03/15/2024
We finally made it to Costa Rica, and the Banana Bay Marina in Golfito. Panama was awful. Never again. Almost 1 month at anchor, no shower, no laundry, blah food, waiting for a part. Not happy. I look like I have scurvy 😕
As you remember it began on February 5 with our 2-day Panama Canal crossing. A $ 3300 USD expense to just listen to our "advisors" yell at us constantly. The moment we departed our Marina slip at the Shelter Bay Marina, on the Caribbean side of the Panama Canal, things began to go wrong. You see, the Marina moved Intrepid into a different slip over the summer, one for shallow draft boats. I specifically asked the dock master if my draft was ok. I backed out of the slip, went into forward gear, and immediately got stuck in the mud. Now I began to worry about missing my Panama Canal rendezvous time, and then having to wait another 17 days for the next available canal crossing. In retrospect, I think the strain I put on my transmission to free myself from the mud and the constant demand for more speed in the canal, pushing my little engine 1000 rpm more than I've ever done before, caused my future transmission issue. We finally made it into Panama City and, once again, the Pacific Ocean.
During our brief stay at La Playita, on the Pacific side of the Canal, my crew, Jeremy, had his US Passport and iPhone stolen. I'd say it happens often since the US Embassy asked no questions and was able to issue an "Emergency Passport" within 60 minutes! Pulling up our anchor from the Anchorage we then snagged some uncharted underwater cable. Once free of that, after a dive to physically untangle our anchor, we were off, so we thought.
As we made our way into our first anchorage west of Panama City it became known we had no mechanical propulsion. A PanPan eventually went out since our ability to enter any safe harbor under sail alone was questionable at best. After 7 days, and now only a few miles from the Costa Rican border, the Panamanian Coast Guard towed us 30 miles back east and dropped us off at the Islas Secas Resort. Remote, virtually no WiFi and very exclusive, we were not even allowed to go on shore (Plus we had already cleared out of Panama in Panama City).
After waiting a few days for some promised "mechanic" that was to come to us but never did, we decided to troubleshoot ourselves. In retrospect, we should had done this on day one.
We have a Yanmar 3YM30 engine. The "stock" transmission is a Kanzaki KM2P-1. Very simple. It has a splined output shaft. This shaft attaches to an output shaft coupling / fl**ge, which in held in place by a single nut. Attached to this shaft is the propeller coupling and propeller shaft, which eventually connects to the propeller. Kinda like "the knee bone is connected to the shin bone...."
We discovered that the nut had somehow backed off the output shaft, hence the output coupling was not attached to the transmission output shaft at all, and the entire prop shaft did not turn as a result, but the transmission output shaft was spinning like normal. Some more troubleshooting determined there was nothing wrong with the transmission, but that the grooves on the inside of the output coupling / fl**ge, that mesh with the splined output shaft, were ground away to nothing. So even if we re tightened the nut, the output coupling would just spin on the splined output shaft. What are the odds ? After weeks of free time on this island, we discovered several interesting internet discussions of other sailboats having the exact same issue, hmmm.
So, our US friend, along with Elias at Pack West Marine, the Yanmar dealer in San Diego, confirmed our findings, verified the required 4 replacement parts (fl**ge, seal, nut and o-ring), and ordered the parts. This was on a Monday. By Wednesday, all parts arrived Pack West Marine and were collected and sent out via Fed-Ex international Express shipping. The parts arrived Panama by that Friday afternoon. Light at the end of the tunnel.
Now, we are actually part of a sailing group called the Panama Posse. Good people. And we were using the Panama Posse's chosen "facilitator" to transport our parts to us in Panama. Here is the other part of the equation. Remember, very limited WiFi on this Island. Plus Jeremy has no cell phone. My communication was being done via my cell phone, using my Google Fi and WhatsApp. Even getting a water taxi to bring us to the mainland, the closest being 14 nm away, a tiny fishing village called Boca Chica, was a problem. We managed to get Jeremy to Boca Chica by hitching a ride with a local who was boating from our island resort to Boca Chica. Once on shore, I would relay any messages to Jeremy's email. He took his laptop and was guessing there would be wifi. It all worked as planned, so far, so good. But then, I received a message from the "facilitator" that before he was able to drive our parts to Boca Chica, his car was broken into and all contents, including our parts, were stolen. Panama, it seems, screwed us yet again. That Monday I managed to get another email to Elias at Pack West Marine and reordered all 4 parts, again. This time, Dietmar, the founder of the Panama Posse group, got involved and he coordinated and paid for all the re ordered parts and shipping.
Our parts finally arrived for the second time and this time our logistical plan to retrieve them from Boca Chica was an actual plan. When Jeremy was in Boca Chica several days ago, he connected with Chuy (Chewie), a local water taxi guy, who for $ 300 each way, was, was happy to help. He even had his own WhatsApp number. So after almost 30 days stuck of this boat, with only salt water baths, I decided to go to Boca Chica with Jeremy, get our parts, have a decent meal, a cold beer and a shower, before returning to Intrepid the following morning.
1 hour of work, (we decided not to replace the hard rubber seal, it seemed perfectly fine), and we had a working transmission again ! Except, like everything else, it was not that easy. The Nut was not cooperating. It seems the last 2 threads of the output shaft were damaged, and without the correct tools (ie a small metal file), we eventually used a metal hacksaw blade to clean out those threads. Plus realizing that it was reversed thread helped as well, oh boy. It took about 6 hours!
Now the seal. Upon inspection it seemed the only reason it leaked was due to the nut backing out. On the other hand, we would have to remove the old one, insert the new one, which was held in place by some pressure springs on the inside, and hope we didn't break something else. So, reusing the old seal seemed very reasonable. I may replace the seal next summer when I plan to remove the prop and prop shaft to balance the propeller and change the cutlass bearing. Somehow seems easier to tackle the seal at that time. Not to mention I will re tighten that nut anytime I have the 2 fl**ges apart. I've learned this lesson.
As for the next step, ah, the plot thickens. We will probably stay here in Golfito about 6 - 9 days, exploring Costa Rica. No rush now. Then a direct 8 - 9 day sail to Chiapas Mexico. Now, after 2 hurricanes and the loss of about 1000 Marina slips, marina slips are extremely difficult to find. In fact, despite repeated emails and telephone calls to the marinas in Puerto Vallarta and Mazatlan, I cannot confirm any space for the off season (May - November). Plus I don't have the time to go north to, say Guaymas, so I've decided to leave Intrepid at the Marina Chiapas. Besides Guaymas could not confirm a spot either. I've already been in contact with Memo, the Marina Chiapas manager, and he told me they can facilitate my requests, no problem. Marina Chiapas is safe, protected, new, has great workers and super cheap. Dare I say the Panama Posse summer rate is $ 300 per month! So, not quite where I wanted to go this season, but a Plan B I'm excited and comfortable with 😎 It will be interesting to hear where all these cruisers end up with their boats for the hurricane season. I'll be back in Colorado on the morning of May 1.
Oh, one last item. I will be conducting 2, twelve day offshore passage making master classes next season. Information to be put on our Web site very soon.
Hold Fast
Tim
(Hold the presses. Today I received a reply from Paradise Village Marina in Puerto Vallarta that they do have space, BUT, not sure if I have time, and motivation to go the extra 800 nm north from Chiapas. Maybe Puerto Vallarta is a next year plan. More to come)
