Panama to Honduras

We left Linton Bay on Friday 14 October with full sails and light winds, hence we motor sailed north for about 10 hours until we reached the SE Trade winds.

About 5 hours out we noticed we had a few passengers. Two Swallows and four LBJ’S, one of which was a fluffy juvenile. 

We put out water, sesame seeds and fruit at various spots around the boat. 

The swallows flew around a lot and huddled together on the guard rails. 

LBJ’s on the Tramp

First night, the juvenile flew inside and perched on my laptop between Nicholas and I. Not a good sign. 

Next morning, he could barely stand and I took him to water and he drank, but within the hour he died. 

Realizing that the birds did not stand a good chance of making it to our destination- about a 4-5 day sail, we altered course so that we intersected with Old Providence Island, a Columbian island 130 miles off the coast of Nicaragua. 

We arrived at midnight and anchored as close as safety allowed. Next morning, the swallows flew off and two of the LBJ’s. We had another death. 

Once again setting sail, this time with one reef in the main as we had a boisterous SE wind. And again a few hours out, we had another two little passengers. This time we put out sugar water too. 

Heading north, the waters became dangerous with numerous Piracy attacks during the past two years. All seemed to have taken place on the Honduras Bank which stretches seaward a hundred miles and is littering shoals and cays. Apparently the attacks are from fast skiffs or fishing boats and seems very much on a chance interaction. No deaths, but assault and theft, usually with the attackers armed with guns or knives and machetes. 

We decided to not sail thru the Main channel on the Bank, and rather head off-shore around the entire bank. It was a stressful 2 days of vigilance day and night. Each time we had a boat on radar we switched our motors on and turned in a direction that took us nowhere near the other boat. And then watched to see if they altered course for us in any way. 

Midday Tuesday, I was relieved to arrive at Isla Guanaja, the most eastern island of the Honduran Bay of Islands. 

The little birds flew off, and we prepped to go ashore for Entry Clearance. 

Panama - Linton Bay Marina, On the Dock in the Marina Working

 So it’s been a good month since I last posted. We are on the docks in the Marina. It’s been work, work , work for Nicholas and me.

Our Watermaker stopped working - and so Nicholas took the motor and pump apart. Seems somehow the motor windings weren’t good and so we reached out to local companies that could rewind the motor. (We can’t leave the dock with water until our Water-maker is working).

We were advised by everyone to go to one of the many Amarture Rewinders in Calle 11 1/2, Rio Abajo.

We randomly chose Electromechanic Vianela, as they seemed to be the biggest in the road.

Nicholas with Liriola, who seemed to be the owner and knew what she was talking about, Albeit using Google Translate for all communications (Spanish/English).

A week and $800 later, we had the motor back, and although it ran in the workshop, back at Meshugga installed it would not run under load.

So, next plan was to buy a new motor, and that entailed a lot of research, as I found it is a propriety motor made by Baldor for Parker Hannifin, for water makers, but the only suppliers are in the USA.

A few calls, emails, and dollars later, I ordered a new motor, and arranged for it to be shipped to us at Linton Bay Marina.  Twelve days later, the motor arrived, so read the next post as to whether it solved our Water-maker problems.

On our way back from Panama City from collecting the motor ( a two hour drive), we stopped at the Restuarant/Bar ‘Castile’ with Jim the Travel Lift Operator, and who’s vehicle we were using to drive to Panama City. His girlfriend, Tatiana owns the Restuarant and we’d heard it was great. However we only stopped for an enroute beer,…

Otherwise, I’ve had the most positive reinforcement of cleaning with intuition. After reaching out to OceanAir, etc; I took a chance at cleaning our blinds. They were full of mold. And yes, the cause has been rectified. As you can see the blinds look terrible.

With all the blinds removed, I cleaned the walls and recesses with Mold Control and Bleach

I soaked the blinds in Mold Control

Nicholas made me a ‘tray’, long enough to soak the blinds, one at a time. I had no containers aboard long enough to accommodate the blinds.

Then bleached them in CHLOROX. I used our large cooler box to soak the blind. I did them top and tail, with the cooler box full of water of bleach.

After rinsing I hung them on the washing lines to Dry

Once dry I sprayed them with more Mold Control.

See the results.  I am most Happy!

More than this it’s (for me) just been cleaning, scrubbing inside and out.

Nicholas has been working a lot on getting his new workshop ship shape. When it looks a little more organized I’ll post some photos.

We went to Porto Belo, the nearest village a 30 minute drive away. On previous occasions we took a taxi there, but this time I convinced Nicholas that we should take the local bus.

On the way there, even though it was a 10am bus, it was full of teenage school children, mostly standing at the back of the bus. The music was SO loud, that I felt old, and wanted to cover my ears, and the children were singing at the top of their lungs to the local pop tune.

Inside the bus (this photo is on the way back), it is quite fantastical, and at night there are neon bright various colored lights inside the bus and outside. Looks a bit like a Christmas Tree.

Mini Mart for some shopping

This is the Original Customs House for Central America, where all the Inca gold was recorded and shipped out to Spain. It is undergoing renovations, so we could not get inside.

The Ocean Innovations Sea Pod had it’s Huge Launch at the Marina, and all the Cruisers popped up after the ceremony for a drink, snacks and to view inside the Pod.

Band with good Panamanian music

The Sea Pod

Looking back at the Marina Restuarant/Bar

The outside seating area of the Sea Pod

Going in and up the circular tower 

The Lounge area

The Kitchen with Miele appliances

The balcony with stunning swing

I forgot to take photos of the bedroom and bathroom

Back ashore, Champagne was served and local dance exhibitions made for quite a festival occasion.

Soon after there was quite an uproar, and we saw that the Sea Pod was ‘falling over’.

The Sea Pod slowly sank with all stabilizing arms with Jacuzzi, Seating Area and Solar Panels submerged

The following day we heard that girls in the Jacuzzi had switched it on, and as the pipes were not all connected, it flooded the stabilizing tubes, and that ‘someone’ had switched the Breaker Switch off for the Blige Pumps, so the water was not evacuated, causing the Sea Pod to fall over and sink.

As you can see in the above photo, this we where it rested, probably as the stabilizing tubes were on the sea bed, rather than the Sea Pod floating.

For our Cruiser friends, we were happy to bump into Andy and Charlie of Avalon, whose catamaran is on the hard here at Linton Bay Marina, and we’ve spent some time chatting, and doing dinner together at the Marina Restuarant. 

Panama - Linton Bay Marina, 1 month on the Hard

 Our past month has been very busy with bottom work. A few photos;

On Thursday 1 September we splashed. Once again a very professional service by Jim the Hard Manager

Of interest, next to us on the Hard is the Whitbread yacht ‘La Post’. Unfortunately she looks a bit worse for wear, and we believe she’s been ‘For Sale’ for a number of years now.

We’re now in a Slip on the Marina for a few weeks. I’ve got a lot of cleaning to do, and Nicholas has maintenance chores and some repairs to catch up on.