Things here are generally fine. We have been doing a lot of the never-ceasing boat chores that keep popping up - as I noted before, the water maker is fixed. We have installed a new battery bank, and we are praying that Mike has the fridge fixed. That is a tricky job, and it can get unbearable exp0ensive and time consuming if you have to start ordering parts and whatnot from the US. Tomorrow we are bombing the boat once again for bugs, and staying overnight in a hotel. We really have pretty much licked the roaches, but we do see one every now and then, and even one roach is too many roaches as far as I am concerned. I figure we just keep putting out the poison, and every now and then bombing the place, and we will have a complete victory. I NEVER EVER want to deal with a problem like we had before, never, never, ever again.
While we are in the hotel, we will get our last big load of laundry done before we leave Panama City, especially the sheets and towels. We will use the hotel internet to download some more movies to watch. When we return to the boat Thursday morning, we will be ready to provision the boat and then head out. Much as I like it here, it is time for a change. And as I previously stated, we have immigration issues.
I am actually pretty ashamed of this situation, and although I don't think we'd get in too much trouble over it - likely a fine of some sort - I am not real comfortable and want to get the hell out of Dodge. Here is what happened: We checked out of Panama on June 27, planning to head to Ecuador. We stopped in the Las Perlas Islands, where we became entranced and just didn't leave. Weeks turned unto months, and finally we ran out of food and stuff and had to return to Panama City to get more provisions. OK, that sounds good. Again we head out, only to again get caught up in the Perlas. Then - we started to have problems with the water maker and the fridge. The shipping of the water maker was a huge hassle, with it taking a month and a half to get here. So here we are, in November, 5 months after formally leaving the country. And to top it off, when we originally left, we planned to go to Ecuador. So our zarpe (an exit document) says we are heading to Ecuador as of five months ago! What a mess! We kept putting off checking back into the country because we figured it would only be another week or so, and we didn't want to pay all the check in money for such a short time. Oh well - we will see what happens. It makes me nervous, I have no temperament for any kind of real crime. So I am an illegal alien. For real. I will never do anything like this again.
Otherwise, there is not a lot of news, really. Every time I sit down to write a post, I start playing on the internet, or playing solitaire. Lazy, so lazy. But things are good, we are happy and well, and hopefully we will be heading out soon - to Costa Rica and the insane luxury of a well-appointed marina.
"Parenting is the greatest of the hum-a-few-bars-and-I'll-fake-it skills." (Stephen King)
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