Sun-Wed, July 27-30th - Boat Chores and Mary's Birthday Party

Since we left Golfito, Costa Rica, we have not had easy access to a chandlery or hardware store. The reality of cruising is that you have to spend a lot of time, maybe 4-5 days out of the week, taking care of boat related stuff. We'd been putting a lot of that work off while we explored Pacific Panama so our boat "To Do" list had grown quite a bit in the last few months. So right away the on the 2nd morning we dug in and started doing boat chores by taking the ample trash into shore. We disposed of the many accumulated bags of trash & recyclables, then spent much of the afternoon scoping out the area facilities for ATMs, Internet, etc, and researching the travel guides for supermarkets, pharmacies, bookstores, etc.

On Monday morning we took the dinghy ashore. Being hit and miss, after going to two or three places, I had managed to locate a variety of "necessities", including a couple of new strainer baskets for our water-cooled devices, some waterproofing spray to treat canvas, replacement and spare navigation light bulbs, as well as an array of fishing lures to restock my supply. Back at the marina, I also stopped by the convenience store and picked up a case of beer and a case of Coca Cola, which, on a boat, you can never have too much of!

By our fourth day in P.C., Tuesday, we were really starting to get into the swing of fixing things on the boat. I made a morning run with a Taxi driver and picked up more supplies: bug bombs, weather stripping, 12V fans, paint, and acetone. Back on the boat I finally got to the task of replacing all the salt-water hoses used in the cooling system for our water-cooled freezer. Over the last few months the hoses had filled with barnacles and only a trickle of water was still flowing, reducing the efficiency of the freezer and increasing our energy usage. It was a warm day outside and even warmer below, and after much sweating I finally ran about 20' of hose thru the various bilges and compartments and was able to improve the flow of water thru the system.

The next day, I attacked a leaky faucet, taking it apart and putting it back together and replaced the weather stripping on the freezer, which was in really bad shape. When it became Wednesday, July 30th, we scheduled to go into shore with "the gang" to celebrate Mary's Big 5-0 Birthday tonight. Being from New York, she wanted to go to an Italian restaurant, so after meeting for drinks & presents at Bennigan's, we all walked about 1/2 mile to the Amador Resort where there was a nice little Italian Restaurant. Everyone from KETCHING UP, WAHOO, DELPHIN SOLO, SPIRIT, and PIPE DREAM was there to celebrate with JENNY's crew. It was a good time and the food was great. Happy Birthday Mary!