Clipper Update 5: Seattle to Panama

May 28, 2018

Clipper Update 5: Seattle to Panama

The fleet at Bell Harbour Marina, Seattle

Dear Clipperati

After a fantastic stopover in Seattle which certainly has enough attractions to keep anyone sleepless for weeks; microbreweries, fabulous restaurants, coffee shops, waterfront attractions, waterfalls and snow capped volcanoes; we left a month ago with a parade of sail and a closely contested short race before motoring up Puget Sound, past Canada and Vancouver Island 100nm to the Pacific.

Race 11 had a Le Mans start (all boats lined up, moving forward abreast with mainsail up and headsails ready to hoist) which saw Nasdaq establish an early lead. The first few days down the US coast were cold and grey, with thermals and foulies required. I wore six layers when on watch only one less than on the North Pacific. Progress was quite quick and we were soon at the latitude of San Francisco. From then on layers were shed and progress slowed a little but we maintained good speed and position under favourable following Northerly winds.

We had our medium weight spinnaker (aka kite or Code 2) up for days as we ran before the wind although as many of you sailers will know, sailing directly downwind is neither fast nor practical - in fact most yachts are fastest when the wind is at 90-120 deg and anything more than 150 deg from the direction you are heading is very difficult. We zigzagged our way down the coast, between 100 and 300 nm offshore

Compared with previous legs it was comfortable sailing with the boat on an even keel although we had one eventful episode early on when the kite wrapped itself round and round and just as we were starting to get it under control the main halyard broke and the mainsail slipped. By pure luck we were carrying a spare main halyard as part of our share of fleet spares which are distributed across the eleven boats so we were soon back underway. Our incident was light compared with many of the boats which suffered a range of kite disasters requiring extensive and lengthy repairs to their kites. GB for example spent 18hrs sewing theirs back together, Garmin wrecked 2 kites whilst Liverpool got theirs caught under the boat and ended up hauling it in thru the A Frame, the structure at the back of the boat which supports the radar gear. In the process of hauling it in they inadvertently started their engine, instantly wrapping the trailing sheets (ie ropes) around the propeller and destroying their gearbox.

Eventually unseen we reached Mexico and began an interminable sail southeastward along the Baja Peninsula,which at 600nm Clipper reckon is the longest in the world (they have played Risk so don’t know about Kamchatka which is 640nm long). The winds grew lighter and we wallowed around looking for some or any puffs of wind to keep us moving. The weather grew much warmer and we were soon down to shorts and t shirts or less. It was very fickle and one night whilst we made 30 nm GB which was over 100nm behind but closer inshore managed to overtake us

The voyage south quickly became something of a wildlife cruise, starting with whales and seals near Seattle, with increasing numbers of dolphins as we moved south. At one point we had over 50 dolphins riding on the bow and at the same time we had 14 boobies riding on the pulpit pushing eachother off. As you can see from the photos these are not small birds with a wingspan of over 1m and long, fierce looking bills. However they were friendly and generally well behaved although eventually we had to send former policeman JE forward with his crowd control gear to read the riot act and ask them to move along

We also had less amenable flying fish and squid coming aboard. One large squid jumped into Kate’s lsp one dark night causing her great shock and proving great amusement for the rest of her watch. There were also Uber turtles providing riding platforms for seabirds , marlin leaping from the water and on several occasions leaping dolphin shows far more spectacular than anything you might see at SeaWorld - 30 or more dolphins leaping well clear of the water, pirouetting horizontally or vertically in a synchronised display of aqua aerobics. The dolphins were equally impressive at night shrouded in phosphorescence.

But I digress, this was a race with constantly changing positions as we sailed downwind down the coast of Mexico, which was far longer than anyone had anticipated, almost twice as long as the west coast of the US. Winds were light and fickle so we constantly changed sails from windseeker to Code 3 and back. Despite the fleet being spread widely off north Mexico by the time we reached the border with Guatemala 2 weeks later you could have thrown a sail over the whole fleet. At the approach to the finish line, after 4000nm we had 8 of the 10 other boats in view

It became a lottery of currents and zephyrs to make it, with some boats better able to harness their dolphin horses than others. GB which had been up to a 100 nm behind streaked through whilst others including Nasdaq performed donuts or remained parked up within a mile or two of the line, baking in the tropical sun and rain

This was the first leg since leaving Airlie Beach In January that we had any prolonged rain, with a run of wet days. Surprisingly as we approached the equator it got noticeably cooler too as we passed southwards of where the sun was at its zenith. We even had to resort to wearing foulies. Finally we crossed the line only to learn we and PSP has to motor back to pickup or escort Liverpool 120miles back which had a broken gearbox

Whilst the other boats teamed up to tow each other the final 1000nm to Panama, running out of fuel in the process and having to divert to Costa Rica we went the other way in search of Liverpool. Then we headed south on a track which confused everyone, towards the Galapagos. Very explanations for our course were put forward, including that we had decided to do the circumnavigation properly, around Cape Horn or that Nasduq, our yellow friend wanted to visit his friends in the Galapagos. My explanation was that we were following the treasure map Zara, Kate’s daughter has given her when we left Seattle

However eventually we found the westerly winds we had been seeking and streaked into Panama, leaving Liverpool far in our wake. Panama City was a great surprise, with loads of rooftop bars, restaurants and rum distilleries, nice boutique hotels in the old quarter and a skyline to rival Dubai’s. It plays a similar role to Dubai as the stable financial centre of the region

Now we transit the canal and sail for New York!!