Rio Dule, Guatemala

March 17, 2022

Hot and windy

Hey Everyone, I'm back and yes, we are still here!  So Plan A did not work out and I'm not sure if we are Plan B or C at this point.  I am beginning to feel like a resident of the country.  We are continually saddened to hear of the news from Ukraine and pray that this can come to an end soon.  If you do not read Heather Cox Richardson on YouTube of Facebook you should as she comments 6 days a week on the US and the Worlds issues....all are fact based.  

So, it is now the consensus that our boat was hit by lighting, while it was on the "hard" at RAM Marina.  Due to the fact that all our systems were down that is most likely the case.  And, God forbid we have not even gotten to the toilets (the heads) which are also electric.  Oh me.....well we have sailed for 8 years with hardly any issues this big, so I guess we were due.

Charlie has completed the hot water installation, no easy feat and all while laying on his back or side in our back quarter berth (bedroom/garage).  Everything is an effort (our boat motto), but all the spaces are so small to work in.  We are having a portion of the head space in the quarter berth cut our for more storage - actually all of Charlie's fishing poles, so now whoever sleeps there can actually store items on the side shelf....Haley that should make you happy!  We have had a young woman, Veronica, come and clean all of our sofa cushions.  They look almost new and we are very happy with that.  She also tried to clean the 3 carpets but we ultimately had to hit them with a water pressure sprayer to get all the dirt out of them.  

     Can you tell I still don't know how to move my pictures around. 

                                                                   

 So yesterday Charlie decides it is time for me to go up the mast and sew a leather boot on the end of our spreaders.  Our mast is 53' tall and I am a little over half way up.  The spreader is a horizontal metal strip that separates the shrouds coming down from the top of the mast to the deck of the boat.  The shrouds are 3/8" twisted stainless steel cables.  So there I am "sewing" this piece of leather onto the end of the spreader with a 3" needle and waxed thread.  I was a little nervous as I have not done this for about 6 years.  Then today I went up again and sewed the other boot on the other end of the spreader, not so nervous today and I got it done in half the time.....yeah me!  So we continue to push forward and tomorrow we will know if our electronic parts arrive from the states via mule (friends of our electrician are arriving hopefully with out stuff).  If this happens there is still hope for a sailing season.  Hope you stay well, spring is around the corner.  Hasta Luego!