On Thursday morning, February 6, Eric finally felt rested enough that he was ready to tackle some not-so-fun engine room projects. While Christi and Keith did school, Eric changed the oil on the generator.
Eric also arranged to have the bottom cleaned. It $3.50 foot, but considering the guy was literally cleaning with one hand while holding a speargun with the other hand, we agreed that it was worth the money. He was also wearing a full wetsuit, which had to have been hot given the warm water temperatures here.
In good news, he found one of the mats that had fallen overboard last week. It had a lot of growth given the amount of time in the water, but Eric was able to clean all the growth off.
It was now day four of no water, and people were getting desperate. The marina had arranged to bring in three tanker trucks of water to fill up the boats. They injected the water into the pipes. When we (and everyone else) turned on the spigot, very little — meaning virtually none — water flowed out. It seemed there wasn’t enough pressure to force the water to flow through the pipes.
People were getting panicky. While desalinating our own water was possible, this bay wasn’t a good place to make water, and we were reluctant to do so. Not everyone in the marina had a water maker, and those without one had limited options.
Not long after it was clear that the water trucks were an abysmal failure, a miracle (or, for those who don’t believe in miracles, a happy coincidence) occurred. The city fixed the broken pipe and the municipal water started flowing again! Hallelujah!
Not surprisingly, the water was dirty. While the pre-filter was indeed gross and had to be prematurely discarded, it still wasn’t as dirty as the water in Barra Navidad had been. And there were concerns about bacteria, so we made sure to add chlorine dioxide (a type of bleach) to the tank as we filled it.
Later in the day, a crocodile was spotted at the end of our dock. Apparently, he is regularly spotted on the rocks there. The guy who does the bottom cleanings is brave!
Friday was another quiet day. Eric changed fuel filters on the main engine, which was easier to do when the tanks are full.
In the afternoon, Christi and Keith went for a walk. They took the road straight ahead from the marina entrance, which was very short.
It dead-ended at what looked to be a tiny parking lot. On the north side was an abandoned building in serious disrepair.
Christi went inside to check it out. The inside of the building was as overgrown as the outside.
On the south side was a small building with a large, neatly kept yard. The compound was fenced in, there was a dog inside, and a car parked next to the fence. Someone came out who looked like he’d just gotten out of the shower. We later found out this was a transmission station, though were weren’t clear on if it was radio, TV, or something else.
While we generally like being the first boat on the dock and so close to the marina/restaurant, on Friday, we experienced the downside to this spot: karaoke until 2230 pm. We’re normally asleep by 2100, and we were all annoyed at being kept up by terrible singing.