We’re still here folks, normal service and adventures will resume at some point… if you’ve stuck with this saga of toil so far, well done. This is the reality of sailing, and as covid ensured we left Sisu for 19 months, you have the dubious pleasure of reading our progress to get her looking good and working again. It may make you take off your rose tinted glasses as you consider buying a boat and sailing effortlessly into the sunset. If it doesn’t put you off, well, you’ve been warned, if you think “that’s not for me! I’ll just book a cruise instead” then your bank manager will thank you for ever more as a cruise would likely be cheaper than being Captain of your own boat. Though you won’t have the lifetime memories and experiences when the excellent parts of making your own decisions in choosing desint when sailing your own boat happens and you won’t have to dress, (at all if you so desire) for dinner.
Work continues at a pace on our pontoon. Our plans are changed yet again. We hope to leave around the 21st Mach.
We finally get the sails on, just before the rain poured.
Our insurance survey by Casey Brooks is complete and well received by our insurance company. The bilge pump doesn’t work, so Terry’s got that fixed, I find yet more rope to wash…the autopilot box in the stern locker is made, I painted the sections, Terry squeezed into the locker and fitted them, and even managed to squeeze out, I had visions of feeding him and handing beers if he got stuck. I replaced the grippy strips on the hatchway steps, we’re now getting to the nice to do jobs amongst our refrain of “ye gods, can’t believe this doesn’t work/broken now, mind you, what can you expect after 19 months being left” …. The battery box is complete, which means we don’t have to worry about gear/tools sitting directly on top of the batteries in the starboard locker. Every day has it’s reassuring consistencies, there will be mess, there will be cleaning and I will be remaking the beds completely…. there will be a beer at the end of the day too!
One job is to re attach the rudder to our Sailomat wind pilot. It’s a heavy job requiring boltholes to be lined up inside a shaft prior to securing with bolts. A two person job, not made any easier due to the drying out of the lining in the shaft. After two sweaty hours, we did it. Incredibly, in 2017 crossing the Atlantic, a small ball joint on the wind pilot steering sheared. (Read our 2016/17 blog) We managed to dismantle the rudder and steering system, Terry repaired it and we refitted it all together again, with Terry literally on the outside stern of Sisu! Looking back, we think it was pure adrenalin that enabled us to do this.
Despite the rain, it’s hot, I cook in the mornings and we eat it cold in the evening. It’s not all work at the coal face, we’ve found a cracking little place a very short dinghy ride away, Ana’s Coffee House, which has the best and most reasonably priced food we’ve had here. A huge greek salad, fries, chicken corden bleu, amazing prawn tagliatelle and beers for around £16.
On the 8th March, we decide to leave the ease of the pontoon and life ashore. After Terry servicing the engine, doing a dry run on the hard and firing up first time to get onto the pontoon, when we came to leave to anchor in the river, our engine just went “thunk” and wouldn’t turn over. It’s a sickening feeling accompanying a sinking sensation in our stomachs. What the hell? So, being an optimist, albeit part time… I said to Terry “Well, at least we’re on a pontoon, we can’t go anywhere till we get permission to leave (that’s still ongoing…) and we’ve got two weeks till the next available tide, so if this was going to happen, it happened in a good place and we’re sandwiched between Quicksilver and a Breton boat which is leaving in a couple of days which will make it even easier to get out”. Small comfort. Terry undid the front and side doors to the engine, and began to trace the problem. Turned out, after nautical terms and oil, but not tears, being spilt, that it was a blocked anti syphon tube on the cooling system,which resulted in water filling the exhaust manifold. Thankfully, no serious damage was done. So, after two days, we finally became a floaty boat! It’s a start and the breeze across the river feels good, though the mayflys can still reach us, attracted by the cockpit and anchor lights, a good excuse when ashore to to stay and have a couple of beers with friends till the mayflys have finished their nightly mass whirling.
When we leave for Sisu, I get a close crop. The time had come to find a local hairdresser. Guatemalan women have the most beautiful hair and I’m deeply envious. Jessica, our Guatemalan friend here who did our canvas work, she recommended her own hairdresser Tita and made an appointment for me. After a tuk tuk ride through the main street, I was dropped off down a small road, at an unassuming dark brown door. You can never be sure what’s behind the doors here, I was in for a surprise. Tita opened her door, welcoming me into her air conditioned, upmarket salon, with views of her garden. I apologised for my sweaty state to Tita. She sat me down and took her time, which I relished, sitting in the cool air con. We managed a girly chat between our limited Spanish and English and I got an excellent cut. I’ll return to Tita when we sail back at the end of the season!
The sign at the bottom says “It is prohibited to hunt iguanas!”
Provisioning is a job we enjoy. We’ve been here a while now, yet we still find surprises of whats available in the narrow alleys which lead down to the rivers edge. The dinghy ride is all part of the fun!
sisu journey 