Joana's Yarns: March 2014

It is the question everyone wants to ask and most have the manners not to…how can you afford to sail to exotic countries and lounge on beaches that should be on postcards year after year without working? Everyone knows that the cruising life is all about sailing a little then relaxing in the hammock, reading a book in the shade while drinking rum punches, right? Well, the dirty little secret is that we do work.

A Relaxed Guest

As most of you are aware, we do charter Joana here in the San Blas as well as we offer special trips to Sapzurro, Colombia as well as to Cartagena, Colombia. We are available for charters as short as two days to as long as one wants to deal with us. Our charters are all-inclusive and include three meals a day, a snack or two or three and your fill of beer, wine or rum, within reason, of course. We love to spearfish so expect fresh fish, lobster, crab or conch during your visit. We also love our water toys and have two stand-up paddle boards, a surf board and a 14 foot Laser (small sailboat) to play with. We also love to relax, especially in hammocks on the islands in the shade drinking rum punches! Email us at sailjoana@gmail.com for more info.

Okay, enough of the shameless advertising! Chartering is only one way that we keep our kitty going. The other is welding. Welding? Girls can weld? Well, at least one girl on this boat can weld, and that would not be me, which is why this is my favorite source of income because it means I do nothing except maybe hold a part or two while Maria works away. We have both a TIG and a MIG on board as well as a very large cylinder of Argon gas, which for all you non-welders, means that we can weld steel, stainless steel and aluminum. So, basically, we are a floating welding shop out here in the middle of nowhere.

Cleaned and Ready for Welding

How does this all work, you ask? The easiest way is for our customers to take the broken part off of whatever it is attached to and Maria will clean it up and weld it back together in our engine room. It is a messy, hot and loud process as the generator has to be running to power the welder.

Grinding in the Engine Room

First, Maria takes the grinder to the part to get all the corrosion off of it and make it nice and clean and shiny. Then she usually has to put the part in the vice and using a variety to tools, bend it or hit it back into place, as most of these parts have broken because they have been put under unnatural stress.

Welding in the Engine Room

Then she gets in her welding gear (jacket to protect from burns, gloves and welding helmet and of course the proper footwear…flip flops… so as not to get bits of steel in the bottom of her feet) and welds away. I am very careful not to look into the blinding light of the welder so I usually find it safest to shut Maria in the engine room behind closed doors and put my head in a book. It also helps block out the inevitable cursing that goes on behind the closed door.

Rafting Up

Once the welding has been completed, Maria then has to take a few different grades of sand paper to the part to polish it up. First I become the bartender and get her a cocktail and I then become quality control, take a look at it and always declare it perfect. We then dingy the part back to the satisfied customer on their boat, get paid and voilà, the beer kitty is replenished.

On some occasions, it is impossible for the broken part to be removed. No worries – Joana is a very large steel boat and can handle other boats rafting up to us. Usually we wait for a day without much wind and a calm anchorage and then invite the other boat to come alongside and tie to us. With the other sailors looking on in awe, Maria goes about welding on their boat, whether it be on the deck or aloft in the rigging.

Now that the mystery has been revealed, we expect to see more people out here on boats living the good life. All you need are a few spare bunks, a good cook, some rum and a welder.

AirPanama 6-Seater

Weighing the Luggage

We love it when friends come to visit us down here in Paradise, especially when our friends come from cold places. This past week we were lucky enough to have Frank (who we sailed around the world with on the Picton Castle), Suzanne and Alex come down to thaw out from the New York winter. They arrived via a white knuckle airplane ride into Nargana.

The Airport "Gate"

Before they came, Frank asked how they would find us outside the airport. I told him not to worry, that we would find him. Little did they know that the airport in Nargana is just a pot-holed concrete slab on a small island. There is a small shack and an outhouse. When you leave, they weigh your bags on a meat hook. We anchor just beyond the “airstrip” and as soon as we see the plane dodge the many masts in the harbor, we hop in the dingy and make our way to the dingy dock, hop out barefooted, walk up the dirt path to the plane and greet them as they step out of the tiny tin box. I am pretty sure there are not real seats but rather bus seats with some seat belts attached to them. When my Dad flew out, he told me that just before they took off, one of the passengers noticed the door where the luggage was stowed was open and told the pilot. The pilot just shrugged and took off anyway – flying the 30 minutes to Panama City with the cargo door open the whole way! But don’t worry, I am told flying is safer than driving.

Mola Lisa Showing Off Her Goods

Anyway, the pastey white travelers got here safe and sound and we spent the next week taking them around our idea of Paradise. We sailed over to the “Pool”, so named because one part of the anchorage is shallow and then there is a large drop off, so the color of the water changes from a clear green in the shallow end to a deep blue in the deep end.

Let Sleeping Sharks Lie

Frank and Suzanne in the Central Holendays

Lisa, the famous Mola maker came by in her Ulu (dugout canoe), came on board to display her Molas and Suzanne and Alex each got a few as souvenirs. We took them to the Central Holendays (where no one goes) and anchored behind a reef where the gentle roar of the ocean never stops. We went snorkeling and spied on a sleeping nurse shark, making sure not to disturb it too much.

Disneydup

We took them to our favorite island nicknamed “Disneydup”. All of the names of the islands in San Blas end in “dup”.

Hammock Camp

We set up a hammock camp on the island, cooked a rotisserie chicken over the fire, drank beer, roasted marshmallows and chilled out. We got up the next day and repeated, except for the chicken part. This time we made ceviche and maybe a hot dog or something for Frank. When not on the island, the day was spent sprawled out on the lounge sleeping, in the cockpit reading, down below playing cards or just telling stories and laughing. A lot.

The Brunch that Accompanied the Bloodies

Bloody Mary Beach Brunch

After we had our fill of Disneydup, we boogied over to the West Cocos (about a mile away) where we had a Bloody Mary brunch on the beach (fried eggs, bacon and hash browns cooked on the cast iron skillet over the fire).

Tropical Yoga

Alex and Suzanne were actually productive and got in a little yoga on the beach – after a few bloodies, of course! Even Niko tried to participate in the action.

Suzanne Sporting the Wasalladup Swimsuit

We then made our way over to Wasalladup (a picture perfect tiny island that we had all to ourselves) and had a swim floatie party in the crystal clear water.

Alba Marina's "Restaurant"

We then had to sadly make our way back to Nargara for the last super which entailed going to our favorite “restaurant” in Nargana. It is Alba Marina’s (a Kuna woman) hut where she makes the best friend chicken and french fries and has the coldest $1 beers on the island. Before we went to dinner, we took went on a dingy ride up the Rio Diablo where we swam in fresh water and took a nice long bath! The next morning our now tanned friends got back in the tin can and took off for Panama City and then on to NYC, where another snow storm was rumored to be waiting.