Leaving Panama was bitter sweet:
Bitter: 49’er loss. We watched the game at Benigan’s at the Flamenco marina. As Super Bowl parties go, it was lame, but the TV was big albeit all in Spanish. The Game….oh what should have been….oweeeeeeee. Yes, Darrell, dinner is on me but you have find us to collectJ)))
Sweet: Ironman competition. I got to see my first ever Ironman competition – 1.2 mile swim, 50k bike and 13 mile run. Wow, were these guys impressive…..whoa!
Bitter: We planned to leave around 8:00 am on Monday 2/4. We both could not sleep…..I mean it is Galapagos and our longest cruise yet….this trip 5 days, the longest before was 3 nights….. so up around 5:30 am….going to do the internet thing, a few chores, then leave…..NOT, no internet……WTH????? First, the marina wifi was down, not unusual for the w/e, but our usually reliable Digicel modem was also moving slower than frozen molasses….ugh. At 8:30 we said screw it and left.
Sweet: About a mile or two from the marina the Digicel modem started to work. So in the middle of the anchor field, dodging freighter after cargo ship, we downloaded weather files, emails and some banking….yes!!!!
Bitter: Leaving the beautiful turquoise blue waters of the Caribbean. The Pacific has this nutrient rich dirty green color.
Sweet: The pack of dolphin that played with us for about 25 nm…..no kidding, maybe 3-4 hours….sometime just 2-3, other times 15+….what a show. And, we saw our first Pacific birdle (bird on top of a turtle)!!
Bitter: When I came back to the boat after the Ironman competition, Kathy was not happy…..the dryer had stopped working…..arghhhhhh!!! Yes, I know, it is indeed a luxury to have a washer and dryer onboard, but it is one of those conveniences that make this lifestyle tolerable for Kathy. Now, this has happened before, so hopefully not to worry….but you have to take the dryer out of the cabinet in order to get to the reset and fuses. In my recovery period, this is not going to happen for several more weeks. So, Kathy gamely spread all the wet laundry all over the inside/outside of the boat…..yep, trawler trash indeed L(((((
Sweet: All the Navigation lights are working. The mast and starboard lights have been pesky and I worked on both while in the marina. At first the mast light did not work, but after a few hours of rolling in the waves, it decided to join the party!!!!!
Bitter: The SAT phone going down, the hernia operation, the major hit to the wallet, and the 2 week delay L((
Sweet: The SAT phone is working as usual…yeah. God Bless my surgeon, Dr Duran. 12 days after surgery and we are on our way….whoa! While I’m still sore and under restrictions to basically not use the abdominal/core muscles, that is all doable underway.
7:30 am EST, 1230 UTC, Tuesday 2/5:
Position: 6 09 N and 80 25 W
Traveled: 184 nm, 707 to go, ETA San Cristobal 8:00am Saturday, 2/5, I don’t think this favorable current will last so probably will be Saturday afternoon but good to have the speed and distance in the bank!
Speed: 8.0 avg SOG, 0.5 – 2.0 kt favorable current; we hope this lasts another 150 nm; we are doing close to 9.0 SOG now
SHIT: South (Seas Bound) Hook Invitational Tournament: copied after the Fubar SHIT; Mystic Moon: 2 fish, 18” each, one bonito and one Skip Jack – we don’t eat either on….darn! Water temperature has been as low as 70 deg F and now is 80.1 deg F.
The first part of the trip was excellent trawler weather. The winds were 7-8 kts from the north….all behind us as we were heading due south. There was <1’ wind chop so a very sweet ride…..we even turned off the stabilizers for a while!! Then as the sun set and we rounded 25 nm from Punta Mala, the winds built to 15-22 kts from the NNW and we turned on a heading of 225 deg M…..so 4-6’ waves off the starboard aft quarter. A bit rolly but not too bad. The good news our speed picked up from 7.8 SOG to 8.5+ SOG……that’s about a 1.0 – 1.5 kt favorable current. We hope to have this current for the next 200 nm or so!!!!
