We finished the isinglass replacement yesterday, and my fingers are sore from poking myself with the big needles that are used with the awl. It looks great, and but for the light colored thread on the maroon canvas, no one would know without looking close that we did it by hand. I guess it isn't really isinglass, rather it is thick plastic, but too bad, that is what I call it and I am not sure why, except for that line in the song from Oklahoma! about the surrey with the fringe on top - "with isinglass curtains that can roll right down, in case there's a change in the weather." I have based a lot of opinions on things I have heard in songs, and often it has helped me. I can always remember the civil wars years because of the verses in "When Johnny Comes Marching Home". I know that President Garfield was shot by a man named Charlie Giteau, because of a Johnny Cash song. And of course we all know that Jesse James was shot by "the dirty little coward who shot Mr. Howard." But I digress.
It absolutely poured rain early this morning - I woke up because one of the hatches is right over my face, so I wake up right away of it starts raining. The deck is now sparkling clean. Today the plan is to (gulp) test the engine to see if the bad sound is coming from the large alternator. Mike says if that is the case, no big problem. We can run the engine no problem without that alternator, and we do have a spare (if it fits). We have a generator to charge the batteries if needs be, and he says it is not hard to remove an alternator. So we are really, really hoping Mike is right and the alternator has gone bad. We had trouble with it about a year and a half ago not charging properly, but Mike cleaned all the connections and it started working fine again. So maybe that is the problem. The engine itself seems to run just fine even with the noise - there is no overheating, the gauges look fine, the oil pressure is normal. Wish us luck!
I am pleased because I now have two other people helping me with the Panama Pacific SSB net. I have been doing it by myself for several months, and I had only one other person for several months before that. I don't remember if I already described what the net is, but here goes again anyway. They have these cruiser's nets on the SSB radio. They meet at different times, for different locations. People can go on the radio and report their positions, describe what weather they are experiencing, get info on weather from other people out there and people with access to weather and conditions information, see what other people out there are up to, keep in touch with others, and a host of other things. The Panama Pacific net handles boats from southernmost Mexico all the way to Ecuador and the Galapagos. I have talked to people underway from the Galapagos to the Marquesas. It is fun, but it got a little wearing doing every single day. But now I think I will only have two to three days a week, and I am pleased with that. I liked doing the net because I got to meet a lot of people and felt like I was doing a service to the cruising community. I still do.
So other than that, there is not a whole lot of news to report. As usual, it is beautiful here. We saw a lot of fish drama yesterday - several pretty big fish jumping out of the water like skipping stones, obviously being chased by something even bigger. The jumpers would have been a perfect size for us. Some panga guys came around day before yesterday selling lobsters, but they looked awfully small, so we chose to pass.
By they way, our fumigation efforts were not for naught - although we have not had a roach problem since the original gassing and follow up, we would continue to see them periodically. This last time we have not seen one now for several days. The ones we saw a few days after the bombing did not look very healthy, sort of staggering and very easy to kill. Then there were none. I am not kidding myself - they are still there somewhere, but in their last throes. We will win this war, and are now winning all the battles as well. It also seems to be getting a little less humid as the season changes from the rainy season to the dry season - I know this because I am cleaning up less mold.
No traditional Thanksgiving for us - I tried to find a turkey breast or leg or something, because our oven is not big enough for a turkey, and we could not deal well with a whole turkey anyway. But all the store had were large whole turkeys. But that is ok - I have not had a real one for three years now. Same with Christmas. I am hoping we will make it to Costa Rica by Christmas, but who knows. I guess it doesn't really matter. My carefully thought out plan for the next year is shot anyway - I am not sure why I continue to make plans that we never follow through on. We are even considering spending another year here in Central America - we do like it that much. I think Mike never wants to leave these islands.
There is a radio station in Panama City (that we can pick up out here) that is in English and is dedicated to the expat community here. It is fun to listen to, and right now they have started playing a lot of Christmas carols. For that matter, so do the regular Panamanian stations, and the other day I heard "Jingle Bell Rock" sung in Spanish. Wild. But I do like hearing "Silent Night" in German and "O Come All Ye Faithful" in Latin. They just seem to be supposed to be sung that way. Too bad I lost my cassette tape of the Neville Brothers doing Christmas songs - there was a solo by Aaron Neville of "Ave Maria" that was incredibly beautiful.
Well, Mike is up now and we need to start thinking about this engine thing - we need to get it over with and know one way or the other what is up with the engine. Right now we get to relax with our morning coffee, and plan the day. As usual. Oh Oh, Mike just disappeared into the engine compartment!
"A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise." (Aldo Leopold)
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