Chapter 133: Aruba to Panama, Our Longest Passage Yet!

We enjoyed our time in Aruba but were very happy when a weather window opened up for us to make the passage to Panama. We have already booked flights to fly from Panama City to Atlanta to spend the holidays with our family. With that in mind, our goal has been to arrive in Panama in November so we can transit the Panama Canal to the Pacific side in early December as that is much closer to Panama City, which is where our flight originates. So on Sunday morning, we cleared out of Aruba to begin our passage. The passage was estimated to be 676 nautical miles and we were anticipating a 5 day journey. This would be our longest one yet!

The passage from Aruba to Panama is known to have the potential for being difficult. There are a few reasons for this. First, you have to travel along the coast of Venezuela until you reach Colombia. This area is at risk for piracy and there have been a few reports on incidents listed in the Caribbean Safety and Security Net including a recent one where a cruiser 40 miles offshore of Venezuela was fired at and grazed by a bullet while sailing. Second, the weather and wind can make this sail challenging especially once the Christmas winds kick in during December. At baseline, there are katabatic winds that can make for a confused and rough sea state. There are also areas with a lot of current in the water. Finally, in both Colombia and Panama, there can be debris in the water including logs and trees that wash out into the ocean from inland rivers.

Happily, our passage was literally smooth sailing. We made the passage early enough that the Christmas winds have not yet begun. Also Tropical Storm Sarah helped to lessen the wind in this part of the Caribbean. The weather forecast indicated we would have some wind during the first day or two and then would lose the wind and have to do a lot of motoring. It also showed some potential for rain and squalls. We began our passage at 9:30am on Sunday and by that afternoon we were able to turn the engine off and sail. We turned our engine back on briefly on Tuesday to charge our batteries and make water but then turned it back off until Thursday afternoon when it remained on until our arrival in Panama on Friday morning. Much more sailing than we anticipated! We did have some rain but for most of the journey we seemed to stay in a bubble with the rain passing on both sides of us but not passing directly over us and a really calm sea state. We were communicating with some other cruisers on the same journey who left 24 hours before us and they definitely had more rain and squalls along the way so we were very fortunate. We did see logs and even whole trees floating by so we also felt very grateful that we didn’t run into any, especially at night when you cannot see them!

Because this was our longest passage yet, we were anxious to see how we would do with maintaining our energy levels. Because we always need someone at the helm, we follow a watch schedule so that we both have some time to sleep. We have tried a few different things but the four hour watch schedule seems to work best for us. It consists of the following:

First Watch, 8pm to Midnight (20:00 to 00:00 hours)
Middle Watch, Midnight to 4am (00:00 to 04:00 hours)
Morning Watch, 4am to 8am (04:00 to 08:00 hours)
Forenoon Watch, 8am to Noon (08:00 to 12:00 hours)
Afternoon Watch, Noon to 4pm (12:00 to 16:00 hours)
First Dog Watch, 4pm to 6pm (16:00 to 18:00 hours)
Second Watch, 6pm to 8pm (18:00 to 20:00 hours)

The dog watches are important as this allows us not to have the same schedule every day.  This is especially helpful for the two night watches.

This is Bob with an aside: there is at least one reader of this blog who will appreciate this literary reference:

“But why are the short watches called “dog watches”? Why, because they are cur-tailed, for all love!“

You’re welcome. I’m here all week.

  So how did we do?  Actually, I think we were both surprised to find that while we were, of course, tired, we weren’t as exhausted at the end of this journey as we have been on previous trips.  Usually on previous trips with multiple overnights, we are both so exhausted upon arrival at our destination we almost immediately are napping.  But this time felt different and we didn’t have to nap at all upon arriving!  I am not sure if this is due to the excitement of finally making it to Panama or because we have more experience and kept to our watch schedules pretty diligently, but we were very happy for the improvement.  We also did better with our eating so that likely helped as well. Because we had a calm sea state, it made it easier to prepare meals plus I had prepared a few things before we left Aruba. 

One highlight of the journey (at least for me-I might have an obsession!) were the birds.  We had some visitors along the way that kept things interesting.  We had two Caribbean Martins visit on night one.  One of them flew in and perched on a cushion in our cockpit with Bob sitting right there.  It got really interesting when it flew inside the boat through the companionway!  Fortunately, I was able to shoo it out of an open hatch!  The next day, we looked up to find a beautiful Peregrine Falcon flying around the boat.  It landed on one of our spreaders and stayed perched there for quite a while. It truly was beautiful and so graceful in flight.  Finally, we had two Bank Swallows fly in and perch on our life lines.  They were remarkably unafraid of us and did not seem to care one bit how close I got to take pictures. 

Another highlight was actually when we were getting close to our destination in Colón.  Colón is the starting point of the Panama Canal on the Atlantic side.  I was on watch from 12am to 4am on our final night and around 3am I started seeing many cargo ships around me moving towards Colón.  As the sun rose and we approached Colón, we could see all the cargo ships outside of the breakwater waiting at anchor for their turn to proceed into the canal.  The number of ships was just amazing and I can only imagine the coordination that takes place to ensure safe passage for all the vessels making this transit.  I know for us as a recreational vessel how much it takes to be approved to transit the canal,  I can only imagine how much more complicated it is for commercial vessels. 

We are currently in a slip at the marina in Shelter Bay.  We will likely remain here until we transit the canal.  Our agent let us know today that we are officially approved and will transit the canal on December 5th – woohoo!!!  We are super excited!  It truly is a bucket list experience and we cannot wait to experience it.  As Bob shared yesterday via both email and on our social media accounts, we will need 4 crew members on board to help handle lines. We know it’s short notice, but in case this is on anyone’s bucket list, get in touch ASAP. We can teach you what you will need to know!  You would need to get to Colón, Panama by 12/4.  We leave from there and then would drop you off in Panama City after the transit.  The transit will probably take one day, but could take two.   Of course, if you want to hang out afterwards for a few days and sail with us, you are most welcome.  You take care of travel arrangements but we will provide accommodations and meals on the boat with us!  Let us know if you are interested or have questions. More to come as we prepare for this big adventure!