Passage to Panama

[Kyle]Our hoped-for solitude of the open sea did not turn out to be as much fun as we wished. This is because the passage from western Jamaica is at an angle that is at best across the wind. At the moment, we were experiencing what are known as "enhanced trade winds", which adds ten knots of wind and about another meter to the wave heights. Then there is the fact that, to the southeast of Jamaica, there are extensive reefs to be avoided.

They way we decided to deal with this was to spend our first two days tacking along the south coast, where there was slight protection against the swell, until we were about two-thirds of the way back to the eastern side of the island. Then we were able to turn south towards Panamá.

Views from on passage

This main part of the passage, while not being exactly comfortable, wasn't too bad. We gradually curved a course away from the wind as we went, which meant each watch was incrementally less uncomfortable than the last. With the help of the enhanced trades, we even had to slow down for a sunrise arrival on our fifth calendar day.

Boat traffic is a giant mess as boats wait for their turn to transit the canal, but we managed to dodge it all, and were soon settled at anchor in view of the Shelter Bay marina

We made up so much time that we were now early, without a marina reservation until the next day. We contacted our agent, Roy, who assured us that there would be no problems for us with the officialdom if we anchored out for a twenty-eight-hour rest and came in the next day.

Even though we hadn't seen Roy since our last canal transit in 2014, he looked just the same and greeted us as old friends. After filling out a few forms on the boat and then going to the on-site Immigration office for a few more, we were declared officially in the country.

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