Fuel tank debris. Kevin with Yacht Services here does not think this is algae. If any of you have an idea what this might be, please post a comment.


Bonjour!

It’s been lovely to buy fresh fruit, all locally grown, in the markets here, mango, tropical bananas, pamplemousse (grapefruit), a little green fruit kind of like an apple, and others too numerous to determine what they are. Two cargo ships have docked here since our arrival on Saturday to unload supplies, so the stores are well stocked. The French baguettes are delicious. Some of you have asked about fishing. We did put our line out several times, but caught nothing. And that was ok with us. We were both afraid we’d catch something too huge to handle, especially after hearing about a 140-pound yellow fin tuna caught by a Puddlejumper not long after they left Mexico.

We hiked up to a ridge for a beautiful view of the bay on Monday morning. It was very hot, even in the shade of the forest.

In all honesty, we are still struggling with our engine and the emotional roller coaster ride it has flung at us. That hair ball that Andy blew out of the fuel line was not the last. We spent Tuesday pumping all the fuel out of our main tank and in that process pulled at least a cup full of fibrous material out of the tank. We cleaned the tank and filtered the fuel back into it. It feels like someone is playing a cruel joke on us. There is no logical explanation as to where this material came from, and why did it happen now? We will never know the answer.

Today, with great difficulty, a lot of cursing, and perseverance, Andy installed our larger alternator so that we don’t need to run the engine as long to charge the batteries. The solar panels have done a good job, but we’re experiencing a lot of cloudy days.

So needless to say, our enthusiasm and excitement over being here have been overshadowed by these tasks. We feel worn down and emotionally drained. Of course cruising always comes with those things that go wrong on a boat. Cruisers expect that. The boat performed so well in Mexico; for 2 ½ months we had no indication that anything was amiss. Now we are so far away from home, so far away from boat services. What’s going on here?

We’ll rally.