Yesterday was a day of rain. It started during the night and continued throughout the day. Lots and lots of rain. The coral lot that makes up the marina has large expensive sections of standing water. We did at least find that the leak we had above the chest in the back stateroom had finally stopped leaking. We'd patched enough the holes that we were water tight(at least there). I took some time, now that we knew that the leakage had stopped, putting the ceiling panel back up. We still haven't patched the leaks on the stern but all in good time.

Peter(our mechanic) came by between down pours and went over the "shiny bits" of the engine. He stressed the importance that they were cleaned and lubed and sealed in plastic to keep air(and rust) off them. So our came lots of the "shiny bits", rages, fine grit sandpaper and metal brushes and in we went. Pistons were inspected and re scrapped. The huge crankshaft was brought from the forward head(bathroom) and gone over with a fine tooth comb. That's Tracy in the picture going at it hot and heavy. We took lots of "Press and Seal" and wrapped and wrapped and wrapped it till it was as well sealed as we could. That baby is big, heavy and expensive to try and replace(heaven forbid). Just to the left as you look at the picture are our four pistons, each individually wrapped. All are now stowed in the forward head till the parts show up. I finalized that order on Thursday morning(your Wednesday morning) so they should be on their way soon.

Between downpours, I called a taxi and headed for the post office to see if our Fed Ex box had arrived. I got there at 1535 to find that two boxes were waiting for me. BUT--Customs had closed at 1530. I'd have to come back tomorrow(today). Rats! At least we knew that one of the boxes was our mail that has been getting collected over the last 9+ months in Florida. It had left back on the 15th and promptly disappeared. Only the very first ship out was posted on the "delivery confirmation"tracking number. Once it left Jacksonville, Florida, it was gone. Nice to know were it was finally. The package coming Fed Ex wasn't there yet but was in Customs at the airport. OK, we can head into town and pick them up on Friday(your Thursday).

In we went this morning only to find the the Fed Ex box was still at the airport in Customs. We did get all out mail from Florida as well as a box containing the parts we need to rebuild the hydraulic pump for our steering that failed just as we took out the engine. We stopped at "Angies" for lunch on the way back(getting a ride from Antonia, Kumer's wife). I had two pieces of chicken with fries while Tracy had one of their "Angie Burgers". She pronounced it far better than the last one she had at Arnold's. My chicken was just fine and the fries were all hand cut potatoes, not the mass produced kind. Still a bit soggy but tasty. We hiked down the the same bakery that we got the cake from last week to tell them what a great cake they made and order some hot dog buns. They don't normally carry them but will bake up a batch for just 35 cents a piece. We then hiked back to the marina stopping at all the little grocery stores along the way. We provisioned so well in Fiji and American Samoa that we haven't really bought much in the way of food since we got here. Mainly fruits and veggies is all we've gotten.
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Tomorrow, we will start in on our water tanks. Some where we picked up some dirt and it's been sitting on the bottom of the tanks till we go out cruising and then the water that comes out of the taps is sort or a rusty yellow color. We though most of the water was out of the tanks so we opened two of the tanks today and found a good bit of water still in the tanks. We want them as empty as possible when we go in so we get all the dirt out and not just mix it in with what water is left. Should be a fun project.