Monday, Monday

So here we are - awaiting the arrival of our water pump via the USPS.  And waiting.  And waiting. 

Most people down here believe that the reason mail takes so long between here and the US is due to issues down here.  I have discovered this is wrong.  I have a tracking  number for my package.  It took five days to get from Connecticut to NYC.  Please.  I could walk from Connecticut to NYC in five days.  Maybe even less.  And it has been sitting in NYC at the "International" department since the 13th.  It's making me crazy, but there is nothing I can do about it.

So what else is new?  We made a new bimini.  For those who don't know, a bimini is a canvas shade for the cockpit.  We had to take our old one down when we added the new solar panels, and we had decided we needed to have a new one made.  Mike looked at the old one for awhile, and then grabbed a scissors and cut the old one into three pieces.  We then sewed a new one in place by hand.  It is not a perfect job, but we only need it to last for a year (when we plan to get all new canvas) and it will certainly serve its purpose.  And it looks really good, especially if you don't look too  close and examine the stitching.  We used sail needles and sail thread, and both of us poked holes in our fingers in the process.  But I am really proud of the results.  And it would not have been fun to try and sail with no bimini - sailing through the tropics with no shade?  Not for me. 

We also got the new chainplates put on, and they are  better than the old ones ever were.  Our friend and landlord, Santos, made them for us.  It turned out to be much easier to replace the chainplates than we thought it would.  I can't think of anything we need to do to the boat before we can leave, other than small things that you don't do until literally a day before leaving, like padding the glass in the cupboards. 

I also made chili rellenos for the first time - they were really good and easy to make, if a bit tedious as there are several steps.  I made vegetarian ones, stuffed them with potatoes, carrots, onions, garlic and some spices.  I blackened the peppers, peeled off the skins, stuffed them, doused them in egg and flour, and then fried them.  I did not batter and deep fry them.  I also did not add cheese to them, because I wanted to eat them, too.  I also made another batch of bread dough, baked one loaf that came out perfectly and froze three more for future use.  After fifteen years of practice, I finally got it right.  I have never been able to bake decent bread in the past, even with a bread machine.  Tonight we are going to have shrimp that we bought from a passing canoe.  I have some fresh ginger that should go well in there.  Last night we had my fresh, homemade bread and lentil soup.  We are eating well here on Magda Jean.  I like to cook, but I get stuck in a rut and have trouble thinking of new things to fix for us. 

Right now I am using the computer, the fridge is going, and we are listening to the radio.  Because of our solar  capabilities, we are still generating more power than we are using.  By midday, we will have earned  back all the power we used yesterday after the sun set.  This happens every day now, and there will be another 100 watt panel added by this weekend.  So we have gone for seven days without using the generator to charge the  batteries.  Mike is going to use the generator for charging tonight, simply because it is good for the batteries to do that every now and then, but not because we need the power.  The other boats have been stopping by to see how we have our stuff set up.  Between the stuff Mike does and the things Santos has made for us, we are sort of a show boat of sorts, with everyone wanting to check out our systems.  

So anyway, we continue in the holding pattern, awaiting the water pump.  While I have been bitching and moaning about this, the truth is this s a problem often faced  by boaters.  The parts are expensive, hard to get, and that is just they way it is.  I had  better get used to it, there will be no change in that situation any time soon.  Some places are better than others - Panama is supposed to have everything -  but until then, we just deal with it.  We all complain about it, but this is the choice we have made.

Today our plans are to finish washing some rugs (at the dock, because this process is very water-intensive and I want to use that water instead of ours), get some beer, and go swimming.  I think I can handle that!

"Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius and it's better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring." (Marilyn Monroe)