Panama - Linton Bay Marina - 5 weeks Living on the Hard

The weather is hot and humid. 32-35 deg C (90-95 deg F) daily, with humidity above 80%.

Thankfully we have our small aircon working 24/7 bringing the temps inside Meshugga down to a manageable 25 deg C.

Living and Working on the Hard as any sailor knows, has its hardships amid constant work, noise, dust and dirt.

I’ve added below compilation of photos of life aboard on the Hard.

Access into our Starboard Front Cabin from the Salon, covered with heavy duty plastic so that the fiberglass grinding does not contaminate the entire boat. The contractors access the cabin from the cabin bathroom hatch.

Our cockpit which looks like a workshop and parts storeroom

Starboard view from Meshugga includes our neighbor Luis, a local Panamanian who runs a Welding Shop

Port view across other boats on the hard to Nancy’s Resturant

The Vege man who arrives every Tuesday and Friday, with Nancy’s in the background

Looking aft, you can see we are ‘blocked’ in as we’ll be on the hard longer than the yachts behind us

Our Flybridge on Laundry Days

Between our hulls, are tables and pallets of materials

At 12 noon, the whole yard comes to a standstill as all the workers and contractors take a 1 hour lunch

Polishing of the hull of the yacht behind us

Dulcinea our neighbor and good friends from South Africa, Ally and Matt Thomas

We have a large extractor in the Starboard Front Cabin, to extract all the Fibreglass Dust, via this big orange outlet tube

The Tube goes into an old Duvet cover, with slots cut into the cover to breathe and the dust into a large Dustbin

Repairs and improvements, a new boarding ladder for our dinghy

One of our Contractors is removing all the old Antifouling and Primer from the Hulls as we are changing the type of Antifouling Paint we’ll apply. He wears full body suit and full face mask. It’s such an awful job, holding a sander for 8 hours a day, and being covered in paint dust in 35 degree C temperature. Worth every penny we pay him.

Garbage galore

The Contractor who is sanding the Hulls, works on different parts, all depending on the Sun/ Shade, and whether it’s raining, so it currently is a patchwork of where he has cleaned.

A general view from the car park over the yachts on the hard

The Marina’s new Security Gate House, still to be painted

Customs Office

You might recall a few posts back that I went to the Dermatologist in Guatemala. In addition to the Lesion on my Face, (Actinic Keratosis) Pre-Cancerous patches on the Face, I had/have a problem with my lips. The Dermatologist diagnosed it as Actinic Cheilitis, which is Pre-Cancer of the Lips aka Sailors Lips. The Dermatologist prescribed a course of HydroCortisone crème for 14 days. Unfortunately the damage is too severe, and so I have had to further do the next course of treatment, which is a Topical Chemotherapy Crème for 15 days, which creates blisters and Lesions. I have completed the Treatment, but full Repair of the Lips will take a further 4-6 months. My lips (especially the lower lip where most of the damage is) are swollen and incredibly painful to the touch especially when eating, brushing teeth or showering. Hopefully I’ve caught it early enough 🤞 A further negative of the Topical Chemotherapy treatment is loosing hair, and the past 3 weeks has been awful every time I brush or comb my hair, I loose a lot of full strands of hair. I hope that as I’ve now stopped the treatment, that the loss of hair will abate too.