The haul out saga

                                                                                      Nov 26 2013

Greetings,

          We are now tied to the wall by the boat yard we are going to “haul out” in. This yard was our second choice but the first choice was a small, family run operation, and we are at the top edge of what their travel lift can handle. When we got there this morning the lift operator took one look at Second Star and said he had to call the owner in, but he didn’t think we could do it. A father, son team owns/runs the yard. The younger Maurice came and talked to the lift operator. The operator showed Maurice and Capt. Johne a questionable shackle and a leak in the hydraulic pump on the lift and it was decided that it would be a bad idea to proceed. Maurice called a bigger yard and told them the problem and that they should give us a good price. He worked the deal for us for a little less than he had been going to charge us and he rode aboard Second Star to guide us to the other yard. I am very impressed with how much he put into good customer service when he lost a customer in the process and got nothing out of it, other than our appreciation and my recommendation that, if you have a boat smaller than Second Star and need a haul out in Cartagena see Maurice at Manzanillo Marina Club.

          Anyway, here we are at Todo Mar and we’ll haul out tomorrow morning. The next two weeks we’ll be working, working, working. The bottom will be sanded and repainted. The prop shaft seals will be resurfaced with fine sand paper and the props, shafts and struts polished and coated with “Lanacote”.  Hook needs a full going over including engine tune up, some fiberglass repair and paint.

          Last Sunday we picked Sharon up and had a go-have-fun-day. We took Second Star out of the harbor and around to the outside and anchored off the beach for the afternoon. It was better than our previous trip to the beach with all the pushy vendors and the constant “no gracias” but this time we were the big attraction for the Jet Ski tourists. They all had to come and make at least one close loop around us. We were the only boat anchored there and, I think we made a good obstacle as well as being something to look at. But it was really nice to be in the cleaner water and be able to go for a swim. We had a nice lunch and cocktails before heading back into the harbor. Just as we were coming in to anchor a squall came through so we motored around until it passed and the wind settled down again (maybe 30 minutes) then we got the anchor reset and had a lovely dinner on the aft deck before returning Sharon to Kokomo Kat.

                                                                             Nov 28 2013 1100 hrs

          Well, we’re still waiting to be hauled out. It’s going to happen this afternoon…no, really. It’s taken a while to get thought the red tape and bureaucracy, and the Latin American pace of doing things. But we have a signed contract with the yard and have paid the deposit, so I really believe we’ll get pulled today. And, if we do, I’ll definitely be giving thanks. Happy Thanksgiving to all from Second Star.

                                                                             Nov 29 2013 11045 hrs

          Okay, you were right. We’re still in the water. But they swear we’ll be pull today. I understand your skepticism. But I have to remain optimistic. After all, things do happen eventually in Latin America. I’m sure, at some point, we will be lifted.

          Last night we had a bit more frustration with communication. It’s my own fault for not being fluent in Spanish yet. We had the young man who is working for us (Ponciano) arrange for a taxi to take us into town for the cruiser pot luck. At 1705 when the taxi wasn’t here I called Ponciano (since I didn’t have the taxi’s phone number) to find out where he was. Ponciano called back a few minutes later to say the taxi was on the way. 15 Minutes later he called again to say the taxi was at the gate. But we were at the gate and there was no taxi. Now Ponciano doesn’t speak English so all of this is in my broken Spanish. It turned out the taxi had gone to a different “Todomar” not the yard where we were. I think Ponciano tried to get another taxi but with the sketchy communication my still not sure about that. After an hour we were going to be so late for the pot luck we just said never mind and came back aboard. I through a frozen smoked chicken in the microwave, made a quick rice pilaf and that, with the cranberry sauce and pumpkin and mince pies I’d made for the pot luck and a nice, dry white wine, was our Thanksgiving dinner. It was very tasty and we consider ourselves fortunate even when faced with such frustration.

                                                                                      1800 hrs

          Woohoo, we’re up. We’re on the blocks. We’ve scraped the THICK lair of barnacles off. Ponciano has raked them up and carted them off in the wheelbarrow, and now they are working on getting the power hocked up. We just had a beautiful sunset and I have a cold beer beside me. Now I just have to make dinner. Here’s to the end of a long stressful week. Cheers! 

A long month

                                                                             Nov 9 2013

Greetings,

          Well, here I am again, writing an update once a month, whether I need to or not. I’ve got a lot to share as it has been a very busy month (hence no updates). I’m going to start with where we are now and go back later to give the how-we-got-here parts.

  

        At the moment we are on anchor in the harbor in Cartagena Colombia. Cartagena is a big city with both modern high rises and an old colonial area. The harbor is well protected from the sea so most of the wave action comes from the boat traffic. So far, it’s very calm at night when the water taxis, jet skis and cigarette boats aren’t running around. We have a varied view around us. To the E is a container loading dock, which is interesting to watch in operation. Just N of that, a four masted, Chilean Naval training ship is docked. Every morning and evening their band plays the anthem while they raise or lower the colors (flags). Most of the anchorage and the marinas are to our N so lots of other boats to look at. The old colonial part of the city is to the NW and to the W are the high rises that line the beach. We arrived on the 5^th and have just begun exploring. It’s a tourist area so you have to “No, Gracias” constantly everywhere you go.  

          Our friends, Daryl and Marcy made the trip from Panama with us and the crossing was wonderful. We had great weather, clam seas and dolphins on at least two watches. (Johne and Marcy saw some at sun rise and I saw them on the first night with bio luminescent trails in the water behind them which was so cool.) We did have a minor problem. The starboard main engine raw water intake developed a leak, which Daryl saw on a regular engine room check and brought to the Captains attention. After shutting down that engine Johne set about seeing how bad the problem was. The strainer assembly, above where it was leaking/cracked, was wobbly when he touched it and it didn’t take much for it to break off the rest of the way. Johne had closed the inlet ball valve but it needs servicing and there was still water coming in. So we made a plastic-bag-and-gaffers-tap patch and got the water stopped. The bilge pumps stayed ahead of the whole thing and it should be a pretty easy repair. But it meant finishing the trip on one engine. Maneuvering in the anchorage was a little more challenging that way, but no big deal.

Canal: The sequel

          Backing up some more; before the trip from Panama to Colombia we had to get back through the canal. I was looking forward to making the transit again. Having done it once, I was much more confident that everything would go smoothly on the return. What I discovered was that, depending on the circumstances at any given moment (What other boats are going through at the same time, weather, currents, how the guys on the wall handle the lines, etc.) each lock is different and even if you think you’re ready, things change on the fly (in one lock a tug joined our group, which meant that instead of being tied to the big tourist boat as we had been for the previous locks, the big boat tied to the tug and we were on the wall behind them. And we didn’t find that out until we were at that lock).  

          The transit started early in the morning. We had Daryl and Marcy aboard already but, we had other friends coming along just for the experience (Ethan, Nancy and 8-year-old Zada who live and travel on their boat, and Kevin, a Brit who works for the embassy here in Colombia and his friend Vanessa). They all had to get to Second Star before 0700 when the canal adviser was supposed to arrive. Kevin and Vanessa arrived by water taxi just as we were getting under way to go to the coordinates where we would pick up the adviser. We had given Ethan that location and he had arranged with another cruiser for a dinghy ride to meet us. They were there when we arrived and, shortly after we’d gotten everyone aboard and situated, we got a call on the radio from the canal authorities saying the adviser was on the way. 45 minutes later he was aboard and we headed toward the canal. He said our first lock time was 0940 so we had plenty of time. Johne ask him when we could be expecting to arrive in Colon. He looked at his paper work and said we weren’t scheduled for the Gatun locks so we’d be staying in the lake overnight. What! That wasn’t in the plan. We had 9 people aboard not counting the adviser (who wouldn’t be staying overnight) and Kevin had plans the next day. Johne told the adviser that one of our passengers had a flight to catch in the morning and ask if there was any way to get us through. He said he’d try but he didn’t seem to think it was likely. Johne went and talked to Kevin about it and Kevin came and asked, if we couldn’t get through, if there was some place in the middle he could get off. Maybe where the tourist boat discharges passengers? Again Armado said he’d see what they could do. Kevin was working for the British embassy in Panama before he went to Colombia. He knows some high up people in the canal authority and asked Armado to say hi for him (a little name dropping never hurts, right?) After Armado had been on the radio with the canal authority trying to make the arrangements, he asked to see Kevin and Vanessa’s ID’s. When he saw Kevin’s diplomat ID the answers started to change. They had told us no on getting all the way through but, when he had talked to them some more he came and said there was good news and bad news. The bad news was they weren’t going to let Kevin and Vanessa get off at the tourist boat stop, but the good news was they were going to let us go all the way through as long as we could get to the lock in time. We weren’t going to have any trouble making the time slot so, with much relief, we cruised on though. So, I’ve decided that it’s good to have a diplomat handy when you need to stack the deck in your favor. I now refer to it as playing the Kevin card. Kevin says the K card doesn’t always work, but it certainly worked well that day.

          The weeks before the transit were a bit stressful. The boat on which Johne had gotten the welding job went out to the Perles and the Darien while the materials were being ordered and the first part of the framing was done. They had said they would be back by the 20^th which would have given Johne enough time, even with some rain delays, to finish the job before his Panama visa ran out. As it turned out, they didn’t get back until the 24^th, having misunderstood the time constraints. So then it was a huge push to get the job done in time. Johne worked long days, even welding until 9:45 one night. While all of that was going on I was trying to make sure everything was ready to go aboard Second Star. From restocking and stowing things aboard, to making sure all the paperwork was taken care of for checking out of the country. In the end it all got done but it was a push and it was good to start for Cartagena and have all that behind us.