Shortly after we published the last blog entry, the strict quarantine restrictions were reintroduced!
The number of cases of corona patients had drastically increased in the one week of relaxation. Considering that there is a certain incubation period, the increase cannot have been solely due to the relaxation of the quarantine. This thought offers little consolation, since it means that the old measures were not sufficient, or that they were not properly followed. When I went shopping for the first time after the curfew was tightened again, I met even more men than usual. This may have been because I was out on a Friday instead of a Monday, but it still is a women’s shopping day when I am out and about. Certainly there are many people who have to get to work even during the quarantine, but you can also see groups of workers working together without keeping distance and without using masks. We can only hope that the new quarantine will help this time and that it will not have to last as long as the previous one.
The freedom of movement for yachts has also been drastically limited. Now you are only allowed to move with special permission. Even an engine test drive requires a permit. Even with a permit, one must return to the original anchorage or marina and the number of people per boat is limited. Paddling and other water sports have also been prohibited. These measures were taken after some yacht owners had behaved too freely during the curfew.
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Underwater hull and reef growth
Equipped for the dive. A rubber shoe is hidden under the cap. It serves as a cushion when supporting the head on the overgrown hull. That way I got good access to the propeller.
Here you can see our submarine robot for filming. The virtual reality glasses are deceptive. This function does exist, but has not yet been tested by us. First of all we wanted to learn how to dive this thing. Because it is not as easy as you think. Mathias had to take over the control console during operation. With his drone control experience he simply got the hang of it sooner.
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On the pictures above you can see how overgrown the hull of the boat was. Mathias had so far worked from the dinghy. Then I had volunteered and heroically made several dives to the propeller to clean it. Now Mathias dared to overcome or rather undermine his water shyness. That means he managed to put his head under water and cleaned the bottom part of the middle hull. In order to do that he squeezed himself into the full body wetsuit thus making sure that no fish could bite him. This “danger” cannot be completely dismissed. On our newly grown reef lived several small fish. Under the boat they could not be caught by the local pelicans. In the meantime the small fish have grown and are 20 cm long. If compost goes overboard, they come swimming. We could just take the catcher and fish our dinner, but that would feel like eating the pets.
Now that Mathias has improved his diving technique, it’s my turn again and I’ll have to try to get to the deeper parts of the rudder blade and stub keel. Let’s see if I can come up with a good method to achieve that.
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For the first time I went out by bike. I wanted to try another supermarket. The bicycle is not a common means of transport here, no wonder when the buses and taxis are so cheap. But because of the reduced traffic during curfew time you can ride the bike on the streets very well. We first have to get off the peninsula chain at the end of which the marina is located. After that, there is a highway where one can ride a bike for a short time. Then the way leads through a park. I had some difficulties to find the way where I wanted to go (my mobile phone has no mobile internet), but found another supermarket. To reach it, I left the park and drove through a densely built-up area that looked uncomfortable. There was a lot of garbage lying around and the houses were densely built apartment buildings. In front of the entrances many families stood together on the street. You can’t blame them with the heat, which must be even worse in the houses. But masks and keeping distance have little chance. When I tried to orientate myself, a man asked if he could help me. That was kind of him, only he had no mask on. He showed me the direction to the supermarket. The supermarket was bigger but not better stocked than the supermarket at the train station, which we can easily reach by bus. So next time I have to venture a bit further 😉
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Tsunami Warning
The warning message that there had been an earthquake in Mexico, from which a tsunami wave was now emanating, reached us via WhatsApp group and by phone call. So, there is yet another source of information to monitor. Besides Panama Ministry of Health, Panama Maritime Authority, Panama Migration Office now also the Pacific Tsunami warning site. One never stops learning. Fortunately the tsunami wave should only be about 30 cm high when it arrives in Panama. We did not really notice that. The SAN is already wobbling more when a medium sized motorboat passes by too fast.
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What else happened:
Mathias continues to work on the calculation of the anchor chain length using the catenary. He has had many discussions on the Cruisers Forum. Once there was a specific advertisement: “Yacht transport from Panama, the yacht is loaded onto a cargo ship”. What do they know about us? Or just a good algorithm? 🙂
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What looked like a crocodile was just a tree trunk, but it wasn’t supposed to ram our boat either. We diverted it with the boat hook.
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After about 10 months in use the first gas bottle is empty and we had to activate the second one.
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Maizena bag. I don’t keep the cardboard box because moths can get in there. But these bags could lead to misunderstandings at the next customs check 😉 Our neighboring ship was checked the other day. They had to show all papers and were told not to let any visitors on board.
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Birte Film’s workplace. The only project missing is one more film about our journey so far. Then we will probably start a film series about the interior of the SAN and technical tips. Because it looks like our stay here will last even longer.
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The plastic disc from the rat protection at the bridle was lost and was replaced by a self-made disc.
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I sorted out the winter clothes, packed them in vacuum bags and stowed them under the bed in the front cabin. There is a nice big hollow space there. Although our summer clothes are now easily accessible, you don’t really need much of them. More than shorts and bikini top is already too warm due to the temperature.
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During the one week of curfew relaxation people came to the pier to fish.
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It’s hot here!
A bicycle repair kit is one of the few things that we had not already stashed in Germany. At home the patches etc. were decades old, so we decided to get new ones. However, we did this only in La Rochelle, where we bought the electric bike. In the shop there they only sold small patches for the road. The patches were supposed to stick even without vulcanization solution. But they do not. As a result, my bike trips cannot take place for the time being. Instead, we have the new task to find a proper bicycle tube repair kit in the lock down of Panama. Yey, it never gets boring ! 🙂
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Survey
My creative department (=daughter at home) asks if the idea with the bar on the side of the blog is well received. How do you like this search help?
