Musketelle's Meanders

Jul 2012

PULLING OUT OF PANAMA

The 1^st day of July sees us still hanging on the mooring off the BalboaYacht Club as there are still boat things to be completed, compounded by us also starting to enjoy the place with the stable and secure Wifi access, the Yacht Club outdoor bar, restaurant and very cheap laundry (hotwater washes 50 cents). The ‘raw fish’ dish at the restaurant and ice cold draft Balboa beers for $1.50 a pint was not half bad either.

The busy and interesting vista from our mooring off the Balboa Yacht Club was not hard to take with the worlds shipping passing close by, round the clock.

Vista from BBYC mooring with shot of funky design Bio Diversity

Museum under construction nearby and ships coming and going

The other thing is we started to get to know our way around the city using the readily available and quite cheap little yellow Hyundai and Kia taxis that you hail by hand. This is dangerous because you start to find things that you can buy and do that otherwise would be left alone if not accessible. For example ….P decided a large Scuba Dive bottle to supplement the little Pony bottle would be a good idea. This was fuelled by watching a local diver we contracted to clean the bottom of Musketelle using a large bottle mounted on the deck attached to a 50m section of high pressure hose so that he could move around unencumbered by full dive gear. P said “we need one of those”; so began the hunt for the kit. Another couple days lost…. B found another better supermarket than “Super 99” going by the very anglophile name of “Riba Smith” so a few major shopping expeditions were taken here. Lots of quality international brands we recognised and P could even buy his favourite poison…Guinness Stout.

Liftout Time again

We last lifted Musketelle back at Burriana, Spain August 2011 and theoretically that antifoul application using a top of the line Hempel Antifoul should have lasted 2 years and got us home to NZ with a bit of judicious bottom cleaning along the way.

When we got into Caribbean waters we noticed the little tropical crustaceans were getting the better of us even though we were undertaking monthly diving expeditions cleaning by hand. The time spent waiting in Colon for the canal transit and the last few weeks in Balboa has been the kicker with slimy growth on top of the Caribe crustaceans looking very unhelpful to fast passage making. So that’s when we got the local diver (blowed if we were going into these dirty waters) to do a thorough in-water scrub and clean and it looked good after 3 hours and $100. But then within a week the growth came roaring back so the decision was made to haul on the dilapidated cable railway haulout that looks like it has been in operation at the Balboa Yacht Club for a hundred years. Decision made we then had to wait a week for the highest spring high tide as our draught of 2.7metres is right on the limit to mount the trolley cradle that descends into the tide running on rails. Relying on local helpers literally in the tide we got Musketelle into the cradle and lashed then began the creaking crawling haul to the top of the rail tracks high and dry (but on a slope) for work to commence.

Labour intensive Haulout with the yard guys in water

Precariously High and Dry on the Balboa Yacht Club slipway

WiFi high and dry but not jumping ship

Labour at a Price

Liftout time is always a time when blood pressure rises as you are eager to get the job done and dusted in short order to minimize the high cost of being in the cradle. We think 2 days at a pinch 3 max will do it. So we decide to do something we have never done previously….employ labour to tend to our big baby’s bottom by scraping sanding and then painting her undersides. A local Panamanian guy by the name of Luis with limited but passable English approaches P and a labour only deal with us supplying materials is done.

Luis and Pajecco happy that deal done with help from yard manager and expat Karori Kiwi, Jim

Luis has a helper Pajecco and they confirm they can do the job in 2 days. The minute the job’s in the bag the whole manner changes…manana, manana. We came out late afternoon so the logical thing is for them to do a quick wash and scrub down while the bottom is still wet and the growth still soft.

But no, these guys don’t work after 1630 and say they will get straight into it in one burst 0700 tomorrow morning. Then promptly ask for a cash advance. The cheek of it….. Well no, you have not lifted a finger, its cash when we splash said P !!

Next morning 0700 Pajecco the worker is there twiddling his fingers waiting for negotiator Luis, who does not turn up until 0830 !!

Luis and Pajecco on the job end of day one and still all smiles

They do then get into the job but come the end of the day the scraping and sanding is far from over but they convince us they will have it completed in 3 hours before 10am next morning. Luis asks for a sub, part payment and this time we acquiesce. See you at 0700 sharp tomorrow.

On taking a close look after they have departed for the day we conclude the prospect of painting by morning is clearly in doubt as there is much more preparation required. Next morning 0700 Pajecco is on the job scrapping and sanding informing P at 0800 the prep work is now complete. But what about this and this said P pointing out obvious sections that had not been scraped right let alone sanded. No response, wait for bossman.

Irrepressible Pajecco informing P the prep work is completed….

Well Luis finally turns up at 1000 dressed in quality street clothing not the stuff of a boatyard gaffer. He avoids P, gets changed and under the boat to work. After 10 minutes P approaches to discuss the job situation and hello the guy is as inebriated as a parrot (or drugged, remember this is Panama) practically falling off his perch on the work trestle. Lesson learned – the part payment of the previous evening paid for last nights binge.

So P tells Luis all bets are off your fired matey and to leave the job, the news of which went around the small boatyard in a nano second. So this is just dandy. Musketelle stuck hard and fast in the cradle with a half completed job and this Gringo skipper throwing his weight. The prospects are not looking good if the yard folks close ranks and blacklist us. But fortunately that was jumping to conclusions because in quick time everyone came to the rescue and in no time at all we had renegotiated a completion deal less the part payment already made to the inebriated one. The work was competed to our satisfaction. But for the need to spend an extra day in the cradle it could have been a lot worse.

Ready to splash and slide back into the tide

Thick Black Crude

Back in the water and back on our mooring for a few days to buy fruit & vege and we will be off on our Trans Pacific hop. But can you believe the next day we awake to the yacht club manager moving around the anchorage in one of the club water taxis taking pictures of boats on the moorings and writing notes. When he came alongside Musketelle we were naturally eager to know what was up. Answer not what we wanted to learn…..overnight there has been a spill of bunker oil (crude oil) and when we looked over the side our freshly polished white and blue waterline is coated in a thick black goo. We were mortified but the manager informed us they were approaching the culprit spiller and hopefully would come back to clean it. We often experience diesel spills (by other boats) that foul the waterline and this is easily cleaned but by comparison crude oil is something else requiring industrial grade cleaners. All credit to the club manager within 24 hours the cleanup job was done and we were ready to finally cut loose from the Balboa Yacht Club mooring.

But Where is Lady Luck

We depart but luck is still not on our side as within a few miles whilst still between the outer canal marker buoys P notes the recalcitrant Auto Pilot is not holding course as it should whilst in Auto which is essential for automated steering. This is the Auto Pilot system that was fixed and found to be fully operational 14 days prior. We are mortified for the second time in 24 hours. So rather than turn back to Balboa Yacht Club we pop around the corner to the anchorage off Flamingo Island to review the situation at anchor in flat water. In quick time we conclude the Hydraulic Ram is the problem and phone the Raymarine agent to get them back to the boat saspo. That is 1400 next day and within 5 minutes the Techi confirms the bypass valve in the ram is jamming open so he removes the complete ram unit and returns it to the workshop for the 3^rd time !! We are livid as this was the initial problem that should have been fixed when the ram was supposedly broken down and completely serviced with new seals and ‘o’ rings 2 weeks previously. We think more likely they cut corners and it was simply flushed and cleaned.

We were not surprised as most of the time the so called expert techis were aboard Musketelle they were more interested in their private smart phones and managing their social networking. This is an interesting worldwide development that challenges the original structure of the business model that said an employee works with agreed morning, lunch and afternoon breaks. With the intrusion of wireless technology this generation has conveniently reversed the model. We just stand over these people to ensure the job at hand is done as quickly as possible, grimacing whenever the phone rings. Why not, we are the paying customer.

The ram was returned the next day and re-installed by the smartphone wielding experts and we headed off on a test run to nearby Tobago Island a distance of 8 miles.

All systems operational and thus this will be the first 8 miles of our 3750-mile passage across the Pacific to Hiva Oa in the Marquesas Islands of French Polynesia.

Let the Passage Begin

1500 hours local time Sunday15 July we upped anchor from Tobago Island, Panama and pointed Musketelle southwest for the Marquesas.

Leaving Tobago Island and Panama behind

Magic sailing for the first 12 hours then it all turned to custard for the next 8 days until we reached the longitude of the Galapagos Islands. In those eight days the winds were variable typically flukey doldrums inter-tropical conditions, no wind one minute then fierce little thunderstorms and squalls with torrential rain. Underlying this there are currents and counter currents beneath playing havoc surface water movement.

The only deviation from sailing in the first week was a need for P to go aloft to the top of the mast which is something to be avoided at sea with the boat wallowing in swells. There are many horror stories of what can and does go wrong. Being risk averse we use a primary halyard and a backup safety halyard with dual harnesses to lift P aloft. Back on deck B has a set procedure for working the multiple halyards through jammers and around winches to a power capstan (specially installed to eliminate the otherwise strenuous manual grinding task). .

P wears a special pair of sandshoes, clothing and sometimes a bike crash helmet if the weather is rough but still he can come down bruised and chafed as this goes with the territory. The reason for going aloft on this occasion is to unfoul a halyard that was holding up our Blade Headsail (our personally designed non-overlapping headsail that we can hold in over 30 knots before furling). The shackle connecting it to the halyard lost its pin and the sail went all limp on us without thankfully crashing to deck. With halyard retrieved we have removed the Blade which is more suited for upwind conditions and installed our high cut Yankee Headsail which is good for the reaching conditions we anticipate after the Galapagos.

Pitiful first 8 Days

Our course computer shows that in those first eight days we sailed a zig zag course to the north of the Galapagos covering 950 nautical miles for just a paltry 670 miles toward our destination. That equates to an average of just 84 miles made good per day at 3.5 knots!! Our worst yet by a country mile but very typical of these latitudes bounded by the Bay of Panama and the Galapagos Islands.

Wiggly Course ex Panama and no wind until nearly 084 degrees west

This zone is influenced by so many different factors; the Pacific thinking it can join the Caribbean/Atlantic and at times the reverse, the equator running through the area, the land mass of Central and South America and the Humbold Current which is delivering cool water all the way from the southern ocean and the coast of Peru. All yachties get frustrated by this patch of water which we have now renamed the ‘Custard Patch’. From here on west of the Galapagos Islands we should click into more reliable stable trade winds and currents to help speed us to the Marquesas.

The course comes right and equator crossed

23/27 July…In the last 4 days we have, as predicted, locked into dramatically improved conditions which have seen us cover 680 miles toward our destination at an average 170 miles per day and 7.1 knots !! What a difference a few days can make. We are in sailing heaven again. So after 12 days at sea we have 2400 miles to go and all is well.

Heaven Short Lived

28 July Heaven is short lived as our darn AutoPilot decides to stop holding course. We are both very tired after driving hard day and night toward our destination and this is the last thing we need to go on us particularly when we have spent good money with experts and new replacement parts. Hand steering for 2400 miles or even 3000 miles to Papeete is not in the program. We break out the AP system manuals and after 30 minutes conclude the problem is yet again the Hydraulic Ram, as all other components seem operational.

With Musketelle bouncing along at 8 knots in a steady southeast wind with moderate seas nothing for it but to do some tests on the Ram using the knowledge P has picked up watching the not so expert techis back in Panama. Easier said than done because the Ram is connected to the steering quadrant adjacent to wire steering cables all holding our 25 ton girl on course. The quadrant is constantly moving as B manually steers attempting to minimize movement in the rolling seas.

P disconnects the Ram arm from the quadrant and then tests movement of the Ram without load and it is not moving as it should. Then decides he will bleed the system by loosening 2 pressure pipes carrying hydraulic fluid to and from the pump motor and then manually pull and depress the ram arm to express any air that might be in the system. Does this 3 times and then re-tightens the pressure pipe nuts and reconnects the Ram to the quadrant. This all sounds easy but it took an hour with everything moving around not to mention working on knees bent over with head lower than backside….you get the picture.

Whacko! when system re-energized the Autopilot restarted and worked instantly. Conclusion, the Techis in Panama did not bleed the system correctly when they reinstalled it the final time. Unless there is some other unknown problem we think we now have it right because the drive motor is humming away as it did with the distinctive on and off load sounds telling us the system is happy. On departing Panama we had noticed the system sounded different but we put this down to installing a new more powerful pump motor and thought these new sounds were associated with that new motor. We are not yet calling ourselves autopilot experts but its getting close. Just lucky we are talking about boat autopilots here not aircraft.

29 July Today is a big day with the first notable event ‘Crossing the Equator’ 0430 local time in the dark. Not such a big event as when we crossed going north back in 2008 in Indonesian waters. This time King Neptune was asleep being his off watch time whilst his Mermaid and ships wonder cat were the only observers of the non-event. Nothing happened, line not sighted, no change in sea or air temperature, no evidence that Musketelle’s 25 tons has changed the earth’s tilt and no border control or gate keepers out here in mid Pacific. Just a pencil thin line on our chart plotter to record the crossing at 101. 22. 622 West

Now in the Southern Hemisphere however we feel positively at home and the cracking pace continues through the day with the autopilot doing its thing. Then just to keep us on our toes another problem when B goes to download weather using the Iridium Satellite Phone and the screen message reads fault…”Check Card”. What’s going on because we are in credit for both time and calls. Out with the ops manuals for the Satphone and nothing about this fault message. More checks to dial in and message persists. A few hours later the system comes alive and we proceed to send messages to both our Satphone service providers to establish problem cause and also messages to family to advise of fault and that our daily sched may now be interrupted. We send these messages not knowing if they will be received. Luckily our comms provider replies promptly informing us that the problem is thankfully minor requiring the Simcard to be removed and carefully cleaned as it probably has miniscule air carried salt crystals or dirt on the gold contacts. Phew another little operational challenge resolved.

A Stitch In Time

Late afternoon the wind dropped a little and we decided the time was opportune to drop the mainsail to repair a small rip toward the top of the main that has been caused by the sail touching one of the spreaders (the horizontal section that holds the mast up). The resulting contact had cut a thread holding two sections of sailcloth and the thread has then disengaged for about 400mm. With the weather forecast showing increased winds over the coming 3 days we decided to get the repair sorted now.

B to the rescue with dacron fabric, sailmakers needle, palm and thread….into a safety harness and attached by the topping lift halyard and safety lanyards she is lifted into the SailPak on the boom where the sail is neatly nested with the damaged section thankfully close to the top. She labours away for 90 minutes stitching whilst P motored Musketelle downwind (off course of course!) attempting to minimize the rock and roll for the precariously perched B. Job done as the sun set, down she came and we raised sails once more to get back on course and back up to cruising speed…..2224 miles to go.

B stitching away in the sailpack as we rock’n’roll west

31 July

Day 16 into our 3750 mile passage and July ends for us with 1797 miles to go to Hiva Oa which, with all things being equal and if these south east trade winds hold up, equates to a computer predicted arrival on or about 10 August. We would be very happy with this but we are always reluctant to place value on these predictions as this is sailing and we have been wrong so often.

Yachts have destinations and arrival ports…this is the only solid predictor.

Some WiFi pics to end the month