POST

We changed our plan. If we continue straight to Galapagos we would go 6 knots or less and
pound into the wind and sea swells. We hear the winds shift to the south at the equator; I
thought you would be becalmed in the doldrums near the equator, but officially the winds
are unpredictable and only often calm. So we are going south west to the equator and
hopefully catch the south wind on our beam sailing west to Galapagos. Well that is today's
plan anyway. The not so direct route means we add 50 miles to our passage, but we may get
some sailing in and get to Galapagos just as fast or faster. Right now the wind is ever so
slowly shifting south and we are once again pounding into head winds and swells. We have
less than a hundred miles to go to cross the equator.

Last night a lonely seagull kept us company during our watch. He flew along the starboard
side and then along the port side. I remember a book about a similar seagull I read in the
70's called Jonathan Livingston Seagull. We are hundreds of miles from land; we have not
seen another ship in at least 12 hours. We immediately strike up a bond with the wild
creature. He has to fly hard to keep up with us as we both are heading into the wind. I
wonder if he will ever get brave enough to land on Bella Donna and take a well deserved
rest. Sometimes we see him flying behind the stern; he probably thinks we are a fishing
vessel. Well we do fish everyday but we have not caught our first fish. If he waits for us
to catch a fish, he will either starve or die of exhaustion.

This morning at sunrise we start our watch. The seagull is still with us. I hope he did
take a ride on Bella Donna and enjoyed a restful sleep content that he is safe with us. We
are pounding hard going south west. Everyone has some degree of sea sickness, so you see
life does have its speed bumps; this post may be shorter. No one is so sick they could eat
lunch though. Because the sky is clearer, no more thunderstorms, and the sun is bright; it
is also warmer.

Dusty and Victor are showing real dedication to the fishing effort. They are changing
lures, giving each one in the tackle box a trial run. Twice today we there have been very
large schools of dolphins; wherever they are there are fish as they eat continually
consuming 25 pounds of fish per day. They are smarter than humans so I am sure they are in
no danger of getting involved with one of our fishing lures. I wonder if the fish are
smarter than we are too.

God Bless Bella Donna

POST

Imagine you are lying in your bed in your cabin in the dark. There is no air conditioning
and you are near the equator, but the hatch above you is open and cool air is being scoped
in by the hatch cover flooding your body. This is better than any air conditioning.
Through the hatch is framed the brilliant moon that is nearly full. The moon beams in
lighting the room. That was my experience at 3 AM this morning. We are not supposed to
open the hatches on passage, but when I entered my cabin at 10 PM last night it was like
an oven holding in all the heat of the day. I first opened all three hatches and in
minutes the entire cabin was pleasant; however, the walls, bed linens and every thing else
in the room was radiating saved heat. I closed 2 hatches and laid down under the last
hatch to consider my options – close the last hatch and sleep on deck or leave the hatch
open and sleep in my own bed. With the hatch open it may rain or worse a rogue wave could
wash the deck and scoop gallons of sea water in my bed. If it rains it would wake me up
and I would just close the hatch. The sea is flat and rouge waves occur most often near
the poles, not the equator. Sleep interrupted my thought and that is why I had the
encounter with the moon at 3 AM. All and all, I thought I had been lucky; I did not know
how lucky until I started watch on the fly bridge.

Watch started at 6 AM; the sun was rising. Where is the clear sky that most assuredly
shown the moon so brightly in my cabin. Come to find out we have been hand steering all
night dodging thunder storms, not to miss rain or wind, but to miss lightning. We have two
cases of lightning taking down our electrical and navigation systems. Even though
yesterday's problems were not caused by lighting, we freshly remember the experience of
loosing navigational gear and do not want a repeat.

As soon as the sky lights up, we spot land. Way out here in the Pacific Ocean we spot an
island, Malpelo. Cliffs rise up hundreds of feet, straight up; the profile is so
impressive, surely it has been used making movies. Maybe it would be a good place to hold
a survivor reality series. The watch ends peacefully, but black clouds are looming ahead.

John's watch brings on the thunderstorms and rough seas, but without lightning. The wind
and current are on our nose so the progress is slow and very bouncy. Bella Donna's
beautiful cherry wood is talking, creaking, ouch. The bow is pounding hard and Bella Donna
is shuttering. An occasional wave breaks on the starboard bow and drops gallons of sea
water on the salon windows. We ask for a weather forecast over satellite. There are a
patch of thunderstorms ahead, as we make our way west tomorrow thunderstorms are much less
likely. We decide to reroute more south so as to slice into the oncoming waves and allow
us to raise the staysail to lessen the pounding and make more speed.

The rest of the day is better; we are still motoring with no sails up with light head
winds, a current against us, but flatter seas.

God Bless Bella Donna.

POST

We made good progress late yesterday afternoon considering a full load of fuel and the
weight of the provisioning. A full tank of fuel weighs 4 tons and we have almost that in
food and spare parts. We had 7 knots of apparent winds dead on the beam, 90° off nose
with both engines at 2000 RPM and the full Genoa up; we were able to do 10.6 knots, speed
over ground. Oh, there was a little current behind us; we estimated it to be at least 1
knot. The sea was flat with broad rolling swells. These conditions lasted well past sunset.

In complete darkness we see four boat lights in front of us that do not show up on radar.
We have difficulty estimating their distance, speed and heading. We get out the binoculars
and try to read their running lights. Their lights are only white which does not make
sense; the boat on starboard has a flashing strobe light, maybe on his stern. Suddenly the
largest of the boats pops up on the radar screen 2 miles away on our starboard side; that
is very close as we are going over 10 knots. We switch to standby, manual helm, and steer
to port to clear the larger boat without being able to read his direction because he is
not displaying running lights. This brings us closer to a smaller boat off our port, but
we are still a very respectful and safe distance away. As we pass between the two vessels
which are a great distance, miles, apart, we hear a laud crunching sound as Bella Donna
shutters as if we had hit something in the water. Something like a rubber band snapping in
the water rips off into the night. Engines in neutral we drift head into wind to survey
any damage. Around the port prop we find what is left of a line with floats and fishing
hooks baited with fresh chicken parts. We shut down the port engine for the rest of the
night until someone can go overboard and survey the damage in daylight. We slow down, way
down.

We turned off the air conditioning shortly after leaving, but it is cool enough for me to
fall asleep immediately after my watch. We do not open hatches on passage, thus residual
cool air had been trapped for hours. At a little after midnight I awake; it is hot; now I
wish the hatch was open. The air is so heavy that each breath is work. I stumble out into
the cockpit; there is a cool breeze and I immediately collapse on one of the couches and
fall back to sleep. At 5 AM I am awakened by an alarm going off which is not so unusual as
to worry me. Many times on night watch we will set the radar to warn us if a vessel is
within a given radius. John is up and looks busy and concerned. He says we have lost our
navigational electronics. Lightning is visible, but so many miles away there is no
thunder. We have to hand steer and use charts. We still have a backup GPS attached to the
VHF radio to give us our position. This begins to remind us of the time lightning did take
our navigation instruments out in a storm in the Mediterranean.

In the middle of our watch, John comes up to the fly bridge and turns on the navigation
equipment. The problem is resolved; a GPS receiver has failed and we have provisioned two
spares. A quick swap and we are on our way.

Later in the morning the wind completely dies, the ocean is like glass; this is a good
time to stop Bella Donna, go over the side and check the port prop. Once we are stopped
John dives down to take a look. It turns out the prop is free of fishing lines. The only
damage is the wearing of the hull down to aluminum at the base of the prop shaft caused by
the anode rubbing and banging during the Canal transit. With both engines working we are
on our way again.

God Bless Bella Donna.

POST

Dusty and Victor arrived about 8:50 just as it began to rain and we were locking up and
heading to dinner. We donned our rain gear and headed to Bennigans. The older crew came
back to Bella Donna around 12 AM. Younger crew stayed to help close the bar.

Our day started at 3:30 AM. Anthony woke up John to report that Victor was nowhere to be
found. He had come back with everybody, but Ant had searched everywhere for Victor without
success. John dress quickly and began the search. Quickly Victor was found sleeping on the
trampoline on the bow. Everyone went back to bed.

Well we are waiting for some parts coming Fed-Ex before noon. We will secure the package,
fuel up and we will be off. It is 10 AM and we are just now having breakfast. We have all
been up since 7 AM visiting and listening to John's plan for the passage ahead. This
consists of the usual speech about watch assignments and under what conditions to wake
John up, when going out on deck is safe, what to do in case of fire, how to flush the
heads, what to put in a grab bag if we have to abandon ship, and many other useful things
to know.

We pick up the parts and fuel right on time, 11 AM. We get our final passport stamps and
papers allowing us to leave. About 12:30 we say our goodbyes to Panama. Our agent, Tina,
who helped us with all planning and paperwork comes by to say goodbye and leaves us some
of her business cards in case we meet someone in Galapagos who needs an agent in Panama.
We are finally on our way. The ocean is flat, no wind and a cloud of humidity rises above
us. We have been hotter, so it is not too bad. The ocean is gently rolling with light
swells about 15 seconds apart. All in all the weather is better than predicted, just no
wind to sail; we are in the doldrums, latitude 8. We have a fishing line out because we
see birds and sea life. Several hundred yards away we spot a killer whale gently coming up
for air and diving again for food. No fish yet.

God Bless Bella Donna

POST

It has been a full day. Deborah and I took a cab to Albrook Mall this morning. Actually we
got there before the mall opened, so we window shopped outside a pet shop until the mall
opened. There was a very large green parrot that we considered buying to join us on our
adventure. We filled the time thinking about what we could train the parrot to say. Also
there was a very active looking ferret. In the end we thought John would not like the
idea. He pointed out later that such pets cause great problems when entering certain
countries.

We split up in El Costo department store. We are amazed by the low cost of clothing. I
purchase a pair of blue jeans, some nice shorts and two swim suits; the total cost was
$16. We ask around using our less than adequate Spanish to get directions to a grocery
store we know to be located in the mall. Sure enough the grocery is just a few hundred
yards away. We get two grocery carts as we know we have to by for at least a month. We
will need some things by the time we get to Marquises. If there is no shopping there we
will have to adapt to what ever is there.

Just like the other grocery store, Reys, we find almost everything we are looking for at
very reasonable prices. We even find some innovative food items that we have not seen in
US stores yet. There is rogue sauce with no sugar and black olives without salt. There is
salad dressing in a new kind of squeeze bottle. We find the wine selection in this store a
little less than Reys. The prices are low and our tasting of these wines has found them
pretty good. We take a sampling of different ones, mostly reds, but also some whites.
There is some drink stacked in a very large pile of one half gallon bottles priced $8
each. It is called Seca and it looks like water. We ask a store employee, using a lot of
hand signs, is it like vodka, rum, gin or oso? After some interaction he gets across to us
it is unique and is only like Seca. We buy some; it must be good, they have so much of it.

By now we need 3 carts to hold our growing pile of purchases. It becomes quite difficult
to wheel 3 carts down the last 3 isles. We take two carts to a closed checkout line. A
manager sees that we are big spenders and lets us leave the carts in front of a closed
checkout position. We shop for another half hour and spend another half hour having café,
a pollo empanada (me) and a donut (Deborah); this as it turns out was lunch. When we
return to check out it is a big thing; I don't think they get many shoppers provisioning a
vessel for long passage. Everyone is looking at us wondering how we are going to manage
such a large pile of groceries and why did we need to buy so much. Thank goodness two
store employees help us out with two larger carts fill completely. We find a taxi; fill
its trunk and back seat leaving just enough room for Deborah. I sit in the passenger front
seat. Getting to the marina the driver quickly helps us unload until he drives off leaving
us with a huge pile of groceries. Bella Donna is 200 yards down the dock!

The groceries are all stowed; I do hope we remember where we put them all. I hope it is
not like finding a hidden Easter egg in July, everything has an expiration date.

It is 7 PM and we are still working on Bella Donna. Don has left for the airport some time
ago to pick up Dusty and Victor. We leave in the morning.

God Bless Bella Donna.

POST

Yesterday we took 2 cabs $4 each to the YMCA, just a few miles away. We had internet,
nautical maps and banking on our mind. While ATMs are easy to find in Panama, there will
not be an easy place to get money until we reach Tahiti, some 5,000 miles away. I
foolishly came without money thinking I would just use a credit card. In some primitive
areas money is not even used. If you want fruit hanging from a tree you are expected to
trade some of your stuff – shoes, shirts, lipstick, pencils, paper … for the fruit.
Critical fuel for Bella Donna may require cash; we remember Cape Verde Islands off Africa
where cash was required.

Standing on a busy street corner we must really look out of place. One thing is
Panamanians do not wear shorts, only long pants. Living in such heat, how does this make
sense? John spots a pickup truck taxi, a perfect solution to hauling 5 bag laden tourists.
We head for our next destination, the Albrook Mall near the small municipal airport. Wow,
this mall is huge, clean and modern. It would be ranked among the best in the US. We found
the short wave radio we have been looking for. Deborah found that name brand clothes were
going for very low prices. She bought some nice shorts for $3 a pair. The mall was air
conditioned and has a food court just like in the US. Two floors of food made up of the
usual brands. The prices were very good. A soft drink for 50¢, a small pizza for $3 and a
6 inch Subway sandwich for $3.

We need 2 cabs for the $4 ride back to the anchorage. In Panama the public transportation
is done with crowded school busses. Some school busses must have actual students aboard,
but there seems to be a lot of red, white and blue public transport busses. The cab driver
warns us about the roho deablo, the red devil, bus. He says they are known to drive wildly
out of control and cause many accidents. It seems to me that all the buses drive too fast,
pull out in front of you and cut you off to change lanes. It is better to leave the
driving to the taxi with its local knowledge.

Well, it is Thursday already. We are doing our shopping this morning for any last minute
maintenance supplies. Tomorrow we will grocery shop. We are going to fuel up and go on the
Flamenco Marina dock this afternoon and will be spending time readying Bella Donna for the
departure Saturday morning. Dusty and Victor are flying in tomorrow night about 7:49 PM.
We have a welcome planned for them at what should be a wild night at the same restaurant
we visited the other night. This time we will walk the dock to the restaurant a difference
of yards versus the 2 miles we walked the other night. This will be our last chance to
partake of a beverage; there is no drinking on passage to Galapagos.

Today once again the cloud cover is protecting us from the fiery sun. It very humid, but
the cooler temperature makes it bearable. At the top of a mast of a nearby sail boat a
rather large man has been working for hours. He looks well planted working above the mast
head. The boat is rolling in the swell creating pendulum movements that do not seem to
interfere with his extensive project. Many of the boats in this anchorage have seen many
sea miles living on a tight budget. We have listened to the sailors talking about being
here for weeks getting their boats ready for the next passage. Some of the boats have
dinghies that must be rowed to the dinghy dock. Not all the sailors are grown ups. We
observed a mother swimming with her children behind their worn but probably sea worthy
catamaran. The decks were covered with stuff like jerry cans, anchors, rope, bumpers and
family recreational items. They had one of those large truck tire tubes covered so the
small children could play inside like it was a wading pool in the back yard. The older
kids were using it as a diving platform.

A thunderstorm came up just as we decided to dock in the Flamenco Marina. The docking was
a little tense, but John did the ferry drift using the wind and we are secure. More tomorrow.

God Bless Bella Donna.

post

The taxi ride to Miraflores Lock took only 20 minutes. Most of the way we observed
buildings and housing built by the US. The entire way we passed through what had been Fort
Amador on the Canal side of the road and the Canal Zone on the right. Panamanians have
taken the old living quarters and remodeled them as very attractive condominiums in some
cases and apartments in others. However, some of the buildings have been stripped and are
falling apart. The visitor's center was quite nice. We watched the locking of 2 panamax
container ships headed for the Pacific, watched a 10 minute movie about the canal's
history-future and visited the four story museum. All this took 2 hours and we left when
the center closed at 5 PM.

The day has been cloudy and a lot cooler. It did sprinkle a little. Maybe this weather
will hold for the next few days.

Well the Boys are going out to dinner. Deborah's stomach is not feeling so good so she is
going to stay on the Bella Donna and lay low. We get in the dinghy and go to shore. We
walk by the Italian Family Restaurant; there are two tables occupied. The steak house is
empty. The Japanese Restaurant is empty. We do not want to eat at Subway sandwich. We keep
walking and I know there are only bars ahead and a Bennigan's about a quarter of a mile
down the road. We pass the bars and the Bennigan's is our last choice. I do notice a lot
of cars are going in that direction. We arrive at Bennigan's and it is packed.

We put our name in and go to the bar. This is a happening place. We go straight to the
outdoor bar and tables overlooking the Flamenco Marina. The prime spots are all full of
local sport fishing boats. Tied to the end of a finger is a 92' monohull sailboat named
Vivid. It turns out one of the crew is sitting at the bar next to us. The fishing here is
fantastic. The bar tender is a good looking Latin girl who does not speak a word of
English. We try and order drinks, but she is not getting what we want. Don's order went
from Manhattan to Jack on the rocks and he still had to explain what ice was. I ordered
Scotch and soda, a simple request, but I received a frown. Don helps the bartender by
identifying the Scotch by counting; uno, dos, tres, quatro. The J&B was the fourth bottle
from the left. We do just fine.

A big cheer erupts from a large group of people a good distance away. There are flat panel
television screens everywhere. They are all tuned to ESPN2 and showing American baseball,
Atlanta is playing Florida. It sounds like a Latin cheer you would hear when the favorite
soccer team scores a goal, but there are too many cheers too close together to be a goal.
The baseball game is not that exciting. What is it? Later in the evening we find out that
it was just one or more birthday celebrations and this is common in Panama.

We walked a little less than a mile from where we left the dinghy to the restaurant, that
was a 7 PM. It is now 10:30 and I am falling asleep at the table. We walk the near mile
back to the dinghy. The ramp down to the dinghy dock has been steep most of the day, but
now is much flatter. We do not understand the tides here; the tide can be as much as 13
feet. On the Caribbean side the tide was 1 foot. At this latitude there must be another
reason for this.

Back on Bella Donna we are wide awake from the long hike. Once I make it down to my cabin,
I am asleep within 10 minutes. I am now 1 day behind on my journal. So this happened
yesterday and what happens today you will get tomorrow.

God Bless Bella Donna.

POST

Yesterday we just tried to catch up on sleep and replenish our energy stores. The weather
has turned windy and the pacific is coming at us in big swells; it feels like we have left
for Galapagos, but we are still at anchor near Panama City. Panama City is just across
some water and surprised us; it is big with many tall buildings that look over 100
stories, it looks every bit like New York City from this distance, about 15 miles.

After breakfast we went ashore to check out the Flamenco Marina. It is under construction
and is medium good as the French would say. They are charging prices like the Atlantis
resort in the Bahamas. Instead of $500 per night at Atlantis to dock Bella Donna, they
want $400. John talked to someone who claimed to be the dock master yesterday who quoted
us a price of a little over $200 over the phone which is still more than the dock is
worth. Even the internet is charged by the hour per computer; this is highway robbery. So
far from what we have seen the way to do the Canal is to stay on the North end in the
Shelter Bay Marina going to Colon to provision for Galapagos. The prices were $50 per
night for Bella Donna for dockage and internet was $5 per boat to hook up to wireless. The
cab rides were said to be $6 per hour, but when we caught a cab to internet at YMCA and to
Rey's to shop, it cost us $20; on the other hand, the air conditioned bus took us to shop
round trip for $4 each. When you get to the Panama City side of the Canal, keep going.

We decide to stay at anchor and maybe we will spend a few days sailing to islands about 40
miles offshore. That is what today is about.

Well we decide we will be visiting lots of primitive islands in the South Pacific, so we
decide to spend our last \days on more populated and modern land. We decide to move the
boat around to quieter water and rent a car or take a taxi to tour. We go ashore to find
out more information and buy fishing tackle. The advice we get is to take a taxi for short
trips to local neighborhoods and rent a car if we want to take main roads out of town.
Under no circumstances should we rent a car and get lost or make a wrong turn, it could
prove to be dangerous. Taxis are supposed to rent for $6 an hour, but no one we have
talked to has found this driver. Ramon has a taxi large enough for all 5 of us; he charges
$10 per hour. Raymond can fit 5 small people in his taxi and charges $9 per hour. Some of
us are large even though we are smaller than when we started.

Our goal is to tour the visitor's center that overlooks the Canal at the Miraflores Lock.
They close at 5PM. Deborah is not feeling like going, so she will rest and look after
Bella Donna. We will go out to dinner tonight across the street and give Deborah a break.
We have been having one to die for dinner after another. I don't think other cruisers have
it so good.

Well I will get this off before we go. More tomorrow.

God Bless Bella Donna.

POST

Yesterday we returned from the grocery store about 12 noon. It was not too hot; however
after having lunch the heat started. I think this was our hottest day yet. We huddled
indoors with the air conditioner running as fast as it could. It kept loosing ground to
the persistent heat. On the burning deck of Bella Donna a large bundle of 120 foot white
lines are piled, neatly ready for work in the canal. The line handlers are scheduled to be
here at 4 PM and we are to leave for the canal channel to check in with the controller. It
is 4:20 before they arrive, just as the heat gives way to a breeze. We quickly introduce
ourselves; there are only three; Anthony is going to man one of the 4 lines. One very
large and friendly Panamanian man is named Dracula.

It is hurry up and wait. We check in with the controller who tells us to proceed to the
flats and wait for our pilot. The sun is close to setting and the breeze has become
pleasantly cool and refreshing. Just before the pilot is to arrive John opens the
starboard engine compartment to check out a strange noise. Not every time but often when
the starboard engine is put into reverse a laud clanking noise is heard. After several
successful attempts to repeat, John looks at me asks should we abort the transit. My mind
goes where it always goes when a serious question must be answered. How can I help John
with a difficult decision he must make in minutes? After consideration, I decide I know
too little and I will let John make this difficult decision, after all he has to take
Bella Donna into the Panama Canal without using reverse on the starboard engine. He
decides to go for it and I support his decision.

It is very dark; the moon is just a sliver as it is very new. It is 7:20; we call the
controller to see where the pilot is. The controller acknowledges us and then the pilot
shuttle calls us saying they are looking for us in the dark in the flats. We flash our big
red anchor light at the top of our mast and they immediately spot us and head for us at
high speed. The pilot jumps on and off we go into the channel towards the first Gatun lock
chamber. There are a lot of bright lights and one very small looking slit that obviously
is the first lock chamber; it does not look wide enough for Bella Donna. Once in the
chamber and the 4 lines are connected to men walking on the sides of the chamber, it is
clear that Bella Donna is a wide vessel. There is a very large ship, The Green Chile,
locked with us in front. Admittedly this vessel takes almost all the width of the lock.
There are 3 chambers that make up Gatun locks. In all Bella Donna is raised approximately
87 feet into Gatun Lake where we anchored for the night. The only time we had a problem
with the changing in reverse was backing up while dropping and setting the anchor. Deborah
says she will dive and check the prop at sunrise. We eat a late dinner with the deck hands
and go to bed.

Today the pilot was supposed to arrive at 7 AM. Instead he arrived at 6:45 AM. Later we
found out he had a party to go to later in the day and wanted to get going early so as to
maybe get an earlier schedule at Pedro Miguel Lock. Deborah was unable to dive and look at
the prop. Dracula tells us it is just as well as there are many alligators in the lake and
one way to get them to come close to the boat was to swim in the water.

A small fishing boat, a small monohull sailboat and a medium sized catamaran left the
anchorage before us. We left later and passed them as they were only making about 6 knots.
It turns out all of us made the 25-30 mile journey to Pedro Miguel locks and were locked
together about 11:15 AM. This time we were the big vessel in front. The only problem for
the first vessel out of the locks coming down is current. John and Bella Donna handled it
well. Pedro Miguel is a one chamber lock. About a mile later we entered the Miraflores
lock, a two chamber drop, and suddenly we were in the Pacific. It was all over too soon.
We drop off our deck hands and our pilot so he can go to his party. We anchor off Flamenco
Marina with a panoramic view of Panama City.

During the anchoring process the port engine starts making the clanking sound in reverse.
That is it; John must know what is going on. So John and Andrew jump in with masks and
fins while the rest of us look out for sharks. After one or two dives, John is smiling
from ear to ear. The problem with both prop shafts is a loose anode. There has been no
damage and a screw driver is used to repair it for now. We all are lying quietly in our
cabins getting so well deserved rest with no worries and no drama.

God Bless Bella Donna.

POST

We got the word late yesterday that we will transit the canal tomorrow afternoon. We can still be bumped by the scheduler. We do not know how much of the transit will be in daylight and how much will be at night.

Late yesterday afternoon we took a walk about in the jungle just across the road from the marina. You are immediately swallowed up into a Rambo type of experience. The marina disappears in a heartbeat. The jungle is so dense you must stay on the path someone cut through the growth so thick you would have to work hard to penetrate just a few feet. This jungle is dotted with forts, big cannon emplacements and underground tunnels and living quarters. This area was Fort Sherman. Don did internet research and it was constructed in 1911 to defend the Panama Canal that was completed in 1914. In 1951 it became the Jungle Operations Training Center (JOTC). The Panamanians have taken it over from the US as part of the canal turn over in about 1998 to 1999. My software was designed to not function beyond the year 2000, hum, I wonder if this was always part of the plan.

As we walk the trail we notice little miniature trail systems following along, crossing and branching often into the jungle. Upon closer examination the little trail is full of ants hurrying in both directions. In one direction ants are carrying pieces of green leaves several times their body weight. We pick a big green leaf and lay it in their path. The ants start immediately to slice the leaf up into pieces small enough to carry. In minutes the leaf is gone. The last pieces can be seen wiggling down the miniature path into the jungle where it will feed the colony.

There are monkeys, little dark ones and some have white faces. Anthony saw a raccoon and we saw a little house pet sized animal with a stubby tail; I did not recognize what it was. This animal could run really fast leaping in an arc and landing 10 to 20 feet ahead before running again and the jumping again.

As we returned we saw some teenaged kids playing volleyball. The evening really started to cool. We enjoyed a sundowner in the cockpit and had dinner in the marina restaurant. The same kids that were playing volleyball were now play cards in an activity room provided for cruisers. They drifted in to eat dinner with their parents. It turns out there are several families cruising with their kids. Think of all the home schooling required of these families.

Today we went to a new, still under construction with a few stores open, shopping mall in Colon that included a very nice supper market that was like something between a Wal-Mart and a common US supermarket. On the way there the bus drove over a hinged bridge at the Atlantic end of the Gatun lock on the Panama Canal. The bridge opens and closes in sync with the first lock gate.

The prices in the store were surprising very low. In no case was a price more than you would pay in the US. The selection was very wide and many brands we recognized. All the labeling was in Spanish, so a lot of association observation was required before making a purchase. Wine was from Panama, Chile and Argentina; prices run from $2 to $10 a bottle. The store layout was the best we have ever seen; it is extremely easy to find what you want. We had two cups of great coffee that cost 25¢ each waiting for the $4 bus ride back to the Bella Donna.

This post is long enough; I will report on transit starting tomorrow.

God Bless Bella Donna.

POST

The day starts early. I am up at 3 AM with munchies; my blood sugar is low. The light is
on up in the salon. Deborah is at her computer. She was wide awake; her body was so used
to her 3 AM watch, the wakeup call was automatic. We chat for a few moments while I munch
on prunes and miniature sugar coated chocolate kisses, each about the size of a pencil
eraser.

Returning to my cabin I now can not sleep. Is there caffeine in chocolate? I update my
family web site to show pictures from the passage between BVI and Panama. As the pictures
start uploading I get sleepy and pass out. I awake to a dark cabin and wonder what time it
is. Oh, its 8AM! I must be the last up, but as I get to the salon only Don is at the salon
table on his computer. I smell coffee, it is still perking; Don just put it on. A look
outside; the decks and salon windows are wet. It rained last night, but the sky is now
blue awaiting the ball of fire to arrive and rise above us. It turned out that everyone
slept in late because we could. Everyone worked on computers or read. We have a leisurely
breakfast.

The official Panama Canal "measurer" showed up around 11 AM to "measure" us. He was a very
pleasant man who was educated at UNLV, the University of Nevada Las Vegas. He was excited
to meet the large boats owner, a rare thing he says. He was very familiar with the
computer system I designed in 1974 for automating the Panama Canal. Much to my surprise,
they only replaced the system during the millennium, 2000, with a much more expensive
system. He said many felt the new system was less capable.

It turns out that his job required getting answers to a lot more questions than length,
width and draft of Bella Donna. Where did you come from? Where were you three months ago?
Where are you going? And where are you going after that? Where is the boat based? We
responded, the world. Do you have a horn on board? He wants to see it. John pulls out the
little arousal can with a horn looking like a toy on top. He wants to hear it. John points
it out the salon door and the horn makes a HUGE sound. Good says the "measurer", you can
not transit the canal without a horn. What is the horn for? We are not sure. After what
seamed like hundreds of questions he finishes his job. Now he will submit the answers to
the scheduler who will let us know when we are going to transit. Oh, he did measure Bella
Donna, she is 73.16 feet long (LOL, Length Overall) and 37.87 feet wide (beam).

God Bless Bella Donna

POST

Land Ho? Not yet. The wind has died completely! Last night we sighted a single red light in front of us out about 4 miles. It turned out to be a 40 foot sail boat with one red light showing on the top of his mast. He never showed up on our radar. 20 meter or less sail boats under sail do this to save electricity, use one tricolor running light on the top of their mast. With one light bulb it sends three colors of light; red for facing port side, green for starboard side and white for stern side. It was confusing because the boat seemed to be standing still with the wind was so light. Should we pass in front of his bow or behind his stern? The answer is behind his stern.

We try are approaching the south side of the Panama Canal. The water is only 180 feet deep so we try fishing again. We catch no fish. The morning is cool with a clear blue sky. When the big fire ball rises in the sky I am sure it will be hot. We enter the breakwater and wander towards Shelter Bay Marina, www.shelterbaymarina.com, to check in and get in line to transit the canal. We are told that a man will be here tomorrow to measure the Bella Donna. He will not believe anything we tell him and his measurement is final for figuring cost to us. It is noon and hot, hot hot.

It seems there is a riot going on in Colon today as some area of Panama is unhappy because they are not getting enough fresh water. The highway to the local town is closed to traffic, so we are here, but can't go anywhere. The second richest man in Canada is here on his boat and wanted to take guests to Colon to take tours. He is trapped on his boat as well. You know they use fresh water from Gatun Lake to fill the locks on the canal and whenever a ship is let down to sea level the fresh water escapes out to sea. I hope they do not have to suspend canal operations to free up some fresh water. I guess they could use salt water but the pumping up hill would be too costly and, more importantly, too slow.

Well we got docked and spent all afternoon trying to catch up on email and finding the best place to get the wifi signal on shore; it turns out to be on the boat, not on shore. So here I am having a 99% SODA and 1% scotch drink in the cool of the afternoon in the cockpit because I can't drink much alcohol after the dry passage. I guess I need to get this blog post out so someone can read it. More tomorrow.

God bless Bella Donna.

POST

No fish. We have both lines out today as we approach Panama Canal. We should arrive
somewhere outside Panama tomorrow morning about 8 in the morning. We are 140 miles out
right now and we have slowed down so as to make landfall after it is light. Slowing down
is good for the fishing too; please keep your fingers crossed for us. We had Mahi Mahi
from the freezer last night, but freshly caught fish is best.

Our clocks are still on the time zone we departed from which is the same as Eastern
Daylight Standard Time because the Caribbean does not go on Daylight Savings Time. We have
been in the Central Standard Time zone for days. We have noticed the sunsets getting much
later as well as the sun rises. The canal is Central Standard Time so we will be changing
our clocks as soon as we arrive. Panama does not go on Daylight Savings Time so our time
then will be the same as Mountain Daylight Savings Time. This means we will be only one
hour later than Pacific Daylight Savings Time. Aren't you glad to know this?

It is getting hot. It is 100 degrees with humidity. I had to bring my computer out in the
cockpit because the cabin is too warm. We are not to the equator yet so it will even get
hotter. John just measured the teak deck and it was 144 degrees Fahrenheit. During the 100
degree day in New York last summer the teak only measured 120 degrees. John offered to
turn on the air conditioning, but I just found a comfortable place with a breeze. Hot
weather near the equator is just a fact of life. Thank God for our ice maker. It is
struggling to keep up with us. It cools off quickly every day about 5 PM.

This morning on watch we spotted a floating bumper, a rather large one. There was a rope
tied to one end that went straight down in 2000 feet of water so it was not a pot or fish
trap. We decided not to stop and pick it up as it would surely awaken John and the captain
needs his sleep. We mused about what might be tied to the other end of the rope. We
decided that since we are so close to Columbia, it may be a drug shipment dropped at a GPS
position to be picked up by a passing boat, or not. What ever, we just passed it by.

We had Deborah's shrimp fajitas today for lunch, yum, yum.

God Bless Bella Donna.

POST

Late yesterday, after I finished the post, we were all sitting on the fly bridge enjoying
the remains of the day, a beautiful sunset was about to occur. John and Anthony were lying
on the sun pad with their sun glasses, looking like twins. Deborah who was on watch
remarked how much it looked like father and son. We all laughed, but it could easily be
seen that way. John remarked again that this was the easiest passage he could ever remember.

The thing I like about cruising is that each day is unlike the last. Every day so far has
been too much like the last. However, when days are this good, who can complain? This
morning on our watch, we finally reached our long anticipated way point at latitude 14
degrees north and 397 miles from the Panama Canal. Our weather advisor told us to stay
above 14 degrees until we reached this point. This is fine as it is good to stay away from
Venezuela and Columbia. In the 60's you may have encountered pirates, but today it is
political hassle we worry about.

When we reach the way point we change course from 247 degrees to 227 degrees, more south.
So by Thursday morning we will be a few miles off the Panama Canal. That means John was
dead right and the passage will have taken 5 easy days, 120 hours. I think we plan to
transit the canal as soon as possible. We have an agent who made all the arrangements for
us. Since we are longer than 65 feet, we will be required to take a professional pilot and
transit in one day. We will have at least 4 hired deck hands to man the 4 125 feet of 1
inch lines required to work with more men on the sides of the canal.

After our watch we stayed on the bridge with John until 11 AM on his watch. We discussed
sail boats. John noted that the world is moving to large catamarans as they offer cruising
comfort while helping to keep the fuel costs down. We think that Bella Donna represents
the current best design of this class. We feel that under the right wind and sea
conditions we could sail at 13 knots. The fact is that most of the time the wind and sea
conditions are not optimal so you have to sail much slower, motor sail or just motor.
Today the sea is flat, no roll and small ripples. Our apparent wind is 4 to 6 knots from
120 degrees off our port; the true wind is 10 to 12 knots close to just behind us. With
both engines at 2000 RPM we are able to do over 10 knots boat speed. This is good although
we do have some current flowing nearly in our direction to help out.

It is now late afternoon and we decided to fish. I had Deborah slow the boat down some. No
fish yet. Does anyone know a good fish dance or song or anything?

God Bless Bella Donna.

POST

The day started much like yesterday, except the moon is missing. The weather has turned
warmer and the wind died last night. I filled in the ship's log; we log the GPS position,
wind speed-direction, course heading, distance traveled and speed since the last watch
started, e.g. every 3 hours around the clock while on passage. Up on the fly bridge
Deborah is ready to finish her watch, but she is not sleepy. She has finally caught up on
her sleep and had a couple of cups of coffee at 3 AM when her shift started. After a short
period the big orange ball pops up on the water on the horizon behind a few low clouds. We
are almost half way to the Panama Canal.

After a while the sea is alive with flying fish zooming along just above the water. Just
like birds alarmed by an approaching car the fish dart from in front of our bow flying
several hundred feet and diving into the water again. We have had dolphins swimming with
Bella Donna in the past few days, but I do not see them right here right now. The wind is
picking up; I am starting to see an occasional white cap and Bella Donna is starting to
pitch and roll a little.

John takes his shift and immediately takes the Genoa sail down and raises the huge Code
Zero Spinnaker sail. We accelerate from 9.5 to 10.6 knots as a result. So far this passage
has been the best yet. Greek salad is served for lunch, reminds me of Donna's birthday on
Bella Donna in Greece. We all talk about doing Greece and Turkey after Africa.

Our newest crew member Anthony is a great guy. He is very young, in his twenties. He is
from South Africa like John. In fact, he reminds me of a young John. John is giving him
experience so he can captain on his own after this passage. He is to be with us at least
through Marquesas; I hope longer. I am really looking forward to getting to know him better.

Well I hear that Galapagos does not have internet, so any high speed internet we get to
send pictures and update web sites will be in Panama. I must spend the rest of today
preparing for this.

God Bless Bella Donna.

Post

Woke up at 4:30, a little too early for the 6 to 9 AM watch, but I did go to bed early
last night. I turned off the mobile phone alarm set for 5:30. That is all it is good for
no carrier in sight. I read some guides on Panama Canal and South Pacific then got up to
make coffee. While brewing I went out to cockpit couch and laid down, perfect crescent
moon hung over the dinghy in its position on the aft deck. The partially illuminated
perfectly round reflection of the rising sunlight from the earth east of here provided the
partial illumination of the dark portion of the moon. Beep, beep, beep – the coffee is
ready. Reaching the fly bridge, I see Deborah with a blanket over her head and covering
her head; she is staring at the instruments and the faint horizon. We talk about how odd
it is to be so cool at night and hot during the day.

We are in 15,000 feet of water in the Caribbean Sea. The passage has been great. The sea
is just a little choppy with a gentle swell. The apparent wind is at 120 degrees off the
port. With the engines and with headsail only, the full Genoa, we are doing 9 to 9.7
knots. We will not fish today; we lost one of our lures late yesterday. I think we are
going too fast.

Well I read sailing guides for Panama and the South Pacific most of the day. We are making
great progress. The "speed over ground" derived from the GPS hit 12 and 14 knots.That is
remarkable as we are so heavy with fuel, provisions and spares of equipment. We are helped
by the current and the wind is gusting just under 20 knots. I can't wait until my next
watch at 6 PM. Needless to say "no fish today" although we did have ahi on lettuce for
lunch. God Bless Bella Donna.

post

Woke up at 5:30 with the alarm, we were underway at 6AM. Deborah put "On the Road Again"
by Willey Nelson on the ipod to speakers throughout the Bella Donna. The day was partly
cloudy, the sea was flat with small ripples and the wind was blowing 4 to 7 knots. Two
pots of coffee, sun screen and sun bonnets, we were underway. Don and I took the first
watch. We do that every morning from 6 to 9 AM. We just finished and we made 23 kmiles in
3 hours and we are in 4000 to 6000 feet of depth; we have passed Saint Thomas off
starboard and Saint Croix is far off, but in sight off port. It is time to fish; we will
try the new gear we bought in Kona. The air conditioner is turned off the passage has
begun. It is warming up, but still OK.

Well it is afternoon and the Kona fishing gear has not caught anything yet. We are going
too fast to fish. At least if we do catch a fish, it will have to be healthy. The wind is
light, so sailing has been put on hold for now. We have the Genoa head sail out, but it is
adding only half a knot I estimate. Be sure and follow us on Yotreps. God Bless Bella Donna.

Post

Well we went out to dinner last night to celebrate John's birthday and out departure from
Road Town today. It was a welcome celebration following a very busy getting ready to leave
day. We went to The Dove, a funky restaurant near the marina. The quality of food was
remarkable, not the usual Caribbean thing. We even had Rumbauer CharDonnay! The restaurant
was in a large house that stretched from a street in the front to a street in the back. We
entered from the side where the first thing you see is the kitchen through a large open,
no covering, window. The next room was a bar so crowded you could hardly walk through it.
The tables were set up in rooms and outside on patios at the other end of the large house.
The walk to and from The Dove provided just the right amount of exercise to guarantee a
good night's sleep.

Today the sun is shining bright and the morning is perfect. John is "polishing the apple",
otherwise known as Bella Donna. There are workers crawling all over Bella Donna as we
prepare to leave by noon or so.

Well, we left the dock at 12:30. A little late but the marina staff wanted to see us in
person; they would not take a credit card over the phone. We travel about a quarter of a
mile and fuel up duty free; this saves about a dollar a gallon, which is significant. We
are only going to Peter Island, about 5 miles away.

We have arrived at Peter Island, 18 21.211 N 64 34.917 W, the win is out of East at
8.2kts. Don and I are sending emails over wireless s. It is 4 PM here and everyone else is
sleeping. We will probably have an early dinner, watch Casino Royal and start early
tomorrow for Panama Canal which is approximately 1027 NM from our current position. We had
a professional photographer take our picture as we left the fuel dock in Road Town today
and I took some shots of Bella Donna that we will post on web when we get to internet café
in Panama. God Bless Bella Donna.

Post

Arrived last night about 9 PM at Village Cay marina in Road Town, Tortola, The British Virgin Islands (18 25.483 N 64 37.082W) We met many people on their way to bareboat in the BVI. I had a chance to show off my new folder of pictures of Bella Donna; this was a really good idea as people just can not picture how beautiful she is. People were returning for their yearly get together with friends in the BVI and all were dreaming of what we are about to do. Today is our last day on dock and we have appointments all day to ready Bella Donna for the passage across the Gulf of Mexico to Panama. We heard of a couple that sailed here from South Africa and chartered for a while before returning to their goal to circumnavigate the world. They left for Panama too early and were badly beat up by storms. Upon reaching Panama they sold everything and returned to a land existence. May God bless Bella Donna's passage to Panama.

We spent all morning with Peter from Cay Electronics. We now understand our primary, secondary and … means of communications. We filed our first Yotreps report today using short wave radio, totally cool, giving today's position. Deborah and I just returned from the local grocery store where we did our last minute shopping. We had the groceries delivered to the Bella Donna; they should be here soon. We are taking Captain John out for a birthday meal tonight. Look for us to start moving tomorrow.

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Post

Well the sun is rising and I am packing and preparing for the beginning of our circumnavigation. You can follow the daily post on this blog beginning in a couple of days.