One Small Step

Well we have left Panama, more accurately Panama City, and are now anchored in Contadora Island, part of the Las Pearlas Islands of Panama. A slow sail of 40 miles brought us 10 miles further away from the Galapagos.... hmmm. All part of the plan I assure you. We need to finish our passage preparations and get a weather window, and the Las Pearlas are a very nice place to do this from.

Our time in Panama was very hectic. While the visit with the grandparents (both Rae and I's parents visited us) was great of Jake and Isabelle, it was hard for Rae and I to relax as either we were getting ready for the canal transit or we were chasing and endless list of projects. There is a common held phrase in the cruising community that when you finish one project on your list you get to add two more. Some of the issues were surreal such as our oven door shattering mid-breakfast preparation. Anyway most of the items got taken care of, and the ones that remain are manageable.

Panama City was very polluted. The black muck that covers our boat is sickening while the water line sports a sludge like substance, some of which flaked off while sailing yesterday but the remainder will require me to get in the water a scrape.

The route to the Galapagos crosses the ITCZ, commonly referred to as the doldrums. As I have monitored the weather on route it has been particularly windless in the last few weeks. We may have some nice dins in the next week to at least get us away. We will probably wait a little to see if that materializes, if not we will set out for a long motor trip.

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