On the Bright Side

When sailing, you have to fly the flag of the country you are from and the country you are in. This is the Mexican flag. As you can see, it has taken a beating and symbolizes how we are starting to feel. Don't get me wrong, sailing is great. But after a while, the salt and sun start to take is toll, on everything. Even my bobbypins are rusting. Plus, it's a lot of work. And life on a boat is work. Things always need to be at least adjusted if not fixed. And things are just starting to wear down, like this flag.

The skiff has a few small leaks and the seats are being held up by tires. We are down to one oar, well, three, technically, since one is in two pieces. The fresh water pump stopped working. The air mattress has a slow leak that's gaining speed. The sails need repairs, the lines are starting to fray, the solar shower fell over board months ago. We've been using a 2 liter Coke bottle with holes in the bottom. And, the worst of all, the coffee situation hasn't been the same since a French gal accidentally deep sixed part of the coffee pot in Panama. Otto dove on it twice to find it, but in 30 feet of murky water on a cloudy day, it was lost to us forever.

We limped along OK with various efforts of making coffee. We found another percolator pot, but it was small and was difficult to use. Sometimes its hard to make coffee before you've had coffee. Then we went with the cone route. We found filters, but no cone. Now we are rolling with cowboy coffee. Where you just throw in a few tablespoons of coffee into water. Shut if off as soon as it boils. That worked OK with the good Costa Rican coffee. But now that we are back in Mexico........We are both staring to feel a bit like this flag. Still flying, but the sun and salt are taking its toll.

So is limited funds. No money equals no fuel. No fuel equals no charging the batteries. No batteris equals no navigational equipment, no lights, no fridge, no toilet, no recharging the ipod. Things are getting skinny here in the Crystal Blue. Lucky for us, its near a full moon so we can run at night without lights. Sorta. When ever we get close to a boat, we run down and turn them on until is passes. Its risky, running without radar at night, but we are betting everyone else is. Besides, men have been sailing thousands of years before it was even invented. And, on the plus side, since the water pump broke, Gary installed a foot pump, so we at least have water again. And we had to use the last of the ice before it melts. Yum. Vodka and Passionfruit Kool-aid coctails. Maybe things aren't so bad after all...........