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Preparing the boat for the big departure
Once on the Pacific side, we?ll stroll around Panama City, do some last-minute shopping, but most importantly, we?ll wait for the right weather window! It?s late April/early May?the ?beginning of the end of the season??and the calm has well and truly set in across the Gulf of Panama and all the way to the Galápagos. The currents are strong; a significant current is flowing eastward north of the Galápagos, so we?ll likely head south first, then turn southwest toward the Gambier Islands!
Panama City is a huge city, perfect for stocking up on supplies. A supermarket in the Albrook neighborhood (Supermercado El Rey) agreed to deliver our order directly to the marina (given the number of shopping carts and all our cases of water, this is a must!). We?re getting ready for 40 days at sea, but knowing that it?ll likely be harder to find canned goods and ?treats? in Polynesia, we?re stocking up!
When it comes to fruits and vegetables, it's pretty easy to find markets and produce stands. We buy in bulk, trying to pair fruits and vegetables that go well together so that everything doesn't ripen too quickly!
As for the gas, after asking around a bit, we realized it was pretty complicated to fill up?but in the end, someone on the dock offered to fill our tanks. We haggled a bit over the price, and within two hours, he came back with our tanks full?we were thrilled!
For diesel, you can fill up the boat?s tank at the pump located in the marina on the other side of Isla Perico. The boat?s fuel tank holds 250 liters, which is already quite substantial, but according to accounts from those who have made the crossing before us, the trip to the Galápagos can be done in very, very calm weather. There?s no way we?re going to run the engine for 1,000 nautical miles, but we decide to take six additional 20-liter jerry cans, just in case. However, it?s forbidden to return to the marina?s fuel pump to refill the jerry cans. Like all the fishermen and motorboats at the anchorage, we head to the gas station by taxi, with our jerry cans in tow!
The formalities for leaving the country are fairly simple; they can be completed at the marina on Isla Perico. You must pay a "sailing permit" fee of about a hundred dollars, as well as settle the zarpe exit fee ($105) before going to the immigration offices, which are located in the same building as the harbor master's office.
After 10 days of exploring the city and getting the boat ready, we?re all set! A small window of opportunity with a north wind has opened up?the first in 15 days?so we decide to take it, even if it means skipping the Perlas. We?d sailed close to the cargo ships during the day and in the canal, but we didn?t expect to find so many of them at the exit?at night! We weave our way between these sleeping giants; to clear a path, we set a course for the south-southwest!
Change of Plans
The first 48 hours go well: overcast skies, a 15-knot north wind?the boat is making good progress! During the second night, thunderstorms surround the boat. At first, it?s nothing too alarming, but the sky grows brighter and brighter. Around 2 a.m., lightning struck the water, a few meters or miles (who knows?) ahead of the boat! The crew member on watch decided to disconnect the batteries to protect the electronics in case the next bolt of lightning struck the mast, and she stayed at the helm until the next watch.
But just as we were reconnecting the circuit breakers, disaster struck: the pilot display (Garmin GHP10) started acting up. It seems it can no longer connect to the compass (Garmin GHC 12) or the mechanical unit (SIMRAD DD15)! We?re 150 nautical miles from Panama; we take stock of the situation?we?re disappointed, but we decide to turn back to make repairs. No one wants to spend 3,000 nautical miles at the helm!
We're sailing wide, we take in a reef to head close-hauled and head back to Panama, and then?the autopilot starts working again! We figure it was just a false alarm and decide to go all out?we keep going!
Pretty quickly, over the next few days, we realized that it only works when the voltage at the motor is above 14V, or when the solar panels are charging in direct sunlight, between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. We have an electrician on board; we?ve tried everything and considered every possible explanation in an attempt to fix it! But disconnecting the batteries without first turning off the display might have damaged part of the circuit board... Or maybe it?s just reached the end of its useful life! We?ve decided to head to Ecuador to buy a new display.
We decided not to bring Starlink on board, and our Navionics chart ends north of the Equator (we hadn?t really planned on sailing this way?), so we decided to head toward Esmeraldas, a port we have a chart for! Our guide " "A Great Cruise Destination" Jimmy Cornwell's place is getting a bit old, but he says we'll find everything we need there! So we arrive confident that we'll be able to rest a bit, order the part, and be on our way again quickly!
