Sunday 18th March 2007
Fliss….
We left St Maartens at 10:30am for our long passage to the Panama Canal. The total distance to cover is 1160 nautical miles and according to our grib files it would be a nice broad reach/down-wind sail.
Good winds all day! At 7:30pm Pete goes off watch and Nadezhda & I are having a fabulous time! A good 6 and half knots, easy seas and a wonderful starlit night. The skipper made frequent visits as he couldn’t sleep and at one point we saw the most impressive meteorite burning brightly as it entered the earths atmosphere.. It looked like someone had let off a firework, a huge ball of white shooting through the sky trailing twinkling embers. The skipper was sent back to bed to try again.
During the night I has spotted this loom of light in the distance and decided it was a cruise liner. I tracked it all the way into our path and it just stopped ahead of us. At 12 miles distance it was as clear as can be. The problem with cruise liners is that you can’t see their navigation lights as they are just a bright floating island. Given that we were travelling at 6-7 knots this concerned me as to what his intentions were. Anyway as we approached him he turned tail and ran off…. Thank you! Actually amazingly enough there were quite a few boats out tonight.
At 12:30am I’m really struggling to keep awake so it’s time for the skipper to take over. As per usual within 20 minutes of Pete getting up we spotted a huge dark cloud approaching from the rear and you guessed it! the wind picked up, stair rods of rain! Boards and sails reefed we weathered (pardon the pun) out the squall… it wasn’t that bad just a real pain. Pete gets squalls and I get traffic it must be his magnetic personality as they always arrive bang on time for his watch.
After the squall everything settled down nicely and Pete had a relaxing watch and I finally went to bed at 1:30am exhausted but unable to sleep! Tomorrow will be different!
Monday 19th 2007
Lat: 16 53.9 North
Long: 66 09.5 West
Strange day so far as the weather really doesn’t know what to do with itself. This morning, perfect conditions! Sails pulling beautifully, nice seas and we were romping along at 7ish knots, we both agreed that at this rate Sunday arrival at Panama wouldn’t be out of the question.
Later on in the afternoon we had some minor squalls come through and then the wind just died!
Just before Pete retired for the evening we spotted a plastic container floating past us I said to Pete lets practise man overboard. Pete went forward with a boat hook and I helmed. Good news is that we found and retrieved our man overboard quite quickly the bad news was that it was a fishing pot, not a problem for us but how can them secure the damn things when our echo sounder is off the scale.
Pete…………..
Night time came with another round of Squalls. I got up at 10pm to help Fliss and we took in the staysail and mainsail. Of course, it decided to rain stair-rods again at this very moment and we got a drenching the same as last night. With Nadezhda set up for squalls (small amount of headsail only), we escaped the rest of the rain by simply dodging down below and reading.
Fliss….
We left St Maartens at 10:30am for our long passage to the Panama Canal. The total distance to cover is 1160 nautical miles and according to our grib files it would be a nice broad reach/down-wind sail.
Good winds all day! At 7:30pm Pete goes off watch and Nadezhda & I are having a fabulous time! A good 6 and half knots, easy seas and a wonderful starlit night. The skipper made frequent visits as he couldn’t sleep and at one point we saw the most impressive meteorite burning brightly as it entered the earths atmosphere.. It looked like someone had let off a firework, a huge ball of white shooting through the sky trailing twinkling embers. The skipper was sent back to bed to try again.
During the night I has spotted this loom of light in the distance and decided it was a cruise liner. I tracked it all the way into our path and it just stopped ahead of us. At 12 miles distance it was as clear as can be. The problem with cruise liners is that you can’t see their navigation lights as they are just a bright floating island. Given that we were travelling at 6-7 knots this concerned me as to what his intentions were. Anyway as we approached him he turned tail and ran off…. Thank you! Actually amazingly enough there were quite a few boats out tonight.
At 12:30am I’m really struggling to keep awake so it’s time for the skipper to take over. As per usual within 20 minutes of Pete getting up we spotted a huge dark cloud approaching from the rear and you guessed it! the wind picked up, stair rods of rain! Boards and sails reefed we weathered (pardon the pun) out the squall… it wasn’t that bad just a real pain. Pete gets squalls and I get traffic it must be his magnetic personality as they always arrive bang on time for his watch.
After the squall everything settled down nicely and Pete had a relaxing watch and I finally went to bed at 1:30am exhausted but unable to sleep! Tomorrow will be different!
Monday 19th 2007
Lat: 16 53.9 North
Long: 66 09.5 West
Strange day so far as the weather really doesn’t know what to do with itself. This morning, perfect conditions! Sails pulling beautifully, nice seas and we were romping along at 7ish knots, we both agreed that at this rate Sunday arrival at Panama wouldn’t be out of the question.
Later on in the afternoon we had some minor squalls come through and then the wind just died!
Just before Pete retired for the evening we spotted a plastic container floating past us I said to Pete lets practise man overboard. Pete went forward with a boat hook and I helmed. Good news is that we found and retrieved our man overboard quite quickly the bad news was that it was a fishing pot, not a problem for us but how can them secure the damn things when our echo sounder is off the scale.
Pete…………..
Night time came with another round of Squalls. I got up at 10pm to help Fliss and we took in the staysail and mainsail. Of course, it decided to rain stair-rods again at this very moment and we got a drenching the same as last night. With Nadezhda set up for squalls (small amount of headsail only), we escaped the rest of the rain by simply dodging down below and reading.
24th March 2007
So far the passage to the Panama Canal has been really good. We’ve had favourable winds (either broad reach or directly behind us) and we’re making excellent progress.
The only uncomfortable bit is the swell, at times the short but quite steep waves hit the side of the boat and has us rolling nastily from side to side, this usually happens at night when one of us is off watch it can become quite exhausting as you have to hold on for dear life.
The other night Pete was on watch and I woke up in a bit of a panic as it sounded like all hell was breaking lose outside, Nadezhda was being thrown around and the wind sounded like we were in the midst of a gale. I looked outside and the Naz was sailing quite happily at 5.5 knots, we were rolling around and it was quite bit breezy but nothing like I imagined, its amazing how movement & sound magnifies inside the boat. Pete’s done the same thing as me and thought all hell was breaking loose and when venturing outside all is well.
Over the last few days the squalls have abated which makes night watches so much easier, mind you during the passage we have had only the headsail out so reefing is very quick.
Yesterday the wind died down and we were only reading 4.9 knots but on checking the GPS we were doing 7 knots over the ground! Superb!!! You really wouldn’t want to be going the other way, headwinds, steep waves and a two-knot current against you.
We hope to make landfall early on Monday morning as at the moment we only have 262 miles to go.
Then its all fun and games clearing immigration/customs and arranging our passage through the canal.
Rumour has it that some yachts have had to wait for up to month before being able to transit through the canal, if this is the case then we’ll head off to the San Blas islands.
Our plan is to try to pick other yachtsman brains as what to expect and to see if we can assist another yacht by being line handlers so that we know what to expect when its our turn.
You have to have 4 line handlers (skipper excluded) and a pilot, the journey time is two days and half way through you stop at Gatun Lake over night.
This is the bit where it’s going to get cosy and interesting! We have to feed and put up the pilot and crew over night, what do I cook for 6 people?.also where do we sleep everyone?. Pete and I hope that we manage to get other yachties to help us with the lines as if we get local people we’ll have to pay and also I have to hide all our valuable stuff.
Yesterday we worked out our itinerary (rough outline) for the Pacific our plan is:
Panama to Galapagos - approx 7 days passage time
Galapagos to Marquesas - approx 25 days
Marquesas to Society Islands - approx 5 days
Society Islands to Cook Islands – approx 3 days
Cook Islands to Samoa – approx 3 days
Samoa to Tonga – approx 3 days
Tonga to Auckland – approx 10 days.
A real shame as we were thinking of going to Fiji but the pilot book says to avoid it due to civil unrest plus it is a bit of a detour.
The nice thing about the itinerary is that we have allotted up to a month in certain places, if we manage to get a quick transit then we’ll be able to extend our time on each of the islands.
Yesterday we had a about 50 Pantropical Spotted dolphins playing with the boat they were amazing to watch! A few of them projected themselves high out of the water.
So far the passage to the Panama Canal has been really good. We’ve had favourable winds (either broad reach or directly behind us) and we’re making excellent progress.
The only uncomfortable bit is the swell, at times the short but quite steep waves hit the side of the boat and has us rolling nastily from side to side, this usually happens at night when one of us is off watch it can become quite exhausting as you have to hold on for dear life.
The other night Pete was on watch and I woke up in a bit of a panic as it sounded like all hell was breaking lose outside, Nadezhda was being thrown around and the wind sounded like we were in the midst of a gale. I looked outside and the Naz was sailing quite happily at 5.5 knots, we were rolling around and it was quite bit breezy but nothing like I imagined, its amazing how movement & sound magnifies inside the boat. Pete’s done the same thing as me and thought all hell was breaking loose and when venturing outside all is well.
Over the last few days the squalls have abated which makes night watches so much easier, mind you during the passage we have had only the headsail out so reefing is very quick.
Yesterday the wind died down and we were only reading 4.9 knots but on checking the GPS we were doing 7 knots over the ground! Superb!!! You really wouldn’t want to be going the other way, headwinds, steep waves and a two-knot current against you.
We hope to make landfall early on Monday morning as at the moment we only have 262 miles to go.
Then its all fun and games clearing immigration/customs and arranging our passage through the canal.
Rumour has it that some yachts have had to wait for up to month before being able to transit through the canal, if this is the case then we’ll head off to the San Blas islands.
Our plan is to try to pick other yachtsman brains as what to expect and to see if we can assist another yacht by being line handlers so that we know what to expect when its our turn.
You have to have 4 line handlers (skipper excluded) and a pilot, the journey time is two days and half way through you stop at Gatun Lake over night.
This is the bit where it’s going to get cosy and interesting! We have to feed and put up the pilot and crew over night, what do I cook for 6 people?.also where do we sleep everyone?. Pete and I hope that we manage to get other yachties to help us with the lines as if we get local people we’ll have to pay and also I have to hide all our valuable stuff.
Yesterday we worked out our itinerary (rough outline) for the Pacific our plan is:
Panama to Galapagos - approx 7 days passage time
Galapagos to Marquesas - approx 25 days
Marquesas to Society Islands - approx 5 days
Society Islands to Cook Islands – approx 3 days
Cook Islands to Samoa – approx 3 days
Samoa to Tonga – approx 3 days
Tonga to Auckland – approx 10 days.
A real shame as we were thinking of going to Fiji but the pilot book says to avoid it due to civil unrest plus it is a bit of a detour.
The nice thing about the itinerary is that we have allotted up to a month in certain places, if we manage to get a quick transit then we’ll be able to extend our time on each of the islands.
Yesterday we had a about 50 Pantropical Spotted dolphins playing with the boat they were amazing to watch! A few of them projected themselves high out of the water.
I forgot to mention that on passage to St Maarten we saw a hump back whale. Seeing the marine life really does make the journey magical.
A couple of days ago due to boredom Pete & I decided that we would dress him up as an international Colombian drug baron (we were running along the coast of Colombia). He looked fantastic! I used black mascara on his eyebrows and joined them up in the middle, a black goatie beard, a scar on his cheek, red bandana, I also blackened his chest hair. The crème de le crème was the flare gun tucked in his swimming shorts! Pete and I were in stitches and he said “wouldn’t it be mad if a pirate boat came alongside and they just looked like me!”
A couple of days ago due to boredom Pete & I decided that we would dress him up as an international Colombian drug baron (we were running along the coast of Colombia). He looked fantastic! I used black mascara on his eyebrows and joined them up in the middle, a black goatie beard, a scar on his cheek, red bandana, I also blackened his chest hair. The crème de le crème was the flare gun tucked in his swimming shorts! Pete and I were in stitches and he said “wouldn’t it be mad if a pirate boat came alongside and they just looked like me!”
25th March 2007
As usual on the last day the wind died so out came our secret weapon!, Our new downwind headsail. It gave us an extra knot and a half and worked very well with the poled out gib on the other side. Had we have had another 5-10 knots we would have rocketed along.
As usual on the last day the wind died so out came our secret weapon!, Our new downwind headsail. It gave us an extra knot and a half and worked very well with the poled out gib on the other side. Had we have had another 5-10 knots we would have rocketed along.
Just before Pete went off watch we decided that it was best to take the secret weapon down as if we were hit by a squall in the night we would have had massive problems trying to drop it.
The sail even in light winds was hard work to get down and I felt myself being lifted from the deck. It really makes you appreciate the strength off the sail, it might be light but it’s incredibly powerful.
The sail even in light winds was hard work to get down and I felt myself being lifted from the deck. It really makes you appreciate the strength off the sail, it might be light but it’s incredibly powerful.
So with the secret weapon stowed (dumped really) in the forward cabin so we decided to put the main sail up and run with two reefs and the poled out gib for the night. The wind kept dying so when we reached 3.5 knots with a over the ground speed at 3 knots we had no choice but to roll in the gib and stick the engine on, a pity but it was better light winds at the end than a gale!
As we were getting close to Panama I spotted more boats so the luxury of being able to monitor them with the radar was a real bonus. At night I find it really hard to judge distance. There was one very large boat that stayed parallel with us for a good 20 minutes (this was before I put the radar on. I don’t like to use it too much as I start worrying when I see a boat 24 miles away) I took a bearing and it didn’t appear to have moved (I like to try the old fashioned methods first) and then I decided to check his distance on the radar, he was 6 miles away but looked like only half a mile from us!
An uneventful night but I enjoyed being skipper by monitoring our track against our course and making changes to our course when “Charlie” our autopilot wandered. It’s amazing much he does wander, only a few degrees but he does.
Pete got up at 12:30am and took over for our 8-hour journey to the entrance of Panama.
Pete………….
The night was uneventful. A bit of breeze kicked in for about half an hour giving us up to 8 knots with the engine just set at cruising speed. After that, the wind died and I re-stowed the jib again.
26th March 2007
I got up at 07:00am (I went to bed at 1:45am) and the sky was black, rain clouds everywhere, welcome to the Panama! Not a pretty coastline but we never to expected it to be!
Pete……. (It poured down and all the large ships that were going hither and thither disappeared into the thick torrential rain. I stayed on deck and Fliss shut herself in to make her breakfast! The radar was pretty pointless as the rain blacked-out the entire screen even though I had set the “rain filter” on maximum, so it was a case of keeping my eyes peeled in all directions ready to avoid any looming behemoth. )
When we were 3 miles off the breakwater Pete called up Christobel Signal Station requesting permission to enter. He tried a couple of times and then he got a response.
The signal operator said “You may enter but take care of the traffic” you can understand his concern as we both counted 25 super tankers milling around the entrance and more traffic inside the breakwater.
It was very easy finding our way in and quickly found a spot to anchor (after a tour of the anchorage of course) lucky really since, as soon as the anchor was secure, the heavens opened and it RAINED!!!! Not just a shower but a torrential downpour!
After an hour on so the skies started to clear and we decide to make a run for land.
Off 1st to immigration armed with all our paperwork. The official came as a surprise as he actually smiled! He needs re-training in the art of being surly and unreasonable.
The rest of the day was a complete blur as after he stamped our passport he ordered a taxi to help us complete the rest of the formalities.
A very stiff backed chap called “Agent Ellerton” told us that, he would take us through the procedures, he was a whirlwind! 1st stop photocopy shop to copy our passports and ships registration document, then customs, then off to get our cruising permit, then off to another shop to get passport photos, then off to Admeasurer to arrange for the boat to be measured for the transit of the canal and second to last stop Immigration to get our visa (the 1st immigration chap was just to stamp that we had arrived). Pete opened our plastic wallet to get our passports out and nearly had a heart attack his passport was missing!!!!! A mild moment of immense stress, checking & re-checking the bag we decided that it must have been left at the photocopy shop. So off we all went again, thank god it was there!! “Agent Ellerton” who was once in the American Marines and kept referring to me as Maam was brilliant as a guide within an hour and a half we had completed all the formalities. The last stop was the supermarket to pick up supper. His services were invaluable as there was no way you would find your way around as all the places we needed to visit where a long way apart, we think that the Panama authority’s keep it this way to make jobs for the local people.
Colon, the guide book says it not a safe place to walk around and this was echoed by our guide “Agent Ellerton” he said “Sir, Maam see that road there do not walk there, this is drug street and they will attack you for money… and it continued “Sir, Maam, do not walk here this is pickpocket road and last week and American man was stabbed in his knees for his wallet” he said that we must take a taxi everywhere (taxi’s are not expensive at $1 Dollar a go) as the locals will not bother you. According to him Colon was a much safer place when the Americans where her but now it has just fallen apart with bent officials and crooked Police. Shame we can’t explore as the place looks really interesting but its better to heed the advice given and keep well clear unless in a taxi.
The cruising permit office had a big board showing names of boats that had tried to avoid completing the formalities and had been caught by the Coastguard trying to get through the canal; these boats face a fine of $6500 and are impounded until you pay up. If you try to get on the boat whilst its impounded and break the Police seal you either pay an additional fine or go to prison for 90 days…. Seems daft to run the risk as, with a guide, its painless and easy. We recognised a boats’ name on the board.
Back at the Yacht Club Pete and I decided to have a beer and try to get to know some of the other Yachties.
The beer at $1 a bottle was reasonable so we sat down chatting to an Ozzie couple on a catamaran who where due to transit the canal on Saturday. They had two line handlers confirmed and where looking for another one but would if pushed take another couple. We said that we would be willing to help and would push our transit time back to the middle of next week (it looks like there’s a weeks delay into getting through). His concern is with taking another two, was space & weight on the boat as he didn’t really have a powerful engine, if you lag behind during the transit and don’t keep a constant speed of 6+ there are serious fines to be paid. He tipped us off and said when the Ad Measurer turns up tell them that you can maintain 8 knots otherwise there are additional costs to be paid.
Whilst sitting with the Ozzie couple a young man arrived asking if anyone needed a line handler. He was very dishevelled, with torn clothing which were very dirty, he had been travelling on a motor bike through Colombia (very brave), he seemed pleasant enough but I said to Pete and he agreed that we wouldn’t just take anyone as this is our home and we do have to live with any old person for 2 days… we’ll have to do our recruitment soon but I think we should be selective and not get desperate as you can always hire local people to do it at $55 a day. The 1st Immigration guy offered us his services & “Agent Ellerton” offered to be our pilot… we won’t be pushed into anything and we’ll take our time.
Pete was very tired so after an hour or so we returned to Nadezhda to put her back to normal (during passage we sleep in the middle of Naz so inside its slightly chaotic on passage).
27th March 07
The Ozzie man came over this morning and said sorry but they really only wanted one other person and if Pete still wanted to do it no problem and to let him know by the end of the day.
Pete wouldn’t leave me here for 2 and half days as what would I do with myself whilst he was gone? I couldn’t go into town as it’s not safe plus he really would prefer that we both went together. It looks unlikely that we will get a test run as were not sticking around that long and most of the other boats have arranged line-handlers.
The Ad Measurer is due sometime this morning then it’s off to the bank to pay our transit fee and insurance.
Tonight we’ll head off to the Yacht Club so socialise.
Pete………
Tidying up last night involved folding and stowing the sail, getting all out ropes out and measuring them and erecting the sun shades.
I had bought an extra 100 metres of rope in St Maarten – you need 4 lengths of 125 feet. I laid this on the deck and chopped into 2 pieces and then got out my other two long lengths. Unfortunately, these just weren’t long enough and so we will have to hire two lengths of rope for transit.
As we were getting close to Panama I spotted more boats so the luxury of being able to monitor them with the radar was a real bonus. At night I find it really hard to judge distance. There was one very large boat that stayed parallel with us for a good 20 minutes (this was before I put the radar on. I don’t like to use it too much as I start worrying when I see a boat 24 miles away) I took a bearing and it didn’t appear to have moved (I like to try the old fashioned methods first) and then I decided to check his distance on the radar, he was 6 miles away but looked like only half a mile from us!
An uneventful night but I enjoyed being skipper by monitoring our track against our course and making changes to our course when “Charlie” our autopilot wandered. It’s amazing much he does wander, only a few degrees but he does.
Pete got up at 12:30am and took over for our 8-hour journey to the entrance of Panama.
Pete………….
The night was uneventful. A bit of breeze kicked in for about half an hour giving us up to 8 knots with the engine just set at cruising speed. After that, the wind died and I re-stowed the jib again.
26th March 2007
I got up at 07:00am (I went to bed at 1:45am) and the sky was black, rain clouds everywhere, welcome to the Panama! Not a pretty coastline but we never to expected it to be!
Pete……. (It poured down and all the large ships that were going hither and thither disappeared into the thick torrential rain. I stayed on deck and Fliss shut herself in to make her breakfast! The radar was pretty pointless as the rain blacked-out the entire screen even though I had set the “rain filter” on maximum, so it was a case of keeping my eyes peeled in all directions ready to avoid any looming behemoth. )
When we were 3 miles off the breakwater Pete called up Christobel Signal Station requesting permission to enter. He tried a couple of times and then he got a response.
The signal operator said “You may enter but take care of the traffic” you can understand his concern as we both counted 25 super tankers milling around the entrance and more traffic inside the breakwater.
It was very easy finding our way in and quickly found a spot to anchor (after a tour of the anchorage of course) lucky really since, as soon as the anchor was secure, the heavens opened and it RAINED!!!! Not just a shower but a torrential downpour!
After an hour on so the skies started to clear and we decide to make a run for land.
Off 1st to immigration armed with all our paperwork. The official came as a surprise as he actually smiled! He needs re-training in the art of being surly and unreasonable.
The rest of the day was a complete blur as after he stamped our passport he ordered a taxi to help us complete the rest of the formalities.
A very stiff backed chap called “Agent Ellerton” told us that, he would take us through the procedures, he was a whirlwind! 1st stop photocopy shop to copy our passports and ships registration document, then customs, then off to get our cruising permit, then off to another shop to get passport photos, then off to Admeasurer to arrange for the boat to be measured for the transit of the canal and second to last stop Immigration to get our visa (the 1st immigration chap was just to stamp that we had arrived). Pete opened our plastic wallet to get our passports out and nearly had a heart attack his passport was missing!!!!! A mild moment of immense stress, checking & re-checking the bag we decided that it must have been left at the photocopy shop. So off we all went again, thank god it was there!! “Agent Ellerton” who was once in the American Marines and kept referring to me as Maam was brilliant as a guide within an hour and a half we had completed all the formalities. The last stop was the supermarket to pick up supper. His services were invaluable as there was no way you would find your way around as all the places we needed to visit where a long way apart, we think that the Panama authority’s keep it this way to make jobs for the local people.
Colon, the guide book says it not a safe place to walk around and this was echoed by our guide “Agent Ellerton” he said “Sir, Maam see that road there do not walk there, this is drug street and they will attack you for money… and it continued “Sir, Maam, do not walk here this is pickpocket road and last week and American man was stabbed in his knees for his wallet” he said that we must take a taxi everywhere (taxi’s are not expensive at $1 Dollar a go) as the locals will not bother you. According to him Colon was a much safer place when the Americans where her but now it has just fallen apart with bent officials and crooked Police. Shame we can’t explore as the place looks really interesting but its better to heed the advice given and keep well clear unless in a taxi.
The cruising permit office had a big board showing names of boats that had tried to avoid completing the formalities and had been caught by the Coastguard trying to get through the canal; these boats face a fine of $6500 and are impounded until you pay up. If you try to get on the boat whilst its impounded and break the Police seal you either pay an additional fine or go to prison for 90 days…. Seems daft to run the risk as, with a guide, its painless and easy. We recognised a boats’ name on the board.
Back at the Yacht Club Pete and I decided to have a beer and try to get to know some of the other Yachties.
The beer at $1 a bottle was reasonable so we sat down chatting to an Ozzie couple on a catamaran who where due to transit the canal on Saturday. They had two line handlers confirmed and where looking for another one but would if pushed take another couple. We said that we would be willing to help and would push our transit time back to the middle of next week (it looks like there’s a weeks delay into getting through). His concern is with taking another two, was space & weight on the boat as he didn’t really have a powerful engine, if you lag behind during the transit and don’t keep a constant speed of 6+ there are serious fines to be paid. He tipped us off and said when the Ad Measurer turns up tell them that you can maintain 8 knots otherwise there are additional costs to be paid.
Whilst sitting with the Ozzie couple a young man arrived asking if anyone needed a line handler. He was very dishevelled, with torn clothing which were very dirty, he had been travelling on a motor bike through Colombia (very brave), he seemed pleasant enough but I said to Pete and he agreed that we wouldn’t just take anyone as this is our home and we do have to live with any old person for 2 days… we’ll have to do our recruitment soon but I think we should be selective and not get desperate as you can always hire local people to do it at $55 a day. The 1st Immigration guy offered us his services & “Agent Ellerton” offered to be our pilot… we won’t be pushed into anything and we’ll take our time.
Pete was very tired so after an hour or so we returned to Nadezhda to put her back to normal (during passage we sleep in the middle of Naz so inside its slightly chaotic on passage).
27th March 07
The Ozzie man came over this morning and said sorry but they really only wanted one other person and if Pete still wanted to do it no problem and to let him know by the end of the day.
Pete wouldn’t leave me here for 2 and half days as what would I do with myself whilst he was gone? I couldn’t go into town as it’s not safe plus he really would prefer that we both went together. It looks unlikely that we will get a test run as were not sticking around that long and most of the other boats have arranged line-handlers.
The Ad Measurer is due sometime this morning then it’s off to the bank to pay our transit fee and insurance.
Tonight we’ll head off to the Yacht Club so socialise.
Pete………
Tidying up last night involved folding and stowing the sail, getting all out ropes out and measuring them and erecting the sun shades.
I had bought an extra 100 metres of rope in St Maarten – you need 4 lengths of 125 feet. I laid this on the deck and chopped into 2 pieces and then got out my other two long lengths. Unfortunately, these just weren’t long enough and so we will have to hire two lengths of rope for transit.
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