All out of time
Fleck
Tue 4 Dec 2007 03:09
|
Position 09:32.70N 78:54.10W
A little letter home, whilst I wait for my grib
files to come through (the weather maps that we use).
Very sad to be spending my last day in the San Blas
Archipelago, with so many anchorages still not seen. At my age there is the
sneaky suspicion that it may be a long time before I return!! Tonight it is
obvious that I am approaching civilization, because the price of lobsters has
quadrupled in the last thirty miles. Two dollars each seems quite ridiculous,
until you remember what it's like in the real world. I am anchored in the
Western Lemon Cays, not completely bliss, as there are huts on all the Islands,
and I have been giving away sweets and money to get rid of the kids and mola
vendors. The snorkelling this afternoon was however superb, around a gap in
the reefs which I had been told about and was able to locate, an amazing variety
of coral and masses of big fish, still no sharks. A big current through the gap
was a bit frightening towards the end: it was a very long haul back to the
dinghy, which was anchored on the reef, upcurrent.
The bad news, my watch jumped overboard this
morning. I felt it fly off my wrist as I was winching in the genoa. I think that
the clasp just gave out. Amazing however how it found it's way overboard. Both
Geoff and Conny have however lost glasses in similar circumstances, so we know
it can happen. It was due for battery change, and last time it cost nearly
as much as the watch to have this done. So, worse things happen at sea. You need
the time on a boat, for all sorts of navigational things, so I have lots of
backups. There is a fine German brass ships clock: a Wempe, very reliable, so
long as the battery works. It didn't. No problem, loads of spare batteries. But
no, never seen one this shape in my life!!
No problem, Deb's travel clock works, because it
also has a funny little battery that I replaced in Lisbon; after a merry dance
around the ferreterias, I even bought two extra spares. But no, Deb's clock also
on the blink, and DC shock with new batteries fails to restore a pulse. I am
pleased to report however that my long stop Woolworths alarm travel clock, four
pounds, AA batteries, works a charm, but it looks a bit odd on my wrist. Anyway,
another couple of days and we should have a mobile phone network, and then I'm
staring at my GPS system, and realise that it knows the time to about a
millionth of a second, even if it is universal time, which is certainly not how
the Panamanians set their clocks!
|