I am back on Jargo and have been for several days.  Meg and I had an amazing visit to the SOS Village in Limon, Costa Rica and even spent the night in their guest house.  The details of that visit, the visit to La Ceiba, Honduras, and a few other travel logs from the past three months will soon be posted.  Meg has gone back to her boat sitting job in the San Blas and I am staring intently at the calendar and the amount of work that has to be done.

I’ve paid for Red Frog Marina through the 15^th of this month, but I won’t spend any more money to sit at a dock after that.  Besides, the reality of the timeframe I am working on has begun to set in.  From the beginning I’ve taken this trip step by step.  First, I had to prepare the boat.  Then, choose a weather window and make my first singlehanded passage across the Gulf of Mexico.  Then, work my way south of 10* N Latitude before hurricane season.  So far, I’ve accomplished each goal I’ve set.  Now, here in Panama, I’ve decided I will transit the Panama Canal and sail into the South Pacific.

Before that can happen there are a handful of large projects I need to knock out.  The three most important are a complete rebuild of my engine, replacing all of the standing rigging, and replacing or lining the fuel tank.  The best place to tackle these jobs is in Cartagena, Colombia.  The trick will be to get to Cartagena by October 1^st before the mass of cruising boats arrives.  I have to get in and out by January so that I can turn around and come right back to Panama.  The Canal transit will have a three week wait at the least and I have to be on the Pacific side of Panama by the first of March.

It all sounds like a lot of time, but truth be told I’ll need every minute of it and will need to maintain a constant effort to get Jargo and myself ready for the big blue.   Here is to going sailing to South America. 

Lee Winters
Phone: (281) 336-0855
Skype: lee_winters

www.SailingForSOS.com

Lee.Winters@SailingForSOS.com