Gearing up
to leave the Panama after all the time we spent there gave us both a feeling of
anticipation for the adventure ahead as well as a feeling of reverence for the all
people we had met and the incredible places we had visited. Our thanks especially to our friend Bolivar
who together with his wife is a Sheppard for the street kids of Colon. Our last
days in Panama were filled with all the details of final boat prep as well as provisioning for the voyage north.
On
March 17th we finally untied from the slip at Shelter bay and headed
for Isla Abajo northeast of Colon where we could have one last night enjoying
Panama in natural surroundings. There we
anchored for the night and in the early morning we pulled anchor and began our journey
north.
Our
departure was met with overcast skies and NNE winds so we began our voyage
“hard on the wind” at a speed of 5 knots and heeled over at 30 degrees. The feeling of weight and gravity is
incredible at this point of sail. Everything you do feels like you have lead in
your boots so even brushing your teeth is a considered move. Over the next two weeks we would have nine
days of “close hauled” sailing where the direction we wanted to travel was met by
wind coming from that direction.
Crossing the
Caribbean Sea going north we did get a break with the current and on a few days
made upwards of 150 NM in a 24 hour period.
We made great time in the beginning and in 8 days we had crossed the Caribbean
Sea and arrived at the Yucatan Channel between Cuba and Mexico with only 300 NM to go to Key West.
The moment
we reached the Yucatan Channel a monster cold front slammed us with huge waves
and intense wind on the nose. Within an
instant we went from relatively calm seas and sunny skies to pelting rain and
swirling winds with white caps coming at us. We dropped all sails
aside from the stay sail and rode out the first pass of the storm as we
maneuvered out of the freighter shipping lanes.
It was an intense ride for the next four days
with times of 4 meter high seas and winds up to 35 knots. As we crashed
through a wave the sound of it was like a shotgun as it careened past the hull. At first the
only direction we could travel was NW into the Gulf of Mexico opposite to the
direction we wanted to go. Once the
storm abated we picked our way NE tacking and jibing most of the way to Key
West with most days only gaining 50 NM or less toward our goal even though we clocked
twice as much distance traveled on the log.
Finally on
day 12 the wind direction shifted slightly and allowed us to gain some much
needed headway. As it was
Easter Weekend we decided to anchor off one of the keys near Key West and spend
a day at rest and play. We were visited
by dolphins and curious seabirds and discovered a stowaway gecko on the deck
who must have come in on the bananas we kept aft in the lazarette. He later visited us again once we were settled
in Key West and found a new home with his American cousins at the Marina..an
illegal immigrant.
On April 2nd
we arrived in Key West and settled in at the Galleon Marina just off “Old Town”
.
The Marina
offered a safe haven and perfect launching place to explore the incredible
color and history of Key West. Aside
from the fact that Key West is hugely expensive it is truly one of the funnest
and most vibrant places we have visited in the US. Live music spills out onto the street nightly
and the most favored modes of transport for visitors is either cruiser bicycle
or electric car both with easy rental from a variety of vendors. The contrast
from the delicious solitude of the open ocean to the vibrancy of Key west was a
perfect way to end this first leg of our journey.
Today we
depart on leg two of four and are bound for Bermuda which we expect will take
us three weeks with a brief stop in the Bahamas in the hopes of finding some
playful spotted dolphins to swim with.
We will continue to track our progress and will check in again once we
make landfall again in a few weeks.
With happy
sailsCheers from
Barbara Ann and Paul.
