Chipping away. We say it every day, and it’s true. We’ve managed to install a couple of bilge pumps. We’ve managed to get both engines and fuel systems operational. Fixed a ton of minor things. Wired in everything. Got the watermaker running 100%. But we haven’t done much diving. And there hasn’t been any real adventure (besides going to Colon, which is always an adventure). No sailing to speak of.
There were two more of those hectic work-sprints, where we worked until damn near midnight. We’ve had two solidly philosophical nights with Oliver – quite times with beer and a nice sunset (funny there aren’t more of these philosopher/sailors around). There was a trip to Panamarina for a much-needed break. We had another friend visit from Panama City. Some of our boat-neighbors left, which is always a small bummer. We tried night-diving but were completely rained out before we got any real diving in.
Then we headed into Colon.
I usually feel like being armed when you’re traveling is more trouble than it’s worth. Not so in Colon. I actually feel a bit naked without some means of defense there. That’s not a place I like to feel naked in. Josh agrees, so we pack a fair amount in the way of self-defense. After all, we’re gringos with long blonde hair in a very dark, very poor city. We stick out. A full day of running around and dealing with less-than-helpful people, in a foreign language, in a city that looks more like a war-zone than a proper place to live left us exhausted and needing a few stiff drinks. I’ve been to Baghdad and Caracas, during war (ish) times. Colon isn’t quite at that level, but it’s getting close.
All that probably doesn’t sound like much. But all of that is real. The dream of sailing around the world comes with a unique set of “entry-fees.” They’re not always monetary, but I will say that the bank account drains quickly during a refit. These entry-fees are very rarely apparent on the surface. So while you may be looking for more crazy adventures of us diving and landing monster fish and eating crazy amounts of sashimi – that may come. But the first part of this is, in fact, one of those entry-fees.
All that said: we did bring on our newest crew member: Honey. She’ll be hanging with us for a bit, I hope. As of now, between the three of us we have the majority of the roles covered. It ought to be a fun when we really get in the groove. I’ll post some pictures at some point. We stuck with tradition: we drank and played cards for Honey’s first night aboard. Nothing crazy, we were all in bed before midnight.
On another note, it’s continuing the monsoon thing here. Meaning that it pours rain on us at least once a day. That’s remarkably frustrating when you’re in the middle of a project and you have to pack up a bunch of wet tools and hurry inside. It also makes a mess out of everything onboard. Leave paper out? Trashed. Leave a hatch open? Major mess. Need to dry something? It’ll be up there for a week before it gets enough sunshine to be dry. Ditto on wet books.
I’m ready for the dry season. So ready.
And, although there are still a ton of work we need to do – I’m starting to feel a bit more confident about getting under way in early December. We need to tighten up the engines, but after that – there’s not much left to do. We’ve made startling amounts of progress, something Josh deserves some real credit for.
Anyways – don’t drop off the mailing list quite yet. We’ll do some sailing soon, and undoubtedly get into some trouble. Then I’ll write and you’ll smirk and think about how you would never do something like that. And you’ll probably be right.
More Refit
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