And they certainly have gone well for the last week. In fact, I have enjoyed myself tremendously, beginning on Saturday and continuing through today with no end in sight.
On Saturday, there was a name change ceremony for our friend and landlord, Santos. He has a sailboat he bought as pretty much of a wreck after that big microburst storm we had last April. He decided to change its name to "Phoenix", which describes it after all it went through and all that has been done to it since.
Now, you cannot just change the name of a boat without going through the proper ceremony, or it is an offense to Neptune, the god of the oceans. And if you irritate or offend Neptune,you will live to regret it. Sailors are a very superstitious lot. When we chose to change Magda Jean' name from the name she came with we also chose to blow off the ceremony. I believe we paid the price in Cabo San Lucas when Mike lost his wallet (with all his ID, credit cards, and $500.00 worth of pesos) out of his pocket and into the water while riding in our dinghy past a famous rock formation known as "Neptune's Finger." So needless to say, we did not want anything similar to happen to our good friend.
The ceremony involves drinking and toasting with champagne, as well as a recitation of an invocation to Neptune. You also have to pour champagne into the water, and you aren't supposed to use cheap stuff, either. Everything has to be done in a particular manner, with no deviation. I handled the entire ceremony and it went very well if I do say so myself.
(I just took a loaf of bread out of the oven. It looks really good. I made it from dough I had frozen after my last extremely successful bread session. All I did was to take out the frozen solid dough, put it in the greased pan, cover it, and let it thaw and rise. This one seems a bit crustier and I am afraid I may have baked it a bit too long. But I think the only fallout will be a bit more of a crust.)
There were plenty of other cruisers, as well as Santos's friends. After the ceremony was compete and Neptune paid his dues, we all settled in for a great party. I am so glad I got to do this, and not only because I got to help out a friend. (I even did parts in Spanish). In a way I think it helps to make up for me and Mike being Sailing Superstition Scofflaws.
Next day, we went with Santos and his family to one of the estuary restaurants. It is about 30 minutes away by dinghy. We had fish and shrimp, drank beer, and ate green mangoes sliced and doused with salt and lime. Again, it was a wonderful time. There was enough breeze to keep things comfortable, the sky was a brilliant blue, and we watched ospreys hunt from the restaurant. It seemed like we were sharing a meal with them - and, after all, everyone was eating fish. Later, after we turned we sat out in our cockpit and watched the sun go down, enjoying our beer as darkness fell all around us.
Monday, Tuesday. Wednesday and today things got busy as we began serious work towards getting underway. We built the permanent framework for the new solar panels. I say "we" because I definitely was an active participant for a change, more than just a gofer. We also installed our newly tooled winches. Additionally, we cleaned out both lazarettes in the cockpit. ("Lazarette" is a fancy word for a storage locker located in the cockpit.) Now even though we have gone through all these lockers numerous times since we bought the boat, taking everything out, getting rid of things and reorganizing, it is always surprising just how much crap remains in there and how much better the remaining things can be arranged. The lazarettes look great and are in excellent order.
Tonight we are having friends over for dinner. Mike is cooking chicken on the grill and I am making a bean and rice side dish, as well sliced tomatoes and cucumbers in olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
We are not certain whether the geckos are making a difference or not. Sometimes it seems like they are as there are less roaches visible. Then at other times it seems like maybe there are still just as many. Now we may have a new problem - we fear we may have inadvertently killed them yesterday. The reason we fear this is twofold. One, we did not hear them chirping last night and this morning. Two, yesterday we used this stuff called "wood restorer" on the teak in the companionway. We thought it was just wood oil, but as it turns out, it has a strong chemical smell when it is applied. We are afraid it might have been too strong for them. We feel badly that we might have done this, because after all the geckos did not ask to be brought aboard, and because we did so, we are responsible for keeping them well and healthy, as much as is reasonably possible.
There could, however, be something else going on. While I was researching geckos, I read that the chirping sound is the female calling for a mate. Perhaps they are no longer chirping because they are pregnant and no longer in need of a mate. (A side note: I am not sure if egg laying creatures [as opposed to mammals] are supposed to be described as "pregnant" when carrying fertilized eggs in their bodies prior to laying the eggs. I used it for lack of a better way to describe it.)
So that is it for today. I am hopeful we may be able to get underway the weekend after next, if no problems arise and there is a good weather window. Although there are no real issues with storms this time of year, there are some local winds called the "papagallos" that cross Costa Rica from the Caribbean to the Pacific making things quite unpleasant at sea in that area, with strong winds (not that bad by themselves) that whip up big, choppy, and confused seas (very unpleasant and uncomfortable to sail in). I hate to jinx our progress by making predictions, so I will say only that I am optimistic that we are soon to be on our way again.
"Rivers know this: there is no hurry. We shall get there some day." (A.A. Milne)
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