Panama Canal

The Panama Canal has to be one of the highlights of the trip and it didn't disappoint. The boats all go through rafted up in threes and we were in the middle with Derry on one side and Telemed on the other, and the first to go through. It was an early start as we waited for the three pilots, one for each boat, before we could transit. Before going into the locks we passed under 'The Bridge of the Americas' and past the start of the lock system for the new canal, to be opened in June of this year. Though I'm not sur how ready they are.

Going from the Pacific side towards the Atlantic involves two locks, a small lake then another 'going up' lock before crossing Gatun Lake at the top followed by three 'going down' locks. We transited with Valrossa, a large tanker like ship, behind her going up and in front going down - something to do with currents  and water disturbance when the locks are filled and emptied. The ships are initially helped into the locks with tugs pushing and pulling them into place, the tugs being replaced with small locomotives to move them from one lock to the next. I was surprised at the close fit of the ship with only what seemed like inches of space on either side of it.

Once we got into Gatun Lake we had to wait for a replacement pilot to take us on to Colon which prolonged the journey by 3-4 hours. The weather for the entire day was typically tropical rainforest with continuous rain, albeit warm rain, though I did get quite chilly once the sun set.

We eventually got to Shelter Bay marina at about 10.30 pm, a small establishment on the opposite side of the Canal to Colon and effectively in the middle of nowhere. I stayed on the boat for the first night then moved to an hotel on the outskirts of Colon that was also in the middle of nowhere. In fact it took longer to get from the hotel to the marina than it did to drive from the hotel to Panama about 40 miles away.

It is now Sunday 29th and we leave this evening to meet the last three boats through the canal before heading unto the Caribbean and on to New York. The arrival window into NY is the 12-14 June so let's hope for a good race and early arrival.

Post race and trip down to Panama

Four of us (LMax, Telemed, UNICEF and Derry) crossed the line within a few hours of each other and have since been motoring within VHF range. We are being followed by a further two groups of four boats each as we all head for Panama and our slot for the Panama Canal. Yesterday morning we stopped, along with Derry and LMax, for a celebratory swim in the Pacific - a couple of hundred miles due west of Nicaragua and in over 5,000 metres of water! A passing turtle with its flipper in the air was momentarily mistaken for a shark resulting in everyone mustering off the back of the boat until the reality was established, but after that scare we were all able to relax and have a very pleasant swim. Even with all the sails down the boat was moving along so that we had to swim to keep up and when the time came to get back on board by clambering up the diesel polluted scramble net it was no easy affair. It made me think again about not wanting to fall overboard as getting back would be almost impossible without the help of a halyard. Hopefully we will have the opportunity for another swim tomorrow morning as we still have about 36 more hours of motoring before reaching Costa Rica.

Motoring, albeit noisy, does have the advantage of giving us 24 hours of battery charging time every day as well as an endless supply of fresh water, as long as the water maker continues to work. A fresh water 'sluice' after the swim and permission to rinse clothes in fresh water before hanging them out to dry on the guard rails are a couple of uses for this valuable commodity.

Fast forward ten days and we are motoring towards Costa Rica where we will be refuelling before heading across to Panama. It is extremely hot and humid with an unrelenting sun and no wind. Any wind there is is from the seven knots we are progressing through the water, sounds good but in reality it is a bit like sitting in a fan assisted oven. Sleep is virtually impossible as everyone tries to find the coolest place on the boat, generally up on deck, and for me the prickly heat is back which as you can imagine is not particularly pleasant. Everyone is sweating 'buckets' and drinking gallons of water and cordial and we are all looking forward to getting to the marina.

The short stop in Golfito Bay, Costa Rica, was a welcome break to the relentlessness of the eastern Pacific Ocean. The Banana Bay Marina did us proud with copious drinks, food and ice creams as well as a very friendly and efficient refuelling service before we had back out again for the final 300+ miles to Panama.

Having seen virtually no wildlife on the race itself we are now seeing turtles, dolphins, the occasional whale and numerous birds including juvenile Boobies (I think) who populate the bowsprit and pulpit like argumentative teenagers. They have taken up position on the front of the boat and even tack themselves when the boat tacks. They are not at all phased by human presence and cameras pointing at them from less than 12" don't seem to concern them. Funny looking birds with a very inquisitive nature.

We have had Rich the cameraman on board for this race and it has been interesting to talk to him about the influence of the skipper in the success of a boat. He has been on a different boat for each
race so has an understanding of what is needed for a podium finish and how different boats operate. From my perspective the skipper has a pivotal role with the makeup of the crew being important but not as important as the person in overall charge. We have had three different skippers on the boat since leaving London, Jm, Paul and Cloughy. The first two are basically training skippers while Cloughy has the experience of racing and definitely leads by example. He works us hard but is not afraid to help with all aspects of boat life, and I respect him for that.

We eventually got to Panama on the 24th May and moored up in a marina towards the end of the
Canal. We saw the city in the distance and I was surprised at the skyline as I hadn't expected it to be so modern. I imagine a lot of money comes into the country from the canal so why shouldn't it be
new? My ignorance! The marina was full of very large and expensive looking deep sea fishing boats
so there is obviously a lot of money around. I stayed on the boat that night with five others rather than find an hotel as we were due to leave the following morning at 0630 for our transit along the canal.

Race 10 - Seattle to Panama

xHow can two races through the same ocean be so different? The race (Le Mans start) started the day after leaving Seattle at 8pm with a stunning sunset as the backdrop. Since leaving the weather has been kind to us with blue skies, a fair wind and warm temperatures. We are currently in first place with respect to distance to finish and a couple of days ago were the first through the scoring gate so gain an extra three points. Cloughy is still up and down through the hatch like a yo yo and Telemed are only four miles behind us yapping at our heels - so we definitely need to concentrate. Last night we saw the lights of Cabo at the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula about twenty miles to the north of us: all exciting stuff when the norm is water and waves. There has even been a distinct lack of wildlife other than the squid that occasionally end up on deck at night. The other evening we were treated to a small portion of fried squid served up by Carla, our Andorran crew mate who happened to be on mother watch at the time. Very tasty!

The Code 1 (largest and lightest spinnaker) has been up for the past four days and we are eating up the miles to the finish with the 'distance to finish' currently at 1968 miles. These distances need to be taken with 'a pinch of salt' as they are based on the race viewer and don't necessarily reflect true distance. The measurement is also in a straight line and considering we are gybing our way south we will be sailing significantly further. Under the tutelage of Cloughy we have learnt to 'peel' the spinnakers when changing from one to the other and when a repair is required it is done with speed. The mood on board is good and we are thoroughly enjoying our position in the fleet, and as 'mother' today I hope to have a chance to write a bit between making bread and baking a cake for Henry's birthday.

Not long after this we dropped the spinnaker, rather too hastily, which resulted in the sail wrapping itself around the starboard rudder. Not good! We did eventually get it back on board, in three separate pieces, only to spend the next 30 hours taping and sewing it together again. It has been briefly flown since and is, apparently, rather lopsided and drunk looking..

So what are my thoughts as I sail south on the penultimate leg of the race? I am starting to think more about home, especially Tom and Becca, and what I am missing in not being there. It is Becca's 21st birthday tomorrow (11th May) and I will miss being able to wish her a Happy Birthday in person. Tom met up with Dave (leg 6) at the end of last week to have a chat about possible job opportunities and I would love to know how he got on. I have been away for nearly nine months and I think that is long enough, though I know the next two and a half will go really quickly, especially once we reach New York and start heading east across the Atlantic.

I believe that, other than circumnavigating the globe, I have achieved most of what I wanted to in taking part in this race. I have been to places never visited before, I have witnessed the power of the planet and am now part of the small band of people who have crossed the Southern and Pacific Oceans in a sailing boat. I have had a lot of time to sit and reflect about life in general though I am no closer to knowing what I want to do when I get back to the UK though I do know that I want to spend more time with family, especially mum who is not getting any younger. A couple of years ago she
suggested that we might go on a cruise together, maybe down one of the European rivers. It wasn't for me at the time but having done this race I can now see us having a holiday together, and maybe a cruise at that. I don't see enough of my brother in Shrewsbury or sister in Tunbridge Wells and I may even visit Andy in some far flung part of Europe as he travels around chasing the wind for paragliding.

I am coming to the end of my 'mothering' day with just clam chowder to make for supper. It has been a good day: pasta bake (made by Trudi), two loaves of bread, birthday cake for Henry, and lots of cups of tea. It has been hot up on deck and with little wind there is no respite from the heat though we are still sailing and racing as fast as we can.

Back to the race itself - the winds are generally light with the occasional squall that sends us scurrying to put in a reef, only to be taking it out again ten minutes later. We gradually go from flying the spinnakers to the windseeker and ultimately to the white sails (yankee and staysail) as the winds become easterly and we are desperately trying to get through the third gate and what, ultimately, will
be the finishing line. It has also been exciting racing LMax and Telemed as they have often been in sight as we gybe down towards Panama.

We were delighted to get the maximum three points for going through the scoring gate first earlier in the race and after a good battle with LMax and Telemed crossed the finishing line in third place and beating Derry to the gate by a few hours. A total of 13 points on this race and two podium places in two races!! We now just have to win a race to have the whole suite of pennants. Crossing the line wasn't easy as we all had to tack back and forth to make the mark - goodness knows what it must have looked like on the race viewer as I am not sure if the marks are put on it.

Seattle

Seattle

A fantastic second place for UNICEF which meant we were into Seattle before the official arrival window, but it also meant a two week stay in a beautiful but expensive city. We had a wonderful welcome and everyone was really generous in their congratulations. Prize giving was held at the Aquarium and was an amazing event as we were up on the podium for the first time, accompanied by lots of cheering and raised glasses.

The two weeks in port meant lots of maintenance work was achieved on the boat with my role still being that of 'rope lady'. Lots of help from various crew members as well as the brother of one of the multi leggers. So as ever, a big 'thank you' to everyone. The weather was generally stunning with clear blue skies and temperatures up to the mid 80s and breaking all previous records, even for summer months. The views across Puget Sound were spectacular and Mount Rainier was visible, sitting in splendid isolation, on the horizon.

For various reasons I ended up staying in an apartment on my own which gave me a lot of space that was greatly appreciated. I was going to share but it didn't work out but in retrospect I think it was for the best. I was on the eighth floor overlooking Puget Sound and only about a ten minute walk from the boat, so incredibly convenient. The only slight scare was that another crew member was told the apartments were being sub let illegally so there was a risk of being evicted. Luckily it never happened!

As usual I didn't manage as much sightseeing as perhaps I could have done which has been the same in most of the stopovers - not quite sure what that is all about. I didn't get to the top of the Space Needle but did manage a trip to Tillicum Village, a visit to EMP, the Experience Music Project as well as the Chihuli Glass Museum and a baseball game. All very worthwhile visits, especially the glass museum which was my favourite. To have the vision to create the glass sculptures he did is
incredible and I would have liked to have spent more time there - a second visit was planned but unfortunately never materialised.

The Tillicum visit was a trip put on by the local tourist board for the UNICEF crew. The  weather was wet but it was good to go out to Blake Island and to experience Northwest Native American storytelling, a traditionally-prepared alder fire roasted fish and to have the chance to wander through a lush forest and walk along the beach. We even spotted a bald eagle sitting at the top of a tree.

As ever time sped by and we were back on the boat for Leg 7 and the race down to Panama. We boarded the boats to the sound of a brass band and paraded along the waterfront and around a fire boat spraying water before heading off north through Puget Sound and race start the following day.