I still haven’t updated my adventures throughout Colombia and a side trip to Peru however I wanted to get the message out now that I’m heading out soon to Panama via San Blas. The plan is to sail from Cartagena this weekend either Saturday or Sunday for San Blas Panama. The islands of San Blas has been one of the best places I have been yet and a logical stopover on the way back to Colon Panama to transit the Canal. I will likely repeat the same itinerary I kept coming to Colombia from Colon only in reverse. First stopping in San Blas for a few weeks up to a month, and then another week making short hops along the Panamanian coast in Isla Grande, Isla Linton, Portobello and then finally to Colon. Maybe another week or two in Colon and then hopefully through the Canal and into El Pacifico. I’m estimating my Canal transit date to be some time around mid to late February putting me on the Pacific side (Panama City) plenty early for the Pacific crossing season. I had more engine problems here in Colombia that have since been resolved. Basically I couldn’t start the motor one day and after a day of trouble shooting I called in a professional local mechanic. After taking off the cylinder head we discovered that the gasket, rings, and valves were all looking very very sad causing a major compression issues. Essentially the top half of the motor has been rebuilt and she is running great now. I still have plenty of minor things on my to do list but over all salsa is ready to ship out. On the off chance anyone has some free time and no plans for Christmas I have plenty of room for one or two folks to sail from Cartagena Colombia to Panama, you would need at least a week total to get back to Panama City to fly out but if anyone is serious about that trip they would need to call me ASAP (phone number on sailingsalsa.com should be good till I depart this weekend).

I will be doing some writing on my way to Panama if I don’t before I leave to get the blogging up to date, and hope to keep better logs and records underway from now on in hopes of providing more detailed passage reports. That’s it for now; I’m off to check the weather and provision! Hope everyone is doing well and if you don’t here from me before Christmas have a very merry Christmas, I know I will, and watch out for my Spot-Check position reports on the website! -Kirk

Monday June 16 th.
OK, I re-did the calculations, and since it is just too much of a pain to fix my motor I’m going to stay here in Colon Panama for a few years. Now don’t go criticizing me for making this decision, it has several merits. I figure that I’ll just stay here and then in three years I’ll come home and tell everyone that I sailed around the world. Here is the big bonus, I just did all the calculations. If I stay here in Colon, rather than sailing I should have enough money to stay drunk constantly, plus smoke all the pot I want and have an unlimited supply of cocaine (and most other illicit drugs), and now for the kicker, a new whore every night. Now what more could you ask for?? Now SERIOUSLY, here is what’s going on…

Let me recap for a moment and forgive me for the details but a few people have asked. I show up in Panama around April 2nd, and get sentenced to nearly a TWO-month delay to transit the canal. No big deal, I take it in stride, get some work done, meet a lot of nice locals and party with the cruisers plenty, well lets just say I wasn’t really getting bored. Not to mention FIVE times I have been through the canal on other boats as a line handler. Ok, so they say I don’t have to wait the two months, a spot comes open after only 6 weeks so I go for it. Then just a few days before the transit I’m sailing back from a river just a few miles from the canal here with Michael Lee, and the motor dies. There was no fixing it. Luckily I have amazing sailing skills and sailed back to anchorage here in Colon (now for the second time). With some help from some amazing friends (Peter and Kay from Milfuers Hobart) I probably spelled that wrong, anyway, Peter from Australia (Tasmania actually) by the way Tasmanians are all crazy… As I was saying. Peter helps me trouble shoot the motor down to the Fuel Injection Pump and then encourages me to pull it off of the motor myself. I did, it was easy, it had two (of three) broken springs. Apparently only a fuel injection specialist can fix this type of problem so I take the pump to Rivas E Picans in Panama city to get it fixed. At first they tell me $500 to get new springs sent in from the U.S. and that it will take a week or two. Well at that point my (first) transit date was only a few days away so I postponed it and the shop came up with this great solution. They had a few used springs around the shop and for the amazing price of only $85 they replace the two broken springs. The pump worked great, UNTIL it was time to transit. I had line handlers on the boat, the canal advisor on the boat, my Dad was here to go through, water and fuel topped off, lots of food and booze and then… THE MOTOR DOESN’T START, it was the fuel injector pump again!!!!

I get an $840 fee ICKKK from the canal, that’s right, they charge you more NOT to transit than for the actual transit!! But that’s all in the past. I bring the part back to the shop, continue to have a good time, and the part gets fixed. Turns out this time it was the fuel-throttle control and that the pump was stuck in a lower than idle setting. They fix it, another $85, no big deal, the engine runs GREAT again. Only sad part is that it delays me yet another two weeks to get through the canal, but once again I take it in stride. I’m doing the math, and it looks like I’ll need about 3 months of solid sailing to cross the pacific to Australia. I would have about 5 and a half months before cyclone season, so that leaves 2.5 months to see the entire South Pacific, I figure I’ll go for it. THEN, once again I have my line handlers on board, motor running, advisor is on his way, the motor dies. It was the third spring, the one that wasn’t replaced before. That brings us to now. Waiting for parts for the motor.

I finally found a reasonably priced fuel pump so I think I’ll buy it and make the old one a spare, plus all that cranking of the motor has got my starter sounding a bit uh… slow, so I’m ordering one of those as well. The extra parts and the second fee from the canal, has got me almost $3000 over budget, good thing James (atomvoyages.com) talked me out of the Mediterranean a long time ago. So what now, I’m pretty sure it’s too late to pass the entire Pacific so that leaves me with a few options. Haul ass to Australia and skip half of the South Pacific. OR fine some hurricane hole in the South Pacific islands and either wait there or fly home to work. Lastly, wait here in South America until the cyclone season is over and then head across and maximize my time in the islands. At this point I’m really not sure what I’m doing and I’m surely open for suggestions. I have gotten several emails asking me what’s going on so hopefully this answers most of the questions. I admit I have left out a lot of the juicy details of partying in Panama city after the transits, late nights on other boats in Colon, and blah blah blah, but that will just have to wait till later! Hope everyone is doing well and when I know what I’m up to, so will you ! –Kirk