Blog – Page 22 – Buruwang

Water maker. Katadyn 40E

A boat is freedom. Freedom to go where you want, when you want. With Artemis full of food and a fair wind, we can travel far away from civilisation and visit otherwise unreachable places. But you need water. Until now we have filled our tank where ever we have found a supply and, in the worst case, bought bottles. But the logistics detract from the enjoyment and, as we head out in to the Pacific, good drinking water will become a scarce commodity.

So we have invested in a small Katadyn 40E water maker. This magic device takes fifty liters from the surrounding sea and five ampere hours of electricity with which, through the miracle of reverse osmosis, it produces five liters of drinkable fresh water. We use about ten liters a day so in two hours we can produce all we need for that day.

This is one of the smallest devices used on boats but it has the advantage that we can power it from wind and solar power. It also fits nicely in our “bathroom” which is now the “water works”. We bought this model as every one wrote that it “just works”. Andi Blenk installed one this year and his positive feedback convinced us to invest.

Unfortunately our system didn’t “just work” as it had been incorrectly assembled in the factory. We needed many emails, lots of tests, much frustration and hundreds of extra dollars before we tasted our first fresh water but now it works and it was worth it.

We use a pre-pump to take sea water from the ocean and pass it through a sieve and two pre-filters. The standard system uses one filter but this way we can run it in silty anchorages. The filtered water enters the Katadyn and is then compressed and forced through a membrane which removes most of the salt leaving less than 200 parts per million which is far less than we can taste.

Produced and cooled with solar and wind power.

Another piece of freedom!

Ocean Chandlery

Werbung – Nein ganz bestimmt nicht; nur ein sehr sehr zufriedener Kunde.

Das 1. Mal trafen wir Stuart, von Ocean Chandlery im September 2018 in Ayamonte in Spanien, als er seinen Parasailors in der Segelschule “Go-n-sail” vorstellte. Er erzählte uns, dass er bzw. mittlerweile seine Tochter in England eine Chandlery haben und dass er uns egal wo auf der Welt mit Ersatzteilen versorgen kann. Wir dachten bla bla bla.. Doch zum erstenmal benötigten wir den Anker Motor Fußschalter in Bequia; wir wollten ihn bestellen, doch die Firma ist mittlerweile bankrott gegangen, doch Stuart wusste, wo es genau den richtigen gab.

Information_Sign Ocean Chandlery.
https://www.oceanchandlery.com/

In Aruba glaub ich haben wir ein halbes Flugzeug voll Ersatzteilen, ein neues Vorsegel und einen neuen Kühlschrank von Ocean Chandlery geliefert bekommen und unser Anker Winden Motor entwickelte sich zu einer kleinen Odyssee. Doch dank unseren Freunde in England, die keine Mittel und Telefonate scheuten, bekamen wir das fehlende Adapterstück binnen zwei Tage nach Aruba geschickt. Hier in Panama haben wir auch wieder Ersatzteile gebraucht und wir wissen jetzt sehr genau, dass egal wo wir uns auf der Welt befinden, Ocean Chandlery ihr Wort hält und uns versorgt. Danke liebes Team und bleibt weiter so genial und zuverlässig.

And now, by special request, in English.

Advertising – definitely not; just a very, very satisfied customer.

The first time we met Stuart from Ocean Chandlery was in September 2018 in Ayamonte, Spain, when he introduced his Parasailors to the sailing school “Go-n-sail”. He told us that he and his daughter have a Chandlery in England and that he can supply us with any spare parts anywhere in the world. We thought blah blah blah .. Shortly after we needed a replacement anchor motor switch in Bequia and tried to find it but the company was long bankrupt. Stuart knew where to find the right one and helped us get it hand delivered.

In Aruba I think we got half a plane full of spare parts, a new head sail and a new fridge both from Ocean Chandlery. Our anchor winch motor developed into a small odyssey but thanks to our friends in England, who spared neither resources nor telephone calls, we got the missing adapter piece sent to Aruba within two days. Here in Panama we also needed spare parts and we now know very well that wherever we are in the world, Ocean Chandlery keeps its word and supplies us. Thank you dear team and continue to be so brilliant and reliable.

Two T-shirts travel the world

The people who built our foldable mountain bike frames – Montague – asked if they could write about our travels and we agreed. But we mentioned that a couple of T-shirts would be nice in return.

In the middle of August Liza sent two T-shirts to us via the US post addressed to the marina in Aruba. Three weeks later the shirts had not appeared and the tracking system showed that they were in Tokyo! California to Aruba via Tokyo makes no sense.

In September Liza agreed to send us two more shirts to Germany but before she could send them out, we received a message from Aruba (which we had long ago left) that the T-shirts were there. We asked the Marina to give them to an American boat who passed them on to a Swedish boat heading our way.

Wim and Elizabeth hand deliver the shirts off Panama City

Bengt – the Swedish boat overshot us when we were offline in the San Blas Islands so our boats finally met up at the end of November anchored off Panama City in the Pacific. And finally we have two Montague T-shirts.

Two weeks in paradise (Daniel)

Daniel and his girlfriend Annalena visited us in Panama and spent two weeks with us cruising the San Blas Islands. Here is the blog post he wrote about it.

In August 2019 Dad and Heidi met up with us during their visit in Germany. Oh by the way, when I’m talking of “us”, I mean my beautiful girlfriend Annalena and me. We agreed that we would spend our holidays at the end of October 2019 on Artemis of Ileyn. We didn’t know where exactly it would be, but they could roughly tell us to book a flight to Panama. So time rushed by and we had booked our flight from Munich to Panama City via Paris. Yes! We were really heading to the Caribbean Sea just off the coast of Panama, to the San Blas Islands!

Panama Canal transit

At 17:09 on Saturday the 23. November, the gate of the last lock on the Panama Canal opened and Artemis of Lleyn entered the Pacific Ocean.

The previous Sunday we sailed to Colon, the port at the Atlantic end of the canal and on Monday morning we were visited by a canal official who checked the length of the boat, ensured our cleats were strong enough and asked if the toilet worked. The inspection didn’t take long, probably as there was lots of sun, no wind and baking temperatures in the boat.

On Tuesday we took a shuttle bus in to the seriously unsafe city of Colon and paid $1875 US in to the canals bank account. Hopefully we soon get the $900 deposit back so the transit will “only” have cost a thousand dollars. We also took the opportunity to do a quick shop and filled six bags with groceries. In the evening we called the Canal and agreed a transit date for Friday.

Wednesday we took a day off and went cycling to look at the canal.

Thursday we bunkered fuel, water and a bit more – only four bags – shopping. In the evening we confirmed timings and that we should be waiting at 16:00.

About Friday lunch time our line handlers arrived. Each boat needs four crew to feed the long lines in or out during the lock transits so Heidi was joined by Wim and Elisabeth, our friends from SY Bengt and Tobias from SY Maya. Bengt transitted last week so were our experts and Tobias was doing a reconnaisance for his transit next month.

Just before four we moved out to “the Flats” (the agreed location) and made fast to the french catamaran “Iroise” for coffee and cake. French, swedish dutch, german and british were all sat around waiting for the canal pilot to arrive. A pilot boat arrived about five thirty with three young pilots and within minutes we were off heading under the Atlantic Bridge to the flight of three locks at Gatun. There was already a huge ship in the the lock and two tugs behind it. We made fast to Iroise and an american boat did the same on the other side and then the three of us motored in to the lock. As we entered ropes were thrown across from the walls which we attached to our long mooring lines so that the “pack” of three vessels could be securely attached.

With the lock gate shut behind us, the water began to rise and the line handlers earned their “Artemis pizza” as they pulled them in to keep everything tight. The lead pilot – on Iroise – was having a bad day and managed to get every one spooked but our pilot Miguel was totally cool and got us through all three chambers safely. It is a bit “worrying” trapped in a concrete box with a huge ship and lots of water flowing around but our line handlers worked perfectly, the workers do this every day and it all has a system

After the Gatun locks, we entered the lake and motored through the darkness until we reached a huge buoy where we made fast for the night and celebrated our success. Luckily there was no rain during the night which was good because, with the boat full of guests, we had to sleep outside in the cockpit.

Saturday morning, after breakfast, the pilot boat brought David, our canal pilot for this day. We motored about 25 miles across the Panama Isthmus meeting a constant stream of ships coming the other way. Occasionally we were instructed to stop when a gas carrier came as they have absolute right of way. Unsurprisingly, every one wants to get these mobile bombs out of the canal as soon as possible. Heidi once again proved that Artemis is a top restaurant with delicious Lasagna served in the cockpit. We crossed the Gatun Lake and a long cutting which led to the first lock of the day – Pedro Miguel. In daylight you can see far more and appreciate how truly monstrous the container ship is that followed us in. Locking down was stress free with three happy pilots directing proceedings.

A short motor took us to the last lock – Miraflores – which dropped us all the way down to the Pacific and back in to salt water. By now every one knew the drill and Heidi commented “This is fun. We could go up and down all day.” We dropped the pilot off once we were out of the channel and Wim took over the navigation and brought us safely through the dark anchorage and to anchor next to Bengt with the Panama City skyline as a backdrop.

About twenty four hours after starting, we were in the Pacific and set for our next adventure.

Panama Menu
Line handlers lunch:
Avocado Pesto with walnuts and ham.
Fruit salad with fresh farm fruit
Coffee with home made irish cream

Gatun Lock dinner
Pizza Artemis
Chocolate on the go

Lake Breakfast
Toast, cheese, ham, assorted Condiments with coffee or a selection of teas.

Canal Lunch
Lasagna with corned beef and cheeses.
Fruit
Irish cream coffee

Anchor supper
Pina Colada & wine
Snacks

Agua Clara Visitor Center

We are at the Atlantic end of the Panama Canal waiting to transit on Friday and with time on our hands we thought we would cycle over and look at the Gatun locks that we will be passing through this week. They have the huge, really nice, informative Agua Clara Visitor Center there as well.

But WE WERE NOT ALLOWED IN because of the heinous and unforgivable crime of riding there on pushbikes and not burning fossil fuels or polluting the environment!

It all started off nicely with a 14 km ride through the jungle to the Gatun locks. They are really impressive but hidden behind high fences topped with razor wire. We asked a security guard how to get to the visitor center and he explained we should head about four kilometer down river, cross over the four lane, eighty meter high Atlantic suspension bridge and then cycle another five kilometers back up river.

No problem. More jungle. More kilometers. More training.

We reached the beautifully laid out visitor center and asked where to park our bikes. Maybe we should have just asked where we could leave our machine guns or stash our cocaine? The reaction could not have been worse. The guy at the gate called the “security lady” who was wearing a side arm and was seriously annoyed that we were on bikes. Apparently it is absolutely, totally illegal to cycle to the visitor center. No way would we ever be allowed entry.

We could have come on a motorbike, a gas guzzling Hummer or on the back of the dirtiest oil burning pickup but NO WAY were we allowed to arrive by bike. Apparently there was a sign informing us of this at the bottom of the hill.

A tour guide tried to reason with the storm trooper but by now she had called up back-up and three sets of armed, evil eyes were glowering at us looking like extras from some film about a 20 century Junta. Is this how eco-terrorists feel when they protest against global warming.

Obviously this impressive little sign means the main road and not the farm track.

We were obviously not going to be allowed to discover all the great ways that the Panama Canal has helped the local wildlife and the environment in general so we cycled back to the boat. We did find the promised sign but it still looks like it refers to a farm track rather than the beautifully surfaced (but totally forbidden) road.

I am just glad she never found out we arrived on a sailing boat using the wind and not via a kerosene burning aeroplane. She would probably of locked us to the railings and beaten us. We were lucky to escape from the Agua Clara Visitor Center.

We cycled 52km and saved 30USD by being refused entry. 🙂

Panama jungle life

Here in Port Linton (Panama) we are anchored on the edge of the Portobelo National Park. You don’t “head off in to the jungle”. You live next to it!

Just over on Linton Island there are spider monkeys who keep the tourists entertained by hanging from the trees and stealing anything they can reach. The surrounding jungle is also full of howler monkeys. We haven’t seen them but hear them all the time. The local dogs start barking which sets the monkeys off howling which drives the dogs to bark insanely which drives the monkeys wild which … You get the picture.

Walking down the road we thought we saw a spider monkey but on closer inspection it turned out to be a sloth hanging happily upside down and chewing away at the leaves. The next creature we mistook for a monkey was a variegated squirrel with its huge bushy tail hanging down.

The flowers are full of huge brightly colored butterflies which are definitely much larger than the tiny humming bird we saw flitting from flower to flower this afternoon.

There are also caiman, crocodiles and poisonous snakes here but we have managed to avoid all three.

All photos are from Wikipedia and licensed under the Creative Commons license.

San Blas Islands

Annalena and Daniel flew to Panama to meet us for two weeks holiday. And where better to spend a two week holiday than in the San Blas Islands? These are an archipelago of low lieing palm islands where the coral reef rises above the surrounding sea. No two sources agree on the number of islands but it may be about four hundred- or more. It really depends on how you define an island – at least one grass hut, or at least one palm tree or a rock with crabs on?

The whole area is a maze of coral reefs. The pelican may fly a mile but we need to weave between the reefs with an eye on the depth gauge and at least two eyes at the bow spotting the coral. The direct route is a guarantee that you join the wrecks that litter the area.

The local Kuna people live in bamboo and palm huts and still use dugout canoes to travel and fish. If the wind is blowing in the correct direction, they hoist small sails and lean far out upwind using their single paddle to steer, Vincent paddled out to us to swap some of his limes for our sugar and then charge us the village anchoring fee of ten dollars for a month,

It is very surreal when you anchor behind a reef in totally flat water but with the sight and sound of the swell breaking nearby. And when a sail driven dugout passes you from palm island to palm island, you know this is some where special.

At the west end of the archipelago there is tourism but as we sailed further east it became more lonely. When we visited the twin towns of Nargana and Corazón de Jesús there was no sign that tourism plays any part in their economy. The two towns each cover their respective island and are joined by a footbridge. Here we saw schools, shops, a court house and churches. After over a week out in the islands we felt we had arrived in the big city.

Our guests only had two weeks holiday so we returned to Port Linton with only a tiny part of the islands explored but with beautiful memories and a hand sewn picture bought off a passing canoe.

Sailing – One step forward and two steps back

The weather forecast was for light winds from all directions so less than optimal sailing conditions. The pilot charts forecast a 0.7 knot current against us just to add to the challenge. But, being becalmed at sea still sounded nice when compared to being eaten by mosquitos and no-see-ums in the rainy season at the swampy Puerto Velero Marina.

So we left at seven in the morning from Columbia, heading for Panama.

The weather forecast was correct but the current was one to one and a half knots and always against us. At least the wind really did constantly change direction so we could use the shifts to make ground in the correct direction.

Heidi freeing a line as we head in to the wind

Continue reading “Sailing – One step forward and two steps back”

Anchor or marina?

At anchor off a sandy white beach floating on aquamarine blue water as the sun sets in a fire of red. That is the way to end a beautiful day sailing.

Or you can ruin the day by berthing in a marina!

If you plan on spending the night in a marina then it would be sensible to contact them to ensure there is space available. Many ignore emails. Others answer with standard text that ignores your request. Once you are within radio range, you can call them on the VHF radio. Mostly they ignore this as well but some answer and a few understand English.

Continue reading “Anchor or marina?”