CURRENT LOCATION: Tied to a mooring ball near Cayo Pirata, in Ensenada Honda, Culebra, Puerto Rico
18 18.400' N, 065 17.842' W
The passage of time now is distinctly different than it was when we were shackled to the norm of a nine-to-five, Mon-Fri workweek. Now, neither time of day, nor day of week, nor calendar date seems to have much significance in our lives.
Instead, we tell the time in different ways. Our diurnal rhythms are set by the sun. We get up with the genesis of daylight, and begin yawning as darkness blankets the boat. It is as though we are energized in the same manner as our solar panels. The analogy even holds true so far as the fact that bright and sunny days find us being the most active. While overcast and rainy days leave Sheryl and I feeling a little lazy and somewhat power-drained.
Through these winter months, calendar time for us has been defined by novel methods. First, there is the co-mingling of date and location. We often answer with a location when posed a question that begins with 'when.' For example...
Q: "When was the last time we waxed the hull?"
A: "Luperon, Dominican Republic."
Q: "How about the last time we filled the jerry jug with gasoline for the dinghy, was it George Town, Bahamas?"
A: "No, it was Salinas, Puerto Rico."
Another hallmark of the passage of time is engine hours. Fortunately, we have a meter which quantifies this measure, and we mark these metrics in our logbook whenever we do anything engine-related. I was shocked the other day to realize that we had run nearly 350 engine hours since our last transmission oil change. Since the manual recommends changing every 300 hours or each season (whichever comes first), my chore card grew to include climbing into the starboard side cockpit locker. Or, as we refer to it, spending time in 'the box.'
Since March 1st, both location and engine hours have remained fairly constant. It is hard to believe that we have spent nearly two months here in Culebra. And our immediate future holds only more of the same. Therefore, we will have to develop new mechanisms for monitoring the passage of time.
The blog certainly helps us to reconstruct what happened when, and photos do an even better job of capturing exactly what we have experienced. In addition, Sheryl has always been good about keeping a written calendar account of daily events. She has pocket calendars going back over the past 22 years. In fact, yesterday she was given a new pocket calendar for 2008 (thanks Pam), and spent the entire day reconstructing and making notes for the daily events which have transpired since January first.
One thing that currently gives us some framework for the week is the Sunday morning breakfast gathering at Mamacita's. We met several new people this week at breakfast. In the photo below, starting at 12:00 and moving clockwise, there is Lori (from
s/v Silmarillion), Mike & Susan (a land based couple who have spent the winters in their Culebra home for the last six years), Trish (from
s/v Restless), and Ann & Bruz (from
s/v Abu Dai).
Continuing around the clock, from past weeks you may recognize David & Sue, Les, and Pam & Chuck. We look forward to this new Sunday morning ritual and spending time with these fine folks. Although not the main goal, it also helps us to realize the passage of another week. So, welcome to the new week, dear Reader. We hope that it is a good one for you.