Don't sink the boat!

Or, a series of unfortunate events.

After the excitement of our canal transit, we took the opportunity to enjoy our first few weeks in the Caribbean by doing much needed boat work! Cruising has the reputation of being a lot of boat work inside a beautiful setting. I wouldn’t say that has been true for us given how well Peter maintains our boat. But sometimes the boat needs repairs at inopportune times!

Looking out across the main shipping channel outside the Panama canal

One of the biggest headaches for us was our refrigeration system. Constantly carrying seawater through the refrigeration compressors, the associated plumbing had a tendency to grow barnacles, mussels, and oysters — on the inside. On a long passage across the Sea of Cortez, our refrigeration shut down completely and we had to throw out most of the food we just bought to last us a couple of months! Peter installed a new system to instead cool the compressors with bronze heat exchangers, called keel coolers, on the outside of the hull. No more pulling two and three inch long oysters out of one-inch diameter hoses!

After the work was completed, it was finally time to leave the shelter of the marina and head out on the Caribbean sea to the remote San Blas archipelago, which we were super excited to explore. We generally take our time leaving because our boat is faster than most others, so our friends Taylor and Mike on Via were ahead of us by a few hours.

We had just received clearance from the authorities to cross the main shipping channel in and out of the Panama canal, when I noticed water coming up through the grate in the cabin sole below the companionway. Concerned that we were having a problem with our lower rudder bearing again, Peter went to investigate, only to find the water coming through the “dripless” propellor shaft seal, and coming in very fast!

So we quickly turned around to cross the channel again, and while Peter alerted the authorities about our situation, I used the massive manual bilge pump to pump out the water. Unfortunately, it wasn’t working as well it should have, but it was still able to keep up. Due to where the water was entering, though, I had to go back and forth from this pump to the one that drained the bilge near the engine, where the dripless seal was leaking. Luckily I had a lot of adrenaline to energize me to keep pumping all the way back to the marina.

Once we got back, the manager of the boat yard met us at our slip with a heavy duty electric pump designed to move the water out fast. He then arranged for an emergency haul out and within 30 minutes we were out of the water. Phew, that was a close call! Luckily we were only 90 minutes away from the marina when we discovered the issue!

Salacia in the slings, just before she was propped up on the stands.

Since we were out of the water, and needed to pull the propellor shaft to resurface the propellor shaft seal, Peter decided to replace the cutlass bearing as well, all of which happened in record time — roughly 48 hours on the hard.

Even so, the seal face needed resurfacing, which required a machine shop with a lathe. The only such shop nearby was in Colon, but luckily one of the yard workers drove Peter over to get the work done, and to help him navigate getting around the protest barricades through the more dangerous parts of the city. Somehow, machine shops never seem to be in the tourist meccas!

The protests were happening all over Panama for months, due to the government renewing a lease for a large copper mine, despite being prohibited by law. In the end, the protesters won, the law was upheld, and the copper mine lease extension was revoked. It was exciting to watch the Panamanian people effect real political change through peaceful, non-violent protest! In the meantime though, the major thoroughfares in the country were blocked with burning tires and barricades.

One of these barricades had been down the street from the machine shop, several blocks at least, and we had driven the long way around to get where we needed to go. As we exited the shop, people were running down the street towards us from the barricades, amidst floating clouds of white tear gas that had been fired to break up the protest. We went back the way we came, and never got very close to the mayhem, with a shiny new sealing surface in hand. The adventure continues!

The folded propeller, the cutlass bearing puller at work, the newly refinished dripless seal surface, and the empty P-strut, waiting for a new cutlass bearing.

The shaft, without propellor, ready to be removed from the boat.

The propellor shaft reinstalled and ready to go. The propellor folds, as seen here, to minimize drag while sailing.

Salacia poised above the water on her way back in.

Lightning hits many boats in Panama every year. Luckily, we weren’t one of them. (knock on wood!)

Once everything was buttoned up and ready to go, and the thunderstorms passed by, we finally got underway for San Blas!

Above deck everything still looks idyllic. Who knows what’s going on below decks though!

Unfortunately, our trip was soon to be cut short again. Nearly half way to San Blas, we were again taking on water, this time truly from the rudder bearing seal.

We decided to stop at a place called Linton Bay, where we were able to get a quick haul out at the end of the next day, and drop the rudder so Peter could service the lower bearing seals. The yard agreed to leave us in the slings overnight, and just put us straight back in the water the next day, with nice, clean sealing surfaces to keep the water on the wet side of the hull.

This made three haul outs for us in under two months - one for the refrigeration, one for the propellor shaft seal and cutlass bearing, and the third for the rudder lower bearing. We would have loved to have done it all during the first haul out, but Neptune had other plans for us, and we were just glad that we were able to do everything quickly and efficiently, and with a fairly reasonable cost, since Peter did most of the work himself. We have learned and are still learning as we continue our voyage into the unknown, to let go of our expectations and trust how life has a way of working out.

For real, we are on our way to San Blas Islands.

Approaching the Archepilago

Our beautiful first anchorage in the East Hollandes

Anchored next to Via

Met up with Mike, Taylor, Lucy, and Penny on the beach for a swim to celebrate our arrival. The water was so warm and calm.

Where’s Lucy’s ball? Clearly the only question on anyone’s mind.

We made it to this beautiful set of islands! It was a nice time to be there as it was still before the season officially started and the anchorages were mostly empty. We enjoyed the peace and quiet while it lasted.

Our next post is all about our stay inside these gorgeous, remote islands with a whole community of sailors we met along the way. Luckily, we didn’t have any more major maintenance needed until reaching Cartagena.

Please continue to join us on our journey!