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Exody - Days 34/35 - Dusting down toward the Doldrums



With World ARC a declared superstition free zone, our third leg start was scheduled for 11am on Friday 13th February. As with all of our starts so far (Gran Canaria, Mindelo, St Lucia, Santa Marta), the conditions were soon brisk for the 14 starters of the 16 strong fleet crossing the line at Contadora in the delightful Las Perlas archipelago 50 miles off Panama.

Since our last log here at the end of January we have been 'free cruising' including the Panama Canal transit. Covered mostly on our blog at http://exody.wordpress.com, the highlights were: a dawn arrival closing the Port of Cristobal having negotiated the final approach amongst 120 ships in the dark, a smooth Canal transit in two steps, first at night , then a daylight passage through the amazing Gatun Lake, outings to the Embra Indian village and Panama City, catching a fine 'lunch for four- sized' tuna en route to the Las Perlas, four quiet days amongst these beautiful and relatively deserted islands. At Panama we changed crew with brother Martin leaving after a month and friends James(UK) and Petter(Norway) joining. James brought solar panels, new water tank both now fitted plus Pacific charts. Petter brought a pact with his partner to give up smoking - which we on Exody will fully support to the best of our ability!

Our final preparations at Contadora, one of only a few inhabited and developed islands in the group, saw Petter flying back to Panama to get a filling replaced, our having decided that the self-administered underwater epoxy solution was probably not a good bet for a long passage! Our stay there also introduced us to the skills of landing the dinghy through modest surf and staying dry and composed - a skill we'll need a lot more of in the Pacific. Swimwear and drybags are now order of the day for such antics.

The first night of this third 850 mile leg to the Galapagos Islands was boisterous with winds frequently over 30 knots, Exody shipping several waves into the cockpit and generally taking a bit of a 'dusting' as we bowled along sometimes at over 9 knots under treble reefed genny and with the help of the favourable 1- 2 knot current - we covered 188 miles in the first 24 hours. A robust introduction for our new crew after the quiet run down from Panama to Las Perlas the previous week. Now 250 miles and 36 hours into the leg, the wind is down to 11 knots and speed is under 5 knots. The route takes us through the often windless zone between the northeast and southeast trades so, along with the rest of the fleet, we expect to motor for a fair distance.

Peter (Skipper)

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