Farewell to Danny
A little after 5am we motored Tanda Malaika out of the marina and over to Bocas where the airport is, and dropped anchor. Danny and I loaded his bags into the dinghy and as soon as the outboard started, I pushed off from the boat…which was right about when the outboard quit. So, there we were, drifting, away from where we needed to go and away from Tanda Malaika. I immediately grabbed an oar and started rowing us to shore while Danny worked on the outboard. I’m sure we were quite the sight! After a few minutes Danny’s super ninja mechanic skills paid off again and we putted into where we could tie off to a dock.
Danny walked towing his luggage and I ran behind at ironman speed to keep up, carrying his 800 pound backpack, as we walked to the airport. We got him off on time and he is now headed overseas for about a 30 day trip. It’s always hard to see him go , but I know he’s dying to get behind the controls again and fly.
I was able to use the same technique Danny used, and got the dinghy going to get back to the boat. It kept acting like it was about to die any second, so my job today is to drain all the gas out of the tank and separate out any water that’s in the gas. I’m also going to patch a small leak in the dinghy.
When I got back to the boat it was just about to start raining, but before it did, a beautiful rainbow arched across Bocas.
The creatures and I raised the anchor and motored Tanda Malaika back to the Marina. This was my first time docking without Danny on the boat, and all went really well. She’s all snug up against the dock again.
The veggie boat came at about noon, and Jude, Aidan and I were there to meet it. The produce was especially beautiful and fresh. I love the people on the boat – the old man, George, is the only one that can speak English, the little girl, Isabelle, is eager to help and weighs the produce, and the little lady, quietly works the calculator then turns it to show the grand total – which is always so little.
This afternoon I checked the oil in both engines, and in the generator, and drained the yucky stuff from both the racors.
It rained all afternoon so I wasn’t able to fix the leak on the dinghy or work on dinghy gas – that’ll be another day’s project.
The girls did some hula hooping in the stern salon, with a hula thats filled with water. It looked like it was quite the workout. This evening was so beautiful. The water was calm, allowing the rainforest and sailboats to cast perfect reflections for all to admire.
As for me, I was admiring the wallpaper on my cell phone…..
I miss my Danny. When we lived on land, life was so busy and when he went on trips I missed him so much, but I was so busy. Some days when he was home, we’d be in and out running errands and finally at the end of the day we could sit and have a conversation. Now, we are with each other every day. We talk, walk, explore, relax, comment on the surrounding beauty, discuss projects we need to work on and places we want to see. Our lives are so tightly intertwined and we rely on each other as partners. I guess what I’m trying to say is that he hasn’t even been gone for 24 hours yet and I miss him like crazy! This is going to be a long month!
Adventures of a Tribe 