Happy May Day!

Things are so colorful here.  Even the night time lights.  If you listen closely in this little clip, you can hear the lovely Latin music.  Music is a huge part of the culture here.  It keeps things lively.

We've had our noses in bilge and hired Lutz for several hours over the past few days to help with needed maintenance, so we're feeling a lot better about the drips and vibrations.  I think that the reader of this blog must be bored with my descriptions of the ongoing maintenance, but it's just a fact of life  here.  Yesterday while coming out of the ferrateria (hardware store), we ran into a Califonian who'd left Apple Valley 50 years ago with his wife and kids and sailed around the world three times!  On a mission for suitable stainless steel nuts and bolts for his self-steering paddle, he exclaimed, "I've had it!  I'm sick of this stuff!  For every good day you get, you pay for it with three bad days!"   With all of the maintenance and repair we've dealt with, I can see how you'd get to that point after 50 years.

Last night aboard Spray with Krina and Lutz who've sailed for 30 years, they said that it's not that bad, but it was at first.  They had to spend a lot of money building their first boat, Topaz, and by the time they got her in the water after a couple of years on land, they had to start replacing some of the parts they'd bought new.  Krina says that it seems that things will go along working fine, then three things in a row will break.  But they prioritize and spread out the repairs depending on where they are and what services are available.  Krina says as long as the important things - the motor and sails - are working, the rest doesn't matter so much.  Dave always says this, too.  Anyway, we're good to go to St. Thomas, Virgin Islands where we'll spend a few days visiting an old high school friend and wait for parts.  In fact, that's one of the many definitions of sailing...waiting for parts in exotic places. 

Today, we play.  We're renting a car to do some provisioning and sight-seeing.  Just asked the maintenance guy here at the local marina what we should see, so have list in hand.  Puerto Rico, here we come.