SAFE ARRIVAL IN BAHÍA
Bahía de Caraquéz, Ecuador , Friday Noon, April 11, 2008

Well, here I am! After nineteen days and probably 1,000 sea miles, I’m here! All my bits and pieces still together - except for a big bruise on my shank when I was thrown in the cockpit on the first and nearly only windy day back near Panamá, a pinched finger when I tried to anchor this morning, and a sunburnt nose from cockpit duty whilst motoring. No damage to the boat. I hope nobody had to worry much. I asked three or four ships to send Kathleen emails to say that the voyage was going very, very slowly and do not know at this point if they actually made it through.

After the first couple of brisk days off Panamá, I was becalmed for days on end and in the end sailed – almost drifted – nearly to The Galapagos before I could get enough of an angle in the SE wind to turn towards Ecuador. Even then, it was mighty slow. But, I was determined to actually sail it. And in the end, except for about 30 hours altogether, including battery charging and the last 75 miles into Bahía, I did it nearly completely without using the engine. I probably used only about 10 or 15 gallons of fuel altogether. Except for reefing at the beginning, I hardly ever touched the sails except to trim for wind and going from a port tack to a starboard tack to make Ecuador. The new sails performed really well and look a treat. But even the best sails are useless without some wind to fill them.

I read eleven books, watched four DVDs, use up all my wine and beer (three six-packs went to panga fishermen along the way), ATE ALL MY COOKIES, and am left with three onions, ten potatoes, two limes and a ginger root. Never wanted for food. Had enough water, although I gave a few gallons to panga fishermen along the way (What’s the deal with those guys? Don’t they have enough food and water for their two-week shifts?) One panga fishermen gave me three salted fish; they stored well but it takes a little getting used to. I caught a couple of fish along the way but mostly lived from provisions I brought with me. Canned beans are important. Mainly it was tedious. It was like taking the Trans Siberian Express except that there was no company, the food was not as good and of course it is warmer in the tropics. “Sailing”, as opposed to motoring, teaches a lot about patience.

If you want the day-by-day flavour of an 18-day solo voyage on the Pacific, just scroll down and read the daily log in the next section.

As I write this I am anchored in 6-10 feet of water in the “Waiting Room” off Bahía de Caráquez. There is a high tide early in the morning that will permit me to cross the shallow river bar into the estuary. It is basically calm but in these shallow waters the Pacific swells do start to get rather large especially since, this afternoon, the sea breezes have been trying to turn me sideways. I have trimmed the boat with a snubber line so she will face up into the waves rather than roll around. The snubber, running back to the bits at the cockpit and fixed up with lots of chaffing gear, works fine but it really does stretch and groan when the big swells come through. The groaning noise it makes I find unsettling; I keep expecting it to part. Fortunately I have lots of chain out. The snubber was basically to stop the chain from rubbing on the bobstay and making a lot of noise. You pays your money and you takes your chances. But the sea breeze should die tonight and Tripp will be out in person to pilot me in tomorrow at 0730 local time. I have spent the time since noon when I anchored here in tidying up the cabin, collecting laundry, stowing and cleaning, writing and reading.


My Navico tiller pilot kept blowing fuses at the beginning and I was never able to use it. That is also one of the reasons for not motoring more, when I am frank. Hours in the cockpit in the gruelling sun was impossible and at night I could not stay awake to steer. So, it was sail or drift to get some sleep.

Starting from about 150 miles south of Panamá, all the way to Galapagos waters and then east to the mainland I was constantly encountering open boat fishermen. There must be hundreds of fishermen in open boats out there judging by the large number I saw just on my route. When they saw a sailboat coming with its red sails they would head me off and guide me through or around their drift lines or nets. Then they would catch up with me and have a chat, ask for water or food or sometimes just stare. Without exception, the one’s I talked to were from Manta, Ecuador. No Panamanians, no Columbians, just Ecuadorians from Manta.

Well, it was an adventure! It would have much more fun if Kathleen had been along. But a solo voyage was a challenge. Our trip from Acapulco to The Galapags two years ago took about the same time. But of course, we motored a large part of it because we were afraid of running out of water with three people on board. This was not a risk this time. As it turned out it was all pretty much a piece of cake. Long and slow, but easy. But you never know in advance, do you?

I have a number of projects to take care of here in Bahía de Caráquez. The big hand-operated bilge pump seems to have reached its allotted days. The stuffing gland issue needs to be taken care of, I want to make modifications to the bobstay arrangements (the galvanised chain still gets in the salt water and corrodes), we will be adding some sort of handholds to the cockpit for when we are heeled over, I want to replace the rusted out deck eyes and turn blocks on the lazarette deck, etc. etc. But the boat performed well on the trip and there were no problems at all.

It was an interesting experience and good preparation for our month-long trip to The Marquesas probably in September or October. Once I know how many days I still have on my Ecuadorian visa, I will be flying up to Baltimore to be with Kathleen for the summer. More on that later.

I kept a journal of the voyage which I will blog as well. This is just a short summary for all of those with too little time to read long excerpts.

Thanks to the merchants vessels, Egelanteergracht, Cap Reinga and the reefer ship NYWCOOL Catspaw (spelling) who offered to pass messages to Kathleen during my trip. The only one that actually got through was from Cap Reinga, a German-owned vessel I met near The Galapagos. It was on its way to New Zealand.

Glad to be here.