Adventures of a Tribe

Danny is a stud

Posted on October 27, 2015

The sun goes down quickly here. By 6pm it’s dark and feels like 8pm, and in the mornings the sun rises quickly, grabs you by the hand and pulls you out of bed. It’s a beautiful place to be alive.

Since returning to the boat, a few things have needed encouragement to get working, and for some reason the port side engine is one of them. When we returned from the US, all electricity had been shut off to our boat, so the house batteries were completely drained, and also the starter batteries in each of the engines. This morning Danny climbed down in to the port engine room and removed the battery because it refused to charge, and we figured we’d purchase a new one in town today. I replaced the starter on it about 3 months ago, so we wondered also if that rebuilt starter could be bad again.

We made our way in to Bocas on the starboard engine, and anchored in our usual spot. Everyone enjoyed the ride in, and Mommy looked like a little doll all pretty in pink on the bow.

Aidan took his place as look out for pirates and later Jude did too.

Once we anchored, Jonathan took us in to a dock in town and dropped everyone except Danny off, so we could go grocery shopping, and then he and Danny went battery hunting. Our group made our way through town, and made our first stop at the bank for more quarters for laundry, and then the produce store.

We bought everything from yucca, bananas and bell peppers to plantains, pineapples and tomatoes, and then made our way to the grocery store. By the time we were done, we were pretty heavily laden with bags, and the store owner offered to give us a ride in his pick up to our drop off point, so we accepted….

Everyone and the groceries loaded into the back and I sat up front and showed our friend where to go. The entire time I heard giggling from the back as we meandered through town.  We waited for Danny and Jonathan to get back, and after a while the girls swam back to the boat while Emma, Mommy and I caught a $3 water taxi ride back with all the groceries. By that time we were all hot and sweaty, and the creatures had a blast jumping off the boat for quite a while.

Finally Danny and Jonathan returned in the dinghy, being towed by a panga, and told us how they’d carried the 70 lb battery all over town, then started back and the engine on the dinghy seized so they rowed to shore and got a panga driver to tow them back. Danny inserted the new battery to find that the battery wasn’t the problem in the first place, so he lifted it back out from the engine room, and he and I went back into town where he carried the darn thing across to the battery store again to return it. We then ordered a new engine for the dinghy, and made our way to the opposite end of Bocas to pick up mail and packages, (the two starters and solar panel had come in), which were so heavy, and because Danny is so protective of my newly operated on shoulder, he carried those heavy items like an African stud. On his head and under his arm!

He would absolutely not let me help him! I’ve definitely met my match when it comes to stubborn. He was so sweet, checking on me and making sure I wasn’t hurting. I told him the only time it hurts is when I walk like an orangutan on my knuckles…that kind of bothers my shoulder.

Finally we made it back to Tanda Malaika, tried to rest for a second but couldn’t, so we headed back to Red Frog Marina. The sun was starting to set and it was absolutely gorgeous.

Danny was an amazing ninja at docking the cat on one engine, after which we hosed our girl down and I started on dinner. Once again everyone is showered up and snug in their berths. Last night, Skyler, Jude and Mycah laughed the night away but I think tonight they will be tired enough to fall asleep quickly…but you never know.

I am so grateful for the beauty that surrounds us, and I am especially grateful for all Danny’s hard work today. I am so blessed.