Category Archives: Cruising Life

Describes an experience regarding the boating lifestyle of our travel.

Colon, Panama to Port Antonio, Jamaica, Days 1 – 4

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Tuesday, February 25, continued… After bypassing the battery protect device, and having Zeus set to 60% max load (~100 amps at cruising RPM), it was time to do some testing. First, Eric ensured switching to emergency power would work. He turned off the house bank via the BMS (simulating what had happened earlier), and then initiated emergency power by paralleling in another battery bank. It worked. Then Eric simulated being on a passage. He turned the main engine on, revved up to 1750 RPMs, and had all underway systems on. He watched the power readings like a hawk. This is where it got a bit weird. Every 400 seconds the Zeus restarted itself. Charging went to zero; but it had restart delay, so it took about 30 seconds to start charging again.

In general, we use about 60 amps underway, and this was actually enough charging for us to do the passage. However, watching the Zeus reset over and over made Eric nervous. He ran the engine for almost two hours, checking and watching. Eric had to made a decision: try to make it to Jamaica with a questionable alternator regulator, or re-check-in to Panama and try to troubleshoot more. Since the weather windows here were few and far between, he did not want to give up this window.

Now that we were certain that emergency power via paralleling another battery bank, we knew we could utilize the generator and the secondary alternator to charge the batteries. If there was a problem with the Zeus again, Eric would switch to emergency power, restart the LiFePo battery system, and run the generator to continue operating Kosmos via the LiFePo battery bank. He wanted to keep the secondary alternator in reserve and the other battery banks in reserve, as well. He also wired the ignition trigger voltage to a breaker in the pilot house, so if things started to go awry with Zeus, he could shut it down easily.

Keith and Christi helped with the testing/rewiring. Once Eric was done, Keith did archery with his friends. We had dinner in the marina restaurant.

On Wednesday, we didn’t need to wake up until 0500 to do the last minute things before going to sea since Kosmos was still mostly ready to go. Eric was feeling confident that that if there was another issue with the Zeus, he could turn it off via the switch that he’d wired up yesterday.

We untied at about 0600. This morning was much gloomier than yesterday, which felt ominous. We passed through the channel from the marina into the bay at low RPM’s, just as we had yesterday. When we were far enough into the bay that we felt like we were safe from any potential obstacles, Eric revved up the engine. All worked fine. 

We exited Limon Bay via the east entrance. The big ships only use the west entrance, so we’d anticipated less traffic. Here were two ships passing in the west entrance.

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ARCO Zeus Endangering Critical Failure

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Note: Christi normally writes the blog posts, however, since this is a boat technical post, Eric has authored this one.

Tuesday, February 25: We rolled out of bed at 0400 and did all the last minute things we always do before going to sea. Our first inkling that something could be wrong came at about 0530, when I turned on the main engine to warm it up. Before we get into the details, here is some important background information:

While underway, electricity to charge the batteries for Kosmos is made from an alternator on the main engine. It is an important system, and having electricity from the main engine allows us to run all the boats systems without running the generator. While underway, the boat uses quite a bit of electricity for air circulation, navigation/radar, and all the usual loads (refrigeration, freezer, lights, Internet etc.).

The main engine alternator is externally regulated by a product from ARCO called Zeus. External regulation is a general practice for interfacing with Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePo) batteries, which was part of the upgrades made to Kosmos after we got back from the Sea of Cortez. Zeus has an app and can connect via Bluetooth for configuration and monitoring. Mainly, it can reduce the load on the alternator ensuring it does not overheat. The Zeus box has several sensor wires for temperature, RPM, voltage, ignition, regulator control, etc.

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Getting Ready to Depart Panama

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Sunrise on Sunday February 23

When we arrived in Shelter Bay Marina on January 19th, we’d expected to move on in the first few days of February. However, the weather has been uncooperative, so we’ve stayed about 3-weeks longer than anticipated. We were happy to see that the weather was finally cooperating and we could leave on Tuesday in the very early morning.

The majority of Sunday was spent getting Kosmos ready to go to sea. Since we’d been at Shelter Bay so long, we’d unpacked a lot of items from the assorted deep, difficult to access storage spaces. Getting it all put away was a Jenga game, as everything needed to be carefully packed so it wouldn’t shift when the boat was rocking. 

Eric also led a kids’ D & D session. In the evening, Christi and Eric went for a walk in the jungle, following the road to Gatun Bridge for about 3/4 mile, until we got to a small bridge over a stream. Unfortunately, there was no walkway for part of the bridge, and being a blind curve, we decided it best to not walk in the road. We turned around and went back to the marina. The expanse between the T-intersection and the bridge where we turned around was mostly jungle. 

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More Exploring the Ruins of Ft. Sherman

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On Saturday, February 22, the sun was about to peek over the horizon when the giant black cloud to the left blew in front of it and blocked the sunrise completely. 

This morning, the water was still not working. The dockmaster assured us that this time, he was being more proactive. He was making arrangements for water trucks and working on a strategy on how to get the pressure up enough to ensure that the water made it to the boats. However, the plan didn’t need to come to fruition because water was restored  in the mid-afternoon.

In the afternoon, Eric led another kids D & D session. Afterwards, the kids went to the pool and Eric joined them. 

While they were playing, Christi decided to explore more of the ruins that we’d seen along the road to Gatun Bridge. We’ve already mentioned that the marina was directly northwest of what had been the military air strip, which was now used as a Panamanian Coast Guard base. The majority of the Coast Guard Base was set back from the road, and there were several ruins along the road that were not currently utilized by the Coast Guard.  

Where the road turned south, Christi spotted some birds walking around. What made the species noteworthy were the red, beady eyes, which made them look a little zombie-esque. We’d seen some of them at the beach on Wednesday, and as they walked amongst the trash near the derelict buildings, they’d only added to the creepy feeling of the beach that day. 

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Breakfast at Rume and Lying Low at Shelter Bay Marina

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Sunrise on Thursday February 20

The day that we’d gotten pizza and gelato, we’d stopped by the three bakeries to see what they stocked. We’d gotten a loaf of bread from the one called Rume. It turned out to be one of the best sourdoughs we’d ever had. We’d also noticed that they opened at 0730 for breakfast. 

Since the car didn’t have to be returned until 0930, that left us just enough time to get breakfast at Rume. The food was great, and we were thrilled to be able to get out of the marina one more time. 

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