Colon, Panama

After 11 days at sea the boys and "Biscayne Bay" arrived in Colon, Panama. They had a good trip, but very little wind to assist their travels. They had some sloppy seas with occasions of big 5 to 6 metre swells and sometimes 50 knot squalls, but the "big old girl" pulled through and bought them all safely to harbour. We are booked for a Panama Canal Transit for Tuesday, 30th June 2009. Lisa and Anastasia rejoined the boat to travel the canal together and to restock the boat ready for the big "transpac". Now we are this far there is no turning back, so watch out Australia here we come!

En route to Panama

Finally after many months of trying Jacob managed to land that elusive Mahi Mahi(dolphin fish). They caught not only one, but a second one, one hour later after crossing the Gulfstream towards the Grand Bahama Bank. Unfortunately, Lisa and Anastasia did not get to enjoy the fish dinners that followed, totally planned they thought. They managed to make good progress and moved towards Colon, Panama at a good pace making only one stop at Great Inagua, as one of our crew members, Bob become ill and had to be flown back to the USA for some follow up treatment. This left a crew of Jacob, Chris and Garry with Lisa and Anastasia waiting impatiently on shore hoping all would be fine and organising the paperwork and meeting the agents to ensure a smooth transit through the Panama Canal.

Goodbye to the USA

After much planning and organising we have said goodbye to the USA as the "Bay" makes her way south to Panama Canal. Lisa and Anastasia headed back to Titusville to stay with friends and then will fly to Panama City to wait for "Biscayne Bay" to arrive. Garry, Jacob and friends Bob and Chris will crew her on her last journey through USA waters. It was with some sadness and fitting that her last port of call was "No Name Harbour" on Key Biscayne. Garry will attempt to plot her position daily on the following link.

http://www.winlink.org/dotnet/maps/PositionreportsDetail.aspx?callsign=vk6glx

They are currently on route to the Bahamas and will then make their way to the Windward Passage and Jamaica, where they hope to pick up the trade winds to make for a fast sail to the canal. We wish them smooth seas and fair winds and hope that the next blog will be news of their arrival.