Vista Mar Marina and Flor de Caña are hosting this season’s final party with the free rum, music and food.
We look forward to seeing you there ! Feel free to invite fellow yachts !
3) MORE PICTURES OF THE WEEK
Surfing into Bahia del Sol 🇸🇻 El Salvador
Cruisers Papusa gathering on Isla Del Cordoncillo, Bahia Del Sol 🇸🇻 El Salvador
Welcome to 🇸🇻 El Salvador
SY MAISON DE SANTÉ 🇺🇸 Keenan & Nicole – Cal 46′
4) PANAMA POSSE AWARD ENTRIES
Boat yoga, givin’ my Yanmar some attention.
SY AIR BENDER 🇺🇸 Mike & Colleen – Lagoon 42′
Boat yoga fixing AC in master.
MY SEEKER 🇺🇸 John & Tammy – Selene 62′
5) LIGHTNING
Lightning
strikes fear into every sailor’s heart. You never feel more powerless
than you do when you hear and see a thundercloud filled with lightning
bearing down on your vessel. A ground strike, where two electrically
charged regions equalize, one in the atmosphere and one in the water or
on the ground, causes the instantaneous release of an average of one
gigajoule of energy. The heat and current can melt metal, cause wood to
explode, and will without failure strike fear in the heart of all living
things nearby. While (apparently) 90% of people struck by lightning
survive (at least according to Wikipedia), it still seems like something
one should avoid.
Short
of burying your boat in a pit, there is no sure-fire way to eliminate
the risk of a lightning strike, but here I discuss some of the ways you
can reduce the risk and reduce the potential damage in the event of a
strike.
So, what can you do? It is all about preparation and awareness.
How Can You Know It’s Coming?
There are real time lightning tracking services available. A notable free one is Blitzortung.org
There are also commercial websites like WeatherBug
that track lightning and integrate lightning reports with other weather
data. Weatherbug also has an App you can load on a smartphone that can
be configured to give you ‘alerts’ (as long as you’re connected to the
Internet).
You
can also get hand held or portable lightning detectors like the
Accurite 2020. These work by detecting the Electro Magnetic Pulse (EMP)
of lightning strikes. Typically they have a range of ~25 miles, and will
tell you if the lightning is getting closer or further away. We don’t
have one, and we can usually see and or hear a vigorous lightning storm
when it’s within 25 miles, so we’re not planning on getting one.
These
systems are all ground-based (as opposed to satellite based) detection
systems and offer good short term warning for lightning events.
For long term safety, you can try to be in places with less lightning.
Where Can You Hide?
Well,
you really can’t ‘hide’ per se, but you can seek shelter. According to
Boat US insurance claims, catamarans are struck twice as frequently as
mono-hulls of similar length, so if you’re in a mono-hull, getting close
to a catamaran offers you some comfort in knowing that the catamaran is
more likely to be the target of any lightning strike. Lightning also
prefers taller targets, so getting close to a taller (larger) boat would
also be in your favour. This is also true of buildings, trees and
landforms in general, so moving the boat anywhere there is taller
‘stuff’ will offer some protection.
You
can also try to cruise (or lay up your boat) in areas where there is
less lightning, like the strategy cruisers use to avoid hurricanes.
While lightning (unlike hurricane tracks) is not on pilot charts, and is
only sporadically mentioned in cruising guides and pilot books (and
then only anecdotally without any real scale of comparison), there is
data available from satellites gathered over years and freely available on the Internet.
For
16 years, the Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS) on the Tropical Rainfall
Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite gathered data on lightning strikes
and the data is available to use on the internet. The data circles the
globe from about 40 north to 40 south. While the geographic precision of
the data isn’t great, it is certainly more than enough to paint a
picture of where lightning is terrible and where it is just bad. The
TRMM satellite has been retired and the new Geostationary Operational
Environmental Satellite (GOES) series satellites have even more
sensitive Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) instruments (since about
2017 or so), but the data is derived over a shorter period and has yet
to be collated in a readily available fashion.
According to the website:
“The TRMM LIS 0.1 Degree Very High Resolution Gridded
Climatology data collection consists of a set of gridded climatologies
constructed from individual observations made by the Lightning Imaging
Sensor (LIS) on the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite
(data also at GHRC). Complex algorithms are used to estimate total
flash rate density (number of flashes per square kilometer per year)
based on the flashes observed by the instrument and the amount of time
it viewed a given area. This
Very High Resolution (VHR) Gridded Lightning Climatology Collection
consists of five lightning climatologies (links to data products
provided below): the full climatological mean (VHRFC), monthly (VHRMC),
diurnal (VHRDC), annual cycle (VHRAC), and seasonal (VHRSC). These
gridded climatologies include annual mean flash rate density, mean
diurnal cycle of flash rate density, and the mean annual cycle of flash
rate density with daily, monthly, or seasonal resolution.”
What
that means is you can see when and where in a given region the
lightning is better or worse, where it is absolutely terrible (the 500
hot spots), and what time of year it really begins to ‘heat up’.
LIGHTNING PREPAREDNESS
The primary preparation is ensuring your vessel is properly ‘grounded’. Grounding has two purposes:
to ensure the electric potential of the vessel is the same as
the surrounding sea, so its not more attractive to lightning than the
open ocean
to ensure there is a path to ground for a lightning strike should one occur
Proper
lightning grounding should be done as follows (according to Stan Honey,
an electrical engineer and sailor geek extraordinaire):
“Lightning Grounds
Connect a 4 AWG battery cable from the base of your aluminum
mast to the nearest keel bolt from external ballast. If you have
internal ballast, you should install a lightning ground plate. One
square foot is recommended for use in salt water; fresh water requires
much more. Do not rely on a thru-hull or a sintered bronze radio ground
(e.g. Dynaplate) for use as a lightning ground. For additional comfort,
also run a 6 AWG wire from your keel bolt or ground plate to the upper
shroud chainplates, and to your headstay chainplate. Don’t bother with
the backstay if it is interrupted with antenna insulators. Have each of
the cables that are used for lightning ground wires lead as directly as
possible to the same keel bolt, with any necessary bends being smooth
and gradual. Given that you have grounded your mast solidly to the
ocean, your mast will be at exactly the same electric potential as the
ocean.”
If
you can’t find cable as specified, try to find thicker cable (i.e.
lower number). Having your mast at the same potential as the surrounding
ocean theoretically makes it no more likely a target than the
surrounding ocean.
Because
you’re likely to be mixing copper, aluminum and stainless steel in the
wiring for this grounding, be sure to use plenty of dielectric gel and
keep the connections ‘clean’ with regular inspection. They will likely
be in the bilge, where moisture will further complicate cleanliness and
hasten their demise (see this article in Practical Sailor for more on
this)
Aboard Avant, we go a step further when we lay the boat up and use jumper cables to increase the grounding.
If
in the water, we buy a set of cheap but thick jumper cables. Separate
into two wires. Remove one clamp from each wire, strip back a couple or
six inches of insulation and ‘fray’ the end (or keep the clamp and clamp
it to a 1’x1′ metal plate) to make a better ground connection with the
water. Attach remaining clamp to a top shroud or other bit of metal that
connects to near the masthead and throw the frayed/plated end in the
water. One cable port, one cable starboard.
Of
course, when your boat is hauled out, the grounding system stops
working because the keel and/or grounding plate is no longer in the
water (and in most yards is insulated from the ground by blocks of
wood). If we lay up on the hard, we separate the two cables and attach
one to the top shrouds and jack-stands on the port side, the other to
the same points on starboard.
Here
is a photo of a boat that was struck by lightning on the hard. You can
see the hole in the hull and the trail the lightning burned in the
bottom paint from the exit point in the hull to the jack stand and hence
to ground. By providing better grounding and a more direct alternate
path for the charge we hope to avoid this kind of damage.
In
either case, the cables will be trash at the end of the season, as they
are not designed for continuous outdoor use. Brushing clamps with wax,
Vaseline or any other topical protectant helps them rust less and look
better longer. Even if you think your boat might be/is well grounded,
these jumper cable tricks will ensure/increase it.
While most experts say the bottle brush style ‘lightning dissipaters’
such as the ‘Lightning Master™” by Forespar designed to go at the top
of the mast don’t work, we have one on Avant. I picked it up on a sale
table for less than $10, and I can attest that it does keep birds off
the masthead, and so far, we haven’t been struck by lightning. (For more
reading on them, you can see this article in Practical Sailor)
What Can You Do To Try To Mitigate Damage?
Aboard
Avant, when we hear a storm approaching, we gather up all portable and
easily de-mounted electronics (hand-held VHF and GPS units, EPIRBs, LED
flashlights, cell phones, tablets, computers, radios, etc.) and place
them in the oven as a kind of faraday cage. We disconnect all antennas
and power connections from easily unplugged items like Chartplotters,
AIS, VHF, etc. and leave them disconnected and just hanging loose to
disrupt possible paths for lightning.
We
also ensure all aboard stay away from the mast and rigging and any
chance of forming part of the ‘path to ground’ of a strike.
When
we lay up for the season, we do the same, and we also wrap portable
items first in paper towel and then in a double layer of aluminum foil
to make it a double faraday cage.
When
we store electronic spares aboard, we wrap them in paper towel and then
in a double layer of aluminum foil before they go in the spares locker.
In areas where lightning is endemic, we pray more frequently and sleep with a bible under our pillow.
There
is no way to make any vessel ‘lightning proof’. But you can take steps
to avoid more lightning prone areas, and to mitigate the effect of a
strike.
Well found aluminum hulled ‘expedition’ style yacht with extreme grounding in shelter bay. A ground stake wired to the keel.
On
board this catamaran a thick cable connected to the base of the mast is
deployed and attached when lightning gets near or for long term in
water storage – on top of the mast this rig is matched with a
sacrificial lighting rod a bit longer than the VHF antenna
For
long stay in the water we also drop the anchor in the marina and cross
connect the base of the mast to the anchor chain beyond the
windlass with heavy gauge wire(s).
SY AVANT 🇨🇦 Rob & Debra – Beneteau 43.5′
6) SAN BLAS 🇵🇦 PANAMA REVISTED
MY AZURE at anchor
Marina exploring the Cayos
MY AZURE Forrest & Marina – Cheoy Lee 61′
7) MARINA PUERTO BAHIA 🇩🇴 DR SPONSORS THE PANAMA POSSE
Between
the years of 1966-1976, millions of viewers were held spellbound as
audiences around the world would regularly tune in to see what new
aquatic wonders had been captured on film by Jacques Cousteau and the
crew of his ship, Calypso.
The Sea Birds of Isabela The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau Collection Two Episode 15 of 19
Captain
Cousteau and his crew fly to Isla Isabela, off the western coast of
Mexico, to study how the many birds there share the resources of the
waters. After an extensive study, Cousteau recommends to the Mexican
authorities that the island be designated a national park.
The
blue-footed booby is a marine bird native to the eastern Pacific Ocean.
It is one of six species of boobies. It is easily recognizable by
its distinctive bright blue feet, which is a sexually selected trait
and a product of their diet. The drastic drop in population seems to be
linked to an unexplained disappearance of sardines from the boobies’
diet. This in turn has adult boobies electing not to breed – leading to
an ongoing population decline due to lack of new chicks being born.
SY VIVA – Pierre & Marie – Amel 52′
9) GOOD ANCHORAGE ⚓ IN GOOD NAUTICAL
One more favorite island in Western Pacific Panama, Brincanco 07 51.951′ N 081 47.620 ‘W
The water clarity for us was outstanding and the snorkeling out by the point was so beautiful.
We took our paddleboards and anchored them on the rocks.
The little bay is gorgeous and well protected.
Technically it’s part of the Coiba
Flying the Panama Posse Burgee
SY PATHFINDER 🇺🇸 Jean-Philippe & Nicole – Lagoon 39′
10) OFF THE BEATEN PATH 🇸🇻 EL SALVADOR
Many
cruisers enter Bahia del Sol to explore El Salvador. There is
certainly a lot to see and experience about the way of life in Bahia del
Sol from dinghy tours into smaller channels to sampling food and
beverages in restaurants on stilts.
El
Salvador is a wonderful country to also explore by land as well. There
is little level land; most of the terrain is punctuated with many active
and inactive volcanoes.
It
is densely populated particularly around the capital of San Salvador
and worth exploring further afield than than this big city.
El
Salvador is the smallest country along the Panama Posse route and has a
well developed road system that makes renting a car and driving around
the country quite easy.
There
are several self guided ‘tourist routes’/rutas turísticas that link
together different regions, sights, and towns by different themes: art,
archeology, flowers, beach and sun, etc.
One
can see volcanos, archeological sights, artisanal communities, Spanish
colonial influence, lakes, geo thermally heated rivers, and world class
surf in a matter of day to a number of weeks or months.
Almendras, Almonds
Touring
by land gave us the opportunity to meet people throughout the country
embracing their culture, caring for their land, and building a brighter
future.
SY WHIRLWIND 🇺🇸 Maurisa & Mike & crew – Alajuela 48′
11) SIGNINGS ON THE BARREL OF HOPE
The
goal for the Panama Posse barrel is to identify ways in which we can
help communities and entities living on the edge and define new
standards of sustainability.
Bill & Jean and sending good vibes from EL Salvador via the Barrel of Hope
“MEMO” and Rolf stuffing the good Chiapas Message into the Barrel of hope
Our goal is to find the silver lining and long term solutions to communities living in coastal impact zones.
12) CHIMERA’S 🇨🇴 COLOMBIA
We had a spicy and thrilling sail to Cartagena, then
As our trip to Colombia is coming to an end we wish we could stay and see more.
Next we visited the capital, Bogota, and on to the Valle de Cocora coffee region.
We took a road trip to Baranquilla hosting the second largest carnival in the world.
We fell in love with the Colombian culture, the people, and the cities so full of color.
The delicious food and coffee topped it off. Colombia’s coffee growing mountain ranges are so lush.
A must place to visit.
Convent de la Popa Altar in Cartagena, Colombia
In
the center of the gilded altar at El Convento de la Popa is the image
of La Virgin de la Candelaria. She is shown as a Black Madonna holding a
baby Jesus and a candle in her other hand. The image is patterned after
a statue appearing on a beach in 1594 in Tenerife, one of the Canary
Islands. This shrine was visited by Pope John Paul II in 1986. An annual
pilgrimage is held on February 2, the feast day of the Virgin of
Candelaria.
Salento is in the north-east of the department of Quindío, Colombia.
The
main route from Popayán and Cali to Bogotá used to pass through Salento
but when the route was diverted the town became isolated and did not
develop as rapidly as the rest of the region.
For
this reason it has retained more of its traditional colonial
architecture than almost any other town in the eje cafetero. The
architecture along with a quiet and relaxed way of life make the town
and nearby Cocora valley popular destinations in Colombia. The historic
center of town was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List as part
of the “Coffee Cultural Landscape”
SY CHIMERA 🇺🇸 Dennis & Margaret – Beneteau 47′
13) MEET THE FLEET
We
are Eileen and Brown. We have very little sailing experience. Before
leaving Qingdao, China, our home of 4 years, we sold almost all of our
earthly possessions and started our international search to find the
right sailboat that we would call “home.” After 5 months of
unanticipated twists and turns, we found what we were looking for, a
used Leopard 44′ Catamaran located in St. Lucia.
Hopefully, you will be as BLOWN AWAY from watching, as we are in experiencing our adventures !
SY BLOWN AWAY 🇺🇸 Eileen & Brown – Robertson and Caine 44′
15) ADVENTURE MEDIA PARTNER LATITUDES AND ATTITUDES
Most
water-making equipment on yachts and boats today uses the reverse
osmosis technique for converting seawater into drinking water.
These
RO systems remove solids, bacteria, and most viruses from the water,
and the water produced is often better quality than water from a city
water supply. We all use a considerable amount of water, so fresh and
clean water is a must-have for those folks who plan to be on anchor or
away from a good water source for an extended period of time.
Today’s
yachts and boats will often have a washer and dryer on board which can
use upwards of 20 gallons of water during each washing cycle. Longer
showers, doing the dishes, freshwater toilets, and boat cleaning all add
to large amounts of fresh water consumed by today’s boating travelers.
A
good rule of thumb for water consumption is 20 gallons per day per
person. A reliable water maker, producing 20 – 30 gallons per hour, will
more than handle the requirements of 2 – 4 people on the boat. The key
word there is “reliable.” While most systems start out as dependable,
reliable equipment, neglect or improper use can soon make the system
problematic.
Two
factors can severely limit or destroy a water maker’s ability to
produce ample quantities of clean drinkable water. Those two factors
are:
Exceeding the maximum operating pressure range
Lack of proper flushing after every water-making cycle
There
are a few other aspects of operating the water-making equipment that
will improve the life of the system, but those two factors are
paramount.
Latitudes and Attitudes
The
#1 Cruising Lifestyle publication on the planet just keeps getting
bigger and better! Incredible destination articles and features by the
cruisers themselves, including how-to’s, DIY and exciting new products!
You could say it’s like a gorgeous buffet just waiting for you to dive
in! Access and download each digital issue now for only $14.99/year.
All subscribers receive:
10% off at the Lats & Atts Store
Download the digital magazine for easy offline access!
Maurisa Descheemaeker at sunrise aboard SV Whirlwind
Hello, my name is Maurisa.
I am pleased to join the Ocean Posse crew and provide fun and
helpful updates to the Panama Posse. My family and I sailed in the
Pacific Northwest for many years before turning the bow of S/V Arrow
towards where the coconuts grow. We sailed to Panama in 2021 and
are excited to be sailing there again on S/V Whirlwind.
I
love living on the ocean, being a part of the maritime community,
visiting new places, taking in the culture, art, and history of
different areas, and anchoring in remote places teaming with plants and
wildlife with my family. We are currently anchored in Zihuatenejo,
Mexico.
Email me at editor@panamaposse.com with photos, stories, or suggestions for these fleet update.
NOTE:
MAURISA WELCOME TO THE OCEAN POSSE TEAM THANK YOU FOR TAKING ON THIS CHALLENGE
YOU CAN NOT GO ONTO LAND IN ANY COUNTRY UNLESS YOU ARE CHECKING IN
NOT DOING SO IS ILLEGAL AND YOU AND YOUR CREW RISK ARREST, FINES AND CONFISCATION OF YOUR VESSEL
PRE-PASSAGE EPIRB TEST
Press and release the test button on the EPIRB.
The red lamp on the EPIRB should flash once.
Within 30 seconds of pressing the button, the strobe, as well as the red light, should flash several times.
After 60 seconds of operation, the EPIRB will switch off.
19) SAN CRISTÓBAL DE LAS CASAS CHIAPAS 🇲🇽 MEXICO
San
Cristóbal de las Casas is a city and municipality located in the
Central Highlands region of Chiapas. The historic center, has
maintained its Spanish colonial layout, with narrow cobblestone streets,
roofs covered in red clay tile and wrought iron balconies with flowers.
The facades of the buildings vary from Baroque to Neoclassical and
Moorish, painted in various colors.
Diego
de Mazariegos founded San Cristóbal in 1528 as the Spanish regional
base. Its Spanish citizens made fortunes from wheat, while the
indigenous people lost their lands and suffered diseases, taxes and
forced labor.
San
Cristóbal is considered to be the “cultural capital” of the state and a
designated in 2003 a “Pueblo Mágico” (Magical Village) in 2003, Mexcian
President Felipe Calderón recognized it as “The most magical of the
Pueblos Mágicos” and is located in a small valley surrounded by hills in
the mountains with a 2,200-meter elevation 7,218 feet gives the city a
crisp and cool climate.
SAN CRISTÓBAL DE LAS CASAS, Chiapas, 🇲🇽 Mexico Part of Panama Posse’s Must See List
20) 70+ PANAMA POSSE MARINA SPONSORS
🇺🇸 Safe Harbor South Bay – Chula Vista, USA
🇲🇽 Marina Coral, Ensenada – Mexico
🇲🇽 IGY Marina Cabo San Lucas – Mexico
🇲🇽 Marina Puerto Escondido – Mexico
🇲🇽 Marina Palmira Topolobampo – Mexico
🇲🇽 Marina y Club de Yates Isla Cortes – Mexico
🇲🇽 Marina el Cid – Mazatlan – Mexico
🇲🇽 Marina Vallarta, Puerto Vallarta – Mexico
🇲🇽 PANAMA POSSE HQ – Marina Puerto de La Navidad – Mexico
🇲🇽 Marina Ixtapa, Ixtapa – Mexico
🇲🇽 La Marina Acapulco, Acapulco – Mexico
🇲🇽 Vicente’s Moorings, Acapulco – Mexico
🇲🇽 Marina Chiapas – Mexico
🇬🇹 Marina Pez Vela – Guatemala
🇸🇻 Marina Bahia del Sol – El Salvador
🇸🇻 La Palma Moorings – Bahia del Sol – El Salvador
🇳🇮 Marina Puesta del Sol – Nicaragua
🇨🇷 Marina Papagayo – Costa Rica
🇨🇷 Marina Pez Vela – Costa Rica
🇨🇷 Marina Bahia Golfito – Costa Rica
🇨🇷 Banana Bay Marina – Costa Rica
🇪🇨 Marina Puerto Amistad – Ecuador
🇵🇦 Buenaventura Marina – Panama
🇵🇦 PANAMA POSSE PACIFIC HQ Vista Mar Marina – Panama
23) PANAMA CANAL AGENT CENTENARIO CONSULTING ERICK GALVEZ
To
arrange for transit with the Panama Canal Authority please contact Eric
Galvez our dedicated Panama Canal agent and sponsor of the Panama Posse
and the Pacific Posse
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