I am proud to say that Namaste has been successfully careened. Our post thanksgiving weekend was spent high and dry on the soft sand of Espirito Santo. We were up at 5:30 am on both Saturday and Sunday tweaking the fore and aft anchor lines so that Namaste would lie ‘just so’ on the beach. She has a full keel and only draws about five feet, so painting her was less complicated than we had anticipated.
The first day was awesome. All five boats in the anchorage came ashore at some point in the day, either to ask what we were doing, take some pictures, or offer their advice. Alex and I were feeling pretty damn proud of ourselves. While I am taping up the water line and Alex is digging like a dog at the bottom of the keel, there was inevitably someone in the back ground telling us how he would have beached his boat. If there is one thing I have noticed, it’s that cruisers LOVE to tell you how they would have done the job…No matter where you are, someone always has to put their two cents in- sheesh. After we accepted that the paint was brown-instead of red, came to like the surprise hue, and realized that nothing below had broken, we patted ourselves on the back and let rum and sunburn tuck us in at the fragile hour of 7:30pm.
Day two. No one was interested in our careening shenanigans. There was no conversation between the two of us and the background music was rather ambient. Alex and I finished the starboard side in almost half the time. We made eye contact, exchanged a silent-yet enthusiastic-high 5, then napped like babies in the shade until the tide came up.
She was beautiful.
Alex and I circled Namaste in the dinghy several times, complimenting each other excessively. Our tummies began to growl just as we heard a radio call from ‘Plan B’ inviting us to a pork chop dinner. I know I have praised eccentrics, but God bless Columbian wives! Gary’s wife, Mavis, has to be one of the most cheerful, pleasant, fantastic women/cooks I have ever met. We ate like it was our last meal.
The next morning we set sail for Contadora. The wind was just off the nose, but the engine cooperated (HOO RAH!), and the current was in our favor. We got a chance to relax and take pleasure in the fact that we were actually underway again after three weeks in one anchorage. Happy hour on the island was bitter sweet. Upon arrival, we indulged in our good ol’ American (aka:expensive)cheese burger and beer fix. Hallelujah!
This morning we took advantage of the cell phone coverage (BTW-for a good time call 507-6665-4159). The afternoon was spent snorkeling and Alex almost shot a great trevally, which means that we enjoyed chicken and beans for lunch at the internet café. Frikkin’ delicious.
Cheers to projects completed,
Cassie
Published in Alex Dorsey
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