Our First Long Day-sail

 A cold front approaches this part of the Caribbean, bringing slightly cooler temperature and cloudy sky. We are scheduled to move our boat to Shelter Bay Marina, about 30 miles west, closer to city conveniences. The forecast calls for moderate wind and rain showers, pretty benign. A bit of rain? We can handle that. We go offshore a few miles to stay away from the larger waves that form as the land shoals.  Wind on the beam at 15 knots. We go with slightly reduced sails and are making good progress. Then the rain starts.

“Good thing the forecast doesn’t say there will be squalls”.

“I wonder what’s that big ugly patch of dark clouds with lots of white-caps underneath.”

“Wow, that looks like a squall!!”

Preceded by a sudden drop in air temperature, the squall hits with fierce wind and waves. The boat heels way over, the auto-pilot get overwhelmed and gives up, letting the boat to head into wind to reduce the wind pressure. Lots of scrambling to reduce sails. Whew, we get through our first squall!!

Eliza at the helm battling gusty winds and following seas. She does a good job...almost as good as the autopilot!

One rain squall after another. Tired of reefing and unreefing, we just left the genoa deeply reefed. Still making good progress at 6 knots.

A few hours later, we approach the Panama Canal entrance. The marina is situated just inside the massive breakwater of the canal entrance, and every ship intending to enter needs to get instruction from the canal controller to get lined up. Giant cargo ships all around us, mostly anchored to wait for their turn. We see a small warship making seemingly slow progress for the line up to enter. Quick, lets get ahead of her!! Actually, visual speed is deceiving from a distance. She’s a lot bigger and faster than it seem, not to mention probably armed to the teeth. We put our tail between our shrouds and prudently headed off to follow the warship.

This warship racing in front of us to line up for entrance to the Canal.

It's two-way traffic at the breakwater; a massive freighter goes by. Whew, this is a bit close!

The Canal breakwater is a massive, two miles long man-made barrier built to provide a huge sheltered harbor for ships lining up to transit the canal. The breakwater works well for us: Just after we enter the harbor, another massive squall hits. The sky darkens, great sheets of rain make it nearly impossible to see, and big waves crash over the breakwater from the open-ocean side. Inside the barrier, the water is flat.

A regatta of large catamarans is departing the marina for their scheduled canal transit, and we are made to wait 40 minutes before the marina is cleared for us to enter for our slip. Finally, after a fairly long day, we are safely tied down at our slip, at this massive modern marina.

 The wind abated slightly today, perfect for a morning excursion. The previous owners Michel and Michele join us for this outing. With their help and the dock-hands from the marina, we back out of our slip, the wind blowing on the bow and threatening to push our boat onto the neighboring boat. The bow thruster comes in handy and helps to make the tight turn. Maneuvering in a tight marina on a windy day is often more challenging than sailing!

Right outside the marina, through a narrow passage that the chart indicates as too shallow (incorrectly), is a large bay surrounded by tropical foliage. This anchorage is protected by Isla Linton, a large uninhabited island that has been turned into a nature reserve with beautiful beaches and abundant flora and fuana - including spider monkeys. This weekend is 'Four Day before Lent', a religious holiday, a carnival. Everyone is out for a good time, in all sizes of boats. Lots of boats are anchored here, some for months.

Beyond the calm of the sheltered bay, the ocean beacons: Rocky ledges, sand bars and reefs ring the inlet, breaking waves pounding the shoals.

Today's wind has slightly diminished from the strong winds of the last two weeks, but it's still the relentless tradewind: 15 knots from north-east. 6-8 feet sea. We sail with a slight reef, heading into wind, doing 4.5 knots at 35 degree true. Not too bad. It's a sailor thing - all this work and go at a speed not much faster than walking. But we are happy.

Where do Retired Sailors Go?

While we are staying at Linton Bay Marina putting things in order, the previous owners Michel and Michele take us under their wings and go out of their way to help us with the boat, assist us on logistics, and also introduce us to some of their friends. Meet Monique and Jean Claude, another French cruising couples who had sailed around much of the world and a few years ago ended their cruising journey here in Panama. They took up Panamanian residency and bought a rural property not far from the marina. The Linton Bay area is next to a National Park, dotted with unspoiled islands and beautiful beaches. A short distance inland the landscape is hilly in tropical green even in the dry season (now). Their property is on a hill, and over several years they turned it into an amazing terraced garden with profusion of trees, flowering plants, and fruits. Stone-paved paths carve the hilly slopes into attractive plots; great varieties of plants are painstaking nurtured in every corner. An open-air terrace overlooks distant hills and pastures, shade trees temper the sun’s rays, and a persistent breeze from the ocean keeps the house cool. It’s pleasant here, year-round. Monique treats us to an afternoon snack of cake and drinks – she made the delicious coconut cake served with meringue cream. French hospitality at its best! C’est le vie!

 

Three Rivers: A New Chapter

The world is still an oyster, and life is still like a box of chocolate. Ten years after we left our cruising life in the Mediteranean Seas, we are at it again - this time in the Caribbean with a Nauticat 37. Buying the boat is the easy part; the challenge is dealing with bureaucrats in three countries (France, Canada, Panama) and sorting through the registraton process, flag changing, naming, insurance ... each piece of puzzle is dependent on all the other ones. It takes a zen type of mind to not go crazy!

Our 'new' boat, a Nauticat 37

       

Linton Bay Marine

 

Special Introductory Discount for my book:

A Warm Sea - Dreaming of Sailing and Making It Happen:

Tales of our cruising life in the Mediterranean  is available as an ebook through Smashwords:

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/417662

Special price $2.99, vs regular price $6.99. Please use promotion code EG63X. Offer valid until April 15, 2014. I would appreciate your feedback comments, please provide them at Smashwords' website.

My Book: A Warm Sea

Please check out my book, A Warm Sea. In it you will find the full story of our cruising adventures. You will find more interesting stories, better pictures, and more details on sail handling. I hope you will enjoy it.

For a sample of the book and ordering, please visit:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/417662

Book Summary:
This is the whimsical story of a couple who decided to leave their comfortable suburban life in Canada and embark on a journey of exploration and self-discovery by living on board their sailboat and cruising the Mediterranean. More of a travelogue than a sailing how-to, this book takes the readers through the joys and challenges of the cruising life. Starting with how they became attracted to sailing in their hometown in southern Ontario, through how they acquired the sailing skills and competencies for sailing in open waters, selecting a suitable boat, and sailing to and visiting exotic countries throughout the Mediterranean, the book is written with poise and humor. It is about life under the perpetual blue sky, on the warm waters of the Mediterranean Sea, the fascinating and varied cultures and histories from the Middle East to the Tuscan Islands, the warm and friendly people they met, the challenges of the boating life, and the irresistible cuisines. The book contains enough details on sailing to whet the appetite of the readers who are sailors, while introducing the world of boat handling to non-sailors without getting technical. For the arm-chair sailors and dreamers, this book vividly illustrates how a couple-next-door pursued and realized their dream. Yes, you can do it too!

Thanks for visiting!
Ben Ho

Licata Oct. 7, 2012

We finally arrived at Licata Marina, the winter home for our boat this year. Licata is a medium-sized city, off the beaten track and completely not a tourist town. The marina is very big and only two years old. They have an ambitious plan for this marina and someday it is expected to be a mega marina accommodating over 500 boats, with a luxury condo recreation development. But for now it has only two long pontoons with about a hundred boats. So for now it's a bit quiet, but it's a first-classs marina. All the services are in places, with a nice washroom/shower building, Starbucks-grade coffee house, chandery, and a large, modern mall with a well-stocked supermarket is a short walk away. The coffee house is very nice, and not expensive. We've spent many lazy afternoons there



Licata Marina grounds

The coffee shop at the marina. 

Browsing travel magazines at the coffee house

The larger cruising boats are all on one pontoon. It's a very international scene, a mix of French, Belgium, Germans, Americans, Kiwis, and even some Canadians! Everyone is very friendly, and we feel quite at home here. The city is a typical mid-size Sicily town, with a bustling old-town, some old churches, squares where old men sit around. It's not overly attractive, but it's safe and friendly, and there are lots of shops within a short walk that met our daily needs. Ben found a neighborhood barbershop, where one can have a nice Italian haircut for about half the price of that back home in Canada. He likes it short and spiky..