On the road again....rambling thoughts

Feb. 18, 2007 - Sunday
We are moving South again after a two week delay in Playa del Coco. We were waiting for parts for our genset, a crucial piece of equipment. You see, a modern boat like this one uses lots of electricity. All the radar, GPS, and electronic navigation tools that make so much easier than it was when I started sailing, all use 12V electricity. And of course, the two refrigerators and freezer that provide frozen tuna steaks and ice cubes - those eat lots of electricity. So the genset is very important. It passed through a lot of engine cooling issues and ultimately could only be fixed by getting a new impeller for a water pump. It took forever to arrive, but at last it's here! We are 100% again.
We used to charge our batteries and get electricity by plugging into shore power at the dock. But we haven't seen a dock since Barra de Navidad, about 2 months ago. We are living on the anchor and so must make our own power. We can do that in a pinch by running the big engine, but diesels don't like being run under a light load and besides, the big engine burns a lot of fuel. So we are very happy to have the genset running and drinking about an eighth of a gallon per hour.
So having charged the batteries, we pulled up the anchor this morning and sailed down to Bahia Potrero, just a short trip. We had a great sail with the wind constantly rising until it was close to 25 knots by the time we got in. We had light winds while we were waiting around Coco and now that we're ready to move, we have too much wind. But not so bad. 25 knots is only too much wind if it has a chance to blow for a while and raise big waves. In this case, it's blowing right off shore, so by sailing close to the beach, there are no waves. So we put up small sails and make a fast passage.
In a few days, we will be down to the Gulf of Nicoya and away from the Papagayo winds that we've been living in. There are lots of islands down there to explore and the jungles are said to be greener. It's the dry season here now and it's kinda brownish. There are howler monkeys in the trees though. We hear them every morning. They sound like lions or gorillas, not like little monkeys. I don't know how they do it.
Other news....I am slim again. You remember how I was looking like a python who ate a pig? Well, the pig is gone. I have the body that I had in college, thanks to regular exercise. There is some loose skin around the middle that shows once in a while. Hopefully it will tighten up. Andi is well and we're looking forward to your emails.