JASDIP

Welcome to our Blog. Our latest entry always comes up first... 
Click this link if you want to start at the beginning:
FIRST BLOG ENTRY
If you want to start at the beginning of our trip:
START OF TRIP
If you want to see the story of our trip from South Carolina
(where we bought the boat)
 to Lake Ontario Click this link:
  SOUTH CAROLINA

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Some wonderful people who we met in Roatan, Honduras had a boat called JASDIP.  When we asked what that name meant we were told: "Just Another Sunny (can use other adjectives when necessary) Day In Paradise."

Well, this week has been a real JASDIP week!  They say September is the best month of the year in terms of weather here in the Bocas area.  We have had lots of sunshine and incredible warm days and relatively cool nights (great for sleeping).  Yesterday I got to fly our kite off the stern.  How cool it that?

The nice weather has afforded us the opportunity to get some more jobs completed on the boat.  We went through the main cabin and sorted through all our books and culled the shelves a little... We seem to have way too many books...  And as much as we love our Kindle, we also love the books on our shelves...  Parting with all that weight is difficult but necessary. Yesterday I spent over an hour cleaning the propeller and the bottom of the boat. It sure doesn't take long in these waters to get covered!  Shelley scrubbed the topsides from the dinghy.... Another big job looked after.

We finished varnishing the toe rail and the rest of the teak on the deck...  This is a job that seems to be needed at least twice a year.  The last time we did it was in South Carolina a year a go and that was too long.  We had to do quite a bit of sanding.  Next time we will try to not wait as long.

We also finished installing the bamboo planters.  Joanne & Bill from Ultra saw them used for bird seed in Costa Rica and we saw them used as planters on a vegetarian restaurant here in Bocas.  What a great idea.  Shelley posted the picture of them to a woman's sailing group on her Facebook page and got over 600 likes! WOW!

We also got a little more canvas work done this week.  We took down an unused aluminum curtain rod from the main cabin and modified it so it could be used as a bolt rope track for new sun/rain shades for the pilothouse side windows.  We think it turned out pretty good.

We decided that the anchor light on top of the main mast was too high for the covered pangas (boats) that race around the anchorages here in Bocas.  We turned an old anchor light into a LED light and suspended it between the masts about 10 feet off the deck.  It is nice and bright and much nearer the water so hopefully easier to see from a small boat...

At the last swap meet at the Bocas Marina we purchased a "Boom Brake." This device is designed to prevent the boom from accidentally jibing. In the Defender Catalog this thing sells for almost $500.  We were lucky enough to acquire it for $35...

At the same time I also installed 3 pad eyes on each side of the boom to guide the reefing lines.  This will make reefing easier.

This week Shelley took a picture of Bill and I hard at work burning our garbage on shore.  It's a tough job, but someone has to do it...

And just so you are all not worried, we found time this week to have fun.  We went to s/v Ultra for dinner the other night with all the folks who live on the shore near us here in Dolphin Bay.  Julie & Robert arrived in style in a traditional Ulu (or Cyuca).  This is a REALLY tippy dugout canoe still used by the local natives...

Julie & Robert - Arriving in STYLE!

Joanne making her famous Sushi...

Bill making his famous Conk Fritters...

Robert serving his famous Chocolate Liquers...

We had a great night that ended in a Conch blowing contest, that by no surprise, I won...

We leave you this week with another view of our reality...  A native man who quietly paddled by our boat the other day to pick up his children from school...  Like I said, JASDIP!

Cheers!