YOU CAN HAVE TOO MUCH BLUE 

CROSSING THE FIRST PART OF THE PACIFIC FROM PANAMA TO THE MARQUESAS

Mentioning that you are crossing the Pacific has the immediate effect of inspiring awe and wonder in your listener, with immediate responses of ‘wow!’ and ‘aren’t you afraid?’, or ‘that is so brave!’

I’m actually likening it to childbirth.  Once you’ve started down the path and got on the Pacific side of Panama, there are few other options, so you keep going, not really knowing what to expect and hoping for the best.  Like childbirth, those who do it again have to go through a period of forgetting until the pain has dimmed.  I’m pretty sure at this moment, 26 days into it, that I won’t be doing it again.

Don’t get me wrong.  I’m glad we have done it, but what a tedious bloody journey it is. I wished for uneventful and thankfully that is definitely what it has been, the highlights being particularly mundane when I try to capture them here.

We are conditioned to thinking in weeks, so our journey has been easy to categorise by the events of each week.  We expected to take between four and five weeks, so when we arrive as scheduled on Wednesday 19th, we will have taken exactly four weeks.

D day - departure day was one of great excitement and anticipation.  I felt quite tearful as we left La Playita in Panama City and headed straight out into the unknown. I was probably over emotional as had just sent our daughter Miranda (the potentially only surviving member of our family if anything went wrong) a list of our assets and Ed had sent her his will too. I also had a last conversation with my 92-year-old mum and then the internet faded. 

We were on our own.

 

We were well prepped on pre-cooked meals.  our new freezer was a huge asset.

Spirits were high. The boat was well provisioned.  No cupboard space was unfilled.  Spare food spilled from every cranny.  The fridge and freezer were groaning and struggling to keep cold.  Bags and boxes of fruit and veg littered the cabin floors and hung in string bags from door handles. The grab bags were ‘handily’ close at hand in case of an emergency evacuation to the life raft, but less handily they were in the way and kept sliding across the saloon when we rolled. We were equipped with thousands of movies, books on kindle, a jigsaw of St Basil’s in Moscow, a chess and backgammon set and the ever-essential pack of cards for shithead.  All the ingredients for a happy life.  

 

The boys are in buoyant mood as we leave Panama

Even the thought of no alcohol for the duration, was not a mood dampener at this point. 

Hopes of catching fish were stratospheric.  Greg had bought yet another fishing rod and I had bought him a set of colourful squid lures for his birthday.  I was secretly hoping not to catch much for a few days as we had no fridge space to put it in, but as it turned out that has not been a problem; because to date, despite several bites from some massive fish, and loss of lures, we have not landed a single one.  Greg was soon disappointed in his new expensive rod, as it seemed not to make any noise when there was a bite, which resulted in us discovering a fully run out line with nothing, including the squid lure on the end of it.  In an email exchange with Jamie of Hamble Warrior, we discovered the secret to the reel making a noise on pay out and we also discovered that the colourful range of squids was linked to fishing at different times of day rather than to coordinate the colours with whatever swimwear you had on that day.  Optimistically we followed this sage advice but by then we were in the deep ocean and convinced that marine life was non-existent. We did manage a couple of fish that we landed and ate. 

One of our catches

Our first day was great. There was wind and we set off at pace.  The watch system kicked in and we were all keen to do our bit and have fun.  Then by day 3 of week one it is fair to say that the wind absolutely died.  Greg spent a lot of time interrogating the various downloaded charts and consulting ‘Weather Bob’ on what to do, but the light wind area was massive and predicted to be there for days; not the forecast we had seen when we set off.  

It was pretty flat and endless

 

 

Gr

Flat seas are great for cooking though.  Ed and I had a focaccia bake off competition

 

After bobbing about on glossy water for quite a few hours, the mood turned slightly after we made the mistake of looking at the predicted arrival date, which is calculated by the onboard electronics based on current speed and distance to the target.  The engine went on. 

After a few days of intermittent motoring and bobbing about attempting to sail, we took the decision to head towards Galapagos, with a view to having the option to top up our fuel there if things didn’t improve.

Things didn’t improve, and so we made arrangements with an agent to check in for a short refuelling stop in San Cristobal in the Galapagos.  Greg was not a happy bunny.  The cost of just stopping and not visiting any of the islands was 300USD for the agent 200USD for the inspection of the boat, 300 USD for coming into the waters of the National Park and then the cost of the fuel, which was comparatively surprisingly reasonable.  On the plus side, as we approached the Galapagos we saw whales, dolphins and of course enjoyed being amongst the sea lions in the bay at San Cristobal.  

 

Birds are always an indicator of nearby land. This guy hitched for days. They do an amazing amount of shit considering we never saw him/her eat.

 

 

This guy spent all night farting next to my face.  His bum is literally by our bedroom window

Have you ever slept with your nose literally inches away from the arse of a seal?  Let me tell you it absolutely stinks.  Our cabin is at the stern of the boat and has two small windows over the transom.  They are always open but have a mosquito screen in the opening.  The pillows are just under the windows. A massive seal decided to sleep on our transom, snoring, farting and shitting all night.  It was the most bizarre experience to be sleeping so close to a wild animal with all its bodily functions in full flow and I will forever recall the morning view of our transom, after the seal had left.

Leaving Galapagos marked the start of week two.  Buoyed by our over full fuel tanks and containers with spare fuel, we headed out into the deep and that is the last time we have seen a vessel. After a quiet start, we managed to get down to the trade winds and started really sailing.  What a relief.  Greg was now happier and soon we were flying along.  Alongside flying along, comes more challenges in cooking and moving about the boat, but generally we were in good form in week 2, settling into our watch system, watching an episode of Black Sails each night.  Reading books and playing games.  We were making quite good progress. The precooked freezer food was now in play and that was going well.  We were still doing quite well on fresh fruit and veg although much of it was less tasty and robust compared to the provisions we had managed to get for our Atlantic crossing in Gran Canaria.

The provisions we bought in Panama did not last well on the journey

Week three was a bit patchy.  It’s fair to say that the nights of broken sleep started to catch up with us and tempers were a little shorter.  We experienced a mixture of lighter winds interspersed with bursts of strong winds and squalls.  This was a period when it seemed surely, we would incur some damage as we had to pole out the genoa and use a 'preventer' to prevent the boom banging. But she is a sturdy boat and Greg spent several weeks before departure testing and replacing any potentially vulnerable parts, so she was well prepared and maintained in readiness for the trip - so far, nothing has broken. We are pleased that we renewed our rigging and have kept everything serviced.  We had the bottom cleaned and painted in Panama City, which will have helped with our overall speed.

 

Ed decided to match his outfit to the spinnaker.  Lots of time on our hands

We had several attempts at launching the spinnaker and finally got it up in the right conditions, but our speed didn’t change that much from white sails wing on wing, so the effort to outcome ratio was too low and we abandoned that plan. 

One of my most memorable dawn watches was as we crossed the inter tropical convergence zone and I saw the different winds spinning out in what was an amazing cloud formation, backed by the dawning sun.  It was awesome.

 

Absolute stunning start to the day

The film that characterised week 3 was surely Groundhog Day.  The predicted arrival date kept being the same even though we had moved on 150 miles in the last 24 hours, but just not towards the target.  It was depressing and seemingly ever out of reach. Time to get out the jigsaw of St Basil’s.

 

Ed managed to keep fit on the calm bits

Most of the fruit was now eaten and the only veg remaining were onions, potatoes, squash, a few carrots and a cabbage. Our new freezer came into its own as we have managed to eat great food pre-cooked and frozen, making it relatively easy to reheat in challenging conditions.

Week four feels more optimistic as we have been in predicted single figures of days to get there.  Tantalisingly soon when we surf down a massive wave at 9 knots and then depressingly not so soon when we are pottering along. But we feel the end is in sight.

If this week was characterised by a film it’s the Deerhunter.  Every time I crack an egg, it’s like playing Russian roulette.  Will it be the fetid vomit inducing sulphurous one or not?  Only three eggs left now and all past their sell by date.  Bravery is now required to crack and indeed eat them. 

Ed had a very bad day yesterday. Like many people who are living at one with nature, the gods take on greater importance.  Ed was yesterday convinced that the sea gods were against him as a massive wave soaked and destroyed his Macbook.  Then later, when he was sitting in the cockpit reading, an attempt on the life of his kindle was made by another wave.  He retired to bed for a while to remind himself of why he’s doing this. 

We have abandoned the jigsaw.  Once we had completed the buildings all we were left with was blue sky and there’s absolutely tons of it.  We have lost enthusiasm for large expanses of endless blue, so we have put it back in the box to donate to someone with more patience than us. 

Our conversation has turned now to what we are most looking forward to.  It was beer and a bar for quite a long time, but now it is just 10 minutes of not rolling about, or a full night’s sleep.  It’s funny how your priorities change.

But finally we saw land.  I can't explain or adequately describe the feelings of euphoria we all experienced.  It felt like a massive achievement, unequalled in many ways. After 4 weeks at sea without alcohol, it felt appropriate to crack a tinny and congratulate ourselves.  Coming into harbour in Hiva Oa, everyone who had arrived already clapped.  They knew how we felt and we appreciated the round of applause. There is a lot of shared camaraderie in sailing round the world which we really value. 

 

First sight of Hiva Oa in the Marquesas 

A celebratory beer

 

 OUR FAVOURITE PLACE FROM ALL OUR TRAVELS IN 2022

As the year 2022 comes to a close, we find ourselves in the very quiet Vista Mar marina on the Pacific coast of Panama, reflecting on our favourite places in 2022, and excitedly planning our journey for 2023, which will include crossing the Pacific.  

There is plenty of space in this marina, no need to book

We have been in Panama for three months and have enjoyed the Caribbean side in the San Blas islands near to the Colombian border, and to a lesser extent in the Bocas del Toro islands to the North, near to border with Costa Rica.  Maybe it was the fact that we were there in rainy season, and boy was it rainy in Bocas, that meant we liked Bocas less. The San Blas islands are home to the Guna Yala people who live independently and are self governing.  They live a very simple life, mainly trading fish and embroidery, in particular their hand made molla designs. They come with items to sell each day.  We bought quite a lot of delicious lobster, a flag and a molla.

This is the flag of the Guna Yala territory 

A molla. 
I didn't have the heart to negotiate, and later discovered
that I  paid twice as much as anyone else 

The indigenous people live very simple lives

We met up with Darryl and Alicia on Medea and played shithead every night 

I didn't last long lying here... far too hot, but what a great idea and scene

Greg took this drone footage of Viridian at Gunboat Cays.  

Sadly many islands are disappearing in the San Blas due to rising sea levels

We then had a very entertaining weekend with Greg and Lilliana Sattell, who joined us on Viridian  to experience the Black Jesus festival in Portobello. Pilgrims arrive crawling on their knees into the town and up to the church, whilst their 'friends' pour boiling hot wax onto their bare flesh.   Purple is the respectful colour to wear.

A pilgrim arriving in the church after a gruelling journey

The evening procession with the pallbearers carrying the huge plinth
bearing the statue of  black Jesus The Nazarin

We all enjoyed our visit travelling up the Chagres river in a dug out canoe to see the way of life of the Embera people 

We were treated to a display of dancing and learned about basket weaving from grasses

We went to the Embera villages and a waterfall on  dugout canoe

After San Blas, we went to Shelter Bay and then embarked on an overnight sail to the Bocas del Toros islands.  In the late afternoon we hit something very hard, which we believed to be a massive piece of wood, which stopped us in our tracks.  We were motoring because of very light winds, but after the collision our engine wasn't working, so we returned under sail, very slowly, to Shelter Bay marina, arriving in the dark without an engine.  Greg skillfully got us moored up without further disaster, then in the morning he dived to look at the prop, hoping not to encounter the crocodile that lurks in the marina waters.  The culprit was a massive piece of industrial plastic, wrapped around the prop which had obviously stopped it from turning. Luckily, once removed, all was well and we set off again for an overnight sail to Bocas. 

Greg re-emerging with the offending plastic sheeting

Bocas is famous for its tiny poisonous red frogs and for partying. Alicia from the Netherlands who we met on Darryl's boat in San Blas and had experienced a few mad nights of drinking and playing Farkle with us, decided to join us on the trip to Bocas, in search of more partying.....

We found the frogs

and we found the parties

Sadly amongst the partying is some bad news.
Caranaro island Bocas is  being heavily eroded by rising sea levels - the palms are disappearing.  We are noticing a lot of worrying signs of climate change on our travels

Transiting the Panama canal in December was a bucket list activity for both of us, and we were excited to experience it.  We were buddied up with a massive container ship in each of the six locks, although thankfully not attached to them.  We were assisted in rope handling by our friend Richard, and two professional rope handlers as well as a transit adviser. It cost £2500 to transit and took two days, including an overnight stopover in Gatun Lake. 

Our lines and fenders arrived in advance

the lock gates were enormous

Our lock buddy

I think my most exciting moment was when I realised we were on the web cam at Miraflores lock and found out that people in England could actually see us going through the lock in real time.  We rang family to tell them to look at the web cams and had a crazy conversation with Ed while he was watching us on the web cam and he screenshotted us waving at the cameras.  The transit was strangely tiring because we had to cater for all of the handlers and advisers and had been told that they expected good cuisine.  Well those of you who know me will have realised that was not a challenge to be ignored.  Needless to say, we ate very well.

Me watching Ed, watching us live on my phone and the web cam

Here we are on the web cam ahead of the ship we were sharing the lock with.  We went behind her on the upward locks, and in front on the downward locks

We had been advised to go through the canal early and not miss out Las Perlas islands on the Pacific side of Panama, so we came through before Christmas and headed for Las Perlas. Strangely, we didn't really feel excited by them; they reminded us of the Rosario islands off Colombia which are not as fabulous as the Caribbean islands or San Blas and the snorkelling is very limited.  Maybe we are just getting too spoiled by the beauty and breath taking places we have seen in the last 6 years and our expectations are now hard to meet. However our experience of the Pacific so far, is that it is absolutely teeming with large shoals of fish and we have friends ahead of us who have encountered numerous whales.  We are hoping to see some stunning marine life and to catch some fish to supplement our diet enroute to French Polynesia. If we can't catch anything here, Greg should hang up his rod. 

Almost everyone we meet is keen to leave Panama.  Mind you, some of them have been here for years but even those that have been here for a few months seem very keen to get going.  It feels like Crewe station -  a place to pass through, but not necessarily stay for a long time. 

Considering Panama is at a major crossing point for the world's shipping, its hard to understand why everything boat related seems so difficult to source here and why everything is so expensive. Many people have been stuck here waiting months and months for parts, and have missed their weather windows for onward travel.  Our advice would be to pick up as many spares as you can in the Caribbean and get as much technical work done there before you get down to Colombia and Panama.  If you need work with cheap labour that doesn't require a lot of spare parts or high level skills, Colombia is your place, but if you need any technical parts they are very very hard to source and take an eternity to arrive.  That problem seems even worse in Panama.  This is especially the case if you have a European boat rather than one splashed in the USA. We are now almost entirely reliant on bringing spare parts back with us from UK, and its important to have spares of spares for the Pacific.

So, in 2022, we have spent time in Antigua, Barbuda, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada, Carriacou, Bequia, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Bonaire, Colombia, Peru and Panama and hands down the stand out place to visit and spend time was Colombia.  If you have never been, add it to your list.  It is surprisingly fabulous and all the stories we heard about it being dangerous. proved to be unfounded from our experience. 

We stayed for over four months and in that time met a lot of people, sailors, people who had retired to Colombia and Colombians.  It became clear why its a place of choice for retirement for many American citizens, a bit in the same way that Spain has been from Brits for many years.  What a vibrant, colourful and friendly place it is. Here are the main reasons why Colombia is our favourite place of 2022;

1. Its interesting

There is nothing boring about Colombia.  Every day is interesting and for those of us lucky enough to be travelling with funds from our home country, it is possible to choose what you do every day.  There is a blend of city buzz as well as opportunities to spend time in remote areas of mountains, lakes, coastal waters, and rainforest.

The old and the new in the city of Cartagena

Rainforest and mountains in Minca

Wildlife 

2. Its cheap

The average wages here are about a third of the UK and prices reflect that across the board, in shops, restaurants and when paying for work to be done on the boat.  We have had deck caulking, new cockpit cushions, new curtains, boat bottom cleaned, boat stainless steel and gelcoat cleaned, and sails repaired all at very good prices.  

 

New curtains being fitted 

New cockpit cushions are a big improvement

Yellow taxis are everywhere and are strictly regulated for price.  a normal ride costs approx £2 anywhere in the city. 

3. Retirement made easy apparently.  It is apparently easy to be granted a retirement visa in Colombia if you have proof of pension and the tax burden is negligible. If you are land based rather that boat living, property is cheap to rent and buy. We met quite a few people enjoying their later years here. 

4 . It is not in the hurricane zone which is a major plus for those of us travelling by boat.  It means you can spend time here at any point in the year, although the humidity is pretty bad in the wet season. 

5. Its colourful - we have been struck by the vibrant colours of everything from the street art, the clothes, the buildings everything feels very alive. 

Typical restaurant with colourful furniture and staff wearing traditional colourful clothing 

The Sheesha tourist buses are all very colourful day and night 

The street art is spectacular 

Umbrella street in Getsemane

Guatape is a very colourful town 

6. The dancing and nightlife.  If you like dancing, this is a great place to spend time. everybody seems to love dancing and they don't need a designated dance floor to do it.  Spontaneous dancing often breaks out in bars and on the streets. 

Tucandella doesn't let the lack of space stop the DJ 

We just came upon this crowd of people dancing spontaneously in the middle of the day, outside the metro in Medellin

Its easy to find classes for Rumba, Zumba and Salsa. The gym also does classes which are excellent. 

We also frequented some good night clubs including Tucandela, Sirena and the best of the best in the old town was Cruz Cruscada.

Roof top club at Sirena had a good DJ 

Roof top nightclub in Cartagena old town opposite the clock tower - pricey drinks

Some people have a nightclub experience being driven around the town dancing to
very loud music on the Sheesha buses 

7. The food

We love South American food.  The supermarkets are well stocked and extremely cheap and restaurants have a great range of healthy and tasty food, also at 'silly not to' prices, which makes a nice change after the eye watering prices in the supermarkets and restaurants in the Caribbean.  

People eat a lot of fruit.  There are fruit sellers pushing their barrows of prepared fruit on every street and many people even eat fruit in the evening when out on the town, rather than buying a bag of chips after the pub.  

Mr Miyagi -my  favourite restaurant for sushi

Greg's favourite lunch restaurant - Maria Benito

Greg made this Pisco sour after a cooking lesson 

There are exotic cocktails galore, some taste better than others, but the price makes them worth trying.  This one looked better than it tasted at Celele

The meat counter in the supermarket - note the price - about 65c per 1lb

Colombia is THE place to provision big time if you can

8. Safety 

Its possible to anchor safely in Cartagena for free but pay for docking the dinghy at either Club Nautica or Club de Pesca.  There is no dinghy dock where you can safely leave a dinghy otherwise. The dinghy docking fee also gets you access to showers and laundry and the marina restaurant at Club de Pesca.  

The marinas have great security and we felt very safe at all times.  Out and about in the towns there is a strong police presence and things felt under control, certainly in the central, business and tourist areas where we spent most of our time. We walked everywhere and didn't encounter a single problem. Colombian people seem very friendly, willing to help and keen to make sure you like and have a positive experience in their country .

Our very safe marina in Cartagena, Club de Pesca was right in the city centre
- you could not have asked for a better location 

9. Medical treatment is good quality and inexpensive

I have taken advantage of some of the services rather than wait to get back to UK.  Firstly I went to an optician and got new prescription sunglasses for reading  I had excellent service from the Visionarios, the glasses (Raybans) arrived promptly and were half the price of Vision Express.

Inspired by my optical success, I decided that after over 5 years in the sun, I should find a specialist dermatologist and get all of my freckly, vulnerable skin checked for any signs of damage.  The optician helped with translation and made an appointment for me for the next day!  I had a full skin check, seven moles removed, four sent off for biopsy which came back all clear thank goodness and follow up appointments.  All very efficient and total cost less than £100.  I have been prescribed factor 99 sun cream now though.

Next stop the dentist.  If only I had discovered Maria Arriez sooner.  In the same specialist centre as Dr Nancy, the dermatologist, Maria did some cosmetic work on my teeth which is a big improvement.  She speaks perfect English! If I had more time I could have had a new bridge to replace the one I've had for almost 50 years and is in need of upgrading.   The costs are tiny compared to UK.  So, if any of you are travelling this way, I recommend giving her a call.  

10. Fitness

There is a good attitude to fitness in Colombia, with many outdoor gyms provided for free and outdoor fitness classes run in the early morning or evening when the temperatures are cooler. There are modern gyms with air con as well.  We joined the SmartFit gym in the mall in Cartagena for £13 per month and went virtually every day.   

Orlando at SmartFit, causing me pain on a daily basis

11.  It is easy to travel to access to other places.  Air travel is easy and also not too expensive, so we took the opportunity to visit other places while we were based in Cartagena.  

Greg enjoying the view of the lakes at Guatape and testing a Margherita

We took trips to Medellin 

View of part of Medellin from the cable car

Too much graffiti to take in at Comuna 13

and to Cusco and Machu Pichu in Peru from here which are easy hops by plane.  

We treated ourselves to the Vistadome train to get to Machu Pichu from Cusco
well worth it - the scenery was spectacular 

Literally achieving a lifetime ambition on my 68th birthday 

Interesting to learn how the shape of the windows protect from earthquakes

Our new pal - baby alpaca clothing on sale everywhere 

12. Sewing services

Like everything else, clothes and shoes are inexpensive in Colombia.  I bought quite a few new items and also used the services of a dress maker.  I bought an outfit which I absolutely loved, so I took it into a recommended dress maker and asked if they could make a replica in a different colour and fabric.  I chose and provided the fabric which cost me £3.50 per metre.  There are loads of fabric shops here.  Hey presto, took it in on Friday, got a WhatsApp to say it was ready on Tuesday.  It fits perfectly.  I am so pleased.  l also discovered they can make fitted sheets and mattress protectors for weird shaped beds on boats, so I got a mattress cover and fitted sheet for our guest cabin in the forepeak which is a trapezoid shape I  believe.  

So all in all,  Colombia was definitely the experience to beat in 2022 and its pretty high on the list of best places we have been since we set off six years ago.  If 2023 is half as good a year, we will count ourselves very lucky.   

Wishing a happy and healthy new year to you all.