Tag: Domino

Thirty Days at Sea From Panama to Polynesia

Our longest passage yet will likely be our longest passage ever if I can choose. I expected the voyage from Panama to Polynesia to be a mix of bad and good. I was correct. Compared to others who did the journey, thirty days at sea from Panama to Polynesia was average. I’m happy it’s over.

Passage Problems

Even on a short sail problems inevitably pop up, so with a 3800 mile+ passage, we knew anything could happen! Since we arrived in Nuku Hiva unharmed and with no major boat damage, we count ourselves lucky but the sail from Panama to French Polynesia was far from perfect.

No wind

Leaving Panama, we expected to have very little wind, and we were right. The first few days of the passage we crawled and we covered very little ground. In fact, many followers noticed our boat do a big circle on our map tracker. It wasn’t a mistake. With no wind and trying to conserve fuel that early in the trip, that was our actual course that day! Fortunately, that section of Panama was the lightest wind we had on the voyage. Unfortunately, it was the end of the warm weather. We were in hoodies soon after!

No Sun

Even worse for us with our new lithium batteries and upgraded solar panels was the absolute lack of sun. While we didn’t have much rain and only a couple minor squalls on the trip from Panama to Polynesia, the clouds followed us for weeks! Fortunately we brought a lot of gas for our generator because we used it! We had to run it early and often to keep our battery – and autopilot and chart plotter – running at night. Which leads us to another problem!

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We Aren’t Going to Galapagos

We aren’t going to Galapagos on Sava. We thought we would go but plans change. Fortunately, we flew and ferried to some of the islands in 2015, and loved our time there. The photos in this post are from that memorable visit.

Domino

It’s a new rule but Galapagos doesn’t allow cats, and we have Domino. Galapagos is a protected National Park with endangered indigenous animals, so they won’t admit potentially invasive animals.

Blue footed booby
Blue footed booby in The Galapagos

Since Domino is a respected crew member on Sava, we have no choice but to skip it and sail somewhere else. Domino is 13 years old, and she’s spent more time on the boat than we have since she doesn’t leave it.

cat lying on freezer on a boat
Domino is very comfortable on Sava
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Rafting Down The Rio Palomino

We spent a weekend in Palomino with a group of cruiser friends and it was my favorite of our adventurous getaways from Santa Marta. A laid-back beach town with a weekend tradition of rafting down the Rio Palomino, Palomino is a blast!

About Palomino

Palomino is a small town on the north Caribbean coast of Colombia, near the Venezuela border. An agrarian community, it is now seeing tourism due to its beautiful white sand beaches and chill vibe. The town consists of one main paved road, the road from Santa Marta, and dirt road offshoots to the beach, the river, and farmlands.

bird mural Palomino Colombia
Bird mural in Palomino. It’s got a mask!

We walked around the town a bit and it’s rustic and charming, with lots of restaurants, hostels, artisan shops and some cool street art. And, one of the top attractions is tubing down the river. No wonder backpackers are flocking to Palomino.

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We Made Our Boat Nicer To Live On

After almost two years sailing and anchoring in the Caribbean, Sava and her crew needed some TLC. Sava moved to Curaçao Marine for bottom paint and more while we moved into an apartment in town. We only took two weeks away from the boat, but it made a world of difference! During that time, we made our boat nicer to live on, which is good for all of us.

Improving S/V Sava

We’ve done a lot of work on Sava over the years, but we didn’t focus on cosmetics. Fixing the engine, batteries, watermaker and everything else was more important, but since we know how that stuff works now, we can make life on Sava better! While in the yard at the marina, we prettied her up inside and out! Since we made our boat nicer to live on, she’s like a new boat to us and we love her all over again.

S/v Sava
Sava didn’t look terrible when we took her out of the water
Getting a new coat of bottom paint on our sailboat
But the new bottom paint on S/V Sava is an improvement!

Cleaning Sava

We rented a one-bedroom apartment while Sava was in the yard, which meant a thorough boat clean. First on our list was emptying the boat: we took out all the food, defrosted the fridge and freezer, and scrubbed all the cupboards and storage lockers. We vacuumed the boat multiple times since we had shore power and did such a good job cleaning Sava I was almost sad to restock her!

Staying in An Airbnb

While Domino took a few days to get used to living on land, she eventually made herself comfortable.

Domino our cat on the pillows in the airbnb
Domino liked the bed in our Airbnb
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Quarantine On A Sailboat in Bonaire

We knew what we were getting into but it’s still a challenge. After arriving in Bonaire, our requirement was 2 weeks quarantine on the boat. Currently on day too many, here’s what it’s like to be in quarantine on a sailboat in Bonaire.

Our Surroundings

Sava is docked in slot B52 at Harbour Village Marina in Kralendijk. It’s our first time in a marina since last November when we bought new batteries in Martinique.

I can’t talk about the marina because I can’t see or explore it being stuck on the boat since the moment we arrived.

The amenities include water, power, and wifi. The wifi is the best part because we haven’t had lengthy access to that since before the pandemic lockdown in Antigua. That explains the profusion of blog posts since I’ve arrived.

I am sure it’s a fine marina, but all I can see are some rental villas behind our boat, water, and a few other boats on our dock. We are next to the end of B dock with only one occupied boat near us. The couple on that boat are very nice and have even loaned us some boat equipment. They’re kind of keeping us sane too. Quarantine is lonely so it’s nice to have some interaction with other humans.

Our other marina friend is the very nice guy who works here. His name is pronounced Eeedee, but I don’t think that’s how it’s spelled. He comes around a few times a week to check on us and take garbage. He’s been great to us.

We have a little dock next to our boat which we are allowed to walk on but not for more than a few minutes. Each of us goes on the strip of wood at least once a day just to turn on the water. It doesn’t feel like freedom, but it’s all we’ve got.

Boat at a dock during quarantine in Bonaire
Our little strip of “land” access
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