars. On Friday 14 April they will paddle to the
mainland and be on their way.
The rest of us make the lasts
preparations for the Pacific. René and Stefan oil the deck and Heidi and
Dennis go to the local fruit market.
The boat is now as ready as she can
be and Saturday is reserved for sightseeing with Karsten. We meet at 8 am
and cross a bridge and go north towards the mountains on a “dirt road”
until we come to a very nice viewpoint. We end the trip at Karsten and his
wife’s house, and we have a very delicious Panama snack and lunch. The
couple was very hospitable and they have given us good information of the
history and way of life in Panama. Apart from the intellectual knowledge
we also got sea maps and Pilot books from Panama to Galapagos.
We do thank you very much it was
very cosy and we also thank you for the nice meal.
It was only 8 in the morning when
we left Panama and right after we were greeted by a flock of dolphins.
We are now on our way to Pearls
Island, which is the only stop before Galapagos, and we have just greeted
a fairly big turtle but also a dead dolphin (sad). It is nice to be at sea
again. At Pearl Island we will dive and snorkel before we sail the 1000
miles.