ON THE WAY TO COSTA RICA; JUMPING ACROSS THE GOLFO DE PANAMÁ
Punta Cocos, Isla del Rey, Islas Las Perlas, Panamá, Saturday, 05 December
2009

We deliberately got our Zarpe made to include time in the Islas Perlas.
This archipelago is somewhat out of the way if you are heading west to
Costa Rica, but we wanted to spend more time there just gunkholing. In the
end, we spent ten days in Espiritu Santo enjoying the tranquility and the
company of the few cruising boats that were there. In fact, we might have
left a few days earlier, but the onset of the dry season had played around
a bit with the weather.

If we were starting for Punta Mala from Panamá City, almost any wind with
a northerly component would do. But from here, we need at least NNW and
preferably N or NE winds to carry us across the Golfo de Panamá without
having to use the engine or bashing into waves. Tropical fronts move
steadily across from E to W along the top of South America. There will be
a few days of N winds and then a more W component. It's a question of
waiting for the weather window. Our friend Wolfgang on the German-
Panamanian cruising boat S/V Lumme was checking US GRIB weather files
(produced by computer for NOAA) daily for us; we waited a couple of extra
days until he informed us mid-morning yesterday that we ought to leave
right away for the bottom cape of Isla del Rey and jump off today
(Saturday) for Punta Mala. The weatherman promises several days of N or
NNW winds 5-15 kts. This would put us on a reach and give us a good
passage. No storms in the offing though the Golfo could kick up a bit
after several days of 15 kt winds.

Within the hour we had Vilisar converted from a gypsy caravan to a
cruising sailboat. Up went the red jibsail and we moved S on the NNW
breeze out of the anchorage at 2 kts despite the current, waving and
calling our goodbyes to the only other boats left at Espiritu Santo, S/V
Little Qwin (Alex and Angelika) and S/V Lumme (Wolfgang and Ute).

The tide is flooding and there is a strong current against us. Away from
the rocks and shoals, we get the mainsail and staysail up, pole out the
staysail wing-on-wing with the jib and run downwind to ESE at 2 kts. It is
a beautiful sailing day with clear blue skies, calm seas and a nice little
breeze. Given the gentle winds and the adverse currents, we wonder aloud,
however, if we will be able to make it to Punta Coco (18Nm) before dark.
If we decide not, we shall have to throw on the engine. It is already
plenty hot in the cockpit. Putting on the engine will only aggravate the
heat in the cabin.

There are whales feeding ahead of us. Suddenly, Kathleen calls me up to
the deck. A whale has risen directly in front of the boat and very close.
Fortunately we are only moving slowly, and it sinks again immediately, so
fast that I was not quick enough to see it. As we move forward however,
there is a huge slick right beside the boat, close enough to throw a life
-ring onto it if we wanted. It never surfaced again but it gave us a funny
feeling in the tummy to have such a large beast so close to us.

Several miles out, we gibe over and start heading SW. Now on a nice reach,
our speed picks up to over 4 kts despite the current against us. Once,
passing between two islands, we had to throw on the engine for ten minutes
to get through the strong currents. But as the afternoon wears on, the
wind picks up and the currents become less strong, our speed picks up to
first 5 kts and then even touching on 6 kts.

We arrive at Punta Cocos and consider anchoring very near the point under
the Servicio Maritimo building. But the small waves are blowing in there
and we move over NW about a mile or two away where it looks calmer and
anchor in clean sand well off the steep beach and huge mangrove lagoon.
There are still some wind and wavelets here, but the holding is good and
the wind keeps us headed up so we don't roll. We are settled in time to
hear the incredibly loud dusk chorus of the thousands of birds in the
mangroves and to watch the sun redden and slip behind the trees to the W
in a nearly clear sky. It takes a while for full darkness, but when it
comes, the clear skies and the complete absence of artificial light bring
out the stars incredibly intensely.

While we enjoy the dusk and darkness, we are reminded that our daughter
Antonia turns twenty tomorrow. Hard to believe, but she will no longer be
a teenager. She is a young woman. Does this make me feel old, or what?

We spend a lot of time both last night and this morning trying to decide
when we should actually get started for Punta Mala today. Punta Mala has a
very bad reputation, especially if the strong currents meet opposing
winds. On top of this, commercial vessels coming E towards the Panamá
Canal create another hazard. It's about 90-100 Nm from here, and given
the very strong southbound currents and rip tides there we want to arrive
in daylight and preferably at low slack tide (about noon on Sunday). The
then incoming tide might give us a little extra push to the W once we are
past the cape. Approaching in daylight makes dealing with the shipping
lanes better too and we might have time to make an anchorage before dark.
Benoa is the fist one but Ensenada Naranja would be better and Isla Cebaco
would be ideal.

We finally decide to leave about noon. This morning early we get the
dinghy stowed on the foredeck and then relax below to await departure
time. There is a really nice breeze pretty nearly out of the N. This
should be a good overnight passage. If we arrive too early, we can always
heave to for a couple of hours and take it easy.