Paul & Peter Apart

Adriana joined Hazel so she could finally reunite with Peter and make the Panama Canal transit together. She hadn’t seen him since early January, so once we reached our destination at La Playita Marina in Panama City, the two of them rented a car and slipped away into the countryside for some much needed quiet time. You’ll see glimpses of their adventure in the photos to come.

While they’re off enjoying a well earned escape, I have the honor of readying Hazel for a 5,000 mile nonstop passage across the Pacific from Panama to Hawaii. Preparing a boat for a crossing like this means tackling food, water, fuel, a clean hull, a full freshwater rinse of everything topside, and securing every last item inside and out for ocean conditions.

Take water, for example. Hazel doesn’t have a water maker, so the question becomes: how much is enough? The passage should take about 35 days, but we must provision for 60. I stocked small water bottles that can be stowed in the bilge to keep weight low, giving us 28 gallons. Hazel’s two built in tanks add another 200 gallons. We also bought eight one gallon jugs and a portable five gallon container. Altogether, we’re carrying roughly 240 gallons of usable fresh water. Split between two people over 60 days, that works out to about two gallons per person per day.

Fuel and food follow similar calculations.

A clean hull is another quiet but important advantage. We had a diver spend three hours scrubbing Hazel’s bottom, barnacles, growth, everything. Over a long passage, that effort should earn us about half a knot of extra speed.

Now all that remains is to cast off the lines and watch the shoreline fade. I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t a mix of nerves and excitement. This will be my longest nonstop sail yet.

Psalm 121:7–8

“The LORD will keep you from all harm—he will watch over your life; the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.”

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Peter and Adriana reacquainted as a couple. Together, they headed across the Bridge of America to the jungles of Panama.

All provisions are on the boat except for the fresh fruit still to come!

Hazel moored among her fellow boats at La Playita Marina.

Hazel sits among boats built on an entirely different scale, and the size of their propellers makes that contrast easy to see. She’s the smallest vessel on the dock, tucked in beside neighbors whose hardware looks almost oversized by comparison.

The marina sits in a very beautiful bay surrounded by classic building structures and ample unspoiled jungle wildlife.