Position: We are sailing West South West just of outside the Bay of Panama. N06′ 56.1′ W80’01.8′
Mileage: We do not know exactly, as we are tacking back with the wind coming from the South West
Number of miles to go: 3667nm to go of approx. 3850nm (We finally put a ‘sort of’ track into the plotter and that is the number it came up with.
Fish count: A ‘big ass’ Marlin (sword fish) got off today. So the count remains at 3 Mahi Mahi, 2 Cero and 2 tuna. Still after a yellow finned tuna!
MORE SQUALLS LAST NIGHT
We have escaped the lightning, but not the rain. I hid below decks, but pitied the human that had to stand up there and get soaked for hours. At least it is the tropics and, although the rain is cold, the air is still warm. We could not all hide down below because there was a lot of traffic coming into and out of the Bay of Panama for the Canal. We are just a little sail boat with no AIS transponder, so we wanted to make extra sure that they did not hit us.
GETTING OUR SEA LEGS
The humans and I are just getting our sea legs back. It usually takes us all a day or two. The first section of the Pacific crossing is to wind. This means the boat is heeled over to one side. It is also bobbing up and down, and a bit side to side, as the waves pass underneath us. This means cooking and dish washing is all done tilted and bobbing about. Do not ask how difficult it is for me to balance while going to the toilet. So things are a little harder to do. The humans are also getting ‘broken’ sleeps as they are running shift patterns on the helm. It will take them a few days for their bodies to adjust to the new sleeping patterns. It is easy for me. I am a dog. I just nap when and where I please.
THE MONSTER FISH
One of the fishing rods ‘seriously’ started rolling off line mid afternoon. All hands aboard to try to get the fish under control or cut the line. Just then a GIANT Marlin broke the surface and did the most amazing acrobatics mid air. The leader snapped and everyone was filled with a mixture of relief and disappointment. It would be great to reel in one of those monsters, but then what would you do with it? But at least we found out who stole Mike and Flosses lure when they passed this way.
WHAT NEXT
Well we plan to head west south west and pass north of the Galapagos Islands. We are told if we stay north of these islands, even if the winds dies, we will have favorable currents. We have friends on another sailing boat ahead of us. They have been becalmed, motoring and have had an adverse current. We do not fancy getting suck in that situation. So we are aiming to stay a little north of their route.
We are lucky to have wind, but it is on the nose. Sail boats can not sail directly into the wind. So we sail for a little while on one side of the wind, than change the sails over to the other side of the boat and sail the other side of the wind. It is called tacking, and sailors are lying if they tell you they enjoy traveling this way. It adds a lot of miles to your journey compared to being able to make a ‘bee line’ for your destination. Our chart plotters really do not tell us the miles we actually sail each day. They can only tell us how many miles to a spot, so we have adjusted our mileage above to match the chart plotter.
Hopefully the winds keep up and change a little more favorably in our direction. We also hope we have cleared the thunderstorms of Panama.
SEEMS OUR LUCK HAS CHANGED AND HOPEFULLY THE DOLPHINS ARE A GOOD SIGN FOR A PLEASANT JOURNEY AHEAD. END
