The days are getting better

Tatt av vinden
Bjørn Larsen
Tue 23 Feb 2016 04:30
Today I have been in Shelter Bay for a week. Just working on the boat. On Friday the boat was launched, or splashed as some call it. So now I am testing all the systems. New batteies was necessary. The new ones ar the AGM type. Twice the cost, but hopefully also twice as good. I had upgraded the computer to Windows 10, that caused problems, but an e-mail to Ed in Mailasail solved the problem, thanks to earlier aquired harware. Now the generator is running, the inverter is working, there is water in the tanks, the fridge is holding cold drinks. Etc., etc. New shades for the cockpit made a whole lot of difference. Because it is hot here.
As you understand a lot of trivialities. But that is part of the game. You may read any book on cruising in sailboats, and you will see that this is true.
You adapt. The first few days I asked myself why we do this. But as the boat again starts functioning, and you yourself feel more capable, you get into a positive mode.
This is the season for all those who transit the Panama canal to go to the Pacific. A few boats leave every day, and more are coming. I confess that I envy them.
For most people Panama is only a transit zone. Maybe we shall spend some time seeing a little more of the country before we set sails? Probably we shall have to wait for a weather window anyhow. The last week we have seen more wind than we comfortly like to beat into. We are lazy sailors. We prefere downwind.
Life in the marina is comfortable, and you meet people, both those who share your interest in sailing and others. And here is an ok restaurant, so I do not cook very much. All that (the cooking on board) will change when Eva arrives on Saturday. In the meantime I shall tidy up the boat.