Tuesday 15 June 2010

Picton Castle alongside at Isla Flamenco; Tuesday 15 June 2010 בס"ד

A triple entry because of not having my log...

Sunday was on-watch day for us 12-4s. Besides constant chafe duty (the surge was eating away at our mooring lines at an insane pace), WT requisitioned me and Katie for the first part of the work day to organize the hold with him and put away new odds and ends that are for us or for Pitcairn. After lunch, Katie and I cleaned out some of the DC reefers, which had various layers of frozen food goo in them. WT and Ollie went to catch a puddle jumper plane to Boca del Toro with the mainsl for sloop Mermaid. Nicksa had already left, and I was upset because I wanted to see him off and say goodbye, but that's how it goes I guess. I wish him well on the Danmark and in future endeavours. My night hour was 0500, but I was hleping combat the chafe before, during, and after it.

At 0800, we were stood down, and I went with Niko and Jo to drop off laundry in La Boca. My Spanish was in good form, and was chatting with the cabby the whole time. We returned (after stopping to check out spearguns) to PC to drop off Jo, then Niko and I went to Super99 in Albrook to get stuff for Pitcairn gifts. However, we got there early and went to a little coffee shop first until it opened. Inside, I ran into Joanie and helped her with a translation issue. I told Niko not to speak very loudly, because he usually does, which is okay except he's on crutches speaking super gringo English, and if I were a crappy mugger, it would still be an easy mark for me to nab us. We returned to PC with our goods, then we and Liam took a ride to Panama Viejo and checked out the ruins. The actual ruins park was closed on Mondays, but we bribed a groundskeeper $10 to sneak us in. It was pretty cool and we hung out there for a bit, then caught a cab back to the hotel I stayed at before. The cabby we had also turned out to be a cop, and he was definitely the stereotypical corrupt type you'd imagine and he very much wanted us to go to a brothel where he probably got kickbacks from. We opted to stop at a quiet bar a block away from the hotel and had gigantic beers on the super cheap. I got a room again and Liam and Niko returned to the ship and said they'd get in touch with me if everybody decided to go out. I hung out in my room, showered, and went online for a bit. Time was going by, and I was beginning to wonder if I'd hear back from them. At 2000, I was starving and just about to go out to eat when the phone rang just in the nick of time. The plan was to meet at Plaza Catedral in Casco Viejo, which isn't far from where I was. I met up with about 10 or so of my shipmates and we had a lovely dinner outdoors in the plaza, complete with classic Latin American architecture all around and a guitarist to set the mood. Of course, we enjoyed multiple garafes of sangria, then I went back to my room and passed out.

Today I woke up at 1100 and check out of the hotel, then mailed many postcards I had written. I had lunch in town, and purchased a machete before going to retrieve my laundry and return to the ship. I got back at around 1300, organized all the stuff I now had, and threw on my work clothes and laid in with the 8-12s on watch. I helped unload lumber, massive quantities of beer, wine, and other spirits bound for Pitcairn, and a ton of food for us into the hold. I saw the galley stove needed to be refilled, and did that, and lent a hand here or there as needed. Soon, everybody on watch asked if I could run to the duty-free store across the street and grab them something, so I got out my ledger and started taking orders. Unfortunately, by the time I got everybody's order and money, I learned that you can only buy one or two bottles per person, so me doing a run for 12 wasn't going to happen. It also closed five minutes before I was ready to go there. Oh well. We watched The Usual Suspects on the hatch after dinner, and now I'm about ready for bed. I just learned a new watch roster has been posted, and I'm going to be a 4-8 starting tomorrow I guess. It seems to be by shuffle instead of rotating whole watches. This should be neat, although I had grown fond of 12-4.