It has indeed been a very long time since I have blogged. I wrote most of this back in Dec. (2023) and then we sailed from the island nation of Curaçao to discover not all of the Caribbean is internet equal. Now it is Leap Day 2024 and I have 1 week of internet available to the iPad to catch y’all up and there is a lot. So buckle up for a little wonder, a dose of fright with a few miracles sprinkled in and last but not least, a healthy dose of terror. WonderThe most exciting thing that happened in our first 4 months in Curacao was that we learned how to play Mexican Train Dominos. Yeehaw. We needed nothing other than the usual vagaries of every day boat life to bring a little balance to our lives. It was nice and boring and we managed to scratch a few jobs off the to-do list, little things like getting the autopilot ram fixed and the helm pump seals replaced and a few other smaller tasks. And then we got a little wonder and life will never be quite the same. Dois and I were on the quay having lattes after visiting the most expensive store on the island, Budget Marine (oh the irony of that name) to buy batteries and replenish our dwindling supply of power. My son and his lovely bride had sent some birthday love so we splurged and bought two batteries! Oh joy, we would be able to sleep through the night again, not have to get up and start the generator to replenish our power at 3am. It was also my birthday and In between sips of my iced latte I nearly choked when Dois asked me if I would like to call the rescue lady to ask if she would bring a puppy by the restaurant to consider as a new boat dog. I tried to stay calm, like he was asking me if I’d like another latte. I replied that that sounded like a nice idea and had her number ringing before he could change his mind. She showed up with a 3 lb, petrified poodle mix puppy. At 12 weeks old she was skin and bones and we would find out later how tick infested the little pupper really was. We named her Kaia (“Street” in Curacao). As she got healthier, we discovered her love of the wind and renamed her Windy which was more who she was and not a street dog anymore. She grew into her 10 lb self at 6 months of age and it wasn’t hard to see that she would be a life-long “little”. Perhaps a terrier poodle mix? Skipper is the true owner of the dog. He has enjoyed teaching her who the real boss is. He and Windy have developed a pseudo friendship that involves running side-by-side through the boat like a herd of turtles. Although they aren’t exactly cuddle buddies yet, anything is possible with a herd. Windy is amazingly agile and challenges Skipper often as she bounds all over the boat with complete confidence. She is not a water dog (yet) and looks like she has an ass full led when swimming, and needs her float coat to survive in 1 foot of water. But like most dogs, she loves herself a dinghy ride. A Dose of Fright and An Embarrasment of Miracles.The first week of December (2023), while getting the Ashika ready for the trip to the Panama Canal, we noticed an unusual noise coming from the galley sink drain. Dois investigated and found the thru-hull (a bronze fixture used to let water in or out of the boat) had failed. In an attempt to slow or stop the leak Dois pushed the valve handle and felt the fixture bend and crack open. The man was the picture of calm as he emerged from our engine room and said “we are in trouble, we could be sinking”. The bilge pump was keeping up with the amount of seawater coming in, but the fixture metal was very weak, if it had cracked open we would have had no chance keeping up with the inflow. He grabbed a wood plug, a large mallet and dove under the boat to try to plug the hole and stave off the ocean. Dois did all the sanding and most of the painting (of course I was Picasso), replaced the damaged thru-hull fitting and found a battery cable that had been left behind from a past battery replacement project. It was a live wire that had been delivering electricity to a small leak from the generator. That leak found a path to the thru-hull and hence, electrolysis ate up our bronze fixture. There was a pile of green slime in the bilge where the copper lug use to be. Bad things happen on the back of multiple failures. But Lady Luck only goes so far and it was pay-up day. We used our Panama Canal funds to haul out and repair the boat. Our spirits were low, disappointment was high. We focused on counting our blessings while planning a u-turn to go to Puerto Rico. We have gotten pretty good at turning on a dime and decided since P.R. was a part of the U.S. it might be helpful for getting parts and then we thought we would take another lap around the Caribbean from there, ending up in Curacao next May for another hurricane season. About a week later, Dois’ long time mates offered to help (again). If we wanted to come home, well then they would collaborate and make that happen. 180 degrees. Destination; the Panama Canal, Chica! And a Little Dose if Terror
Next stop: The Panama Canal. Paz.
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Dois Brock and Lauri Hamilton Brock splashed our boat Ashika into the Pacific April 2017 for a Round the World Tour.
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