5. Golfito, Costa Rica to Mazatlan

Dec. 5th to Dec. 19th: With the weekend of R&R over in Golfito, it was time to get the show on the road. We left Golfito on Tuesday, Dec. 5th with the intention of covering as much turf as possible before sea conditions required us to head to shore. The big hazards on this route were: 1) countless fishing nets all along the Costa Rican coast, 2) the Papagallo winds in northern Costa Rica/Southern Nicaragua, and 3) the Tehuantepeckers. One out of 3 worked for us!

While travelling along the Costa Rican coast, we picked up some fishing line/nets which compromised our saildrive seals. Net, we had oil/sea water mix in our saildrives. What that required was changing the saildrive oil about 5 times between Costa Rica and Mazatlan (then hauling the boat to replace seals).

The Papagallos turned out to be a gift. We had 20 - 25 knots of breeze just aft of beam on the starboard side allowing us to turn in a 203 mile 24 hour run! What a thrill!

That leaves us the Tehuantepec winds. Our weather reports told us that, if we maintained speed we ought to be able to squeeze in front of the next gale force winds going through the region. But of course, the closer we got to the decision point, the lower our boat speed became, pushing us well beyond comfort. We made the decision to turn to starboard and go to Puerto Madero (now Puerto Chiapas). A smart move! Our chart is shown to the right.

As we approached the Mexican waters from the Guatemalan waters, we saw a small boat approach. It looked like an old PT boat. Sure enough, it was the Mexican armada working to intercept us. They did and informed us to head into Puerto Madero for inspection. Since that was our intention, no problem.

We got into Puerto Madero at about 9:00 pm and dropped anchor in the cove outside the Port Captain's office. Within an hour, a vessel with about 10 Mexican navy personnel and a drug sniffing dog showed up at our boat. They were very professional and very thorough. An hour later, they left and we had a late night's dinner, and the first night without a watch on in a while!

We checked into the Port Captain's on Saturday morning and he personally drove us to the airport to check into the country. He would accept no contributions for fuel; he was just a very nice guy. Thank you.


We needed to pick up some fuel, so went to the local Pemex station to fill up. Since their normal clientele was the shrimping fleet, the tie-up was a bit rustic (translation: nails and rebar poking out of the wharf wall).

By Sunday night, the weather forecasts were stating that the Tehuantepecker was settling down, so we took off. This required one more full inpection by the Armada (again, very professional), and we were under way again.

For the next 24 hours we had very benign sailing conditions, 15 or so knots, more or less on the nose. Then (there's always a "then" when it comes to the Tehuantepecs), about 7:00 pm all hell broke loose! The wind ramped way up and we headed closer into the shore (one foot on the shore). By 3:00 am the winds were gusting in the 40's, we had a triple reef in and the engines running. Now, to make it interesting, the shrimping fleet out of Puerto Saline were out in the same waters working! I guess they had to make a living and could exactly order up the weather they wanted.

What that required from us was a good deal of course negotiations to avoid the fleet, their nets, and the winds. By 6:00 am the winds had moderated and had moved more or less astern. Awesome! Let's get the spinnaker up. As soon as that was completed, the wind clocked around on our nose at 5 - 10 knots. Not awesome, let's get the engines started!

About 400 miles later our fuel supply looked limited. Based on calculations and a 200 gallon tank capacity, we should be okay all the way up to Barra de Navidad, right? No. The tank capacity turned out to be only 185 gal. and if you don't fill the final one inch or so, it's about 20 gal. less than that. We ran out of fuel, but fortunately, not out of wind and limped into Caleta de Campos, which though it had no fuel dock, did have a Pemex up the hill a ways.

We sent a shore party to meet the natives (taxi) and 3 hours later we were back under way.

Now, if you're going to make an error, might as well make a really memorable one! Bill decided to put the last of the Gerry cans of fuel in the tank. Well, he grabbed the gasoline can instead of the diesel can. Ouch! The engine didn't seem to like that too well. Time for another stop; this time in Barra de Navidad! Once we emptied the fuel tank (Fortunately it only had a few gallons of diesel/gas mix), cleaned it and refueled, we were off again for Mazatlan.


The sail from Barra to Mazatlan was beautiful, with one of the most amazing sunsets we've seen. These pictures were from outside of Banderas Bay, headed north.

So, December 18th, 6:00 pm we finally make it to Mazatlan, though too late to pull into the marina to the north of Mazatlan. We decided to stay in old harbor area that night and continue on to the marina in the morning. Arriving at 9:00 am into the marina, Diane and I caught a 3:30 pm flight back to San Francisco and back to work. Fortunately, Ron and Lloyd stayed an extra day or so to help put Wirewalker away properly and Diane and I returned 4 weeks later for more of the same.

4. Panama to Costa Rica via the Canal

Nov. 18th - Dec. 1st. Nothing can prepare you for the thrill of a canal passage, except of course the long queue! Our need was to sail Wirewalker through the canal and up to Golfito, Costa Rica where we'd swap crew and proceed to Mazatlan, Mexico to keep the boat. We had 4 weeks to do this in. No time to lose.

We left Bocas del Toro, Panama on the 20th and headed directly to the canal zone.

It's a bit thrilling to sail in November through the night close to the canal zone. November is the height of rainy season, so squalls are everywhere, blanking out the radar. When the squall would pass, you to see the freighter 1/2 mile off your stern that you didn't even know was there while the squall was upon you! Life in the canal zone!

We wanted to get the paperwork shuffle going 1st thing Monday so we would be properly in the queue. We arrived at the Panama Canal Yacht Club at about 2:00 pm and quickly made contact with a person to assist us with the dance. Great progress, but we didn't make it onto the list on Monday. We did get the fees paid and joined the queue on Tuesday, with a tentative sailing date of Sunday. Yeah! No long wait.

The next issue on the list was a very stubborn helm that we'd noted on the sail down. Turns out that the nylon rudder bearing on the port side was seized. With the nearest place to haul in Cartagena, we had to figure out how to fix the problem while the boat remained in the water.

We had to dive on the rudder bearing and hand saw it out (under water). And while we had a spare rudder bearing, it was also oversized. Fortunately, we were able to machine it down, put it in place (under water) along with the rudder and get going again. The only cost? Two days of being in the not-so-clean water at Panama Canal Yacht Club. So far, no strange diseases noted.
(Bill and Jim diving on the rudder bearing in the Panama Canal).

With 3 or 4 days left on our wait for the canal passage, we decided to take a sail up the Chagres River. If you have the chance, don't miss this! While the entrance (bar) is a bit challenging, it is well worth the trip.











Now, for the canal: We finally got our spot and had to prepare Wirewalker for the passage. Because the shoreside line-handlers throw monkey fists to the boats in transit, we needed to protect our solar panels, ports, etc. from errant throws. After using all our cushions for this task and realizing more was needed, we pulled out the sail bags, life jackets, suitcases, etc. to make sure we were adequately covered. (see picture to right). And it turns out that it's a smart thing to cover everything. The monkey fists really can cause damage to unprotected gear!

For the passage, we rafted with a beautiful Morris 51' to our port. By far the most expensive bumper we've ever had! Here are some of the pictures while transitting:





















When you see the Bridge of the Americas, you're through. What an amazing sight, and of course, the champagne had to flow!





Through the canal, but we still had 350 miles or so to go to Golfito, Costa Rica, and our time was really limited. We stopped in Flamenco Marina, Panama for about 2 hours to refuel, top off the provisions and then headed out. Just like the Caribbean side, the Pacific side is chock-a-block with freighters; five in one hour was not unusual. You keep your eyes open, and the prayers flowing!

Two and one half days later, we arrived in Golfito, for a weekend's R&R, and a change of crew.











Thank you, Jim and Darda, Gary and Sandy, and Ray for being a part of our canal passage!

3. Renaming Wirewalker; Our Trip to San Blas

Sept. 3 - 12, 2005. While "Snowcat" is a great name for a boat, "Wirewalker" is the name we had decided long ago would be the name of our boat. Why "wirewalker"? When we married many years ago, Diane had the following words engraved in Bill's ring: "Will you walk with me out on the wire, baby we were born to run".

Four of the lines from Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run" song are:

Will you walk with me out on the wire
`cause baby Im just a scared and lonely rider
But I gotta find out how it feels
I want to know if love is wild, girl I want to know if love is real

So that's 'why' "Wirewalker".

Now, for the renaming ceremony: Our dear friends Jim and Darda Harrison and Gary and Sandy Butts joined us for the trip from Bocas del Toro, Panama to the San Blas Islands, Panama for this ceremony.

To the left, Sandy and Darda are buying a stalk of bananas for the trip from a local indian for the very steep price of $1.00 for the whole stalk.

To the right, Jim has the helm for the first stage of the open water portion of the trip.



The trip was roughly 25o miles if done directly. That was our plan. Unfortunately, weather helped us consider stopping off at Portobello for a day to let things calm down before continuing. We were warned by fellow cruisers in Portobello to be careful; theft is a very serious problem in that area. Net, we enjoyed the day but were very cautious about leaving things unguarded. Not a bad general rule, anyways.

Nothing can prepare you for the beauty of the San Blas Islands. It is Disneyland for the sailor. Perfect little islands with sand beaches, coconut palms, thatched huts ashore and Kuna Indians in dug out cayucas (canoes). Unbelievable!

We chose the "swimming pool" as the site of our renaming ceremony, with the guys removing the "Snowcat" decals and placing on the new "Wirewalker" decals and the gals ceremoniously swimming counterclockwise around the boat 3 times chanting:

"Fee fie fo fat, you are no longer Snowcat".

Once 3 laps were completed, they then swam 3 laps clockwise around the boat singing:

"Abra cadabra magic knocker, you are now Wirewalker!"

These two acts (decals and chanting) were followed by liberal quantities of the best champagne that Wirewalker could offer up (some to Neptune, though most to the crew and neighbors!) ... and it was done! Snowcat was now Wirewalker!!

(The proud owners of Wirewalker)

With this solemn, yet joyous occassion completed, we turned our focus on the more serious side of fun and enjoyed far too little time in the San Blas Islands. If someone ever suggests sailing to the San Blas islands and only spending 3 days there ... throw them overboard!

We needed to sail back to Bocas del Toro, put the boat away for a few more months, and return to work. Much to short.

2. From Honduras to Panama

May 25th thru June 4th, 2005. So we bought the boat! What an awesome feeling! A dream of a lifetime materializes in Honduras. Only problem ... Honduras is in the hurricane zone and the hurricane season starts June 1st. We need to get the boat south to Panama where it'll be safe from hurricanes.

Sure enough, for the first time in recent memory a hurricane forms in the Eastern Pacific in May and decides to go backwards towards Central America and Honduras! They don't do that! Well they do and you'd better do something about it. We notified the boatyard, who spent a good deal of effort securing boats in place. Fortunately, the storm fizzled before making it across Honduras so we were safe!

We left Honduras on the 28th of May, headed east towards the Cabo Gracias a Dios, then south through the Meskito channel to Panama.

As noted from the pictures of Lloyd (to the left) and Ron(to the right), there was a bit of rain on occassion. Great for keeping the crew cool and odor free!


A beautiful sail and for the most, taking us to Bocas del Toro, Panama. Nothing short of a spectacularly beautiful location.

Diane, to the right, is on the bow checking to make sure the last 2 miles of the reef lined entrance, don't detract from what has been a wonderful sail.

We arrived there, 640 miles from La Ceiba, in only 100 hours, or just over 4 days. A great preview of what our boat can do.

1. The Survey

May 6th, 2005: The Survey. Buying a boat is an interesting business, especially when you're buying a boat out of the country. We first spotted "Snowcat" on the internet. The owners, Dean and Karen Massey, were in Guatemala on the Rio Dulce, so there was no seeing the boat first to get a feel for condition, etc. beforehand. We dove into the deep end!

We worked with our broker to formulate an offer, subject to sea trials, inspection and survey.

We met the Massey's in Belize for the inspection and sea trials, then agreed to meet them in La Ceiba, Honduras to haul the boat out for survey. If all went well, we'd complete the purchase.

We arrived on the 5th of May with a surveyor (Geoff Williams, West Indies Marine Surveyors ) we'd hired out of the BVI's. Very, very talented guy but definitely not local! After a thorough top-to-bottom in the water inspection, we then proceeded to the travel lift to haul the boat out of the water.

Hauling your boat (then Dean and Karen's) is a harrowing experience. The slip at La Ceiba is about a foot and one-half wider than the boat's beam. You hold your breath then motor in. Next, you make doubly sure the straps are in place before they lift.


If all went well, you'll see where the sun don't shine. In this case, all went well and we became the proud owners of "Snowcat"!