The first sail of the season

September 13, 2012  Finally, yesterday SY Segwun left the shackles of the port and slipped off into the Caribbean Sea for her first sail of the season. What a great feeling. Everything went smoothly, the lines were taken from the dock without effort, the bow thruster helped turn us in the right direction, the engine roared to life on the first try. The crew brought in the fenders and tidied up the ropes. Every Captain's dream.

The only improvement could have been the sun. She was well hidden behind the clouds and it rained all morning. The rain and wind washed out what was the beginning of a bird nest buried in the end of the boom so every now and then we would get a sprinkling of twigs and debris into the cockpit together with the overflow rain from the Bimini.

We had planned to stop overnight in Portobello to visit the ruins of the old fort on our way to San Blas. We arrived just after lunch, the rain had subsided and the wind seemed to be from the right direction for an a overnight anchorage in the harbor. But as we got closer in to the bay, we could see several boats anchored and the swells were causing them to rock ... A lot. We would have had a very bouncy night. We've been there, done that! It makes for a very unpleasant stay as Eric And Liz can attest to after our night at Warderick Wells in Bahamas.

We continued to Isla Linton which is where Jens and I overnighted on our way to Colon in May and we will take Portobello on our return trip. We anchored safely and were getting ready to go to shore for a refreshing drink at the local watering hole. And then the problems began.

Jens started by taking the dinghy motor off it's mount on the rail ....hmmm. Well it seems the screws were seized or rusted or both and no amount of WD40 would loosen it. Out comes the saw and pliers and Jens freed the motor and mounted it on the dinghy. A few clever repairs and the dinghy mount is back in order. In the meantime, our hand pump toilet wouldn't flush. Jens knew what it was as we had this problem once before, but it meant taking the outtake valve off and I won't go into all the details, but it smells very bad. Trust me. Very bad. He flushed water down into the bilge along with a couple of packets of deodorizer and we were ready to go for our now well-deserved drink. But, the dinghy motor wouldn't start. Oy! What next. Again Captain Jens managed to get her going and we were off.

After a couple of nice cold Balboas (the local brew) we returned to the boat for some dinner. Well, our problems were not over yet. It seems the vapors from the deodorizer filled the cabin and it was burning our eyes and throat. We opened all the hatches and windows thankful that the rain had stopped and a breeze was blowing. But then Jens realized the bilge pump wasn't pumping the water out. So, here we go again. Tools out and Jens with his head down the bilge one more time. It was a small problem. The bilge pump filter was blocked so after clearing that out everything was back in good order and the cabin was clear.

Anna and Christian made a nice dinner starting with a freshly made guacamole dip with salsa and nachos and then some chili with rice for the main course. Oh yes, and Jens fried up the small Mackerel we caught on the way so Anna and Christian had a taste of some freshly caught fish.

That was our first day. Thank goodness Jens knows how to fix so many different things.

Captains's Log: We sailed 22.21 nautical miles today leaving at 09:15 and anchoring at 15:25. Winds were from the Southwest 8-10 knots speed, heavy rain when we left and clearing up by mid day. Sails up most of the way while at sea.

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