When you live on a boat there is SO much to do! The devil is in the details and there is no end to the details. The boat needs upgrading and repairs and maintenance and often jobs take longer than expected at the best of times and usually cause other boat jobs in most other typical situations. I am happy to report that Jon’s 20 year old Swede is more work than the slightly older one. Plus we do boat school and regular household tasks. We need clean clothes and a comfy bed and healthy food. All these tasks take longer and require some extra creativity  than they do in a bigger space and with the luxuries of a house on land. The Itchy Foot crew have been working hard, and I don’t know what we would do without Tina!

We have been working on the maintenance and repairs for a long while. Already back in September, Jon installed a new autopilot system that will help us keep our course and save us self steering on the long passages. That was six months ago! It is just an example of the planning and preparation we are doing. Jon has been busy busy busy looking after her and each boat job he does requires its own details. Listing all the jobs here would just be boring for you to read and actually hard to remember but enjoy some of the photos to give an idea of how things look mid job. Needs for repairs crop up and jump up the list of priorities. For example, Itchy Foot needed engine work so Jon replaced the raw water intake thanks to luck in timing we could pick up a replacement part. Unfortunately the exhaust hose we need to replace is not available here in Panama so we have no choice but continue to look for it. Another issue reared it’s ugly head back in Santa Marta. Our battery charger freaked out and damaged our batteries as well. That job called for a replacement of the charger/inverter unit, new cabling and some carpentry so nothing is sliding around. All these jobs take a long time including the research, the logistics of sourcing parts and the complications of working in a small space. These are just a few of the major repairs we have undertaken recently so that we are ready for the Pacific crossing.

Regular maintenance cannot be forgotten either. We have been making sure our safety equipment is up to date and reliable. We have set up devices and software that communicate with satellites to track our progress, life lines must be healthy to protect us in rough weather and there are preparations to be made to keep a good household. We have to be able to communicate and we need good clothing for the environment, plus we need to eat well on passage. So, Tina and I shopped for the household things and food many times and sometimes Teo comes along to help and other times he helps on the boat. And Tina has amazing friends who have helped us. We went to stay with her very generous friend Juan who let us borrow the kitchen. We cooked for 11 hours straight, finishing at 2am. We filled the freezer with meals so we have good stuff in the bellies even if conditions are rough. Only our friends who make meals in boat galleries can truly understand how much we appreciate this opportunity.

We also visited a market to fill the boat with fresh fruits and vegetables for the crossing. At the market we had a guy with a trolley and second one with a car and we went around collecting underripe goodies. These things should ripen gradually so you have an even source of good things to eat even at the end of the journey. We found a stall with three great women and we were off and running. There are tons of pieces of advice of how to store things. Tomatoes like to be wrapped individually, potatoes and onions do not socialize well, citrus must separated from apples and pears. We had a great time at market, especially asking a couple of flirtatious guys where to find the hue is grandes. Tina washed the stuff that needs it, no bugs please! And I ran around trying to squeeze in one last round of laundry, since you never know what it looks like on the other side.

And tonight as a treat we had a lively bunch aboard to enjoy a moment. Cruisers are self sufficient and usually show up with their own drinks and a yummy something to share. Some of the hardest things we do is part ways with friends, not knowing when the next time you meet will be. We laughed and shared stories and enjoyed the twinkles of the Panama City skyline.

And after all of the above we are READY to go. 4000 miles of Pacific Ocean awaits, we’re not stopping in Galapagos so we’ll likely be sailing for 35 days nonstop. Over a month without stepping onto land. It’s one of the longer passages that yachts normally complete and it is not without nerves and anxiety. But, we have an excellent boat, excellent crew and everything we need to get safety to French Polynesia by mid April.