Stasis

Damn damn damn.  For everyone who has wanted me to be more honest in this blog, show some of the crap as well as the beautiful sunsets, here it is.  We were so close!  I was figuring out our route south!  Tuning into the Pan-Pacific net each morning on the SSB radio!  (The radio in question is like a short wave radio, or a ham radio.  The "net" is a time when people of like mind meet up at a certain frequency at a certain time and talk about stuff of mutual interest.  This particular net is from people cruising Central America, with a sort of emphasis on the Pacific coast of Panama.)  Everything was going so well.  Then - we decided that we really needed to test the water maker.

Some background.  This water maker has been the envy of all the other cruisers.  It makes over 30 gallons of water per hour, and most units on sailboats make only six or seven gallons per hour, tops.  Mike installed it himself, which in and of itself is impressive, especially since he had to redesign the configuration.  When we got here, Mike decided not to use it because the estuary water is not the same as ocean water, which is salty but clean.  There is a lot of detritus floating in the estuary, and that is hard on the filters.  Plus we could fill our tanks for 20 bucks and the water was brought to us, no need to haul jerrycans.  So we "pickled" the water maker,  which is a process that involves soaking the membranes in a special solution to keep bacteria and stuff from growing while the unit is not being used.  We have done it before, it is an easy process.

So of course now the unit is not working!  I believe that there is air in the lines.  Mike thinks that could be the case and today had to trace all the hoses back and make sure every thing is properly sealed, or it could be one of the pump, none of which (of course) can be obtained here.  Or some other part that will have to be ordered, thereby increasing the time we need to stay here.  And money, as well - it could be pretty expensive. 

But then, so what else is new?  As I have probably said before, the definition of cruising is fixing your boat in exotic places.  And you never know - Mike just might be able to fix it.  He has pulled off these miracles before. 

Today we are going to concentrate on finishing the cleaning of a lazarette, take the dinghy to the hotel to pick up laundry and take a swim, then try and watch the Superbowl on the computer.  Go 49ers! 

Here is some awesome news - I now have a recipe that makes a fish like jack cravalle- a fish I believed was inedible - not only merely unpalatable, but actually pretty good.  I got the recipe from Santos's mother.  This is a big deal, because when we are underway,we catch  lot of these fish and have been throwing them back.  We tried to eat one once, making fajitas, steaks,and chili.  The chili was the best, and I soaked the meat in Worcestershire sauce for hours to try and hide the strong flavor of the fish itself.  But all of them were pretty bad - my nephew was with us for that incident and will vouch for this.  This recipe is easy, and now we have a new food source.  It will work great for any strong tasting fish.  It will be wonderful for fish like bonita, which are not bad, just not great.  And this is also good for us because our freezer s pretty small, and being able to catch and eat lots of fish makes it possible for us to stay out longer without coming into port to replenish our supplies.  Plus bad taste aside, these fish have that fish oil that is supposed to be so good for you. 

Otherwise, all is well here in El Salvador.  Although I was looking forward to moving on, there are certainly worse places to get "stuck."  There are new boats here and more on the way, so we will meet some new people.  And if the delay is going to last for several weeks, I may get the boat cushions all reupholstered as it is pretty cheap to do that here.  So that winds it up for today - time to fix something to eat.

"Blessed is he who expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed." 
(Alexander Pope)