BOUND FOR COSTA RICA II: Crossing the Golfo de Panamá and Rounding Punta Mala
At sea between Bahía Benao and Ensenada Naranjo, Panamá, Monday, 07 December 2009
After extended discussions and repeated calculations about just when we ought to leave Punta Cocos in Islas Las Perlas so as to reach Punta Mala at noon the next day, i.e., low slack, we finally settle for a noon departure. This is early and assumes a moderately slow passage. But, we reason, we can always heave to if we make a faster passage of the 95 Nm.
On Saturday noon, therefore, we have the anchor up and are motor-sailing out around Punta Cocos. The breeze picks up nicely and after less than an hour we shut the Lister down and are travelling closehauled WSW with all sail set under sunny and very hot dry-season skies. As the afternoon progresses and we come out from behind Isla del Rey and Isla José, the winds increase and soon we are blowing along at 5-6 knots and at times even touching over 7 knots. After all our fretting about getting to Punta “too late”, this looks set to be a fast passage after all.
In fact, after an afternoon in the hot sun, at 2030 we decide we shall have to heave to about 56 Nm short of our destination. We have thought we might just try Cabo Mala at any old time since we are going with the current anyway. But, this is our first rounding of that place and all the cruising guides warn of how tricky it is. We decide to stick with our original plan.
But, what a boring night it is! The wind gets stronger. Here out on the empty Golfo de Panamá, the southbound waves start building as well. We heave to on a starboard tack, and begin drifting directly toward Punta Mala at about 2 knots. That makes life simpler, after all; we won’t have to make that distance up in the morning. It takes some practice to get the sail and the tiller balanced. At first we are rounding up into the waves and it feels quiet as Vilisar bobs up and down gently for a minute or two. But, then she falls off, and soon we are rolling, the heavy wooden boom and the mainsail slatting like the dickens. We are keeping watch, but the rolling and the slatting along now also the low whine of the wind in the rigging keeps us both awake.
Did I say that the Golfo de Panamá was empty? Poppycock! There are actually quite a few lights out here. Big tuna-fishing boats are lit up like Christmas trees as they work their seine nets, and there is a steady parade of freighters and tankers and bulk carriers and even a U.S. warship or two heading to or from the Panamá Canal a hundred miles north. At first this is rather nerving. But, I remember reading in a book by a Puget Sound pilot that the big ships can see you if they are paying attention and/or their radar is on. It is therefore better to keep to your course and the pilots will steer around you. Sudden changes of direction throws them off and those large vessels are not all that manoeuvrable. It is frequently riskier at sea when watchkkeeping is more lax, and the ships often have their radar turned off. As Wolfgang (S/V Lumme) says, here in the approaches to the Canal, everybody is at full alert because of the traffic and the Canal control measures. His word in God’s ear! We are hove to and moving very slowly. We have our navigation lights on, and we have an excellent radar reflector (Luneburg technology) mounted on the spreader. If unmanoeuvrable ships like the tuna fishermen can avoid being hit, surely we can too. The ships pass us well ahead or astern. Then we see no more ships for several hours.
Sick of the rolling and slatting, at dawn we make sail again for Punta Mala. It’s 29 Nm to the waypoint but even closer to the actual cape. No matter what we do, we do not seem to be able to slow Vilsar down. 7 knots it is with the tide now ebbing! Hey, ho! For the bounding main! The southbound currents run at about 5 knots during the ebb and 3.5 knots at flood, but they are always running south. Punta Mala, here we come! The big ships stay out at least five miles when rounding the cape from the west. But we haven’t really seen any ships at all since before dawn. Eventually we pick out the 15-metre-high light at Punta Mala. Sailing W the whole time, we pass due south of Punta Mala light at 1000 with the ebb tide still running heavily and Vilisar doing sometimes in excess of 7 knots. None of this seems worrisome after our years dealing with strong currents in British Columbia and Alaska. And of course, in daylight one’s fears are reduced.
The current and the winds carry us rapidly W along the southern shore of Panamá. Our choices are now either to keep going for another night passage and possibly heaving too again to complete the seventy some-odd miles from the cape around Morro de Puercos to Ensenada Naranjo, the first good protected anchorage. Or instead, we could make for Bahia Benao, a famous surfing coast with swells coming all the way from Asia for the physical enjoyment of the dudes and dudettes. Although it is not always useable because of the swells, Benoa is only about 12 Nm westwards, and we should be able easily to reach it by early afternoon. Neither of us wants to do another overnight or to heave to in rolly seas. We are both exhausted from the sleepless and uncomfortable night at sea and dehydrated from the hot sun to boot. So, Bahia Banao it is!
We sail right up to the very broad entrance before dropping sail and motoring in. At first all we see is the long beach with huge swells rolling in. We have been witnessing these tremendous swells all along the coast from Punta Mala, sometimes as they roll foaming over semi-submerged rocky islets. But they are spaced so far apart that, a mile or so off, we hardly notice them. Benao looks are first to be a rather exposed anchorage. No, to the right as you come in, there is a big wooded and rocky island that allows you to hook around and find more quiet waters. By 1220, the anchor is down and the sun awing is rigged. We are holding well in 30 feet of sandy bottom. Instead of rounding Punta Mala at low slack just at this time, we are drinking a beer in the cockpit at Benao.
We spend the afternoon napping and trying to stay cool. Cabin temperatures hit 34o C. Bucket baths on deck help and/or lying quietly in the shade of the awning or in the cabin with the cabin fans going. There is a good northerly breeze even here under the hills and the boat keeps headed up towards the beach so we do not feel any swell at all; no rolling. We only finally begin to feel more refreshed as the air begins to cool in the evening, after we have both taken our electrolytes and after Kathleen has made a wonderful tomato and bean stew, which we wolf down with the realisation that we have hardly eaten anything at all since yesterday. By 1930 the lights are out and nobody moves until about 0500 in the morning when the cellphone alarm clock drags us out our sleep.
Monday, 07 December 2009
We have to cover 50 Nm to Bahía Naranjo today, arriving before dark at about 1800. Before dawn the anchor and the sails are up and we motor for half an hour to get far enough out on the Pacific to begin picking up a NNW breeze. The engine goes off finally and in the quite morning hour the sun begins to climb up out of the hazy eastern horizon and gradually our sailing speed increases from 3 knots to about 4.5 knots. We need 12 hours at 5 knots to make it by 1700. Lets hope for stronger winds in the afternoon at least.
An hour out and we are reaching at about 6-7 knots. After 10 Nm we round Punta Guanico and then Morro de Puercos (Pig Hill?) and the winds become fluky. Westward from Punta Mala the land coastline remains just as green, but it begins to become more mountainous. Around Morro de Puercos, we see a high volcanic-looking peak hardly five or ten miles back from the coast. This is probably Vulcàn. Around noon the wind finally peters out entirely and even goes right round to almost on the nose. We still have 25 or 30 Nm and around Punta Muriatico still do before dark and before we can find any sort of anchorage for Vilisar. The alternative is heaving to. But we are far to near the coast to want to do that and in an area with strong rip tides. Nothing for it but to turn on the engine and try motorsailing with a little help from the southerly breeze.
Neither one of us needs to be reminded that sailing a classic boat like Vilisar with an open cockpit (i.e., no protection from sun and rain) is no fun. There are still several investments we would like to make if and when we ever have enough money. For comfort, a proper bimini for the cockpit, for example. For ease of handling, a furling jibsail; I am getting tired and too old to be screwing around with that hanked-on jibsail on blowy and rainy nights. It is not altogether safe out there either when the weather is dirty. There has to be a better way. Some other improvements would be better mattresses and proper upholstery for the berths, shelving and other storage for the forecastle, comfortable outdoor cushions for the cockpit, and perhaps a more reliable tiller pilot. Maybe a quieter engine too, but that is not likely as long as Lister keeps on keeping on. We shall have to deal with the heat. But, it never hurts to dream.
At sea between Bahía Benao and Ensenada Naranjo, Panamá, Monday, 07 December 2009
After extended discussions and repeated calculations about just when we ought to leave Punta Cocos in Islas Las Perlas so as to reach Punta Mala at noon the next day, i.e., low slack, we finally settle for a noon departure. This is early and assumes a moderately slow passage. But, we reason, we can always heave to if we make a faster passage of the 95 Nm.
On Saturday noon, therefore, we have the anchor up and are motor-sailing out around Punta Cocos. The breeze picks up nicely and after less than an hour we shut the Lister down and are travelling closehauled WSW with all sail set under sunny and very hot dry-season skies. As the afternoon progresses and we come out from behind Isla del Rey and Isla José, the winds increase and soon we are blowing along at 5-6 knots and at times even touching over 7 knots. After all our fretting about getting to Punta “too late”, this looks set to be a fast passage after all.
In fact, after an afternoon in the hot sun, at 2030 we decide we shall have to heave to about 56 Nm short of our destination. We have thought we might just try Cabo Mala at any old time since we are going with the current anyway. But, this is our first rounding of that place and all the cruising guides warn of how tricky it is. We decide to stick with our original plan.
But, what a boring night it is! The wind gets stronger. Here out on the empty Golfo de Panamá, the southbound waves start building as well. We heave to on a starboard tack, and begin drifting directly toward Punta Mala at about 2 knots. That makes life simpler, after all; we won’t have to make that distance up in the morning. It takes some practice to get the sail and the tiller balanced. At first we are rounding up into the waves and it feels quiet as Vilisar bobs up and down gently for a minute or two. But, then she falls off, and soon we are rolling, the heavy wooden boom and the mainsail slatting like the dickens. We are keeping watch, but the rolling and the slatting along now also the low whine of the wind in the rigging keeps us both awake.
Did I say that the Golfo de Panamá was empty? Poppycock! There are actually quite a few lights out here. Big tuna-fishing boats are lit up like Christmas trees as they work their seine nets, and there is a steady parade of freighters and tankers and bulk carriers and even a U.S. warship or two heading to or from the Panamá Canal a hundred miles north. At first this is rather nerving. But, I remember reading in a book by a Puget Sound pilot that the big ships can see you if they are paying attention and/or their radar is on. It is therefore better to keep to your course and the pilots will steer around you. Sudden changes of direction throws them off and those large vessels are not all that manoeuvrable. It is frequently riskier at sea when watchkkeeping is more lax, and the ships often have their radar turned off. As Wolfgang (S/V Lumme) says, here in the approaches to the Canal, everybody is at full alert because of the traffic and the Canal control measures. His word in God’s ear! We are hove to and moving very slowly. We have our navigation lights on, and we have an excellent radar reflector (Luneburg technology) mounted on the spreader. If unmanoeuvrable ships like the tuna fishermen can avoid being hit, surely we can too. The ships pass us well ahead or astern. Then we see no more ships for several hours.
Sick of the rolling and slatting, at dawn we make sail again for Punta Mala. It’s 29 Nm to the waypoint but even closer to the actual cape. No matter what we do, we do not seem to be able to slow Vilsar down. 7 knots it is with the tide now ebbing! Hey, ho! For the bounding main! The southbound currents run at about 5 knots during the ebb and 3.5 knots at flood, but they are always running south. Punta Mala, here we come! The big ships stay out at least five miles when rounding the cape from the west. But we haven’t really seen any ships at all since before dawn. Eventually we pick out the 15-metre-high light at Punta Mala. Sailing W the whole time, we pass due south of Punta Mala light at 1000 with the ebb tide still running heavily and Vilisar doing sometimes in excess of 7 knots. None of this seems worrisome after our years dealing with strong currents in British Columbia and Alaska. And of course, in daylight one’s fears are reduced.
The current and the winds carry us rapidly W along the southern shore of Panamá. Our choices are now either to keep going for another night passage and possibly heaving too again to complete the seventy some-odd miles from the cape around Morro de Puercos to Ensenada Naranjo, the first good protected anchorage. Or instead, we could make for Bahia Benao, a famous surfing coast with swells coming all the way from Asia for the physical enjoyment of the dudes and dudettes. Although it is not always useable because of the swells, Benoa is only about 12 Nm westwards, and we should be able easily to reach it by early afternoon. Neither of us wants to do another overnight or to heave to in rolly seas. We are both exhausted from the sleepless and uncomfortable night at sea and dehydrated from the hot sun to boot. So, Bahia Banao it is!
We sail right up to the very broad entrance before dropping sail and motoring in. At first all we see is the long beach with huge swells rolling in. We have been witnessing these tremendous swells all along the coast from Punta Mala, sometimes as they roll foaming over semi-submerged rocky islets. But they are spaced so far apart that, a mile or so off, we hardly notice them. Benao looks are first to be a rather exposed anchorage. No, to the right as you come in, there is a big wooded and rocky island that allows you to hook around and find more quiet waters. By 1220, the anchor is down and the sun awing is rigged. We are holding well in 30 feet of sandy bottom. Instead of rounding Punta Mala at low slack just at this time, we are drinking a beer in the cockpit at Benao.
We spend the afternoon napping and trying to stay cool. Cabin temperatures hit 34o C. Bucket baths on deck help and/or lying quietly in the shade of the awning or in the cabin with the cabin fans going. There is a good northerly breeze even here under the hills and the boat keeps headed up towards the beach so we do not feel any swell at all; no rolling. We only finally begin to feel more refreshed as the air begins to cool in the evening, after we have both taken our electrolytes and after Kathleen has made a wonderful tomato and bean stew, which we wolf down with the realisation that we have hardly eaten anything at all since yesterday. By 1930 the lights are out and nobody moves until about 0500 in the morning when the cellphone alarm clock drags us out our sleep.
Monday, 07 December 2009
We have to cover 50 Nm to Bahía Naranjo today, arriving before dark at about 1800. Before dawn the anchor and the sails are up and we motor for half an hour to get far enough out on the Pacific to begin picking up a NNW breeze. The engine goes off finally and in the quite morning hour the sun begins to climb up out of the hazy eastern horizon and gradually our sailing speed increases from 3 knots to about 4.5 knots. We need 12 hours at 5 knots to make it by 1700. Lets hope for stronger winds in the afternoon at least.
An hour out and we are reaching at about 6-7 knots. After 10 Nm we round Punta Guanico and then Morro de Puercos (Pig Hill?) and the winds become fluky. Westward from Punta Mala the land coastline remains just as green, but it begins to become more mountainous. Around Morro de Puercos, we see a high volcanic-looking peak hardly five or ten miles back from the coast. This is probably Vulcàn. Around noon the wind finally peters out entirely and even goes right round to almost on the nose. We still have 25 or 30 Nm and around Punta Muriatico still do before dark and before we can find any sort of anchorage for Vilisar. The alternative is heaving to. But we are far to near the coast to want to do that and in an area with strong rip tides. Nothing for it but to turn on the engine and try motorsailing with a little help from the southerly breeze.
Neither one of us needs to be reminded that sailing a classic boat like Vilisar with an open cockpit (i.e., no protection from sun and rain) is no fun. There are still several investments we would like to make if and when we ever have enough money. For comfort, a proper bimini for the cockpit, for example. For ease of handling, a furling jibsail; I am getting tired and too old to be screwing around with that hanked-on jibsail on blowy and rainy nights. It is not altogether safe out there either when the weather is dirty. There has to be a better way. Some other improvements would be better mattresses and proper upholstery for the berths, shelving and other storage for the forecastle, comfortable outdoor cushions for the cockpit, and perhaps a more reliable tiller pilot. Maybe a quieter engine too, but that is not likely as long as Lister keeps on keeping on. We shall have to deal with the heat. But, it never hurts to dream.
posted by rjb @ Friday, December 11, 2009
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