Hi everyone! We thought we had better do a blog post and let everyone know we are still alive and well, but slowly melting in Cartagena! Our internet at the marina is terrible, so we have to go to an internet cafe down the street, thus we have not been keeping our blog or facebook up to date. Sorry!
We are still at the dock here. We moved in hopes of getting better shore power, but instead the electrician managed to give us a couple of big power spikes and now we think our ice maker is fried. This is completely devastating!!!! Ice cold drinks are a must in the hot boat, so now we buy bags of ice at the store and hurry back to the boat before they melt! Our AC takes too much power, so we can't use it right now. Greg is STILL working on getting the generator going. We ordered and received parts from the US but still no go. Another electrician is supposed to be coming today and helping Greg with both the power and the generator. Monday afternoon, Greg and I went looking for some parts. Everyone is so incredibly helpful and friendly here. If they don´t have what you want, they make every effort to help you find it. Awesome!
Remember our friends Mike and Kelly from our buddy boat Rum Boogie? Well, they quit that job, it just didn't work out, and are now on another boat "Chanteclair". The owner, George, is a lonely sixtyish rich fellow from New Orleans. He seems to be looking after them very well, and vise versa. He has taken us out to dinner twice, to the old walled in part of the city. It is beautiful at night... so many restaurants to choose from, and little squares among the streets where you can sit and people watch, have coffee or a drink. We are parked beside them at the marina. We toured the Naval Museum, which was great, full of history of the area, complete with neat little diaramas that showed in detail the different forts built to ward off the enemy, as well as replicas of the different ships from the 1600's to the present. We stil want to tour the Gold Museum, and the Old Fort is a must.
We have had asome work done on the boat, the labour and materials here are very, very inexpensive. Pedro repaired, sanded and painted the pilot house and his Dad fixed the wood on our broken back seat, so it doesn´t have to be held up by tool boxes under it anymore. Gosh, we are looking almost respectable these days!
The boys are keeping busy with their schoolwork in the mornings, as well as working on their music. George gave them a bunch of songs along with the lyrics for the computer, so they have been learning some new songs on the guitar. Of course there are always boat chores to do, and bringing Dad tools to and from the engine room.
I keep busy cleaning and cooking, as usual. Last Saturday Kelly and I needed a girls day so we went for a manicure and pedicure, and went out for lunch. The mani/pedi cost $6.00 per person. It was almost embarrassing to pay so little for so much! They even painted designs on our big toes! We splurged on lunch, a little roadside cafe served us soup, chicken, rice, salad and beans for a whopping $2.50 each. The local food is delicious, similar to the Dominican Republic.
We dug our all our awnings, and have put them up to give us some shade and keep things somewhat cooler. The temperature in the galley while I was cooking dinner last night was almost 100 degrees. Naturally, in the midst of this, my hormones, or should I day "horrormones" are rearing their ugly heads, so in addition to sweating constantly, I am also having hot flashes and night sweats. Our fans are on 24/7 and I pray every night for the electrician to fix our shore power so we can run the AC. You might ask... do I miss Yellowknife yet??? As much as I like to complain about the heat, no, I would still rather be here than anywhere else in world!
That's about it for now. Next time I come in to do a blog post, I will remember to put some photos on my stick. We have a few nice ones, and I's sure you are all anxious to see the newly painted pilot house : )
Bye for now, from the Galley Wench of Dutch Dreamer
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