This morning I reattached the Windex to the masthead. There is no point in reattaching the non-functioning Raymarine wind unit. I will throw it and the display into the trash. Basta! Which if you have not been here long enough, means ‘enough’ in Italian and Spanish. I will when I can have wind instruments again, but I am not sure what.
This boat yard and marina are near the end of a two and a half mile long causeway that I expect was made of material dredged from the shipping channel leading to the canal.
I walked a mile up and back and then went to one of the restaurants near the boat yard.
I have not had much appetite in this heat and have lost weight I do not need to, but I enjoyed a lunch/dinner of grilled shrimp and sautéed vegetables, accompanied by two margaritas on the rocks. In the wine glass is water, also welcomed.
When after lunch I returned to GANNET I found the temperature in the Great Cabin to be 108ºF/42.2ºC. A new record. And I had left the forward hatch open as far as it can be with the mast down.
Perhaps needless to say, I did not remain on board but retired to a nearby hotel that has free wi-fi.
Just beyond the boat yard is a steep natural hill that was an island until the causeway was extended to it.
It is now 7 PM and I am in the Great Cabin, but at sunset I was sitting on deck, sipping gin and listening to music, as I did last evening.
There are updrafts from that hill upon which dozens of birds soar. Some have the sharp angled wings of frigate birds. Some are pelicans. I think some are hawks. Perfections of evolutionary design, almost none ever flap their wings.
I fervently hope that Steve shows up tomorrow and the mast goes up. The current mast placement pushes the limits of my getting in and out of the interior. The contortions are difficult and grotesque.
GANNET is disorganized and dirty.
I can’t do anything about that until she is back in the water. Assuming that happens Wednesday, I will need several days to clean, provision and organize.
I expect to sail the second week in March.
