After a ‘day off’ it was business as usual on board SV Beaujolais. In order to punish Roger for leaving her, Beaujolais decided the pump on the refrigeration needed to be replaced.

It had been making a ‘funny noise’ for the last 2 days he was away and when we came to put in on, it just died. Fortunately, we had a spare. But now we have to put another one on the ‘list’ (this is the things we need to buy list), to replace the spare!!!

He also spent half the morning doing an oil change. All of this in 30˚+ temperatures in the engine room.

Then there is the ‘other’ list. This is the list of all the jobs that need doing on the boat. I have my own list, which sometimes coincides with what Roger has on his list. I managed to tick 3 things off my list while he was away.

So as we speak we are fixing the bracket on our new table and also sealing the companion way hatch cover. The table is because the new table is marginally thinner than the old table, so the fastenings need to be adjusted to support the table better (don’t panic Denis we haven’t destroyed the table)

The hatch cover has moved up the list in order of priority, as on our passage down here, with some of the waves that were crashing over the deck, the water went under the cover, over the sides of the hatch and ran down into the saloon. So on more than one occasion, whichever one of us was sleeping on the daybed at the time, got a rude awakening as cold water splashed on them!!

It had never been sealed, but then again it had never been a problem before.

The solar panel that Roger had brought out with him from his trip, was damaged on arrival here. The glass was broken. However, it doesn’t seem to have affected its performance. But that now has to go on the list to make it weather resistant again.

Neither of the lists really seem to go down. For every one thing you cross off, you then seem to add at least another two on!!!! Ah well, that’s sailing for you.

At this moment in time we don’t know whether we will leave Cartagena tomorrow or Friday but we know we have to be somewhere in the San Blas (don’t know where yet and it is a two day sail to get there) by the 8^th April to pick up Chris, who is joining us for a week.

Departure day minus 1: Yes we are planning to leave tomorrow!! We spent the day provisioning the boat, as we intend to spend the next 6 weeks in the San Blas islands. Lynne, Rogers’ sister is also joining us now, so Roger also went and stocked up on wine.

Beaujolais is still not happy, not only did the pump need replacing, but the fridge and freezer aren’t working now!!!

Roger went off to the office to phone the refrigeration engineers and lo and behold, they walked past him!! So they obliged by coming straight down to the boat to take a look. They are called the Bad Brothers, but judging from the way they dealt with our problem, the name does not reflect their work. 

At the risk of getting a bit ‘techy’, we had changed the refrigerant from R12 (which is illegal now) to 134A, but, on the advice of the previous engineer in Guatemala, had not changed the oil. Apparently, it now transpires, the old oil is not compatible with the new refrigerant, one being mineral and the other synthetic, and that apparently is the problem.

So at 10am tomorrow they will come and sort out the problem and we will then set sail….well here’s hoping.

We had a new arrival in the harbour today and it caused quite a stir, it was a sea plane. I think that the harbour reflects the city, such an odd mix of old and new, rich and poor, technology and tradition.

In the harbour we have seen, small wooden fishing  cayacas, big container ships, war ships, yachts and now a sea plane. In the city you see beautiful mansions rubbing shoulders with tiny houses, high rise next to ancient fortifications, cars fighting for road space with horse and mule drawn carts, supermarkets competing with street barrows.

It is such an eclectic mix and totally unexpected in a large city. I mean would you expect to see a mule drawn cart in the traffic in London or Sydney?

I can’t make up my mind about Cartagena, it is in a category all of its own.

Now this is going to be the last entry for a while as we do not expect to have internet in the San Blas for the next 6 weeks. However, I can guarantee you some excellent photos and hopefully some interesting reading when we do get back online. So for now folks it ‘hasta luego Amigos!!!!