A few weeks ago we met Dave and Leiann. They were checking out the condos just above us as we were walking home from one of our adventures. As happens so often.... we invited them in for a beer... they accepted.... and we talked about our various travels for the next couple of hours.
Dave and Leiann live on their sailboat... most of the time. They departed the state of Washington several months ago and headed south. You may have seen or read about them on the international news... seems when they got to Nicaragua, they had some minor problems, which blew up into an international crisis.
You have to register your sailing vehicle in whatever country's waters you are traveling... and they did... but it cost more than they'd figured on... so they wired their daughter back in Washington to transfer some funds. She misunderstood and thought they were being held hostage... and, of course, it went downhill from there. If any of you live or have knowledge of the USA/Mexican border, you know exactly what can happen.
Anyway, they have moored their boat out in the Coco beach harbor and arranged to have some repairs done .... they rented a condo down the hill from us for their stay here.
But as happens.. it's time for them to move on. However, Dave wanted to get his boat painted before leaving here.... so.... these past few days have been busy for them...
Of course they are totally dependent upon the tides... they brought their boat into the bay... waited until low tide and knowing that the window of time is so short, immediately began stripping off the crud and old paint that's on the bottom.
That's Dave on the left, Bill on the right. Dave's explaining to Bill what his plans are and how it's all going to work. He's hired a local to help him strip the "hitchhikers" and other crud off..... and has the gallons of paint all ready to put on once this is done. This is paint that dries in 1 hour..... time is the important thing as when the tide comes back in, that boat will be surrounded by water and must be navigable again.
It's interesting to us, because their sailboat is just under 30' in length... our motorhome is 27' in length. We all live in these crafts full-time... unless, like both of us renting a condo someplace for a short-term time. We four all know first hand what it's like to live with only the "necessities".
As it happened, the paint wouldn't mix and they'll have to wait for another opportunity to paint their boat.
They'll be sailing soon... they moved back onto their boat today... so we stopped by today to say goodbye.
They do write a blog... http://sailblogs.com/member/chrysalis if you're interested in their travels.
We were delighted to meet them and wish them safe travels....
It's such fun meeting other folks who are also on their great adventure!
That's All For Today!
I've had "fun" scraping and painting boat bottoms. And it wasn't even my boat! At least they got the barnacles off. They create a lot of drag. The paint is toxic to them, so once they put more on it should keep the critters at bay for a few months. It's tough to sort out these things when you live on the boat full time.
ReplyDeleteIt's a little beyond my comprehension.
Goodness - there's no end to the adventures on the high seas! You are all braver than husby and I are.
ReplyDeleteSo nice to meet up with fellow bloggers and travellers.
ReplyDeleteWe live in the land yachts and they live on a floating yacht. so cool.
Although I grew up by the ocean, the thought of spending months at a time on the water makes me very nervous. I have a lot of respect for those who make this choice. You're right, montanagirl, that is bravery!
ReplyDeleteThis Montana girl also has to agree with Montanagirl - takes a lot more courage than I have. I'm sure you guys had so many wonderful stores to share with each other.
ReplyDeleteAren't you glad you don't have to roll your LD on it's side and paint it? LOL Thanks for sharing all of the interesting things you see and do while there.
ReplyDeleteLiving on a sailboat ...and TRAVELING with it seems to be a lot more adventure than I could stomach. Just thinking of the weather. We can at least park at Walmart when the weather takes a turn to the worse.
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