Sunday Island sets sail into Pacific towards Galapagos

Our Panama Canal crossing complete mid January we settled into our anchorage off La Playeta Maina, to the western side of Flamenco Island to wait for spare parts to arrive before our Pacific Journey.

Our starter motor that was ordered a week prior though a local supplier arrived. The motor did not look like the one ordered, nor was it the same part number – though the distributor insisted that it would work we returned it and ordered a new starter from Rare Electrical in the US. Shipping was advertised for 3-4 days, so we were hopeful we would be on our way soon. Meanwhile I tramped through Panama attempting to find a shop to fix the old starter motor – which after finally finding a shop willing to work on the old motor I was advised it was well and truely deceased!

We hired a car for a few days to explore Panama, and our time in Panama (waiting for the starter motor) was enjoyed visiting various national parks, including the Balboa National Park. Here we saw some great rainforest and its inhabitants including Sloths, butterflies and poisoness frogs. We also visited the Bio-diversity and Panama canal museums and Issy and I went on a 12 piece zip line through the rainforest. We utilised the local bus system for the majority of our transport in Panama and found it very effective, taking us straight to the shopping centre, metro and almost anywhere in the city for only 35 cents!

We found then Parks great. Panama prides itself on having more national parks than nearby Costarica or Columbia. The biodiversity museum, parks and education centres explain the importance of keeping our environment clean, using less plastic and recycling. There is even a 85m Ocean Cleanup vessel stationed in Panama to drag a huge net and clean up the oceans. Unfortunately the Panamanian government does little to clean up their own back yard, and levels of plastic pollution in the harbour and beaches rivals any other port I have visited. Beaches and tropical islands are covered in plastic, so much so you cannot even see the sand! The governments response is to ban swimming in Panama therefore people don’t go to the beach.

After numerous delays in shipping and customs our motor finally arrived on the 25 January one day before Australia day. I fitted it immediately and Emilie pushed the start button. The sweet sound of a running Perkins engine filled my ears! Relief and excitement filled the air – We were off to Galapagos!

While Emilie prepped the boat for the passage and organised the necessary requirements before departure for Galapagos including fumigation of the boat, I worked on deck bringing the varnish work back to life and sealing a few leaks found in the deck since our departure from Trinidad.

With the boat re stocked, fuelled up, fumigated and hull cleaned, we cleared out of Panama customs and immigration and departed for Galapagos on the 27 January 2024.

For the first day of the voyage we have had light winds, we motored for the first 10 hours giving the batteries a good chance to re charge. Once clear of port limits I decided it would be a great idea to get a drone shot of Sunday Island with Panama and all the ships in the background. I found the Maveric DJ 2 drone did not like taking off at 6 kts and it is now on its way to the sea floor of Panama – another bit of very expensive plastic adding to the Panama collection!

As I write this we are enjoying 14kts of wind from the North. Our weather routing takes us south of the rhumbline, so we are on a course of 192 until we reach the Malpelo islands for Issys Birthday (29 January), when we will alter course towaards the Galapagos and hopefully pick up the SE Trades.

>> Our position report can be viewed at: http://cms.winlink.org:444/maps/positionreports.aspx?callsign=vk7hew >>
>