Sailors take your mark, get set . . .

We finally have all the wheels in place and the ball is rolling and every other relevant cliche I can think of for our repair and maintenance of Magda Jean.  We have all the broken parts sent off for repair or replacement, other parts and various and sundry items are on order and on their way to our mail forwarding service in Florida, and we have an address here to receive our packages and mail.  We also have quotes for our haul out to paint the bottom, and have discovered while it is no bargain, it is not prohibitive either.  We are really happy.  The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can hang out in the islands.  I like it here, right off Panama City, but it is after all a big commercial area so I can't just jump off the boat and swim.  Actually, if anyone in this anchorage could do it, we could.  We are anchored about as far out as one can go, so there is quite a bit of flushing.  I did go in a couple days ago but not by design - I was getting out of the dinghy, and it was pretty rough.  As I was stepping on to the boat, a big swell came along at the exact wrong moment and over I went.  I might add the water is nice and cool and it is hot and humid here.  Mike just pulled me into the dinghy.  I swear no alcohol was involved.

Otherwise, there isn't a whole lot of news.  We watched yesterday as two boats that were rafted up together were boarded and apparently searched by the police.  It was all very interesting.  One of the boats is a real wreck, and has been tied up to another, more normal looking boat since we got there.  After the cops left, the wreck of a boat left the anchorage and we have not seen it since.  The more normal boat is still there.

And the other big news - drum roll and all that - is that I got a tattoo.  A nice gecko on my upper thigh.  I am quite pleased with it.  (I better be, since a) it is not going to come off and b) it hurt when I got it.)  I know some of you don't approve of this, and all I have to say is since I am 57 years old I can do what I want.  Anyway, here it is!
 

 

While I hadn't really planned on having one this big, I decided "in for a penny, in for a pound." 

 

So that is what happens when you have a lot of time on you hands and meet up with a young Nova Scotian named Pam who happens to be a tattoo artist.  We had to rent a hotel rooms as the boats were too bouncy.  She is with a lot of other kids on a boat heading to Polynesia.  There are a lot of kids here, looking to join up with boats headed to various places.  It takes some courage to take off like that, I think.  I admire them.

 

Oh - I forgot to mention - we designed and built our own roach traps and they are working beautifully.  We discovered (by happy accident) the the roaches seemed to like the glue on the back of out all purpose duct-type tape.  So we started setting up tape with the sticky parts up and each morning, there are lots of roaches stuck to it.  Between that, the intense cleaning, and of course the geckos (we have audio confirmation there are at least two of them alive and going strong) we appear to have more than just the upper hand, the roaches appear to be on the run.

 

Anyway, I have to get going and make breakfast.  If I wait any longer, we'll be having lunch. 

 

"Humanity has advanced, when it has advanced, not because it has been sober, responsible, and cautious, but because it has been playful, rebellious, and immature." (Tom Robbins)