Still Waiting

I telephoned Colin this morning for an update on new valve seat for the head. He had not heard from the company and said that he would call them today. He mentioned that they may be having a problem finding a seat.

I told Colin that I was starting to get anxious because I had hoped to be on my way to Costa Rica by the end of this month (only 7 days away) to avoid the hurricane season down the coast. Without going into details Colin got very defensive with descriptions of a supplier letting him down, the huge number of people making demands on him, etc. I told him that I heard what he was saying and to try to not stress himself too much or his health would suffer. "I mean it" I told him. He replied that he was having a bad day and I was the one copping it. I finished with "Fine. After you have inquired about the head please let me know if there will be a delay so that I know what is going on." He finished along the lines of 'We'll have you going on Monday or Tuesday'.

Colin reads his emails. If by Monday evening I have not heard from him I will send him an email message explaining (1) the dangers of my crossing the Central America hurricane belt after the middle of May and (2) the flight that Brenda has booked for Costa Rica where she is due to land on 11 June. Getting my message across will be all that I can do lest I risk an alienating row.

I was finishing an accurate sketch of my inner sail triangle and staysail to determine how to modify it to yield 80 sq ft on a reef when Bob came by. He loaned me yet another excellent book, Offshore Cruising Encyclopedia by Stephen and Linda Dashew which has wonderful descriptions accompanied by great photos of ground tackle (e.g. anchors, chains, fairleads) and sails, including a specific section of staysails.

I'm beginning to think that this engine problem delay in La Paz may have been meant to be. I have been learning so much about Pachuca, both from mooching around on my own at my own pace with no schedule to meet, soaking in the information from the books that Bob has loaned to me, and interacting with Bob. I told Bob in an email that when he's around my boating IQ improves by 50%,

Bob came with great news. "Danny" who has the sail business "Pacific Thread" thinks that he may have a storm jib suitable for Pachuca. I am to telephone Danny after the 1-3 PM siesta time about it.

At 1.30 PM the wind is blowing at 10-15 kt which means that my "pack horse" trip to CCC is cancelled. I did manage to make a quick run to the marina this morning while it was calm to exchange my 3 DVD movies for fresh ones. For once I did not have to take my water containers. Both of my tanks are full, which gives me a 3-month supply if I include the spare containers.