2010

Feliz ano nuevo y nueva decada!!!

 

Well, it’s that time of the year again. After 7 months as a land-lubber it is time to get back to sea.

 

Before we begin, you may have noticed a very different ‘style’ of blog entry already??

 

Well, Roger has decided to share his technical troubles with the world, so in future any blog entries he adds will be prefaced by  ‘Roger’s Tech Talk’.

 

That way if you are not a technical person, or a boaty, you can skip to the travel entries and vice versa.

 

So as you may or may not know, we are doing the ‘big trip’ this year. After 3 years of pussy footing around with 3 and 6 month trips, we are finally biting the bullet and doing 10 months and crossing the Pacific!!!

 

So I can promise you lots of beautiful destinations on the blog this year and hopefully lots of new experiences and adventures to read about.

 

Christmas and New Year were exceptional. We had great company and amazing food.

New Year at the Florida Yacht Club was fabulous. Great food served with great (expensive) wine, followed by dancing and fireworks, great way to see out one decade and see in the next.

Mother nature also put on her best show with a rare Blue Moon.

According to Nasa a blue moon is  ‘a Blue Moon is the second full moon in a calendar month. Usually months have only one full moon, but occasionally a second one sneaks in. Full moons are separated by 29 days, while most months are 30 or 31 days long; so it is possible to fit two full moons in a single month. This happens every two and a half years, on average.’

The sad thing was that most people were too busy watching the fireworks to look up at the Moon!!!

Like most people, we definitely over-indulged in the food and drink department. I think in my case it was a case of making the most of it before we set sail.

 

We certainly enjoyed partaking of all the luxury foods we will miss over the next 10 months. Which normally would not be a problem, but when condensed into a 3 week period, it is not good for the waistline!! So we have signed up for the dramatic weight loss program aboard the SV Beaujolais (which won’t start until we have finished all of the Snickerdoodles and Russian Tea Cakes that Lynne made for us!!)

 

At present, we are in Bocas del Toro getting Beaujolais ready for the crossing.

 

She was looking very good when we got back last week. The chain plates (for those of you who are not boaties, they’re the bits that anchor the wires that hold the mast up, to the boat) that Roger and Wurth fitted, look great and a bonus is that the lockers are dry (for the first time since we have been on board).

 

We are having Elaine make a new awning made and a water catching awning, plus we are having beautiful new isinglass windows put into the tent. (Please note that the photo was taken through the new windows, that how good they are.)

 

 

 

On the downside, we have a problem with the refrigeration that needs sorting out. Roger and Kevine are working on it as I type.

 

So by the end of January she will be ship shape and Bristol fashion and chomping at the bit to go, as long as Roger doesn’t do himself an injury. As you know from previous entries, Roger’s head usually bears the brunt of all his ‘boat bites’.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well it seems he has had enough knocks on the head so has started on his toes!!! Normally, I will see a trail of blood all over the boat, but he has found a cunning way of dealing with this.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He calls it his toe condoms!

 

 Basically he takes a pair of latex gloves and cuts the fingers off as he needs them and according to size, then puts them on his toes. The condom will also work well on fingers, nice one Roger. It certainly beats bleeding everywhere!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rob and Sheralee ( our Canadian friends from Mexico) join us early February and we are hoping to transit the Panama Canal on Feb 11^th/12^th. Once we have an exact date, we will post it on the blog and if you want, you can log onto the canal webcam and see us as we pass through the locks!!

 

Now I don’t want you to get the wrong impression here. Yes we work very hard, from getting up until sundown, usually in hot humid conditions, but after sundown it’s ‘party time’.

 

Just at the end of the dock (100 feet away) there is the Calypso Cantina, run by Darrien and Dylan, a couple from South Africa.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They are a very colourful couple of ‘30 somethings’ who have lead a very interesting life, they have been artistes, circus performers, event management and who knows what else. So you can imagine how good the atmosphere at the Cantina is.

 

Friday night is dancing night, there is usually live music too. It seems Bocas del Toro is the hang out for guitarists from all over the place. Some extremely talented, others run of the mill. The singing leaves something to be desired, but we are in the back of beyond.  Darrien is the more flamboyant of the two and entertains the ladies. They are both incredible dancers and they put on displays of how it should be done. All in all it’s great fun.

 

I don’t expect that there will be many entries before February, so ciao for now!