July 5, 2025
I just boarded BEHEMOTH a couple of hours ago. She needs love and care. There was supposed to be somebody here at Shelter Bay Marina, for whom I pay extra, taking care of her and, among other things, making sure she is always beautiful and elegant, but he didn’t do a good job. I’ll have to complain on Monday.
I unpacked and did some basic cleaning inside to be able to welcome Natalia who flew from Bangkok via Amsterdam and landed some minutes ago. I had to put back the cover of the mattress in the aft cabin that for some reason had been removed; not an easy task inside an oven. What unnerved me the most is that the mechanics who did some maintenance work on the blue monster left marks of grease on the carpets and countertops in the galley. I really do not understand why they didn’t remove the carpets and covered the floors and countertops. At least the fridge and freezer had been running and I put a bottle of cava inside that should be chill enough to have a glass with Natalia before dinner at the marina’s restaurant (nothing to talk about). In the meantime, I m pouring myself gin with some tonic.
I flew this morning from Bogota where I was working last week. My father and I arrived there last Sunday, like Natalia, flying from Bangkok but through Paris where we spent the night. I briefly saw Sofia there who was also in a stopover on her way to Barcelona. From Bogotá my father flew back to Quito the next day and I stayed behind, alone again after a long time.
For my father Bogota was the last stop in a two-month trip through parts of Europe and Thailand. He left Ecuador in early May and spent some time with my sister in Naples, Capri, and Corsega. I met him in Paris on May 23 and from there we traveled to Rome, Florence, Venice and Athens. I confess I was concerned about how I would handle the trip while having work commitments. But somehow, I managed, and I am glad to have spent time with him in those beautiful cities he was discovering for the first time (except for Paris). We walked, and walked, and walked through towns, museums, churches, cathedrals, ruins, and temples (Thai). I estimated an average of five hours a day, which shows that at 85 he is still in good shape. And it was also a very decadent trip; a culinary experience as he puts it, with sparkling wine before noon, daily Negronis, and bottles of wine for lunch and/or dinner. From Athens we flew back to Paris and then to Bangkok. We spent a couple of weeks at the beach in Hua Hin where I was able to catch-up on work. The last week, before traveling to Colombia, we went to Koh Munnnork island with Natalia and Woland. The pictures below capture some moments of the extravaganza.
We are scheduled to cross the Panama channel on Wednesday the 9th. It’s quite an onerous undertaking, for now budgeted at USD 3,550:
– Channel: 2,130.
– Inspection: 120
– Insurance: 165
– Bank: 35
– Edcs: 50
– 4 lines and fenders: 150
– Agency: 400
– Booking fee: 500
That doesn’t include the 4 line-handlers I have to have on board according to the regulations, who charge USD 120 each. My consolation is that Webb Chiles paid considerably more to bring GANNET from the Atlantic to the Pacific, where she had started her circumnavigation.
Marina arrives on Tuesday at 05:00. We’ll fill the diesel tanks that day and depart the next morning around 08:00 with the line-handlers on board. Outside the marina, in “the flat”, we have to wait for the pilot who will come on board to guide us through the channel. The first day we go through the Gatun locks and anchor for the night at lake Gatun. The pilot leaves the boat but the line-handlers spend the night aboard (I’m told they sleep outside). We, of course, have to provide lunch and dinner, plenty of water, and I guess some form of ethanol at night. The next day the pilot comes back on board, and we continue through the Miguel and the Miraflores locks reaching the Pacific in mid afternoon. I have reserved a slip at Marina La Playita where we will spend the night waiting for Marina’s boyfriend who is join us that day or the following.
The plan afterwards is to cruise las Perlas Islands and then sail to Marina Vista Mar to the West stopping in Isla Bona for a night or two. BEHEMOTH will stay in that marina getting ready for the passage to Galápagos.
Sailing to the Pacific 