On our way to the Galapagos.

Sunday morning the 27th of January, we were down below when we heard something scraping on our chain.(we knew this because we had heard our chain scraping against stuff before) I popped out of the cabin looking for danger, thinking that we were dragging and going to fall into the Catamaran behind us and cause damage that we couldn’t afford to repair. However, the situation was worse. A recreational weekend power boat of about 33 feet had his anchor caught upon our anchor chain. He apparently had anchored too close to us and found this out when his friend brought up his anchor with our chain dangling from it. This was a bad situation. Looking past his boat I could see a huge gust of wind coming to inevitably push the powerboat into us as its anchor slid down our chain towards our bow. That poor friend tried frantically to get the anchor off, the skipper tried going forward, putting our chain half under his boat, directly in front of our bow. I ran to the front cursing, trying to give direction to let the anchor out so that they didn’t put their boat into our bow, creating a reverse t-bone if you know what I mean. About three feet from impact he threw his boat in reverse, with I on the bow, doing what I could to fend him off, but the maneuver was too late, as I stepped back (didn’t want to lose and arm or leg) and watched as his starboard stanchion caught or bow roller, bending the guard until they passed one another allowing unfettered access of our stainless roller to his polished fiberglass deck. SKKKKKRRRRR! And like that he now had a three foot by half inch scrape from his deck. Miraculously, in the midst of all this, the anchor had popped off our chain before he would have wrapped around and slammed his starboard side into our port side creating a severely dangerous and unwanted rafting. As he idled away I cursed some more and checked for damage to see if we were going to have to call the police on him. Luckily, he had only bent the anchor guard, about 20 degrees, still functional, and that was it. No fiberglass damage and the bow roller didn’t bend sideways. Tuesday we had borrowed a few charts from another boat to make copies as we hadn’t bought any charts nor the electronic charts of the pacific for our GPS system. When we arrived at the copy store after walking for an hour in the sweltering noon sun we realized that we had either lost or forgot a set of charts for the Galapagos hoping dearly it was the latter. Luckily they were still on the boat and after a 10 min taxi ride back to the copy shop we now had a three hundred dollar set of charts for less than twenty-five dollars. Wednesday morning I was asked by the couple in the cat behind us if Keith or I wanted to be line handlers for them going through the canal to the Caribbean. From the Pacific side it is only supposed to take a day, so I agreed to do it with them on Thursday. Before I get ahead of myself, we were supposed to be line handlers on a boat with a couple of Polish men that we had met back in Colon who were scheduled to go through on that Monday. However, when we arrived Sunday evening they told us that the Canal authority rescheduled them for Thursday. Not wanting to stay in Colon for another three days and short on cash we decided it would be best to get back to Longshot. That night, while I was busy talking to Kenzi through Skype and arranging my finances Keith had worked out a deal to give them a 12 pack of beer for a guitar that one of the Pols was looking to offload. Wednesday We gave a call to our friend Juan Pablo who we had met at the Jazz fest and was kind enough to take us the Price Mart, basically a Sam’s Club, and helped us provision with enough processed food to last us until Samoa if not farther. This includes foods like Snak Pacs, Canned meats and veggies, fruit cups, Candy bars, ginger ale. and our staple, Ramen noodles. Don’t worry, were also included normal, wholesome foods like bread, cheese, and meat. We packed it all into his diesel pathfinder (which I think is awesome) and we all headed back to the dock. On the way we all became so very hungry but Keith and I were just going to eat on the boat but Juan and his girlfriend, Marylyn insisted that we all go out for dinner at a restaurant right around the corner from the dock. We tried but couldn’t turn away a meal with these great people. It ended up being one of the best experiences thus far. The restaurant ended up being this great fish place but Keith and then I ordered rib eyes, hungry for some red meat! We explained to Juan that we hadn’t had much thus far and cant keep any long enough to have out at sea where we could always get fresh fish. Juan got a kick out of this and out of all the stories of our voyage that we had shared with them that night. In a moment of reflection, to me, it’s a great feeling to have someone genuinely interested in your stories, and secondly, great to be able to tell these stories. Before leaving on Longshot I never felt that I had any stories worth telling anyone and therefore was a pretty quiet person. Now that I have some in which I feel I interesting, I have realized that I always had stories, that even the simple things, like how Keith and I became great friends, are great stories. Before the end of the night Juan Pablo and Marylyn wanted to see what our boat was like. Of course, to get the full experience they had to take our dingy, dubbed by other sailors as “the smallest dingy in the world” out to Longshot. So, the three of us set off from the dock, sic inches from the black water under a moonless sky. Thought nothing of it but Juan decided to tell me, when we were mid way, that he had a phobia of the dark water of night! However, he was animate about seeing the layout of Longshot and when I asked if I should turn around, he told me to keep going, that even the water was something that bothered him he really wanted to experience our boat. Once on the boat, he was impressed that we didn’t have food and parts all out in the open and that the two of us could live in such close quarters. I told him that it wasn’t that tough, but that like anyone else, we do have disagreements sometimes. By the end of the night we had been invited out to Marylyn’s vacation house in West panama which was right on the beach. We said, just give us the name of the town and a couple of landmarks and we’ll find it from the sea, and stop in, as it is most likely on our way to the Galapagos. We didn’t know it but an amazing Bon voyage was in store for us Sunday, February third. I still had to go through the canal one more time and on Thursday morning departed On Sol Surfin, with Gary and Celeste, two very kindhearted people that I am glad to have become friends with. The first half of the trip went relatively smoothly with a bit of worry that we wouldn’t make it to the next set of locks on time to make it through in a day. It didn’t matter too much to me as I looked forward to a night and another day of Celeste’s cooking. That night Gary busted out his guitar and Celeste, her drum, and sang a bunch of great tunes, some I which I hadn’t heard and our now favorites such as “Southern Cross”. The layover in the lake also presented me with an opportunity to swim with the crocodiles in the famed Gantun lake, one that I regrettably passed on during our own transit on Longshot. The water was so clean and refreshing! It felt great not to have a salty residue left behind. Hopefully it also left behind my uncanny ability to pass on doing important little things in life. Stuff that may not seem important but is oh so healthy for the soul. We had reached the Colon yacht club Friday evening and I came to find out that the pollacks had blown their reverse gear in the lock. I asked the mate if I could have the guitar for twenty dollars but the captain interrupted, “NO!, The guitar is mine for the long voyage!” And then yelled to his friend, “There is no time, this is the critical moment!” I peeked around the corner and could see his hands around the gear in the flooded engine room. See that it was critical, I wished them luck and ran back to the dock to meet up with the other guys getting a taxi ride back to Panama city with me. The ride ended up being the craziest taxi ride of my life. We were in this beat old diesel Landcruiser that smoked like a sailor and swayed like a swing in the wind. At one point three lanes merged to one and the guy in the front passenger seat thought for sure that we were going to meet our end as leaned into the middle of the car, basically sitting in the middle seat, with his seatbelt on. Somehow, we squeezed passed the car and tractor trailer by what had to be inches on both sides. Similar events happened the whole two hour ride but by some means we made it, safe and sound. The next morning, Saturday, we had made the decision to see a bit of carnivale that afternoon and head out for Marylyn’s that night around 10 to put us at anchor around 9 am Sunday. So, after getting the boat in order we went into Balboa and experienced a street parade in which the theme for each float was a culture, Greek, Egyptian, and so forth. Check out the pictures. We ended up being covered from head to toe in confetti and Keith had received a face full of flour, some kind of flirting deal as it was all girls who attacked us. It was a great fun but alas, after funding a stage in which a salsa band was warming up on, we had to leave to leave the city and make our way towards Marylyn’s. Motor sailing through the night we arrived in the general area of the house around seven am and found it around eight thirty, dropped anchor and Juan Pablo flagged us down from ashore. We went in by dingy and Marylyn and Juan invited us in for a breakfast. After the filling and delicious food, and our go ogling over the pool and atrium Juan Pablo and his friend Chris too us to see the stables and mini zoo located within this up and coming resort town which is being built by the former CEO of the Bank of Panama, who is currently running for President, and whose son had graduated from Cornell a few years before Keith and I. The mini zoo has all sorts of birds but the most interesting and fascinating to all of us were the monkeys. We were able to get up close and personal with them, study their hands and faces from only inches away. They were fierce, screeching, and howling, and reminded me of the monkey soldiers from the Wizard of Oz. After the zoo, another one of JP’s friends, Rodger, from JCB, arrived and we kicked of the BBQ firing up the coals on the outdoor BBQ grill. They loaded it with so much chicken, burgers, and a huge roast, that we had more than enough food for thirty people even though at the height of the BBQ, there were only 15 of us. Marylyn’s parents didn’t speak much English, and I am a Spanish illiterate so Keith was able to talk with the family a get a more of a sense of the older culture while I spent most of my time at the grill and in the pool with Juan Pablo and friends. One of the most important moments from that day was when Marylyn’s mother greeted us. She said, “I don’t speak very good English but wanted to say that my house is your house, and to feel at home.” I had never met anyone before who would let two strangers into their home, feed them and make them feel at home! I only hope to meet more people like these along our voyage. After the amazing BBQ and the Superbowl with Juan Pablo and friends John and I returned to the boat for some much needed shut eye. The anchor was rather uncomfortable as it was pretty unprotected, but we managed to get a few hours of shuteye before waking up early the morning of Feb. 4th ready the boat for the 1000 mile sail to the Galapagos. Before I go any further I want to take a moment to define a sailing term and explain what we expected on this sail. The term- it will become important latter- Beating: Sailing as close as possible into the direction of the wind. What we expected, according to several sailor who had made the passage and the Jimmy Cornell’s book World Cruising Routes (regarded by sailors as “The Bible”), was light winds for most of the voyage and the wind would blow from all directions BUT west. Furthermore, a southwest flowing current should push us towards the Galapagos. That is what we expected…. Things started pretty well for us. The first 6 days were very light winds, in fact, at one point we were under bare poles, and we were still drifting at 3 knots towards the Galapagos thanks to the strong current out of the Gulf of Panama that was expected. We ran the engine for about 3 hours each day and were averaging about 60 nautical miles per day. Often when running the engine groups of dolphins would surface to play in our bow wave. I don’t mean 2 or 3, it was more like 20 or 30. They were literally 3 feet from john and I when we stood on the bow and watched them--there are pictures of some of them on the photo page. The rest of the first week is pretty uneventful. John and I played a lot of rummy (a card game) and I drank a few glasses of red wine with the sunsets. Up until day 8 the weather was very nice- highs in the mid 90s, mostly sunny and light winds, that all changed on the 9th day. The winds started to pick up out of the west. Now this wasn’t expected, but we decided to use the 15 knot winds to head south toward the equator. We made great time, in fact we covered almost 300 miles in just over 2 days. As such, at 5:20 AM on Feb. 13 we crossed over the equator for the first time. A brief side note: there are many superstitions in sailing such as never starting a voyage on Friday, not carrying bananas onboard, and the like. Now neither John nor I are terribly superstitious so we don’t adhere to most, but we did feel it necessary to follow the one pertaining to crossing the equator. You are supposed to pour out 1 drink of your best alcohol on board for the sea and take one drink yourself. This supposedly ensures safe passage until you cross the equator again. This is why you will see a picture of me drinking at 5 am and also pouring rum into the sea, not because I am a raging alcoholic. One more note, 2 drinks were poured into the sea- one for safe passage and one for the memory of our recently passed friend Collin Haight. Back to the sailing. After crossing the equator the winds died down, which was expected. What was not expected, however, was the 2-3 knot current flowing east. Thus, with no wind and a strong current in the exact wrong direction (we were parallel with Galapagos now and only needed to head 300 miles west) all we could do was drift east. We don’t carry enough diesel to motor that distance, and when we did motor we were only able to manage 2-3 knots because the current was so strong. Here is were that sailing term comes into play. As is always the case, the winds eventually started blowing again, however, they were still blowing from the west. Thus, with no other options, we were forced to beat into the winds until something changed, Well, the winds never changed and the current never let up. We spent the next 5 days on a 20-30 degree heel (how far the boat is leaning to one side) and with our bow crashing through 6-8 feet waves. John had a saying, “Keith, they don’t call it beating for nothing.” How right he was-- all day and night we crashed into or through waves and stood on the walls. To add further pleasure to our voyage, Ithaca, New York decided to visit the equator. I swear to you the sun has not shone for more than a half hour for 9 days and it has rained every single day. Here John and I were thinking we were as far away from that weather as possible. Yet, half a world away it still managed to find us. Despite cursing it now, the rain did offer a few good things. We managed to rig a bucket up under the main sail and catch falling rain water. In fact we caught so much that we actually ended the 18 day sail with more water than we started!!! Furthermore, the rain allowed us fresh water showers- a rare delight in the sailing world. There is one very memorable moment during the week long beat, and below is my journal entry from Feb. 12. I was setting in the cockpit, while John was down below reading- I think. I was positioned in such a way that I was looking off the stern of the boat. I was watching the confused sea, thinking “What the hell is all this bull?!? The winds are supposed to be out of the south or east-- NOT west. The current is supposed to be pushing us west-- NOT east!!!” I was just starting to get really frustrated when…. Click------click-------click----click-click-click-click-click-click. I knew the sound, it was the sound the fishing reel made when the drag was beginning to slip. I looked over at the reel mounted off the back of the boat and at that exact moment the line begins screaming off the reel and all I hear is ziiiiiippppppp. I hurtle over the tiller and put my hand on the reel and try to start reeling. It is no use, whatever is on the other end is too big and the reel’s gears can’t bring the line in. So I grasp the line with my hand as just as it reaches the end. I start pulling it in with one hand and reeling the slack with the other hand. I yell to John, “Get the gloves! I am gonna need the gloves!” Before I even finish saying it, he is behind me with the gloves. I throw them on my hands, so the line doesn’t cut them, and them I continue to bring the fish in. After about 20 minutes of hand fighting the fish is next to the boat. John has been steering the boat in such a way so the waves were helping me fight the fish. With the fish now next to the boat, I hand John the line and tell him to walk forward- as he does the fish, smartly tried to dive under the boat, but I had anticipated this and was leaning over the side. I grabbed the wire lead and he was heading under and when the wire went tight the fish jerked sideways for a second. It was all I needed, I shot my gloved hand behind its gills and with all my strength hurled the fish into the cockpit (my legs were wrapped around a rope). As I lean up and turn around I see john jumping off the cockpit floor onto the seat yelling, “It will bite your toes off!!” At first I laughed but after looking inside the mouth of the 4’4” Mahi Mahi I realized we was right. I quickly held the fish down and let it suffocate in the air. Once dead, we picked it up and estimated it weight at between 35-40 pounds. As is the rule- I caught it so it was my job to clean it. It was a massive chore, but in the ended we now have 5 zip-lock bags full of fresh fish. That, course, doesn’t count the 2 lbs that we ate for sushi immediately after cleaning it. For the next few days we ate fish, and just as our stores of fish were running low, John pulled in another Mahi Mahi, this one about 15 to 20 pounds. The rest of the sail was pretty much the same slow, uncomfortable beating, but alas we finally made landfall on Feb. 19. As the crow flies, it is only 1000 miles from Panama to the Galapagos, but we sailed a little over 1400 miles because we had to keep tacking back in forth through the wind. It wasn’t the most enjoyable sail, but we are thankful for a safe passage and look forward to experiencing some of the most unique wildlife the Earth has to offer here. (I am sure most of you know, the wildlife here is led to Darwin’s famous book On the origin of Species, which is the basis of evolutionary biology.) A few other memorable things: A bird landed on the stern of our boat on top of the dinghy engine. I wanted to harass it, but John protested. As the saying goes, “No good deed goes unpunished.” Sure enough about 5 minutes later the bird decided to use our dingy motor for a toilet and relieved itself all over the top of it, painting it white for several hours. Needless to say the bird was no longer welcome on Longshot. I saw a 6 feet shark (grey in color) jump 2 feet out of the water. I assume it was chasing prey, but as the moment only lasted a fraction of a second I wasn’t able to take a picture. We also so a large sea turtle drifting with the current. We motored over to him and took a few pictured but he wasn’t too impressed with us, never once giving a look. (There is a picture of it on the website.) Lastly, we hear most other sailors complaining about flying fish finding new homes on boats. We have had three plus squid join our voyage but not one flying fish. We don’t know what to make of it.