American Spirit II - Day 31; Dingy Wipe Out; Monday, February 3, 2014

This morning we got in the dingy and proceeded a half mile along the very rocky sea shore, in the lee and east side of Isla San Jose. The tide was going out and what was a small beach the night before was becoming a huge beach. Just before we got to the shore, we had to dodge an underwater rock that was becoming visible as the 17 foot tide gushed out. Then about 50 yards from shore we killed the dingy motor and raised the shaft, not knowing how deep it was. The water was not clear due to the massive tidal action. Joel and I were paddling in when a swell turned into a 3 foot breaking wave. Just before we started riding the crest, I told Joel that we're going to flip. He confidently replied that we were not. A few seconds later we were surfing with the crest when the bow of our dingy started to turn to the left. All of a sudden, wham! The dingy aft, port side, went airborne and the dingy flipped so quickly it was amazing. Darlene Heyne and I were under the raft, which was upside down. Joel was jettisoned, or maybe he 'abandoned ship;' as he immediately flipped the raft back up. All of our caps were gone, as were Joel's expensive prescription glasses and my bi-focal sun glasses. Darlene retrieved all three caps immediately, and I stubbed my foot onto the canvas bag carrying our dingy anchor. Once we got to shore, Joel took his sandals off and reentered the water looking for his glasses, using his feet to touch/find them. Though the odds of his finding them in the surf were 1,000 to 1, he found them in a couple of minutes. I did not find my sun glasses; and we lost a small boat hook. That was puzzling as the boat hook should have floated. In the bow of the dingy we had a bag fixed to the bow, and inside this bag we had Joel's phone and 2 cameras in a dry bag. The phone and cameras were dry. Lucky we didn't carry them in or have the camera straps around our necks. The magnetic key for the Torqeedo Electric Outboard Motor disengaged from the motor, but was found wrapped around the handle of the motor. Without that magnetic key, we wouldn't be able to start the motor. However, I do have a spare on the boat; and the dingy does have two oars for propulsion without the motor.

Once on shore we walked up to the high water mark, thru some tidal marshes and across a couple of marsh run offs that looked like streams going into the sea. The water was flowing out so rapidly that rocks 3 inches in diameter were rolling into the ocean; and there were rapids as the water cascaded by us. The view was quite spectacular. A couple of bright green iguanas ran for cover in the mangrove type bushes as we approached. The area above the high water mark was solid jungle.

The outboard motor started right up, even after its dunking. After getting back to the boat we noticed the water depth under the boat was 23 feet. It was 40 feet the night before when we anchored. Wow.

About noon we weighed anchor and headed for Isla Pedro Gonzales, only a few hours away. We passed one other (German) Rally boat heading to the same island that we'd just left. We anchored near a small village in the lee of Isla Trapiche. We sailed and then motored to get there. Our chart plotter was very vague on water depths around this island, as was our paper British Admiralty chart. To enter waters such as these one must practice 'eyeball' navigation.

At 4:00 PM a sea gull landed on the boat on the port side adjacent to the cockpit. Its right leg was still attached to his body, but was obviously broken. The sea gull stayed for a couple of hours, eating some bread I gave him and resting. He then flew up to the bow of the boat, and may still be on the boat as I'm typing this log.

Dinner consisted of grilled hot dogs and corn on the cob. As before, the hot dogs had a membrane cover on them that you had to remove before eating.

After dinner we watched Battle for Los Angeles, a science fiction movie. With freshly popped pop corn, of course!

About 9:00 PM the boat started rolling back and forth. For the previous 7 hours it didn't roll at all. My Panama guide book says "The anchorages on either side of Isla Trapiche can get uncomfortable during the months of strong northerlies." The 'months of strong northerlies' is in the winter time; now. Next time I'll pay more attention to what the book says. Too late to change to a different anchorage now. The rolling isn't so much of a hazard that we might pull out or drag our anchor. It's more of an unpleasant feeling, rocking back and forth, every minute or so. Could be worse. We could have a deep swell, so instead of just rocking back and forth we could be bouncing up and down, also. You have to look at the bright side of your predicaments.

Lights out at 9:40 PM.

Brian Fox