After a great day passing through the Panama Canal, we arrive in Cristobal at around five on Wednesday afternoon. The plan was to carry straight on out into the Caribbean, but the grotty weather can't wait to get its nasty little hands on us again. The wind is blowing at 30 knots from the east, so we decide to stay put overnight, and wait for it to drop.

But when we set out at first light on Thursday morning, it's not that much better. The wind hasn't dropped much, if at all, and it's coming at as from the front and side. We're going into huge waves, riding up them and then slamming down the other side. It's extremely uncomfortable.

We had hoped that, weather permitting, we could at least have taken on one of Cable and Wireless Adventurer's round the world legs, as this is the first point where our routes pretty much coincide. It would be unofficial, because they went from Panama Colon to Kingston, whereas we're going slightly further, to Port Antonio. But they obviously had much better conditions. They did their 546 mile journey averaging nearly 19 knots. At the moment, we're lucky to average 10.

By midday, we've passed lots of pieces of flotsam and jetsam. I spot what looks like a broken piece of a varnished wooden oar floating in the water. Later we see a broken wooden spar, possibly the remains of a mast, this time upright in the water. Could there be a submerged boat beneath it? We've not heard any coastguard report of a vessel in trouble, but naturally we're keeping our eyes skinned.

Clive Tully

Copyright Clive Tully ©2002
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