A tropical depression was forming on the Pacific side of Panama. According to the weather forcast this depression was going to cause 15 to 20 knot southerly winds on the Caribbean side of the Isthmus of Panama. Delighted that we might have enough wind to actually sail (wind is difficult to come by in this area at this time of year), we set of to Colón, a distance of about 270 nm.
On Day 1 (October 11th), we struggled to sail in the light, almost non-existent winds, at times breaking down and motoring for short periods. By the middle of the afternoon, the wind increased and we were able to sail close-hauled. The night brought another frustrating lull in the wind.
On the morning of Day 2, we were experiencing light NW winds. Just before 11am, we approached a line of squalls. We quickly reefed our mainsail in anticipation of getting hit by a squall; however, we managed to weave Chandrika between the squalls without getting hit. As soon as we crossed the squall line, the weather switched dramatically. The wind turned directions, coming from the south, and had gained in strength to 10-15 knots with occasional 20 knot gusts. We were now moving along nicely at 5-1/2 to 6 knots.
For the rest of the day and the following two days, the wind became very sporadic in its intensity, making the sailing difficult and at times intense. We experienced periods of light 0 to 5 knot wind followed by periods of stronger 20 to 25 knot winds. Sometimes the lulls would last only 20 minutes to be followed by 10 minutes of blasting 25 knot wind, and then the wind would drop again to almost nothing for 10 to 20 minutes. We put 2 reefs in the mainsail and would sit and wait, barely moving in the still air. Then we would fly along when one of the strong gusts would hit us and then again the wind would stop.
A young Great Heron, being caught in one of the strong gusts and unable to fly back to shore, lands on "Chandrika".
24 hours later, our friend is still with us. Perhaps our lost friend thinks Graham is his "papa"?
Fortunately, the gusts never lasted long enough to build up the seas too badly. By late afternoon, however, the winds began to increase. Still we had fluctuating wind speeds, but now we would experience 10 to 20 minutes of 10-15 knot winds followed by 10 to 20 minutes of 30-35 knot winds coming from abeam. This fluctuated back and forth until soon after sunset when the wind completely stopped. We sat and waited. Eventually we decided to motor through the eerie stillness, not knowing what to expect next. Then it hit. Right on the nose, we were blasted with a 30 to 40 knot sustained headwind! The wind no longer came in spurts like before. We experienced hours of this strong steady wind. The seas began to build and we were slamming our way into them. With only about 20nm remaining until we reached Colón and being already 4 tiring days at sea, we were eager to get into the harbor. Between the screeching wind and the hammering seas, we were crawling along, only barely making headway. Our options were to heave-to (possibly for days) waiting for the wind to let up, to continue beating into the wind under sail (potentially spending the next day doing so), or to turn on the motor and power-sail into the wind and waves with the hope of reaching Colón the following morning. We opted for the third choice.
We forced our way onward and by first light we entered the breakwater protecting Colón. Completely exhausted, we anchored Chandrika in the Flats anchorage outside the Panama Canal Yacht Club.
October 2008
