Voyages of the EmmaJo & Crew
Aboard Independence of the Seas
Life onboard has been very quiet this month, with an outbreak prevention protocol in place to eliminate any whisper of norovirus onboard. Therefore the Christmas and New Year’s celebrations were subdued, with traditional offerings available in the staff mess. Although we had a great Christmas tree and the usual Christmas Eve glogg celebration in our cabin, the mood was a bit gloomy without the usual Norwegian food and trimmings. [Read more…]
Aboard Independence of the Seas
The first few days of December we spent exploring the Perlas Islands, aiming to get back to Balboa for my flight to David to inspect the progress of the Panama house. It was very strange to find ourselves back in the land of tides and current, given in the Caribbean our tides maxxed out at about 18 inches, and at the Perlas it was as much as 12 feet. Have to break out the Chapman’s and relearn the rule of 12s, for sure. And it made for some interesting perceptions, anchoring with a view of one landscape and six hours later seeing rocks and islands that weren’t there when we dropped the hook.
That last few days onboard prior to joining Independence were a bit stressful, with the generator conking out AGAIN, and Ole having to special order another actuator and related parts to be flown in and cleared through Customs the very morning we were to leave for Ft. Lauderdale. I don’t know how many hours he and Dale worked on it, but it didn’t help that we might have had to leave the boat with the Bixlers with a non-functional and vital piece of machinery. Dale has nicknamed it the “Westerbeast.”
On December 11, we flew up to Ft. Lauderdale, staying overnight at the Marriott Biscayne Bay, right next door to where we used to live. We had a great sushi dinner and caught up with Svein and Lise before boarding Independence on December 12, and reconnecting with shipboard friends.
Isla Bayoneta, Panama
Leaving Panama City
Well, we made it through the Panama Canal without incident, stayed a few days at Balboa Yacht Club, and made our way out to the Perlas Islands southeast of Panama City to enjoy a couple of weeks cruising and familiarizing Dale and Linda with the systems aboard Emma Jo. [Read more…]
Transiting the Panama Canal
Dale and Linda published their account, and it can be found here.
And John and Kim Pulkabrek published their account, available here.
Three blind men describing an elephant, I’d say.
Shelter Bay Marina, Colon, Panama
Monday morning, November 16, we elected to get the heck off the dock for a few days and explore a bit before leaving the Atlantic side of Panama. We motored about three and a half hours west to a pretty little place called Panamarina, located inside the Portobelo National Park, just west of Isla Linton. After zig-zagging in through some pretty interesting turns around reefs, we found ourselves the rose among the thorns – the only power boat in a sea of sailboats, most of which seemed to be stored. The owner, Jean-Paul, greeted us Tuesday morning and helped us secure to the largest buoy among the moorings, and we passed a pleasant few days, although rainy. [Read more…]
Shelter Bay Marina, Colon, Panama
In spite of the fact that Dale and Linda Bixler, of El Capitan in Brownsville, Washington, arrived on the 12th of November, we’re still here, watching the notorious Panama rainy season in process. It reminds me of the Ray Bradbury story about the astronauts stranded on a planet where it rains all the time – and they die, one by one, being smothered by rapidly growing plants, while they’re trying to find a sun dome to dry out. We could sure use a sun dome about now. It’s 10:17 in the morning, and it’s been raining hard for two and a half hours. [Read more…]
Shelter Bay Marina, Colon, Panama
I flew out of Panama City on Wednesday, October 28, to be with my family. We had a lovely memorial service for my Uncle Bob at his home, and all of the cousins and their children were there for a feed, a glass of wine, and a toast to a good man who led a good life. He will be missed. [Read more…]
On the Hard, Shelter Bay Marina
With the advice we were given from cruisers who have had experience hauling out here in Shelter Bay, we approached the haulout with a firm game plan – in on Monday the 26th, out on Friday the 30th. [Read more…]
The Flats, Anchorage “F” in Puerto Cristobal, Colon
Serenade of the Seas Gives Us a Salute
While Ole was up at 0530 (doing what, I don’t rightly know), I slept until 0645, and as I was enjoying the first cup of coffee, wiping the sleep from my eyes, Ole shouted, “look at who’s coming down the channel!” and lo and behold, there was RCCL’s Serenade of the Seas, with Captain Stig Nielsen aboard. Stig and his wife live aboard a renovated Swedish rescue boat in Bodo, and when we’ve been in Norway we’ve always missed them. Ole hailed on the radio and had a nice chat with Stig – and as Serenade glided past we were treated to a three-blast salute (thank goodness he repaired the horn yesterday so we could salute back!) [Read more…]
The Flats, Anchorage “F” in Puerto Cristobal, Colon
After a brief 4-hour nap, we awoke to the parade of ships coming and going through Gatun Locks, and definitely had a “look where we are!” moment. The Panama Canal Authority (PCA) Admeasurer came aboard about 2:00 pm to gather information for our eventual Canal transit some time in the third week of November. Our 49’8” vessel admeasured to 51 feet for Canal transit purposes (and an additional $250 transit fee). Ole spent the day puttering, finding that the generator starter battery was boiling over, the alternator wasn’t putting out what it should, and the tachometer for the port engine crapped out on us. I spent the day reading, fetching and helping as needed. Had a much-needed martini at the usual cocktail hour, threw together a teriyaki salmon dinner, and tried to watch a movie but the 5-6 hours of sleep we had in the last 36 hours took its toll – both of us conked out before 9:00.
