Dec
Hauled out to renew the anti-fouling paint, something I hadn’t done since about March of 2008, in Balboa, Panama, when I also rebuilt the Perkins diesel and with Emmet stripped the failing old teak planking off the deck. Almost three and a half years is quite a long time for bottom paint. The old paint was still in surprisingly good shape despite having been scraped and scrubbed several times and despite the boat’s having spent extended periods of time in very biologically “hot” waters (areas where marine growth accumulates rapidly on anything submerged for more than a few days).
Note detached forestay with roller furling on left of photo -- it had to come off for the boat to fit in the Travelift
As boatyards go, this one is pretty nice, though pricey.
The employees here, from the laundry lady and the
office help to the guys working in the yard, are invariably
pleasant and friendly, and the work ethic is good. The
guys who prepped and painted my hull did a very
thorough, careful job, which I appreciate greatly. xxxxxx
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I’m running a couple of days behind plan, but that’s not
a problem. I expect to be on my way on Thursday or
Friday, all bills paid and all official check-out paperwork
completed well before everything shuts down for Christmas.xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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Cartagena’s not a bad town at all – outside of the Centro
Historico, the working-class and industrial neighborhoods
remind me a lot of Mexico. The Centro Historico, although
pretty touristy in some places and the aggressive emerald
sales people become tedious, is marvelous, a beautifully
preserved and well presented example of 16th- to 18th-
century Spanish Colonial engineering and architecture,
with a few turn-of-the-century Neo-Classic buildings thrown
into the mix.
On balance it’s been fun, but I’m ready to beat feet outta here and get on with next steps.