And it rained

And rained some more.  Shortly after we finished our Christmas day walk and it began raining.  It stopped raining 36 hrs later!  In between it rained steady and hard.  So hard that I had to turn up the music fairly loud to be able to hear it over the sound of the rain striking the boat.  And when it seemed like it had stopped, it really only just lightened up to a "normal" sort of rain that calls for an umbrella. The picture doesn't do it justice; it was really coming down in sheets.

The water treatment systems have been overwhelmed by "turbidity", basically silt and dirt in the water. The government has advised people to not drink water from the tap and to boil it before cooking. We had a charcoal filter on the hose for the water we're getting from shore and just added a ceramic filter which is supposed to remove 99.99% of harmful bacteria.

We just spoke with someone who drove through Portobello this morning and reported a waterfall and mud slide right through the center of town. When it stopped raining it started blowing. We've 15-25kts since last night. The normally lake like harbor at Linton has breaking waves; breaking right into the restaurant we're told. Heavy rain is forecast for later today and tomorrow.

Too much wind and rain to do our on deck projects so we're doing indoor projects and making steady progress.

Christmas Day Toucan

While it was nice and cool this morning we went for a walk back into Fort Sherman. The transition from the marina to the jungle is almost immediate; literally just a few hundred yards of walking. Fay had hoped to see one toucan, but we saw many as they swooped in and out of the trees. We also saw huge vultures perched with their wings spread wide and their backs to the morning sun. Monkeys, parrots and numerous birds rounded out the morning walk. This isn't my best photograph, but you get the idea.

Furuno's Christmas surprise

As we were about to prepare a cocktail and enjoy some hors d'oeuvres that Fay had prepared before we headed over to the BYOD Christmas Eve dinner with all the yachties in the marina, we heard a knocking on the hull. Not quite the sound of tiny hooves on the roof, but surprising none the less. Who could that be? I stuck my head out the companionway and saw someone on the dock. I went out on deck and it was the FedEx delivery man. He spoke no English, but held out a box. I looked and sure enough it was addressed to me and "Yacht in transit: New Morning". I signed my name, printed my name, and gave him $3.30 for I don't know what.

Earlier in the week when I took the covers off the boat instruments it was clear that they were severely UV damaged and two of them shattered in my hand. I mentioned this to a contact at Furuno and he said he'd be happy to send some new ones. I told him it wasn't urgent, we could pick them up from a dealer in February in Panama City, but if he wanted to send them I'd give him our address. He sent four new covers and there were delivered to the boat on Christmas Eve. Incredible customer support and service by both Furuno and FedEx!

The cocktails were great and we're off to dinner.

Our home again

Fay and I spent a couple days in Panama City last week, shopping and provisioning New Morning for a couple of months in the San Blas islands. Then we returned to New Morning on Sunday to finish commissioning and repairs, with an entire mini-van full of parts, clothes and groceries. Oh and a couple bottles of champagne, rum and gin!

Each day has been two steps forward and one step back. But today we got New Morning really cleaned up nice. It was such a relief to have six months of "on the hard" dirt and dust scrubbed off her decks. The deck lockers were emptied, cleaned and re-loaded. The deck is now sparkling, the cockpit clean and she's feeling like home.

We still have more projects before we can get underway, but we're making steady progress.

Back in the water and nice words from Chuck Paine

It was never certain, but we got enough time with no rain, notice I didn't say sun, to get the second coat of bottom paint applied.  Then yesterday, with New Morning in the slings they applied a second coat in the spots where the jack stands had been and it started raining again.  It rained pretty steady for about an hour, but it eventually took a break, the wind continued to blow and New Morning was back in the water and into a slip by 2pm.  An hour and a half later I was on my way to Panama City.

On a separate subject, Chuck Paine has said some very nice things about New Morning in a paper posted on his web site.  I've posted it on the Design page, look towards the bottom of the page.

Paint vs rain

Fay is arriving on Thursday mid-day, I depart for Panama City tomorrow afternoon, and we need a place to live when we return. New Morning needs to get into the water! But first she needs a new coat of bottom paint. The bottom paint cannot be applied in the rain and the sun has been out for only 4- 5 hours in the last nine days.

Yesterday it quit raining about noon and the sun never came out, but by 2pm the hull was sufficiently dry to start painting and they got one coat of paint applied. This morning is again blowing a steady 25-35 with intermittent rain. The wind helps dry the hull so that's not as big a problem as the rain. If we can get the second coat on today, we can launch first thing tomorrow morning and I can get New Morning tied up, the refrigeration started, water tanks filled, etc before I depart for Panama City. We just need 3-4 hours with no rain.

Channel surfing in Panama

Still apparently under the strong influence of Rome, there is no happy hour on Domingo; well drinks (the only kind available) are $4. But there is live music, and on the TV (not turned off during the live music) there is widespread flooding, landslides, road closures and a few helicopter rescues, all related by perfectly coiffed news babes in prom dresses. Even accounting for my poor understanding of Spanish, there is still a disconnect there.

As my bar tab hits $12 and I enjoy the only reliable thing on the menu, a cheeseburger, we watch the Bears play New England in a snow storm at Soldier Field; also a bit disconnected when it's 75F at 8pm.

The sun played peek-a-boo today, intermixed with squally rain. If the weather is at least that good tomorrow we'll get the bottom painted and be back in the water on Tuesday. Life on the hard is - well - hard. It would be nice to be back in the water.

Arturo comes through!

The gating item on getting back into the water has been getting the bottom painted. The paint arrived in Panama City, but the crazy weather had closed the road. Yesterday, in a driving rain, I heard knocking on the hull. Arturo had arrived with the bottom paint (and a bunch of other stuff). The normally hour and a half drive had taken him four hours! The road was one lane in many places due to mud slides and conditions were the worst he had ever seen.

But now we have bottom paint, and today there is a hazy sun peeking through the clouds drying things out a bit. Once the bottom is painted we'll wait a day or two and be able to get back into the water. New Morning feels so much better in the water than on the hard.

Plan B1-2-3...

The last 24hrs was pretty wild weather. There was so much rain that yesterday they closed the canal, or more accurately they opened the lock doors, so they could drain water out of Gatun lake. This was only the third time the canal has been closed in its 96yr history. The last time it was closed for weather was in 1915. This was the heaviest rains recorded in the 73yrs that they have kept weather records in Panama. With the canal closed we were temporarily cutoff from Panama. Even after they opened the canal (and the bridge across the Gatun Locks), the road to Panama City was closed and our delivery was turned back.

It blew 25-30 all day and kicked up to a steady 35 for awhile in the late afternoon, but there was not much rain. There is a large breakwater, 4 miles in length, that protects Colon and the Gatun locks from the ocean; large waves were breaking right over the top of it. Shelter Bay is a protected lagoon off of the main harbor and there were 3' waves from the outer harbor breaking adjacent the entrance to Shelter Bay.

The cloud cover and wind kept the temperature down to the high 70's so I continued on with my projects inside New Morning. Yesterday I was able to complete part 1 which was to put the damaged pump back together to be able to use it (though it will be leaking) to limp across the marina after we go back in the water.

Yesterday I also started part 2 which was to separate the shaft seal vent from the engine sea water plumbing. I was able to dismantle the existing plumbing and work out the new solution. In the process I realized that the Lyman Morse plumbing was fatally flawed, it was more complex than just plumbing to the wrong side of the anti-siphon vent. Since the "T" they installed to bring the shaft seal vent into the engine was mounted below the waterline, it would either siphon into the cylinders, or siphon out the impeller cover; two bad choices. Today I ran new hose from the heat exchanger to the anti-siphon valve and then to the exhaust mixing elbow. Unfortunately the location of the anti-siphon valve and the path for the hoses made that much more difficult than it needed to be, but I'll spare you the details. I brought 6' of 1" hose and used exactly all of it; how lucky was that!

Finally I temporarily strapped the shaft seal vent about 10" above the waterline. That should be sufficient to get across the marina to a slip. Fay is bringing new vent line hose and then I'll be able to mount it higher and have a permanent solution.

But the weather has shifted our schedule. The delivery of the bottom paint was delayed by the road closures and it's not clear when it will get through. So we'll be on the hard longer than expected, I'm stuck in the Shelter Bay "hotel" and Fay has rescheduled her flight to Panama. We must be cruising again.

Plan B

Plan A was to replace the pump, but since I've learned that it requires removing an engine mount, I'm going to try Plan B. Plan B is to insert a heli-coil, basically a new set of threads. I'm told the hardest and riskiest part of the job is removing the broken screw.

But first is plan B1, which is to put things back together (hoses and bolts), enough to be able to limp from the haul out slip to our real slip. And this takes us back to the original problem which is that once back in the water we'll be siphoning water out of the ocean and into New Morning through the incorrectly plumbed shaft seal vent. So Plan B2 is to re-plumb the shaft seal vent before we go back into the water.

The incorrect installation of the shaft seal vent by Lyman Morse two years ago has led to an amazing series of discoveries and problems; none of which they consider to be their problem.

Yanmar debacle

Today did not go so well. I bought the service manual. I bought the parts catalog. And then I bought the parts. There is nothing in the Yanmar 4JH4-HTE service manual that says to replace the water pump I need to remove the engine mount! What kind of bogus service manual is that? What kind of design is that. Some engineers in Japan should be fired! Remove the engine mount to change the water pump? I guess they must believe that their water pump (made by Johnson in Sweden) will last longer than the engine, or that engine mounts are easily removed (I was advised to unbolt it from the stringer to avoid changing the alignment)?

Unbelievable!

It makes the canal work

Rain. Torrential rain. Lots of rain today. Steady, warm, driving rain. And wind; a steady 25kts at the masthead, gusting higher. The boat is "shivering" a bit on the jack stands where we sit adjacent the travelift.

Yesterday was a good day. I identified the exact nature of the problem behind the water siphoning into the boat through the shaft seal vent (Lyman Morse plumbed it to the wrong side of the anti-siphon loop), cleaned off all the hard growth on the shaft, prop and prop gears that had accumulated in Bonaire, and replaced all (but one) of the zincs on the shaft and prop. Unfortunately the Spurs line cutter needs a special zinc which I had not identified previously and don't have. It will have to wait until next time. Fortunately we don't spend too much time in marina's so the zinc doesn't look too bad.

Today is water pump day. Last May, when I attempted to replace the impeller in the water pump for the third time, I managed to snap off one of the small bolts that hold the cover in place. Apparently in my previous attempts to replace the impeller, when I did not yet understand that the bad plumbing was the source of the river running through it even when the thru hull was closed, enough salt water got into the thread and around the bolt to cause it to corrode in place. Then I cleverly applied too much force and snapped it off. As usual, an accumulation of errors. So now I need to replace the entire pump. I haven't been looking forward to this job because the pump is supremely inaccessible. But it's a good day for an indoor project and the temperature is a nice cool 79 so this is about as good as it's going to get.

Time to get to it.

Packed for Panama

Just finished packing for a 6am flight out of SFO tomorrow morning. A full day of travel and I should be in Panama City tomorrow night. A little shopping on Saturday and then to Shelter Bay on Sunday.

Next week I've got some critical work to do while New Morning is on the hard, like replacing the raw water pump on the engine. Then the plan is to go back into the water on Friday and then move back on board. Back to the boat means back to boat projects!

Log book

The last two years we've used a log book that we purchased from the Mystic Harbor gift shop. But in practice I crossed out many of the headings and put different information into the columns. So this summer I was motivated to create my own log book. Fay and I discussed what information we wanted to have and used the same general format as the Mystic Harbor book, but with columns for what we wanted to record. Then we added some additional pages for frequently requested general boat information, emergency communications, the location of through hulls, and our abandon ship procedure. We printed it on our little HP printer, had it bound at FedEx Office, and then Fay grafted it into the Mystic Harbor book so that it had a nice hard cover. If you'd like to make your own log book, you're welcome to start with ours which you'll find on the Downloads page. A year from now I won't be surprised if we revise it again.

Carte de sejours

Yesterday, on a balmy November day, we visited the French consulate in San Francisco and received our "long stay" visas for French Polynesia. Technically they are just 90 day visas with a request for a "carte de sejours". But our documents have been sent to Tahiti, and approved, so we are told it is just a formality to receive our "carte de sejours" or "residence card" which will allow us to spend more than 90 days in French Polynesia. Our plan is to spend all of next season there (May - October) and leave New Morning in Raiatea. But you know about cruising and plans....

Yanmar service manual and parts catalog

I was able to find the Yanmar service manual and parts catalog on the web. The parts catalog covers the Yanmar 4JH4-TE and 4JH4-HTE. The service manual covers all the 4JH4 models, including the 3JH4-HE, 4JH4-AE, 4JH4-TE and 4JH4-HTE. Verbosity for the benefit of Google. You'll find them on the Downloads page.

Use your sunscreen

For the last month I've been treating my face, neck, chest and arms with Fluorouracil (aka Efudex or 5FU). This is what I looked like yesterday, a week after I quit applying the treatment and definitely past the peak of the reaction and inflammation. It not only doesn't look pretty, it feels miserable. Most of the last two weeks my skin has been on fire, alternating with an intense "pins and needles" sensation that makes me want to rip off my skin. Application of a topical steroid and liberal applications of Aquaphor create a mess, but ease the discomfort.

I tell this tale so that you will be encouraged to use sunscreen every day. Sun damage is accumulated from sun exposure over your entire life. Ten minutes six times a week is the same as one hour on one day.

No mold

Good news from Panama. We asked some cruising friends to check in on New Morning and we got back the report that she is looking good with no mold on the interior. Also no leaks so she is sitting pretty, just waiting for us to return.

The coldest winter I ever knew...

Mark Twain said it first, but it was confirmed by NASA:

"The invisible summer, seamless from spring to fall," said Bill Patzert, a scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory who studies the role of oceans in the global climate. "The ocean never warmed," Patzert said. The cause was a stalled jet stream pattern in the Northern Hemisphere that created a semi-permanent trough of low pressure from Alaska to southern Baja California, Mexico, and kept the entire west coast of North America cool, Patzert said.

In Sausalito we've had the furnace on almost every day since we got home last May, though now that summer has officially ended, it has actually warmed up! We did escape the cold a few times, including some great time at Lake Tahoe which included this hike to the top of Ellis Peak at 8,700'.

But now our attention turns to New Morning as we have roughly two months to prepare everything we need for a year of cruising. We plan to return to Panama in early December and repair the autopilot, install the new solar panels and fix a few other problems that were identified back in April. These include an incorrectly plumbed shaft seal vent, broken raw water pump, and a few problems we created ourselves while decommissioning in April. We have plenty to keep us busy, probably right up until Christmas. Then we plan to return to the San Blas Islands for a few months before transiting the canal in late March.

Sunware update

As I mentioned in the past, we've had de-lamination problems with our Sunware solar panels. Nothing that had actually stopped them from working as far as we can tell, but probably would have eventually.

I'm pleased to report that Sunware stood behind their product and shipped us 6 new panels, via air freight, to replace the failing panels. While installing the replacements is still another project, we're very pleased that the company backed their warranty and sent the replacements.

San Blas and Panama

The last of the pictures for now, San Blas and Panama.

Passage to San Blas

The pictures are now uploaded to the Passage to San Blas page.

Los Roques and Bonaire

I finally got to posting some pictures from Los Roques (and nearby Aves Barlovento) and Bonaire. Enjoy!

Pt. Reyes Cleanup

Toto, we're not in the tropics anymore!

Last week we got an email alerting us to a beach clean up at Pt. Reyes. Like most windward shores, the north side of Pt. Reyes collects a lot of debris. Unfortunately I got the schedule wrong by one day and when we showed up at 9:30am the parking lot was as empty as the wind swept beach. Fay and I looked at each other and decided we didn't need instruction on how to pickup plastic. The 53F wind was was blowing a steady 15-25 knots (35 when we later visited the lighthouse) so we bundled up, grabbed two shopping bags and started walking the beach. The beach was actually surprisingly clean compared to many windward shores we saw in the Caribbean. None the less we were able to fill two shopping bags with bits of plastic, and a few bottles, in about an hour. The largest piece was a Japanese fishing float, the smallest was a toy figure. In between were lots of pieces of shattered plastic, tooth brushes and bottle caps.

By coincidence, Manuel Maqueda of the Plastic Pollution Coalition spoke today at the St. Francis Yacht Club. There is excellent information on their web site, particularly regarding the myth of plastic "recycling" and why once created, plastic is forever.

Pictures of Los Roques

I posted a few pictures from Los Roques. Pictures from Aves, Bonaire and San Blas coming soon. The pictures can be found under Where we've been.

Kindness of Strangers

One of the most rewarding things about cruising is the people we meet. Or in this case, haven't yet met.

After we packed up New Morning for summer storage we had 4 large duffle bags of "stuff" that we were bringing home, plus our personal backpacks for laptops and miscellaneous, and a camera backpack with our good SLR and lenses. We checked the four duffle bags as luggage, but needed to carry the backpacks. Being slightly disoriented in the big city (Panama City) and making the transition to land, we let down our guard, relaxed at the Admiral's Club, got on the plane and had a quick mimosa. Arriving in Miami we looked around and realized, no camera bag!

The Admiral's Club in Miami called the club in Panama and sure enough we had left our bag in the club. So we thought easy, just send it on home to us with the next AA flight. Not so fast. To make a long story endless, the Admiral's Club will not package anything for shipment, and FedEx will not pick up a shipment unless it's packaged. Catch 22. Enter the cruising network.

Fay contacted Brad and Gloria of Kindred Spirit who put our dilemma on the San Blas cruiser's net the next morning. Rob of Akka responded. Rob picked up our camera bag in Panama City, cleared it through customs in Miami, hauled it to New York, placed it in a box and shipped it off via FedEx. We received it in Sausalito the next day. We spoke briefly on the phone, but have never met (though we hope to this fall). This is the kindness of strangers that is so rewarding, and so common, in the cruising community.

Thank you.

How can the Pacific be in the East?

After a week of very hot and sweaty work, New Morning is on the hard at Shelter Bay, just a couple of miles from the canal. The transition from New Morning to Sausalito is always a little sad, but we leave one home for another, and enjoy them both.

We've found that we need transition time between New Morning and California. Time to make a gradual adjustment from life on the water to life in California. From Shelter Bay we took a taxi to Panama City and on the way we stopped for a tour of the Gatun Locks at the Atlantic side of the canal.

It was really amazing to see the huge ships we're always dodging at sea up very close as they go through the locks. The ships are just barely surrounded by water, just enough to float them. It's like an adult sitting in an inflatable wading pool made for children. The largest ships that the canal can accommodate (aka Panamax) leave about 18" between the ship and the side of the lock, and no more than 2m below them (maximum draft is 12m or about 39'). Some ships have to unload ballast water, or even offload containers, to fit through the canal.

After touring the canal, we drove on to Panama City which is the largest city we've seen for awhile. It's big and busy with shopping, cars, traffic (lots of horns) and people wear more than shorts and a t-shirt! And the internet connection was fast and reliable.

We spent a good part of Friday checking out grocery stores and shops for provisioning when we return in the fall. We will provision in Panama City for a few months in the San Blas islands, then again for the Pacific crossing and six months in the Pacific. We found stores where we could buy everything we could want. Unlike last season we won't be packing up boxes of food to bring to New Morning.

Back at the hotel we got very disoriented as we watched the sun set to our left, but the Pacific ocean was visible to our right, to the east. Huh? We had to take a look at Google Earth to appreciate that contrary to our preconception, Panama lies essentially west to east and the canal runs north/south. And if you're not confused yet, Panama City is actually just a little bit east of Miami.

So we're on our way home and New Morning will rest in the rain for six months. We'll update the pictures for our 2009-2010 travels within a couple of weeks. And our new schedule will be on the web site shortly under "What's Next".

Reset

Over the last few days we've considered our situation. Unfortunately, though progress has been made, none of the three major problems we thought we had addressed last summer have been resolved. Our new autopilot steers really well, but the port cylinder ripped apart the mounting bracket. Both brackets need to be re-engineered, fabricated and installed. Our refrigeration boxes still have some major flaws and we still have a leak at our D1 starboard chain plate. It's also become clear that these problems will not be resolved quickly.

And in the course of trying to change the impeller on our engine I managed to snap off one of the screws on the wear plate for the water pump. This in turn revealed a problem with the plumbing of the shaft seal vent line which results in siphoning sea water into the engine raw water plumbing and creates a continual flow of water through the now poorly sealed impeller wear plate. Net, net, even with the main seacock to the engine closed, we have a significant leak in the boat. We need to install a valve in the shaft seal vent line and replace the water pump.

On the plus side, we would like to spend a lot more time in the San Blas Islands.

Mixing all this together and stirring in the seasonal weather considerations, we've decided to haul out New Morning on Wednesday and store her on the hard at Shelter Bay for the summer while we address the major maintenance issues.

Unfortunately there are very few services available here so Fay and I are doing all the work to prepare New Morning for storage. It's also incredibly hot. At sunrise the temperature is about 83F, and then during the day it rises to about 93F while the humidity swings between 70-75%. We work from 7am - 5pm, consuming at least a gallon of water throughout the day in an attempt to rehydrate ourselves. The bugs from the adjacent jungle keep us inside the boat during the evening when it's cooler outside the boat, so we retreat to the forward cabin which has air conditioning. We're looking forward to finishing the preparations, getting New Morning moved onto the hard and heading home.

Our plan is to return in late November when the rainy season in Panama has ended and cruise San Blas for three months. This will set us up for a more typical seasonal schedule for transiting the canal, cruising the Galapagos and then on to French Polynesia in the spring of 2011.

Shelter Bay

We took two days to sail from San Blas to the Shelter Bay Marina on the Caribbean side of the canal, with a stop at Isla Linton. It's hot here, in the low 90's every day. Some unusual weather systems have turned the wind around with light winds out of the west and south rather than the trades out of the NE for the last week so the trade winds are not helping cool the marina. We had 15-25kts from the south and spent the last two hours of the trip yesterday beating into the wind - very unusual. Lots and lots of ships here, anchored inside and outside the breakwater. We were constantly dodging anchored ships as wells as ships going to/from the canal. It reminded us of sailing in the bay on a busy day.

We're now looking into how to get our autopilot and refrigeration problems solved before we head to the South Pacific. More details soon!

87 + 78 + 86 = Really hot!

This morning the air temperature is 87F, the humidity is 78%, the water temperature is 86F and there is essentially no wind. That adds up to really hot and humid. We swim most afternoons but the water has huge temperature differences in just a few yards. In some places it's almost too hot to swim, like a very warm bath, and then a couple of yards away it actually feels cold, which means it might be 80F. But an hour or two of snorkeling does cool us off for awhile. Yesterday Fay got a nice shot of this guy looking up from his hiding spot inside some coral.

Looking out the back door

After checking into the San Blas region (aka Kuna Yala) of Panama, we moved to an anchorage at Chichime. We spent two days there catching up on some immediate repairs, swimming and unwinding from our passage from Bonaire. This was the view out the companionway and through the cockpit for two days. These islands were typical of the others we've seen in San Blas. White sand beaches rising 4-5 feet above sea level, covered with coconut palms and populated by a few Kuna families in huts built of palm fronds. This region is pretty much right out of the travel brochures!

Two pair of Paines

Pair-of-PainesIf we were playing yacht designer poker it would be a reasonable hand. Two nights before we departed Bonaire, another Chuck Paine design, Home Free, was on the mooring next to us. I first met Home Free, a Morris 51, in 2005 at the Morris yard where she was undergoing repairs. Her owner, Bob Trenary, and I traded email for several years before we finally met at the Newport Shipyard in 2008 while both waiting to depart for the Caribbean. We later shared an anchorage in the BVIs in 2009 and our delayed departure from Bonaire brought us together again in 2010.
Then, two nights ago we came on deck to swim across the anchorage and thought the boat that had just anchored next to us looked very familiar. We looked closer and she was another Chuck Paine design, a Kanter 62. Now owned by a New Zealand couple, they had purchased Sequel II in Florida and were on their way back to New Zealand.
So our passage from Bonaire to San Blas was bookended by two other Chuck Paine designs!

San Blas

We're in the San Blas islands which are the territory of the Kuna indians. Cruisers discovered the idyllic islands (more pics later) which are a few feet of white sand above the water, covered with palm trees, out of the hurricane zone and populated by these gentle people. The Kuna's in turn discovered the cruisers and have built a good business selling them mola's, brightly colored embroidery, as well as bracelets and a few other items. As soon as a new boat is anchored, one or two Kuna dugout canoes (ulu's) are on either side of the boat offering their goods. The Kuna are patient and tenacious sellers.

Fay bought several mola's from this woman this morning. This picture has not been "dialed up" in PhotoShop, these are the real colors - BRIGHT!

San Blas

We arrived in San Blas this afternoon, motoring the last 10 hrs as there was very little wind, then even less. We're currently anchored right off the airport on Isla Porvenir. The airport is a very narrow and short strip of bad asphalt slightly shorter than the entire island.

Tomorrow we'll clear in, then move to another anchorage. But tonight, it's a couple of beers, some pinot noir, a nice lasagne, and a lot of sleep!

24 hours

A cruising day can be very rich and full with beauty, drama, tragedy and a full range of human emotions.

Tuesday through Thursday was light air with 10-14kts of breeze, occasionally dropping to 6-8 which forced us to motor for a few hours. We got pretty complacent with the light breezes, excited when it would surge to 16kts and we would have a little more speed.

Our 24 hrs begins on Thursday afternoon when we decided to take advantage of the benign conditions and try our spinnaker furler system. Some suggestions had been made in Antigua after our testing there and we wanted to try them out. It was our first "solo", just Fay and I raising the big sail. We made the changes we discussed earlier and soon had it flying. We immediately picked up 1.5-2kts of speed and the boat felt much more stable. But after about 20minutes we noticed a problem with the furler which we thought was from our inexperience. We furled the sail (the problems with spinnakers are usually getting them down), but noticed another problem. We sorted those out, unfurled again about half way and then realized that the changes we had agreed to in Antigua (adding a snap shackle to the tack of the furler) were the cause of our new problems. So we furled it back up, sorted it out, and put it away for another day.

We had a load of wash going so Fay pinned the laundry up on the lifelines and we coasted along with our 12-14kt breeze.

Late that afternoon the forecast was for the breeze to freshen to 16-20kts in the evening and through the next morning so we looked forward to a little more speed. Just before Fay went off watch at 7pm we reefed the main just to keep things nice and mellow. It stayed light and in my 8pm log entry I wrote that we were "underpowered". But the breeze built as expected and we were soon moving right along. Then the seas built rapidly and we were very uncomfortable with a big cross swell that rolled us pretty wildly every 5 minutes or so.

I was awakened at 1:30am during Fay's watch when it was really rocking. We had 25-28kts, big seas rolling us like crazy, a lightning storm overtaking us from windward, and a ship which would not respond to our radio calls, had the dimmest lights I'd ever seen on a big ship, and was calculated to cross us with just 500yds to spare, way too close. The direction and force of the wind was sort of locking us into a "close call" course so we rolled up the jib and double reefed the main, allowing us to alter course enough to clear the ship by 2 miles.

But the big seas continued to roll us wildly and we sailed for some time with the double reef and a little bit of jib to balance the boat. Fay got some sleep and I was on watch until she came back at 6am.

I slept about an hour, then was awakened about 7:30am when New Morning took a hard turn and luffed up into the wind. I stuck my head up in the companionway and Fay told me the autopilot had quit working! Deja vu, this is what happened during our passage from Bermuda to the BVI's in 2008! I was barely awake but put on my PFD/harness and tether and confirmed she was correct, no autopilot. Plus some strange clunking noises, but the steering seemed ok.

Unlike our Bermuda/BVI passage, the seas were too rough to do anything immediately. Even though we were both exhausted, the only real choice was to hand steer until things calmed down. I did a quick weather check and concluded that the breeze should lighten up by early afternoon, and would be even lighter if we turned towards the Columbian coast. Columbia was not our destination so we split the difference and headed towards the coast, but not quite directly. Over the next four hours we took turns steering for 30 minutes at a time. In the 30 minutes when we weren't steering, we took turns hauling things out of the aft cockpit locker, cleaning off the hydraulic fluid that was all over everything (one indication that something was very wrong), placing the stuff in plastic bags and stowing it in the forward cabin. Finally I was able to remove the panel in front of the steering.

I expected to see something bad, but I was really surprised to see a hydraulic ram, still attached to the quadrant, still mounted to a huge aluminum base, and dragging hydraulic hoses, swinging back and forth every time we turned the wheel. We don't know exactly what failed, but it looks like the port cylinder mount pulled out of the boat which is very strange. In due time I was able to remove the ram from the quadrant, and attach the spare ram which is mounted on the starboard side. All of this while we still had pretty good sized seas and 20-23kts of wind. This is kind of like bolting something to the steering wheel while you're friend is driving down a twisty mountain road with no brakes. My fingers were holding onto the cylinder fitting and trying to slide it onto the peg on the quadrant, while Fay was trying to coordinate her turns with me, but not lose control of the boat. Then once the fitting was on the peg, I had to slide on a large washer and a retaining clip. All of this at arms length, under the quadrant and in constant motion threatening to claim one of my fingers. But we got it done.

Then it took another hour to juggle the wiring to the autopilot (the switch installed earlier was not wired correctly), and then convince the autopilot to use the new ram without going through all of it's setup procedures. We skipped the "learning" procedure and went straight to "on the job training". By 1:30pm the autopilot was again steering and we were exhausted.

I made a couple of phone calls and sent some emails, then Fay let me go to sleep. When I woke up at 4:30, things were as mellow as could be. New Morning was cranking out 8-9kts in 18-20kts of breeze, sliding down much more friendly waves. The sky was blue and clear and the wind had shifted to allow us to steer directly for San Blas. And after all the light wind and too much wind and autopilot problems and course changes for ships, our ETA was Saturday morning, four days for 700 miles, a very reasonable 175m/day.

And we've received a response from the people who installed the autopilot and are working to coordinate logistics for the repair in Panama.

24 hours...

Light and steady

We departed Bonaire yesterday in light air and had to motor on and off forthe first five hours. Once we were totally clear of Bonaire we got a light but steady breeze and we've been sailing ever since. The wind is steady at 12-16kts, but it's from directly behind us. To make the ride a little more comfortable we're sailing on a broad reach and then gybing every few hours, essentially zig zagging down the course. The seas are generally small, but it woldn't be the Caribbean if there wasn't a cross swell to slap us around periodically.

Yesterday we saw some frenzied fish and bird activity with the water churning and birds circling, but we were never able to determine exactly what was going on. We saw a few large fish (three feet plus) jump and they might have been tuna. We're not sure if they were the predator or the prey.

Last night was very peaceful. It cools off when the sun goes down which is very welcome. The breeze was steady and the water reasonably calm. There was no moon and a slight haze dimmed the stars so there wasn't much to see. It was difficult to make out the horizon when we would scan it with the binoculars looking for fishing boats and other traffic that might not show up on the radar or AIS.

Sailiing at night is kind of like driving down a straight freeway at night with the headlights off, or in thick fog when you're 99.9% sure that you're the only car on the road. As long as you hold the wheel straight, everything is fine, you're just rushing through the darkness with a slight sense of foreboding. Behind us there was a sparkling trail of phosphorescence as the keel and rudder excited the plankton. There were bright distinct pieces of plankton, some trapped on the swim platform, and then a dull glow deeper in the water trailing behind the boat.

Without much to look at, we both listened to NPR on our iPod shuffles. It's a little incongruous listening to the News Hour or Fresh Air, but it helps pass the time on the night watch.

The forecast if for continued light air for the next couple of days, mixed with some rain and possibly a good strong breeze for12hrs or so. Then the final day into San Blas is looking pretty light and we may have to motor. It's not yet clear if we'll make it in on Saturday afternoon, or have to wait offshore and make landfall on Sunday morning.

Departing for Panama

After three months in Bonaire we're departing for Panama this morning. I think I've talked at length about the fish and the wonderland under the water. But to balance things out, here is a shot to show that there is also life above the waterline. Eventually I'll post a lot of photos of Bonaire. Departing soon.

It's a wet, small world

Fay returned from visiting family last week and we've been diving this week. Thus far the diving off the back of the boat has been the best. We literally put on the tanks and jump off the back of the boat, swimming not more than about 100yds from the boat, and diving to 40'-60' on wall that drops quickly to 300'! So that gets the wet started.

Then, after three months of dry weather which produced a very dirty boat constantly covered with red dust, it started raining. We had good solid rain on and off for two days. Everything was thoroughly rinsed which was really welcome. Unfortunately the leaking chain plate and forward hatch were not as welcome.

Then last night, small world. We went out to dinner at Capriccio, the only Italian restaurant in Bonaire, and the only restaurant we've enjoyed in years that also has a Wine Spectator award winning wine list. The wine list, virtually all Italian wines, was 20-30 pages of small type. But the small world story was figuring out over the course of the evening that I had previously enjoyed Capriccio's chef's cooking in 1988 at Vista Panoramica in Ivrea, Italy! Ivrea is a fairly obscure town about 50 miles north of Turin is probably best known as the headquarters of Italian computer maker Olivetti, which was had brought me there in 1988. From Ivrea to Kralendijk, Bonaire, Dutch Antilles an unlikely move. But fortunate for us as we had an excellent dinner!

Site updates

When not in the water I've had a lot of time to update the web site. The Systems section in About New Morning has lots of new material and is almost complete. Minor updates and changes were made elsewhere throughout the site to improve formatting, correct minor errors, etc.

Still Bonaire

In addition to snorkeling, the last couple of weeks have allowed me to focus on some chronic problems. The autopilot / plotter / navigation software interfaces now all seem to be working well which is a big improvement. Then I had to replace a voltage regulator for the engine mounted alternators and in the process I discovered and solved a problem that had been there since New Morning was launched. A wiring short cut had introduced an error in the temperature compensation causing the voltage to be too high, but that had been partially offset by the default parameters of the regulator which were too low. By correcting the wiring and setting the correct parameters in the regulator the batteries are now getting much better treatment which should contribute to their longevity and reliability. As they say, cruising is the endless process of fixing your boat in paradise.

Life is pretty easy here, though Bonaire is somewhat of a conundrum. Below the water is a lush marine wonderland, above the water is a desert. Most of the development is clustered along the western, lee shore. Businesses (and diving is THE business here) are along the shore, backed by residential areas. Our friend Joel Simon who runs snorkeling trips around the world (www.seaforyourself.com) took me on an expansive tour of the island. Half a mile away from shore is desert. Real desert, with open expanses of powdery red soil and cactus. Once I saw this it completely explained why the boat is caked in red dust. Trades blow off the Caribbean on the east shore, pick up the dust and deposit it upon everything else clustered on the western shore. The annual rainfall is just 20". Think of Los Angeles (annual rainfall 15"), but without water from Northern California and no snow covered mountains to the north and east. Bonaire makes all of it's own water, desalinated from the sea.

The population is just 14,000, but most people speak four languages - Dutch, Spanish, English, and Papiamentu (close to Portugese). Everything works pretty well, the food is excellent (though no patisseries), people are friendly and it's noticeably less expensive than Guadeloupe or Antigua.

A Polar beer is about $1.50 in a bar. It's only 8oz, but they're happy to sell us as many as we want!

The weather has been a bit odd. It's cloudy in the morning about 70% of the time, then it clears up later on. Kind of like San Francisco, except I don't know what's driving the cloud cover because 2/3 of the island is flat and it's no more than 5 miles across. And a persistent haze hangs on the horizon, producing sunsets like the one in this picture, but are so different than those east Caribbean sunsets.

Below the water is amazing. Literally right off the back of the boat are big parrot fish, eels, angelfish, squid, and all manner of tropical fish. And they're big, much larger than the same fish when we saw them in the east Caribbean. We're moored about 100yds from the main street of Kralendijk, and right off our bow is what I call the "lap pool", Bonaire style. Why build a pool when you have 80 degree crystal clear water at your doorstep? They've laid out long course (50m) lane lines and different groups come down on different days to train and go through all the stuff you'd see at a local pool. People swim laps, kids fool around when they should be paying attention, a coaches blows a whistle and yells at people, etc. I haven't seen a proper swim meet yet, but if they held one I'm pretty sure this is where they'd hold it.

On the mooring

It's life on the moorings now. There are two rows of boats, all double tied to moorings and swinging in 15-25 knots of breeze. Bonaire is very dry so a lot of dust, and a few mosquitoes, blow off the land and onto the boat. But the water is clear and the fish abundant.

Today we picked up Christian and Josie-anne in the dinghy and motored over to No Name beach on Klein Bonaire (aka Little Bonaire). It was blowing 20+ so the downwind ride to the island was very quick and relatively smooth. Although at one point we plowed into the back of a wave which took us off a plane and buried the bow into the wave, filling the dinghy with water. Fortunately everyone shifted aft, the bow lifted and we didn't sink the dinghy. We beached the dinghy, walked east until the powdery sand ended, then put on our fins/snorkels and kicked out. We went though about 40 yards of very shallow water with lots of coral which was a really challenge with lots of wind and a big chop. Once we got off the ledge, the bottom dropped away like a cliff.

As we snorkeled along the edge we saw an amazing array of fish and Fay got this great shot of a big parrot fish. But we also saw barracuda, trunk fish, angelfish and all manner of tropical fish, mostly super-sized. And turtles! We saw at least four different turtles,

Again, Fay got this great shot of a turtle that swam right up to her. Bonaire is called the Divers Paradise and we can see why; there are lots of fish!

The ride back was very wet. The first ten minutes we had a fire hose coming at us every 20 seconds as motored into the 20-25kts of breeze at 5-10 knots creating 25-30kts of apparent wind. Very wet and wild. The breeze is supposed to lighten up a bit later this week so we're looking forward to a second trip.

Out of the trailer park

Yesterday we moved from the marina to a mooring. There is no anchoring allowed in Bonaire due to a variety of factors. The first is that the water drops off very quickly from shore; literally from 20' to 500' in a few hundred yards. The second is the preservation of the reefs and marine life in Bonaire since they are the core of it's tourism industry. They have excellent moorings with two large mooring blocks, each with its own mooring line so all the boats are double moored very securely.

There is plenty of breeze, but no fetch and thus no waves. Just the wakes from passing boats, with much more traffic when a cruise ship is in town. And, no mosquitoes, or at least very few, we're not entirely sure yet if there are none at all.

The water is very clear and we can snorkel right off the boat. It's nice to be back where we can dive off the back of the boat anytime we want to cool off. While we were out for a swim today, Fay spotted a Lionfish. This is a big deal because it's an invasive species in the Caribbean that is both venomous to humans and a very aggressive and able predator with respect to other reef fish. As such, there is very active effort by marine authorities to capture or kill them when they are spotted in the Caribbean. Fay reported this one to the National Park authorities so we'll see if they come out to capture it.

Back in Bonaire

We arrived back in Bonaire late Sunday night. New Morning was in fine shape tied up in the Harbour Village Marina. It's nice to be back in the tropics and 80 degree weather! Unfortunately the mosquitoes here are as plentiful as the tropical fish and much more aggressive. We battled them in the hotel Sunday night, and now in the marina. However, we did discover bug wands at the hotel; sort of like a badminton racket, but they zap mosquitoes (or any other bug I guess). They're definitely more effective than slapping them with our hands. We have a few things to do on the dock, then I think we'll head for a mooring in hopes of escaping some of the mosquitoes.

Once settled in we'll start looking for dive and snorkeling locations. Yesterday afternoon while having lunch next to the water we could see large fish right up at the surface, nibbling on the growth on the rocks. We're looking forward to getting into the water.

Briefly home

We came back to California last week for a very short visit and we return to Bonaire very soon. It's cold and rainy here, but the shelves of the stores are completely full! We picked up some provisions, parts, tools and the usual collection of stuff that is difficult to purchase when cruising, but available here within a 10 miles radius!

We also made our pilgrimage to the French consulate to apply for a long stay visa for French Polynesia. It appears all of our papers were in order, so now we just wait 2-3 months to see if they grant our visa.

It's raining again today with the temperature hovering around 50F. We're ready to return to 80F and warm water.

Bonaire and Updates

We arrived in Bonaire yesterday afternoon. We sailed from Los Roques to Aves de Barlovento in very boisterous conditions. With 22-25kts of true wind directly behind us we averaged 9.2kts of boat speed and had a new boat speed record of 13.8kts! But the seas were short and steep so we sailed with the true wind at 150 degrees and gybed back and forth down our course. The result was that our net speed for the whole trip from anchor to anchor was only 7.5kts. We anchored at Barlovento behind a large stand of trees filed with red footed Boobies. Fay got some great pictures which we'll post later.

Yesterday we sailed from Barlovento to Bonaire, with slightly less wind, only about 20-23kts. Our average yesterday was 8.6kts, but again we had to gybe down the course so our net speed was a little lower. As we rounded Lacre Point and headed up the lee side of Bonaire the seas smoothed out and we thought the wind would lighten up. Were we ever wrong. The wind increased to 25kts true, with gusts to 28, and right on the beam. With the jib rolled up a bit, and a reef in the main, we flew up the lee shore at a constant 9.5kts which is pretty much our maximum hull speed without waves to push us forward. An exhilarating ride, but we would gladly have had less wind. Dropping the sails in that much wind was not fun.

Fortunately there was a little protection at the fuel dock in the Harbour Village Marina so we had no problems docking and tying up. This morning we moved from the fuel dock to a slip. Tomorrow we leave at 5am for a short trip back to California.

There are pictures of our most recent time in Les Saintes, and an update to our planned schedule.

First bread

Just before the lobster was another first on New Morning. The first fresh baked artisan breads.

First Fay made focaccia from an Alice Waters recipe, to which she added machego cheese, basil pesto, caramelized onions and spices. That was dinner one night. Then the next day she stretched it into a pizza for lunch!

Not to be out done, I took my hand to the bread baking. First flour (white + rye), salt, water, and a pinch of yeast which fermented overnight. In the morning, a quick fold and 15 min rest, followed by shaping (I tried two) and two more hours of rising, then into the oven. We were very worried the oven wasn't up to the task, but with our baking stone in place and 45 minutes of pre-heating, it was great. The breads came out really well, easily exceeding my expectations.

Since we both love good bread (with olive oil and balsamic it's practically a meal in itself) we now know we can always have good bread. What a relief to no longer be at the mercy of the grocery store, mercado or supermarché.

Death in the afternoon

Death was expected to come swiftly. The pick was plunged quickly and decisively between the eyes, through the skull and into the brain. But not today, not this afternoon. The langousta fought back with all it's being, flipped and flopped and defied the "the most humane way to kill a lobster..." instructions in the cookbook. Fay fell back, then plunged forward again and again, stirring the contents of whatever lay behind the forehead of the langousta. To no avail; it would not die.

As it seemed weakened, she positioned the long chef's knife the length of it's body and tail. With a swift blow of the rubber hammer the knife bifurcated the langousta. But still it's twitching body tormented Fay's gentle being. Eventually, with it's body cut in half, the tail separated from the body, the legs from the body, and the antennae from the head, it ceased to move. Relief and sadness settled on the transom.

None the less, grilled and served with freshly baked bread and a bottle of La Crema chardonnay it was a tasty meal. Pictures will be posted.

These are not plastic

It's not often you see pink flamingos in the wild. Fay got some great shots of these birds, but this is a quick one to show you what we saw. There was actually a huge flock of them, but after we made one pass fairly close quite a few of them moved away.

Much better!

Today we moved from out on the eastern reef to a really nice little lagoon on Isla Carenero. The eastern reef was beautiful in a desolate sort of way, but we got tired of whipping around on the end of 200' of chain in 20kts of wind. Now we're in a tranquil lagoon with 25' of water, shielded from the wind, but plenty of breeze to keep us cool. The small island keeps out the waves and chop. Seems like a pretty nice spot.

And as a bonus, on the trip today we went by an island full of pink flamingos! Fay was in awe and shot a bunch of pictures. We'll post them when we get an internet connection. And to top it off, after the anchor was set and we were starting to settle in, a turtle swam up to the boat as if to say "welcome".

Moved on

We departed Grand Roque yesterday and motored about 8 miles to a very remote anchorage. There is no land here, just the barrier reef, and a lot of smaller shoals and coral patches. The Caribbean is breaking on the other side of the reef, giving us a constant line of white surf above the expanse of light green reef which borders the blue water in which we are anchored.

To the northeast is a wrecked ship sitting on the reef, slowly rusting and disintegrating. It's not really a warm and pleasant sight. Another lies to the southeast. To the north we can see the hills of Grand Roque, and to the west we can see the low profile of land and mangroves that fringe the inner reef which is the center piece of the archipelago, though unnavigable and a restricted area.

The reef blocks the waves and swell, but there is nothing to block the trade winds so we have a steady breeze, quite boisterous this afternoon at 18-22kts. This is basically an isolated and desolate place. This morning with just 10kts of wind it was very tranquil, but at 20+ it becomes less pleasant.

We swam out towards the reef and the water was noticeably cooler than in the east Caribbean. Despite the fact that we sailed at least a couple hundred miles south, the water and air are both about 2-3 degrees cooler. OK, the air is still 81 and the water is still 80, but it's definitely cooler. Unfortunately our our swimming navigation was poor and we were not swimming to the closest point of the reef. We started to feel awfully small as the boat became more and more distant so we turned back. We did find a small school of Caribbean reef squid under the boat, same cute little squid we saw last spring in Les Saintes.

I think tomorrow we'll move to the western side of the archipelago and try to find something more protected.

Venezuelan shake down

Today we attempted to check in to Los Roques. Although not an official port of entry for Venezuela, the Doyle cruising guide and Noonsite both advised that it was possible to stay for 14 days by visiting several government offices and paying some fees. The fees would come to about $130 and be paid to the Los Roque authority to help with the preservation of the area as a marine park.

However, when we went to the Guarda Costa office to check in, we were told we could only stay for two days. After some further discussion they explained that it might be possible to stay for a week and that they would come by the boat in a few hours. True to their word, they did come by the boat a few hours later and advise us that for $500USD they could grant us a "special" permit to stay for 7 days. We declined to purchase the "special permit" so they told us we had to leave by Friday.

Arrived in Los Roques

We had a fast and uneventful passage to Los Roques. We departed Les Saintes at 9:30am on Saturday and had the anchor secured (second location) at noon on Monday. It was 385 miles in just over two days, anchor to anchor.

We anchored off Grand Roques (check the Where's New Morning page). We'll inflate the dingy, go ashore and check in tomorrow, then move to a nicer anchorage. Right now it's burgers, beers, and more sleep.

Bouncy night

The north swell returned and last night was a bouncy and mostly sleepless night. We're up early, preparing for departure to Los Roques. We'll sleep better underway than we did last night.

Les Saintes

After a pretty idyllic three weeks, we're getting ready to leave Les Saintes (click on the picture for a slightly larger version).  On Monday, with Vivian's help, Fay was able to check in and check out so now we're legal.  Christian and Joesian departed yesterday, Liz and Ed departed today and Jean-Marc and Vivian will depart Saturday.

Today, with the help of Jean-Marc's hookah, I scrubbed the waterline to get rid of the grass growing on the shady side.  Fay also used it to clean the hair off the shaft and prop, then verified the prop was opening and closing easily. We're stowing everything and generally cleaning up.  Tomorrow we'll top up the batteries and the water tanks.

Saturday we'll depart for Los Roques, about 380 miles, roughly southwest.  With E or ESE trades it should be a pretty quick trip.  We're expecting a two day passage, plus or minus a few hours, so we should be settled in there on Monday.

We'll miss the fresh baguettes, pastries and friends we've enjoyed here.  Les Saintes is a pretty sweet spot!

Birthday madness

Last night we had dinner with Ed and Liz from Massachusetts on their Swan 441, and we were joined by a French couple, Jean-Marc and Vivian. We had all had drinks and dinner a couple of times before and continued the conversations learning about each other, where everyone had sailed, boat gear, etc.

But in the course of the conversations we learned that Liz, Vivian and I, all shared the same birthday - October 10th! And this is a big year because our birthdays will be on 10/10/10. What are the chances of three people out of six at a social gathering having the same birthday?

And then the remaining three all have birthdays on national holidays or celebrations. Jean-Marc on Halloween, Ed on Hero's Day (Antigua) and Fay on Bastille Day. It was birthday madness night.

Happy New Year

We started the day with a nice walk over the island to plage de pampierre. We've spent a month here and never knew about this beach. Ed and Liz from Gypsea had told us about it and it was really delightful. We did a little snorkeling (not great visibility), had a picnic lunch and snoozed in the shade on the sand. After a refreshing shower we shared a bottle of Chilean chardonnay with Jean-Marc and Vivian from Jeanvi and reviewed the anchoring practices of the many boats that have filled the anchorage in the last couple of days. Vivian personally dives on many of the anchors and gave us the news that our anchor was buried deeply.

Earlier in the day Fay had purchased some mahi-mahi right out of the boat and asked them to filet it on the spot. She grilled the mahi-mahi, and also grilled some fresh endive garnished with 12yr old balsamic. Add a side of rice and a glass of Laurent-Perrier champagne and voilà, New Years Eve dinner a là New Morning!

Just before dinner we watched the blue moon (2nd full moon in the month) rise over the village. Truth be told, we didn't make it to midnight, but we were awakened at midnight by lots of noise, including a full fireworks show which was a total surprise. Though as Fay watched piece of a burning missile arc over the bimini, the thought of burned sails crossed her mind!

About 3am the boat started rocking and the wind started blowing as some weather moved in and through our anchorage. We've been bobbing and rolling all morning, but it's supposed to calm down this afternoon. Say hello to 2010!