Saltair Afloat

Whales of the Whitsundays

Mon, 11 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

We are now in Australia! Yay! And we have been seeing tons of whales inside the Great Barrier Reef (literally tons, the average humpback whale weighs about 30 tons, the same as Saltair) and we were curious about some of their activities so I researched a list of their behaviors, the first two are probably the most known, but the rest might be new to you.

Blowing is when whales send a spout of mist up onto the air from their blow hole, making it easy to see them from a distance. It happens when the whale is exhaling through their blow hole at the surface. Breaching, which also makes them easy to see from a distance, is when a whale jumps out of the water, exposing a good portion of their body to the air, nobody really knows why though.

In addition to these well known behaviors , there are also a lot of others, such as mugging, tail slapping, and bubble net fishing to name a few.

Mugging is when a whale or multiple whales come up close to, or swim around boats to “people watch.” When whales do this the captain is required to turn off the boat's engines and wait until they leave.

Skyhopping is when a whale lifts its head out of the water so they can look around or to look at a boat. The funny thing is I also use this technique when I snorkel to know where I am in comparison to a shoreline.

Tail slapping is a technique used for hunting, communication, and defense, where a whale hangs vertically and slaps the water making cracks loud enough to wake somebody up and large splashes. A tail throw is a similar feat, but it is a bit more dramatic

A pec slap is when a whale floats on its back and rolls around, slapping its pectoral fins on the water. It’s mainly playful.

Whales have to consciously breathe and swim, so to rest they do something called logging, where they turn off one half of their brain and leave the other half on to breathe and swim.

To eat, whales have a couple techniques, one is lunge feeding, where a whale lunges at a school of krill with its mouth wide open.

Another feeding technique is bubble net feeding where a group of whales herd prey into a tight formation, then dive deep making loud noises to scare the prey towards the surface. They then rise again in a spiral fashion blowing bubbles on the way up, herding the prey into a tight ball at the surface so they can easily take a gulp of food.

Mini Globe Race

Wed, 30 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The mini globe race is a solo around the world race where participants sail on an extremely small sailboat, a “Mini”. There are 15 boats participating this year. The course takes them from Antigua to Panama where the boats get put on trailers and driven across the Panama Isthmus to the Pacific Ocean, where they go to Fiji, then Capetown, and finally back to Antigua. But before any of the boats could even start the circumnavigation, they had to do a transatlantic as a qualifier.

`The boats are a Mini 5.80 class that are built by each competitor. Competitors have multiple options to build their boat. They can buy the plans for their boat and cut all the wood themselves or they can buy a kit with all the precut pieces. They also have the option to send the plans to a boat builder to get it built for them.

Despite being a one design class, everybody has a couple of choices regarding the companionway and the cabintop. For the cabin top, It is either a normal cabintop with windows on the side, or a bubble on the roof that offers a 360 view of everything around you. For the companionway you can kind of do whatever you want with it, but most boats have something like a typical deckhatch placed nearly vertically at the front of the cockpit.

There are some limitations and things you can't do, for example, having wind instruments or water generators. The spirit of the race is that it is a cheap, affordable way to race around the world, and if somebody doesn't have the budget to get equipment that other people have, that would give them a major disadvantage, so they eliminate all of the unnecessary expensive tech.

The overall length is 5.80m, the beam is 2.27m, and the draft is 1.4m. They have a displacement of 950kg and a ballast of 244 kg. Sail-wise, most boats have a main and jib, and a few downwind sails.

We were all sailing along a similar route and we had seen them twice before, in Tahiti and in Tonga, so while we were both in Vuda Marina in Fiji, we finally decided to talk to them. I managed to talk to 4 participants and ask them some questions about what they were doing, what it was like living on board and why they wanted to do this race.

First up was Renault, from Switzerland and sailing on Capichunette, his boat that had its hull built by a factory and the rest built by himself. He told me that he had wanted to do this ever since he saw the finish of the mini transat in guadeloupe as a kid. I asked him some questions about what life is like onboard, the first one being “what is your sleeping schedule?” He said that he slept in one hour intervals, he slept for an hour then looked around to make sure everything was alright, then slept another hour. I asked him about food as well, and he showed us his stores, rice, pasta, normal food items, nothing special, and how he cooked them on his little gimballed stove top.

Next was Adam, from Newcastle, who was sailing Little Wren. He decided to buy the kit since he wasn’t an experienced boat builder, it took him a year and a half to finish the boat. He wanted to go further in sailing and decided that this was the way to do it. I also learned from him that all the participants are required to do a lot of safety training as well as a transatlantic on their boat before the start.

The next Person I interviewed was Pilar, from Barcelona, and sailing on Peter Punk. She said that she loves being truly alone and sailing, and this was the best way to do it for her. From her I learned how she got a sponsor, and that only about half of the boats were competitive. She worked at a yoga place and asked some of her friends there to sponsor her, and they agreed. She also has a GoFundMe page that will be linked below.

Finally I talked to Christian, from Germany who had built his boat Argo, number 103, from the kit. When I asked him why he wanted to do this he said that he had always wanted to do this, and that it was important to him that he built his own boat because his dad built his own boat too. He put a lot of effort into making the interior of his boat look nice and homey, and certainly succeeded. He named it Argo after his grandfather’s boat that he spent a lot of time on as a child.

He showed me a lot of his systems, like a really cool Vesper VHF that looks like a phone and has AIS and GPS data on it as well. He was also in the process of trying to find a sponsor. I also found it interesting that while Renault had a small stove top, Christian had a little portable camping stove that got mounted onto the inside of his cockpit.

We will be following the same general route as the race so we hope to see them again and maybe even do followup interviews someplace else, like in Capetown.

One thing that I have noticed about big yachting races is that they all have a special factor that appeals to an audience, and the racers. For example, the Americas Cup has massive foiling boats, going super fast that are match racing each other. Or SailGP which also has big foiling boats, but this time they're fleet racing. This race, however, has a very different factor, it's not particularly fast, and they are certainly not big boats, but it's still appealing to follow. The main reason, I think, is that sailors are alone, and that fascinates people. Being completely alone on a small boat in the ocean is terrifying to most people, me included. The sailors enjoy it though, and that is amazing.

Pilar is very determined to complete the race and she is trying to raise more money to help fund her adventure. Join us in supporting her.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-pilar-pasanau-sail-around-the-world-mini-globe-race

If I peaked your interest you can read more about the race.

https://minigloberace.com

You can also track the boats on Yellow Brick.

Cruising the Great Barrier Reef - St Bees

Wed, 30 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Upon arrival in Mackay Australia we checked in and underwent a stringent biosecurity inspection before settling in for a few nights at a dock! Just enough time to thoroughly clean the boat, perform some maintenance and reprovision!

For the next few weeks we will be cruising from Mackay to Darwin discovering the islands of the Great Barrier Reef on the way.

Our first stop just 16 NM from Mackay was St Bees Island where we picked up a mooring and did a little exploring and most notably some whale watching ! it is quite magical to observe these giants and their babies so close to us! They seem very playful. We tried to capture some videos that we will link later. The photo above was taken from the dinghy as we motored along a couple whales.

Very rocky beach where we landed the dingh at high tide. A mere 30 minutes later we had to lift it back to get it in the water.

St Bees is known for its thriving koala population but we were not able to go into the forest.

At dusk, birds started singing and we were gifted a magical sunset and more whales swimming by. Quite an amazing start to our cruising.

The magic of Tanna, Vanuatu

Tue, 15 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The island of Tanna boasts a distinct, untamed beauty that includes a combination of lush tropical rainforests and rugged landscapes shaped by volcanic activity. Its cultural heritage remains strong, with traditional Kastom villages preserving ancient customs and ways of life. Kastom, a Melanesian word, refers to the traditional customs, beliefs, and practices of the Ni-Vanuatu people, encompassing their social, cultural, and spiritual life. Our exploration began with traveling to one of the Kastom village, an adventure in itself, riding in the back of a pickup truck through the jungle, traversing via a narrow, winding road with banks rising on either side and crossing a river bed. Needless to say it was not the most comfortable ride sitting on narrow wooden benches and being jolted by the many potholes.

Arriving at one of the Kastom village was like stepping into another world. Here, the people still live their traditional ways without the traps of the internet in their daily life’s. Gender roles are clearly defined in their society. The women greeted us as we arrived dined in their traditional costume and with beautiful face paintings in the color of the national flag. After receiving a welcome necklace we gathered to watch a demonstration of their dances.

Watching their dancing with the stunning backdrop and thundering booms of Mt. Yasur volcano was astonishing. We have been privileged to observe many local communities' dances on our trip but until now we did not always understand the meaning of the songs and demonstrations. Here however, the footwork, bouncing and drums matched the rumble of the volcano and the connection to the volcano was palpable.

After the traditional dances, the men demonstrated how to start a fire and how to create a sling to transport an injured person using kava leaves while the women offered us some of their handicrafts and tastes of their local food.

To thank The World ARC fleet gathered canned goods for donation into a couple of woven baskets given to us for that purpose.

After the visit to the Kastom village we drove to a view point of the active volcano of Mount Yasur. After a steep climb we found ourselves at the edge of the rim right at dusk and were able to witness many small eruptions. Yasur is one of the world's most active volcanoes. It is known as the Lighthouse of the Pacific because of its regular eruptions for hundreds of years. While it has been erupting almost continuously for hundreds of years it is usually safe!

On our final day in Port Resolution, the entire World ARC fleet participated in a gift exchange with the village, consisting of six tribes. It was a moving and humbling experience. Our welcome was exceptional and quite colorful, the school children sang us a welcome song and in response the World ARC kids and families sang songs we had prepared.

Following the singing, we presented our gifts and in return the local families brought gifts for us, baskets filled with local fruits and vegetables and beautifully decorated with plants and flowers as well as some woven handcrafts, mats, fans and bags. Each boat in turn went to choose a gift from the pile until we had taken all the gifts. Their generosity was such that most boats ended up with several baskets! On Saltair, we will cherish a handwoven crossbody bag, a couple of feather sticks which are part of the traditional attire and lots of delicious fruits and vegetables. This small island off the beaten track has totally won our hearts and will remain a highlight of our journey.

Kingdom of Tonga

Thu, 03 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The World ARC journey from French Polynesia to the Republic of Tonga was not the smoothest this year. A massive weather system diverted many boats and changed their plans to stop by Niue on the way. Some boats took shelter in the Cook Islands, some in American Samoa while others rushed to Tonga.
Saltair on the other hand was still in Papeete, on the island of Tahiti, delayed waiting for rigging parts! While frustrated that we missed the start of the leg from Bora Bora to Tonga, the week long delay allowed us to have beautiful downwind sailing conditions all the way to Vava'u.

Rejoining the rest of the fleet was fun and we enjoyed a week of cruising the various anchorages of the Vava'u island group.

Sharing a few of our favorite moments via pictures:

We had quite a few opportunities to see traditional Tonga dances and were impressed by the talent and poise of the local children performing.

The inevitable Suckling Pig

The World ARC organized a visit to the ʻEneʻio Botanical Garden, the only botanical garden in the Kingdom of Tonga. It was established in 1972 by Haniteli Fa’anunu, a former Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries. The garden spans 22 acres (approximately 8.9 hectares) and contains Tonga's largest and most diverse plant collection, including more than 550 plant species from over 100 plant families, both native and exotic. Beyond tourism, the garden plays a conservation role and serves as an informal bird sanctuary. It contributes to biodiversity education and promotes awareness of native and traditional Tongan flora and culture. Lucy was a lively guide and we enjoyed our visit greatly.

In Neiafu where we checked in and out and where we rendezvoused with the rally fleet, we had a fun lunch on the floating cafe "The Hideway" . Great fish and chips, great cocktails and a floating trampolene for the kids.

We were able to snorkel some amazing reefs, in particular the Coral gardens in Vaka'eitu (anchorage 16 on the map) where we saw a great variety of colorful corals and fish. We also spotted a crown of thorns starfish which preys on coral polyps and is quite venomous.

In deeper waters, we saw LOTS of jelly fish... i believe there are called moon jellyfish and do not sting but the density does not make you want to swim close by!

One of my personal highlights was a walk along the highland where cattle graze.

On our final night we went to see the Swallows Cave, large enough for several dinghies! We did a short snorkel at the entrance where the light entering the cave was magical.

From Tonga we sailed on to Fiji!

Seth and his friend Eleni playing on the beach.

Makogai island, Fiji

Fri, 20 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Fiji is quite a large archipelago with 380 islands and over 100 islets in the South Pacific Ocean. The landscape is lush and beautiful and the people most welcoming.

Makogai island is not very touristy but offers a nice anchorage and has quite an interesting history. We made the most of our short stay in Dalice Bay where weanchored late in the day after a windy 60 NM motorsail from Paradise Cove on Taveunei. We decided to wait until morning to go ashore to present our sevusevu. In Fijian culture, sevusevu refers to the traditional practice of offering a gift, typically kava root, to a village chief or community leader as a sign of respect and to gain permission to enter their territory. It's a way to acknowledge their authority and establish a positive relationship with the community. In addition, we have been bringing additional gifts like school supplies and reading glasses.

We took the dinghy to shore after a couple hours of work and homeschooling and walked around until we found someone to help us. The main village is 5 km away but there is a small settlement maintained by the department of fisheries where we were able to do sevusevu. As is traditional we chatted with our host and shared some of our stories. He is from this island and has been chosen to represent the chief and accept our sevusevu offering because his grandfather came during the time the island was a lepers colony. His grandfather sailed between the main island of Viti Levu to Makogai to bring lepers. After the ceremony, he took us on a tour of the ruins and the cemetery and answered many of our questions about the island then and now.

The Makogai Leprosy Hospital was opened in 1911 when the first twenty patients arrived at the island onboard the Government ketch ‘Ramadi’. Soon patients were arriving from all over the Pacific; countries such as the Solomons, Cook Islands, Samoa, and Tonga. Separate villages for ethnic groups were constructed to ‘promote peace and order’ and women were kept separate from the men. In total, over 4000 patients landed on the island. Initially, the only treatment offered was Chaulmoogra Oil, which was used to dress wounds and given as an intra-dermal injection. The island was divided in two to prevent the spread of the disease between patients and workers. Finally, in 1948 – almost 40 years after the first patients were admitted, Dapsone, a sulpha drug and a cure against the bacterial cause of leprosy was discovered. During its 58 years as a leprosarium, approximately 2,500 patients were effectively treated and sent back home to their friends and families. Around 500 were repatriated back to their homeland and the remaining 1,241 died due to the direct effects and complications of leprosy. In 1969, the last patients with Leprosy left Makogai for Fiji’s purpose built Hospital in Suva.

One of the graves in the cemetery from a French nun. Some of the nuns were both patie and workers in the hospital.

Today, Makogai is home to about 60 inhabitants who live of the land and sea, the primary school has 21 students (Fijian tend to have large families, our host has 7 children). On Dalice bay where the old hospital was located, is a IMariculture Centre Opened in 2011. One of the main projects that the team of fisheries officers based here work on, is culturing giant clams (Tridacna). Once in abundance on Fiji’s reefs, many species have been overharvested and current levels are low. The important role that the vasua (clams) play on the coral reef is often overlooked. A single giant clam can filter hundreds of litres of water in a day. As filter feeders, this keystone species offers a great line of defence against an outbreak of pesky crown of thorns starfish by filtering out thousands of their microscopic spawn.

The sign and facilities are a little tired but we caught a glimpse at a little baby clam in the nursery (fancy term for a few old concrete structures fed with sea water by pipes running into the water on the beach. The baby clams are embedded into concrete.

The island has also been used as a quarantine area to introduce new species to Fiji. A herd of sheep from New Zealand spent ten years on the island before being introduced to other more populated islands and there is currently an area with Queensland queen bees in quarantine. Newly imported bees are quarantined on Makogai Island for 90 days to assess their performance and mitigate the risk of introducing diseases.

After our short visit ashore we went snorkeling in the bay, we only spotted one giant clam but also marveled our some amazing colorful soft coral.

Seth at the bottom to give a sense of scale

Giant clam (as seen above with Seth)

Soft coral on the reef, when you approach, it retracts!

Seth’s catch up

Tue, 15 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

We are in the Tuamotus! Yay! My last real blog was from before we started the World ARC, so, let me catch you up quickly in case you haven't seen my parents' blogs.

First we left St Lucia on a 5 day passage to Santa Marta, Columbia where we did a driving tour, tubing down a river (like rafting but in a rubber tube) and won our division (we got a little boat shaped domino set).

Then we did a two day passage (our roughest so far) to the San Blas islands where we had a beach barbeque with all our friends, snorkeled a really cool wreck, and bought some cool Molas (hand woven tapestries made traditionally by the local women).

When we were done there, we did a small overnight trip to Shelter Bay Marina at the entrance to the Panama Canal, where I finally got a good burger at the marina restaurant (I'm getting hungry editing this), visited the new Panamax locks (newer locks in the Panama Canal that were built for much larger ships), and started a paper mola making contest with the other kids.

After some waiting we finally went through the Panama Canal, spending a horrible night side tied to a massive rubber buoy in lake Gatun (the lake in the middle of the canal), then made it to La Playita marina on the edge of Panama city, the first real skyline we have seen since leaving Manhattan.

Next we went to the Las Perlas islands where there was another prize giving, where we then departed for the Galapagos islands the next morning. There, we did multiple snorkeling tours during which we saw turtles, octopi, and and sea horse (the last two I had never seen in the wild before which was really cool); did a 5 hour long hike to the top of a massive volcano (the last hour of it was pouring rain, I honestly couldn't tell if we were going uphill or downhill (we were going down hill)), then did a surfing lesson with all the other kids right after.

We then left for the longest passage of the ARC (when I say ARC I mean World ARC), as well as my personal longest passage, 19 days (one day longer than the Atlantic crossing which was 18 days long) to the Marquesas. We landed in Hiva Oa, did a quick car tour, went to Tahuata where most kids were congregating for some water fun, then went to Fatu Hiva, a beautiful island where we did a waterfall hike, bus tour, and a dinner at a local house all in the same day, from there we headed north to Nuka Hiva, where there was another prizegiving, then went to Ua Pou. And finally we did the passage to Raroia, where we are now, in the Tuamotus.

After we arrived we went to a beach meetup with a big bonfire (played with fire (safely, of course) because it's fun (DO NOT TRY AT HOME unless, of course, your home happens to have a large sand bar or another safe place to play with fire)). One of our fellow ARC kid boats, Misfit, (they're a Catana 65, meaning they are super fast and they have lots of room for toys) pumped their inflatable sailing dinghy (a TIWAL) so I spent a lot of time on that two days ago. Yesterday we also put together our foiling gear and I went wing foiling (there wasn't enough wind for my dad (I was using a five, and my dad tried a friend’s seven (wing area in square meters) but it just wasn't enough)). Then last night, we did a beach barbeque with all of the kids boats in the anchorage.

That's pretty much it, this has been a three day writing project for school, and it was originally going to be an essay on atolls, but… let's just say I got a bit sidetracked, so that might show up soon, too. Anyway, bye.

Unloading Cargo in the Galapagos

Wed, 26 Feb 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Unloading cargo in the Galapagos Island is not an easy process. We have been to two islands so far and each island has a distinct process.

On Isabella, the barge “Isabella” anchors in Port Villamil harbor and is unloaded by hand onto smaller barges that transfer goods to the pier where they are again unloaded by hand. The process typically takes 2-3 days and the barge comes approximately every two weeks.

AC Isabella in Puerto Villamil, Isabella Galapagos

On San Cristobal, a large container ship will anchor far outside Puerto Baquerizo Moreno and containers are transferred by crane onto trucks loaded into a barge. We were anchored next to the concrete pier where the trucks are unloaded and or to watch the process over and over.

We observed he unloading of one of those ship from Saltair, there were four trucks used in the process, two of them waiting ashore and two on the barge.

waiting loaded trucks waiting on the pier. The emptied containers are going back to the cargo ship

Barge returning from the cargo ship with two empty trucks

Empty trucks driving off the barge

Loaded truck backing up onto the barge

heading back to the cargo ship

Back on the cargo ship the containers are loaded/unloaded on the truck using the crane of the cargo ship.

The workers on the barge were super friendly and waved as they went by. They live onboard. If you zoom in the next couple photos you will notice the sign for the shower (Duchamp), the hanging laundry and a bunch of bananas at the stern.

Panama Canal Transit

Thu, 13 Feb 2025 00:00:00 +0000

After waiting for a week for our transit date in Shelter Bay Marina, near Colon in Panama, we were assigned an afternoon time slot on Feb 7th. Timo and Hilari have been onboard since St Lucia and will leave us after the transit. We will be welcoming new crew for the next leg. One of them, Jeanette, joined us as the fourth adult line handler required for the transit and wrote this guest log.

About half an hour before we untied the lines I arrived at Shelter bay marina with a bag of wet clothes from the morning laundry that soon dried on deck. Knowing it might be a small chance to join a little earlier than planned, I got a last minute call from Adam and then there was simply no time to spare. Every boat on the canal is required to have four line-handlers plus the skipper and one person had to give up his spot. Lucky me!

A two hour taxi ride got me to the dock just in time. Saltair was already properly prepared with rented huge red fenders and the long thick blue lines that would keep us in place in the locks.

There are two sets of locks, each with three steps. The first part taking you up from the Atlantic and the later returning you down to the Pacific. Assigned the role as "passenger" I was happy just to be onboard for this iconic passage. It later turned out "passenger" could mean both being a "roaming fender" (the person who places an extra fender wherever it might urgently be needed) and a proper line handler, but first we anchored to await our advisor. All boats need an advisor onboard for the whole canal transit and they handle all the communications for entering the locks as well as telling the crew how all the practical stuﬀ works.

As we were going to be the middle boat of our ‘nest’ we got (somewhat confusing) instructions about how we were going to raft up with the two other boats before the first lock. With an almost equally large Hallberg Rassy on port side the masts came a bit too close at first but soon we were sorted out and ready to tie up a smaller catamaran on our starboard side. It looked like it was going to be an easy ride with no line handlers needed at all for us! At least easy for all but Adam at the helm.

We then entered the first lock in our nest. Three boats trying to maneuver together with help from the advisors. Still we ended up doing diﬀerent things, making it a bit hard to stay centered and straight. The quite turbulent waters as the lock fills up, the wind pushing the boats, and the catamaran being much shorter made it a bit diﬃcult to keep stable.

As we entered the second lock we were told that we should manage the starboard bowline ourselves (relieving the catamarin of that duty) and Timo did a great job as line handler.

When we made it out of the third lock it was already dark and all of us were looking forward to a calm night in the Gatun lake, before the next part of the transit. That did not quite happen!

It turned out we were supposed to have the huge mooring buoy amidship with the other HR on the other side of it. And we got instructed to tie up stern to the wind, which resulted in one of us at all times being the windward side, pushing the fenders up which required attention almost all night.

In the morning a new advisor came onboard and we learned we would only nest with the catamaran, Sea Pearl, for the day. Having a time scheduled we also had a bit of time to kill so we set oﬀ without a rush.

We had a pretty landscape along the way, met enormous cargo ships and watched lots of dredging.

But our lockage time got changed along the way and we were running early for the new one so our advisor actually made us turn around and motor back to kill more time.

When we finally got to enter the lock we realised we would have a cruise ship with a lot of audience behind us and with only being two boats we were now up to handle three lines. No room for mistakes! And we did okay, but had a tricky time catching the retriever lines since we got pushed far to starboard by the wind and they had to throw them quite far for then to reach us. As you are never attached to the lock walls you get thin lines thrown to the boat that you attach to the thick blue borrowed ones, so that the staﬀ at the lock can pull them oﬀ your boat and tie them up. Then we have to adjust the length of the lines from the boat. Imagine two or three big boats pulling in them it is a little bit of an eﬀort and requires coordination from the line-handlers. Still we made it out safely and yet again it was dark before the pilot boat came to pick up our advisor and we could make it to the marina. But hey! We made it to the Pacific!

- Jeanette

Bridge of the Atlantic

Rafting with Bluewater Mooney (HR 54) to start our 'Nest'

Adam concentrating on driving the nest

Our cargo ship companion for the ascending locks into lake Gatun. The small boats are behind.

Seth setting up the GoPro for a time lapse With Hilari's help

Saltair and Bluewater Mooney in Lake Gatun on the giant mooring

Day 2 - Pedro Miguel and Miraflores locks. Hilari and Jeanette line handling on the bow. (Since the catamaran was so much shorter we had two bow lines)

Screenshot of the live cam in the Miraflores locks. Saltair and the catamaran are in the front with a large passenger ship behind! Quite the audience.

Finally in the Pacific! Beautiful sunset shot by Seth of the Bridge of the Americas.

In between oceans

Fri, 07 Feb 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Last evening we went through the first set of locks of the Panama Canal - the Gatum Locks that brought us out of the Atlantic (Caribbean Sea) and into a fresh water lake - Lake Gatum.
Later today after traveling 51 miles (82 km) we will go through the Miraflores Locks to go into the pacific!

we create a nest of boats that go together. We were the center boat with fellow WARC Hallberg Rqassy 54 Bluewater Mooney

we transited behind this tanker in the locks

Seth setup the Go Pro to do a time lapse (will add a link) and was changing the battery. It took a couple hours to go through the 3 chambers