Cosmos

N 09^o 42', W 79^o 57'

It appears my email service is better at giving than receiving. We haven't gotten any new email for 5 or 6 days. I just wrote a request for help to our email provider.

We are on approach to Cristalbol, Panama. We should arrive in a few hours. It is 03:47 as I write this email. I will go ashore and clear immigration and customs for the crew and then we will find more about what services are available in Panama. The literature says to work through the Panama Yacht Club for services and we will do that.

The first part of our voyage was a learning experience as expected. We learned about ourselves and our boat. Most of it not real exciting. Just how to better tend our stomachs and our sails and how to push through nausea to fix food and broken gear.

The winner is the water maker. It makes life on Cosmos much more bearable, even if we don't use as much as is available.

The losers are our steering bolts. The steering has come undone three times. I think we have the problem solved with nuts and then a second self locking nut hold the first nut on each bolt.

The outhaul has broken five times on new track that was installed in Ft. Lauderdale. We think we solved that by running the line through a piece of hose at the point where it gets chafed and breaks.

We have not had our wind direction and speed indicator since it left for repair in Key West. It has been good, actually, to work with the Beaufort scale to determine wind speed and to study the sails more closely to adjust their setting.

I have decided to disassemble the big cabinet-table in the saloon. It is the centerpiece of our furniture, but a hazard in rough seas. It is mounted on the floor of our bridge deck and when seas crash against the bottom of the bridge deck, the table slams horribly. It has all but freed itself from its mounting. I hope to find some table mounting posts in Panama to replace the cabinet and reuse the table surface.

We are looking forward to getting all of the smell and salt off of the boat while in Panama. On Cosmos, if it isn't damp, then it is wet. The height of waves are very difficult to judge. We had waves at least 15 feet and perhaps up to 25 feet, but they were long and non-breaking. We would actually have enjoyed some rain to wash salt from everything above deck.

Now let's hope Panama is friendly and not too hot.