Tortola - British Virgin Islands to Panama

by Irene Bates on 27 May 2007 The Lagoon 500 Sailaway IV is on a delivery trip from France to Port Douglass near Cairns in Australia.

Crew Irene Bates is reporting on the trip. 'On Saturday the 3rd of March we stepped onboard Sailaway IV at Nanny Cay Marina. The marina is about eight kilometers west of Tortola’s capital – Roadtown.

We’re pleased to be ‘back at work’ and preparing the boat for the 1050 mile sail to Panama. There’s a lot to do as we target a departure date for Tuesday the 6th and with Monday scheduled as a local public holiday there’s little time to spare.

We work through our long checklist: Tensioning rigging, replacing a water impellor on the gen set, cleaning all filters, removing and stowing external cushions, fixing catches as we go and finally the provisioning.

'I suffer a very painful Sunday night' Irene explains. 'My right ear is badly swollen-a result of too many Caribbean swims and I need immediate medical help and medication. Luckily we have a local contact and I’m very grateful to Norma Eagle for her assistance and support – arranging a Doctors public holiday appointment & driving me to and from the surgery.'

At 11.30 am on Tuesday 6th March and with a fully belly of fuel and water we depart Nanny Cay Marina bound for Panama.

Winds of force 4-6 from the South East to East provide good sailing conditions with an average speed of 6.7 knots over our first 48 hour ‘run’.

At around 0100 on the 10th March the wind increases to a constant force 6 and as we watch the wind climb to 30+ knots we prepare and secure reef 3 and 30% jib – for the next 24 hours we average 8.1 knots.

The wind hangs in – force 6-7 over the next 24 hours and the seas begin to build. We record our fastest speed yet a 15.8 ‘surf’ down the face of a wave.

At 23.30 on the 11th March we are ‘beam hit’ by an enormous wave of solid water: Sailaway lurches sideways, to Starboard and water streams into the port hull from a saloon cabin leak we’re yet to discover. Solid water breaks across the upper deck steering position and water cascades into the saloon cabin from the stern cockpit.

We both scramble, searching the decks and below for any damage. It’s a moonless and very unfriendly night but all seems ok. We clean up the water inside have a cup of coffee and wished it was daylight.

At 1700 hours the wind drops away; we start the motors for the final 25+ mile run into Panama;

At 2130 hours we detect a change in engine noise – Morrie instantly shuts down both motors while I grab a torch to search for the cause. We’re astounded; we are dragging a 1 ½ inch silver rope around both hulls and the rope stretches far beyond the torch beam.

'Get the knife' Morrie yells 'I’m going to have to go over the side'. I return with the knife. Sailaway IV does a couple of light bounces and we watch relieved to see the rope float away from the stern.

Its 0030 when we drop anchor at Panama: time for a beer and some sleep.

We averaged 6.7 knots over the passage and were able to sail most of the distance.

We anchor ‘at the Colon flats’ a designated anchoring area for small vessels just outside of the Panama Canal channel.

Panama Yacht Club is a short (fast) 5 minute dinghy ride and on the 13th March we commence the long list of formalities to clear ourselves and Sailaway IV through customs, quarantine and immigration.

We find the easiest method is to hire a local taxi /agent (for US $50) to take us to each of the offices. This proves to be money well spent as the process takes around three hours stopping off for additional visa photos and photocopies of ship’s papers & passports.

The next process requires us to hire lines (4 x 125’ minimum in length) and tyres - as many as can we can fit against the hull. We also commence the negotiation for the hire of four professional line handlers.

The process then moves to the measurement phase this requires an Authority Canal Panama (ACP) officer to board and measure Sailaway IV’s length and breadth (canal transit costs are based on the size of a small vessel) they also measure the lines we’ve hired and check our cleats for strength.

All goes well: we sign all of the papers and receive our ship’s identification number then it’s off once again by taxi to the bank to pay the transit fee - US$850 + buffer fee of US $850.

At 6pm on the day we pay the transit fee we are required to phone the Marine Traffic Scheduler for our transit date. Trouble is there’s only one public phone at the Panama Yacht Club! Morrie finally gets a turn at the phone and we’re shocked to find our transit date is 28th March and with no hope of securing a marina berth we’ll be on anchor for the next 12 days!

This means filling containers with water each time we go ashore to keep our fresh water supply topped up and for those who can appreciate the hard yakka that this requires – the use of onboard fresh water dribbles to a trickle.

It’s hot, very humid and very unsafe for any of Morrie’s ‘discovery walks’ along the streets of Colon. When traveling in the taxi all doors are locked as a precaution and the taxi driver/ agent walks you into and out of the offices. All police are armed; wear bullet proof vests and patrol on fast motor bikes: one riding the bike the other on the back with guns ready.

Our timing at the ‘Colon Flats’ is fortunate. 'Earthrace' prepares to transit the canal and we grab a taxi to Gatum Lock and record this ‘radical’ boat’s transit through the lock. This New Zealand designed boat is attempting the around the world speed record using Bio Diesel.

Waiting to transit the canal is quite frustrating: It’s a matter of waiting our turn with little to do except hang around the Panama Yacht Club waiting for our papers, filling water containers, or take a taxi ride to the supermarket. And, although the wait is long, our views are excellent as we watch the endless convoy of ships of all kinds entering and leaving the canal.

'I’m fortunate and meet David Townsend-a computer guru currently sailing from the UK to Australia.' Irene explained. 'David configured my laptop for wireless and set me up with ‘Skype’ - the computer communication system.

Now I join the cruising yachties at the Panama Yacht Club each afternoon and catch up with friends and family by phone. It’s a great system and my next purchase will have to be a camera.' Irene added.

With one more sleep to go we start the final preparations for the canal transit: More photocopies, for the ‘clearing out’ process, collect our 4 lines, attach all tyres, call the Marine Traffic Scheduler for confirmation and time, finalise our arrangements to pick up our line handlers tomorrow, complete last fresh food shopping.

We’re keen to go as we’ve watched so many other yachts leave the Colon Flats anchorage. Yachts commence the two day transit between 1600 to 2100 hours each day.

To commence the canal transit line handlers must be onboard, all ropes and fenders/tyres in place as it’s a short three mile run to the Gatum Locks from the anchorage. As the scheduled time arrives the pilot boat calls the yacht on VHF and the pilot/advisor boards each yacht.

The Panama Canal is 80 kilometers (50 miles) long from the Atlantic to the Pacific and is carved through one of the narrowest and lowest saddles of the long mountainous isthmus that joins the North and South American continents.
The canal uses a system of locks which operate like water elevators to raise ships from sea level (either on the Atlantic or Pacific side) to the level of Gatun Lake – some 26 meters above sea level.

It requires two days for a yacht to transit the canal as small vessels are only permitted to transit Gatun Lake during daylight hours.

'We’ve hired professional line handlers and these guys will stay onboard with us until we co