Progress!

We woke up this morning to see that our frig and freezer temperatures were "normal." They've held all day, so we're hopeful that we can put that one behind us. Roy installed the new batteries today -- that job was huge. As an encore, he installed the new helm seat. After baking a loaf of oatmeal bread and putting more and more stuff away, I made a hotel reservation in Panama City for when I go there in January for my eye appointment. Scoped out provisioning options and learned that we have no good options other than the local tiendas. Tammy, Roy and I ate dinner at the Cantina here at the Bocas Marina, lasagna and salad, came back "home," talked with Rob and Linda on Skype, did a little knot tying. Tomorrow we'll install the new running rigging and jib, hopefully in the morning. There's much provisioning to be done before takeoff.

Return to Damiana in Panama

We left California on December 10, flew to Panama City, enjoyed one day shopping and sight seeing, and flew to Bocas del Toro on Saturday, December 12.  Damiana was spotless and mildew-free.  So far so good.  We started putting away the many things we had shipped, and before heading out to town to buy some groceries, we turned on the refrigerator/freezer.  Several minutes later, there was no change on the thermostat,  We waited even longer -- still no change.  A friend loaned us a connector hose/cable so we could inject some R134 but so far that hasn't helped much.  We're continuing to work with it though, and if luck is with us, we'll have it running before the refrigeration specialist, currently out of town, returns!  Nonetheless, we still plan to sail to Cartagena toward the end of this week.

We still have a few more important tasks to finish before leaving here:  install our new batteries, install our new rigging lines, install at minimum our new jib, and if time permits, install our new mainsail.  Our good friend, Tammy, who is with us for the first few weeks of our cruising season, whipped the ends of our lines today.   All of us have been busy bees and are excited about being back on the water and aiming for Christmas in Cartagena.