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Melissa & Dave - Adventures at Sea

Crazy Boater

This morning Holly and Melissa headed for Panama City on the 9am ferry.  Idea was that they would do some shopping for items critical for Dave and Melissa to get in order to finish prepping the boat to be left for a couple of months, along with some other items we’ve not been able to acquire in the boondocks.  First stop was the marine store where we picked up some stainless steel hatch locks because we want to lock up the aft lockers while we are gone.  Melissa and Dave exchanged several text messages about what kind of screws/bolts to purchase with the latches.  Melissa asked whether we needed screws or bolts, and Dave said screws with flat tops so they would fit flush into the latches.  There weren’t any that were quite flat topped, but there were ones that Melissa figured would work ok and not sit up too high above the latch assembly.  Alas, what Dave meant and what Melissa understood were two different things.  In Melissa’s mind, a screw is pointed on one end and a bolt is a thing with a flat end and a nut.  What Dave meant was a flat head with a nut so the installation would be stronger.  So while she managed to retrieve the right latches, the screws were less than desirable.  AHHHHGG.  Oh well, reality is that if someone takes a crow bar to the latches the nuts aren’t going to stop them from ripping apart the fiberglass altogether.  So the latches are more about deterrent anyway.

Then it was off to the Albrook mall.  Culture shock big time.  The mall was 2x the size of Bellevue Square.  There was the equivalent of a Home Depot, two Wall-Mart like stores, and three food courts.  Holly managed to get a Claro data stick same as ours.  Oh, and when she returned to the boat it didn’t work.  So they will also be making a second trip back to the Claro store to actually make the thing work.  Sigh.  Along with a few other miscellaneous purchases, and we were in a taxi back to the ferry terminal.  Lunch at TGI Friday’s a la Panama.  Bottle of white wine, cheddar cheese broccoli soup, and the triple play appetizer platter – hot wings, mozzarella sticks, and potato skins.  Must be missing a bit of home, eh?

Meanwhile Dave worked on a long list of chores to get the boat ready to leave.  Testing the dehumidifier/fan system he invented yesterday, getting everything on deck either locked down, tied down, or stowed below.  When Melissa returned she sent him over to Wanuskewin with what’s left of the chocolate truffles from the freezer since we will have to turn the fridge and freezer off.  While he was there, “crazy guy” pulled into the anchorage.  He was on a ratty looking 50 foot ketch sailboat, and was swearing up a storm.  “F*** this and F*** that”.  Dave went over in the dingy to see if he could help and got an earful.  The guy was robbed in Zihuatanejo.  Then he left for Ecuador and got stuck in squall after squall, some days making zero headway (it’s the wrong time of year to go that way).  Then his transmission died.  He decided to come back to Panama.  He couldn’t get his sails furled up and had no engine.  Dave offered to tow him, but the guy snapped that there was no way our 20 HP engine on the dingy would tow his boat.  Ok, yeah, we know that’s not true as Dave has towed with it before.  But Dave was not about to argue with the guy.  Then he bitched about how one of the locals was going to tow him into Panama City tomorrow for $150.  Dave rolled his eyes inwardly as he had just offered a tow for free.  Oh well, there’s just no helping some people.  The guy then told Dave that he was in 300 feet of water, had put out 185 feet of chain, and was just “hoping to hook up” somehow.  Those of you who are boaters will think that’s a typo.  It’s not.  The guy was nuts.  Dave went back to Wanuskewin to let them know that crazy guy might well drag around the anchorage all night and to watch out.  Apsaras was in no danger as we were around the corner on the other side of a small island on a mooring buoy.  Wanuskewin would have been on a mooring buoy too but the one they had reserved was under repair and hence they were temporarily in the anchorage area.  Cross your fingers that crazy guy manages not to hit Wanuskewin tonight!

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