On Our Way To Panama

Last season we did not make the 37 mile trip to Guanaja because we had planned to be there at the end of the year waiting on weather to continue on east and south to Panama. Well, so much for that idea. We saw very good conditions developing for our trip, so our stay in Guanaja was just 17 hours. We arrived at El Bight, got anchored and then hurried to the town of Bonacca to clear out of Honduras and to jerry jug fuel to top off before our 343 mile trip to Providencia, Colombia.

We were very disappointed we could not spend more time on Guanaja. We definitely will try on our return trip. Our very limited experience was fascinating. Bonacca is actually a very small island in a bay protected by the larger island of Guanaja. It is literally packed shore to shore with structures, homes and businesses, with only narrow sidewalks running between then. The people were friendly and quick to lend assistance, as getting lost in the maze of buildings is very easy to do for the inexperienced.

By dinner we had checked out, topped off the fuel and checked weather, and decided it was a go for a 6 am departure. We departed our anchorage at 6:15 am. At 8 am we called into the Northwest Caribbean Net on SSB to report our position, weather, and conditions aboard. This way the Net Controllers can keep tabs on us and our friends on the net are updated on our progress. Each day we reported in at 8 am.

We had just about the best conditions that could be hoped for. The wind was always favorable throughout the trip, usually on our side from a close reach to a broad reach, but usually a beam reach. We had a few hours with the wind behind us, but slightly off the port quarter which made for comfortable sailing. The seas were not as kind. We traveled east until Vivorillos Bank and then turned more southeast. Until the turn we were sideways to the waves which made for a very uncomfortable sideways rolling motion. After 26 hours we reached our waypoint and made the turn.  Immediately the boat motion was very comfortable, and remained that way for the remainder of the trip.

We arrived at Providencia at 1:30 pm after 55 ½ hours. We were actually several hours ahead of our plan due to all the help we got from the wind. So here we are in Colombia. We plan to stay here through the holidays. We are only slightly more than halfway to Panama, and early in the new year we will finish our trip. More on Providencia in the in our next post.

Ariel Secure in Providencia

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