News

Friday 3/26/04
Got hold of Dracula this morning, and went to the sail repair shop, only to find my sail was not ready! The owner said he would bring it to me around 3 pm. Dracula then took me to the internet cafe, where I quickly checked my e-mail and website, but, the line went down! I waited 30 min, tried again, but no go.
I went back to the yacht club and tended to IT.
After lunch I went back to the cafe. Dracula took me and I met his wife and daughter, who were also in the taxi. His daughter was very neatly dressed in her school uniform.
I got my log typed up and as I was ready to send it, the line went down again! Had to buy a floppy to save my work.
I waited around the marina for 3 hrs, for the sail to be delivered. I was about to give up when Dracula showed up at 5:30 and lo, he was carrying my genoa on his shoulders!! He is just too helpful!! Cost of the repairs - $60 - not too bad!
I went back to the internet cafe and managed to send my last log (hopefully it went through).
Had fried rice and shrimp for supper with the gang. Our gang has a new member, Paulie from Florida, now living in Cairo, Egypt. He is fluent in Greek, Spanish, Arabic and English and he does most of the talking! We all just hang on his every word! He is sailing across the Pacific, through Suez to the Nile, in his 32 footer, the Marvos.
Received my package around 9 pm from Carlos! Thank you Bev.
I went to IT and read all 78 e-mails that Bev had printed out for me. I suddenly became very emotional.
Cried myself to sleep!! What a big sissy I am !!
Charl

Thursday 3/25/04
Well, here I am again, writing from an internet café. I have been kicked out of the Yacht club by the boss, an elderly lady with a very bad temper. Probably ´cause I have been using their computer too much!
Dracula very kindly brought me over here. Yeah, I know I am behind with my log, but it is getting too risky taking the 3 foot leap from the bow to the dockside with the laptop and sat phone tucked under my arm! And then it is very frustrating trying unsuccessfully to acquire a signal from the grassy knoll behind the Yacht club. I almost dropped the laptop into the water!

Here is Thursday's log:

Got up early as usual, tended to IT. Took Tigger's old heavy duty fenders out of the hellhole and tied them to the sides. I have now tied all fenders and the extra tires to the sides. IT looks like a bumper car!! Dove down, checked the prop and rudder. Did Americo a favor by giving his boat a complete check under water too. Peter is off, no package yet, Bev.

I do not blame Peter for taking a day off, he needs it!

Bought 4 x 6 gallon containers from a "smous" (peddler) and cleaned them with chlorine.Those containers will act as extra water tanks while tackling the long lonely road across the Pacific.

Checked out my website, cool.

Had lunch or slunch at 4 pm!! Fried rice with beef! Yummy!

Thank you everyone for all your encouragement and very kind words posted to the website. I love the Guest Book!

Also got word that I will get transit on Wednesday, March 31.

A very slow day for me !!

Morgan is in Panama City, won't see SQUALL today, but I have the URL to check out pictures of her under sail. Will post it on my log tomorrow.

From now on, as long as I am here, I will send my daily log from the internet cafe. I will also be checking my mail and website

Wednesday, March 24, 2004
Got up early and took a shower. It gets light here at 5 am in the morning and yachts leave at 4 am to go to the 1st set of locks. Gave IT a complete scrub and then went to town. Dracula took me! At the supermarket, bought bread, margarine, cheese, cold drinks and ham.
I am responsible for feeding my pilot when transiting through the Canal. The 4 line-handlers, who will cost me $60 each, are responsible for their own food. As I understand, the transit will take around 9 hrs.
Dracula and I went looking for pipe tobacco, could not find any and ended up buying souvenirs. Dracula also went to get me six tires that will act as extra fenders. I have plenty of line aboard IT and will need 4 lines at 125 feet each for each line-handler.
The rest of the day, Americo, Kevin, Becky, Russ and myself just hung around the yacht club, occasionally checking our mail in the office computer. The 5 of us have become close friends. We had supper together too, I ate my first real steak!
Met 43 year old Morgan Castle, from Durban SA, and he invited me onto his yacht. Morgan has been a professional diver, working on oil rigs around the world and he is now the captain of the yacht, a Du Bois design, builder Pirini Navi, the SQUALL.
Morgan gave me a tour and I had to pinch myself a few times just to make sure I was not dreaming. It felt like captain Spock was giving me a tour on the spaceship, Galaxy 1.
Going below decks, behind the 1000hp Cat engine, the stern opens up under water, just like a C-130 Hercules, so the jet skis and Zodiacs can enter or leave the yacht that way!The bow also opens up topsides to reveal a jetboat with a 250 hp engine. Not a single block or winch can be seen, everything is below decks, all electric and hydraulic and can be controlled at 3 different locations, by simply using joysticks. Mini TV monitors are everywhere, monitoring the yacht completely from bow to stern.
Morgan introduced me to his crew. Nathalie, the stewardess, from France; Kate, crew chef from UK; Graig, engineer from Australia; Charles,1st mate from UK and deckhands, Holly and Nat from the USA. All of them are in their 20's.
The gigantic masts, (SQUALL is a ketch), with in-boom roller furling, just dwarfed me. I could not circle my arms around them! This 54m (162 feet) long,10.3m (34 feet) beam with a 5m (15 foot) draft ketch, won The Superyacht award in 2003 for the best interior design.This Du Bois design,for me, is not a yacht. It is a Wonder of the World !!!
And there I was, sipping a tot of rum, talking about our lives, with the captain on probably the largest ketch on the globe! Unbelievable !!
Morgan is picking me up later tomorrow, so I can get pictures and some video footage of the SQUALL.

Tuesday March 23 2004
I tried to send this last night, but there was no signal. I am at an open grassy knoll behind the Yacht Club, trying again this morning. It is 5 in the morning!
I tried to send mail to my website from the office twice, but it looks like it never went through. Checked out the website and saw everything you received so far.The problem I have with the sat phone is, it is having a hard time acquiring a signal, due to the tall masts from the large sailboats. IT is surrounded here at the marina. I am going to try to send it from Americo's boat's port side tonight, there are no obstructions on that side of his yacht.
Took the genoa down this morning, got a taxi and the driver goes by the name of Dracula! Looking at him, it was like looking at the real one!! Anyway, he was very nice. We got there and dropped off the genoa, which will be ready on Thursday. Dracula also went to buy me a carton of Marlboros on the black market, at $1.00 a pack, cheap!! The taxi only cost me only 3 bucks, cheap again! I tipped Dracula 2 bucks for his good service.
I am taking the taxi again tomorrow morning, going to the supermarket to get some last minute necessary supplies like pressured cheese, pipe tobacco and bottled water for emergency use. Yeah, I will ask Dracula to take me again!!
Poured in 10 more gallons of diesel into the main tank, went to fill up the 4 empty 5 gallon jerry cans which cost me 37 dollars at the marina's fuel depot. Strapped the full ones on again where they belong.
Peter approached me and told me that Bev wanted to know what was wrong with my e-mail! I told him I would try to mail from their office computer. Roger approached me and told me to stick to the boat, 'cause the admeasurer was coming. Peter,Roger and Carlos are dealing with hundreds of people everyday and they have been very, very helpful trying to help me speed up the transfer. Where they get their coolheaded manner of dealing with so many people, from stubborns, bad-tempered, downright rude, Rooinekke, blerrie Boere, donnerse Fransmanne, the snooty rich et all - heaven only knows !!!
Well, the admeasurer showed up later and took measurements et all, asking questions, checking what navigation equipment I have on board and taking notes about everything. He was very nice and also goes by the name of Carlos.
With sweat dripping from us both, 'cause of the sweltering Panamanian heat, we took refuge in the air-conditioned bar where I bought him a Coca Cola. Took almost an hour filling out the necessary paperwork. Sign here, sign there et all!! (Guess I have been hanging out with too many Frenchmen!) Also told me what I needed, like extra fenders, line and so forth, which I can rent from the yacht club. He also asked me if I wanted a speed transfer, but with my sail in the shop and my passport in Panama City, I told him that I will contact him through Roger when I have everything ready.
So far so good! Everything justs takes time, I need more patience.
Met more people today:
- Doug and Kyle Hopkins with their young girls, Eliza and Abigail, sailing into the south Pacific on "Estrela".

- Frenchman, Andre Driollet and son Chris with crewman Greg Lipman from Boston, USA on a 2 year circumnavigation on "Olive Oyl" !!

- Also met Kevin Worthington's crew mates, Becky Low and Russ Evans, all from the UK.
The 3 Tommies and the lonely Boer drank pitcher after pitcher together and talked about history a 100 years ago when our great grandfathers tried to kill each other in the Boer War. What a day! We ended up still loving each other!!!

Americo has also been very helpful. He is docked right across from me. He also helps me when I have difficulty understanding people trying to speak to me. Hopefully we can be transferred together.
More and more people want to meet me, the word is spreading fast and I am very self conscious Time to move on !

Monday 3/22/04 pm
Not much happened today. Carlos knocked on the boat, I was just getting ready to go up the mast. Needed papers of boat and passport. I went to the office and Roger took care of me. Filled out the necessary papers and so forth. After a while I got clearance and took the Q flag down. Received 2 more packages, which contained the belts and slugs with webbing. A big thanks again Bev, Dave and Sharon.
Roger got with me again later, and I had to give him my passport. He is sending it to the Embassy to get a visa for me. Most people have to go to Panama City and do it themselves, while I am being pampered !!
Saw Peter and the trio (Peter, Carlos and Roger), are doing all they can to help me and speed things up.
Went up the mast, checking everything, took the lazy jacks down, they have been a pain in the ... anyway, battens getting stuck all the time while reefing or hoisting the sail in high winds.
Dived down to check on the centerboard, not much I could do, the water is too shallow to give the centerboard way to get the halyard out. Will wait till I anchor in deeper waters again and Desmond will back me up with his powerful generator to run my Brownie.
The 5 Musketeers are leaving tomorrow and they filled up my empty diving bottle on Sugarcane (I used it all up in the Caribbean to get my centerboard straightened out !!) Yeah, they have everything on board !
Checked out my website in the office, really cool! Thank you to everyone who is doing such a great job.Thanks Bill for being the webmaster, your patience and hard work is very much appreciated!
I decided to go to the anchorage area 'cause the marina is costing me $20 a day, but changed my mind, I need to stay in contact with my agents, so Bev you need to send extra $$$!
I am taking down the genoa early tomorrow morning and will get a taxi and take it to a sailmakers place and get it stitched up.
I still have a 120 % genoa, which has been repaired and a 150% ,which is brand new and never been used, as backup.
Got the water tanks cleaned out and filled up with fresh water, filled up my used water bottles too. Will get extra cannisters for emergency use, too.
Pa moet nou ophou om bekommerd te wees! Boer maak altyd 'n plan en gaan slaap nou ! (Dad - you need to stop worrying. I will always make a plan! Get some sleep!)

Today I was fortunate enough to meet the following people:

-Colin Davies, from Simonstown, SA, on his yacht "Solvesta" also on a solo circumnavigation.

-Kevin Worthington on "Steamy Windows " from the UK sailing with 2 friends, wherever the winds take them !

-Americo Andrade, a Portuguese, on his 50 foot Beneteau, from France, lived in Mozambique for 15 years, also on a solo circumnavigation. I helped him dock his " something you can only dream about" yacht !

- Michael Youell, from Port Elizabeth, South Africa, living in Australia now, with fellow sailors, sailing from Florida to Australia. His crew include Theresa Timms, also a South African, Peter Just from Australia, Greg Moe from Minniapolis, USA, Hall Wendell also from Minniapolis,USA, and Pam Kawi from NYC, USA. They all make up the crew of "Integrity "

- Also met Chris and Sheila Richards with their two kids Joel and Gerrit, on "Tioga ", on their way into the Carribean from Vancouver, Canada. The kids were playing around the marina most of the time, while mom and dad went shopping, with Desmond and Alison and I got some pictures of us taken. Cool! Tioga 's website is www.Tiogaadventures.com I also lectured the boys by showing them how badly I got burnt, and why not to play with matches or lighters, period.
Thats it for today, Charl

Monday 3/22/04
Time of writing, I am sitting on the open porch of the Yacht Club, sipping a cold Panama beer.
The Club's marina is scattered with yachts from the ultimate rich to the unforgiven poor. 120 foot catamarans to flimsy 24 foot monohulls are stacked everywhere.
Last night, when Jerry' partner, Carl, took me back to IT, I found out we had drifted 200 yards. I tried to lock up the anchor, but no go. I threw in the other anchor, but the rope stayed slack, and after a few more attempts the anchor finally got a bite.
I went to sleep, and woke up to find out we were close to a Warram catamaran and golly they flew a South African flag! It was still early morning and I went ahead with my chores, getting things organized, putting up the fenders and the docking lines, ready to go to the marina.
As soon as I saw someone moving around on the Warram cat, I hailed them and the captain came over in his dingy. We introduced ourselves and he invited me over to their boat the "Alii Nui". They were Desmond Kinnear, hailing from Botswana, his wife, Alison, from Natal and their two boys, Jared 9 years and Dylan 7 years. We drank some coffee and talked about our lives.They left South Africa 3 years ago. It had taken Desmond 7 years to build the Warram cat, before leaving SA. They are on their way looking for a better future for their boys. Maybe New Zealand or Australia. Alison's sister lives there now. They have been stuck here in Panama for 3 weeks, alternator problems, hopefully the parts will arrive this week.
Jerry came by to tell me there was a slip available at the marina and I wanted to get going, but no go! I could not pull up the anchor, even when IT was moving forward at an idle. Desmond, seeing that I had problem, came over to help me and with 2 sets of South African muscle power, we got the anchor up just to find out it had snagged an old chain with another Danworth anchor on it! Des went with me, while his wife and boys followed us in the dinghy.
Took a cool dock between two yachts that even amazed Des, (brag, brag)! Got IT secured so that you have to make a three foot leap from the bow to the dockside - no crooks wanna attempt to board IT this way !!!
I gave Des the anchor we salvaged ,'cause I have no place to put it and they are going to make more stops than we are going to, anyway !
No sign of Agent Peter, it is Sunday!
Still got the Q flag flying. Peter's partner showed up later and told me things will get going on Monday.
Went to wash my clothes at the laundromat. Waited 1 hr in line, then it took me another three hrs to wash and tumble dry 2 loads.The clean clothes felt like heaven after my first real shower !!
Went to see Jerry and Carl and they gave me a ride to Desmond and Alison's Warram Cat where we talked about the transfer. Jerry and Carl, his parents, Lalo Reyes and Michael Hicks and Jerry's dog ,"Buddie" a Scottisch Terrier, are on "Sugarcane" and those 5 Musketeers are on a three year circumnavigation around the globe.
While washing clothes I also met Sam Lowry, Kay Lowry, Matthew Lowry, Dick Hiatt all from Huntsville, Alabama and Peter Fasoldt from Rockport ME. They all make up the crew from the yacht "Lillian B" on their way to Samoa.
That's news for today.
Just had a hamburger steak for supper, tastes South African !!
Will dive down early morning to fix the centerboard and get up the mast to check everything.
Will write again late tomorrow evening to give you an update on my progress.

Sunday March 21 2004
Finally arrived in Christobal late afternoon yesterday, just as the sun was setting. Cruised to the Yacht Club, looking for a vacant slip, but could not find any. An elderly man came over to me in his dinghy and told me the marina was full. I explained that I was deaf and he told me to go to the anchorage area and drop anchor. I did so and soon afterwards, another man came over in his dinghy and told me he would give me a ride to the club.
I locked up and went with him. He showed me around and even found an agent for me too! I explained that I was looking for an Agent named Peter, and in a while Peter showed up and handed me a package from home, which contained the charts and a book on the Samoa islands.
The very kind man was Jerry Logan, from Georgia, on a three year circumnavigation on their luxury 55 foot ketch, packed with all the latest navigation equipment and even TV too! He is sailing with 3 friends. He showed me where his boat was moored at the marina and told me to come by and he would take me back to IT anytime. After a few beers and getting things organized with Peter, I went back to Jerry. Their yacht was packed with foreigners and I met a lot of people. Jerry's partner took me back to IT where I slept for a straight 8 hrs!
This morning after coffee and granola bars, I am waiting for authorities to clear customs and get a slip at the marina. Many yachts will leave this morning, so Peter will keep a slip for me.
So far so good. I also met Reidar Lohne, a Norwegian, also on a solo circumnavigation. I think going through the Suez. This is for now, will write again tonight.
Charl

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