Sailing siblings

Mabel Stock, her brother Ralph, a friend Steve and an unnamed paying passenger passed through the Panama Canal in December 1919 on the sturdy Norwegian cutter Ogre. They were towed to a quiet anchorage in Balboa away from the boat traffic but within rowing distance of the shore.

There we dropped anchor, realising that though the Ogre was possibly the smallest craft ever allowed through the Panama Canal, yet she had given far more trouble than the biggest liner afloat could possibly have done. And yet, during the entire passage we had received the utmost courtesy, help and kindness from both those in authority as well as all concerned.

It was in Balboa that an unexpected windfall saved the situation. My brother heard from his agent in New York that the cinematograph rights of a short story had sold for a healthy sum, and on cabling for and receiving this amount, we were able to continue the cruise. Otherwise it would have come to a full stop there and then […]

The day before we sailed was a busy one. The boys attended to the fetching of the chronometer and buying large scale charts of some of the groups of islands we meant to visit, besides getting our clearance papers whilst I saw to the stores. We had to lay in quite a lot here, also, we had to replace the meat which had been subjected to burial at sea and get special biscuits for our passenger. Oil for the engine, both paraffin and lubricating, was needed. We made two journeys in the dinghy, and on the last one our passenger, in handing the lubricating oil into the dinghy, upset it over me and ruined my frock […]

The next day we were up early, and with the pilot aboard, we were taken out through the buoyed passage into the Panama Bay. We now felt that we were nearing the South Sea Islands as we were really in the Pacific at last. We had a fine breeze which held all day and well into the night, when it started to rain heavily.