01 May 2012: At Sea.

 And so the good ship Statendam sailed towards Panama for the final crossing of the season. The weather was as the previous weeks, following winds, strong trade winds, and following swells. This caused the corkscrew motion again that we always have on this stretch and which will last until tomorrow morning 3am when we come under the lee of the Panamanian coast. Luckily the guests have been on board for a few days already and they are used by now to a moving ship; It should not cause too much of an issue. The stabilizers are working overtime (most appropriate on Labor Day I suppose) but they can only counteract the rolling part of this motion. The sudden tilt that occurs when the following swell lifts up the stern is something we just have to live with. 

For the remainder of the day we will be sailing over the Colombian Basin, that large underwater valley area surrounded by mountain ranges on all sides. The south and East are made up by Panama and the South American continent. Here the land has risen higher due to the Plate working of the continents. The mountain ranges on the North sides are lower and thus we can safely sail over them as they do not even come near the surface. People seldom think about this area as being volcanic as there is not much “excitable” activity going on. But the whole Caribbean Sea is surrounded by a “ring of fire” with volcano’s in the area’s were the plates are meeting and the Earth’s crust is thinner. Still the area where we are sailing is quite stable and earthquakes are more prevalent towards Mexico. That is a good thing I suppose as I wonder what sort of havoc an earthquake could cause to the Panama Canal. The locks are probably sturdy enough being relatively small and embedded in bed rock, but the Spill Dam of the Gatun Lake would be another story as it has to hold all the water pressure on one side and there is no support on the other side.

Our donation plans for Corinto are doing well, both guests and crew have donated an enormous amount of clothing and we have been going through every nook and cranny of the ship to find obsolete items and the pile is growing. We are looking now at last 30 boxes of various items including a lot of catering stuff which will be great for the orphanage that we are focusing on. As soon the holiday period in Corinto is over (they do not work on Labor Day, which seems a sort of contradiction in terms) then the local organizations are going to discuss with the authorities what we will be allowed to land/donate and what will further be possible. Last year it was not a problem, so we are hoping for the same enlightened authorities again this year. Keeping my fingers crossed.

I expect to arrive at Cristobal breakwater at 05:00 hrs and if they are ready for us, slide into the convoy line up and progress to the first locks at 06:15 subject to very much change. The weather guru’s have declared that there will be no rain tomorrow but I would not be surprised if that might not work out completely. It is the rainy season and the proximity of the rain forest and natural boundary of the continental divide makes the gathering of rain clouds an almost certainty. Still I do not have a crystal bowl and they do.