Wks 76-78: Pacific Prep! (56nm)

Did three weeks really go by since our last post?? This whirlwind period included a last push to make Serenity her best self ahead of our big crossing, a trip to the US to see friends, and an accident / tour of Panama’s hospital system. But we are finally ready to go!

We’re doing this

Hello, Laura here! We’ve decided to pull the trigger and set off into the sunset once more. The 5th of March is the day; we are off at 8am Panama time. Destination: the Marquesas islands of French Polynesia. ETA: four to five weeks from now. More on that later, but first and foremost, below Alec has laid out all the info you need on how to see what we’re up to on our journey and keep in touch. We would love to hear from you during our long and hopefully very boring (i.e. nothing going wrong) passage, so please also consider sending us a message / puzzle / riddle at some point!

The Pacific Crossing – Keep in Touch!

Alec: After some minor hiccups (and associated trips to hospital – see below) we are now finally ready to depart on our c.4,000nm trip across the Pacific, which will undoubtedly be our longest passage on Serenity First. The trip would normally take around a month, but we are expecting ours to be a little bit longer seeing as the weather forecast for the first part of the trip down past the Galapagos is a bit light on wind. So hopefully we will be making making landfall in the Marquesas Islands in French Polynesia in the first week of April or so.

Clearly we are going to have a lot of time on our hands (or hand in Alec’s case) and whilst we have attempted to download the entire podcast and Kindle clouds, we know that communications with friends and family really help keep morale high. So please find our updated contact details below (which should not change again throughout this year in the Pacific)

Follow our progress: We have reactivated our sat phone which will update our position on this map each hour. We can now also post text updates to this page as we go and so we will add some captain’s log entries to capture how we are getting along, as we did on our trip from Grenada to Panama.

Send us an email: We will be able to check our normal emails (joint and personal) on a daily basis and find that this tends to be the easiest way of reaching us, provided you aren’t expecting a quick reply. The message in a bottle from our website also gets to us this way.

Send us a text message: Our satellite phone can also send and receive texts; the number is +8816 5243 1583. If you want to save money on the texts, you can send your message from this page. It makes a noise when we get a text so you will probably get a quicker reply than via email (assuming your desired recipient is awake).

Our experience on the Atlantic showed how very important hearing from our loved ones was on a day to day basis, and so we are really looking forward to hearing from those of you that have the time over the next month. Jokes, brain teasers, trivia are all much appreciated, or just a digital hug.

First Mate’s (Abbreviated) Log

Keeping a detailed log during these last weeks was super not possible. But, below is an overview.

Week 76, Sun 9th – Th 13th Feb: We enjoyed a speedy sail from Contadora (in Las Perlas) back to the marina at Vista Mar, where we’d be leaving the boat for Alec’s and my trip to the US. Successful fishing on the way yielded a mahi and a big bonito, much to the excitement of the crew – fish tacos are on! Our marina time before Alec’s and my departure was a bit of a blur, but project after project was slain. I serviced the engine while Alec did the batteries and electrics, we checked the rig, cleaned the hull, polished, stowed… you name it! When Thursday rolled around we were able to leave for our holiday without stress – jobs were fully done.

We had an interesting route ahead to meet our university friends for our annual “Spring Break” trip (this year’s edition was in Big Bear, California). We’d originally thought we’d be in Costa Rica at this point, so we’d booked our flights from San Jose. As we obviously stayed in Panama, that meant a 16 hour bus ride to the airport… not ideal and certainly an adventure (particularly the part where they made us walk across the border) but we made it and were then merely a 6 hour flight and 7 hour drive away from Big Bear… but, really, it was a great trip and I think a good land break for Alec and I in the lead up to a lot of time on the water ahead!

Week 77, Mo 24th – Sa 29th Feb: After reversing the long journey of many types of transport, we hit the ground running in Panama. Alec had spotted an amazing weather window coming up, but it meant we’d need to leave on Thursday – giving us just two days to finalise prep and get ourselves ready to go. The day was flying by but we were making great progress when… the unthinkable happened.

Its best practice to pump and/or run all the fuel out of your outboard engine if you aren’t going to use it for a while (e.g. a month at sea) to prevent it turning to sludge in your carburetor in the meantime. Alec was working on burning the last of the fuel from the lines when one of his fingers was accidentally caught in a moving part of the engine. Over the next 15 hours, we visited three hospitals: 1. a local clinic, 2. a larger public hospital, and finally 3. the foreigner’s hospital. The owner of Vista Mar Marina was kind enough to take us to the first, and we got to go by blue lights to the second. Unfortunately #2 did not think our case was a priority, despite there being a quite time-critical component to preserving functionality for Alec, so we taxied it to #3, where we finally found the care we needed and an excellent doctor who managed to save Alec’s finger with two hours of emergency surgery.

Needless to say, our weather window went, well, out the window while we waited to see if the surgeon’s work was successful and we’d managed to stave off infection. The first days were tough while Alec battled intense pain and, to add insult to injury, a cold that had decided to join the party. But, he’d turned a corner by day three and from then no longer needed any pain medication at all.

Week 78, Sun 1st – Th 5th March: Alec’s doctor stipulated that if one week following surgery there was no sign of infection he’d be in the clear and we’d be allowed to set sail. The initial healing process will take at least six weeks (after which there will be much physical therapy – good thing Alec’s sister is a physio!), but, Dr. Bequer explained, if we can make it through week one without infection, there is little else after but to let the body do its thing.

We were cautiously optimistic given Alec’s lack of pain, and then truly delighted when we unwrapped the bandage on Tuesday to see the wound looking completely infection free. I Whatsapp-ed the doctor a photo (he kindly gave me his mobile number!), and he concurred. So, we’re free to go! But, should we?

The forecast isn’t nearly as good as the previous week, and includes a vast swathe of ocean with no wind whatsoever surrounding the narrow area of breeze we hope to ride down to Galapagos. But, to be honest, this is probably typical conditions – we are close to the equator and something about the way the land sits here means that the part between Panama and Galapagos often has very little wind. We went back and forth a lot, but eventually decided that if we wait for perfect we’ll wait forever, so, its time to go! Come what may, we are OFF!

Parting thoughts: A month at sea

It’s weird looking back at the Atlantic crossing, diminishing it in the face of the Pacific, when at the time it was such a huge hurdle for me. I vividly remember standing in the shower on day 9ish of the Atlantic, bawling my eyes out wondering how the hell I was going to mentally survive until we reached land. Not just during that crossing but the whole month leading up to it I was, to be completely honest, terrified.

I haven’t been able to put my finger on exactly why yet, but, I have none of those feelings as we finish our final Pacific preparations. I won’t go so far as to say I’m looking forward to being at sea for a month or more, but equally, I don’t dread it or fear it. Part of it is clearly that we’ve crossed an ocean before and I now have undeniable proof that we and the boat can do it. But, I also certainly feel much more settled as a sailor. I feel a lot less like a fraud than I used to. I mean, I still struggle to set the main sail, but, it turns out there is more to passaging than that (thankfully!). I also have literally 100% faith in my skipper. Not that I didn’t trust him before, but I finally now understand enough about the boat and sailing to fully appreciate that Alec is an amazing captain, and I am very humbled and thankful to be his partner in this crazy ride!!

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To end on a nice light note – one worry at the forefront of my mind is how chubs I am going to get on this passage. If you read my last post, you’ll know I bought ALL the snacks. Practically unending chocolate and crisps. So, if you have any suggestions for yoga routines or other boat-friendly exercise, please do send my way!

Final Admin

We will endeavour to resume our blog posting as soon as we can when we get to the other side, but internet is likely to be patchy and slow in these remote islands, so please bear with us for a while. In the meantime, do follow us on our journey using the tracker linked above (it will stay active for the whole of the year, not just the ocean crossing), and please consider sending us a message or two!