I’ve been trying to post more regularly, but the weird Laws of Internet here are working against me. If I happen to have a couple of hours to burn and it’s not doing the monsoon thing (never) – I head to the only Internet spot in town. But this spot is also a dive shop – so they open at 10:30 and shut down around 6PM. Often taking off to dive – and yes, they shut down the Internet when they leave to dive.
And said dive shop/Internet spot is closed on Monday. It’s crazy to me that the Internet has hours of operation here. It also costs (an exorbitant amount of) money for access here in Puerto Lindo. The whole thing goes against everything I’ve believed about the net.
No Brakes
The big news is that a) I have a car (which almost killed me) b) I finally went diving again c) the damn starboard engine still isn’t fixed (but I know what’s up).
Let’s start with the car.
I’m in Puerto Lindo, which is the boondocks. It’s a solid 1.5 hours from Colon and about 2.5 from Panama City. Neither are particularly fun drives. But it’s better to drive than to ride one of the buses. So I needed a car. So I found a cheap SUV in town, which is a massive piece of crap – but I got it for $1700. Not bad, as vehicles here are a little pricey.
Victor – the guy who sold it to me, is a cripple. He doesn’t have use of his legs, at all. Which makes negotiating with him a guilt-ridden exercise (exercise pun not intended). But he was asking $2500, and that thing (now mine) is a rust-bucket. So he eventually said yes to $1700. But we needed to get it registered in my name, in Colon. The way there was uneventful – but on the way back the brakes completely gave out. Read that again.
The brakes gave out, at 50 mph, with a red light in front of us.
It was going to be ugly – crappy seat belts, no airbags. I wouldn’t be pretty anymore. The good news is that some of that split-second decision-making, gained running through traffic at warp-speed on top of a motorcycle, kicked in. I took the SUV through the median, went airborne, weaved through oncoming traffic, and then threaded it through the red light – all without getting smashed to pieces. Victor and our other passenger? Squealing like little girls.
Long story short – the brake lines were bad. Fixed at Victor’s expense. It’s taken us three trips to Colon to get the damn thing registered, and Colon isn’t a tourist destination. So there’s that.
Engine Wiring – The Bane of My Existence
On to the engine. I thought I had it figured out – a faulty connector in the wiring harness, next to the engine. But after circumventing that, the engine would continue to start by itself. The engine still starts randomly. So I tore the boat apart again and we think that the boat has a short actually in the wiring harness itself.
Today I’m pulling all of the wiring harnesses and taking them to my German mechanic. He’ll test them, and may be able to fix the issue. If not, we’ll simply run another wire from the panel to the engine, removing the faulty one. Either way, I’m supposed to be done by Thursday. But if it were legal to kill folks for wasting your time in Puerto Lindo – this place would have a population of zero.
On to Isla Grande
After a week messing with my engine and dealing with a POS SUV, I needed a break. All work, no play. That’s what I came down here for, right?
So I convinced Amy and Austin to come spend a couple of days aboard, where we’d eat and drink too much – and maybe even take the boat out to Isla Grande. We succeeded on the first count, failed on the second. Turns out motoring a catamaran out of a tight harbor with only one engine is not easy. With sails up, we’d have been alright – but without the sails up, she prefers to go in circles.
Nonetheless we made it out to Isla Grande (in the dinghy), and spent a day diving, eating, and relaxing. We all got sunburned. It was nice.
Underwater 12V LED – Nighttime Entertainment
Then there’s the fun we’ve been having fishing and watching my underwater LED lights. It’s a great form of after-dark entertainment. For about $100 I bought a waterproof, 12V, LED light. It attracts all kinds of crazy stuff – even when the fishermen are gill-netting 5 meters from your boat (which they are). For instance – a sea turtle (twice). He just comes in, glides around the light for a few minutes and then takes his leave. Last night we caught one of his remoras on a fishing line, unfortunately. You can see some of the bait in the picture above…
I’m Over Puerto Lindo
All in all, I’m done with Puerto Lindo. It’s time to start moving. Past-time to start moving, really. So I’ll be home-basing here – for provisions and boat stuff, because I have a car, a mooring ball, and it’s close to San Blas and only a short sail from Cartagena. But as soon as the engine is fixed I’m out for a few days. Then I’ll do a longer sail through San Blas in mid-July. And hopefully take a nice, long 3-week sail through San Blas to Cartagena with a buddy in August (Craig, you hoodlum - you better come through).
It sounds like friends will be flying into Panama occasionally, so I’ll be back and forth. But what was once charming, is now annoying. The honeymoon is over and Puerto Lindo looks different. Now it looks more like what it is – a sleepy fishing village where it’s either baking-hot or pouring rain (and sometimes both). When there’s a bit of sunshine it’s great – but right now that’s more the exception than the rule. Other places (San Blas and Cartagena, for instance) are still pretty sunny this time of year.
Luckily for me, I have a floating house. When this engine is fixed (this week, I’m promised), I’ll be free to move on and find somewhere new and exciting.
No Brakes, No Engine
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