Daily Life on Rhum Punch
We should be leaving for the Galapagos Islands tomorrow, Friday, April 6th. We are waiting for one more part to be made, but I'll talk more about that later. We have been leisurely working our way through the list of repairs and provisions. So far Karen and I have written a few short stories about some of the events we have experienced during the past three weeks. Now I would like to tell you a little bit about life aboard Rhum Punch for the past couple of weeks. We spent last week at the Panama Canal Yacht Club in Colon and most of this week at the Balboa Yacht Club in Panama City. I will be talking about our time at both of those yacht clubs.Karen and I came on board Rhum Punch at the same time as Steve. Alan gave Karen and me first choice of two open berths: the V-berth up front in the bow or one of the two aft berths. Alan has the other aft berth, which he shares with Duane. I left the decision to Karen and she picked the V-berth because it has more sleeping and storage room. However, we realize that it will be the least comfortable during rough weather. Things tend to get tossed around more in the bow during any type of foul weather. Being the eternal optimist, I do not plan on running into any foul weather.
While we were in Colon we were hooked up to shore power and water so we could use all the electricity and water that we wanted. We also had access to the yacht club's showers. Remember land showers are a luxury. Typically you have all the hot or cold water you want and there is the special luxury of being able to stretch out beyond the confined 2x2 feet limits we have in Rhum Punch's head (bathroom). Rhum Punch does not have working hot water but believe me in the heat we have been experiencing in Panama hot water is the last thing we would complain about. We typically take showers every evening to cool down and wash out the day's sweat and suntan lotion. The lotion is more like sun block. We have been using SPF 30 or 45 and have already gone through one large bottle.
At the Balboa Yacht Club we
are moored and do not have access to shore power or water, so we have been
practicing electricity and water conservation to be ready for our long
passages. This means we wash dishes and shave using salt water and then just
use the fresh water from our tanks for a quick rinse. We are still using the
showers on land, because you never pass up a land shower. Also we turn off all
lights when they are not needed, which is probably a good practice for
anyplace. To read at night we use our camping headlights rather than the cabin
lights.Proper boat etiquette on Rhum Punch is no shoes. So whenever we are on the boat it is barefoot boating. It seems like I could have saved all the money I spent on my Teva sandals with the special non-marking spider technology rubber soles. The list of things we could have done without begins to grow. Although, we have been wearing our sandals everywhere else so they have been very useful. You should see the tan lines on our feet.
The everyday wear is t-shirts and shorts or bathing suits. When we get too hot we just jump into our backyard pool. Our backyard is off our stern. We are looking forward to doing a lot of swimming in our backyard in the coming months. We are also looking forward to the changing views in our backyard.
Each morning Rhum Punch's crew begins to wake up around 7 AM. By 8:30 AM or so the whole crew is up except Duane. He needs a little more time in the morning to wake up. You probably know the type.
We have been eating most of our meals on board Rhum Punch. Breakfast is usually a bowl of cereal. For our long passages we will be using pasteurized milk, which lasts forever without refrigeration. Although once you open a carton it will need refrigeration until it is consumed. Yes, Rhum Punch has refrigeration. In fact, it is a very large one. Karen and I have decided that our next boat will definitely have refrigeration.
Lunches are mostly cold cut sandwiches. For the long passages we will be using hard salami, which I am convinced never goes bad, and cheese encased in wax. We plan to bake bread when we run out of the store bought stuff.
Dinners have been individual
crewmember's experiments of different rice and pasta dishes. Let's just say
that some experiments turn out better than others. We each bring our own tastes
to the boat along with our lack of fine cuisine cooking abilities. Main
ingredients so far tend to be garlic, onions, and ground pepper. The sandwich
making and cooking duties have been falling on whoever is willing to take the
abuse if the meal does not turn out as expected. Alan makes a wonderful stew,
but Steve needs work on his pancake making ability. The pancake mix
instructions stated "do not over mix; do not stir until lumps are gone." He
didn't read this part of the directions and removed all the lumps. We found out
that over mixing not only toughens the pancakes but the pancakes refuse to
rise. We ate very heavy, tough, flat pieces of cardboard with tons of syrup.
The next time Steve makes pancakes the crew plans on having an alternative
breakfast handy.The nights on the boat while in the Colon were almost unbearable. Besides the nights being very warm there was very little ventilation in the boat because we were tied to the docks. In order to get good ventilation when wind is available a boat needs to be pointed into the wind, like when it is at anchor or on a mooring. To make matters worse, during each night in Colon about three or four rain showers would move through the area. This meant that our nice big 2x2 foot hatch cover in the V-berth had to be closed along with all the other hatches. I'll give you one guess what closing hatches does to an already poor ventilation problem. Think - stuffy steam bath.
At the Balboa Yacht Club we are on a mooring and it has not rained on us once. For the first time we are actually using a sheet while we sleep. The evenings are much cooler on this side of the Canal.
One of the reasons many people shy away from boats is the maintenance required to keep them working. Well, maintenance has been a full-time job since we got to the boat. Actually, it's more like a part-time job. The full-time job is finding the right parts in a town where there isn't a decent marina store or trying to remember where the spare parts are stored on the boat. It seems like we have enough spare parts on Rhum Punch to build Rhum Punch II, but for some reason it is a rare job that we can complete without another wild goose chase around town for parts.One of the luxuries we still miss is air-conditioning. If an errand requires going to a nearby story that has air-conditioning, Karen and I are the first to volunteer.
Each evening we spend a little time in the cockpit talking and admiring the Southern Cross constellation. We are excited that the moon has been growing. It looks like we will have a bright moon for our sail to the Galapagos Islands. After some stargazing, Alan is usually the first to hit the sack. Steve, Duane, Karen and I might play a couple rounds of cards, usually Spades, before going to bed.
It has been easier than we thought to live without TV. The only thing we, especially Karen, really miss is the news. We have been getting our news by logging into the CNN and Washington Post websites. We understand that the US economy is still falling and Bush has an interesting diplomatic problem with China.
We have found out that the US is not the most loved country and sometimes it is easier to tell the locals that we are Canadians. You get fewer questions if you say you are Canadian. With Rhum Punch flying the Canadian flag it makes it even easier to say we are Canadians.
I mentioned earlier that our days are sometimes filled with running errands or doing minor repairs. While doing repairs we have been impressed with Alan's mechanical and electrical abilities or rather his ability to find a "work-around" solution. Duane usually assists with all the electrical repairs. He is very good at it. Steve and I will try to lend a hand but most jobs seem to require only two people. Just as well; Alan and Duane make a good father and son team.
Steve and I are particularly proud of our most recent accomplishment. We managed to get the gas-powered generator working, which hasn't been working for two years. It is one big rust monster. My mechanical skills (or lack there of) can use a lot of improving, so taking on this job was a good challenge. Steve reviewed with me all the troubleshooting steps he and Duane took while we were in Colon. We tried a few pulls on the starter cord but no success. It was getting a spark but it sounded like it was not getting any gas. Steve explained that he and Duane already took apart the carburetor and it looked fine to them. OK, getting a spark but not getting gas. The solution seemed simple to me. Let's pour gas into the carburetor and see what happens. Two pulls on the cord and the generator was running and throwing rust particles all over the deck. Then to me it sounded as if the generator kept picking up speed and was running away so I pulled the spark plug cable to kill the engine. It worked; the engine died but I am much more awake due to the shock I received. I am OK. No more damage to me than when I started.
Steve and I
tinkered a little more to keep the engine running somewhat smoothly. We were
able to keep it running so Alan and Duane could run the drill for some more
needed repairs. They created holes to run some very thick gauge wiring for the
windlass and drilled some starter holes in the mast to tap in screws for a new
boomvang fastening at the base of the mast.Karen and I have been taking care of almost all of the grocery shopping so far. I took a stab at estimating the food stores we would need for all the dry goods to get us to Tahiti. We estimated that we will need food for 60 days and we added another 20 days for a cushion. So we need to provision for 80 days.
Now I need to take into account that Steve and especially Duane seem to have very over-active metabolisms and enjoy eating about five meals a day. Alan has pointed out to the whole crew compliment that we will need to ration foods down to three meals a day. Alan mentions that in his past experiences at sea you don't expend much energy and we will likely go down to two meals a day. Oh boy, this didn't go over well with the two human garbage disposals. I have to empathize I too used to eat like that but I guess age cures that problem. On the other hand if they keep eating at the same rate we will have to flag down a supply ship half way to the Marquesas. On the bright side this gives the whole crew more incentive to fish along the way. Duane loves to fish and we have enough fishing gear aboard to last us well beyond Tahiti. We plan to do a lot of trolling across the Pacific.
I mention provisioning to get us to Tahiti for two reasons: 1) Tahiti is our next major provisioning stop, however, it is very expensive (double US grocery store prices) and 2) Karen and I will be leaving Rhum Punch shortly after Tahiti on Raiatea. We have bought about $700 USD worth of food so far, which includes 50 lbs of rice and 30 lbs of pasta.
In our story about transiting the Canal we mentioned that a seal burst on the water pump. This repair has caused Alan some headaches for the past two days. On Monday, April 2nd, Alan purchased a new water pump, but it is a different model than the existing one. It turns out that the shaft is ever so slightly smaller than it needs to be for his marine VW engine. So on Tuesday, April 3rd, he found a shop that could machine a new shaft for him and it would be ready by 3 PM the next day. On Wednesday, April 4th, Alan went to the shop about 3:30 PM to give them a little more Panamanian time to finish the job. Turns out he had to wait a few more hours only to find out that the machinist made an exact duplicate instead of making a slightly smaller shaft. Oops!
Alan was very frustrated. Our plan was to leave the next morning. In fact, he had already checked us out through immigration. Our passports are stamped and our zarpe is expired. The owner of the shop explained the new part could be ready by noon on Thursday and he apologized by saying "This is Panama." Exasperated Alan made his way back to the boat at 8 PM to find his crew had waited for him for dinner. We all decide to go out to eat. Steve suggests a great restaurant (by Panamanian standards) that has huge plates of food. We all enjoyed a great meal and the garbage disposals are actually full for once.
This morning, Thursday, April 5th, Alan decided to turn the engine over to warm the oil up and change it. Whoa! Stop the engine. Water and exhaust is shooting all over the engine compartment. The metal exhaust pipe has corroded through and now there is a rather large hole in it. Now Alan needs to pick up the new water pump and find someone to make a new exhaust pipe. How long will it take to have a new one made? Your guess is a good as ours.
It did not take long to get the pipe made. Alan is back and all we have to do is install it and fix the water pump. The plan is to get these two jobs done this evening and leave tonight. Just like our time in Colon we all can't wait to move on from Panama City. The sail to the Galapagos is about 860 miles. We estimate it will take about seven days but there are two factors that make our estimate difficult to rely on: 1) wind; and 2) the doldrums, which is a windless area of two converging weather patterns near the equator than can be anywhere from 50 to 300 miles wide.