Friday, March 20th. Isla Contadora, Las Perlas Islands, Panama. Yesterday seemed like the first day I was back on track from my 9 month detour that started when I didn’t get through the canal last year. I suppose that technically when I transited the canal a month ago I was moving in the right direction but it didn’t feel the same. Yesterday I sailed from the anchorage just outside the Panama Canal to here, and it just “feels” like I’m back on track. Even though I made this same sail (round 1) a week ago, it didn’t count since I had a girlfriend with me and I new I would be sailing her back to the mainland. I’ve got what I expect to be a few days up to a week here waiting for good weather then off to the Galapagos.

The sail here was basically uneventful. I started off with a light breeze and was sailing at about 4kts until the breeze died down to around 5kts and I was still able to maintain around 3kts of speed on a reach. When the wind got to around 2 to 3kts, I had to put a preventer on the boom to keep it from swinging around and still sailed at around one knot. That went on for around an hour, and then over the next three hours the wind picked back up to over 10 kts and I was racing along at 5.5kts again. I did consider starting the motor, but I knew that the wind should pick up and that I would be able to make the 35 mile trip without motoring as long as I was patient enough. So far I have used the motor for about 30 minutes total since leaving Panama, about 15 minutes to pull up the anchor and another 15 to put it down. I have weighed anchor and anchored without the motor plenty of times before but in these crowded anchorage’s it’s a little dangerous especially with a little current. Last time I tried it here when I was leaving I was drifting within a few feet of a few other boats, I’m sure that didn’t make them too comfortable, then again I wasn’t very comfortable either! Having left Playita anchorage around 7am and arriving around 5Pmish, I probably only averaged around 3.5kts or so, but that’s acceptable to me, I got in before dark and didn’t have to use the motor.

Filed under: sailing • Trip

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