Day 1, Panama to Galapagos

1740Z 16MAY19, Day 1, Panama to Galapagos. We departed from Panamá City at 12:40 local time on 15MAY19. We spent the morning doing preparations to get underway, including going into the marina to get fuel and water.

The weather forecasts have not been great - there is not much wind at all in the forecast. This 900-1000nm passage could take awhile and we will have to sail in light winds which will be slow going. However, we decided it was time to move along and our friends on Alesea had set off as well from the Las Perlas islands, putting them about 8 hours or so in front of us.

There was some wind as we left, but it was a local storm and we didn't get much out of it before it died down to almost nothing. We motor sailed and were able to finish up some of our last items on the "to do" list so decided to continue along rather than stop at Las Perlas.

We motor sailed through the night. The winds were largely less than 5 kts and we paralleled the Panama Traffic zone making the night traffic uneventful. Around sunrise the winds were "up" consistently above 5kts and we will just have to sail with light winds, so we started sailing. We have been getting a nice boost from the current.

Current Position: 07 07N 079 36W
24 hour progress: 119nm, 5kts avg SOG mostly from motoring, approximately 770nm to go on the great circle route. The weather is warm and sunny with completely calm seas. Since this morning we've been sailing close hauled with full sails up. We have 4-8kts true wind and have been making about 4kts over ground, making a southerly course.

The crew is all doing well and settling into our routines. The first book on tape is rolling. Things are slow and steady.

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