Jobs and Barbecue - 23 March 2024.
There were a number of things we planned to do today and then we had been invited to Dickson & Clare Bickerdike’s house, which was near the Miraflores locks. Mark had met Claire some 20 years ago but knows her brother and his wife well through work. They have been in Panama for about 1.5 years and have previously lived in the UK, Ghana, Geneva and now Panama.
The first job was to get the dinghy off the deck and back on to the davits and on the way to give it hose down with the fire hose to get rid of the remnants of the San Blas sand. We then then got out the new parasail to be named “The Blue Baron” from its large black bag. It had a grey sock as a snuffer with a red and green strip down each side to distinguish from port and starboard. It had that lovely new smell rather like the smell of new leather in a car. We took it out and stretched it on the pontoon. It looked enormous – we then raised it with the halyard to see if it fitted and it seemed to be a good size. We therefore laid it on deck and tied it to the stantions for when we can use it.
We had heard from the agent in the Galapagos that our permit had been approved and the agent gave a list of things we cannot bring in. These included no raw beef, pork or lamb and if it was in a freezer, it would be bagged together and marked and not available for use during our stay there. We could not bring oranges (apparently it has a fly which could cause damage), blackberries, mangos etc and no out of date tins. I will deal with further requirements in future blogs. This prompted an audit of our tins by Angus and Charlie and there were only 3 out of date tins on the boat which was quite impressive and they were all bratwurst sausages and even out of date the guys said they would eat them!! They will therefore be eaten before the Galapagos – we will have a German night!! The towels are out already and we will get some umpah pah music on and put on our lederhosen!!
The engine needed servicing and Keith volunteered to help me. It is not ideal to go into a hot engine room in this climate and it is bad enough outside. However, it is looking like we may have to motor quite a lot to the Galapagos as there is very little wind at present. So I put on an old paid of swimming trunks and ventured in. The first job was to drain the oil from the engine. We had put it on for 5 minutes before we went in so that the oil was warm and would flow. I have an oil pump which I can put on to the dipstick hole and it sucks the oil out. The usual pipe did not fit so I had to hold it on and Keith had the exit pipe and we filled up several small empty oil cans which I carry for this purpose. The engine takes 30 lts and it took a little time to drain it. The next step is to take off and replace the oil filters of which there are 2 – one large, one small. The small one I could unscrew without difficulty, but the large one was stuck. I tried all the tools I had but to no avail. I therefore was left with no alterative but to use the old-fashioned method of a screwdriver and hammer. You pierce the filter with the screwdriver and use it as a lever to turn the filter and then you can unscrew it. This worked but of course meant a bit of leakage from the filter.
Once the filters were off, I had better access to the impeller housing which is held on by about 8 screws. I undid these and the sea water started to drain away. I had an impeller tool to help me get it out and it looked fine, so I put it back and then it is quite fiddly to put the screws back again. Once done the new oil filters went on -not too tightly screwed. I then put new oil in the engine using the large oil containers I keep in the bilge.
Once I was satisfied that there was sufficient oil, we were doing apart from clearing up all of the mess. I had checked the fuel filters and all looked fine and I decided I did not need to change the fuel filters on this service. I had also checked the belts at the front which drive the alternators and they looked good too. The moment of truth then. I started her up and all ran well with no leaks.
We set off about 3.10pm to Claire & Dickson’s house which was in a secure compound not far from the Miraflores locks. They had a nice house with a garden at the back with palms and other trees and scrubs around it and we were all introduced and they had three lovely children Senna, Esime and Elli who helped serve us drinks. We then had a lovely barbecue with barbecued steak -some American and some Panamanian. From their garden we could see a lot of different birds-especially parrots and they had an iguana on their rear window who watched out barbecue with apparent interest although he did not move. We had a lovely evening and Mark had to explain about our trip and where we had been etc.
We planned a day trip to Toboga and Island some 7 or 8 miles away the next day and thought it would be nice to invite Claire and Dickson and the children with us for the next day. They thought this was a great idea and had been meaning to visit Toboga but had not yet done so. We therefore returned to Stormbird and planned the next day. The picture is of us at the barbecue which was a lovely change from eating on board.
Opportunity for any Readers/Sailors.
In late May 2024 we shall be in the Marquesas in French Polynesia, and we will then move through to the Tuamotu’s before getting to Tahiti about the end of July 2024. There may be some space on Stormbird during this period should any sailor/reader be interested in joining for this period or part of it in what must be one of the most distant and beautiful places in the world. If there is any interest do email me at hine.nick9@gmail.com
The blog will continue as we head off to Panama and beyond.
If you have any comments or suggestions about the blog do email me on hine.nick9@gmail.com I can only upload one picture a day and visit our website www.stormbirdgoesglobal.co.uk