Panama - Linton Bay Marina - 2 weeks on the Hard

So it’s been two weeks since we Hauled out. News is that my toe is definitely broken…. Treatment remains the same - RICE. I limp around and go/do things more slowly, but that’s okay. My toe is well strapped to the toes on either side.

Saturday was Ally’s birthday, but due to boat stuff, both Dulcinea and Meshugga decided it’ll be better to celebrate on Sunday, so we all piled into our rental vehicle and set off for El Castillo Restuarant about a 40 min drive away.

Not as though we don’t see the sea every day…. Just saying….

Nicholas has selected a Contractor (he had three quotes). Our Contractor works with two chaps, so it a party of three. They have cordoned off the Starboard Front Cabin with heavy duty plastic and duct tape, and enter the cabin via the forward Heads (bathroom) hatch (ceiling window), with a ladder to get down. Inside the cabin there is a huge extractor and an air conditioner. The contractors work in full suits (like Hazmat) and with full face covers with breathers, so that they don’t breathe in fiberglass or get itchy. It’s been a very noisy two weeks with the Contractors cutting out the Tabs and all areas where the fiberglass has ‘let go’ and where we have tears in the bulkheads.

By end of day, I need a few Tylenol due to headaches from the constant grinding noise and vacuum cleaner and extractor fan going flat out.

Nicholas is taking photographs and I’ll get those from him in due course and post a blog on the repairs.

Here at Linton Bay Marina we are about 3 miles away from a small convenience / hardware store which stocks basic stuff. However, the vege man, Charlie who I met two years ago, and who used to come to the Marina with his truck with fruits and vegetables each day, now has a store on the grounds which is a Refrigerated Container with loads of fresh fruits, vegetables, cheeses and dairy products, and a few freezers with meats. In addition, another weekly truck arrives with great fresh produce as well as coolers with prawns/shrimp and fish on ice. I look out for him as he does not seem to come on the same day each week, and I buy 2-3 pounds of Camorones (prawns/shrimp) for a pig-out.

Camorones sauted in butter, garlic, chillie and ginger with brown rice.

Thankfully we have Aircon running 24/7 inside Meshugga as outside temps are 35 Deg with 80% humidity. It’s great to be able to sleep in relative (to us) coolth - as our Aircon only gets the temperature inside down to 25-27 deg C. At night (for us) it gets positively chilly inside with the Aircon running and the nighttime drop in heat, and in the early hours we need a light blanket over our top sheet :-) Nicholas has linked up drainage hoses to lead out from our kitchen sink as well as our shower and basins -  so we live aboard comfortably.

Bahamas - Ragged Islands, Little Ragged, Christmas

The days blend into each other. It has been hot, humid and windlass, which has caused us not to go to the beach for Sundowners due to this voracious No-Seeums.

One evening we went to Sojourn for drinks, thanks Karen and Duane for the snacks and company.

En-route we saw a small shark in the shallows, hunting for a meal.

Sunset was superb. Nice to get a photo of Meshugga with the Sun setting

Nicholas made us laugh, with the KVH Dome on his head, which Duane was looking at, as to whether to use if for their intended Starlink dish.

With Christmas approaching, I spent a morning making English Mince Pies. The first 12 were largely inhaled as they came out the oven

So I made another 2 dozen…

Christmas Day, we hosted the boats here at anchor and in total we had 9 Cruisers, including ourselves for Luncheon. Everyone brought a couple of dishes, and we had a feast of Lamb, Chicken, Stuffing, Garlic Potatoes, Green beans, Cauliflower casserole, and Corn Casserole, with all the Trimmings. And that was after appetizers. Dessert was a wonderful Carrot Cake and Cheese Cake made by Donna and Karen.

Russ and Carol of Spirit, Jerry and Donna of Blue Jacket, Karen and Duane of Sojourn, Chris of DragonFly, and us

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all our Family and Friends.

Panama - San Blas Islands, Nargana Village

Nicholas needed to get online to the internet so we sailed to this island which had a cell tower and lots of residence Ashore …

Local school

This is the Guana Tribal Meeting House

Outside Privy

Jenny on the bridge between the two islands which make up the ‘Town’

Official Tribual Headquarters

Christianity is huge, and lots of statues of Christ

The only Bank in the Town, with huge Aircon units outside, must be a prime place to work, in this heat and humidity

Not sure, but I think this white washed chap is the Guana leader who ensured Self Governance for the Guana people

General about town in the Residence area

Nicholas waiting patiently for us

Basketball is the ‘National’ sport and keeps all the Youths busy

Local veggie shop where we bought supplies

 

Bahamas - Ragged Islands, Hog Cay, Prepping for a Party

Friday 18th February, and it's all action at Hog Cay Cruisers Yacht Club. 
Tomorrow is Maxines Valentines Party for us Cruisers, and our part is to prep the Hut and surrounding area. 

Here the large table is moved to the centre (which will tomorrow be used for food), and Cruisers are bringing ashore items they are donating for the Auction. A few yachts have only just arrived today, whom we don't know, so Karen is hanging the Notice of Advice so that they can read the protocol for the Party.

Discussions as to what needs to be done

The chaps dug holes and wrapped rope around logs, then burying the logs topped with sand and sea water to provide stabilizers for the upright poles to hold up the corners of the shade cloth

Cori sorting Trash, what can be burnt and what needs to be taken to the dump

Jenny raking the beach around the Trash fire pit

Duane up the ladder tying the one side of the shade cloth to the side pitch of the Cruisers Hut

The shade cloth is up in the front of the Hut, both side shade cloths are still in progress

A beautiful day and peaceful anchorage



USA - Florida, Jacksonville

Sailing past Charleston, you can see the vast amount of Ships on AIS, at anchor waiting to go into Charleston to offload. One can easily see the backlog and how it’s affecting the Supply Chain of goods in stores and on order.

We had a fast sail from Beaufort, Georgia to Jacksonville, Florida, arriving at 10pm

I found it a little scary as we closed the entrance to the St Johns River in the pitch dark, the lights of the buoys competing with the lights on land until we were very close. Nicholas kept telling me to focus on the Navigation Chart, and ignore my eyes.

All went well and we motor sailed 3 miles up the river and anchored out of the channel for the night.

Next morning we waited for the Flood Tide to set in and then motored the 20 miles up the St Johns River to Jacksonville, anchoring opposite the Arlington Marina, and close to where the Volvo Agents, Fordham Marine are.

Some sights along the river

At anchor we were astounded at the sheer volume of Dolphins, many of them juveniles that were constantly swimming everywhere

Thursday was a dreary rainy day, all day long.

We had this crane come sit on our aft Solar Panels

Seeing it was raining, Nicholas said he’d attend to some indoor chores, the Kitchen basin tap had become loose. We unloaded and took out the drawers under the sink and he found that the original washer, was plastic and broken. So he had to fashion a new washer and base plate to stop the tap base from turning, and then he couldn’t find his box of O-rings. We searched for 2 hours going thru every maintenance storage locker. Eventually I said he should re-look where the O-rings are supposed to be kept, and empty everything out of that locker, and Yes we found the box. It had fallen to the very back, out of sight. 2 frustrating hours…

By the time Nicholas got the tap re-installed and pipes reconnected the entire day had passed, fixing one little item that should have taken less than an hour - that’s Boat Maintenance !!!

USA - Georgia, Wilmington River, 4th July, A visit to Brad and Johanna

We spent the week in West Palm Beach with almost no wind. The prediction was for wind to fill in on Friday 2 July, so we waited the 5 days and set off mid morning on Friday 2nd.

The big marinas we’re interestingly not as busy as we’d seen them in December 2020

 

Once again thank you to the Palm Beach Sailing Club who graciously received Amazon parcels on our behalf.

We headed directly east from West Palm Beach, the current pushing us in a NE direction, until we had a good 5 knots of Gulf Stream Current with us, and then we turned north and rode the current until it was time to head inland to Savannah.

Loved seeing the dolphins, we had a school of about 20 playing around Meshugga for a good half hour

We arrived midnight of 3 July at the inlet of the Wilmington River, and dropped anchor there rather than motor at midnight up a dark river.

The following day, 4th July we motored up the river and docked at Brad and Johanna’s house

Johanna comes to visit

We were invited by Brad and Johanna to join them for a 4th July BBQ Party at their neighbors house, also on the river.

Nicholas and Brad shoot the breeze

Linda and Gene’s beautiful house

The most amazing red sunset, followed by superb Fireworks

Himself and me

Linda’s Garden Art