Fixed, but not so easy   Friday, 26/05/2023

I went ashore in Panama by dinghy last Saturday morning. Tied up at the marina – more of a boatyard really – and walked through it. Nobody around, except a couple of guys working on boats. Walked on into “town”, which turned out to be a small village. But I bought a phone card, as well as some fresh fruit from a fruit and veg truck. Wandering back, I was accosted by a large man as I walked through the boatyard. This was very fortunate, for he turned out to be the owner. 

Carlos was a very friendly guy, and he took a clear liking to me, as he said because his father was English. He said there was only one person who could help me with repairs, a Belgian called Martin, whose number he gave me. Helpfully, he also dealt with my immigration status. “Have you checked in to Panama?” “No, the closest immigration is in the city of David, about 30 miles away”. “OK, I know someone in Immigration, I’ll call him…” I understood what he said in Spanish – basically, Look, I have a guy here who’s checked out of Panama on his way to the Marquesas and he’s had to turn back because of a mechanical emergency… The advice received was that I could get away with not checking in as long as I kept a low profile! (Very much the spirit of Spanish America!). Definitely do not travel to David because police sometimes do checks on the roads and they will want to see your passport stamp. I assured him I would keep a very low profile, and that was that. 

So I spent three nights anchored in Boca Chica illegally. The Belgian asked for photos of the problem, which I sent, then I got no reply. On Sunday evening I pushed him, and received the reply that he couldn’t do anything because he was going to Belgium in two days. An excuse, but no matter: my Plan B was clearly now in play… 

So on Monday morning I upped anchor and sailed west. It took me two and a bit days. I was getting used to this now… Late morning Wednesday I arrived in Golfito. It was actually a very scenic trip – you round the long peninsular that marks the western end of Panama and you are in Costa Rica. Sail up the coast and then there’s the entrance to a large gulf, the Golfo Dulce. Half way up this gulf is the entrance to Golfito (literally Little Gulf). The marina is small, but well organised – managed by a woman who speaks good English and is really on-the-ball. 

The upshot was that I had a local mechanic on the boat within a couple of hours. He looked at things and said No problem. He departed with the chain, which he thought could be repaired. He was back the next morning but then wasn’t happy with the overall condition of the chain. He disappeared for about three hours and returned with a brand new chain, fitted it, replaced a small wood block holding part of the mechanism, and done! In other words, he was a professional: what a wonderful thing! I did give the autopilot a test this morning, sailing out into the bay, and all appears to be fine. Of course I can’t be sure – a real test would be to sail 200 miles in heavy seas. But hopefully all is now fine. 

I plan to leave here on Monday. I will have to go through the palaver of visiting immigration, customs and the port captain again (which I did over a two-and-a-half hour period yesterday lunchtime) – but that’s ok: it’s just the price that I have to pay for getting the repair done. 

I sincerely hope that I don’t run into any problems this time! After something like this happening, it does affect you. I just have to hope for the best. With luck, I’ll be in the Marquesas within 30 days.