This weekend we worked on the final touches of preparing the boat for dry storage and overall it is looking better and better. One very unfortunate development we found was that during the time we were in Tikal, someone or something cracked the glass on the boat's solar panel. Since a 120 watt panel is about $600 new (in the U.S.), we hope it is possible to just replace the glass, instead of having to purchase and ship a completely new panel. This damage to the boat really put a damper on our day. Nancy and I were quite agitated with things and Jessica was trying to maintain a positive outlook. I let the seeds of anger get planted but when I later read this blog and all of the wonderful things you all have written I was able to dig up the seeds and throw them away. Thank-you. This is great therapy.
Yesterday we finished putting the tarps on the boat with help from fellow boaters Jay and Barbara. They then took us back to their boat and fed us too! That is not the way it usually works. I thought we were supposed to feed them! There are some really awesome people down here and we are getting a lot of support from the boating community.
We are cooking breakfast and lunch in the house that the Marina Bob has allowed us to stay in. We go out for dinner about 50% of the time. We shower often to cool off and temporarily remove the sticky sweat from our bodies. We get one news channel down here in ingles: Fox News. It can be quite hilarious, especially since at this point we feel so removed from the "ordinary" goings on of our home country.
We will be waxing the topsides of the boat tomorrow. We were told that if you put a heavy wax on the fiberglass and do not buff it off, it will weather better while we are away. News to me. I always found that the longer you waited to buff wax the harder it was to remove the film. Hmmm....
Well, we are planning to fly to Alaska on Saturday, but if you go to NOAA's hurricane site you will see that IKE is heading towards Texas and will be centered over Houston at 2 pm on Saturday. We are scheduled to arrive in Houston at 2 pm on Saturday. Volcanoes stalled our trip south to Guatemala, and now hurricanes may stall our trip north on the way back. I guess God thinks we need to work on our patience a bit more.
Well, I'm not feeling especially inspired with creativity to write at the moment. Marina Bob took us swimming in the river today on his Bayliner and my brain got a bit soggy I guess. Hopefully we'll have good "judicial" news for you by Friday.
Love Us.
